From Vicenza to Zurich

Last Sunday, after spending the night in Vicenza, we headed to Zurich. With the “fall back” time change (a week earlier here than in the U.S.) it was easy to get an early start. Well, early for us, i.e. about 8:30 am.

Our GPS unit told us the drive would take approximately 5.5 hours. However, we know that Bridget, as we have christened the unit, is conservative in her estimates. We can usually better her time over a substantial distance. When we first used the GPS we did not care for the sound of the American voice that was the default setting. However, you can change the voice and we had good fun testing all the options one day. We decided we liked the female Irish accent the best. Possibly the voice option was labeled Bridget but in any case Bridget “she” has been every since. Having the GPS has made us a bit cavalier about traveling without maps. We actually headed to Zurich having only the address of our hotel, a very broad general map of Europe and Bridget.

It was a sparkling sunny day as we drove westward across the Veneto and Lombardia before heading north into Switzerland. Just outside of Vicenza the landscape was dominated by vineyards. We passed a sign for the town of Soave, also the name of a white grape varietal, and on our right the land rose gently towards the foothills of the Dolomite Mountains. It seemed like every square meter, that did not have a building or road, had vines planted on it. Obviously the market for Soave must be very good. Dom commented that very little sunlight actually hit the ground in that area as the vines grew on trellises actually connect each row of plants. The trellises are high enough so that one can walk beneath them. In midsummer it must make the vineyards cooler places to work.

The vines soon gave way to the more industrial towns of Brescia, Bergamo and Milan. Luckily, it was Sunday when most trucks are banned from the roads in Italy. Even around the latter city the traffic was never very heavy. Each Autostrada rest stop we passed was packed full of big rigs. We skirted Milan to the north and then headed for Como and the lake country. We were surprised to find that Switzerland dips quite far into Italy just north of Como and it was only about 15 minutes after we passed by it when we crossed the border.

The Swiss/Italian lakes are tucked right up against the Alps and the mountains quickly rose around us. The slopes were quite rocky as we headed towards the San Gottardo tunnel and the trees were sporting their autumn colors. The day continued sunny and warm and we were soon at the tunnel.

The San Gottardo tunnel is one of two major routes that cut directly through the Swiss mountains. The other route, the San Bernardo tunnel, heads more towards Eastern Switzerland and Austria. The tunnel we took is 17 kilometers long (about 10.5 miles). There are actually two side-by-side tunnels with two lanes in each direction. However, both times we have been through the tunnel one set has been closed. So, our journey was actually one lane in each direction in a single tunnel. As you approach the tunnel opening the mountains seem to rise straight overhead and you can see the surface route (now closed for the winter) zigzagging up to the sky.

Going through the tunnel also takes one from the Italian part of Switzerland to the German part. All the road signs changed and we went from the land of Uscita (exit in Italian) to the land of Ausfahrt (exit in German).

By this time we had been on the road for about four hours so we stopped at a rest stop for lunch. The biggest problem we had was figuring out the food. Neither Dom nor I speak German and the rest stop cafeteria had signs only in that language. After some comparison between the food available and the signs we figured out what we wanted. The people who waited on us were quite patient and we do know to say bitte and danke.

Back on the road we traveled deeper into the classic Swiss landscape. There were tidy Swiss chalets, well groomed fields with picturesque taupe colored cows and lovely valley and mountain vistas. To me it looks remarkably like it is illegal there to have an overgrown garden or a field with tall grass. Heaven forbid there should be litter any place particularly on the roadside. Actually, being a neat freak I quite like it except that it looks so unreal.

Our route took us past more alpine lakes and then, as we drew close to Zurich, through a narrow valley. A creek rippled through it and it was bordered by paved paths on both sides. Periodically there would be a railroad station and a restaurant. Being Sunday and no doubt because of the good weather, there were quite a few walkers and bikers using the paths. Obviously, the people of Zurich could take the train out of town and walk or bike back towards the city. In fact, my brother told me him and his wife often did just that. Except, they would take the train to where they had stopped walking the last time and keep going exploring new territory each time.

Bridget did an excellent job of getting us to Zurich. However, once inside the city she had a hard time keeping satellite contact and was often a block or two behind us. Still, after following quite a circuitous route, we found our hotel with little trouble. Our journey took us about what Bridget has predicted and we arrived between 3 and 3:30 pm.

