First Day In Italy

I am sitting in my bedroom here after my first full day in Italy. After a hair raising day yesterday spent riding buses, planes, and trains for nearly 14 hours, I arrived by car around 2 am, up a winding road to the house that will be my home for the next month or so. This morning I was woken up around 930 by a minor earthquake (a bit crazy) and then a little bit later at 11 am to the sound of church bells in the distance. Like a child on christmas morning I jumped out of bed, opened the windows and the shutter, to an amazing view overlooking tree covered hills and a castle perched on a sun drenched mountain. Sounds idyllic, but this is Italy after all ;] I opened the other window overlooking the large patio and garden and the sounds of chirping birds and buzzing bees quickly filled my room. This was to set the tone for the rest of the day. I showered and headed downstairs to have a quick breakfast and have a chat with Richard (my host). We had a lunch date with his neighbor and good friend, Andrea at 130. That quickly came and five minutes after 1 saw us driving down the dirt road to her house.

We came bearing gifts; a bottle of wine, and a freshly dug up sage plant. Andrea's home is straight out of some sort of travel magazine, or storybook. It has purple and white Wisteria growing up the side of the small brick home, and the roof looks ancient and is composed of various colored Terracotta tiles. She had also transformed an old barn into an art studio (she's a painter, and a very good one at that. You will definitely meet her Caro :] ). I imagine her view is quite inspiring.

Upon entering the home I realize how cozy and warm it feels. A nice fireplace. The small living area smelled of smoke. The exposed wooden beams and stone ceiling is quite amazing. We took a walk around the grounds and I was told that the fig tree in the front yard may have been planted when the home was first built 300 or 400 years ago. We were offered Prosecco and crostini's with Guanciale (so delicious). The rest of the guests arrived: a former Belgian Diplomat and his wife. They looked distinguished. The gentleman with a dark green corderoy suit, and a knitted crimson colored tie. A tuft of thinned gray hair sat atop his head and he wore a large pair of glasses. After Prosecco and Guanciale we moved to the dining room where we were served blanched asparagus with balsamic and olive oil. We had lots of great local Umbrian wine. The conversation flowed, as did the wine. Just listening to all of these people talk and conversate was amazing. They had lived such amazing lives. The former Belgian diplomat (Thierry) had been posted in various locations throughout his career. Locations included: Cambodia, London, Poland, and Moscow (please note this was in the 70's and 80's) and provided a front row seat for the collapse of the Soviet Union. The conversation was extremely stimulating. The next course was potato salad with fresh parsley, capers, and rosemary, carrots with fresh cumin, and a Pork Roast with fennel and other various spices. All was incredibly delicious. We had more wine and after I was quite full, the dessert made it's appearance (I'll have to remember to pace myself next time). It was an incredible chocolate mousse (made with Belgian chocolate of course) with chunks of quickly dissipating meringue. I had two servings. We had some Grappa, then some almond cookies, some chocolate, and then small cups of extremely rich and dark coffee. The food kept coming, but finally after a little bit more wine it was over and all that was left was the never uninteresting conversation. We made a trip up the hill to see Andrea's studio. We viewed palettes crusted over with paints, vases full of brushes, various sized canvases adorning the small area; different works, portraits, landscapes. It was amazing (she will have an exhibition in Paris soon). Afterwards another stroll around the grounds to look at the various plants and flowers; some Lilacs perhaps? This would be the kind of place I would like to live (perhaps someday ;] ) After saying goodbye to Thierry and his wife we helped to fix Andrea's clock, had a bit more Prosecco, and headed back up the road to Richard's house. What a time of day it was.

Finally we strolled the grounds here at his home, and discussed his plans for it. I am eager to roll up my sleeves and get to work. It should be great and there is definitely a lot to do. Tomorrow we'll host a dinner with lots of his close friends, hopefully do a bit of work in the morning, and enjoy another amazing selection of freshly prepared local food. Not sure what time I will go to bed. We'll see. I think I'm really going to like it here. I'll post a photo a bit later on of the view I have out my window. Until, then, toodles! Ciao!

Zach