Wood Time

 We are perpetually surrounded by signs of the changing of seasons. This time, it was the wood delivery. An annual event, you start seeing small dump trucks shuttling busily through the town in order to provide wood to many of the homes. As previously noted, indoor fires are popular here for cooking as much as for the heat they provide. The hearth is central to most homes here.

The delivery fellow was amazing with his driving and dumping precision, making the unloading and storing process much less arduous. Of course, it helps that our storage location is in a subterranean boiler room rather than on the third floor as it was in our rental digs.

Not a lot of clearance on the sides

Even though the weather was still plenty warm at that point, seeing all the wood just made me ready for grilling!

Love,

Alexandra

Todi Open Doors and Other Art

 As part of Todi Festival, an annual film extravaganza, we had Todi OpenDoors. This was a fun initiative wherein certain palazzi provided space in their cortili to exhibit sculptures or other art installations. I didn't take photos of them all because there were quite a few, but some of the sillier/neater ones I couldn't resist capturing to share with you.

The part that I found particularly enjoyable was the chance to see behind some of the large exterior doors into the spaces behind. Many of them I'd already had the chance to see, but there were definitely a few new ones.

These were actually baked dough!

Jellyfish! Flashlights were provided to make them "pop" further

We also visited an art show during this same time period. These were huge canvases brought from Australia, and I thought they were fantastic. I loved the colors and the sheer scale of the pieces. That said, they definitely needed a special sort of location for hanging and our house (and budget) wouldn't have been that space. I did go back a few times for a repeat visit, though, which is rare for me with an exhibition.

Love,

Alexandra

Zoppini, bird catcher

Signor Zoppini is my shoemaking pal, who is now 95 or 96 depending on whether you consult him (96) or do the math with his birth year (95). I continue to learn fascinating things about him, though, that I like to share from time to time.

Recently, I mentioned to a local acquaintance that I was accompanying Zoppì to Marsciano for some shopping. The man cracked up, saying, "Ah, è un chiappasciuette" ("Oh, he's a ..." [something in dialect]). I had to enquire further, never having heard the word. Come to find out, Zoppì used to catch civets (little owls; in Italian there is a distinction between owls "gufi" and small owls "civette", which we don't have in English. I was told at that point to ask the man himself for more information.

Completely intrigued, I went to the horse's mouth. Here's what he said: Catching owls was a seasonal thing; you had a 40-day window every year in which to catch them. Hunters then used the owls to hunt for larks. I think the owls flushed the larks, but they didn't use them actually to do the hunting? Or maybe they did; that part was somewhat unclear to me. 

Hunting the owls went as follows: he got a stick about 2-3 meters long, and attached four flattish shortish pieces to the top in a sort of helicopter pattern. Small potatoes were wedged onto the end of each blade (for what purpose is unclear to me). The whole thing was then strewn with a confusion of something, presumably twine, but Zoppì was using dialectical words and I didn't want to interrupt to get the complete particular. He then used a little whistle that he had made to attract the owls, which then got embrangled in the helicopter stick because of the twine nest. He popped the owl into a bag or cage and then tried again. He often caught 4 or 5 a night, but one memorable occasion saw him prancing home with 13!

The forty days of owl hunting brought him the equivalent annual income from a year's worth of making shoes. 

When I later went to his workshop to see his whistles, he pulled out a series of brass and possibly aluminum whistles. Each one is designed to attract a different bird. Apart from owls, it appears he made quite a thing of trapping other sorts of birds to eat and/or sell. His method was illicit; although one could at the time hunt the birds quite legally, he had a special way of trapping them which consisted of defoliating shrubs and adding spines or thorns to the branches. He used the whistles to attract the birds to the booby-trapped shrubs, and then it was just a matter of harvesting them.

His owl whistles, however, he made himself. They looked like cane or bamboo with longitudinal cuts. Rather than blowing across the pieces (as with a flute) or down through them (like maybe a standard whistle or a recorder) he blew through some longitudinal cuts. In other words, they were held like a flute, but he blew through the slits rather than across them; there is a plastic "reed" inside. He had three different varieties to show me, all of which were about 3 1/2" long. They had rubber or plastic end pieces on each side, like the type you might find on a walking stick, although of course smaller.

