Christmas time in the City & Countryside

So my internet is not working today and I have already had a nap which means I can finally not be distracted by everything else and write a long overdue update.  After I went to Rome I headed to Florence and Prato of course.  I spent most of my time in the countryside and outside the city center but really enjoyed visiting with horses and other animals.

One of my favorite things in Florence is Christmas time well and Spring time… but it was Christmas season when I was there.  The streets are all decorated with lights, the street artists have chalk drawings of Santa and other holiday scenes, and the store shops are decorated too.  Ok it sounds like plenty of towns in the USA and everywhere else but you have to understand my love for Florence to begin with.  I also like to visit the German Christmas Market in Piazza Santa Croce.  Here there are booths of herbs and spices, so many booths of foods like strudel, pretzels, brats, french fries, beer, cheeses, meats, and of course the booths with gifts to buy for friends and family.  I saw a few neat things but either didn’t have the money or the space to bring it back with me.  I did however have plenty of time and money to stand in line and get a brat with sauerkraut, french fries, and a beer.  I think Ritvan even enjoyed it.  Usually around Christmas time it is rather cold and gelato would make one freeze, but the beauty of it is that it doesn’t melt; although normally I would get a hot chocolate and savor its thick soupy goodness with whipped cream on top, but I can get those in Prato Nevoso- so I opted for the gelato and didn’t regret it one bit!  (I think that sentence is far too long.. oh well I’ve already typed it so no sense in changing it now)

 

Another fun adventure I went on included a kebab… best kebab I’ve ever had-- it was a panino form and the bread was made at the shop.  I don’t know where this heavenly place is but I know it is Prato.  Oops I was actually meaning to write about the horse race I went to but I had just remembered the kebab.  Really it was divine (if you like kebabs that is).  So the horse race was exciting.  Apparently there are two tracks in the park that I used to live near-- this is a park that I would visit frequently and some how I never knew about the horses.  Oh well, I do now!  It was a rainy/sunny day, the clouds were fighting with the sun but in the end he sun won.  Please excuse my lack of knowledge about the technical terms of what kind of racing this is but it is the one where the jockey sits behind the horse- not chariot b/c they aren’t standing or maybe it is but a newer form. It was neat to see since I have only been to the races in Hot Springs.  I will say that I am not a big fan of all the gear the horses have to wear but it doesn’t seem to hurt them too much and they don’t wear it for too long.  I would love to say that the horse I know came in 1st place but something happened and it messed up so it didn’t get to finish.  Maybe next time!

WOAH this is a short post… but actually Christmas should be it’s own so I’ll let you all go for now and I’ll be back with a Christmas update and My New Home update.  Hope everyone is doing well

Lots of Food

Sunday was great!  Mattia and I played in the afternoon for a while and then went on a walk with his great aunt-- the one that LOVES to talk about food.  We walked through the countryside for awhile and Fofi (the dog) followed us-- it was quite an ordeal since she wanted to talk to the other dogs.  Anyway the countryside was beautiful and exactly what you would expect- old buildings, mountains in the distance, green fields and some muddy ones since the corn was harvested, houses with large gardens with so many kinds of fruits (kiwi too) and veggies, and winding roads through it all.  We stopped to talk to everyone we passed-- I’m pretty sure Lala knew them all not that there were many people but we didn’t leave anyone out.

 

Once we got back we went to Lala’s flat to make pasta for the family dinner-- well Mattia helped make it and I watched. It turns out that folding the pieces after rolling them out makes the pasta softer and then you roll them again.  While we were working (or rather they were working) the cows came down from the mountain.  They live on one of the mountains during the summer b/c the grass doesn’t grow as well down here then.  They were coming through the streets and we watched from the balcony.  Not long after Lala’s husband (his name escapes me right now) came in to get us to go see the cows-- they were in a field across the street and seemed quite happy.  There is one photo of a baby-- it was born the day before.  We didn’t touch the cows or anything, just watched them for a few min. 

I rested for a bit after that and before dinner.  Dinner was across the courtyard at one of the cousin’s houses.  Beautiful house!  I was told it was where the three sisters grew up but Alessia (the daughter of one of the sisters and cousin I mentioned) renovated it when she got married and now it is a wonderful mix of old and modern.  The table downstairs was big enough for 21 I think is what they said.  We started the meal with thinly sliced pork (I think) and a mayo tuna sauce and carpaccio (raw beef I believe) with truffles and oil on top.  Then we had little cheese tarts-- more truffles [note: someone had a truffle and it was going to go bad in a week or two so we put it on nearly everything that night).  On to the pasta- this was the pasta that Mattia helped make-- it was so delicious and had a light meat sauce on top.  Then we had pork that was cooked in a cream sauce with mushrooms and probably more truffles.  I had a bit of wine at some point-- it was red wine but a little sweet and slightly sparkly then I switched to water and was commanded to finish the water for more wine -- well not really commanded but I couldn’t say no.  After the meat course came the cheese.  I thought there was only one cheese and I could hardly eat anything anyway but I looked up again and there were four or five more cheeses that had appeared.  I tried a bit of one on some bread but couldn’t eat anything else. I sipped on my wine and then dessert came.  Dessert was a combination of about 5 different things and they asked if I would like some and I couldn’t say no and i did want to try a little.  A different wine was served for dessert and I was getting mixed instructions about what to do with the wine I had-- drink it, toss it down the drain-- but soon a new glass appeared with the Moscato (homemade I might add) and I was now able to drink both… still with mixed instructions of what to do with the red wine.  I think I was the only one who didn’t finish my dessert but I did eat a little of each one.  Aside from the food the family was great-- the kids were running around and playing under the table and everywhere.  It was loud and everyone was having a great time.  I was happy I could understand some of what people were saying and I watched the kids some too.  I am a little sad that family dinner is only about 2 times a year.  After all of that I went to bed I was full and exhausted but fell asleep happy. 

Monday was nice but I woke up early b/c the time changed here.  In the mornings Mattia goes to preschool so it is quiet around here.  I went with Simona to Mondovi (it is about 5 min from here) because she had a meeting and so I walked around town and looked in the shops.  The town is known for it’s sundials so I saw a bunch of them on buildings.  It was pretty cool.  Everything was closed so I got to take a lot of pictures and not worry about too many people staring at me like I’m a tourist.  I kept Mattia in the afternoon but he was so tired from the night before and waking up early that we didn’t have the best time.  He fell asleep during dinner and then I went to bed early as well.  

Today (Tuesday) I woke up a little later and edited some photos.  Mattia and I played in the courtyard this afternoon and moved a giant pile of fire wood from one person’s pile to another.. it was all moved back when we came back from town.  I saw the mountains turn pink and purple tonight-- it was beautiful.  I don’t know if it shows up in the photos though so I may not be able to share but I’ll try.  Ok I think this is long enough for now.  A Presto!

Onions and Potatoes

This doesn't have anything to do books or photography.. at least not yet, although I probably won't do anything with it in either of those mediums. I found out today that potatoes and onions both have a very long life; sadly I don't remember exactly how long, but I did learn that you will cut that life span in half by storing the two together. I don't know why this is but Michael Chiarello mentioned it on his show on the Food Network: Easy Entertaining. Just a bit of info that I thought I should pass on to everyone.