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!
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