We checked in and made contact with my father. Later we met up with my brother and the four of us had a great dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant in downtown Zurich. My sister-in-law was in Dublin looking for a flat because my brother is being transferred there.

The next day we had the opportunity to do a bit of local exploration. More on that tomorrow.

Here is Partigliano it was another really dismal day. It rained so hard from early this morning to mid-afternoon that we have just hibernated all day. This has allowed me to catch up on laundry and email but we really need to get out tomorrow and DO something. We will see if the weather cooperates.

Happy Halloween!

Auto e Moto d'Epoca a Padova

We went to Zurich via Padua because the Auto e Moto d'Epoca was held there last weekend. It is a vintage automobile and motorcycle exhibition held at the Padova Fiera in 15 different buildings. The show included a large vintage car display, two buildings dedicated to the sale of historic cars by individuals and two buildings (the largest two!) of vintage parts sales. It was a really interesting expo and the excursion fit into our hobby of visiting automobile museums.

We took lots of pictures and a few are shown above. Dom was particularly interested in the vintage race cars and the rare models. I always like the unusual vehicles (e.g. mini motor homes or classic fire trucks) and the beautiful paint jobs and interior restorations. The parts sales was intriguing to me because who knew there were so many vendors selling old car parts. In addition to parts for sale, one could buy vintage posters, manuals, license plates, and vintage clothing (for vintage car rallies).

After five hours in which we explored almost every inch of the exhibition we left Padova and headed for Vicenza, about a half hour away. The town, one of the jewels of the Veneto, is not large but has a lovely historic center. We did not have a room reservation so we meandered around and through the town for about half an hour before finally reaching a likely looking hotel. Unfortunately they were full but they pointed us in the direction of several others. After stopping at several other hotels that were also complete (full) we finally found a room at the AC Hotel a kilometer or so outside the historic center. It turned out to be a lucky find as we had a beautiful room decorated in a very Euro chic style and it was only Euros 75! In the bathroom was a sink and counter made of a single piece of heavy glass. I think it is a particularly lovely style but discovered that it would have to be cleaned every day as every drop of water spotted the surface.

We took a brief rest before heading back into the historic center for dinner. The oldest part of the city has Venetian architectural influences, particularly around the windows, but many of the buildings had lovely iron balconies that are different from anything I have seen elsewhere in Italy. The town was also heavily impacted by the work of Palladio who redesigned the main piazza in Vicenza.

We wandered throughout the town for quite a while before finding a place to eat. There were many cafés but few restaurants. The first couple we stopped at were fully booked for the evening. Finally, we stopped in a spot on the main piazza. It was quite busy so the comings and goings of the patrons and staff helped make up for the mediocre food. Walking through town on our way back to our car we were surprised at the number of people on the streets. It was a Saturday evening but even still there were more people on the streets at 10 pm than we usually see out late at night in the Lucca area—at least this time of year. Interestingly, even the outdoor patio at the restaurant was full of people even though the night was not particularly warm.

The next morning we continued on our way to Zurich. More on that tomorrow.

Our weather continued to be stormy throughout last night and today. It blew so hard last night that three of our four plastic lawn chairs ended up in a tangle out on the grass in front of the patio. Lots of other items outside blew around as well. There has been so much rain in the last few days that the flower pots I keep near the bread oven were nearly full of water—about 4-5 inches. Luckily, the sun came out for a while at midday because a couple came by to view the house. Cozy as the house it on a rainy day it really sparkled in the bright light.

From Olives to Oil

We are back from Padova e Zurigo (Padua and Zurich, nell’inglese) and can report that we had a wonderful time. A full report on our excursion north is forthcoming. However, today we will backtrack and first tell all about our adventures last week at the frantoio (olive mill).

As was reported earlier, we finished our harvest last Thursday and took our olives to the frantoio for a 5 pm appointment. When we arrived we had a little difficulty getting into the parking/unloading area of the mill (top left photo). There were cars, truck and people everywhere. It was almost 20 minutes before we actually unloaded our olives into a cestino (bin). Each cestino can hold up to 500 kilos of olives (top right) Finally the frantoio fork lift set them on the scales (row two). We had estimated a weight of about 150 kilos but the frantoio’s official figure was 134 kilos. I guess that is the accuracy you can expect when you weigh your olives on a bathroom scale from IKEA.

