I just put up a page, accessible from the top navigation, with a summary of information about moving and living in Italy. It is called “So you’ve decided to move to Italy”. I will constantly update it with things I learn that I think will be useful. Go to the page here.
It was a success! There were fire eaters, dancers, music, burlesque, beautiful stilt dancers, costumes. We had some friends come and have dinner with us Friday night. We joined in the merriment and were serenaded by the Briganti. Speaking of which, they got up to their usual antics on Saturday when they took over the town. This year they had a “christmas” theme. If you look back over my previous Otto Cento posts you will see they are very naughty boys.
An antique cycle. It was a cycle inside a big wheel with what looked like training wheels.
The decorated town.
The “christmas” tree. Look closely.
Victory flag.
A couple of things going on here. First is the week-long Pitulum music festival. Everynight we are serinaded by an orchestra or band. All are different. Thursday was the Madonna del Rega holiday, which is an Umbertide holiday. They had a procession through town on Wednesday night and church services on Thursday. On this day, since it is a special Umbertide day, the orchestra is the local Umbertide one. It draws quite a crowd!
Then, yesterday, I kept hearing applause and went to investigate. Looking out the window I see it is a wedding. But I could not find the bride. Then I realized it was two men. Our first same sex union here in Umbertide! It was just legalized here in Italy a few months ago. Handsome couple. And congratulations to them!
Starting this coming Thursday is our Otto Cento festival. It will be my third. I will not be here to photograph the antics of the Briganti as I have the last two years. My sister is arriving early Sunday morning and we will pick her and her husband in Rome.
Another trip report so skip if you are not interested.
Portugal. We arrived at about 7PM in Lisbon where we rented a tiny Fiat 500 and drove about 80 kilometers to the town of Obidos. We had rented a room in a B&B there. We arrived at about 9:15 and went right out to dinner as we were famished. Our innkeeper, Carlos, recommended a place very nearby called Restaurante O Caldeirao. We had their fresh fish which was OK. At least we weren’t hungry anymore and it was good that the Portuguese eat late. But not as late as in Spain.
The next morning we got on the road and drove the more than 200 km to the town of Tabuado. It was pretty hard to find. We had Google maps directions but the road that we turned on was unmarked. We turned right on the only road of any size we saw and found the Villa. It was called Quinta da Varzea de Cima. We met up with two Australian couples Jeff and Kaye and Steve and Shiromi. Both couples had visited us in Italy. We also met their friends Rhonda and Rob, also Australian. The villa had 6 bedrooms but we only used 4 of them. They were all comfortable and the villa itself was quite beautiful.
It had it’s own chapel.
Our room was to the right at the top of the stairs.
There were several outside tables and chairs.
They had a spring.
This was the amazing chimney. See all the holes at the top?
Below was the old cooking area with three things, a hearth, and what looks like two different types of oven.
If you look at the hill across from me you can see one of the many scorched areas from fires. Apparently it is normal. It was parched!
Big barrel made into a bar.
As soon as we arrived we all piled into the cars and went to the town of Amarante, which was about 30 minutes, by tortuous road, away. We had lunch in a beautiful restaurant on the Tamega river. Here are some views.
On Wednesday we drove down to the Douro river. This is the main area where the port wines are grown. We were headed for the town of Peso da Regua. Due to operator error we ended up WAY up in the hills in the little villages all through the vineyards. It was a bit nerve wracking since we were two cars following each other and the roads were very narrow. But Shiromi and I were very happily lost as we got some stunning pictures we never would have gotten. Take a look!
The town way down there is where we were trying to reach.
Here we all were trying to figure out where the hell we were!
Peso da Regua was a bustling town. Very hot and we had quite a bit of walking to do. I took a few pictures of the interesting doors and buildings. In Portugal you see tiles everywhere! This was a bar.
Interesting door with tiles above.
Derelict building with tiles.
Pretty garden in town with beautiful tiles on the building.
In this town we had trouble finding a place with room for 8 to have lunch. We finally did but it turned out to be a pretty amusing lunch. We were kind of late so they had run out of much food. The waitress was visibly annoyed when none of us wanted salad. Then when asked for things she said all gone. She pointed to what was left. It was very Monte Python-esque. We did finally get fed.
Thursday we spent just enjoying the villa and relaxing. Lunch was lovely cold cuts and cheese alla casa. We had what they call Mortadella but it would never past muster in Italy, the birthplace of mortadella bolognese. It had olives embedded in the meat and when sliced, there were slices of olives rather than the squares of fat mandated in Italy. Nice day.
