After months of anticipation, Eleanor has come home, bringing boyfriend Matthew! It is his first time outside of the US, and so of course, he's observing a lot of differences. So far, they have:
- Cuddled bunnies
- Gone to the textile mills in Montefalco, then lunch at L'Alchimista
- Climbed San Fortunato
- Visited the cisterns
- Seen Cesare and his violins, Fabrizio/Daniele and their intarsia work, and generally visited the town
- Hung out at Pianegiani, in Piazza, and in the Giardinetti
- Seen the exhibition at the museum
- Admired the castles in Fiore
- Gone to Assisi
- Visited the wine shop in Ponte Rio
- Toured the coffee and chocolate factories
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| Bunnies! |
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| Visit to Montefalco |
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| In the theatre |
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| Montefalco...Tessitura Pardi with Augusta |
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| Aperitivi near the Giardinetti |
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| Jeremy was front and center for this performance |
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| In San Fortunato's Tower |
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| Cistern visit |
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| The castle of Fiore |
We had kind of a funny experience, as well. We were out and about and decided to go on an adventure: we were out of pepper jelly (which Jeremy could eat off a spoon), and it is made by a local agriturismo. I had previously checked out its location on Googlemaps, and thought I could probably get pretty close. In agreement that a quest would be a fun way to spend the next half hour, we set off. We wound in and out of the fields and towns, and were pretty soon in the back of beyond. At this point, my confidence failed and I started looking for someone to advise us. The first rustic looked rather too rustic, and I wasn't sure we'd understand each other. Around the bend, though, were two men standing together, and ... lo and behold! It was Don Francesco (our parish priest) and one of Florence's swim teammates' dad! We all stared at each other as if to say, "What in the world are
you doing here?"
I explained our mission to get pepper jelly, and the dad said,
if we were going to be able to find it, it would be this way (and described the road rather minutely). Bear in mind that an agriturismo is like a country B&B, where city folk can get into the country for a bit of relaxation, fresh food, etc. So, generally, one would like clients to, you know, be able to
find the place. Apparently not in this case. We wound in and out of fields and woods, bumped up and down on white roads, and carried along. At the point of giving up hope, we had to continue simply because the road was such that we couldn't turn around! However, we reached an intersection and...whoa! A sign for our goal!!!
We drove in, and a head popped out: our friendly pepper jelly vendor (they usually come to fairs, and he knows well how much Jeremy loves the condiment). His greeting was essentially, "How in the world did you find us???" After his having expressed much astonishment, his wife emerged. With the same question.
I asked about guests. After all, they have been selling at markets as an agriturismo for at least three years. He looked a bit embarrassed and explained that they were currently building a guest house. They have yet to actually operate as an agriturismo!
We happily acquired our jelly (and they did promise to bring the restaurant version to the next fair just for us), and were on our way!
Love,
Alexandra
We decided to go visit the Grotte di Frasassi ("Between Rocks Caves") earlier this week while the others were at school, and it was quite the adventure! The caves are roughly an hour and a half away; there is a parking lot with remarkably similar schlock to what you'd find in the US (temporary booths with "Made in China Genuine Souvenirs" and healing crystals and that sort of thing) along with the ticket booths. Having purchased your ticket, you boarded the shuttle bus for the cave entrance, which is just off a state road.
The caves were discovered in the early 1970s by a group of four spelunkers ranging in age from 16-20. Because of the local geology, they suspected the presence of caverns in the area, so they were digging around at the surface to see what they could find. A soccer-ball-sized hole opened up, so they dug a bit more. I think they found a sort of mini cavern, which they entered, and then created/found an additional opening into darkness. Doing the sensible thing, they dropped a rock. And counted...one...two...three...four...FIVE seconds before the rock hit the ground below. Holy cavern! They knew they had found something special, but they had no idea how amazing it would turn out to be.
The main part of the cavern is 220 meters high, and the entire cathedral of Milan would fit inside it. There are stalagmites 16 meters high: as tall as a 5-story building!
We have visited several of the large caves in Virginia and Kentucky, so there were certainly some familiar sights (the smooth stalagmites and stalagtites), but they had some really curious formations, as well: stalagmites that were more like acanthus-leaf capitals and columns that I don't remember having seen before.
