I am a “forever” Italian student I guess. I am worlds better than when we arrived but I should be because it’s been ten years. I still take a lesson a week. I still wish I was better.
Italian is interesting to me in a lot of ways. Many words are similar to English. It’s the grammar that is completely different. And the use of pronouns correctly still confounds me.
Another thing is pronunciation. Italian is much easier than English in that English has French and Germanic influences. This means we don’t always pronounce all the letters, nor pronounce them the same way. Many remain silent. In Italian, it is very simple…pronounce every letter. Double consonants are pronounced by a pause and then the second one is pronounced. Like the word gatto. Cat. Prounounced gat-toe. Note the two separate “t” sounds But if it had just one “t” — gato, it would be pronounced gat-oh. This is a distinct difference here. We don’t always hear it. Every vowel is also pronounced. For instance our boiler for hot water and heat is a Caldaio. Pronounced cald-ah-ee-oh. Gotta say all those vowels.
Vowels have different sounds. a is ah. i is a long e. e is eh. O is oh. u is not you, rather ooo. Ci is chee. Ce is chay where the ch is soft as in chance. Ch is a k sound. Ca is ka. Cu is coo.
Then there is which syllable to accent. This is not a hard and fast rule. I find this is a big issue for me. If I accent the wrong syllable the Italian I am speaking to does not understand me. For instance, sedano. Celery. The normal rule of thumb is to accent the second to last syllable. So I said say-DAN-oh. They would just look blankly at me. Finally, I learned it is SAY-dahno. Evidently it is unrecognizable if not accented properly. And this is just one example. Always tripping me up.
Another thing I am always pondering. The language lacks the nuances that English has. Just one example is the word caldo. It means hot. There is no word for warm. There is tiepido which is tepid. That’s it. I was trying to describe to my Italian teacher that the house we rented in Ireland was warm. As in, it was someone’s home — warm, inviting. All we have is hot. The house was hot, which must be used to connote it was warm. This is not sufficient for me. Same with pain. Dolore. It is used for pain and ache and just about any other sort of pain. I need a better way to describe how I feel. Oh well, it is what it is. It is always endlessly interesting, the study of languages. One of the fun and challenging things that hopefully keep our brains young living here.
Today, I had an Italian moment. It seems every neighbor was washing sheets. I have three clotheslines on a balcony which is five stories above the ground. It is in full sun and does the drying job nicely. I went out to take in my sheets and saw our across-the-hall neighbor, Helene, was hanging her sheets out too. Then I looked left and the two women on the two balconies next to us were ALSO hanging sheets. It was kind of fun as we all said ciao to one another. I hadn’t seen the two left hand neighbors. I did know the ones right next to us are the parents of Helene. And grandparents of her two girls. One of my lines broke today. So I guess they all need replacing. 240cm x 3. I need to get new line and also clamps to hold them tight.
As the title of the post says, it is autumn! The autumnal light never disappoints. I love how the shadows slant. Everything becomes clearer. I also could tell it is autumn by the produce in the market now. Since I was away on the Ireland trip the produce has changed. I like I can tell what part of the year I am in by what is on offer.
Saturday I went to our little local market. I bought peppers, potatoes, zucchini, an acorn squash, beatole, onions, leeks, and some of the last of the tomatoes. Here are a few pictures of the produce and the piazza. It was buzzing with activity.
I made my first soup of the season. A minestrone. Chock full of vegetables. I was ready for a bowl of soup.
Thursday, September 19 We set off around noon for our next destination, Doolin, about two and a half hours south of Leenane. We planned to drive about an hour and stop for lunch, then go to the grocery store. I found a pub called Tom Sheridan’s on the west side of Galway. It was ok. Then we drove about 3 minutes to the grocery store where we got a few groceries and some wine.
About an hour and a half later we arrived in Doolin, at our house, the Castleview House. Right in the middle of Doolin. Our view.
The town is not much, rather scattered with pubs, restaurants and shops as well as a harbor. We met our landlady, Darra, who, with her husband, own four houses which they rent out here. This one is quite luxurious. It’s new so everything works, unlike Stoneacre in Leenane. I like both places for different reasons. Leenane, because it was the owners home, was more cozy and cluttered. Also older and it needs renovation quite badly. In Doolin, the house was austere. It had a nice outside deck with hot tub and a view of the ruins of the Doolin castle. It had three bedrooms with en-suite baths.