We waited 10-15 minutes for our olives to be dumped into the hopper where the processing starts (row three left). While doing so the gentleman who came in behind us asked when his olives would be processed. The man who checked us in said, “Dopo la Signora (after the lady).” So, at that point “our” olives became “my” olives!

Once the olives are in the hopper they begin their journey through the machinery. First, the olives go up a conveyer belt where the leaves are blown off and the fruit washed (row three right). From there the olives go through a chute (row four left) where they are ground up (yes, pits and all) and the resulting mash is dumped into a mixing machine (row four right), sort of like giant beaters (row five left). The mash spends about an hour in the mixer were the movement makes large oil globules out of small oil globules.

The next step is for the mash to be spun in a centrifuge so that the solids (pits, etc.) are spun off leaving only the liquid. The resulting mixture is centrifuged again so that the water and oil are separated. The bright green olive oil then streams out a tube and into one’s containers (row five right). There is a tap that can be turned off and on so that one can use more than one container. We used four 5 liter plastic jugs and part of a 5 liter glass jug for a total of about 22-23 liters of oil. That was about 14%, by weight, of our original 134 kilos—a very respectable result.

As you know, if you read last Thursday’s post, after collecting our oil we went out for a celebratory dinner at La Fonte, one of our favorite restaurants.

Before we left for Zurich we managed to completely fill the three 5 liter plastic jugs we plan to bring back to the U.S. It was not until today that we finally put the rest of the oil, about 7 liters, into other containers. We now have a supply here for ourselves plus some to give to friends. Overall, we are really pleased with this year’s olive harvest and the resulting oil.

Rain started falling heavily last night and continued today. Fortunately, we had no plans to work outside (yeah!). I cleaned house and Dom puttered around alternately helping and keeping out of the way. In the afternoon we ran errands. It finally feels like Autumn might truly be here but we still hope to get some Italian Indian summer before we leave in four weeks.

Too much fun!

Contrary to yesterday’s promise, the story of olives to oil will have to wait until next week. Dom and I spent today in Lucca doing errands and having lunch. It was after 4:30 pm when we reached Marlia. Knowing our friends Mary and Orlando had an appointment for that time, we swung by the frantoio (mill) to see what their final tally was. Mary had called earlier in the day to see what percentage we got and told me she estimated their take at around 900 kilos (and that from only 34 trees!). They ended up bringing in 1004 kilos! Joy and Bob also showed up because Bob has been helping Mary and Orlando harvest and they had never been to the mill. We ended up standing around for the next two hours (with a break at a local bar for a drink) while their olives were processed and they collected their oil. Afterwards we all went for dinner in Ponte a Moriano. Loads of fun but as a result Dom and I did not get home until 10 pm. Early tomorrow morning we are leaving for a few days in Padova and Zurich, Switzerland. There is a classic car exposition and market in Padova and my father, on his way to South Africa, will be visiting my brother and his wife who live in Zurich. So, a little car time then a little family time. Next new post should be on Wednesday.

New Oil

Just a quick post to let you know the final olive tally: 134 kilos per Frantoio Matraia’s official scale. We spent this morning stripping the last four trees and because there were so few on each of them it only took us a couple of hours. The personnel at the frantoio had said to be there a half hour before our 5 pm appointment and it is a good thing we were. It took us most of that half hour to get into the parking lot and up to the loading dock. We finally tipped our bags of olives into the mill’s cestino (bin) at 10 minutes to 5. From then on it was watch and wait. Just like the Italians, we kept an eagle eye on our olives as they were processed from fruit to oil. At some point “our” olives became “my” olives. The gentleman who arrived just after us asked when his batch would be processed and the man who checked us in and weighed the loads said, “Dopo la signora (After the lady).” After almost two hours we left with nearly 23 liters of fresh, bright green olive oil—about 14% of the original weight. That is quite good considering an average return is 10-12%. In the picture you can see our oil streaming from the pipe into our plastic jugs. We took it back to the house and then went for a celebratory dinner at Ristorante La Fonte. A more detailed explanation of the olive to oil process (and more photos) will be in tomorrow’s post.

Hot, dry olives!

