Sadly I had no candy. I have never had a trick or treater here. In past years the kids dressed up and went to the nearby stores to get treats. I watch them in the Piazza. Over our eight years here it is noticeable that there are many more kids participating now. When my doorbell buzzed tonight and I went and asked who it was, I heard a little voice say “dolcetto o scherzetto”. So sorry I had no candy. Next year I will buy some. Also our new neighborhood probably will have more kids so I will prepare! I have always loved Halloween.
Today is All Saints Day or Giorno di Tutti Santi and it’s a holiday. Everyone attends mass for the dead. Then they visit the cemetery and their lost loved ones. We had our Italian lessons today via Skype as usual.
Yesterday I saw someone advertising a dutch oven and smaller cast iron pot. I told them I wanted them. So, after my lesson I went up to their home in the hills above Umbertide. They are Americans who used to live here full time and now live here half the year. I only wish I had taken a picture from their house. What a view! The entire city of Umbertide was there below, and above it, and across the valley was Monte Acuto, our big mountain near here. And they are only around 5-10 minutes from Umbertide but are up in the hills with a property from which they were harvesting the olives today. Here is what I bought. I will save the pots for our new house and the fireplaces.
Someday, after we move, I am sure I will post when I use them!
Since my last post about our clogged gutter we have been waiting for the workmen to return. Their temporary fix really did nothing. Logistically it is a hard job to tackle. We went from ”we need a cherry picker” to, “we will build a scaffold”. So far these guys are very responsive, for Italians 🙂. Although it has been a couple of weeks. One of the men was attacked by wasps on one of their jobs which made them miss last week. Mercifully this long stretch of dry, warm weather has held and will last for the next week at least.
They arrived today with a truckload of stuff. They visited the police for a permit. They set up their ropes and safety measures. They are replacing a bunch of broken or loose tiles on the roof as well as adding pigeon proofing and either replacing, or unclogging the gutter.
This is their anchor rope around one of the big beams in the houseIt goes up into the attic and through a small window onto the roof.Out through the bathroom window.Hanging on he side of the building.
So. They were here from 9am to 7pm. They replaced the joints in the gutter and cleaned the downspout. They put up pigeon guards on all of the pipes. They replaced quite a few roof tiles. They are certain all is fixed. They said when the first rain comes call if there are any problems. Pretty much everything that was wrong can be laid right at the feet, or on the poop, of the massive pigeon population we have.
Pigeon deterrents.
~~~~~~~~ Reporting back on our olive harvest. We got 440 kilograms from which we got 53.3 liters of oil. That is about average. I will probably get some of the oil, so I will let you know what it is like. Umbrian oil is some of the best in the world. We didn’t have much of a harvest last year so we are all really looking forward to the new oil.
Our friends who have around 75 olive trees asked us if we wanted to help. This is our second time to harvest there. We really love being involved in the olive harvest which has been happening here for thousands of years. To be able to be a part of something that has gone on for so long is really something we like about living here.
I have hurt my left knee and have been nursing it for over two weeks so I was really not sure I could be much use, but Luther wanted to go as much as me, and I was willing to try.
We have had at least two weeks of dry sunny weather. Everyone in Umbria has harvested much earlier than normal. We had a very hot and very dry summer which affected the crop. It is fairly plentiful and all my friends have had good harvests and weight to oil ratios are pretty good. Here are a few pictures.
Beautiful views from this property. There are always dogs at the harvests it seems!Putting the nets under the trees.The nets catch the olives allowing faster picking using hand rakes.Olives of differing hues and ripeness. Makes for more piccante oil.Luther working his tree.
They hire a helper team with the beaters that shake the olives from the top branches. They had started yesterday, and were back today. We others harvested the lower and interior branches.
I don’t mind admitting that a hard days work nearly killed me. I managed to work steadily the four hours up to lunch. And credibly, I might add 🙂. I worked probably five or six trees. While I worked I thought about the fact that I am a small part of a long, unbroken line of people, just like me, stripping the olives from the branches on a golden October day — year in and year out for thousands of years. Makes one feel the history of this ancient land.
When we left they had 20 boxes of olives to take to the mill. All the trees were harvested. I will try to find out what the weight was, and the yield of oil.
