Java in Italy

Jeremy, Grace, and I visited the local Serrani coffee factory last week at some point, and wanted to share it with you. It was a model of efficiency after Michael's heart: only one employee is required to operate the machines most of the time. 

The factory imports raw beans, which it then toasts, blends according to its secret recipes, and packages. Some packaging also requires grinding, of course!  We thought we would share some of our experience with you.

Individual coffee sachets after packaging

Coffee being prepared for packaging in sachets

Jeremy figuring out how to make his own machine for home use

Cans for bar use, ready to go

Raw beans coming into the factory...huge sacks!

The roaster

After roasting, the beans are air cooled
 by placing them on the screen
 and blowing air up through the grating.

Coffee bagger

Roll of unformed bags

The purchasing room with coffee samples.
This was our host's parents' dining room table when he was a boy.

The raw beans are caramel colored, something I'd never thought about.

Love,

Alexan

There and Back Again

Not just 500s

Jeremy went on this weekend's Fiat 500 rally, and we had a great time, as usual! This was a different group, seated in Foligno, but the rally actually started quite near our house (in Ripabianca, on the way to Deruta).

This group gives the definite impression of driving to eat. We arrived at 10, and the breakfast was still out (it started at 8). People were still munching and wandering around admiring each other's cars. After a bit of this, and registration (10 euros), we started off. Amid a fanfare of hoots in many different pitches (including mine!) and escorted by about 10 motorcyclists, we left Ripabianca. After about 10 minutes of driving, we pulled up a white road into ... a winery I've been meaning to visit!

This was just the first helping!

Parking to provide the best views of our cute cars, we got out to wander around aimlessly -- until the food came out, that is. Then the ravening hordes descended on a spread of bruschetta, pizza with onions and pizza with tomato, porchetta, and (of course) wine.

I put my time to good use and purchased a 5-liter jug of wine as we were fresh out at home. I got the better merlot that they had on offer, and ended up paying 10 euros including the glass jug. As a present for coming on the raduno (because the food wasn't enough), they gave us a specially labeled bottle of wine as well! (Sadly, I spilled some wine on the label, so it's a bit smudged, but you get the idea).

And we're off!

And, we're off again! This time to the sanctuary of the Madonna dei Bagni. This is a sanctuary I've been meaning to visit for some time, so it was very pleasant to have the excuse. The church itself is rather small, but it is absolutely fascinating and rather intimate: the walls are covered with ceramic plaques and tiles (we were very near Deruta, after all) that commemorate graces received. These plaques go all the way back to the early 1700s and possibly before (they weren't all dated), but include also very recent events...car wrecks which people unexpectedly survived, operations that saved the person's life, and so on. It was really moving to see.

No food there, I'm sorry to say.

Off again, our little procession going through the beautiful countryside, and through towns with spectators waving and grinning at the cuteness, and then a stop in another small town for a pre-prandial snack. This included insalata di farro, salami, prosciutto, olives, pizza, and so on. Of course wine and other non-alcoholic offerings.

At this point, Jeremy and I were ready to get home to clean the house (!), and so we said our goodbyes.

Next week, Norcia!

Love,

Alexandra

Corpus Christi!

Last weekend was the feast of Corpus Christi, which is traditionally celebrated in certain towns with elaborate displays created with dried flower petals. In Todi, we are slow off the mark (remember last year's hilarity with sawdust?), but this year's display was much prettier and more elaborate. Hurray!

Anna Maria and cohort were asked on Friday to do "something" for the feast day. And did they ever come through!

Love,

Alexandra

p.s. I got a call from the police, letting me know that if I needed to use the car in the afternoon, I would have to back it up past the barricades because the street was closed...

Pianegiani: Todi's Living Room

The other day as we were having our morning coffee, Michael and I noticed some mysterious wires strung along the railings, as well as a strongish tripod (actually, two). After some speculation, we realized that they must have something to do with the upcoming world cup...in fact, they were the infrastructure required for the televisions that were going to turn the piazza into our local sports bar.

And last night, when Italy was on the lineup, I couldn't resist going out for a short time. We were scheduled to go to an archery competition and didn't have the possibility of watching the whole thing (unfortunately)...but it was such fun to see how Pianegiani had turned into the town's living room/world cup party site!

Michael's snacks

On the way over there, however, Florence and I needed to get an indelible pen at Sergio's (the bookshop under the Duomo). It was very odd: the lights were on, the maps were placed outside in racks (easily stolen), but the door was locked. Where was Sergio?

Florence reminded me about the portone that we'd seen open, with a mass of people standing in the courtyard watching the game. Hmm. We sidled back in that direction, slipped between the people about six rows deep, and tapped Sergio on the shoulder. Success!

Finally at Pianegiani, the chairs had been rearranged into rough rows facing the two different TVs and it was PACKED. The beginning of the game was somewhat unexciting, but Eleanor said the crowd had warmed up towards the end, and they were performing all their body language in synch, based on the game's events. She said it was hilarious to see a pile of Italians using the exact same gestures simultaneously!

Tonight's game was Ghana vs. Germany, and the crowd quickly picked up on the fact that there were a few Germans in the audience...and good-naturedly started rooting for Ghana just to tease!

Love,

Alexandra

Watching Waterfalls Dry

I've decided to take advantage of the summer by going on little field trips every Thursday, preferably to places I haven't yet seen. Last week, Florence and I went to Norcia (and then I promptly got busy and didn't write about it, but we had a lovely time and found a great gelateria AND a wool shop. So a good time was had by both.)