Friday we headed back to Lisbon for three nights. The city was nice…I guess. Very crowded. We couldn’t get into many sights due to the crowds. Good food. Nice hotel in a very good location.
Traditional tile-covered building.
In main square by the port.
Loved the goslings and turtle
A parade we happened upon.
How did they do that to the horses rumps?
The monastery. Very ornate.
The city is built on two hills. The middle is flat. They have streetcars going up.
A neighborhood near the castle.
Old tile
Castle
The sidewalks and plazzas are intricately tiled. These make the plazza look like waves.
Brilliant fountain in the sun.
I got pick pocketed on our last night They are Good! Unzipped my purse as I walked and took my wallet. I realized it quickly and called the CC companies but they had already charged thousands. And all in Central America. Who knows how it all works. Do they sell the numbers? Anyway, the good thing at the time was that I had used the ATM earlier and had not replaced the card or cash in the wallet so he didn’t get that. I was not carrying our passports but my wallet had my codice fiscale, Permesso, health card and VA drivers license. Rats. Next day I filed a police report. Apparently this is common there. The best news is someone found my documents! The police brought them to my hotel just before we were leaving. The other good news is I needed a new wallet anyway. I guess I’d gotten complacent and my guard was down. Lessons learned…do not carry all my stuff with me and split the credit cards between us. Also hold the purse with my hand and keep it in front of me.
Oh I forgot to mention we got ripped off by a cab driver upon arrival.
We had a 7:30 PM flight which arrived in Rome at 11.:30PM. So we got home at 3am. Ugh! I think I I’ll lobby not to arrive at midnight in Rome.
Final thoughts. We loved seeing Steve, Shiromi, Kay and Jeff. We enjoyed meeting the third couple, Rob and Rhonda. It was fun to cook together for dinners and tour around with them. So that part was nice. Lisbon…not so much. When we return we will stay in the Duoro valley which was green, vine filled and beautiful. It was incredibly hot everywhere we went. I think I’ll forgo summer travel to cities. Crowded and too hot. Portuguese is one weird language. Supposed to be a Romance language but they way it is pronounced makes it sound almost Russian. We could read quite a bit of it. Lots of accents and pronunciation a mystery to us.
Well we had a terrific visit with Lenny and Mary. They arrived a bit late for lunch and we had Pasta Amitriciana for dinner. Little did we know then that the small town, Amitrice, where that pasta was invented was to be mostly destroyed by an earthquake just a few days later. We were awakened by our beds shaking in the night.
On Sunday we had been invited to a pre-wedding celebration lunch at Calagrana and we figured Lenny and Mary, being fun-loving folks wouldn’t mind going. The day was beautiful and we drove up to Citta di Castello beforehand for some photos. There must have been 25 people there and Tom and Carol, the honorees, were late. By the time they arrived the Prosecco had been freely flowing and most were buzzed a bit. That was OK, it was a celebration. The food was good and the people nice and there was even dancing.
On Monday we went to Gubbio. It is such a gorgeous medieval city. One of the best in Italy.
It is difficult to reach by public transportation so not as crowded as most towns around. Lenny snapped away. He is a big photographer. We also both bought lovely Etruscan style pottery. Mary and Lenny got a pitcher with pretty gold etching. Very elegant. I went with more austere – I was drawn to the shape of this one.
Afterwards we drove to Montone to Erbe Luna for lunch outside. It was very breezy all day and quite pleasant.
Tuesday we drove to Assisi. Of course it was very crowded, being August and such a sacred site. I tried to hurry us along to the Basilica because they now have a metal detector you have to go through. I knew the line could be long. We didn’t get there quite as fast as I tried to but it was only about a 20 minute wait. Next visit, if it’s in the summer, I will insist we walk quickly through town, see the Basilica and then shop and photo to our hearts content afterwards. That said, by the time we left the churches the line was amazing! It was probably at least an hour wait…and in the hot sun too. We had lunch at Piazetta del Erbe. We had been before and very much like it. They didn’t have our reservation for some reason, but were sweet and set up a table in the shade for us. Here is my food, grilled octopus in a lime mayo and seared tuna on a caviar base. The octopus was tender with the tips crunchy from the grill. Yum!
On Wednesday we visited our market and picked up stuff for dinner. Then headed to Tiberini for a wine tasting. We had to insert ourselves into a group of ten so it wasn’t as nice as usual. Then we headed to Montefalco for lunch at L’Alchemista. Good as always and sat outside in the Piazza. Next up shopping! We went to Deruta where we bought pottery. Here is my new bowl. I love the vibrant colors and the handles!
