Anniversary in Venice

It has been a whirlwind since I last posted. We were in Venice for our anniversary on the 24th of May.
Twenty-nine years ago at this time we were on a boat together looking forward to our future. Little did we know what was in store for us.

Hard to believe so much time has passed.

I have always loved Venice, and I think the Stoic One has been won over. We stayed at a new place on the other side of the Giudecca Canal. It was elegant, peaceful, and far from the maddening crowds. It is the Bauer Palladio. http://www.palladiohotelspa.com


Not for everyone, but if you want to see a different side of Venice where working people live, and escape the cruise hoards, this is a good spot to check out.

It even has a garden in the back which is very unusual for Venice.

Getting across to St. Mark's Square is very simple with the hotel boat.

The view of Venice is also from a unique angle. Beautiful at night.

The Stoic One and I had a wonderful time in this most romantic of Italian cities.

Lucca

The Stoic One and I have been travelling around a bit. We have wanted to go to Lucca to visit our friends, Anna and John, who also made the transfer from Oakland, California to Italy. (Luca with one "c" is an Italian male name, also the name of our dog. With 2 "c"s it is the name of the city.)

Anyway, truth be told I have been hesitant about going. Our friends left California the same time we did and they have been so happy in their choice of Lucca. I worried, what if we liked Lucca better? Would we have regrets about coming to our little place here in Umbria? And so I procrastinated going. Finally, it was past time to visit. So I took a deep breath, got on the train and went. And the truth is we loved Lucca. It is a fantastic city. Modern, ancient, artistic, commericial, cosmopolitan. It has easy train and bus access in and out of the city. We give it an A+ of Italian cities we have visited.

One of the joys that Lucca offers is the renaissance wall that encompasses it. The surface of the walls are flat and are major walk ways for the towns people and visitors. It is an absolutely spectacular place to stroll regardless of the season. Beautiful trees, flowers, as well as interesting things to see as you walk along. The circumference of the walls is about 4 kilometers or 2.5 miles. Visitors can rent bikes, and bike along as well. The walkers, joggers and bikers all seem to share the wall with ease.

Lucca also has a canal, or a walled river that flows by outside of the wall. The water and the greenery are soothing and lush.If Florence is a city of hustle and bustle, Lucca is her serene sister.

One of the things that we noticed was how prosperous a city Lucca is. There are city workers out in force, picking up trash, cleaning the city, restoring the buildings. It is pristine. 

I kept wondering where Lucca got its money. One of the ways that Lucca generates revenue is by hosting a yearly Lucca Comics and Games convention. This draws tons of people into the city and with them tons of money. The exhibition is held in this field which is just on the other side of the wall.

http://www.luccacomicsandgames.com/it/2015/comics/news/

Here are a few basic facts about Lucca.
• It is about an hour and a half train ride from Florence or about 20 min. by train from Pisa.
• There are 99 churches in the town.
• The city is Etruscan in origins.
• The city walls date from the early 1500's. They have survived intact since then.
• Lucca was the first Tuscan town to accept Christianity.
• Henry James described it as "a city overflowing with everything that makes for ease, for plenty, for beauty, for interest and good example."
• Driving is banned within the walls, and most residents use bikes to get around.
• It has a population of about 90,000.
• The composer Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924) was born in Lucca. Here he is sitting watching us with amusement as we stroll by.

Lucca is known for its music school and there are nightly concerts in one of the major churches.

The Duomo is beautiful. It is dedicated to St. Martin.The tower, unfortunately, was under restoration.

Besides visiting the other 98 churches, Lucca has exceptional shopping. I bought a beautiful hand woven scarf in this lovely store.Of course we loved the dog as well.

Lucca is filled with little nooks and crannies to wander through.

Yes. We loved Luca and we love our friends, but at the end of the day, there's no place like home.
Ciao a tutti.

Umbertide and bicycles

When you live in a small town in Italy, the pulse of the town becomes your pulse. You can feel when the town is happy or sad, by the weddings or the funerals that take place across the piazza. Your movements will become guided by market days, festival days and days of the saints. We try to support all of the local events in town, and by and large we enjoy them very much.


The latest even that has come our way is the Giro d'Italia 2016. It is the first time the Stoic One and I have ever seen a bike race of this caliber. We stood along the road outside of town, and they sped by, in a single file row, flying. There were no cars on the road, only cars ahead of them and behind them, so that all you heard were the sound of the bikes wheels, whirring on the pavement as they went by. What was remarkable to me is how closely they ride one to the next. There is no margin of error. I also finally understood what it takes to do a break away. These races require not only skill and performance endurance but strategic thinking. Fascinating.

