Saltimbocca a la Romana

So despite my bitching about feeling all isolated and all that, these pictures look pretty happy.We were invited to Claudia's close friend Anna Maria's country house for lunch this past Saturday. This was an all day affair. We left here at 9, took a couple hours to get there, Anna Maria and her sister Sandra and her husband Roberto were all in town shopping for the lunch when we arrived. So we met in the square, had coffee and then looked around yet another medieval little mountain village.

When I came outside onto the new covered porch with the view to have wine and chiaouscalo (soft salami) and bread and cheese before the main event, they all commented, "This is Italian living, well not every day, but.....on the weekends anyway." They are all from Rome and these houses have been in the family since the Second World War, the sister's father remembers being there when the Germans came.
Alright, so now I know how to make Saltimbocca, as a kid I remember eatingi tn Italian restaurants in San Francisco. But Anna Maria, said, oh no we don't roll it up, just a thin slice of delicate veal, an even thinner slice of prosciutto and a couple of fresh sage leaves put together with a toothpick. First course; THE PASTA, and indeed, it was delicious.
Today, Wedesday Oct 29th we are expecting Marna, David's half sister to arrive from Turino, but somehow she hasn't really let us know when or where she will be arriving! Oh what adventures............and tomorrow because the teachers are striking, Claudia will conveniently have the day off, so we will all go see what Ascoli Piceno is like. We know there is an exhibition of the not very well known Italian modernist painter Esvaldo Licini there, and we hope to see it.
So, today is the first day we have connection at the house, and it is still not everywhere, just in one room! It seems that the router cannot send the signal THROUGH STONE WALLS, how inconvenient, so Italian.

Wednesday and back in Macherata

Oh god what a day, yesterday. I decided to take a walk up the road to a place called Shambala, a spa retreat and B and B. I had seen their phone number in an English language tourist brochure I picked up in San Ginesio. So I called and talked with Christine, a Brit to see if I could just come check the place out. She was gracious, showed me around. It is a really beautiful place with 6 rooms, a treatment room, a small breakfast room, outdoor seating and a gorgeous swimming pool.
So, before getting envious about this ITALY trip, check this out: after negotiating to get a massage with her tomorrow (my ankle is still painful) she told me that the CARABINIERI had been to her establishment. They are like the sheriff, rather than police, anyway they told her that a band of gypsies have been breaking and entering and robbing people in the area, mostly looking for jewelery. You know the rich foreighners, right. Well, already I have asked David if he and Claudia feel safe being down at the end of a steep gravel road, all alone..................? He just seems a bit like, well they would have a difficult way out, so probably won't be coming down here.
Then in the afternoon, he realized that the land line phone aboslutely does not work, it rings (and rings) but we cannot use the phone to make or receive calls. It needs to be replaced. Well, OK, so he has a cell phone. In the evening we discussed how my room has no bars and would be the easiest way for burglers to enter....so I should definitely lock the shutters to the glass door of my room.................at 3am,
Icould hear that Claudia was up, then she turned on the hall light and David was saying to me that he needed to take Claudia to the hospital. They wanted me to HOLD DOWN THE FORT, and so they dashed off. Do you think I could go back to sleep????? There I was, just listening to weird sounds in the middle of the night, no phone, don't even know David's cell number, but what could I do? Finally, about 6ish I fell off to sleep to be awakened by his alarm clock! Oh god, can I do this? Can I escape? They came back at 8:30, Claudia looking drugged, and David saying: The doctor said: your wife is full of shit! Poor Claudia, she's still not able to really pay attention to herself.
So while she is resting David and I decided to make a trip towards Ancona to find the Ikea store and then MAYBE I can find a small work table.
Fun, fun, fun.....................laters.

Saturday afternoon in Macherata

Back again to the internet center in the cute and busy looking little city of Macherata. We found the art supply store, but OH HOW SURPRISING! it is closed! Maybe because it is Saturday, maybe they are on vacation, oh maybe they just didn't feel like being open, mio dio, this is a very inconvenient place. I am still not into the idea that everything is closed from about 1:30 til 4 or 5 or even later. It is a rhythm that will just have to come to me over time.

At least yesterday we found the super hardware like store, can't possibly compare to F. Meyer but they have a folding table and a chair. AND some art supplies, but very minimal. The only problem: because Ursi and Alex are still here we could not fit the table in the car, so will have to come back next week.

David says they went yesterday to the internet providers and we are going to be able to get connected afterall, with a new reception device on the roof which will be beamed to a neighbor, so something like that. Right now, the cabin fever is rather itchy! We found a bookstore today in Tolentino and so now, finally I have a small dictionary, so there is some hope I may start learning more Italian. Also found a couple of books in English, thank goodnesss, it's my relief from the feeling that I am a bit confined being at the mercy of others. Right now I am just finishing Barack Obama's first book, it is an excellent read, glad David had it here. We are all anxiously watching the news every day and feel more and more confident he will prevail....but like almost everyone, we'll be very happy when it is accomplished.

Alex and Ursi will leave tomorrow on the train, so we'll be back in Tolentino, but then the store will be closed!