We settled in and took naps. The day was fine so we had a chance to sit outside on the deck and take in the castle view and have a glass of wine before dinner. Then we walked just down the street to Ivy Cottage for dinner. It was recommended by our landlady. She was quite opinionated about which places were good, and which not. Ivy Cottage didn’t disappoint. Our server was Polish, and I think one of the owners Asian. We noticed a lot of hospitality workers are from other places. The food was delicious. I had a Thai curry with prawns. Yummy.
Friday, September 20
Cindy had booked us on a boat trip to Innis Oìrr, a small island, a member of the Aran islands, only 15 minutes from Doolin harbor. We were advised by Darra to arrive early for good seats. While waiting in line we met up with some fishermen quite excited about their weekend. They recommended a pub on the island called Tigh Ned.
It was super windy and not terribly warm. Many people took the horse drawn carts on a tour. The farmers all have big draft horses. They looked healthy but really dirty and unkempt. We took off on a walk around the island village. I snapped some photos; a church being readied for a wedding; A lone horse in front of the silhouetted castle.
Then we headed for the Pub. We were lucky we got there early so we got a good seat and ordered beers. Guiness and Smithwicks, pronounced Smithicks, per Peter, the fisherman. I had my first fish and chips.
Then we waited to board our boat back for the sail along the foot of the Moher cliffs. It is the second most popular sight in Ireland after the Guinness storehouse in Dublin. We were excited because we are huge Princess Bride fans (movie from 1980s). These cliffs were the Cliffs of Insanity in the movie. They are inconceivable! We really enjoyed this part of the trip.
Did I say it was windy?
Sorry there are quite a few pictures.
These next few are my favorites. They are the Cliffs Of Insanity from the movie.
The weather was still holding. It had been very windy and chilly while on the boat and island but here, inland, it was sunny enough we could again sit outside.
Bill took a walk on the Cliffs trail while we were lazy. These next few photos are his and they are great.
We had booked a unique experience for the evening. There is something called the Music House of Doolin owned by Christy Barry and his partner Sheila. They invite people into their living room three evenings a week – about 25 people – to enjoy traditional Irish music and local lore. It was very intimate. Christy, the host, played the penny whistle, a flute and spoons. There was a fiddle player, and an accordion player. The host did all the talking. He was an older man who had grown up in Doolin. He told stories of all the old musicians and the way the music had evolved from when it was always played in the living room, strictly for dancing, to what is now where they play in the Pubs. Doolin is known for its traditional music. We were served wine and finger food by the hosts partner and a neighbor. In the end the two woman danced the traditional Irish dance. It reminded me of flat footing, the dance my Mother’s family and the mountain people did where she grew up. Two audience members played and/or sung. It was a very fun and unique experience. We left at 8:30 because all the musicians had to go to work in the pubs playing with different bands.
Saturday, September 21 We figured a Saturday would be the busiest in Doolin, but it wasn’t obviously busier. We lazed around in the morning. We had crumpets for breakfast, and coffee.
Then we walked to the next town over and visited McGan’s Pub. It wasn’t a lot of fun due to the numerous tour busses which stopped and dumped out their passengers for lunch. We were crowded by them even though there is a back room for the bus people.
We had purchased food for a dinner in so this was the day. Pasta Amatriciana.
Sunday, September 22 We toured our own town of Doolin this day. I did some shopping. I bought earrings and a pretty green scarf with Celtic designs. Then we returned to Ivy’s cottage for lunch. My seafood chowder was delicious.
We had dinner at Anthony’s mainly for its proximity, right across the street. They evidently had a big Saturday night and had sold out of several items. We still managed to get fed. I had a nice sea bass filet served on top of a bed of ratatouille plus roasted potatoes. It was good.
The house we rented is odd in that each of the three bedrooms has a TV but none of the common areas do. So we couldn’t watch anything together. One night after dinner, we actually listened to a couple of Johnny Dollar radio shows from the Big Broadcast on WAMU our old public radio station in DC.
Monday, September 23 Another gray day but no rain. We had our crumpets for breakfast and left for a visit to a town called Ennis. It was about 30 minutes away. Turned out to be a nice town. A rats nest of streets in its center, you could tell it was an old market town. There was a river going through town and they had nice bridges with flowers on them. Lots of houses and stores had flowers as well as on the light poles and all the buildings were colorfully painted. This seems the norm here, colorful houses and stores.
