il blog di maddy- gelato

I like gelato.  Here there are a lot of different flavors.  My favorites are mela verde (green apple) and cafffè.  There are also fragola (strawberry), melone (melon), limone (lemon), ace (I think it's mango, but the guy at the gelateria says it's orange and lemon), spagnola (cherry and vanilla), bacio (it means kiss, but it is really hazelnuts in chocolate), strachiatella (chocolate chip), cioccolata (chocolate), crema (vanilla) and there's much more.  

When you get a cone, you can have as many flavors as you want in the cone (that fit, of course).  You can also get 1, 1 1/2, or 2 kilo boxes to take home- once you pick the size you want, you ask for all the flavors you like and they squish them all inside that one box.  My favorite gelateria is the 'gelateria al tennis' which is behind a tennis court, of course.  Hopefully I'm going there tomorrow, which would make my sixth time going.  I'm taking pictures the next time we go, so check back soon!

il blog di gus

This time I'm not writing about snails.  I have been busy.  I caught a lizard with my bare hands.  It felt squishy and wiggly.  We named him scuttles. I let him go again because I couldn't keep him.  I'm still trying to catch that lizard again.  

That was a few days ago.  Today I found a praying mantis in our house and I caught it.  It was easy to catch, then it flew out of my net and I caught it again.

Yesterday I started building a plane with Maddy.  The plane was made out of legos.  I finished it today.  I took it apart today, but first I took a picture.  Then I built a hovercraft  out of the same legos.

la piscina

Here is a note to our friends Annalise, Joe, Malcolm and Eleanor about the municipal pool here which has become weekly pilar of our summer experience in Monterenzio:

There are two pools- one with jets and shallow splashy places and a slide, the other with lane lines that's a little deeper. There's a place to play video games and buy ice cream treats and actual good food (! no hot dogs and nachos). There's also a beach volley ball court and a ping ping table. There are two places to sit- on the pool deck or out in the grass. There are smallish but sturdy umbrellas and a few free plastic chairs in each place. I say free because you have to pay for a 'lettino' which is a sun bed. (I found this out the hard way, it costs 2,50 euros extra) A sun bed for grown ups is worth it, though- it is a sturdy metal frame with nylon fabric, totally adjustable, and it has its own little sun shade (kid of like a visor). I want one at home. When the kids want to warm up (the water is chilly), they come and huddle with me on the lettino. There are different rules for the two seating areas- on the grass you can: walk around without sandals, eat, drink (even beer, etc), smoke, and sunbathe topless. People tend to stay all day- we pay about 15 euros for the three of us to go and have a tiny ice cream treat which with the exchange rate is more like $23. :P The best part of it is that since the first time, we have yet to go and NOT run into friends (I have exactly three here, so that's pretty good).

Maddy and I got new suits for the pool and I now have the official Italian pool outfit for females aged 12 to 72: a string bikini. I'd say I fit in when I wear it but I'm no where near TAN enough. I bought sunscreen today and it was a challenge- more than half of the offerings were oils with less than an SPF of 6 (now we know how they do it!).

amici

Without a doubt one of the biggest highlights of our first couple weeks here in Monterenzio has been spending time with our temporary British neighbors; John, Jackie and Alex.  We've enjoyed piecing together great meals to share, finding the best gelato flavors (strachiatella and ace), swimming at the (fabulous) municipal pool, picnics, finding the Ferarri museum, and playing all kinds of cards.  We were sad to say goodbye when they headed back to Yorkshire, but can't wait to visit them soon!

una giornata tipica, senza fotografi

My friend Mary Beth asked about a typical day here.  I'm sharing what I wrote to her in case you're interested too.  -Tina

A typical day here... we wake up with the sun around 8. There were no clocks here when we arrived, we have added one in the bedroom, but we don't set an alarm yet. Usually the farmers across the street are already about their work and it is rush hour on the hill, which means there is a car every 15 minutes or so. I can see a lovely mimosa tree (see blog for pics) outside the window and if I stare at it for a while, I can sometimes see hummingbirds and bees getting into it's flowers.

I do pilates or take a walk or both. By the time I'm done, at least Gus is up. We have bread and juice for breakfast and when the bread is old, I make french toast. I use the italian coffee maker to make two cups of espresso-strong coffee and drink it with hot soy milk (easy to find!) and a couple of little sugar cubes.

If we don't get down the hill until noon, all the good bread is gone. I think most people go to the store every day, but we are still in the process of changing our habits and go more like every other day. Groceries are expensive, I think, though some things are much cheaper. Our favorite prosciutto is 48 euro/kg which is like $75/kg or $37/lb. Of course we only use about 50 grams per meal for the 4 of us (maybe $3 worth)- often meat is more for adding flavor, salt, or fat than it is for filling oneself.  Wine costs as little as 1.15 euro/liter, but don't bother because you can get a great bottle of white or red for 3.15 euro (you'd pay $14 in Mpls for the same)

Other things we usually do in the morning include watering either the orto (the fruit/veggie garden) or the flowers. The kids are usually in charge of harvesting- we get about 30 tomatoes (many of which are small cherry tomatoes, but also some romas and bigger ones, too) every day. The kids also take the landlady's dog for a walk, collect chestnuts, snail shells, or hunt grasshoppers or actual snails. We have also found a scorpion and a few praying mantises and many lizards.

