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Wine Tasting!

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I read this in the Post:

The coronavirus would have infected nearly one in five Americans, 60 million people, in the first few weeks of the outbreak without shutdowns or social distancing, according to a peer-reviewed study led by the University of California at Berkeley. The paper credited quarantine policies with preventing hundreds of millions of cases globally through early April, and a separate study estimated that shutdowns saved at least 3.1 million lives in Europe.

This is incredible. And so worth it. I know it was hard. On us. On the world economies, but just look at all the lives saved! Yay us!
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Every 2 weeks we get a new proclamation here. I know many people really want to come here to Italy, for a vacation, or because they own a second home here. And I completely understand. But, as of now, there is no provision for anyone from any non-EU member nations to be allowed in. Unless you are a registered resident here, or have family to tend to, or a medical issue. And can prove it. And then you must quarantine for 2 weeks. In a hotel, at your expense, or a home you own. This may loosen up sometime in July or August but we must wait for the next proclamation, which is June 15.

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Now for some fun stuff! Today was a nice Tuesday. We had reserved a spot ahead at a winery for a tasting at Arnaldo Caprai. Near Bevana and Montefalco. Nice day. Not hot at all. Skies full of all sorts of clouds and blue. It was our first “outing” other than the 2 Lunches we’ve had. We arrived and Camilla, the nice person in the tasting room told us we could sit on the terrace and she gave us the wine menu. Last fall, when we were here it was packed and there was no way to sit on the terrace. Today, it was only us. Quite nice! We chose a white wine each. And she brought a nice plate of meats and cheese, along with crusty bread with good oil drizzled on it. It was a perfect repast. We had another white, then switched to Rosso. Camilla said it was nice without all the buses full of Germans and Swiss. She said all they have had lately is Italians. But we did spot a car from Luxembourg. They were a ways from home. Anyway, a perfect little trip. Some pictures.

Luther on the Terrazzo.
First white
Our meat and cheese plate. One for each.
View from terrace
Behind winery. Grapes!
Behind winery. Olives on top.
Behind winery
Private patio. The family lives in the winery building in a separate wing.

Take care everyone…alla prossima! 🌈

Mercatino di antiquariato e vintage

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Sunday we had our first, first-Sunday-of-the-month, flea market or mercatino di antiquariato e vintage. It was good to see them back! I, in the past, have never bought anything at one of these. But we did buy two things. A plate and a beautiful photo book of Perugia. The book is going to be a gift. Pictures!

Monday
We had terrible storms for hours during the night. And it continued to pour into the morning. It put a damper on our plans for today.

We had planned to get the Angelo Giallo (our Porsche 🙂) serviced and also visit the hospital in Perugia. We canceled and rescheduled for next week. A joy of being retired! 

Tonight we had a delicious chicken stuffed with brie and prosciutto from Calagrana. It had a nice garlicky dipping sauce. Delicioso! 

I hope all are well as we try to extricate ourselves from the lockdowns. The young people are partying on the weekend and I am concerned because they are not masked nor social distancing. I guess we all must wait and see.

Meanwhile we have made plans for our first trip! We will go to the Maremma in Tuscany. On the Mediterranean coast. About a 2.5-3 hour drive. 3 nights. A birthday celebration… More details to follow. Take care everyone, don’t loosen up too much, too soon! 🌈

Tuesday – Day of the Republic

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Today is a national Holiday — Festa della Repubblica. June 2nd. In 1946, it was the day Italians voted to abolish the monarchy, and the Republic of Italy was born. So it’s called Republic Day.

After an 85 year monarchy, which had for the most part been very popular with the people, a referendum resulted in the end.  All male members and future heirs of the ruling House of Savoy were deposed and exiled.

The monarchy had ruled since Italy’s Unification in 1861. Its final monarch, Umberto II only got to be king for a month, earning him the nickname ‘Re di Maggio’ or ‘the May King’.

Umberto had actually been acting as head of state since 1944; after Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime – to which the monarchy had been allied – collapsed, King Victor Emmanuel III transferred his powers to his only son in the hope it would give the monarchy a popularity boost. It didn’t work.

The constitution now forbids a monarchy. In 2002, The House of Savoy family formally renounced their claim to the throne so they could return from exile. Umberto refused the right to return to his homeland, dying in Geneva in 1983.

There you go! Your Italian history lesson for today 🙂
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Last night I made a new recipe from “Six Seasons” cookbook. It was a faro salad with salami, cheese, and fave.  I added new peas, arugula and basil to the mint called for. Lots of good Umbrian olive oil. Very yummy. Luther loved it. 

