It's Official!

Michael got clearance to stay for another year!  We're so happy that we'll get to spend more time in this magical place...but of course we miss all our friends and family in Atlanta!  So we will be coming back, probably in small batches, to come visit!  We'll keep you posted on the blog so that you can have a feel for when we'll be in town, and we'll do our best to see as many of you as we can!

We will be looking for a good tenant for the time we're gone as well, so if you have any leads, we would appreciate your sending them along! And, as always, we love hearing from you, whether through chat, comments on the blog, email, phone calls, facetime, Skype, or visits! 

Love,

Alexandra

P.S. I have had a few questions about visitors, so I wanted to clarify. We LOVE seeing you! In fact, out of a year, we have about 16 weeks of scheduled visits! In order to avoid hurt feelings as a result, we just want to make sure you understand that, as happy as we are to see you, we have to continue in our normal routine as well, meaning work for Michael; school, homework, and extracurriculars for the kids; and my everyday business living the life of Riley (and doing one or two errands along the way!). There are many wonderful sights here in town, a fabulous relaxing atmosphere, and plenty to do. For the more adventurous types, there are great day trips available. And, of course, for those who like the quotidian European experience, you are welcome to shadow me any time ... If you're extra good, I might let you lug one of my shopping carts up the steep parts! And we would love to see you at mealtimes and in shifts, although full disclosure forces me to tell you that it's not easy to get all of us together at once!

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I'll bet that from my title you thought I had something really interesting to say. Ha! Well, I do, but I couldn't think up a catchy title for it. Today is a national holiday celebrating something.   What said something is is a mystery to me. The festivities started with some sort of march, down at the bottom of the hill, at nine o'clock. I did NOT go, needless to say! Then around ten thirty, there was a band. outside. our. window. Actually, I was awake at that point anyway! This was no ordinary band! This was a division of the ARMY! This division's main (and as far as I can see only) job, we found out later, is to play music, sing and march/run around in circles/formations while playing music and to wear cute hats! Here are some videos:

Ciao,

Florence

Liberation Day!

Today is a day of celebration in Italy...a festa, in other words.  I had thought somewhat ambitiously of getting up for the walk around the town (the ring road at the bottom) this morning, but lack of sleep and my recently overcome virus forestalled me.  Instead, I was woken by the sound of trumpets and other brass instruments coming from underneath my pillow, or so it seemed to me from my new vantage point of the ceiling.

It turned out to be a division of the army which is specifically for martial music.  They wear uniforms, sing, and play band music, and march!  They have very exact height requirements for their candidates.  And they get to wear fun hats with large feathers.

There's also a craft display going on in Todi for the next week.  It closes May 1, unfortunately.  It's held in one of the palazzi in the piazza, and so I took a few pictures of the spaces...absolutely luscious!

Doesn't everyone need a prosciutto keeper in their home?
And don't you love the hand-carved model of a prosciutto?

Chain mail is such a normal craft item in the US...
it's labeled as weighing in at 40 kg.

This tapestry is huge; it covers the entire wall of the room.

This is an adjoining space

Love,

Alexandra

Feeling the wind in our hair...

Yesterday the weather was just too, too nice to waste.  So after Florence's dental visit (and before her swim practice), we went for a ride!

Saw some lovely scenery, had a grand time chatting, and came across a few mysteries as well.  Rode on several of Italy's so-called "white roads" -- they are so misnamed, it's not even funny.  After all, we connect white with purity, angels, and whatnot.  These roads are the work of the devil.  Pitted, rutted, and low on contrast, you don't see the bumps until you're up to your eyebrows in a rut.  "But enough of that," you cry!  "Give us pictures!"  And here they are...

The green is so bright it hurts your eyes!

The grapes are coming in!

 First mystery: Petroro.  It's a tiny town/castle (listed as a castle, but with the descriptor that it is like a village with walls).  Recently redone for reasons unknown, it's completely vacant.  Very odd!

 Outside San Damiano:

Look who we found!  Aren't they sweet?

Look at this tiny one!

 At Castelvecchio:
This was fun...we wanted to see inside the church.  The photo is essentially all there is in this particular borgo, but there was a small restaurant behind the car.  I looked to see whether they were open to ask about looking in the church, but there was no one there.  From behind, I heard a youthful voice telling me that it was closed.  When I explained that I was really there to look at the church, he bellowed for Mamma, who came out of the house on the right (while talking on the phone) and then told me that her husband had left with the key, so I was out of luck.

The church is quite sweet from the outside, though: it uses the same rosy and white stone that we see a lot in this part of the world.

We couldn't resist a sign that pointed to a 13th-century castle.  Maybe we should have: miles (it seemed like, but wasn't really) of "white road" later, we came across this:

Stables, perhaps?

It's in a funny location, like the Duke of York: halfway up/down the hill.  Upon further research, I found out that it was built in the 13th century, possibly related to the cultivation of grain (it's called "Speltara" -- see the word "spelt" in it?).  In 1857, it was still inhabited (based on a document which lists 69 people), and it was later used to film Magnificat by Pupi Avati.  Guess what?  It's listed as being in "poor condition" by my source.  Hmm.  Do you think the house agents would term it "da ristrutturare"?

Speltara in the distance

Another lovely day!

Love,

Alexandra