City Government Building, Norcia

A Piazza in Norcia

These bins next to the church were used to measure product

What Faith wants to be when she grows up

Loved this knocker!

View from the parking lot

Yesterday, Jeremy and I went with Lucia (a Korean lady we met at Pianegiani knitting...we were instant friends) to the Cascata delle Marmore (the Falls of the Marmore). These are the largest man-made falls in the world, created by the Romans in around 270 BC in an attempt to cure illness (possibly malaria) in nearby Rieti. Of course, obeying the human law of unintended consequences, the resulting reservoir resulted in flooding in Terni periodically. You can bet the folks of Terni didn't like that and would have been just as happy for the Rieti population to have malaria, thank you very much.

It's a multi-level construction

Anyway, it was centuries before that particular conflict was resolved, and even then, it was in no particularly satisfactory manner. 

Today, though, the falls are managed in such a way as to (we hope) enjoy the best of both worlds. The falls are opened twice or three times a day to release the water buildup, and to promote flow through the river beds. Incidentally, those of us who show up at the park can enjoy the falls and the subsequent flow changes. 

After a glorious drive through the countryside (we were blessed with perfect weather, unlike in Todi, where it was pouring), sunroof open, we arrived. Tickets bought, we ambled along the walk towards the main entrance to the park.

The falls are amazing. Really beautiful. We arrived at the bottom of the path leading to the top and were told that it would take about 50 minutes to the top. Yikes! The falls were due to be turned off at 1, and it was then about 12:15. We started off right away, having been warned that it was a tough walk. Up and up and up we went, on a gorgeous woodland path with irregular steps...here wood retaining pieces, there stone, and here again terra cotta tiles. 

Still from the bottom

We made it to the intermediate lookout, at about 12:40 (after Todi, it wasn't too horrible a walk, and the cool woods were a delight after the warm day), and then continued on to see how far it was to the upper lookout. If we would make it in time, we wanted to hang out there to see the falls stop running.

About 2 minutes later, there we were at the upper ... well ... station. The entrance to the park and public bathrooms. No view of the falls to speak of. So obviously the first lookout we'd seen (and presumably the upper lookout) was the place to be. We sat down and munched on crackers and a new fish paste I was trying (sealed, squeeze tube! Nothing to go bad before opening!) which was delicious, and enjoyed the sound and the cool breeze from the water.

I didn't know what to expect when the water was switched off, so I set up the camera to video what might have been an abrupt change. After a minute, I turned off the camera. A few minutes later I tried again. No dice. Okay, so it may take a little longer. Time to turn on the camera and let it run for a bit.

Jeremy in the lookout

We would have been better off taking photos every 5 minutes. After 28 minutes, it had gone down to its lowest flow, and the camera had died. It was obviously time to head back down.

Tripping gaily (as opposed to somersaulting) down the steps, we had the opportunity to explore all the nooks and crannies that we'd had to bypass on the way up. Jeremy got delightfully dirty, so he must have had fun!

There was a really interesting subterranean gallery that one of the popes had had carved through the tufa under the waterfall sometime in the 1500s. The fascinating part was how very much the texture of tufa dampened the sound in there...it makes sense, because of the porous, hole-y texture of the stone, but it was fascinating to observe in practice.

Another field trip enjoyed, and time to head home.

Love,

Alexandra

10K at Cesi

This morning I ran a 10 km race at Cesi, a little town carved into the side of the hill near Sangemini, where I ran the relay on Friday.

The morning dawned to continuous rain. And it continued to rain as we drove to the race and prepared for the start. And it rained through the whole race. But there were still over 200 runners from all the surrounding towns.

The race started on the outskirts of town, took the road that goes around it, and looped back through it. This did not take long; we were out of town before we got to the 1 km mark. Runners might have outnumbered citizens.

The course then followed the approach road to Cesi. There was a long downhill and a much longer uphill, and as consolation we knew that we would be running the same road in reverse for the finish.

I wasn't surprised when the course turned off the main road, nor when the side road was full of puddles and potholes, nor even when the road got worse and worse and turned into a "white road" (gravel). That is normal for races around here. The surprise was when we left the road altogether and started running cross country through grass and Roman ruins. We had arrived at Carsulae, the ruins that Alexandra, Jim, and Rebecca visited three weeks ago!

I finished with a ho-hum time--having thoroughly enjoyed the run--and picked up my race packet. No pasta this time. Just two bottles of wine :)




A run, Roman ruins, and two bottles of wine for 7 euros. You won't beat that anywhere.

Michael

Benetton Basement

While working on some other posts I ran across pictures I had taken while shopping in Verona when my parents were here.

I was desperate for some shorts and headed off shopping with Ashley.  After several frustrating experiences with the Italian skinny-legs fashion--I couldn't get my runner's thighs in shorts that came anywhere near fitting at the waist--we decided to try Benetton.

The men's shop was in the basement, as was...an archaeological preservation!  

This was in the old part of the city in a very popular shopping district.  Although the excavation had no description, I am sure that it was discovered when the store decided to extend down to increase space (there is no question of external modifications in a historic district with edifices dating back before the Renaissance).

What to do?  Excavate, make it a display, and put the merchandise around the perimeter.

I didn't have a very good camera angle, but that is a mosaic floor. 

Michael