We did a bit of shopping, and then found a pub, Brogdan’s, for lunch. It was an outstanding pub. Luther and Cindy were happy to finally get IPA beers. Seems almost all bars here in Ireland have just the standard beers and ales. Cindy and I had the bacon with cabbage dish because it was different. It was quite good. It was not bacon, rather it was more like ham. On top of cooked cabbage and a big mound of mashed potatoes and puréed carrots. There was what was called a parsley sauce on top, but it was white, more like a béchamel sauce. Anyway, it was good.
Excellent pub
We returned to our town and house and relaxed until evening. We had planned to go to O’Connor’s pub for dinner and to see some Irish music. We had had a beer there the day before and asked about the music which was supposed to start about nine. We had dinner. I had mussels again in a delicious sauce, split with Luther, then a ceasar salad.
After we finished we found an empty table in the room where the band plays. Turns out as we had seen before, the band just shows up and sits at a reserved table. Then off they go. They stop and chat between songs, and get drinks etc. It is all very informal and a lot of fun. Turns out two of the musicians were the same ones from The Music House experience. The accordionist and the flute and whistle player, Christy, who owned the Music House. The music is traditional Irish and we don’t recognize any of it, but it is familiar from bluegrass at home. And from our ancestors who were Scots Irish and brought the music along to the Appalachian mountains, where they settled.
Luther isn’t asleep, he is just listening to the music.
It was a fun evening
Tuesday, September 24 We woke to brilliant sunshine after three days of gray and chill. Always a cheerful sight to see the sunshine. We were leaving our Doolin house and heading for Trim which is not terribly far from the airport. It was hard to say goodbye to the very comfortable house. One of the owners came to say farewell.
Did I say it was a brilliant day?
We drove on some very tiny roads but Luther had gotten very good at them by now. The landscape was pretty amazing. There were enormous granite hills, almost mountains, totally rock. Gray, maybe granite, or limestone. We finally got on the M6 which was a relief. Pictures from along the way
For lunch we randomly picked the town of Athlone which was on the River Shannon and had a big church built in the 1930s and an impressive castle. The center of town was quite nice. We chose the River View Bistro for lunch. They had home made focaccia. I chose the pulled pork since it was something different. It had very little meat on it. Certainly not the pile we get in the U.S. The focaccia made up for it. It was delicious.
Supposed to be the oldest bar in IrelandAthlone castle
We arrived in Trim about three. Our house hotel called the Highfield House was very near the famous castle. It is a strange business. A hotel that is self catering. Didn’t matter to us since we stayed only one night but odd. They check you in and that’s it. If you arrive late your key is in a box. There was no breakfast offered. The rooms were quite small. The bed-sheets paper thin. Pretty building and gardens.
We went right away for a walk to the castle. It was not far. The castle was built in the 1100s by Norman’s. There is an almost intact Keep inside the walls. The movie Braveheart was shot here. The Keep substituted as the Tower of London in the movie. We took pictures and walked back along the river. I got a nice shot of the castle in the distance and the river in the foreground.
Castle keep
We had chosen Kahn Spices Indian Restaurant for dinner. Supposed to be the best place in town. About six Luther and I were wanting an aperitivo so we walked to the Castle Hotel bar. Just across from the castle. Cindy and Bill joined us a little later. It was a nice bar. We walked to the restaurant. It was a nice place. The menu was very interesting looking. We ordered our appetizers and the main courses with naan and rice. The appetizers were disappointing. The mains were better but nothing to write home about. Not spicy enough for me. The owner stopped by twice. Anyway, it was good enough.
We walked back to the Castle hotel bar for nightcaps. They had a man playing guitar and singing. I loved his Irish ballads. He had a nice voice. Luther and Bill finished with a shot of the Red Breast Whiskey. 21 years old. I got a taste and it was about the best I have had. Outside of Middleton which is way too expensive nowadays for us.
Wednesday, September 25 We got up early to get Cindy and Bill to the airport. The traffic is known to be very bad getting to the airport. The estimate by Google was about 50 minutes. We took small roads to avoid the M1 traffic. It went smoothly.
