Gastronomic Tuscany

Yesterday we got up at 4:00 am to drive our friend, Lynne Lysiak, to the Florence airport for a 7:00 o'clock flight.  Even with driving down the mountain in the pitch dark, we arrived at the airport in less than 45 minutes.  Thank goodness for the GPS as the signage for the airport is not the best.

Tuscan Countryside

Castle Brolio

Lynne's visit seemed like a whirlwind tour.  She arrived last Tuesday and we were on the go almost the whole time that she was here--Brolio, Greve, Rodda, Siena, Montireggione, Pienza, and Florence. For us, it was a repeat visit to most of the places, but Lynne told us that she had no agenda and wanted us to show her the Tuscany that we love, so we did. Brolio, which includes the Ricasoli Castle and winery, is worth multiple visits.  Again we had a wonderful, private tour of the castle and grounds and a personalized tasting experience.

Picnic in the Vineyard

It was a beautiful, warm, and sunny spring day, and before our tour, we were able to picnic in the vineyard. Of course, the drive there and home takes you through some of the most gorgeous scenery in Italy, if not the world.  Brolio is only about 50 kilometers (35 miles or so) from our apartment in Poggio, but that's 50 kilometers of winding, often narrow, country and mountain roads.  The payoff, though, includes, breathtaking views around almost every turn and over every rise.  Lynne told us that she had no idea that the Tuscan countryside and scenery would be so varied and extraordinary--and coupling that with the arrival of spring, makes the whole experience almost indescribable.

Lynne, Larry & Sue at Brolio

Returning home from Brolio, we stopped for a short tour of Radda in Chianti; yet another small Tuscan hill town, perched high above the surrounding countryside, with breathtaking views from all sides of the town which can be easily circumnavigated in less than an hour, including a stop for Proseco and souvenir shopping. Dinner found us in Greve where we returned to the Osteria Nerbone. It is still early in the season, and on a mild spring night in the middle of the week, we pretty much had Greve and the Osteria Nerbone to ourselves.

Paulo, the proprietor, once again greeted and served us, and we followed his recommendation for wine (a Brolio Chianti Classico) and food--vegetarian lasagna and rabbit stew. The surprisingly light lasagna, made with beshamel sause, was as we all agree the best that we ever tasted and the wine made a wonderful complement for it and the stew as well. Driving the last 15 kilometers home was slow going through the dark and twisty mountainous roads; and we all fell into bed after an exhaustingly full day of touring and eating.

Portion of floor in Siena Duomo

The next day, Thursday, we had scheduled to visit Siena.  As anyone who reads this blog knows, Siena is our favorite Tuscan town and we are always ready to show it off to friends and visitors--fortunately, Lynne was ready and willing. Per usual, and especially after the full day of driving and touring on Wednesday, we didn't get off to an early start, arriving in Siena around 1:00--just in time to amble though the city--passing quickly by the Campo and the Duomo with promises to return, to get to one of our favorite restaurants, Osteria del Gatto, for lunch.

Il Campo, Siena

Il Gatto is a tiny little eatery, seating fewer than 30 diners if every table and chair is occupied, serves great Sienese and Tuscan dishes like Pici (a local spaghetti like pasta) with wild boar sausage. A liter of the house wine costs only nine Euros and is a really excellent Chianti. We have probably eaten there five or six times over the last couple of months, so we have gotten to know the owner/chef and staff so it is always a relaxed experience for us, and one we enjoy sharing with visitors. They also sell packages of our favorite richerelli--a Tuscan almond cookie that we have grown to love.

Siena's Duomo

But with the most of the city still to explore, we couldn't linger too long--well, OK we were there for an hour and a half, but since the day was so warm and sunny, there was plenty of time and light to see the highlights.  On the way to the Duomo, we stopped by a little ceramic shop, Studio Artistico, that we enjoy, and after a delightful "Italglish" conversation with the artisan/owners, (Virginia and Alessandro Marchionni, we purchased a platter depicting a Tuscan country scene painted by Alessandro and made arrangements to pick up some pieces for gifts when we return to the area later  in May.

