Specialtea of Deruta

Never tell a craftsman you're not in a hurry. Say something like, "If you can have it done in a month, we're good" and assume you'll have it in two.

I say this because I finally (after nearly a year) have a teapot I requested!

Here's the story...

When Bonnie and Bob were here LAST April, we went to Deruta to do the rounds, at which point they were sweet enough to get me a mug that I loved. While not my normal style, I had always been very taken with the form of the mug together with the pattern and had been romancing it for about the previous 5 visits to Novella's shop.

Well, just like if you give a mouse a cookie, she's going to want something to go with it, I after my third cup of tea (as in the first night that I had my mug), I had decided that a teapot to go with it was absolutely indispensable.

The next time I went to Deruta, not long afterwards, I took the mug and asked Novella about a teapot. "No problem! Let's look at the catalogs of blanks!" We looked. And all the teapots were microsizes. Sort of like the espresso pots of tea...for one person. I don't have a one person household, and while not everyone drinks tea, I am often confronted with an empty pot. A larger teapot would be required.

I indicated that a teapot holding 1 1/2 liters would be about right, if not a bit larger. "Hmm..." She picked up her phone, called Andrea (her son-in-law), who came right over. "So what exactly do you want?" I explained the situation, described the type of spout I wanted (or rather, the type I DIDN'T want...there's one out there I consider to be particularly ugly), and the size...as well as the fact that I wanted a slightly domed lid rather than the flat style they seem to go for.

"Yes, no problem. We can get so-and-so to throw it for you." Sounds great!

Oh, and yes, please throw in a milk jug and sugar basin...useful, you know? But there's not hurry...we're in late spring and tea drinking season is almost over for me.

Well. We went through summer (not as much a tea season when it's in the 90s every day, so I wasn't worried). Then fall. Then winter. Every time I went by, I was assured that it was being worked on. Okay, wonderful!

Jeremy and I arrived yesterday. Novella greeted me with a beatific smile. "It's all ready for you! Hang on, let me go get it for you!!!!"

Jeremy photobombed this one. So he deserves to have it published.

And it's beautiful. Well worth the wait. And not only was the teapot thrown specifically for me, but so were the milk jug and sugar basin because they wanted something the right size and scale. How sweet is that?

You understand, we hadn't discussed price yet, so at this point I was majorly biting my nails. I can't tell you how much it cost, but let's just say that it was less than the price of most teapots you'd buy at Macy's.

I'm drinking tea from my mug now, with my new teaset beside me, and am feeling very special!

Isn't the spout darling???

Love,

Alexandra

Dance at Home and Abroad

Tonight I went alone to see La Traviata -- no, not actually the opera, but a dance interpretation of the same. It was so stunningly like my home life that I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry, but it was definitely a "life meets art" evening for me. Every time they changed scenes, I recognized one or other of us.

So, to give you a rundown of how/when we are our very own dance troupe, let me give you some vignettes for your enjoyment.

1. The event started at least 20 minutes late. Herding Hooks is worse than herding cats.
2. While we were waiting the same 6 bars of the opera score were repeated. Over. And over. And over. In our house, we get that either when Michael's playing his video game or when we're setting up for the movie and the DVD is in and ready long before anyone's sitting down.
3. Opening to a lovely scene of everyone looking beautiful, quickly degenerating into gesticulations, running around, lying down on the floor, and kicking one's legs in the air.  Oh, and the backdrop? An aluminum-foil lookalike, very reminiscent to me of the time we ran out of plastic wrap and the children used foil for everything.
4. Frog kick...that's my Florence.
5. One person calmly moving about, all others in a circle watching and looking at each other open-mouthed and wondering. That's me cooking dinner while the others want to know what's being prepared.
6. Someone being dragged onto the stage by the armpits...James and Michael (you may guess which is who). Let's just say that James has the kicking action down pat.
7. Lying on the floor, legs and tush in the air. Thank you, Jeremy, for the hours of cultural enlightenment you have brought to my home (but he's usually on the sofa).
8. Girls wandering in and out agitatedly wearing a skirt but no top, much gesticulation. My daughters getting ready for a party, anyone?
9. Traces of gorgeous music now and again ... Eleanor practicing her singing.
10. Traces of familiar music that sounds as though it's been put into an echo chamber and greatly prolonged...Jeremy practicing cello.
11. Leg lifts, sit-ups, and other floor exercises...Ashley can be found doing this any time, say, she has Latin homework to do.
12. Dragging one's prone body (covered in a long satin sheet) along the floor. James with his green blanket.
13. Someone taking her (his, in our case) clothes off and having a major meltdown (based on the hand gestures) in the middle of the stage. Others walk in, take one look, and walk out without making their presence known to the main actor. Sounds about like James (or Jeremy, for that matter) at times.
14. Getting half-undressed and making shadow figures. Definitely James at bedtime.
15. Lifts...Eleanor and Florence have a charming routine in which Eleanor rides Florence "piggyback" with her legs around Florence's waist, but actually facing Florence. She then proceeds to do sit-ups. As good as any of the lifts I saw tonight.
16. Aimless milling about...the children when they're supposed to be laying the table.
17. Lying on the floor, still, while one member is running around frantically. Sometimes how I (I'm sure unfairly!) feel.
18. Taking shirts off and throwing them on the floor, then leaving the stage.