Alas, Thursday arrived and we took our guests to the train station to head down to Rome. It had been a fun trip which could have turned out badly as JUST before they came we decided to get the car all cleaned up. Nice of us huh? But it turned into a fateful encounter with the washing machine which pulled the entire nose piece of our car off. One side hung down onto the floor. GEEZ. Well we tied it up with a bit of string and went to our auto-body guy. He proceeded to put in bigger screws and managed to secure it. All you could see were a couple of scratches. We did order a new part but this worked for taking the four of us around. We have no idea what we would have done if not for this quick fix. Thank you Senore Auto Body guy!
On Monday we are off to Portugal – Rome to Lisbon RyanAir – to re-connect with our Australian friends. We will drive to the villa they rented and spend three nights and then drive to Lisbon for three nights. We have never been to Portugal and it’s been on our bucket list for a long time.
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…
Last Wednesday we were invited to a dinner at the frontaio or olive mill where our friend Fabio gets his olives pressed. It is owned by Roberto who is a very sociable character with aspirations of having a restaurant in his mill. This turned out to be an eight course death by food extravaganza. I tried to pace myself, I really did! But I just couldn’t make it. I could not eat the last three courses. Everything was good and being in the midst of a bazillion chattering Italians was amusing as usual.
Last Saturday there was a free concert in the Piazza called Mozart on the Piazza. It was a pretty night and we enjoyed the music. They performed Concerto per clarinetto di Mozart. Finally on Sunday we went to Calagrana for their annual barbecue. They get real Maine lobsters and T-bones and grill them outside. There were a ton of people for this crowd-pleaser.
We have just entered augusto. That means everything stops for … Vacation! In Italy even government offices and utility companies close for the month. It is one reason we’ve been rushing to get the chores done this week! The actual holiday is kicked off on August 15 and is called Feragosto. But the whole month is pretty much shot for getting anything done.
Our weather is hot but not oppressive. Good summertime weather. We still do shutter and window management but the nights cool off nicely so good sleeping weather.
Since we got home from our excellent adventure to Poland we had a multitude of things to do piled up on our plate. So last week was again spent battling the Italian bureaucracy.
Our new bank account was not linking to our online user name and we had bills due. After visiting the bank several times we finally got that taken care of. It was a multi-step process but we feel good that we are no longer being charged exorbitant fees because we are stranieri. And I paid our overdue bills!
We picked up a package at the post office that was delivered while we were gone. And we mailed a box to the US.
Then we visited the Questura to pick up our third Permissi di Soggiorno. Hard to believe we are in our third year here. Our appointment fell during our trip but that worked out OK as they take walk ins from 12:00 to 1:00. I really like the officer who gives them to us. He is super nice and friendly. I am glad of this as I’ve heard some horror stories from other people especially in the big cities. I guess that’s a perk to living in the boondocks!
We then had to visit the Large Lady at the health department to get our coverage extended now that we have the new Permessi.
On Thursday we visited our accountant here to see about our Italian taxes. This has unexpectedly become very difficult. She obviously is not used to dealing with American taxes. We are working on it.
Enough of the chores! We had a great time on Saturday night a week ago watching Raucous Rossini. They did a cute little opera called Il Signor Bruschino. It was performed in Umbertide’s nice theater. Small but with three stories of box seats plus the orchestra seats. Pretty good for a small town like Umbertide.
Today, walking across the bridge over the Tiber River, we were treated to an unexpected wildlife show. First we saw a water turtle swimming slowly near the bank. We were surprised as we had never before seen a turtle in the Tiber. Next we spotted a snowy white Little Egret and a Gray Heron fishing along the shore. We noticed several cormorants repeatedly diving for their dinner. And, surprise! A kingfisher darted to catch a small fish and landed on the log to eat. Brilliant blue feathers. After that a pretty moorhen with a bright red head patch swam along the edge near the shore. It was a surprising and very welcome display of diversity where I thought there was none.
This is another trip report so skip it if you are not interested.
We four, Luther, me, Susan and Gary, left Umbertide at around 9:30 on a Sunday headed for Ljubljana, Slovenia and ultimately Krakow, Poland. We brought a picnic but it’s darn near impossible to find a place with tables or seating. We finally stopped short of the border and sat on benches. It was very hot but we found some shade. We arrived at the Grand Hotel Union. It was in a great location just steps from the triple bridge across the Ljubljana river. It was very hot and we took a rest before venturing out to find dinner. It was Sunday so many places were closed. We found Gujzina, a Slovenian restaurant along a pedestrian street. We sat outside. Our server was super helpful with food descriptions and wine recommendations. Took lots of time with us. We had a superb bowl of cold cucumber soup. It was oh so refreshing on such a hot day, afterwards we had among the four of us: venison, trout, and pork cutlets. The food was not gourmet but fine for a casual dinner. My trout was over salted but I did not complain. We were treated to bowls of vanilla ice cream on the house. One speciality here was pumpkin oil. We had never heard of it. We had it first with the bread like when you get olive oil for dipping. It was very dark green, almost black. A bit off-putting but wow what a flavor. They toast the pumpkin seeds before making the oil. Then later the waiter drizzled it on our ice cream. Amazing sensational taste! I would never have thought. Anyway, each couple bought some to take home.