Luther and I didn’t fly out until 7:40 in the evening. A lot of time to kill. We went to the nearest town called Swords. It was nice with a pretty center and shopping. We parked and then parked our butts in a coffee shop for an hour and a half. I had a tasty home made scone with butter and jam. The coffee was good too, and that is saying a lot from Italian coffee lovers.
We took a walk and explored the castle. It wasn’t really a castle but was the Bishop of Dublins home in the 1200s. It had a pretty chapel. Then we perused the shops on the Main Street. Many off track betting parlors, lots of barbers, a few pubs and cafes. We explored a hotel and checked out the menu. And decided to go there for lunch. We went back to the coffee shop. It had begun to rain. We had another cup of coffee and then went to lunch. The bar didn’t have the usual beers for a change. He tried a bitter and an IPA. I had a white wine and then we both had curries. Not very good but we were fed.
Off to the airport and dropped off the car. We had a scrape from the mishap with the wall from early on, so we were charged the €250 deductible. Oh well. We arrived at the terminal at 2:30. We were around 5 hours early so they would not allow us to check our bag. We had to wait two hours until they would allow it. Finally at 4:40 it took the bag. We did the fast track security and then went to the Lounge which we had paid to use.
It was OK. A bit crowded, but we found a table. We got two complementary drinks and then we could eat dinner. I had the Guinness Irish stew on mash. Luther had a sammich. It was a good place to kill the rest of the time. We arrived in Bologna at about 11:30pm. Took a taxi and spent the night. Then drove home the next morning.
Best and worst Since we only did 2 hotels The Mont in Dublin won that contest
Best Dublin breakfast – for me it was at Tang in Dublin, the wonderful middle eastern dish called Shakshuka.
Best Dublin dinner – Luther liked Note. I guess I agree but I was not that impressed.
Best rental house – can’t choose. They were so different. One was someone’s home, so it was cozy, the other was new and purpose built. Both were comfortable.
Best views – from Stoneacre in Leenane.
Best outing – tie between the two cruises, one on the fiord, and the other to the Aran islands and the Cliffs of Moher.
Most unique outing – The Music House in Doolin. But the last evening in Doolin where we sat next to the musicians and listened was also very special
Best dinner – Ivy Cottage in Doolin
Best Lunch – Hamiltons restaurant, Leenane, my mussels were the best I’ve ever had and that I could see the mussel farms from the restaurant made them even more special.
Souvenirs – I bought fingerless mittens from a nice older lady in Letterfrack. She knitted everything she sold. Two books, a scarf, and two coasters. Also bought two blocks of cheddar because it is scarce in Italy.
Cindy brought me some knives I ordered and had sent to her. She also brought me a beautiful hand made scarf from Virginia. I love it. I gave her olive oil. Not very adventurous of me.
Observations: it was odd to me that they don’t plant anything near their houses. No shrubs. Even odder that many pave the entire yard. They love to paint their houses and buildings bright colors. The pubs almost all serve the same beers. Very few craft brews. Might be the overpowering Guinness influence. Many people say youse. As in “can I get anything else for youse?” One of our favorite experiences was the cab ride from Roe & Co distillery to our hotel. The driver was amusing to say the least. His favorite word was fock or focking. In hindsight we spent five nights in two places and it would have been better to do three places with fewer nights in the two we visited. We did it this way so we didn’t have to pack and unpack but the two places didn’t have that many things to do. We still had great fun, and it turned out more low key which was fine since 3 of us got colds.
Saturday, September 14 This day was our leaving Dublin day. We had a very traditional breakfast in Kilkenny Cafe. Everyone was happy. We checked out and cabbed to the airport to get our rental car. Mission accomplished.
Off to the west we went. It was a 4 hour drive. We stopped for lunch in a random town called Loughrea in a pub called the Old Triangle. It was ok. We had red ales, and three had the fish and chips and one the chicken curry. Pretty good.
Then we went to Galway to buy groceries so we could make dinner that night. OMG. What a mess. We now know what all the Galwegians do on a Saturday afternoon. Shop. The traffic was horrific. It must have taken an hour to find the Tesco which was hidden with no signage. The Google maps guy said it was there but to find it was a whole different thing. Anyway, we did buy things and off we went to find our house which we rented for five nights in a town called Leenane.