Brilliantly sunny today which made for warm work picking olives. Our daily total was 39 ½ kilos for an overall total of 135 ½ kilos. As we work through our uliveto (olive grove) the tally increases more slowly because the trees we are stripping now have less fruit. If we are lucky we might get another 20 kilos for the rest of the trees which we will pick tomorrow morning. Today’s picture shows us about halfway through one tree. You can see the net spread beneath the tree and Dom on the ladder picking the olives in the top branches. While he is up there he does some pruning, cutting out limbs reaching skyward so that the tree does not grow too tall. The goal is to have airy, open branches in a bowl shape. If the pruned branches have olives on them I strip those directly into one of our collection bins. Afterwards the branches are thrown in a pile to one side of the net. The upturned bin is where I was sitting to work. At some point in the next few weeks we will finish the pruning, collect the branches and throw them on the burn pile. Next spring they will help the grass burn a little more vigorously. We are looking forward to going to the frantoio (olive mill) tomorrow afternoon and finding out how much oil our harvest produces.

Soggy Olives

We spent another long day picking olives. It started out wet but the rain quickly tapered off. Even so it was awfully damp working in the middle of the soggy trees. For the first couple of hours each pull on a branch produced a mini shower. Yuck! Because the temperatures are still warm (mid 60’s) we never really got wet but it was still uncomfortable.

As you can see from the photo of the grapevines, it is looking very autumnal here. The leaves of the vines produce the most vivid colors while the rest of the trees simply turn pale gold or rusty brown. I am including another photo of the view across the valley from our patio. I took it yesterday while we were eating lunch outside. In spite of the overcast skies we ate al fresco again today.

Our total harvest is up to 96 kilos (211 lbs.). Each day we weigh our full bins on our IKEA bathroom scale. Not terribly accurate but close enough. When we go to the mill they will give us an official tally. Our appointment is Thursday afternoon so more picking tomorrow.

Walks, Music and Chestnuts

Another busy weekend!

On Saturday I started out with a stop at the ufficio postale (post office) to mail our absentee ballots. We were pleased to learn this fall that Island County will email the ballots to voters. That made it much easier for us to vote. In the past having them mail the ballots to us here was not very satisfactory. Once neither ballot showed up and once mine arrived but Dom’s did not. Finally, for the last election, we had the ballots forwarded to my parents’ house and my mother express mailed them to us. While I was out I also stopped at the ferramenta (hardware store) where I purchased a new handle for the grass rake. The old one snapped in the middle on Friday when I was using it to poke at the fire.

Back home I did a little gardening—cutting back the climbing rose at the edge of the patio. After lunch I joined some of our neighbors for a Saturday marcia podistica (walker’s march). I completed the 2.5 km course twice for a total of 5 km (about 3 miles).

Dom and I went out for a pizza dinner and later in the evening we attended a concert at our local church celebrating the 40th anniversary of the local blood donors’ group. The church was lovely with all the lights on and the special flowers from last Sunday’s baptism still in full bloom on the altars. The tenor who sang was good enough but when he cut short the program because of problems with his voice he and the pianist did one last number—O Sole Mio. It was the best number of the evening!

Sunday morning we rose early (6 am!!) and took part in the marcia podistica at Orentano, a small town between Lucca and Pontedera. It was another lovely morning and we completed the 6 km course through the town and surrounding countryside. The start of the marcia was in the local school gymnasium which was presided over by their mascot—the Orcino Bandit complete with strategically place salami!

In the afternoon Dom and I met up with friends Bob and Joy and went up to the chestnut sagra (festival) at the top of the Brancoli hill. Our friends Mary and Orlando work at the festival every year. Orlando is one of the chestnut roasters—a role Dom likened to be condemned to Purgatory—while Mary helps serve necci (chestnut flour crepes).

The festival takes up the entire town square so there is little parking at the hilltop village. We took the shuttle bus from the nearby town of Ponte a Moriano. Once at the sagra we said hello to Orlando before we began our chestnut tasting. The main square of the town was full of people having a great time. The fact that wine was free probably helped but so did the music and the Indian summer evening. It took us a while to figure out you had to buy a ceramic bowl in order to get roast or boiled chestnuts. Neither Dom nor I are fond of roast chestnuts but we gamely tried the boiled variety. I was surprised to find I really liked them. They are boiled in salt water with herbs and are quite tasty.

After the boiled chestnuts the four of us found the necci stand. There was another charge for the rolled up crepes that came filled with ricotta or Nutella spread. The necci line was absolute chaos and we waited for over half an hour before getting served. As we reached the front of the mob that served as a “line” I saw that the only woman filling orders was about twenty years of age. To our right were a number of young men with whom she flirted incessantly and served prior to those of us who had been in line much longer. Poor Mary was sort of caught in the middle of the entire necci production line—she waited for crepes, spread ricotta or Nutella on them before the finished product to the young woman filling orders. It was a job that seemed only marginally better than Orlando’s.

