This year, being an election year. Oh, you hadn’t heard? Yes, it is a big and very important election for the USA. We had received our ballots via email last month. We decided to send our ballots back via UPS to make sure they got there fast, safe and trackable. We did NOT trust either the Poste Italiene nor the USPS (sadly). To be doubly sure, we addressed the envelop to Luthers brother and his wife who live in our Precinct. We even got definitive proof! So, YES we voted with some help from our…relatives!
Thank you Mike and Anne…you know who we voted for 😁! Now we wait…
Unfortunately for the human race, Covid-19 is making a resurgence. Here in Italy we had almost 7,500 new positives yesterday. We aren’t as bad as France, Germany, UK. Czech Republic, and Spain, many of whom are taking drastic measures to try to slow the disease.
The figures below come from The Local website. Italy’s health authorities on Wednesday reported 7,332 new cases within the past 24 hours, a figure that exceeds the record high of 6,557 seen on March 21st. Italy is testing a lot (between Tuesday and Wednesday there were 152,196 tests) but this is still concerning. The percentage of swabs coming back positive has also risen, to 8.4%. (The figure on Tuesday was 5.4%)
Earlier on Wednesday a leading Italian virologist warned that a second lockdown could be needed over Christmas, saying it would allow Italy to “reset the system, lower the transmission of the virus and boost contact tracing.”
US Covid news from The Washington Post:
In many places where case counts are rising, political leaders are reluctant to impose new lockdowns, because the public is tired of them. But that creates something of a Catch-22: The most reliable way to reverse big outbreaks of this virus has been through strict crackdowns. In the U.S.: The virus is spreading in every region, with the highest case counts in the South and Midwest.
~~~~~~~ On a lighter note. A couple of days ago I went for a walk. I drove a short way to a path I had been seeing ever since we moved here and I had always wanted to walk it. It was a glorious fall day. The late afternoon sun was slanting as it only does in the Fall when the sun is low in the sky. Here are a few pictures.
The path.The tobacco in the fields is turning yellow. Ready for harvest.Someone’s ready for winter.Partially harvest tobacco field.
Everyone stay safe. We will probably start staying away from restaurants etc. since it is all inside dining here now. 🌈 Andrà tutto bene.
I’ve been having fun setting up my new IMac. Cost a pretty penny here. Apple products are expensive in the US. Here we have to add a 22% tax. This makes them REALLY expensive. My last computer was a MacBook Air. It was probably 10 years old. I had had it from well before I retired. I’d kept up with the operating system upgrades but it had started showing signs of its age lately.
So, I bit the bullet and sprang for the new IMac. Beautiful machine. I’ve been a Mac user since the very first Macs back in 1980. I’m not about to give up on them now. I’ve gotten this one set up, melded it with the Air and brought over most of my files. My Air had very old Adobe Creative Suite software from back before I retired. Nowadays you can’t buy it, you must subscribe to it. None of my old programs came over. Nor my music. Sad. Again I bit the bullet and bought the Creative Suite. So I am set.
Now I am taking pictures when I go on my walks. I would like to develop a portfolio of photos. I plan to frame them and hang them for myself and maybe I could get them displayed somewhere. No matter. I am having fun fooling with them. My focus is on Umbertide. All of my photos will be of Umbertide and the surrounding area. I love it in the fog and nowadays we have heavy fog in the morning. I have been converting them to black and white. For some of them I go back and highlight some parts of the photo. Like allowing the colors to come through the black and white. Here is an example. Autumn corn ready for harvest and wild flowers.
~~~~~~ The Covid cases are really going up here. Not as bad as Germany, UK, France and Spain. And a LOT less than in the US. But still, the cases are growing. Unsettling. The government here extended the Emergency decree until January 31. Thankfully, it allows the flexibility to make mandates as it deems necessary. The latest mandate is masks, inside and outside except for solitary exercise. The police are out enforcing the new rules. Fines of €400- €1000 for not complying. Also restrictions on bars and sporting events. Hoping this will slow this new growth. If not I fear a new lockdown is in our future.
The ban on travel to Italy for tourism from the US remains in force indefinitely. We plan no travel now for the foreseeable future.
As you may remember, we are in the midst of many chores. I mentioned to Elizabeth I still needed to send our ballots and she volunteered to take me to Mailboxes Etc. She had something to mail as well. We drove to Citta di Castello and in the industral outskirts found the shop. Formerly it had been in the city. This is much more convenient with parking right out front. Ca-Ching! Sent our ballots UPS, should be there in two days.