In order to get the crowd "in the mood", as if you have to in Italy, the Giro Caravana comes first. It is a parade of marketing cars, cheerleaders, music, stuffed animals. Truly and Italian thing. Here are some photos from the Stoic One of the Giro Caravana.

Waiting for the bikes!

Of course this wouldn't be Italy if there were not at least one sexy car in the parade. The driver's not bad either.

Luckily the Stoic One has a great camera to try to catch them as they zoom by. Umbertide was the easy part of their journey relatively flat and a decent road. 

If you look closely in this picture, you will see the winner.  He is an Italian, Gianluca Brambilla, who is in the blue jersey, right hand side third rider down. The guy in the front, Matteo Montaguti, came in second overall in this part of the race.

None of us are true bike afficianados, so when this group came by, we all tended to ignore them. they were so far ahead of the peleton, (4 minutes) that we thought they were part of an exhibit ride or something. It was only later, when I read about the stage that I realized they were the break away group and contained the winners!

Here is the rest of the group. You can't tell, but they are flying...

Ciao, til next time.

Giro d'Italia 2016 and Umbertide

Exciting news in our community. On Saturday, May 14th, the Giro d'Italia will pass through Umbertide!This will be the 99th running of the Giro.  Can you imagine the excitement here next year as they celebrate a 100 year race?

Here is a Q& A for those of you who wonder what it is all about.

What does the Giro mean?
Giro d'Italia basically means Tour of Italy, in Italian.

Is it a big deal race?
Yes. It along with the Tour de France in France and the Vuelta a Espana in Spain make up the three Grand Tours of bicyling.

Which race is the oldest?
Don't tell the Italians but the Tour de France is the oldest and and generally considered the most prestigious.

When did the Italian race begin?
It was first organized in 1909 in order to sell more newspapers, and has been run every year since  except for the interruptions of the World Wars.

What's with the pink? Is this in support of breast cancer?
No. Instead of a yellow jersey, as in the Tour de France, the Italians have the Pink Jersey.  It is called "Maglia Rosa" (one s) in Italian. Rossa with 2 s's means red. (you're welcome for the Italian lesson.) The Pink Jersey is worn by the leader of the race. If you follow the race you will see "Fight for the Pink" signs..It means fight for the lead.

Do any of the Italian riders have a chance?
Oh, ye of little faith. There is always a chance. The Italian, Ulissi Diego, won the 4th stage today! Also there is hope for Vicenzo Nibali. As in the Tour de France, the real competition happens in the mountains.

Who are the favorites to win?(I will list the nationalities. The teams are quite meaningless to me)

Vicenzo Nibali, Italian:  Sky odds 13/8
 Mikel Landa, Spanish:  Sky odds 2/1 (Said to be the best climber hence the odds)
Alejandro Valvedere, Spanish: Sky odds 6/1
Tom Dumoulin, Dutch:  Sky odds 18/1...he is the current leader.

Our guy Ulissi doesn't show up in the odds, if that tells you anything.

How many teams and riders are there?
There are 189 riders and 22 teams. I can't imagine all of them zooming through Umbertide!

When does the race finish?
It started on May 6th and will finishes in Turin on May 29th.

When is the Umbertide part of the race?
Umbertide will be on Stage 8 of the race. This part of the race starts in Foligno, home of our major train station, and finishes in Arezzo. It is 186 km. with hills and a steep, gravel road near the finish. Saturday's race is said to be one of the more entertaining stages because of the rough surface. If it rains, the road will be really bad and probably make for excellent TV. We expect them to zoom through Umbertide about 2:17pm Central European Time. 

Where are the pictures?
You have to wait. The Stoic One will be camera ready waiting for them! I'll post as soon as possible.

Is this really worth my time to watch?
If you enjoy watching the Tour de France,  you must tune it for this. The country side where they will be racing is beautiful and everyone thinks this will be a close race.
Ciao!

La primavera

I thought I would send some photos about the spring I discussed in the last post.
Iris are the state flower of Tennessee, and it always surprises me to see them here in Italy. I wonder if the British brought them over. I'll have to look it up.

Here is one of the late blooming poppies in the fields behind our house. Their red orange color pops out at us as we walk by.

The flowers that are now blooming along the river walk.

Yes. He really did eat this whole thing by himself AND did not get sick. Good thing he is such a big guy.