Zoppini credits his ability to buy his house (outright, no mortgages, mind you!) in 1969 to his owl hunting activities. 

Love,

Alexandra

In Roman Footsteps

 This past Sunday, Michael and I took advantage of an outing proposed by one of the local historical societies here. The plan was to walk along what are thought to be the vestiges of the Via Amerina, admiring the medieval and in some cases Roman architecture along the way. Following our perambulations, we would lunch together at a local agriturismo heretofore unvisited by us.

Meeting at 7:30, we started off. Our guide explained to us that at a certain period in Roman history, the Empire held essentially only the wide area around Rome and Ravenna (to the north, direction Venice). To get from Rome to Ravenna, however, meant staying within a rather narrow corridor; on either side were to be found hostile forces. The Via Amerina was the road in the center of that narrow tract. While it is still easily visible south of Narni, the northern reaches within Umbria are less distinct and more open to interpretation based on geography and landmarks. It appears as though it was not paved with the huge stones used elsewhere, or perhaps the stones were taken in later times for building.

The first mill we came to:
the owner was able to make enough
money to purchase houses
 for each of  his ten children
back in the 1950s

Since it is located in a valley (which is flatter and better for walking and/or transporting goods with donkeys and carts), it also is near a river, the Arnita. What do you find along rivers but mills? There are apparently eight mills still extant on the Via Amerina in our area; our hike saw us passing by four. They are all in private hands now, mostly with the "guts" removed, but we were lucky enough to be given a tour by one mill owner whose equipment is still as it was last used in the 1970s. The building has been used continuously since before the 1500s by the same family. The person living there now is the last descendant of this family, though, so it ends with her.

First mills, abandoned since the 1970s

First mill, entrance.

This first mill was not properly part of the Via Amerina, but rather was located on the Arnita. We had to follow a little woodland path to meet up with the Amerina.

Having walked in the woods for a bit, we emerged
onto a path skirting a field. Fiore is in the distant left.

Everyone was ragging on my beloved castle. From
what I gathered, the crenellations may have been 
added later? Anyway, since it's not like the local architecture,
they don't it.

You can just see Todi in the distance

This is how the path looked
for most of the way

Roman and later travelers would need a place to stop and rest, get basic amenities, and so on. Thus were developed "ospedali" on the way: not "hospitals" in the current sense of health care centers, but "hospitality" locations in the sense of overnight facilities and maybe even some basic health care for travelers. The point of interest we were directed to is called "ospedalicchio", and is the location of what was originally a way point. In the medieval period, it became a facility run by the order Santa Maria Maddalena di Montecchio (I think I remembered it properly) and specialized in treating leprosy. At that time, bathing of the diseased skin was found to be restorative; the local river was certainly helpful with that. There was also a small chapel which is still present today, and has been recently restored as part of an ambitious agriturismo project which had a major setback due to the pandemic.

This is a huge new wannabe agriturismo that
fell on hard times in the pandemic. It hasn't yet
been finished, yet all the copper downspouts have 
been stolen.

Now attached to the large
building above, this was a chapel associated
with the "ospedale"

First bridge! Certainly
rebuilt since Roman times 
based on the masonry work

The Arnita runs mostly dry in summer

I found the geology intriguing

Second mill! We couldn't get closer because the road 
deviated from the river and it was private property.

Ponte Romana, most certainly rebuilt in the medieval
and recently repointed.

Because the safe corridor
was narrow, it was watched from towers
for possible troop movements or 
incursions by the surrounding enemies. 
This was the Torre Olivieri, owned by the same 
family as the last mill we visited.

Third mill, purportedly privately owned as a summer
house.

Third mill, from the other side.

Ponte Falce, "Sickle Bridge" 
because of the curved path heading
out of the "handle" provide by the bridge

Ponte Falce from the side

Wild boar! Actually somewhat protected by an agriturismo

Such a sweet face! It was snuffling along rooting up plants.
Yes, they're very destructive and can be extremely
dangerous, particularly when they have young.