While we were out Luther was running errands too. All told, between the two of us we got the ballots mailed, duplicate trash can keys made and more floor polish for Vera.
But life is not all about errands! Elizabeth and I went on to visit a ceramics place I’ve had on my list For-ever to visit. It is called Bizzirri. And wow. It is a great place. Beautiful and very different from Deruta ceramics. I would bring guests here. Very nice. I bought, in their giant seconds room, a little yellow bowl, and I got a nice trivet, which I’ve been on the lookout for.
After that we headed for a farm which specializes in truffles. As you probably know, truffles can’t be cultivated so they don’t “grow” the truffles, rather they search out and harvest the truffles with specially trained dogs who sniff out the fungi. But Tartufi Bianconi is much more than that! They host truffle hunts for people who are interested, they offer cooking classes, and they process and sell their own products, along with other artisanal products from the area in their shop. They even have a truffle museum! Among some of the famous people who have come and participated in a hunt here is Gwyneth Paltrow.
Sadly, the Corona Virus has severely affected their business. They are struggling to keep their six employees paid. They hope maybe 2021 is a better year. I do too.
When we walked into their little shop, we were inundated with the earthy aroma of truffles. It is such a heady smell. I often think the truffles smell better than they taste! In the museum, I learned a few things about the truffle seasons in Umbria. Umbria is famous for both its summer truffles (black) and its winter truffles (white). The best IMO are the winter white ones. They have just begun to come in for this season and will be better in November and December. White truffles can be sold for €2,000 a kilo. Bianconi also exports to the famous Alba truffle market in the Piedmonte.
A chart of the different truffles and their seasons.Shop.
Below are some of their products.
Here are some of the gigantic fresh white truffles they have found. WOW.
This is Gabriella.
I am thinking this is a bucket list thing…yes! Go on a truffle hunt. I hope some of my readers may want to do this as well in the future. Please keep Tartufi Bianconi in mind.
Sunday is the traditional day for lunch out in Italy. Families and friends go to the country and in town places. It is imperative to book. We were going with our friend, Elizabeth to Ristorante Caldaro. A nearby place that always slips my mind when I’m mentally thinking of dining possibilities. Not sure why, since it is one of the nicer and better places around.
Downside was it was very crowded. There seemed to be a celebration of some kind on the first floor. There was an enormous table. We were upstairs and it was full. The tables are not as far apart as I have seen in most places and not conducive to feelings of well being. Now we’re heading into winter and we’ll be eating inside more often. We have cut our dining out to once a week or less. This, is to try to limit our proximity to people. And also because we are watching our calories right now.
We three enjoy eating and we are all wine afficionados. We had two courses each, plus shared dessert, and we shared two bottles of wine. One white, a Lungarotti Torre di Gianno vigna il Pino, and one red, La Spinetta Vigneto Gallina Barbera d’Alba. Both lovely. Here are pictures of some of the food.
Eggs with truffles.Grilled octopus with burrata on mashed potatoes.Beautiful dessert we shared.
A fun time with good company, good food and wine…how can that be wrong? 💕
The weather wasn’t so nice. We had lots of rain off and on, wind and cool temperatures. Some of the storms were downright scary looking. I love watching the weather approach from our high position. I can see the rain marching towards us, eclipsing the mountains.
Montone on it’s hilltop.North in the direction of Citta di Castello.
I went to visit a friend and see her new pool on Friday afternoon (it is amazing!). She lives in Castel Rigone on top of the mountains between here and Lago Trasimeno. I took a couple of pictures along the way.
Olive grove. The picking season is nearing and it’s going to be a whopper.View of Umbertide down in the valley.
Things are not going well with Covid-19 in many places now. France, Spain and the UK have lockdowns in parts of the country. Their new case numbers are skyrocketing. Italy has not been as bad as them but the numbers are steadily rising and a new proclamation is due to come out from the National Government on Wednesday. The early intel says they will mandate masks all the time both inside and out for all the country. Many regions have already done this on their own. I also heard there will be an 11PM curfew for Bars. Maybe this will help. Our schools have been back in session for two weeks and I haven’t heard any bad news from that. Of course the US is way out of control. I look at the maps of the new infections growth and the whole north of the country is red with higher cases daily. Now that school is back in, and the weather is cooler, people are inside more so the cases grow.