We took our necci back to where Orlando was working, refilling our wine glasses along the way. Standing along the stone wall facing the chestnut roasters we ate, kibitzed with Orlando and tried not to get hit by the passing cars. There was so little room to spare that one did not dare stick out a foot for fear it would end up under a tire. The necci were delicious and the view down towards Lucca was spectacular. The light faded and we decided to leave and go for a bowl of pasta.

When we got back to the shuttle bus stop there was quite a crowd waiting. It quickly grew dark and the number of people increased. After fifteen or twenty minutes two busses arrived. They were promptly mobbed by the crowd. We hung back and waited for the second bus. After the first left, Joy was first in line for the second. I got on soon after her and we went to the back of the bus. Unbeknownst to us there was some sort of an argument at the front and the bus driver decided to close the doors when the vehicle still had standing room. It took off down the hill and we saw Bob and Dom start walking down the hill.

Joy and I spent most of the ride trying to figure out what to do. Dom had the keys to our car which was the vehicle all four of us had taken to Ponte a Moriano. Neither Bob nor Dom had a cell phone. Joy had the only keys to their house which was located at the bottom of the hill about halfway between the sagra location and Ponte a Moriano. Eventually we figured out we could get a ride on the shuttle back to Bob and Joy’s house and then we could drive their car up the hill and pick up Dom and Bob. The plan worked perfectly and we found the men part way down the hill. Dom said it was an interesting walk as at times it was pitch black.

The four of us went to Ponte a Moriano for our car before finally going off for our pasta dinner. Afterwards, Dom and I stopped briefly at the party in Partigliano where there was to be dancing and more chestnuts. By that time (9:30 pm) we were so tired all we could do was go home to bed. We were both asleep by 11 pm—early for us!

Today we began the olive harvest. Over 50 kilos (110 lbs.) picked today!

Fire, fire burning bright...

Today we burned the grass. The above photos will give you an idea of the progression of the day.

After yesterday’s rain it was certainly damp enough to risk lighting a fire in the fields. Unfortunately, the rain also meant the grass was partially soaked. Rather than a quick 3-4 hour burn, it took about 7 hours. The day started out wet and several squalls blew threw with more hard rain. When the first downpour started I ran back to the house for an umbrella. We could hear the rain approaching each time (like a rushing stream getting closer and closer) and we huddled under the umbrella each time until it passed.

We started out the day with three piles as large as the first pile we lit plus about a dozen smaller piles scattered around the terraces. After getting the burn pile well alight we kept piling on more grass. Luckily, the grass at the bottom of each pile was still dry so there was enough fuel to keep the fire burning hot throughout the process. It is interesting how the burn pile never gets any larger than it starts out. The fire eats the middle out of the pile, we dump more grass on it and the fire gobbles it up. Eventually all the grass was on the burn pile and the terraces were nice and tidy.

By early afternoon the sky cleared and we basked in the sun watching the last of the pile smolder and collapse in on itself. We sat on the green plastic lawn chairs we hauled out beside the burn pile and watched and watched. Every ten minutes or so one of us would get up and poke at the fire, pulling more grass onto the hot spots and digging unburned grass from the bottom of the pile and putting it on the top. Each time the breeze blew the coals flared, a little more grass blazed and the column of smoke swirled and shifted. Finally, about 6 pm Dom threw some water on the remains of the pile. Right now he is outside checking it again. He will make at least one more trip outside before we got to bed.

Throughout the afternoon we also heard grunting and squealing from near the stream in the woods at the bottom of our property. Occasionally whatever it was sounded rather angry or excited. We think it was probably some of the cinghiali (wild boar) that have been prolific this year. It certainly sounded like pigs. They might have been eating the walnuts that fall from the trees down there. Whatever they were doing we were glad they stayed down in the woods.

Now we are all ready to start the olive harvest on Monday.

I Gatti (The Cats)

It started raining last night and continued off and on throughout the day. Dom talked about burning the grass but every time we made a move to go outside it was pouring again. So, the day was rather lazy—television, books, a trip to the grocery store, meals and internet. Tomorrow we will definitely be out there trying to dispose of the grass.