Piccolomini Library Fresco

We think that everyone who visit Siena should see and experience the Duomo, which is a riot of renaissance art and decorations. We particularly like the mosaic floors and the Piccolomini Library.  The Library houses 15th century murals depicting the life of the Sienese pope Pius II.  Even after 500 years of pollution and hordes of tourists streaming through the Library constantly, they are as seemingly as vibrant as when the artist Pintoricchio first painted them.  Much more approachable than the Sistine Chapel, we love revisiting them and showing them to visitors.  We were delighted when Lynne wanted to linger for close to half an hour and only reluctantly leave.

Sue & Lynne in Il Campo, Siena

After the Duomo, we wended our way to the Campo, stopping at our favorite Gelaterria--discovering for the first time that it offers a balcony above the Campo, great for tourist watching, basking in the sun, and slowly savoring one's gelato.  A slow, picture window peering stroll down La Citta, the central shopping street, finally brought us back to our car. Opting for the longer, but faster autostrada route for our return home, we finished the day at Pizzeria La Torre in Figline, home of delicious paper thin crusted pizzas. Only 10 kilometers from home, it is certainly worth the stop.

Torre di Mangia, Siena

This trip to Italy, the little town of Pienza has become one of our favorite destinations and places to show guests.  Not quite an hour from our apartment in Poggio, it's a great drive through glorious countryside--the Val D'Orcia.  And believe it or not, in the six weeks we have been here, the look and feel of the scenery has changed remarkably with the arrival of Spring, so revisiting anywhere is almost like a new experience. Pienza, built as a summer retreat by the same Pius II featured in the Piccolomini Library, is a tiny, renaissance hill town that is easily savored and enjoyed in a two or three hour visit. We like the Pope's Palace; occupied by his descendent until the 1960's, it can now be toured.  With its own fairly modest Duomo, lots of 16th and 17th buildings and shops, Pienza also provides a stunning view of the Val D'Orcia from a wallside promenade just a block off the main piazza.

Our favorite restaurant in Pienza, La Buca delle Fate, was unfortunately over run by a large tourist group and could not seat us, so we were forced to seek out an alternative--La Luna, which is just a few doors down. It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day, but we were lucky enough to find a table in the covered  outdoor loggia. Again we followed the waitress's suggestions and really enjoyed our local pasta dishes and the superb pork roast. Arriving late and eating leisurely---the great house white wine aided that process; we were one of the last luncheon guests to leave.  We stopped the owner to express our thanks and appreciation, and he was delighted as it had been a crazy afternoon for them with quite a few pushy and demanding tourists.  It made us feel good!

Lynne's visit was only six days, but as we are only 20 kilometers from Florence,  we felt that we should try to take in some of its sights.  Previously we had taken the train, but this time decided to drive to the city and park. Worth doing once, perhaps. Traffic was really not as bad as we feared, and with a good address, our car's GPS (we have dubbed her Gracie P. Soothsayer) managed to get us to one of the city's outlying parking garages without incident, and a short cab ride got us into the "central market" area of the historic district.

Ponte Vecchio, Forence

The central market, encompassing much of the area in and around Piazza San Lorenzo, is filled with vendor stalls selling all of the detritus that might appeal to the average tourist--jewelery, clothes, trinkets, ceramics, and especially here in Florence--leather goods--coats, shoes, and bags. The vast majority of the vendors seem to be non-Italians--Africans, middle easterners, and South Asians seeming to dominate. Although tempted by some of the beautiful leather goods, we resisted.  Besides, we were really looking for a restaurant (as usual)--Maurio's, which Sue had read about online.  Asking several of the more friendly and non aggressive vendors and getting lost and turned around, we finally found it.  Alas, the wait was an hour and a half--evidently, Sue is not the only one who had read about it on the Internet.