Be careful everyone. Wear those masks and avoid crowded situations. 🌈 Andrà tutto bene!
Domenica mattina. Umbertide is silent in the dark before the morning light makes itself known. The days have gotten noticeably shorter. The mornings darker. At 6:30 almost every day of the year, I hear from my bed, the sound of the metal gate on Bar Mary being thrown up to open for the day. Irene (pronounced Ear-RAY-Nay) is the designated opener. Mary, the closer. Saturday night was a raucous party. Sunday morning, is calm. The next thing I hear is the sound of chairs scraping on the stones. Everyday, Irene and Mary, the sister owners, spend an inordinate amount of time repositioning the chairs around the tables. And then the customers come and move them all again.
Morning on Piazza Matteotti
Once Bar Mary was Bar Patsy. And who knows before that? It is owned by the Catholic Church who inherited it from an old woman who lived in the building. The sisters pay their rent to the church. Our first day in Umbertide, we had driven straight here from Rome after our overnight flight for our house hunting trip, we met Jim, our realtor, who, first thing, took us to Bar Mary for a beer. And it has been our “go to” place ever since.
Irene
The first customers arrive shortly after opening. I can hear Irene talking to them. And then a laugh that rings across the Piazza. Both Mary and Irene laugh easily, heartily, and loudly. I affectionately call it a cackle. Esspressi are made, and within seconds have been downed while standing at the bar. Sometimes a customer will linger at the outside tables over a cappuccino and a cornetto. The Sunday bells peal, calling people to mass.
Not long after opening, the old men begin to arrive. Every town in Italy has their cadres of old men, pensioners, kicked out of the house by the wife or coming to the Bar for company if they live alone. They sit, and read the sports page and have arguments about the teams. Before long the Briscola begins. Also called Scopa, but not here in Umbertide. Here, it is only called Briscola. It is a quirky card game played by Italians. The games can get loud and heated. There were four tables going last evening, each surrounded by the inevitable kibitzers. The men always go home by seven for dinner. The old men never buy a thing from Bar Mary. They just take up table space. And they expect the bar to provide the cards! I wonder at this. What is in it for the Bar? And, as far as I can see, nothing. But it is tradition. And no one will complain.
The passagiata usually begins around five in the afternoon. People begin to stroll through the Piazza. Families with strollers and kids in tow. Grandparents with their grandchildren, showing off the bambini proudly. Then the teenagers and young people come through in packs. All seeing, and being seen. An evening ritual throughout Italy.
Passagiatta, evening stroll.Spritz
Not long after the old men go home, the tables will be taken by families, couples and young people. They will order an affogato, or gelato. Maybe a drink or two. An aperol spritz perhaps. The little kids run wild screeching and spinning across the piazza. Chasing the pigeons. The parents pay them no mind. They are perfectly safe. And out of control 🙄.
You won’t see them blond like this one very often. Cute ragazzo.
We have a list a mile long of things to get done. We have been trying to work our way through them. This week and last, we made MAJOR progress!
Last week we had our stufa cleaned. This is our pellet stove that warms our living room. Now we are ready for winter. We also finally got a plumber to come to our house to fix a bunch of things we’ve had for, literally, years. Today the plumber came back. He fixed everything! I am stupidly happy. I have new toilet seats for both toilets. I have a toilet that flushes again. I have a new rain shower and a shower door that no longer leaks. I have a new faucet outside on the terrace. It has leaked for all the time we’ve lived here. First time it will be dry out there. My small table is no longer wet, and I hope the mold goes away now. It makes me crazy happy.
We also visited our primary care doctor for an introductory appointment. And to get flu shots. I really like our new doctor. She is so accommodating. She will email our prescription refills rather than make us return every month. We changed from our old doctor because we were not happy with her.
I also have an appointment with my knee surgeon on Saturday. Looking forward to asking him about my ongoing knee issues.
The only thing not working out so far is mailing our absentee ballots. We have tried twice and so far have not managed to mail them. We want to use DHL so we can track, and also so we can avoid Poste Italiene and USPO. Next week for sure. Piano, piano…
We had a nice overnight with friends to Senigallia. It is an easy drive. About 1.5 hours if you don’t stop anywhere. We planned some visits to wineries along the way so it took longer. Most of the trip, outside Umbria, was in Le Marche. A pretty region similar in landscape to Umbria except for the proximity to the Adriatic.