Ask me if I am happy I participated…YES! Thank you Joanne and Mark. Ask me again next year! 🫒🫒🫒💕💕💕
Short post – not much going on in Umbertide. One of the bars out in the piazza was closed this past week so it was quiet. The weather has been spectacular. One of the best Octobers I have seen here. The light has gotten that beautiful slant which makes the autumn so beautiful.
We went out to the market today. There were fresh porcini mushrooms so I had them for my lunch. Scrambled eggs with sautéed mushrooms.
We have finished a number of the chores on our ”to do” list. We still have a number of things to get done. We had our caldaia (heating system) inspected, mandated by law yearly. We still wait for the stufa (pellet stove) cleaner. We got our booster vaccines this week. We did some financial stuff. We need to buy a new light for our bathroom. And we need to see if we can get two screens replaced. This week we expect the gutter cleaners back to finish the job. I think they will build a scaffolding in the street to get to the top of the house. I assume they will need police permissions to block the street. I will report on the work as it continues.
Yesterday was a beautiful day! In fact, we have had a nice long run of beautiful September and October days. The Germans call it Goldener Oktober. We, in the US, call it Indian Summer. No matter what it is called…I am loving it!
We had a planned lunch with our friend Doug who just moved here a few months ago. We were meeting in Gualdo Tadino, a town in eastern Umbria which lies on the slopes of the Apennine mountains. The really big ones that run from the top to the toe of Italy. I had not visited this valley. It runs north and south along the mountains from Foligno to Gubbio.
The restaurant is Terrazza di San Guido. It sits high above the town on the mountain. I would have thought it would take advantage of it’s position to showcase the view. But it does not. It has an unpretentious interior dining room, and a few tables outside. The service was good. They have an unusual offering on the menu which I had not seen before. A whole section devoted to Crescia. It is a flat bread specialty of Umbria and Le Marche which they use to make sandwiches. I think it is the same as what I know as Torta al Testo.
Doug ordered one as his starting course. It looked tasty. We also had a chance to sample the bread as they brought out bags of it, soft and warm. I had Caprese insalata to start and it was good. The October tomatoes were still decent. Then we had pasta, and Luther, ever the meat eater, got the mixed grill. Doug got the Tartuffi Lasagna — Lasagna with truffles. I got a taste and it was great. I ordered Cannelloni al Sugo di Carne. It was good…but not great. Here are pictures.
Truffle lasagnaMy CannelloniAnd…the mixed grill.
On the way home I took a couple of pictures of the bodacious day and the beautiful scenery.
We will continue to enjoy this wonderful weather for as long as it continues. I am now seeing many pictures of the olive harvest which is just beginning here. Umbria is known for its oil. It is robust, grassy, and peppery in your throat. I am smitten with it. To me it is the best of all. Love the green green color of the new oil. Photo from my friend James Lupori.
I mentioned in my last post that we had to address a stopped up and overflowing gutter. It had started backing up the water onto the roof and going under the tiles, causing a leek in the living room. This gave it a sense of urgency, even though I had placed plastic bags and pans to catch the drips.
Now, if you live in a normal house, unblocking a gutter is a trivial thing. But, if you live in the centro storico of an ancient Italian village it becomes more problematic. The gutter is on the top of the house, of course. It is high above, on the edge of an ancient tile roof which is four floors above a tiny street. It is a very long pipe. I have no idea why they needed to make those bends which can easily clog up.
The thing is Italians deal with this stuff everyday. To us, it seems daunting. To them it is all in a days work. First, it was necessary to figure out what sort of company does this. And then learn a whole new and unfamiliar vocabulary. We found four companies who advertise they clean gutters. We reached out and three returned our calls. One said he had a job in Umbertide and he could come right away and look at our job.
Fabio and his sidekick decided they could go up a ladder from our terrace and then cross two roofs to get to the spot. But they first had to don harnesses and secure ropes to protect themselves from falling.
Putting on their harnesses so they wouldn’t fall.
They secured the rope through a window and around a doorThen, they climbed onto the roof.The gutter is the one that comes in diagonally and connects to the down spout which has several bends which were probably clogged.Arrival at the problem area.