It was raining by now. Visibility was very poor from rain and mist. The roads got smaller. The hills got bigger, the rivers were overflowing their banks. We had to ford a pretty high water place. There was also, inexplicably, a ton of traffic coming the other way. The roads were narrow and this was Luther’s first day driving. We finally arrived. All of us were tired. Especially Luther.
The house is a bit creaky and dated but the rooms are lovely. The views are to die for. What a beautiful place. The owner lives in Virginia. She spends summers here because she is a teacher. The rest of the year she rents it. A nice man named Conor Bogdan takes care of it for her and for the rentals.
We cooked in that evening. Pasta arrabbiata. I was pooped and hit the sack early.
I captured many pictures of Killary Fiord from the living room of the house during our stay. I will sprinkle them through.
Sunday, September 15 My mother’s birthday. Happy birthday Mom. Sadly, during the night I came down with a cold. I don’t think it is Covid. I have never had it so I can’t be sure, but by nightfall it still was cold symptoms. We are in the middle of nowhere so no medicine available. Tomorrow we go to another town with pharmacies.
This day we had already decided would be a down day. And that was good for me. Cindy and Bill did wash. We finally went out for lunch in the wee town of Leenane. It consists of a Pub, a Restaurant, a Cafe, a gift shop, and a sub-par “grocery”. The weather was fine.
We chose Hamilton’s Bar and Restaurant. We chose it because of its menu. It was very good. One of the best meals we have had. I had the local mussels, farmed right in the Killary Fiord. So sweet, plump and clean. Luther had the seafood plate. Cindy had the Seafood Pie, and Bill had the Chicken Curry. All good.
We stopped off at the Purple Door Cafe and bought four ham and cheese sandwiches. They called them croque monsieurs. But they were not. No matter, it made a fine, quick dinner later.
Monday September 16
We traveled to visit the pretty waterfall, Aassleagh. On the river Erriff. Love those double letters! We even saw a huge salmon trying to leap up the falls. Cool!
This one even has two fishermen trying their luck. Catching a salmon would be awesome!
There aren’t many trees on these barren hills so these pines caught my eye.
Then off we went to visit Westport. A city of 6,800 people but it seemed bigger. But! Gasp! About six kilometers out of town our tire pressure warning light came on. And the strangest thing, almost at that exact time we approached a gas station with a tire center. There had been nothing on this whole road until now. Turned out we had about a 2 inch long screw in the treads. The man in the garage could fix it, thankfully. Not sure what we would have done otherwise. We were really lucky!
Westport had a ton of pharmacies so we got some cold medicine. Not sure it will help much. Why do they sell this stuff that doesn’t work?
We walked around the town. Really very pretty with colorful buildings. There was a pretty bridge with flowers on it, and a placid, shallow river. Lunch was at Covey’s. It was a hotel with restaurant and at night a bar that stays open late. Luther and I had the sea trout lunch special. Bill had the roast beef special, Cindy had the chicken curry because the chef is Indian. I don’t think it was as good as expected. Everything else was ok.
Then we did some grocery shopping in the big Tesco superstore. I got a roasted chicken for dinner and a giant baguette. And there will be salad. A perfect dinner. The ride back was beautiful. The hills are stark and bare. The valleys can be either green with sheep grazing, or moor-like with gorse and heather. A nice, if low key day.
Tuesday, September 17
Another beautiful day. Warm and clear. We decided to explore the other side of the fiord to a town called Letterfrack. To be honest there is not a lot to see there. There was a pretty abbey on the way. I bought a pair of fingerless gloves from a sweet old lady with a knitwear shop. She knitted it all herself. We got back to Leenane and tried to find lunch. A little hard so in the end we ate at the Purple Door. It was fine. I had the potato leek soup.
Back to the house and a little mishap with yet another tire. Luther clipped the stone wall on the way in and it destroyed the sidewall and scraped the metal under the door. So we called the Enterprise tyre help number and within a couple of hours we had a new tire. All’s well that ends well. Glad we had the full coverage.
An amazing sunset capped a lovely day.
Wednesday, September 18 We rose to another lovely morning. The fiord never disappoints with its ever changing moods. From placid sunsets to morning clouds hugging the slopes. We had booked a cruise on the fiord for this day.
We drove down to Nancy’s Point…yep, named after me! And boarded a smallish catamaran named the Lady Conamarra. Such an amazing day was never seen in Western Ireland apparently. Everyone has been thanking us for bringing this weather. They didn’t have a summer this year, so this was their summer.