Our first target was Matelica. The landscapes and views are beautiful. It’s agricultural and also pretty mountainous. They’re are lots of wineries. They make primarily Verdicchio which is a nice white wine. If you find a good producer, it can be very complex. We chose ColleStefano. A nice property. All the wineries are in the middle of the harvest and the crush so we had a bit of trouble visiting them. We bought a case of the Verdicchio and a few Rosati (Rosé).
View from the tasting room.
Our next goal was finding a place to have the picnic we brought. We visited another winery. We could purchase, but not taste because the family was busy with the harvest. No place to picnic.
Pretty view from the second winery.
Off we went towards Senigallia. No picnic tables to be found. Finally along the Lungomare, the sea coast, we found a small park with a table. The town is quite empty. Quiet. We checked into our hotel, TerrazzoMarconi. Our view.
The Pavillion
The evening was a fancy dinner at a Michelin 3 star restaurant Uliassi. Seafood. It sits right on the beach. It was sprinkling as we walked to dinner. We had to wait a bit for the doors to open. Here are a few pictures.
Cuttlefish with quinoa and nori seaweed pesto.Shrimp in a citrus sauce.Pasta with oyster sauce.Sea bass in squid ink.
A nice evening.
Thursday morning. We had a nice if surprising breakfast. Buffets have disappeared since the advent of Covid. We had seen none until today when they had a completely open buffet. No glass covers over the food or anything. No restaurants in the Marche took our temperature or contact info. I suppose all the regions have their own rules. We even had a mini-bar, also a thing of the past since Covid.
Luther and I took a walk on the beach. It was hot!
We got underway and headed for another winery for a tasting and to purchase. This one was near Jesi.
Winery entrance.Fall is coming.First Verdicchio.2ndThe house of the property.
After our nice tasting we headed for Fabriano and lunch. There is good news. And there is bad news. We arrived and parked and walked to our intended restaurant. They were closed. So we went to a small piazza not far away where there was a nice bar. So we settled in and ordered lunch. The bad news was, the food was awful. I can’t remember when I’ve gotten such bad food in Italy.
The town of Fabriano is known since the 1300s as a primo paper making city. They are even a UNESCO heritage site for this to this day. I love this city. Here are some pictures.
It was a fun little giro. I must keep in mind that the sea is very accessible and go more often.
We got back home on Friday afternoon. Our cats were very happy their full time staff was back. Outside in the evening they had a concert in the Piazza. Very nice classical music. The chairs were well spaced for the social distancing, for both the spectators and the musicians.
Today I made a big pot of soup. I hunted and gathered in the kilometer zero market on Saturday. I bought a big bunch of beattole aka, beet greens. And a butternut squash. Among other things. Here’s a picture of one of my favorite onions. I was talking about it with a friend yesterday so I thought I’d include it. They have enormous piles of them and they are mild.
My hand is included so you can see they are big!
Otherwise, I’ve still been watching the Covid cases in both Italy and the US. A friend of mine seemed to imply we, over here in Italy, are being mislead about the severity in the US. That it is not that bad there… That is not true. I‘m watching the US news, and I’m watching the statistics on the Johns Hopkins, WHO, CDC, and Worldometer websites.
I know it is bad in the US. People say it is because of population differences. But many stats are adjusted for that. The figures I’m seeing on the news, CNN and Fox ( I try to be bi-partisan 🙂) say taking into account population differences – the US is 4% of the world population with 23% of the worlds Covid cases. And The US death toll is more than twice as high as that of the country with the second-highest death rate, Brazil. So that says a lot.
There is still a ban on people traveling from the US to most of Europe until they can get the infection rates down. The magic number is when the US has an average of 15.3 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the previous 14 days. I have noticed US numbers are slowly coming down which is good, but it still has a ways to go. ~~~~~~ — Italy has around 60 million population with 1,458 cases on 9/13 — US has around 350 million population with 33,506 new cases on 9/13
Doing the math. The US has about 6 times the population of Italy. So if you multiply 1,458 x 6 = 8,748 new cases which would be how much the US would have on 9/13 if their infection rates were the same as Italy. That is 24,758 more cases than Italy in one day, adjusted for population.
It tells me the much harder lockdown in Italy has succeeded. Life here is quasi normal. I don’t think the US can say that yet. Masks are key. They are still here everywhere. Masks help a lot but the real help will be a vaccine. Here’s hoping 🤞 ~~~~~ Stay safe everyone. Andrà tutto bene. 🌈