The next day we had a great breakfast and walked to Tivoli park. We saw the US embassy in an odd looking building. We visited Pravoslavna cerkev, Saints Cyril and Methodius Church. Eastern Orthodox. It had five domes topped with crosses and was beautiful inside and out.
We walked through the the market and visited the dragon bridge. And we found a nice little place for lunch in an alley with a much appreciated breeze. We again had cold cucumber soup and salads. Very refreshing. By now we were done for so retreated to our rooms to recover.
Dragon bridge.
This night we had reservations in Valvas’or. We enjoyed a sparkling wine as we chose our food. The chef sent an amuse bouche of puréed essence of tomato with a bit of soft white cheese, nice. Our waiter was excellent in recommending wines. We are seasoned wine people but did not know Slovenian wines well. All choices were excellent and fairly priced. The food was all very good.
We decamped our nice stay in Ljubljana and headed north to Bratislava, Slovakia. It is situated on the Danube River and we stayed in the Marrol Hotel. We had stayed here last year and found it nice enough. We dined in the Houdini restaurant in the hotel our first night. Since we were last here this restaurant has been refurbished. It looks great and the food was very good. The servers are very nice and very knowledgeable and helpful. I started with a cool, sliced veal with arugula and anchovy mayonaise. Very tasty and just the right size. Then I chose the chicken breast. It was baked and served on a bed of roasted vegetables with quinoa. The chicken was not dry. Very moist. An interesting dish and quite healthy. Others in our group had tuna tartar to start. For entrees one had lamb on a purée of squash, one had baked baked salmon which he liked. A good choice.
Next day we did a walking tour of the town. Someone tried to get into my backpack but I could feel her pulling on the straps. Two youngish women pretended to be looking at a plate in the ground when I turned and found the zipper open. I didn’t say anything…should have. Slovakia has the EU presidency right now and there was a huge roped off area for dignitaries. We walked along the river and had refreshments outside.
Then we went off to find lunch. We had our eye on a gastro pub called Mestianske Pivovary. They have inside and outside seating. Big building with pipes and open duct work. The beer was super fresh, naturally and the food was good enough. We were there for lunch so stuck with schnitzels and fries. They were tasty. Nice place.
We had dinner in Zylinder. It is on the leafy green mall in the center of town. It was cool and raining so we couldn’t sit outside. There was a large table and we were afraid we’d have trouble getting served but all was perfect. Our waitress was great. We had Schnitzels, one had dumplings light as air. The wines were good and we had a lot of fun. Not fine dining but good for a basic meal.
Off to the farthest point in the trip, Kraków Poland. I was a little worried about this one as the rooms were apartments on a restricted street. I’ll have to hand it to Chloe, our GPS, she got us there. We had to drive right through the large and very crowded with people, horse carriages and cafes, main square. We found the apartments and got our luggage up two or three flights of stairs. The woman at the desk gave us directions to the parking. We missed it the first time but – after another harrowing trip through the square(!) we found it and – parked for the duration.
I should mention it was downright cold here. The first thing we did was buy some warm clothes. Also we had a lot of rain throughout the stay. Definitely not my idea of July. It was not common, there was an enormous front that came through while we were there.
The first night we visited Kawaleria for dinner and were pleased with our choice. They had a guitarist playing and it was a nice touch. The service was excellent. We had only one course each but they were pleasant. My quiche was a bit thin but the salad with it was good. One got the cold cucumber soup which was surprisingly spicy. One got the salmon perogies which he liked and finally the baked salmon fillet which he thought was only OK. We had wine and fun. Not the best place in the world but quite pleasant and reasonably priced.
The next day we had arranged a tour of Auschwitz/Birkenau. We were picked up by a bus and the ride was nearly two hours to the camps. We had a guide who was very good. It was a depressing experience but we had known it would be. So horrible what happened… 1.1 million Jews were exterminated there. We saw whole rooms of hair, eyeglasses, shoes, clothes. We looked at the pictures of the people who were strong enough to work. Yet they rarely lasted more than three months due to conditions in the camp, poor nutrition and hard manual labor. I looked into the eyes of the lost souls and was moved to tears. Each one looking straight into the camera and thus into my eyes. I learned that they took photos of people when they started to work and that in a month or two they were unrecognizable. This prompted the tattoos to identify them even when emaciated. We must never forget.