On the cruise we learned the northern side of the fiord is the oldest by many millions of years. The south side is younger. There is a stark difference. The north side is much rockier and more rugged, less arable. The south side is softer with fields of green and forests.
North sideSouth side
Almost the entire fiord is being used for mussel farming. I ate them a couple days ago and they are the best I have ever eaten. There was also a salmon farm. One of the first ever they said.
The boat served food and drinks but we missed out. I guess you have to go sit down right away to get lunch. So we returned to Leenane for lunch. We went back to Hamilton’s the best place in town. And then bought fixin’s for dinner. In the evening we watched a DVD that was recommended by the boat guy. It was shot in Leenane and there happened to be a copy in the house. The name is The Field. Shot in 1990. We recognized all the areas. It was a very good movie set in the 1930’s, but very sad. It showed how hard life was around here back then.
Not sure what was up with this guy. I guess you have to see at least one Leprechaun while in Ireland!
Our final morning we said goodbye to the lovely Fiord. It was socked in with fog today. The many faces of the Fiord are endlessly interesting. Someone wrote a comment on a Facebook post I made that I had found where God lives. And I think I must agree.
Hi everyone! So sorry I have neglected posting lately. Much going on. I promise to start posting more often. Meanwhile, we had a nice 2+ week trip to Ireland. I hope you enjoy my report. ~~~~~~~~~~ Wednesday, September 11. We said goodbye to our house and cat sitters and took off for the Bologna airport. As usual we arrived and checked in and went to our favorite restaurant for a good lunch. The Ryan Air flight was direct to Dublin and took 2.5 hours.
It was 8:30 by the time we got out of the airport. So when we arrived at our hotel (The Mont) we immediately dropped our suitcase and met Cindy and Bill for a latish dinner at Kennedy’s Pub, only 2 minutes from the hotel. Most kitchens close at nine but this one was open until eleven.
There was a live trio playing Irish music. We ordered and ate but it was not the best pub food I’ve had. Nevertheless, we got fed after a long day for us all.
Thursday, September 12 We had opted for the hotel breakfast at €20 a person. Error, error. Just sub par and not worth the money. It was ok. We never went back. We headed out for a walkabout. It was a pretty nice day. Brisk and partly sunny. We visited the shopping streets on the far side of the river. We walked over and took pictures of the pretty white foot bridge. We checked out the really nice Marks and Spencer. We photographed the Temple Bar neighborhood. Very pretty with a lot of flowers on the buildings. The Temple Bar itself is said to have the most expensive Guinness in all of Ireland.
There was a cool butcher shop with mosaics of the animals and a very friendly butcher inside. It was a lot of fun just meandering and soaking it all in.
We went onto the Trinity College campus which was very pretty. Lots of people on the lawns and benches soaking up the sun. We had a beer in the Campus pub and then went through a secret gate to a pub we chose called the Lincoln’s Inn. They had things like traditional Irish stew with lamb and some nice wraps. We had dinner reservations in a nice place so didn’t want to eat too much.
Dinner was good but not exceptional. Very close to our hotel. Called Note. We enjoyed some burgundy wines. I had a zucchini starter and a risotto with black kale and Nori. Luther had Monkfish. He liked that. The risotto was bland. My zucchini starter was great.
Friday, September 13 Big day of walking. We started with what in my mind was an amazing breakfast. A place called Tang. Middle eastern food and amazing breakfasts. I had Shakshuka. Two eggs in a spicy tomato-y, red pepper-y sauce with all kinds of great middle eastern spices and nuts. Wow. So good. The others got the fried eggs on toast which also had middle eastern flavors.
Thoroughly fortified we took off for a tour of the Marsh’s Library and the Cathedral. It was about half an hour walk. Along the route was a trip through St. Stephen’s Green, the largest of the parks opened to the public in 1880.
In the library there were stacks of old books. I love old books. These were very old. Think Gutenberg. There were several collections from several people who had bequeathed or sold them to the library. Then we went next door to the Cathedral. But we were turned away as there was a private service. We were told to return after 1:30 but that was not convenient.