I realize that I somewhat stupidly didn't take photos of the outside of the fourth mill. It is a working farmhouse, hardscrabble existence for sure. The owner was gracious enough to show us the workings of the mill, which has not been in use since the 1970s.

Christmas dinner

The far left was for animal feed, the right (center) was for polenta

Left (center in real life) was the polenta mill, right was for flour.
There were levers underneath the various mills to divert the water
flow and provide power to the particular mill.

Scale for weighing bags

Olive grinding

The jute disks were used in
olive pressing for filtration

The roads out of the farmhouse were so steep that we were told to walk up them and one of our guides would take a few drivers in the car he'd thoughtfully left at this location back to the parking area to pick up the rest of us. We walked up some seriously steep roads that our Panda would not have been able to travel. Even having got to the "less steep" portion, when we were finally in the vehicles, we had to get out three times to push the car up the hill! Really inaccessible countryside. Absolutely lovely, though.

And then, lunch! Who should we clap eyes on upon entering? My dear friend Orietta!! I knew that she'd been waitressing but had not idea it was in the particular location. It was a lovely spot with an openable terrace/dining room.

View from our (shaded) seats

We had some of the best prosecco I've ever had, and several of our co-adventurers were also commenting on it. It didn't have a label on it, and was served out of completely plain glass bottles. Because of this, I asked the waiter about it and he said he'd let me know which winery it came from. Unfortunately, we all forgot before we left because we were stuffed with a delicious meal and in a food coma. I did send a message to Orietta, though, and she brought me four bottles to enjoy! Finally, I've found out which cantina it came from. 

Yeah, not so fast. How did it come? Yes, in the same plain, green bottles it was served in at lunch. Sigh. And the thing is, it's not even got a mushroom cork with a cage. We'll have to drink it quickly so we don't risk its popping!

Cheers,

Alexandra

We're back! And hungry for pizza!

We're so happy to be able to get out and about a bit more. We're not doing anything crazy like going to a discotheque (as if), but we have extended ourselves to takeout pizza from Dige's. 

For those who haven't visited, Dige's is a Tuderte fixture. Located in the first (small) piazza you come to in town, they are a corner joint right next to the bus stop. They get a ton of school traffic, needless to say, but they also get a lot of loyalty from locals. 

Called "pizza al taglio" ("cut pizza"), they are large, rectangular sheets of pizza with different toppings. You order the part of the pizza you want based on the toppings, and indicate the size that they cut off using scissors. During the pandemic, they went with a different way of making the pizzas, including a new recipe for the crust and no longer using the HUGE metal pans that they used to have. Different, yes. Better? I think both ways of doing the pizza are spectacular, so I can't say.

 If you prefer, and are organized, you can also order a thin-crust individual round pizza. These are about 14" diameter, but since they're thin, they're quite manageable if you're hungry. Or you can have leftovers! A "normal" size piece of cheese pizza will set you back about $1.50 or $2.00, and an individual pizza to order runs about $7.

They also offer wonderful chicken salad, spelt salad, chicken wings, and porchetta! Porchetta is an incredible roast pork sandwich made with split focaccia. Makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Love,

Alexandra

Pizza al taglio

Porchetta!

Chicken salad and spelt salad

Overall view. Tiziana and Massimo are the owners and chefs, in back.

End of the Balloons

We had a 9-days' wonder in our balloon festival, but it is over. No more early waking to the "whoosh" of the burners, then rushing out to the terrace to watch them sail overhead. At least, not until next year! Late in the week, I came across a flyer that had photos of the participants' balloons and the pilots, as well as information on their country of provenance. It made for an even more enjoyable experience, matching the balloons with owners and countries. Interestingly, the pilots from England and Northern Ireland flew under the individual countries' flags rather than the United Kingdom's flag. There was one pilot who declared the EU flag as his patria. We only had one Italian pilot this year. There were a lot of participants from Belgium and Germany, intriguingly enough.

Just for eye candy, I'm posting a few more photos from various days in the competition.

Love, 

Alexandra

The orange balloon hails from the US