We start cooking so that we can eat lunch around 2, when it seems like it's time to eat and there is enough shade on the terraza. We have been having either proscuitto and melon or tomatoes fresh buffalo mozzarella and basil, then pasta and bread. With all this cooking we have lots of dishes to do and we make tons of compost. It is Gus' chore to take the compost down to the compost bin.

Afternoons have been about cooking dinner, cooking down extra tomatoes, trying to learn a little Italian (I can sort of approximate a little lesson for the kids using flash cards some new friends have lent us), watching the olympics (on the neighbor's TV), going to the pool, getting gelato (more on this highlight coming soon), taking a drive in the country, and figuring out when interesting business will eventually be open again (hours are strange here and SOOOO many things are closed for August).

We eat dinner around 8pm, which is a little early for these parts. We went out to eat once and got there at 8:45 starving and feeling like it was pretty late. We were one of the first tables and the room was full until 11:30 and it was a Monday.

After dinner (more salads, bread, pasta or a roast and potatoes or rice with wine for us, juice for the kids) we play cards or read out loud to the kids. We send the kids to bed between 10 and 11 and then relax and listen to music and catch up on email, etc until 11 or 12.

Big changes are coming once we have to start school- a much less leisurely pace awaits, but I don't feel bad about enjoying peace, the countryside, and food since that's what most of Italy is doing right now.

il blog di gus, chiocciola

I have 8 shells. I have been collecting for 3 days. One day I found a snail, a real snail.  

un giorno a Bologna

Monday we finally ventured into Bologna to find my new language school and see the sights.  It was a scalding 35 degrees (look it up, that's pretty hot) which wasn't so bad in the morning (we just stopped regularly for water and gelato) or at lunchtime (we found a restaurant with a fan/mister and named it Mr Mister), but by 3pm we were very done with the heat and ready to go home.  We went to the bus station to buy tickets and the nice man at the ticket counter asked us if we wanted the good news or bad news first.  As it turned out the next three busses were cancelled because of the August holidays and we had to wait two and a half more hours to leave.  The good news, he said, was two-fold: 1- we had time for a very leisurely cup of cappucino, and 2- he would be done for the day by the time we came back and on his way home :)

Here are pictures of Maddy and Gus at the fontana di Nettune, stopping for refreshments at the piazza Maggiore, the very famous (though not very picturesque) due tori just a few meters from my new school,  and us eating at a lovely place under the typical bolognese porticoes and Mr Mister.

la festa della birra

For the last week and a half we've been without Summit Extra Pale Ale (tm) or any ale of any sort.  So when we saw posters for the "Beer Festival" in town we were interested to see what it was all about.  We went on Saturday with the british family that has swapped houses with our landlord for the rest of the month.  So we fill in our order sheet (every thing is ordered and paid for in one spot and picked up in another), pay, and head over to the taps to see what's available.  Our choices were as follows :  pale beer or dark beer.  I got the dark, Tina got the pale.  It wasn't bad, but a Summit sure would be nice. -Gibbs

l'orto e il giardino

We are currently caring for the Orto (organic kitchen garden) and the flowers here.  It's HOT most days, up to 39 degrees (that's 104 f) in the valley and close to that hot here.

There are tons of vegetables and fruit trees- figs, kiwi, berries and currants, cucumbers, lettuce, chard, herbs, hazel nuts, chestnuts, and more tomatoes than we can harvest in a day, much less eat. pictures by Maddy and Tina

mangiare

We have been spending an inordinate time cooking and eating here, pretty elaborate meals at least twice a day.  Every meal is based on what fresh veggies and fruit we have from the garden (l'orto) or what is in season and available.  Personally, I could eat buffalo mozzarella, basil and tomatoes at every meal.  Another favorite has been cooked peaches from Rimini (on the Adriatic).

il blog di maddy

il blog di maddy

My brother, Gus, really likes chess, but lately he's been playing it more than ever, now that we've got the time. Gus challenges Mom at least every other day. Mom's just been looking at every thing with a dreamy look on her face. Dad? He has been tinkering on the computer, mowing the lawn, 

doing Sudoku puzzles, and making weird faces.(As always.) I have been catching grass hoppers,  

swimming at the pool, going to festivals, and blogging here, on the toilet. I know it sounds weird and gross,butt,(oops) we receive the internet the best here. Well, gotta go, happy holidays!    

il blog di gus

il blog di gus

the things I do every day are: waking the dog, catching grasshoppers. and going on the computer    

la vista

Ca'Lamma is most of the way up a tree-covered hill/mountain overlooking the Idice valley.  As we look out our bedroom window we can see a mimosa tree, covered with seussian pink puffs (imagine a makeup brush just dabbed in bright pink blush).  If we lean out of the window a little, we can see the hills on the other side of the valley- such a change from the flat landscape in Minneapolis.  As it turns out, it was foolish of us to think we might be able to use bikes- we'd have to walk them up the hill (WAY too steep to bike) and we'd burn through a set of brake pads every week getting down to the main road.  It's a lovely walk, however, and good for calves, thighs, and buns of steel.  If you visit, rent a car!