What to do? Turn to Rick Steve's and look for eateries in the Central Market area.  His first suggestion was Trattoria ZaZa.  Do we try to find it? Ask some more of the vendors? Fortunately no need--ZaZa's turned out to be right next door to Maurio's and there was no wait. Our assigned waiter was at first quite aloof, but once we asked "Che cosa consiglia?" (What do you recommend?) and then ordered what he recommended--he warmed up considerably. His suggestion of Sea Bass and Ravioli were great--the fish in a light cream sauce is among the best dishes we have had here in Italy.  For Larry, the highlight was of course the desert--again a recommendation from the waiter--an apple tort with marscapone cream.  Melt in your mouth!

Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

Lynne didn't get to see too many of Florence's tourist sites.  It is almost impossible unless you devote two or three days to hard touring to do that--and arriving in Florence at 1:00 and taking 2 hours to find a restaurant and eat a leisurely lunch, really doesn't allow it, but we saw the Duomo, the gold and jewelery shops of the  Ponte Vecchio, and the Palazzo Vecchio.  The David replica is almost as nice as the real one and doesn't require an hour's wait.

After five days of pretty intense touring, we all agreed that we would just stay close to home for Lynne's last day with us--besides we had not had the chance to eat at Becatinni's, and we wanted to share that experience.  The Becatinnis are such a warm and open family.  They have made our stay here in Poggio a delight and a joy.  Whenever we see therm--in their restaurant or on the street, they always greet us and try to engage us in a conversation--not always easy, as only Lorenzo, the son, speaks English, and our Italian just isn't up to in depth conversations--but that never seems to discourage them.

Checking in with Lorenzo on Sunday morning to tell him that we would like to have lunch with them at 1:00 or 2:00, he looked crestfallen and told us that they are full--but after a moment's hesitation, he said--"no problem" (his standard phrase fortunately), we will seat you in the bar. After a delightful walk, with Lynne helping to identify some of the wildflowers growing along the roadside, we arrived at Becatinni's at 1:30.  Lorenzo was not kidding...they were full.  It seems that two couples were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversaries--one party of 8 and the other numbered close to 60. With a scattering of other diners, the restaurant was jammed and all of the Becatinni's were scrambling (often literally running) to prepare food, serve, and clean-up. 

Still they took time to greet us and serve us personally, with everyone stopping by to meet Lynne. Seated in the bar, though, we were privy to all of the behind the scene activities.  Quite a scramble ! Danilo still made time to make us a special crepe and his homemade ravioli with wild boar and truffle sauce.  When we told Danilo that we wanted to order his Bistecca Fiorentina, he was delighted to make it for us and even took time to show Sue how it was cut and cooked.  Afterwards, Lynne had the very highest of compliments--this was the best Italian meal that she had ever eaten.  We agreed !

Sue, Danilo & Lynne with the 2kg Florentine Steak

A Day in the Life of Poggio all Croce

Poggio alla Croce

We have spent several days resting and taking in the ambience of a small Italian village.  It starts with the crowing of roosters and the sound of a few cars on the road below our apartment.  Soon birds begin to sing, which you hear all day long.

Madonna Shrine on a village house

We open our floor-to-ceiling shutters to the sight of a magnificent valley with Florence in the far distance and the Italian sun reflecting off green hills, tall straight cedars, a few villas on the hillsides and olive tree leaves shimmering silver in the light.  Such beauty is hard to describe.

You begin to hear a few “Ciaos” and “Buon Giornos” being exchanged in the street outside our front door and soon “beep, beep”—the bread van’s signal.  A man with a “tiny white van” (for those of you who read Alexander McCall Smith) comes each day.  He stops as the senoras come out and gather to buy the day’s bread, all chattering, smiling and reminding us of a gaggle of geese.  Greetings and news seems to be exchanged for a few minutes; then everyone goes back inside with their precious loaf (including us).

