Mamma Americana

Kissing Cousins

We're back in Florence. We flew in from the States on Tues. and have been fighting jet lag ever since. The first 2 nights Eleonora and I were up watching cartoons between 1 and 5 am. Now she seems to be sleeping better, and I'm the one who is wide awake in the middle of the night. Oh well.

On Friday we left Florence for a weekend in Cortona. The occasion being the christening of my nephew Cesare. My sister in-law and her family live in Rome. They chose Cortona as the location for Cesare's christening for several reasons.  

The franciscan priest that married us and also christened Eleonora has been in Cortona for a little over a year now (he'll be moving back to Santa Croce in Florence next week). He is a close family friend as well. And Cortona is about halfway between Florence and Rome. So a weekend at a nearby agroturismo was planned, with the christening scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Our group occupied all thirteen apartments of the agroturismo.

The christening was held in the church of San Francesco in Cortona. Sorry I have no photos of the actual ceremony, my camera was malfunctioning. The photographer was able to fix it for me during the party afterwards.

The party was held in the Teatro Signorelli in Cortona. We had a wonderful buffet aperitif/dinner. It rained while we were there, but stopped in time for us to climb back up the hill to our cars.

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day. We awoke to a leisurely breakfast of brioches and espresso. Everyone relaxed outside and enjoyed the sun. Then we piled in our cars and drove about 20 minutes to Marciano Della Chiana, a little walled town in the Arezzo province. We ate at a great little Osteria named "Hosteria La Vecchia Rota" in the central piazza. 

Eleonora playing on stage.

View of the theatre

The agroturismo "Principe del Trasimeno"

 A game of cards and rock soup on Sunday morning

The kids have some fun during a long Sunday lunch (the mauve blur is Eleonora)

The aftermath...

 The gang of cousins

Eleonora gives Cesare a goodbye kiss

Getting Ready For Summer

Last weekend was a long holiday weekend. Tuesday, June 2nd was a national holiday celebrating the Republic. We spent it at the beach cottage, but since the weather was not cooperating, cleaning was about the only thing that got done. That's OK though. The place really needed a good cleaning. We hadn't really been there since last September. The place is the size of a postage stamp, well maybe two stamps, but it took the better part of 2 days to get the place in order.

Here are some pics. of the cottage from spring 2007. 

Poppies, puppies and prosciutto

Lorenzo's grandmother turned 81 on Sunday. The family gathered for lunch on a farm in the country side near Gambassi Terme. It belongs to one of Lorenzo's clients. They're in the process of turning it into a B&B and need financing for construction work. 

They served us a wonderful meal, all home made with local ingredients. We drank red wine from their own vineyards and we ate salami and prosciutto which came from their own pigs. They have a herd of cinta senese pigs, which is a rare local breed named for the band of white around their bellies. Cinta comes from the word cintura which means belt in Italian. We bought a case of wine and a hunk of prosciutto to take home with us.

Everyone had fun playing with the puppies on the farm. They have 15 dogs in all. Cute mutts, all of them.

Lake Bilancino

On Sunday we headed up to lake Bilancino for an annual BBQ with friends. Bilancino is a big artificial lake about 35 km from Florence. It's the perfect place for our large gathering. There were 22 adults and 5 kids in all. The appetizers consisted of fresh fava beans with pecorino (a match made in heaven), bruschetta (toasted bread rounds with fresh tomatoes), scamorza wrapped in prosciutto crudo and  then grilled. The main meal consisted of various grilled meats: ribs, chicken breasts, sausages, and bratwurst. Yumm! 

Eleonora and I 

A romp in the countryside

Yesterday we awoke to a glorious spring day: the sun was shining, birds were chirping, and most importantly it was not blowing gusts of bone chilling wind every which way. Friday and Saturday were shockingly cold, especially after 4 days of lovely warm weather. So we piled into the car and headed for the hills, literally.

Lorenzo's cousin acquired a piece of land in the hills above Florence in an area known as Pozzolatico. They have a small vegetable garden going and inherited various fruit trees, olive trees and some old grapevines. It really got me pining for some dirt to call my own.

Going to see the billy goat.

The neighbor's goat.

 

Purple wild flower (not sure what it is)

Different type of purple wild flower

Rosemary in bloom.

The villa across the way.

After romping about in the garden we had lunch inside a small one room cottage. The sausages cooked in the open hearth fireplace were wonderful. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Montepulciano

At Ristorante La Grotta

On Sunday we visited the Tuscan hill town of Montepulciano. It's about a 1 1/2 hour drive south of Florence on the A1 (the road to Rome). This was our first visit to the town. 

We placed our faith in the Michelin guide to find a restaurant, and we weren't disappointed. Lunch at La Grotta (the cave) was wonderful. Since the weather was so warm, we sat outside in the garden. The tasting menu offered just the right amount of several delicious dishes and was accompanied by a glass of the local red wine, vino nobile di Montepulciano. Eleonora enjoyed the zuppa di farro and a pear sorbet.

Church of San Biagio, in front of La Grotta

After lunch we headed into town for a leisurely stroll.

Market in the Piazza Grande

Well in the corner of the Piazza Grande

The view speaks for itself

Il Mulino (the old mill)

Yesterday we visited Lorenzo's late grandmother Maria's childhood home. It is located in the Tuscan-Emilian Appennines, above the village of Vernio, which is about a 40 minute drive from Florence. The name mulino  means mill, in this case it was an old water mill, which was used to grind wheat. The mill is no longer in use, but it was at the heart of a small cluster of apartments. This is what the mill probably looked like when it was in use.

Photo of a mill in nearby Cantagallo (photo Nove.Firenze)

There was room enough for between five and six families, plus plenty of arable land cut out of the surrounding forest. Maria's family consisted of eight brothers and sisters and their parents. They all lived in a two bedroom apt. 

The ground floor has a good sized kitchen with a large fireplace and a wood burning oven built into the wall. This was and is the only form of heating in the apt. There is a living room next to that, separated by a steep stone staircase (pardon my alliteration). There are two large bedrooms above. A bathroom with a shower was added at a later date.

The reason for our visit was to make the acquaintance of another Italian/American couple and their two daughters who have been living in a nearby apt. for two years. It happened to be the younger one's first birthday, so we celebrated together.

Lorenzo's great aunt made tagliatelle by hand, rolling out the dough with a long skinny rolling pin. The pasta was served with ragù a meat sauce. Then we had steak and sausages cooked in the fireplace. Yum!

Villa Caruso Bellosgaurdo

A childhood friend of Lorenzo's was married on Saturday. The three of us sweated through the afternoon ceremony in a small country church and then drove to Lastra a Signa for the reception. The villa is located on a hilltop overlooking Lastra a Signa and Florence. The word bellosgaurdo literally means "beautiful view". I had fun taking pictures while Lorenzo enjoyed an aperitivo.

View from the back of the villa

Villa on the right

Dinner by sunset

That "beautiful view"

Front of the villa