Florence; another view

It has been a while since I have posted. Life, in Italy like everywhere else, has a way of unfolding in a simple and yet wonderous fashion, and it is sometimes hard to capture this gift of life of life passing. I remember one time reading a blogger who said she had been too busy living, to blog what she was living. I remember at the time wondering if Italy would ever become that type of every day existence for me, and in many ways, it has.  I am still filled with the wonder of this country and day to day life remains difficult to describe in ways that wouldn't bore you to tears. Guests often ask us but what do you DO every day? Life takes time in Italy, that's for sure.

I don't seem to have the skills to slow the tempo down for you so that you can experience the wonders of coming out of the dark days of winter and into the shiny, clear, spring light.  The first thing I do these days, when I wake up in the morning, is to look up at Monte Acuto and see what shade of green is showing off for us. Monte Acuto is the largest hill that looms over the town. In the winter and during the Easter season there is a large blue cross that is lit on its summit. It is always a joy for me to see.

In Umbria we are always conscious of the passing of the seasons. The little vegetable garden, or "orto" out our rear window tells us exactly where we are in the season. The old couple who tend this work hard all year, but the work seems particularly arduous in spring.

I have been so enamored of spring this year, in spite of allergies, that I really could think of nothing to do but walk in the fields, admire the red poppies that straggle across the stone walls and lament how quickly cherry blossoms come to life and die. And really, how interesting could this be to you day after day?

And so a brief update.  A brother came to visit, a niece got married, we took a trip to Siena with dear friends and Easter came and went.

And then my dear friend from California showed up and we spent 2 glorious days shopping in Florence. We had a ball. We had each day carefully planned as we meticulously followed the advise of The Cognoscenti"s Guide to Florence which I highly recommend.

The book is divided into 8 differnt walks from the Centro Storico to Santo Spirito. Each walk comes with a map, MOST helpful, and recommendations for stores and places to eat along the walk.
We saw over 25 shops in 2 days. Each shop was a true artigiana shop, not a big box chain store.

We loved and bought socks at Quercioli e Lucherini. We admired the lush materials at Passamaneria Valmar. (We skipped the men's store recommendations and the children's stores and the food stores. We were focused. We also skipped perfume and soap stores as my friend has allergies. ) Anyway, we had more than enough to see and it was really fun to follow the map to find these places. Like and old fashion treasure hunt when you were a kid. One of the stores that I loved is Falsi Gioielli...or fake jewellery. The jewelry is created with vintage buttons, crystal, and or plexiglass. It is fun and whimsical.

It is all so 70's which is also true of the clothes now!

The owner was delightful and worked along as she talked to us.

This is a store that you can not help but be in a good mood once you enter.

At another extreme end of the spectrum is Taddei. The shop is owned and operated by Simone Taddei following the tradition of his father and grandfather making exquisite leather boxes.
As you can see from his studio, not much has changed over the years. Simone is a character and we spent quite a bit of time with him.

Along the way, we came across this "take away" place. We didn't eat there but we loved the window display.

I have been lucky enough to have visited Florence many, many times. All in all I think this was one of my best visits. It certainly was the one filled with the most laughter. 

I hope that if you are planning a trip to Florence, and love to shop, you get this book and let it guide you to Florence from a different persepctive. 

Cheers!

Final Reflections on Sicily

I love Sicily. I love the food, the people, the history and the culture. I wish more Americans would visit there. All of my friends have asked me, in one way or another, about the Mafia in Sicily. Yes, the Mafia exists, but they don't bother tourists. We are much too small potatoes for them, plus they want the tourist dollars to come into the country, so if you are hesitating because of that, put that concern out of your mind.

Sicily has much to teach us about culture and history. One Sicilian told me that he thought Americans were quite similar to the French in that we are very nationalistic. That is not the approach of Sicilians because they have been invaded so many times by so many different rulers that they have learned to assimilate, integrate and respect the differences that other countries bring. They speak often of the Arabs who brought sugar, chocolate, wonderful desserts, language and music. Now, I'm sure at the time of the invasions, the Sicilians were not so accomodating, but it is interesting to see how open they are in spite of the issues with the current refugees, to foreign people.

If you are looking for a vacation a bit off the beaten track, I recommend Sicily to you.  I would not go there in July or August, but the spring and fall would be lovely. These are a people who welcome tourists. Compared to the rest of Italy, it is quite inexpensive. If you want to escape the tourists crowds, this is your place. You will find many French and German tourists but very few Americans.

The food is reason enough to come.

Did I mention wonderful wine and beautiful people?

If you are in Trecastagni, you must stop in and say hello to Mariella. She could not have been nicer to us. Thank you Mariella.

 But there is more than food here. Beautiful cities, ruins, and shopping. Ortigia is an enchanting place to walk around, get lost and explore. You are on an island, so you can never get too lost!

And then there is always the sea to look at......

Until next time...Ciao