For right now I must say that I am not impressed with a lot of Italian food, the meats are way too salty, we finally had some porketta from the monastery organic farm, almost inedible it is so salty, what a disappointment. Of course we are mostly cooking and eating well thanks to Claudia's excellent culinary talents. Oh, we also went back to the macrobiotic store, stalked up on miso, wakame and dashi kombu AND brown rice. It will be a nice break from the every day flavors. OK, by next week I am hoping to be able to do this at home and upload pictures. Ciao

Little note from Macerata

No pictures today because i am in an internet room, no cafe! Ursi, Alex and I decided to take the bus from San Ginesio to see this place. It is quite pretty, wish it were closer! We walked by an art school, and now we know the art supply store is too far away to walk and get back to the bus on time!
David and Claudia and I will have to come here by car.

We THINK that we will be able to connect by next week, so I wonàt have to do this again.
Thanks Sarajane, fun to think of you in Bueno Aires, checking my blog! More later, XO G

A few hours in Macerata

Ursi, Alex and I decided to take the bus from San Ginesio this afternoon to Macerata, the biggest little city around and about an hour from SG. We had a fancy lunch at a restaurant recommended by David and Claudia, then walked around, found the tourist info center, so now we know the art supply store is TOO FAR away for us to walk to......so we'll have to come back later in the car.

Thanks all of you who have commented, it's really fun to see your remarks. Ursi hasn't been able to download pictures from her camera for quite some time, so we did it to my computer in SG, then transferred to a memory stick, so now she is trying to upload here onto her blog:AJauntAroundEurope, check it out!

Macerata looks like a fun place for me to come back to on my own, we already walked past an art school, saw a huge theatre and there is a lovely outdoor ampitheater, surely no performances until next summer, darn!

David says that by the end of the week if Fidoka, the internet provider doesn't come up with a proprosal to get us connected, we'll have to do it the way Filippo figured out. So, I won't be online for another spell it looks like.

So far, plenty of nice sunny weather! And lots of good eating too, but that's because Claudia is such a good cook, and of course I have been pulling my weight too. I made a huge potato salad and I swear Alex managed to eat half of it! David commented that he appears to be a bottomless pit, typical skinny young guy!

OK! laters, G

Vanda and Filippo return to Bergamo tomorrow

And Ursula and Alex arrived today! David and I drove to Tolentino to meet them as they arrived from a week in Rome. Since their train was late, we wandered around the town and saw another cathedral, of San Nicola, pretty impressive, those pictures will be up later. Then we managed to stumble upon a MACROBIOTIC store and restaurant, how improbable! They have seaweed and miso! I was thrilled. Well, since Filippo is leaving tomorrow it may be a few more days before I am online again.

A walk UP the streets of a medieval town

Honestly, we've seen so many of these little mountain towns, I can't remember which one this is. However, everyone agreed that the arched view to the distant country side would make a great painting. I like to include the small, unexpected scenes like this black Madonna and her companion.
Mostly what I've learned is that in these parts, almost all shops are closed from about 1pm until 5:30....that's a long lunch break!

At the Abbetea de Finestra

We visited a 5,000 hectare Abbey where there is BIO, which means production of organic production of meat, vegetables and wines.

Nevertheless, we had a "snack" lunch of little salami panini with beer. This place was over run with British tourists, the first time I've seen anyone who isn't Italian.

OK, I've been here ONE WEEK and I am feeling a bit more adjusted, slept very well last night, went to the police to declare my presence, can use the ATM all by myself. Then this morning while I was sitting in the San Ginesio square waiting for David to come out of the bank, a man came up to me dressed in bizarre overalls which were black with huge bright yellow stripes around his pant legs and sleeves. He asked in Italian if I knew where the municipal offices are. Since David and I had just come from there,I was able to direct him to the commune even though I admitted that I non parlo Italiano.

Macereto Monastery

Way up in the mountains, an ancient pilgramage with David, Filippo and Vanda

First few days

Vanda and Filippo and David and I went to the TIBET of Italy and then we had a lovely dinner at home with Claudia

tried again, here's a few

I tried a group of pictures and that didn't work

So, this is the first picture I took of the house, and luckily we are having sunny mornings and afternoon, cool in the evenings.

Clauda's nephew Filippo and his Grandmother Vanda are visiting this week, so every day we are going out to the area, mountain roads, hilltop ancient cities. I'm not sure yet how to post a bunch of pictures, unfortuantely, but I have them! I'm still in culture shock, but almost over jet lag. Right now I'm fixing a pork/carrot/red wine stew for dinner tonight. It's my turn, everyone has cooked so far, even Filippo, who is a staunch meat lover.

David and Claudia's House near San Ginesio

tenuous connections in San Ginesio!

my first post from Italy ....we still don,t have a secure connection here. Claudia s nephew and his 80 year old grandmother are visiting from Bergamo. Thank goodness for 20 year olds! Fillipo figured out how to get his MAC connected through his cell phone which will only work in the upstairs window sill, the phone delicately sitting atop a small round metal can in a just so position!

Last night was the first night of regular sleep, so I am feeling over jet lag. We have had a lot of fun driving all over the mountain roads, seeing the Tibet of Italy in the Appenines, walked around at least 10 different ancient little towns with 1,000 year old buildings and I have taken lots of pictures, but cannot post from this computer.

Culture shock is in full effect right now. I need to learn more Italian, David is a very patient teacher with expertise, he is a good teacher and I am getting plenty of listening to Italian, trying to adjust my ear.

More later, buon notte, G