Here are some pictures of our favorite cats. They came running to the kitchen door a few days after we arrived. Memories of Purina kitty chow no doubt fueled their enthusiasm. They show up most days late morning or early afternoon. The black tom rarely says anything, just waits patiently until I bring out the box and shake a little pile onto their paper plate. The black and white female is quite chatty; so much so that we call her Squeak. She meows and meows outside the door until I appear with rations. After she eats she usually tries to get more food out of us. Waiting outside the kitchen door until she hears us talking, she starts another round of begging. On nice mornings, one or both of them often sit in the grass near the olive tree closest to the house. They bask in the sunshine until we show up and give them reason to be up and at their job of getting another meal out of us.

Busy, busy, busy!

The limited posts over the last few days probably clued you in that we have been molto occupato (busy).

Saturday was spent working in the fields. Dom continued cutting grass with the frulino (strimmer/weed whacker) while I raked it into small haystacks. Luckily the grass is very dry so it piles up easily. The warm weather has meant we generally work for three to four hours in the mornings before breaking for lunch and then running errands, working inside or just kicking back. We went out for pizza in the evening. My pizza Messico with pepperoni, red pepper flakes, olives, artichokes and mushrooms was REALLY tasty!

On Sunday we rose early and drove to the town of Capannori where the weekly marcia podistica (non-competitive walkers’ march) was held. It was a lovely morning—clear and crisp. At 7 am the sun was just coming up over the hills. We enjoyed our 6 kilometer excursion, especially the opportunity to explore on foot another picturesque town in the Province of Lucca. The walk ranged through autumn fields where we could hear hunters and their dogs stalking the wily bird, past quiet factory buildings, suburban-seeming clutches of houses, the modernish town center and finally wound back to the older part of the city where the start/finish was located.

Later in the afternoon, after watching a recording of the Japanese Formula 1 race, we spent several hours at the local bar catching up with local friends.

Monday, Dom again worked in the fields while I cleaned the house and prepped for a dinner party. Dom’s adventure of the day involved trying to stabilize one of the end posts for the grape trellis. Unfortunately, our neighbors’ irrigation pipe ran just where he was digging. As water spurted out he said his first thought was to run back to the house and tell me we were heading back to Whidbey Island early. Rather than that he found the neighbors’ Ivaldo and Osvaldo and the three of them repaired the pipe, reburied it and reset the trellis post. The first I heard of it was when he showed up at the house and laughingly told me there had been un piccolo incidente (a little accident).

Our dinner party was very successful. American friends Mary and Orlando and Joy and Bob joined us for “Mexican night.” Several spice packets, tortillas and Cougar Gold cheese transported from the U.S. provided the basis for a meal of chips and guacamole and salsa, enchiladas, fajita chicken and peppers, mixed salad and crème caramel with fruit. Given the dearth of ethnic cuisine in Italy our friends living here full-time really appreciated the opportunity for a taste of something different. Bob even wore his Cabo San Lucas fire department t-shirt! And, next time we decided we are going to tackle margheritas.

We also stopped at the frantoio (mill) on Monday and moved our appointment up a week. Our olives are ready to pick now. The early ripening varieties are hanging heavy and black on the trees while the rest are just beginning to turn from bright green to a mottled purplish color. So, our harvest begins next Monday and we take the olives to be pressed on October 23. Our goal this year is to do better than our best harvest of about 100 kgs.

Yesterday, we really felt lazy and took the opportunity to kick back and veg. Well, not completely. I managed to catch up on emails, add to the blog (finally!) and get the rest of the party cleanup finished. After dinner our friend Anna stopped by for coffee, cookies and a nice chat.

Today found us once more out in the fields. Most of the grass is now cut and raked. Dom kept at the last of it while I finished trimming the suckers and weeds from the base of the olives. I also cut back the grapevines. Where they had found their way into the olive trees I had to carefully cut them free so as not to disturb the fruit. After that I moved the smaller haystacks into bigger ones closer to where we burn. Now it is a matter of waiting for a rainy day to burn. Since that is forecast for tomorrow or Friday it looks like we are in good shape.

This afternoon Dom needed a haircut so we drove into Lucca. While he got his new do I walked into the main part of town, hung out at a bookstore and read the adverts in the real estate offices. On the way home we stopped at Mary and Orlando’s house to return something they left at ours. Our nice visit with them included prosecco, beer, nibbles and an introduction to their friend Massimo.