We then walked up to Christ Church Cathedral. There was also a Dublin museum which concentrated on history starting with the Vikings. It was pretty interesting. We then went down the street to The Christ Church pub. We had salads because that breakfast was still sticking with us. We hung around a long time because we were killing time before our Whiskey Tour of Roe & Co. While at the pub we chatted with the window washer. We could all understand just about half of what he was saying. He was very nice though, and friendly.
We headed off to our tour, arriving right on time. There were about twelve people on the tour. All Americans. The tour was a lot of fun. The building was once an electric power plant which was abandoned. It was bought by Roe in 2017 so this is a pretty young operation. We saw the huge malting vats and the stills which pump out 2 pints a second of distilled whiskey.
Next we all sat around a big pear shaped table and we had fun first tasting the whiskey and then the corn which was cask strength. Then we got to blend our own whiskey using ratios we chose. For instance, I liked the corn alcohol so used a 65% to 35% mix for mine. It was pretty good. Then they had some things we could add that would transform the whiskey we made to a cocktail, think, Manhattan. Then we went to the bar and finished our drinks. It was fun.
Dinner was in a place called Spitalfields. It was a gastronomic pub. It was in a pretty far away neighborhood and our cab driver had trouble finding it. We had a very nice dinner. Not fancy. Loud and happy place. Luther and I shared a trout appetizer and we had schnitzels. Yeah, a little weird in Ireland…but hey! It was the best schnitzel I ever had in Ireland.
Yesterday we had four of our best friends here in Italy over to share lunch with us. We had invited everyone a couple weeks ago figuring we would be FINALLY past the heat. Hah! In our dreams. It was going to be 35. So I told everyone to just dress cool. Turns out, although it was warm, it was bearable. And my food was not hot. Here is the table.
We started with bruschetta. Three types. Tomato, cannellini beans, and avocado. Here is our gang. All of them live near each other, we are the outliers. From left, Steve, Doug, Luther, Roselyne and Jennifer.
Here is the secondo. It is a Paella Salad with Mussles, Clams and Shrimp. The marinated seafood is made a day ahead and chilled. The saffron flavored rice is made in the morning and left to cool after tossing with the dressing and vegetables. Served with a tomato, garlic mayonnaise. Also called a rouille in France.
Today, Sunday, the day after the feast, we are on the cusp of actual cooling. Nice. This week we try to get ready for our big, upcoming trip to Ireland with my sister and her husband. I am sure we will need coats for this trip!
The heat spell continues. Daily temperatures of 35C, 95F. Not quite as bad as the over 100 days. At night it cools enough to sleep well. Looks like we have another week of this heat and then it begins to cool to around 30C.
We get our errands done in the mornings. I need one more big pot and would like to get it from our Molini Popolari so it matches the one for the kumquat. But they are sold out and I keep checking to see if they got more. Anyway, they have not. But I did notice this whole array of chicken coops. From very tiny, how many chickens could they hold. One? Two? And up to very large. I have always wanted to keep a couple chickens. But on a roof terrace? I dunno.
I finally bought a cabinet that will hold all my garden stuff, brooms and dust pans. We assembled it on Sunday. I hate assembling things. But we managed with only one mistake and that one wasn’t our fault! Nothing makes me happier than organizing things and making things tidy. Check this out!
Umbertide has begun a major building project. I can’t make hide nor hair of how this is going to work. The aim is to integrate our collegiata, the 15th century round church, into the Centro more. They are separated from each other now by a parking lot and a road. I read they will change the traffic patterns and there will be more places to sit. Here is a scan of the changes. If you can figure it out, let me know!
And on a very sad (and angry) note. There was some major vandalism in the Centro of Umbertide. One of my favorite things was destroyed. It was a pretty Madonna in an arch on a building. They gouged out her face then spray painted all over her. Some people have nothing better to do.
Screenshot
Thursday is the beginning of our huge annual festa, Otto Cento. Merriment and mayhem will prevail. Food, drinks, stilt walkers, dancers, music, costumes. All in the spirit of the late 1800s when Italy became a country. It lasts for four days. We used to live just above it all and it was loud. Now, we have to walk in to visit. If you’re interested type Otto Cento in the search bar on this site to see other years festivals. Lotsa pictures.