A little while later come the young mothers with toddlers in strollers.  Seemingly on signal, they gather at the end of the street at a tiny park where there is a swing, slide and a small play area.  From our apartment you can hear distant chatter:  the squeals of the kids and voices of mamas talking to the kids or each other.

Becattini's Restaurant

If it is a weekend day, around 1:00 pm many people (us included) go to the center of town (less than a block away) to Becatini’s restaurant (our landlord) for some of their excellent fare.  Danilo’s ravioli is just a tad better than Anita and Sue’s (Hah ! Danilo’s melt in your mouth; theirs was dense and “chewy”).  The family (Danilo, Giancarla, Lorenzo, Nonno and Nonna) sit for a while with us at the table, offer us Danilo’s latest dulce (desert), talk, laugh and jump up to help others. Fortunately for us, we have become "familia" with them.  We eat leisurely, have some espresso and amble back to our apartment full of good food and good company.

Before or after lunch, a walk into the countryside for a little wild flower picking is a delight, even with the steep hills at either end of the village.  You have to walk on the one lane road and watch out for cars that beep before the curves to warn you that they will be rushing past.  And rush past they do.  Italian drivers are a little crazy to our way of thinking.

The church bell chimes the hour, birds continue to sing, the sun to shine, a gentle wind blows and the surrounding area is glorious.

Towards the end of the day, small boys come rushing down the street to the fenced-in tiny soccer field (about 1/4^th the size of a real field).  Without the fence, they would be chasing balls down the cliffs.  You can hear them shouting and playing while roosters continue to crow and several town dogs bark.  They seem to love the boys running around town.

Mustard fields in the countryside

As twilight approaches, we sit on our balcony or in the little loggia Danilo has built below with a glass of wine and a good book.  Before long either Nonno or Nonna (we haven’t learned any other name for them) comes along to chat in Italian.  We understand very little, but they chat away, we nod in seeming understanding, and then quiz each other after they have left about  what we each think that they might have said.

Dinner is homemade and light, unless we decide to drive down to Figline Valdarno for some excellent pizza.  We have TV, but as we said earlier, can’t understand it so we seldom turn it on.  We did find a wonderful mezzo soprano, Elina Garanca, to listen to on YouTube.  Check her out; she is gorgeous with a fabulous voice.  So, we listen to Elina, read, talk about plans for the next day, week or even months and crawl into bed when we get sleepy.

Quiet, peaceful, serene, tranquil…pretty nice life. We feel very lucky!

Poggio alla Croce

Not much more than a crosssroads (on a steep cliff, however), Poggio alla Croce, our homebase for the month of April, sits atop a ridge overlooking two valleys. Looking east we can see Fegline Valdarno and Arezzo and to our west, 20 kilometers away, is Florence.  At night Florence looks like a  huge diamond glistening in the distance.

Virgin's Bower (?)

With only a church, a restaurant (our landlord Danilo's), and a tabaccheria (tobacco/convenience store), we have to make the 15 minute, 8 kilometer (5 mile) trip down the steep and winding country road to Fegline for groceries and other necessities. Fortunately, Fegline has a brand new, modern grocery store (the Coop) that sells everything you might need. Italy is getting easier and easier for travelers; for example, all of the aisles in the Coop have English as well as Italian information. Really helpful when you are trying to find baking powder, etc.

Primrose

What Poggio does have is serenity and scenery.  The view west from our back terrace is spectacular and the sunsets have been great.  Now that spring finally seems to be sure about starting, the sun has come out, the sky is crystalline blue, and the wild flowers are bursting out all over.  One of our favorite walks simply involves stepping out of the apartment, turning left on the main street (one of two in the town), and walking for about ten minutes until we are out in the country. Violets, wild helleboros (Lenten roses), primroses, grape hyacinths, and other flowers which we cannot identify are growing in profusion along the roadside and in the adjoining woods and fields.

