Last night we had a gorgeous sunset. The river was so smooth it was a mirror for the trees along the banks. Here is my picture of it.
Sunset in Umbertide
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Category Archives: Tiber photos
New Years Eve
Yesterday I took a lovely walk along the Tiber. Cold but super clear. Here are a couple of pictures.
Today is New Years Eve. We decided to take a ride over to Lago Trasimeno for a lake fish lunch. Really pretty, cold and clear day. All our days are very cold now. Nights even colder. My little lemon tree is safe in the kitchen. Anyway, we visited San Feliciano. A pretty town on the lake. Not much happening there in the winter other than people strolling in the lakeside park. We found a new restaurant called I Bonci. I had the zuppa di anguilla or eel soup. It is the traditional New Year dish. It was good. Served over bread. Luther had the warm seafood salad and lake perch. The views were pretty. Here is from our table through the window to the outside.
And here are a couple of lake photos from the park and also over the mountain on the way home.
Tonight there is a band on the piazza and all the citizens will party. Fireworks at midnight. It will be below freezing at midnight. We will watch from the window if we stay up long enough. I had meant to cook my Cinghale stew today but I decided, since we had lunch, to save it for tomorrow. I’ll take pictures.
See the tree, how big it’s grown…
We brought the Christmas tree that we bought the first Christmas we were here inside for the season. It lives out on the terrace throughout the year except for December. This is the 2016 tree. it is sitting on the floor.
And THIS is the itty, bitty 2014 tree. It is sitting on a stool to make it taller. That’s no longer necessary!
Here is our town tree all lit up.
Today was an exceptionally foggy day. And, unlike many days, it lasted all day. I braved the cold and went out to see what sort of images I could get. I thought they would look better in black and white. Very atmospheric. Here are a few. Click for a larger version.
This is la Rocca or our fortress with a smoking chimney in front of it.
The bridge over the Tiber.
Road along the river.
Interesting tree.
The town walls and houses above it from across the river.
And finally, a lone fisherman.
Umbertide scenes
Another gorgeous sunset. Mountains in the background and the river in the front.
Autumn’s last gasp. A few leaves hang on.
The town Christmas tree has arrived. It’s a bigun’ this year.
Maneuvering…
Decorating begins. It will not be lit until the beginning of Advent on Sunday.
Wending our way through August
We are having spectacular weather. Highs in the 80s and cool at night. We have been enjoying it with the occasional Gelato or Aperol Spritz. Last weekend we had the local Vespa club arrive in all their thundering glory.
We also had a great time creating and attending a BBQ at an Agriturismo of friends, Simone and Simona. They are from Milan and now living rough, off the grid on the old family farm of Simone. It was abandoned for many years and they have spent years working mostly on their own to make it into holiday apartments. They first fixed up the old barn for themselves. And have spent a LOT of time just on the structure of the old buildings. It is in an earthquake zone so there are lots of rules for stabilizing and protecting everything. They are now getting ready to finish the first apartment inside. Here are some pictures.
This is the main building. Underneath are the large, airy barns where the animals used to live.
The views are nothing short of spectacular. They are very high on a ridge. The electric grid stops before their property. They use mostly solar and batteries.
The picturesque old chimneys. I love these. They are all over our part of Italy.
The BBQ grill with Fabio and Gary.
I had initially invited everyone to our house and was going to make the ribs. But Simona wanted us all to come there. So I got up early to prepare the ribs. I wanted it to be all American so I brought spicy guacamole, spicy salsa with the wonderful tomatoes we have now, and my moms potato salad. We found tortilla chips in the store! Everyone was open to the experience and had fun. We also had great, grilled vegetables, and one of their chickens. He was supposed to be grilled but he was deemed too tough so he was stewed. Dessert was a very light cheesecake and cool watermelon. What could be more perfect?
Random scenes. Here is the wind ruffled Tiber one afternoon.
I found CORN!! it is one of the things I miss most about the US. Summer, sweet corn. Alas, it was not to be. Tough as an old shoe. Horses probably wouldn’t touch it! BUT the good news is that I have started volunteering at the Books for Dogs booth at the market. It is run by mostly British women. They take donated books and DVDs and sell them to support several dog sanctuaries. Anyway, one of the ladies also bought corn. Later I asked her if we could plant a few rows next year in her garden. So MAYBE next year we will be able to taste that sweet summer corn!
Impending storm.
Volunteer sunflower against a blue sky.
The placid river in morning.
Here is a spider who has caught a tasty fly on our pepper plants. If you click you can even see the spiders little face. It looks so much like a human face.
Finally, we are looking forward to welcoming our next guests, Mary and Lenny! Their first trip to Italy and great old friends of ours. They will be with us for five nights and we will do some lunches, markets, wine tastings and sightseeing. Stay tuned…
Tasting the oil
On Saturday we drove over to Calagrana where Ely is being held hostage by her son who has broken out in Chicken Pox! She put some of the Olio Nuovo into two small tins for us to try.
First I toasted the bread on the stovetop (wish I had had a fire to toast it over!) until it was nice and charred.
Next I drizzled the pretty green oil over it.
My report. It was delizioso!! Peppery and acidic. Nothing like I have ever had in the U.S. Ely tells me it is best used for drizzling on bruschetta, soups, meats, or salads rather than using it for cooking.
We are enjoying a really, really beautiful November here. The temperatures are near 70F every day with bright blue skies. We are so lucky! It has been nothing like the last two years which, the locals say, were very uncommon.
Here is the river with the changing trees.