It's just a matter of time before we're playing in theatres worldwide ourselves.

Love,

Alexandra

My Middle School Two-Day Trip To...

...VENICE
At 5:15 on Thursday morning I was to be found at Cocchi.
At 5:30 one teacher and two students arrived.
By 5:45 (the time we were supposed to be leaving) the whole class (- 5 who weren't going) was assembled and ready to go...minus one thing. The bus hadn't arrived yet!
10 minutes later the bus came...except it went down Via della Piagge-the steep 1.3 km. road down to Ponte Naia which begins right next to the school.
10 minutes later the bus backed out of Via della Piagge, blocking the ENTIRE road, and then went back down it.
15 minutes after that the bus emerged again (the right way around this time!) and drove into Cocchi and we boarded and were off!
About 5 hours into the trip, Giorgio got about half of the class singing church songs.
Once we got to Venice, we boarded a boat and went to St. Mark's Square where the teachers told us to stay in the square and the surrounding shops and let us wander off. When the tour guide came, the teachers rounded us up and we took a nice tour of St. Mark's Cathedral.
After the tour, we had to take up a collection for the boat ride back to the hotel because the "organizers" had failed to organize that part of the trip.
At the hotel we had a two-course dinner plus dessert, and then we took a 3 km. passagiata ending at 11:30 p.m. (!) during which we discovered Professor Lemmi's method of getting the class across the road. Here's his method:

1. He crosses the road.
2. He looks both ways to make sure that there aren't any cars that will reach him within 5 seconds.
3. He calls a student over.
4. Said student sprints across the road.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 until all the students have crossed.

The next day we got up, had breakfast (yes, they did have coffee at the table- unfortunately just the American stuff), took a tour of a couple villas, and came home.
We arrived home at 10:30 p.m.

-Jeremy

p.s. The next day, only 5 students in my class came to school, 4 of whom did not go on the trip. I was the fifth.

Bus Ride

Yesterday after Latin tutoring I walked up to the bus stop to get my bus to go to swimming in Pantalla. Linea B came by, as it usually does right before Linea C, which is the bus I have to take. The bus driver recognized me, stopped, knew I was going to Pantalla, and told me, "Linea C does not run by here any more." He sighed, pulled out his phone, and called the Linea C driver to ask him if he could stop by the bus stop where I was. About 3 minutes later, the Linea C bus stopped by and picked me up to go to Pantalla. How often does that happen?
Ciao,
Florence

Two for One Special

We are having a ton of fun with two French exchange students this week. We have Brieuc and Luca, both of whom are absolutely precious. I've already taught them "Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite!" Very cute.

They've been gone every day with their activities, coming back around 6, and then having dinner and after-dinner time with us.

And in April? Florence gets to visit Grenoble, where the pair comes from, to stay with a family from their school.

Exchange in a wonderful way.

Love,

Alexandra

Something Fishy

I haven't talked about Marcello of the disappearing fish shop in a while, so it's time.

This morning I walked in to find these lovely silver ribbons draped throughout his refrigerated case. I'd never seen anything like them. Turns out, they're a relative of the eel, although much bigger!

I had to get a picture of him:

Love, Alexandra

It's Wall a Myth

Such a pretty day!

Michael and I spent Sunday afternoon on a guided tour of Todi's walls. I'd already picked up on the fact that there was something ... shall we say, not quite right? ... about the story, since one of the roads is called the "Etruscan Wall Road." Sounds great, but the Etruscans never lived here in Todi -- the Umbrans inhabited the place!

Turns out that there are a bunch of stories about the walls that just don't hold up to scrutiny, and they can all be traced back to one guy in the 1500s (I think) who was a known falsifier. Now, I didn't or don't quite understand the fellow's motives (laziness while writing a tour guide? Dunno), but he started the story that the city continually expanded, leading to three different sets of walls. This supported the ethos of the time (the value and importance of cities), and worked for a long time in the minds of people. In fact, it still works given the prevalence of the stories that many tour guides give out.

Michael against the non-Etruscan wall

This part of the wall was used as an icehouse!