This week we decided to take a couple of days just to relax and rest here at the apartment in Poggio.  Sue, the introvert, always needs time to rest and recharge, but Larry also seems to have come down with a wicked head cold--the man who supposedly doesn't get sick seems to be having a series of bothersome minor illnesses since the trip has started.

Wild Helleboros (or Lenten Rose)

By Thursday we were recharged and ready to explore some more and decided to drive to Arezzo, about an hour away.  We arrived around lunch time and sought out one of the town's many "gastronomias." Unlike a normal restaurant, you select from what the chef has prepared that day which is on display in a cafeteria like area and then walk into the dining room, in this case upstairs, to your table where you order your water and wine. The pasta--a ravioli with pesto sauce was delicious, but the veal cutlet was not up to the standard that we have come to expect.  Still with the nice white house table wine and the conversation we had with the locals sitting next to us, we had a delightful lunch.  One of our lunch companions was in charge of "historic sites" in Arezzo and she was kind enough to give us suggestions for touring, since we knew nothing about Arezzo. We spent most of our time in San Francesco, a 13th century church noted for its fresco cycle chronicling the "True Story of the Holy Cross." Recently restored, it was certainly worth our trip to Arezzo. (No pictures allowed, as is the case with many fresco works, so we can't show you--you'll just have to visit Arezzo and see for yourself !)

After another restful day on Friday, Saturday morning we drove to Orvieto to meet up with our niece, Susie, and her friend, Shannon who are in Italy with the Choir of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The choir was invited to sing for the Pope at the Vatican and other sites around Rome, but Saturday was a free day for them and they were happy to meet us outside of Rome. Our timing was perfect as we arrived at the station just as their train pulled in (well, we did spend 15 minutes being lost and looking for the station.)

Susie with Sue & Larry

 Deciding to try to see Assissi, we headed out again only to get turned around and took the A1 tollroad in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, the next available exit was some 30 kilometers out of our way, but once we were off the toll road, we decided to take a back road that looked promising on the map. An hour later, after a ride through lovely countryside with farms and fields of bright yellow mustard, and alongside an incredibly beautiful lake, we found ourselves near Todi.  What a wonderfully serendipitous find.

Susie & Shannon in front of Todi's Duomo

Todi, like so many old cities in Tuscany and Umbria, sits high on a hilltop, with a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. Parking below the city, we took the free funicular/elevator ride up to the town itself. We have seen some beautiful views from Volterra, Pienza, Brollio, and other sites, but the views from Todi are amongst the best we have seen, and Susie and Shannon were as impressed as we were. 

An iPhone photo just cannot do justice to Todi's spectacular scenery

As seems the case in so many of our touring visits, we arrived at our destination just in time for lunch. We found our way to the busy main square, made a quick stop at the local tourist office to pick up a map and get some recommendations for important sites to visit.  We have discovered, however, that the tour offices cannot and will not make any restaurant recommendations--it figures that they cannot really single out any one of say fifty restaurants in town.  After looking and rejecting a few in and around the square, Sue decided to approach and ask a local man.  He gladly recommended Ristorante Jacopone "da Peppino" which was only a couple blocks walk away. 

A wooden panel on Duomo's Front Door (17th C)

We had yet again another fantastic meal featuring a great antipasto and what might be the best veal scallopine we have ever eaten.  What was perhaps the nicest part of the meal was the waiter.   An avuncular and friendly middle aged man, he was welcoming and patient and gladly accommodated our request to share the primi and secondi plates.  Topped off by a great cup of espresso, our nearly two hour meal was tasty and relaxing and gave us a great opportunity to visit with Susie and to get to know Shannon a little better. A visit to the Duomo and a little shopping followed before we drove back to Orvieto for more shopping, interspersed with great people watching during the evening passeggiata.  We were sad to say goodbye to Susie and Shannon and see them off on their train back to Rome, but it was a great visit nevertheless.