Since it is nearly 8 pm I had better get this posted and do something about dinner before Dom is asleep on the couch.

For Sale - House in Italy

Last week my sister suggested that I post a few pictures of our house for those who have never been here and to refresh the memories of those who have. Rather than doing exactly that here is some information about our progress trying to sell our house including a link to a web listing with eight pictures.

About a year ago we decided to try to sell our house in Partigliano and relocate to a spot closer to Lucca. Much as we love our village, house and land, since we moved to acreage on Whidbey Island we have learned that two part-time houses with lots of work is an exhausting proposition. After trying to care for both places for two years we decided we needed one place that was lower maintenance. Thus, we decided to simplify our Italian life.

Last spring we began to market the house in earnest. Since there is no multiple listing system in Italy, we contacted a number of real estate agents and eventually listed the property with five of them. While there has been some interest and the house has been shown several times no one has shown serious interest. Recently we decided to try splitting the house and barn into two listings. Today we spoke with the agent from whom we bought the house and set a price of €220,000 for the house and most of the land and €50,000 for the barn and small part of the land. Actually, the land split is totally negotiable depending on what a buyer wants.

As of today, our web listing with Italy magazine has not yet been updated but soon will be. Click here to view pictures of the interior and land.

The market here in Italy is much the same as that in the U.S. There are lots of properties available and not many buyers. Luckily, we are not desperate to sell immediately.

In the meantime, we are content to enjoy our house while we still have it. We are particularly pleased that we have an excellent olive crop this year and are enjoying the wine we made the past two years.

A Nice Day is a Laundry Day!

The weather continues to be hot and sunny although the evenings and nights are pleasantly cool. In addition to getting lots of work done in the fields, I have had a chance to catch up on the laundry. On a 75° day with a touch of a breeze it is possible to dry a load of heavy dark clothes on the line about as fast as one can dry them in a tumble dryer—30 to 60 minutes! This load was left on the line most of the afternoon because I had other things to do. One of the nice things about line drying clothes outside is that they have virtually no wrinkles when they are taken down. In more inclement weather the wet laundry gets hung up on the third floor on a collapsible rack and often takes a day and a half to fully dry. I am hoping the good weather continues through Monday so I can get the weekly loads of sheets and towels hung outside.

Tour of Lucca

First thing this morning we went into Lucca to meet Cam and Francesco’s hiking tour group at the hostel. We were 17 to begin with—Cam and Francesco, their ten hikers, 3 Italians (members of Club Alpino Italiano—an Italian hiking club that Francesco is associated with) and Dom and I. At 9:30 I gave the group an extremely brief history of the city and then we began our walking tour, hitting all the town’s high points by our reckoning. Over the course of three hours we strolled past (and sometimes peaked into) the church of San Frediano, the amphitheater, Via Fillungo, Torre dell’Ore, the church of San Michele in Foro, the composer Puccini’s birthplace and statue, Piazza Napoleone and the Palazzo Ducale, the cathedral of San Martino and the top of the city walls. Everyone seemed to enjoy my version of “Lucca Lite.” At any rate we did not lose anyone along the way (for too long).

Today was another glorious day with temperatures in the mid 80’s. Thus, the town was full of tours and tour groups as well as many Lucchesi taking advantage of the weather. At one point while some of us were waiting for the rest of the group to catch up we saw the cutest little boy, no more than two or three, walking slowly down the street with a cell phone held to his ear. His nonna (grandmother) was pushing his stroller and keeping pace with him. It was so adorable I pulled out my camera and tried to take a picture. However, the attention distracted him and he started paying more attention to me than to his phone. I can only imagine that his father often walks along chatting on the phone since all small boys are inclined to emulate their fathers’ actions.

After the tour was over we had pizza and salads at a small osteria adjacent to the famous city walls. Nowadays the top of the former city defenses, a truly stupendous construction that took about 100 years to build, is encircled by a broad street lined with trees. When the weather is nice there are always lots of people picnicking in the sun, strolling, jogging or just laying in the sun.

Dom and I headed back home to work. However it was so hot we decided to wait until the cool of tomorrow morning to continue our chores in the fields. We have had a lazy afternoon and evening. I even managed an hour or so reading in the sun on the patio. Unfortunately, the bugs were biting and my legs are now dotted with itchy spots.