I promised to write about our lunch today. It was a doozie. We went with our friends Jane and Christie. This restaurant we have visited twice before a few years ago. It is way out in the countryside south of Gubbio. A beautiful location on a ridge top with views of the very high Sibillini mountains in one side and Monte Acuto and the smaller mountains on the other. The food is innovative and uses much local foraged produce. It also uses a lot of fermented items. So, without further ado….
To begin, we had 3 small “gifts” from the chef. One was a take on sushi with cured pigeon for us meat eaters. Then a caramelized savory crème brûlée and the last was a bottarga covered unknown other but it was delicious. They all were.
I started with a grilled melon with a goat cheese schmear plus other delicious other bits to include fermented arugula.
Luther got the amazing tortelli di cacciagione, tobacco, e stracchino di capra. It was marvelous and weird.
I had the melanzana glassata – eggplant but so, so much more!
Finally we shared a dessert. Carota, mandorla e fava tonka.
We had arrived just when a ferocious thunderstorm arrived. It was very atmospheric. This was kind of a last supper, ok, last pranzo 😊 with our friends who return to the US on Wednesday after around 6 months here. We wanted to take them somewhere different. It was great fun. A delicious meal with good friends.
It is an August Saturday in Umbertide. As I always do on Saturday, I went in to the market. It is brimming with summer produce. I bought a bunch of tomatoes, zucchini, a big beet, lettuce, and half a sugar baby watermelon from one vendor, oh, and ten eggs from the nice Sardinian cheese lady. Eggs are sold in different amounts in the stores here. They sell them in a four pack, and in a ten pack. In the market you can just say how many you want. Like six, or three. I bring a box for them to use. Eggs are not refrigerated here because they are not washed. They leave the film that coats them when they are laid which keeps the bacteria out. Although sometimes, when it is very hot, I will pop them in the refrigerator to extend their life.
Here are some pictures of my town and of the market starting with my entering the centro. The Rocca, our fortress, there since the 800s, dominates the town.
Entering Piazza Matteotti the market tents take up the square.
The vegetables and fruits are beautiful! All the summer fruits. The peaches are in now, the pears just beginning, and the plums! Roma tomatoes dominate but some stands still have salad tomatoes.
There are vendors selling other things as well. All must be produced/made by the vendor. This first is the dried legumes for which Umbria is famous. The next one is the black summer truffles for which Umbria is ALSO very famous. Then jams and honeys.
This ceramics guy is always here. I have one or two of his pieces. They are made here in town.
Back home with my treasures I finished the tomato tart I had begun early this morning. I made the pastry and refrigerated it. When I got home I finished it and popped it into the oven. It heated up the house somewhat but not too bad. Since I had the oven on and heated I popped the big beet I had bought in to roast. It will make a nice salad with feta and toasted nuts. Here is the finished tart. A David Leibovitz recipe.
We will have the tart with a small salad and a bowl of the cold tomato soup that I made earlier in the week. Vegetarian to make up for the steak extravaganza last night! 😁
We paid a visit to our favorite butcher, Etrusco, this week. He was posting pictures of his amazing meats and this particular cut caught my eye. Picanha. A cut first popularized in Brazil, and adopted by Portugal. I had not heard of it. Apparently it is not common in the U.S. The steak comes from what was called a bue grasso, or fat ox. This is the huge white cattle they have here. A multipurpose animal. In the past they plowed the fields under harness and pulled the cart. They also gave milk in limited quantities, and they were used as meat. Huge gentle beasts, pure white. I could certainly never kill one. But, I am certain that this butcher sources his animals locally and that the animals are grass fed, happy during their lives, and slaughtered in a humane way.
We bought a steak and also some other meat, much of it from the bue grasso. Well veined with fat, I guess that’s why they call them grasso. (Sorry, my vegetarian friends) Tonight I built a wood fire in the outside fireplace, despite the heat, and grilled the steak.
I must say was one of the best steaks we have ever had. Very tender and oh so flavorful. I served it with a tomato mozzarella di bufala salad. The tomatoes are from my plants. They are sweet. The basil is from the basil plants that ate manhattan! 😉🤣
Buon appetito! ~~~~~~~ This weekend will be when the weather changes. Tomorrow is the kilo 0 market. I will buy more tomatoes while they last. They won’t be around much longer. On Sunday we are going to a restaurant with our friends Christie and Jane. It is the end of a long stay for them. The weather will be cooler, in the 20s. I will do a post about the restaurant for sure. Buon fine settimana!