Easter Week in Chianti and Rome

 

Our first week in April was very hectic.  With much regret, we left Siena on Easter Sunday, March 31.  Our landlady, Marzia, told us that we could get a temporary pass to bring our car into the city walls in order to pick up our luggage—saving us the trouble of schlepping up and down Siena’s steep hilly streets.  Having forgotten about the daylight savings change which started in Italy that day, 12:00 noon came upon us a little too abruptly, but we managed to make our 12:30 deadline (bringing cars into the walled city is strictly controlled and fines are very high if you break the rules).

  

Before leaving Siena, we decided to eat a last time at one of our favorite eateries, Pizzeria Nonno Mede, along with the rest of the Easter crowd.  We were able to say thanks and goodbye to Mimo—one of the young waiters who always made us feel so welcome.  And we delighted in the antics of Maria, the little two-year old whose parents own Nonno Mede.

At Nonno Mede--farewell to Mimo--our favorite waiter in Siena

Maria and her mom, Nonno Mede's Restaurant

Having finished lunch we set off for our new apartment in the Chianti region.  The drive was short, we found our new landlord, but just as we were about to follow him from his restaurant to the site of the apartment, our car conked out.  Panic!  We thought we were stuck on a steep hill in a seemingly remote corner of Chianti.  We asked our young host, Lorenzo, what we should do, and he immediately said, “I don’t know, I’ll ask my father.”  Soon his Dad, Danilo, came to our rescue and told us to just roll down the steep hill.  Voila!  The car started.  Thank goodness!  Maybe it was just flooded, who knows?

We settled into our place in a very tiny hamlet in Greve called Poggio Alla Croce—one restaurant (owned by Danilo and Lorenzo) and one church.  Though our apartment is adequate, being in the hamlet is a tad too isolated for our taste.  We are glad to have the car to be able to check out more of the area. Danilo was kind enough to make us dinner that night even though the restaurant was closed after a very, very busy Easter Sunday pranza (lunchtime meal).  Father and son are so similar in looks that it seems Danilo spit Lorenzo out.  We tell them they look like twins, though the ages are different of course.  Both are incredibly kind, gracious and lots of fun.

Anita learns to make pasta with Danilo

 Monday the three of us settled in, Sue and Anita took a pasta cooking lesson with Danilo and then all three of us along with Lorenzo, Danilo and Nonna ate what they had prepared--wonderful. We then spent the day in the small town of Greve in Chianti enjoying the open air market and finding, as usual, a wonderful restaurant where each of us had yet another fabulous dish washed down with yet another liter of delicious wine.

Florence's Loggia of Art

Tuesday we traveled by train to Florence, seemingly along with much of Europe.  Over the years we have visited Florence several times, but never have we experienced so many people.  With only one day to tour, we opted not to try to get into either the Uffizi or the Academy (home of Michelangelo’s David); the Duomo was very crowded but we did get in and enjoyed it. The Ponte Vecchio was wall-to-wall people—although few seemed to be buying the expensive jewelry you find there.  Anita found a purse at a store owned by an American woman who came to Florence nearly thirty years ago with her Italian husband.

Florence: Ponte Vecchio & the hordes of tourists

We were pretty tired after a long day of walking/touring/being lost, but for the first time the weather seemed spring like, so we enjoyed our time in the open air. Our visit confirmed for us once again that we prefer Siena to Florence, despite all the art to be found in Florence.

As we said, Poggio is a pretty isolated hamlet—nearly 12 kilometers from the nearest big town (Figline Valdarno), so getting anywhere involves driving some pretty twisting country roads—but the compensation is the extraordinary scenery.

Typical Tuscan scene

Two of our day trips involved visits to wineries—the first, Tenuta La Novella, is nearby but is a very small operation run by a young French-Italian couple (Bertram and Laura).  Although we were their only visitors for the day, and they were both busy with farm/office activities, they provided us with a nice tour of the farm and a casual, informative wine tasting. We bought a couple bottles of their Chianti Classico, which is delicious and we wish we could share it with you reading this.