About an hour later they were finished. Long story short they have unclogged the pipe for the most part. They said it was full of pigeon poop and dead pigeon parts. Disgusting. They said the leak should not happen anymore. The long pipe down to the street is still clogged…with pigeon poop they said. They will return to open the long pipe down at the bottom and unclog it from the bottom up.
Another learning experience. Now we wait for a nice hard rain to see if it actually fixed. we hope so!
Saturday morning our normal kilometer zero market was in full swing. Luther was up at 2:30 AM and said the crowds were still out, mostly young people and most in costumes. We went to Montone for lunch with friends, which was nice, although it was a rainy day. We went to Erba Luna. First time in a few years. Still good.
Picture perfect Montone.
Back in Umbertide, the activities got started again at around 4 PM. The militia were out and making themselves heard! Shooting off their rifles, marching about, and charging across the piazza. I got this good action shot, even catching the fire coming out of the gun.
More soldier shots. The women seem to follow the soldiers. When they fell into formation and marched out, the women fell in right behind them. Camp followers? Wives? Not sure.
In the first picture here are a couple of the Briganti. In the next photo I liked the young man dressed in gray. Just random shots.
Amidst all of this hubbub there were three…THREE…weddings! Maybe bad timing. Maybe a memorable time? Depends I guess. I didn’t get pictures of them all. Just this one.
In the evening, I closed all the front windows to shut out the noise, and stayed away from all the action for most of the evening. During the night I checked whenever I got up. This picture is a little blurry, sorry, it is of the crowd at 1:30am. It looked like a mosh pit! The music and the loudspeaker talking stopped at 3am. The crowds slowly dispersed.
~~~~~~~ Sunday, domenica, dawned gray and socked in with fog. I looked out to see what mischief the Briganti had gotten up to after the crowds left. I decided to go down early and get some pictures before the day began. I have to hand it to the cleaning crews who come out as soon as things clear out, in the wee hours of three, four or five. Two street sweeper trucks and the big trash trucks. All the trash and mess is cleaned up and ready for a new day of festivities. First the town, quiet in the early morning after the parties.
The Briganti have erected their flag since they were the victors overnight. And I see they gave themselves 5,552 points on the scoreboard.
I took a tour of what the Briganti left for us. This group used to be very risqué, always doing something a little over the top crude. We have a new mayor. Maybe he told them to tone it down. The last two years it has been tame. Today I see they have set up a Briganti Pronto Soccorso for the casualties (emergency room). Typically there was a line of folks waiting to get in for treatment.
Accidents at workThis guy is the last in line, I guess he’s been waiting awhile.
I noticed, after I had dropped the trash off that I brought down…a little multi-tasking…that there was a car show starting up. I was a bit early, not a lot of cars had arrived yet, but I took pictures of the ones who had come. These are for you Matt 🙂. The first one is my favorite. I even went over, told him I was an American, and that I remembered that car! Bella machina!
The one below, is for Luther. Since we have a Porsche.
Well, the party’s over, it’s time to call it a day. My last Otto Cento from my ring-side seat. It’s been a good run. There are, and will be many ”lasts” for me. It is hard. But it is life, isn’t it? Time to move on. ~~~~~~~ So on a brighter note, we are off on a big Road Trip on Wednesday. Our house/cat sitters arrive tomorrow. We will pick them up at the train station in Terontola/Cortona. We are excited to meet them. We will try to show them all around our little town over the next couple of days and then we are off for places familiar from long ago. First stop Lago Maggiore in northern Italy, then an overnight in Interlaken Switzerland, next to the Alsace in France for 3 nights. Then south of Munich, then near Salzburg, then to Austria and finally an overnight in Slovenia and home. I will be doing a trip report in a couple of weeks.
I posted a picture of the Piazza before the festa began. Here is what it looked like on day one at ten PM. There was much speechifying and the unveiling of the statue of Garibaldi.
I peered down from my aerie watching the crowds, many in costume, surge down our little streets. Earlier in the day the Briganti, my favorites, stalked across the piazza to their lair. They are super flamboyant, wearing long black capes to the ground, hats, white shirts, black pants, boots, and black vests. They all carry rifles. They have a presence. I heard the gun shots that heralded their arrival. Their women-folk arrived with them, just as haughty as the men and all packing heat. What fun.