Buona domenica!

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Sunday in Umbertide. Hard to stop posting when it has become part of my life! But at least I don’t feel like I must, which takes the pressure off. 🙂

I went up to Calagrana to pick up the food I ordered. It is kind of gray but I’ve never seen so many motorcycles and bicycles out as I saw today! On my way I saw this cool little car. It was in perfect condition and I love it’s drop top.

Calagrana was all set up for its first lunch since the shut down. It looked beautiful. Ely was very nervous and hoped all the guests would abide by the rules.

When I got back to town they were having the mass. But it was outside. Excellent idea.

Hope everyone is staying safe. With the loosening of everything it feels dangerous to me. I am just waiting for the spike. 😢

Sabato!

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Today, Saturday, dawned gray but cleared by midday after rain all night. Last night the young people partied into the night at Cafe Centrale. The rain made them pack into the cafe. Maskless. I guess we wait a week or two to see if we get spikes in the virus.

I had errands. First, we visited the market where I bought fave beans, tiny zucchini, the crisp cucumbers, rucola, and fresh eggs! The last five uova! I also took some pictures. Then we paid a bill for my friend. On the way back we visited the newly opened, Carrefour supermarket for the first time. There were far too many people in there. All masked but still… I didn’t feel very comfortable. The store itself is OK. Better than the old Conad but still nothing much different than all small Italian supermarkets. It does stay open all day, unlike the old Conad. We recognized all the checkout women from the old store 🙂. Finally to the farmacia. So much for our errands.

The last thing was to see if the Porsche would start after it’s dead battery issues. We had received our battery charger a couple days ago and it had been hooked up and charging for a couple days. Crossing our fingers we started her up. Vroom! We took a spin. Luther added air to the tires. All is well. It is due for a servicing so that’s next.

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We went to Bar Mary for Aperitivo. I complemented Irene on her pretty flowered mask. She said she got it at the Tabacchi. Next thing I know she had bought me a mask…just like hers! She is so sweet. We are gemelli! Twins.
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Tonight we are having a pasta primavera. Sautéed pancetta, peas, asparagus, fave. Mmm perfect for this time of year.

Pizza night!

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I will thank the Coronavirus for one thing. PIZZA DELIVERY IN UMBERTIDE. Unheard of previously. The pizzeria we call (Degusto) is still delivering. But I keep expecting them to stop now they can have guests and take away. Anyway, tonight I tried another type. Pizza Noci e Pere. Nuts, pears, and Gorgonzola. All my favorite things 🙂.

Pictured. Mine first. Luther’s second. Mmmm. Buon Appitito!

First Pranzo!

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We decided to go out for our first lunch since March! March 11 to be exact.

Yesterday was cool but bright sunshine. We had reservations for two tables of two as they won’t combine tables. But when we arrived there were two tables together but the seating was at either end with the other seat at the corner putting maximum distance between the couples.

We decided to have his stuzzicheria. A platter, a beautiful array of meats and cheeses. This is Patrick’s claim to fame, aside from his wines. He puts a lot of thought into the cheeses, how they go together in a tasting plate. The hams were beautiful. Prosciutto crudo, a cooked pork sliced paper thin, a bresaola, a pancetta. It had been so long since we’ve had this we fell on it like ravenous animals!

My plate … mmmm

Covid 29 – Phase 2.1 – Day 7

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229,327 positives in Italy. Up 0.3% – 32,735 total deaths since beginning of the outbreak.

There are 1,430 positive cases in Umbria. 74 total deaths.

1,613,476 cases in the US – 96,662 deaths.
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Domenica – pretty-ish day today. A little overcast. We will drive out to Calagrana In a few minutes to pick up our meals. 
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While out and about yesterday it felt like old times. Only real difference is the masks. At least everyone wears them. And the one-at-a-time rule for stores and businesses. We are happy to see the businesses back. Last night the youngsters were partying like there was no tomorrow. Hope this doesn’t cause too big of a spike. 

As of June 3 Italy is open again to cross border travel from other EU countries. Not the US though. We, who are here, can travel freely within Italy. There is plenty to see that we haven’t yet seen.  I was talking to a friend who mentioned she hadn’t realized how much of her time was spent traveling, researching and planning travel, anticipating travel, etc. For myself, I am trying to make some day trip plans. But I am having trouble getting started. Why? This is my question…I don’t know. I just can’t seem to take that first step. Luther has a significant birthday in July I need to plan something for that. He wants to go to the beach town with 2 really good restaurants. Not sure I’m up for that yet.