Laura at Tenuta La Novella

Our second winery visit took us to Ricasoli, an estate that has been owned by the same family since the middle of the 12^th century.  Thanks to an introduction from one of Anita’s friends, we were given a private tour of the castle by Camellia, a young Romanian woman who speaks perfect English as well as Italian. This was followed by a special wine tasting experience, conducted by Nora, a native of Buenos Aires.  Nora's knowledge of wine seemed encyclopedic; she was warm, welcoming & unhurried--again we were so very impressed with her language skills--Spanish, of course, Italian, English, French and passable German. We lingered over the wine tasting for what must have been close to two hours. Although Anita often participates in wine tasting events in the States, it is a fairly novel experience for us—but Ricasoli wines are something we hope we can share again soon with some of our other visitors. (Thanks again Anita!) The Ricasoli castle, parts of which date from 1150, is perched high up on a hill with a gorgeous view of the surrounding countryside—you can even see Siena, which is more that 20 miles away.

Ricasoli Castle

Tasting wine at Ricasoli with Nora; fantastic wines and fantastic experience

This past weekend we traveled to Rome as Anita needed to catch a plane home on April 8^th. Again, half of Europe seemed to have decided to visit the city.  Touring the Vatican Museum can only be likened to being herded onto a cattle car.  At the end of the visit, we found ourselves in the Sistine Chapel, one of the true artistic wonders of the world,  with perhaps two or three thousand other tourists, constantly being urged to be quiet and respectful, not to take pictures and to move on as others needed to come in.  Even with the guards pushing everyone along, we were able to marvel at the incredible work.  Only with an in-person visit can you appreciate the indescribable glory of Michelangelo’s masterpiece.

Rome: Treve Fountain & 10,000 of our nearest & dearest friends

Despite the crowds, Rome is still a wonderful and exciting place—there is always something new to experience as it is impossible to do everything that the city has to offer:  Fascinating Roman ruins, beautiful churches, glorious art, and of course, great food and drinks.  We spent almost the entire day Sunday walking through the Coliseum and Forum—there was so much to see and absorb, but also because the weather was just spectacular:  a clear blue sky with warm, bright sunshine.  We hated to waste a moment of it inside.  Finally, sunny Italy has shown itself to us.

Rome: Coliseum--still impressive, even in ruins

Forum: Temple of Saturn

While in Rome we renewed our acquaintance with the Paris family, owners and operators of the Ascot Hotel, a small hotel only a couple blocks from the main train station.  We have stayed there several times in the past twenty years and have always enjoyed our time at the Ascot Hotel.  During a week long stay in 2000, Enzo and Maria Grazia, had invited us to dinner, and when they found out we were once more in the hotel, Enzo sought us out. Now retired and only helping out occasionally, Enzo again invited us to join them for lunch—this time out in the country, about an hour outside of the city.  We so enjoyed the ride and the meal, but most especially the company of these very gracious and kind Romans.

Enzo & Maria Grazia Paris--renewing a great friendship with lovely people

Anita returned home Monday morning—leaving the hotel at 4:00 am--we slept through her departure.  We said goodnight to her the previous evening, after yet another delicious meal, this time at La Famiglia Ristorante, just around the corner from Hotel Ascot.  During the meal we started talking to a young Canadian couple who were visiting Italy for the very first time.  It was fun to share our experiences and impressions with these honeymooners.  We all drank a bunch of wine, some of which was provided gratis from the restaurant owners, due to their friendship with Enzo and Maria Grazia.  These kinds of experiences are what traveling is all about and what we enjoy so very much—the serendipitous meeting up with people and making instant and sometimes long lasting friendships.  And this time we were able to share it all with one of our oldest friends from our college years.

Anita, Maria Grazia, and Sue--enjoying the spring sunshine.