~~~~~~~~~~ Friday — A quick giro around town at around 10:30. It is PACKED. Every table at every restaurant is full. The streets are full, the Piazza is full. Here are some pictures.
These are the militia of Garibaldi.One of the costumes. Anyone can rent a costume. Or make one.Just outside the piazza.I loved all the little kids watching the show.Piazza Forte Braccio.Via Grilli. My street.The Briganti restaurant.Via CiboMore costumesMangia!
Everyone is having a splendid time. Every restaurant and every table was full. There were lines waiting to get in everywhere. I am glad the festival is going so well. I admit, I felt very uncomfortable out in those crowds. If anything was a superspreader event, that was it. I probably should have worn a mask.
Stay tuned for my next post, probably on Sunday after the Briganti do their mischief.
I know at least a few people would like to see the last garden that I will ever have on Via Grilli. It was a really good year. The two basil plants have kept me busy making pesto. They have been so prolific I had a hard time keeping up! This is the first year I grew sweet peppers. They did very well. So did the habaneros.
Sweet pepper on the right. Basil under it. Habanero center top. Foreground is the tarragon and just behind it the mint.Lemon tree on left is chock full of lemons. Basil is next to it. Habanero just next to that . Oregano, thyme and parsley center.
I have enjoyed my little terrazza container garden over the years but I am looking forward to an expanded one in our new space next year. I am going to try square foot intensive gardening. I plan to buy some raised containers and see how that works. Two to start, then expand to four. Picture of the one I like. Easy on the back 🙂.
I know you’re all on the edges of your seats to see what’s happening at the Fratta dell’800 festa 😁. I think I should explain than Fratta was the name of Umbertide before it was changed to Umbertide. And even before that it was called Pitulum by the Romans. Since this is the festa ’800 or 1800s best to use the name from that time. Out our window all the preparations are done, including the cannon on the left, which they shoot off at random times to scare our cats and us to death! Events start tonight at six with the Opening Parade. It is a bit rainy so I hope this doesn’t impact the events tonight. [an aside…our new address will be on Via Fratta 🙂]
All small Italian towns have festivals – in the summer and fall primarily. Covid was very hard for everyone because all of these festivals have been canceled for two years. This year however it is Katie bar the door…the festivals are back!
Umbertide has it’s big four day festival in August or September each year. It is the celebration of the creation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 by the House of Savoy and later, integrating the Veneto and the Papal states in 1871. It was called the Risorgimento. Guiseppe Garibaldi was an Italian patriot and soldier of the Risorgimento. The history is very long and complicated and I am not trying to tell it all here, but basically our Otto Cento festival, which means 1800s, it a distillation of the events over many years in the nineteenth century into our four day festival. In the south the Briganti, or brigands in English, in the absence of police, became a force. They fought against the House of Savoy, which they saw as elite. Things were very different in the Mezzogiorno, or south if Italy, as they still are today, where the Briganti originated. It was very poor and the people with money ruled harshly.
Anyway, our four day festival has events centered around all of the different parts of the creation of the kingdom of Italy. We have our own band of Briganti who come to the fore on the Saturday before the end on Sunday when Garibaldi vanquishes them.
The festival itself has entertainment in keeping with the 1800s. Calliopes, stilt walkers, concerts, dancing. Many citizens dress in costumes from the 1800s. There are 15 or so pop-up restaurants all over town. Archery contests. We have a cannon in the Piazza which they seem to shoot off at random times. There are horses and pitched battles from our city walls.
For the last few days evidence of the preparations are everywhere. You can really feel the excitement in the air. I don’t remember it being quite this exciting in the years pre-Covid. I guess not having it made the citizens realize what it means to this town.
Everyone is working to get readyAt the former gates into town they hang curtains.Italian flags are everywhere! La Rocca in the backgroundLa RoccaHouse of Pleasure. Where the Ladies of the Night hang out.One of the temporary restaurantsAnother pop-up restaurantLaundry…19th century style 🙂
In typical Italian fashion I have not yet found a schedule of events published on line or anywhere else. You’ll be seeing a few more posts about the festa after it gets started. 🇮🇹