We had our big trip planned for Germany end of July and first part of August. We had found pet/house sitters for this trip from Nova Scotia. They had taken a year off and were traveling Europe. A mix of Airbnbs, working holidays, house sitting etc. Started in Portugal. Then went to, and through Spain. Got locked down in the Dordogne in France. Finally just got loose. They are supposed to head to another part of France and then Italy. I don’t know whether our trip will happen so we will have to let them know as soon as we do. I’m sure they can find a place to stay in Italy cheaply. But they had also hinted they wouldn’t be coming anyway, so we will see.
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As promised yesterday…photos…Here is Rocky. Studying the water…

Rocky. Toe in the water.

Finally, drinking the water.

The olives are amazing this year! This means a huge harvest may be coming this November. I will be ready to go the distance and help. Look at the flowers! Now, I’m told only 3 or 4 olives come from each cluster, but this still means a LOT of olives.

Poppies along the road to Calagrana. 🥰

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Buona domenica a tutti! 🌈 Stay safe!

Covid 19 Phase 2 Day 9️⃣

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219,814 positives in Italy. Up 0.3% – 30,739 total deaths since beginning of the outbreak.

There are 1,412 positive cases in Umbria. 71 total deaths.

1,340,643 cases in the US – 79,935 deaths.
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A new week. Pretty,  if windy, day. Luther had grocery shopping duty so he went this morning. No waiting! We have new more comfortable masks…I don’t even mind wearing them. He tried his and liked it better too. He accomplished the shopping and brought it home. I promptly put all the dry goods into our decontamination room to wait 72 hours. Way easier than trying to wipe everything off.  The cold goods I did disinfect before storing them. So we are set for another week or two. Of course I will supplement with trips to the markets for veggies. The next grocery shopping trip we will go together as we used to.  Maybe even to the big IperCoop! If it opens back up.
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Tuesday. Gray and rainy but pretty warm. Perfect for growing plants. I made a big pot of soup today. Tonight I’m planing coniglia braised in white wine.  Otherwise quiet here.  

My friend Joseph wrote a journal entry today. It really got my attention. He is having difficulty acclimating to this new Phase 2. I completely understand. Maybe this will sound weird to many in the US but we will miss our lockdown. First, the lockdown in the US was never anywhere near what our lockdown was/is. We could not even exit our house without a written reason of necessity. The polizia patroled. We learned to just stay home. Only food shopping, medical needs, or medicines were allowed. Otherwise we had to stay HOME.

So we all got used to it. We even embraced it. I would awake in the morning. I would think of my day ahead. Empty. Serene. No obligations. No errands. Bliss. The days ran together. Each just the same as the one before. Alas, that is coming to an end. I know that sounds strange…but we can love a thing, and hate it too, I think. Our markets returning have again, bookended our weeks in Umbertide. We again have anchors so the days no longer run on in an uninterrupted line.  We must get used to the new changes. But we must be very careful. We will take no chances. And we will wait to see how this re-opening affects the numbers. Here are some pictures from Jill…

This iris is called Lemon Ice! Makes me think of gelato.

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Stay safe everyone 💕🌈 

Covid 19 Phase 2 Day 7️⃣

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218,268 positives in Italy. Up 0.5% – 30,395 total deaths since beginning of the outbreak.

There are 1,407 positive cases in Umbria. 71 total deaths.

1,300,079 cases in the US – 78,320 deaths.

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Hi everyone! Sorry if you received two post emails yesterday. Operator error!

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One of our favorite activities during this enforced inside time is….

As you know I bought artichokes. I cleaned them for a salad I was going to make. These are local. I’ve never had artichokes like these before. They are MEAN. Look at these stickers! The second pic is after I “processed” them.

Tonight we had a salad made from raw artichokes sliced very thinly, with fava beans, fresh spinach, toasted almonds and soft cooked eggs. It was inspired by the book “Six Seasons”, which I mentioned before, although I made a lot of changes. I served the salad with salmon. It was tasty. I took a picture but, sadly, it was blurry. 😔

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Sunday morning. Beautiful day. The bells are ringing. One day they will, again, call people to Mass. Today I have to pick up our weekly meals on wheels! 🤣 Just kidding. The meals are from Calagrana. This time I won’t get caught by the cops as it is now legal to go over and pick them up. Whew.

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Buona domenica to all! And happy Mother’s Day! Take care of yourselves…and stay safe!
🌈 Andrà tutto bene!

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