Arbeit Mach Frei – work makes you free – on the gate
No words necessary
The one bright spot. Gallows on which the former camp commandant was hung, within sight of the villa where he and his family lived.
This is the platform where the arriving would get sorted. Thumb to right, gas chamber. Thumb to the left, work until you die.
This train car is one of the originals. It was found and donated by a Jewish man whose father died in Auschwitz.
When the Nazis knew they were going to lose they tried to destroy evidence of the exterminations. This is what is left of one of the crematoriums.
The pit in the very back was the gas chamber.
There were over 300 buildings. The wooden ones are gone with just the foundations and chimneys left.
We visited Resto Illuminati for dinner this night. Our nice waitress spoke decent English and was very attentive. The menu was quite small. There were two soups, about four appetizers and four entrees but we had no problem finding things we liked. Susan ordered the cold beetroot soup. It arrived and it was a shocking, bright pink! But its taste was sublime. Others had the perogies and for entrees we tried the trout fillets with risotto, tagliatelle with chanterelles and rabbit. The pasta was perfectly al dente as was the risotto with a nice chewy bite. Good wine list. Zabaglione for dessert to share. A very very pleasant meal.
This day we walked to Warwel castle where the Princes of the kingdom lived. We toured the state rooms. It was pretty impressive. After that we decided to do the little golf cart tours they have here. There are four areas – Old town, Jewish quarter, Shindlers factory, the Jewish ghetto. We went for the first two. We had an interesting 20 year old driver from the Ukraine. He played a recorded tour for the places we visited but was very sweet and talkative. We all liked him. It was a good investment as we saw some things we wouldn’t have seen.
Dinner this evening was at Kogel Mogel. It is just off the main square in the Old Town. Very popular so reserve. We had a good waitress who gave us attentive service. All of my table mates enjoyed their food but I did not like the beef cheeks entree. Very thick, dark, unappealing sauce with strong flavors, none too tender beef.
Castle pictures.
We all enjoyed Kraków and agreed another day would have been good.
Next day we headed back south homeward bound. We stopped in Durnstein Austria. It sits on the Danube River and is very pretty. We had rooms in the Richard Loewenhertz hotel. It is just next to where Richard the Lionhearted was held hostage for nearly 10 years. I had a soft spot for it from a trip 30 years ago…my first to Europe. We had lunch there. It is pretty old fashioned but I still liked it. We had a nice dinner the first evening in the hotel. It was still too cool for the terrace…too bad as it’s lovely. The food was nice. All four of us enjoyed our meal. The wines were local and very good and the service attentive.
The next day, not wanting to drive anywhere, we decided to take the boat trip up-River to Melk. The river is a fast flowing river so the trip upstream was about 2 1/2 hours. Coming back it was only 45 minutes. What a difference. It was nice and relaxing. Melk has an amazing church which we toured. We also had lunch there.
Views along the way.
Melk monastery. They liked gold!
Improbable location!
Vineyards of the Wachau valley
View of the iconic church in Durnstein.
We dined In the Relais et Chateaux hotel, Schloss Durnstein. Lovely dining area on the terrace overlooking the river. We had major issues with the Maitre’d who was our server. He was inattentive, arrogant, and dismissive. We were moved to post some pretty bad ratings. There were three good things. Food was good, views were beautiful from the terrace, and the piano player was very good.
Excellent breakfast at Richard Loewenhertz and we were off winging our way south to our “children”. We all missed our pets.
We arrived in Bassano Del Grappa in the Veneto region of Italy after a long, nearly 7 hour drive. It has again gotten oppressively hot. We stayed in the Ca’Sette hotel. It has a good restaurant. I was not at all happy with our room. Not up to standards.
Dinners were excellent. We ate there both nights. We sat on the gorgeous patio overlooking the pretty grounds complete with fountains. The villa is pretty too. Other than the poor room I like this place.
Grounds.
We also visited the town of Bassanno dell Grappa. It is cute, small and walkable. It has a pretty wooden bridge. It is the birthplace of grappa with a nice museum.
The town of Bassano del Grappa is lovely. Note the clock face has 24 hours!
Grappa museum. The town is famous for this spirit.
The Alpinisti bridge.
All in all a good trip. We were happy to get back to our little Umbertide.