Looking down into the icehouse

The problem is, these stories just aren't true. There are, in fact, no stone remnants of the time of the Umbrans. Nerts to that. And there are definite signs that the city grew and shrank repeatedly over the years. One for-instance is the "First Circle" of the wall: it's actually made with blocks stolen from the theatre that used to exist here in Todi. And they were stolen during a visit by the (we think) Byzantines. How do they know? Well, it helps that some of the blocks used were carved in a way that was typical of Roman architecture around the steps of a theatre. Furthermore, there are some with row numbers and others with names ... corroborating that suspicion.

A wall "thrown together" as the Byzantines arrived

Funny story: the gate at the first circle was apparently very ornamental (using stones stolen from the Roman theatre) and a local aristocrat wanted to get his hands on them. The easiest way to do this was to declare his great fear that the gate was about to fall on his house and damage it (as if). He was turned down. He begged. He pleaded. He exerted pressure. And the result? He won the battle and not the war: the gate WAS removed, but the stones were used by the city (rightly so) and sold for revenue. So much for his plan!

Another view of the last-minute wall

Another interesting piece of information: I had learned that La Rocca was a papal fortress that was later dismantled to provide stones for Consolazione. What I didn't realize that La Rocca was designed not to protect the people of Todi, but rather to keep them in line! The Pope needed a fortress inside the walls to allow him access to the city in the event of insurrection. Of course, it also needed easy access...so an entire section of town was pulled down (either where Consolazione is today, or possibly nearer the elevator) to provide a passageway.

A pretty day! 

The hollowing that would have been on either side of the steps as a mitre

Look closely for the Roman numerals

Our tour guide being checked out by a nesting bird

The wall's towers have been incorporated into the building!

Love,

Alexandra

Little finds...

As Florence and I were walking back from the Piazza today, we came across Don Riccardo -- who looked even more cheerful than usual. Slung across his shoulders was a linen tote bag with a gilded base emerging...whatever he was carrying was bigger than the lightweight bag he had it in.

"Hey, guys! Check out what I just found hidden in San Fortunato!"

He drew back the flap of the bag, saying, "This is a scapular that Saint Clare made for Saint Francis!"; sure enough, the back and the front labels said (in old writing -- 1700s maybe?) exactly that.

This is a 600-year-old relic of two of our most famous saints that he is casually moving from one church to another, because he figured it would be better off at the Duomo! Amazing.

Love,

Alexandra

Earthquake: The Historian's Friend or Foe?

There was a massive earthquake in Assisi in 1997 that was widely publicized...it caused an enormous amount of damage to the Basilica of San Francesco, and technicians have worked for years to try to piece back the frescoes that were smashed, as well as to deal with underlying structural damage.

What wasn't publicized quite so widely is what happened when some public servants had to deal with the damaged elevator in the court building: during the course of excavations underneath the shaft, they uncovered some columns that were covered with stucco...a structure that is typical of Roman domestic architecture.

Intrigued, the public works of Assisi undertook an excavation, and discovered more than they ever could have hoped: an entire house (mansion, really), including intact paving, frescoed interior walls, window structures, and more! The house extends nearly under a city block, including under a lovely hotel restaurant, and is remarkable in its perfection...

The restaurant is really neat because the furnishings are modern over this 2000-year-old floor

I had the opportunity to see this amazing place during a tour of "Assisi underground." Sadly, I wasn't able to take pictures of much of what we saw, but the tour, which extended over 2 1/2 hours, took us through the basement of Sta Maria Maggiore (one of the oldest extant churches of Assisi, dating to 1100 or so, with a Roman house underneath -- we saw the loveliest marble floors -- tentatively attributed to Properzio (a Roman poet every Italian has studied)), to the underpinnings of the Temple of Minerva, into cisterns, and to the foundations of walls built specifically to contain landslides!

Detailed motif in the floor below the restaurant's (glass) floor

The "entry mat" next to the window, presumably in the doorway

Here you can see some of the wall fresco

This shows the thickness of the interior wall

Each tile is less than 1 cm on edge

Wall fresco showing man caressing woman

Window opening (modern reinforcement)...note the pattern change in the doorway.

Columns prompting the initial excavation

Elevator shaft is top-left

Detail of column

More wall fresco work

Love,

Alexandra

My Arrow

As part of the last "lesson" (as part of a course) Matteo (Lucaroni) handmade an arrow for me. I love my arrow. Arrows are actually made of more pieces than you would think by looking at them.

The gold symbol means "harmony" and the little symbol in black in the maker (Matteo)

The feathers are incredibly large in proportion to the shaft (It's for shooting birds or other flying targets) 

 I am so excited! I have an arrow! It's my arrow! I am, of course, not done with archery.... I love my new(ish) sport.
Ciao,
Florence