On our ride south today to lunch with friends. Brilliant sunshine.
We met up with friends in a town called Bastia Umbra. Completely overlooked by everyone but we are told there are a lot of monied folks living there. I assume it was bombed during the war since much of it was new. But the old outline of the wall was still there. And some of the old gates remained. Inside was a clothing market along the streets. The second picture below is marking the border of one of the Rioni, or neighborhoods. Most towns have a number of neighborhoods and people living within them are fiercely loyal.
Our friend Doug found the restaurant we went to. It was just outside the old perimeter, called Perl d’Oro. Unpretentious outside but pretty inside. Good service. Delicious seafood.
Here are pictures of our food. Captions under photos.
Originally we wanted to visit a huge fair on the fairgrounds there which was all kinds of vintage things, clothes, furniture etc. We didn’t allow enough time to make the entry fee worth it but I will go again in the future allowing more time…once I am in the buying mode for our new house. 😁
Hi Lee, It has been a long and winding road 😄 I took one semester of Italian in a community college before we moved. That gave me a small base. I also used Rosetta Stone and Duolingo. Once here we started taking lessons in a language school. I am still taking one-on-one lessons every week on Skype. You will need to speak Italian in Chieti for sure. It takes a long time and constant practice. You can take Skype lessons before you leave the US. There are schools online where you can find a teacher.
Hi Matt, we had a fish truck which came on Fridays when we first moved here, hold over from Catholic Fish Fridays. That truck stopped coming but we have two trucks at the Wednesday market. There are also good seafood sections at most big grocery stores. And it is good seafood. Most comes from the Adriatic. Very fresh. There are quite a few good seafood restaurants too. This one was quite good. The fish delicious.
Nancy, what was the program or technique you used to learn the language? I’m going to move to Chieti in 2023 and wanted to get a headstart. Love your posts!
Incredible! What a sumptuous lunch, and how times have changed. I still remember when it was difficult to find fish in Umbria – even inland parts of Tuscany. A truck would show up once a week.