Watch out for the one way street...

So, we've hiked through some pretty narrow streets today, in search of recommended restaurants, pizzerias and gelateria (it is, after all, important to be prepared).

What's really interesting on this one is that it is actually signposted for traffic...with a one way street arrow and a STOP sign.  I think even the tiny Fiat Cinque Cento (the little bubble cars from the 50's) would be stopped by the width of this road before they got to the end and needed to join the one way traffic going right.

This "street" is blocked off to traffic

Beautiful arches

Cheers,

David

Looking ahead...CERN and the LHC

Ok, I know it's a bit (if not a lot) geeky, but I've just managed to arrange a tour of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva...very excited.

I contacted a Teddy Hall (St. Edmund Hall, Oxford) Physicist who has just returned from the LHC, and he put me in touch with two other Oxford physicists who are currently at CERN and on the project who seem quite delighted to give us a back-door look around.  Nice. 

It's not until June 15th, on the way back home, but I can't wait.

Under the Umbrian Snow

Like Mary, I've started reading Under the Tuscan Sun, which is about an American lady and her husband from San Francisco buying and renovating an ancient house in Cortona, just a few miles north of us.

In the book, their first dinner is "spaghetti with an easy sauce made from diced pancetta, unsmoked bacon, quickly browned, then stirred into cream and chopped wild arugla (called ruchetta locally)...we grate parmigiano on top and eat huge mounds".

It sounded fabulous...fabulous enough to make a trek down the hill to get the ingredients.  Danika came with me.

The ingredients.  We used about 1/3rd of the rucola, half the pancetta, half the pasta..and ALL the cream.

Almost done.  It took 10 minutes total.

The verdict:  FANTASTIC.  The fresh grated parmigiano really makes the dish.  We're really glad we have plenty left to make this again this week.

David

Me and My Sofa...

February 11, 2012

I have been down with a really bad cold for the past few days.  I thought my throat was going to have a hole burned through it overnight because it hurt so badly. 

When we first arrived and unpacked the suitcase, I was stunned at the amount of medicine I had brought.  It seemed like I had enough for a year…  I guess I was worried about not having what I needed in case the kids got sick.  Now I am thankful that I had sore throat lozenges to get me through that first day.

David was so nice that he went out and got some minestrone soup for me. He couldn’t find our old-fashioned standby of chicken noodle soup.  Still, it felt so comforting having that soup for dinner.  He also bought some Sicilian orange blossom honey for my lemon tea.  I spent most of my time snuggled on the sofa with my favorite blanket and pillow.  I snuck the blanket in amongst our minimal packing by using it to cushion Danika’s piano in its carry on case.  Diane Thornock made the pillowcase, and I am sure she will be surprised that I brought it with me, but it is my traveling pillow and I love it. 

Now my cold has moved into the phase where the Vick’s Vapor Rub is a necessity.  Of course, it is one of the things I didn’t pack amongst the other million that made it here.  So, David made the trek to the pharmacia and somehow was able to communicate exactly what he needed.  This tiny little tub of Vick’s cost $10, and let me tell you, it has been worth every penny.  Maybe just because of the feeling of comfort it gives me as it reminds me of the many times my mother took care of me when I was growing up, and Vick’s was always there.  I actually really like getting stuff from the pharmacia simply for the experience. They wrap everything in this nice little paper with a picture of an old apothecary.  It makes me feel like I am getting a present, even though I am paying through the nose for it.

The up side of being down and out is that I have had time to start reading “Under the Tuscan Sun”.  I want to read it before the weather warms up.  Cortona is less than an hour away and after the little bit I’ve read, I am really looking forward to going there.   

 A “snow day” was called again, so the kids don’t have school.  I wish I had a sled as the streets are empty of cars for a change, and full of snow.   The kids would love it! 

This pic is out our living room window...

This is off the balcony...

This is looking down off our balcony to the street below.

  I think I will just stay snuggled up on my sofa with a good book.

~Mary

Food...

I thought I'd post something on the food we're eating.

First off, the Italians are not big on breakfast, so it's a hard sell.  Couple that with some recent science showing that dark chocolate is good for you, and presto...

Chocolate-laced muesli...perfect.

Actually, we make the chocolate-laced muesli perfect by mixing it with coffee yoghurt...I kid you not.

We found curry sauce today...yeah.  It had eluded our ability to find it by carefully being placed where you would not think to look.

The "Calve" was bottom shelf, with HP Sauce, and Lea and Perrins sauce (I was struggling to spell Worcestershire...), which actually makes some sense (being that curry is British, right?).  

The "Salsa Indiana" was right next to the mayonnaise, different aisle.

The "Uncle Ben's Tikka Marsala" was with the Mexican salsa.

I'm glad we figured out Italian marketing.

We've become quite enamored with the salami here.  Danika even likes it.  We try and buy local Umbrian salami if we can...none of that Tuscan or Neopolitan rubbish.

This is our favorite sauce for pasta.  It's just tomato and basil.  But it is so rich and tasty that I could open a restaurant serving just this and people would love it.

We broke down and bought a tostapane today.  In case you're wondering, it has little grabbing baskets in which you place your bread to toast.  Once it's done, you can lift the whole thing out.  No more knives in the toaster.  I'm seriously considering bringing the grabbing baskets back to the US for our toaster.

Cheers,

David

More on the kids' school

I thought I'd post some more on the kids' school.

Here's where they are going:

Mary has posted the picture of the kids against the school playground wall...

...but here's the photo of what's on the other side of the wall...

If you look closely, you can see another school kid in the photo.  The fact he is so small shows that the drop is so large...a good 40 -50 feet.  No fence remember.

If they survive the playground at school, there's always the walk home...

The posted speed limit is 20 Kilometers per hour (about 12 mph), but that's Italian for "double it and add some so you can get past these kids." 

And finally...I think I've been going to pick the kids up at school rather under-dressed for the occasion.

Cheers,

David

How many rabbits...

So, how many rabbits had to die to make this coat?

Just a typical day around town in Perugia!

David