Alberto's Aperitivo

Italy Journal

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

WALKING WITH PETER

It was sunny and a beautiful day for a walk. One and 1/4 hours later, we returned home to overcast skies and colder temperatures. It was supposed to rain today, but it never did.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/105096135818321367223/albums/5828150246997512017

APERITIVO WITH ALBERTO

We had a joyous time at Alberto’s house tonight at his 5-hour aperitivo! Peter had some uncooked pasta, and I found an irresistible stacked tiramisu cake at the bakery, so we ate long and well. We asked Alberto if we could invite Lee Anne because we knew all of hers and Peter’s cohort was gone. He was happy to include her, and he invited another friend of his, too, Valeria from his work at Slow Food who has recently changed jobs to now work at the university organizing new courses. We had such a nice time.

As the evening progressed, we discovered that Valeria was willing to share languages with us. She was very excited when I asked Alberto (friends call him “Nell!”) if he knew anyone that might be interested in swapping languages with us. Peter and I are very glad we have found someone that is interested in doing this. She is also someone that we can work with whenever we are here in Bra in the future. Sounds like a perfect plan to me!

Alberto’s a wealth of information, and Lee Anne benefitted from his knowledge of the cheesemakers in this area. He is going to introduce her to 3 nearby cheesemakers he knows, with the hope that one of them will allow her to do her internship at his/her farm. She’s very interested in learning how to make cheese.

As we left Alberto’s, he asked Peter if he could leave some food for us tomorrow because he plans to be gone for 5 days. Of course, Peter was glad to oblige his kind offer. Thanks, Alberto, we truly enjoyed our time and food with you. Thank you again for including Lee Anne, and we really enjoyed meeting Valeria, too.

Baci, Colleen

CHRISTMAS EVE CHEER

Italy Journal

Sunday, December 24, 2012

CHRISTMAS EVE CHEER IS EVERYWHERE!

https://picasaweb.google.com/105096135818321367223/ChristmasEve?authkey=Gv1sRgCMer2a3SnqfYnQE

Today, we had lots of fun visiting shopkeepers that we have gotten to know well. Everywhere we went to buy food for our Christmas Dinner (with any of the students who don’t have other plans), we had well wishes and sometimes gifts from them. First we visited Mara and Valerio Grimaldi’s Fresca Pasta Shop, where we had a gift for their family. We were surprised when they showed us a large bag they had prepared for our Christmas present, too. It was one of Mara’s delightful Nocciola Cakes and a bottle of wine. That was so sweet of them to remember us that way at Christmas. We go there at least every other day to get Valerio’s fresh pasta. What’s the quote? “A day without Valerio’s pasta is like a day without sunshine!”

Afterwards, we dropped by Giolito’s Cheese Shop just in time to join them in a toast to Christmas and good friends. Get ready, Victoria and Kyle, they are preparing Aperichees-o for you while you are here at the end of January! Gina and Will can tell you how much fun THAT is!

From there, we discovered a Christmas Street Market was going on, and I “helped” Peter choose a couple of Christmas presents for me. I was desperate for warm hands and warm ears because of the outside event we plan to attend tonight. He was very agreeable and liked my choices.

Our last stops were at the bread and veggie shops. In both places, energetic “Auguris” sent us on our way feeling well-loved. There are so many people in Bra that have welcomed us into their shops, families and lives. It is very heartwarming to us.

Before we went back inside our house, we noticed a LARGE water drop walking up and down the street. Our good friend and former Italian tutor Sara was with him, and we got a chance to wish her Merry Christmas. She asked if I had received her text this morning, which I had overlooked. She invited us to a Pirate Dinner at their house on January 28^th, and we accepted with much appreciation for including Peter and me in another one of these important events. We will look forward to that.

LAST VISIT WITH THEO

We got one last visit with Theo in the afternoon. She went with us to Eataly to shop for some things we hadn’t been able to find in the shops, and she told us that she was leaving tonight to go by train to Venice. After staying 2-3 days, she plans to fly to Finland. I can’t wait to hear about that trip! She said she may get an opportunity to do an internship in England, and if so, she would not return to Bra until maybe graduation in March. Good luck, Theo, and thank you for the bottle of wine we found on our doorstep from you. That was so thoughtful.

WITH LEE ANNE TO DOGLIANI’S NATIVITY SCENE

We welcomed an invitation to take Lee Anne to Dogliani (10 km) to see the outside human nativity scene tonight. She said it was very unusual and supposedly the most wonderful nativity scene in the area.

CHRISTMAS EVE LEFTOVERS WITH LISA AND ENZO

Thank you so much, Lisa and Enzo! We thoroughly enjoyed your leftovers with you last night! We look forward to meeting your friends Sheila and Joel, too.

Merry Christmas to all!

Colleen

CHRISTMAS DAY IN ITALY 2012

Italy Journal

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

CHRISTMAS IN ITALY, 2012

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/105096135818321367223/albums/5826208651443048145

What a beautiful Christmas Day we had…except for the weather, which included fog thick enough at times to block our vision of neighbors on the other side of our courtyard! Never mind…that was only the weather! The rest of the day was wonderful!

Mid afternoon, our 3 dinner guests, students from the university who were in Bra for Christmas, arrived with wines and other contributions to the dinner. They were Maria Jose from Colombia with a very interesting Colombian sweet and savory dessert, Maham from Pakestan with wonderful custard and John from Uganda with a delicious lentil/potatoes/ black pepper dish. Peter added some wonderful roast beef, scrumptious butter and sage ricotta-filled ravioli, perfectly cooked broccoli and roasted cauliflower/bell peppers/onions. After some deliberation and soul-searching, I decided I would share the magnificent Chocolate Caprese cake that Enzo had made for us for Christmas.

Maham was distressed when she arrived late, because she had broken her custard and didn’t have any way to get rid of the curds and make it smooth so it would set correctly.  I whipped out our little contraption that mixes and chops everything in sight, and voila! It was done in a minute. She put it in the refrigerator, and I was the first at the end of the meal to spread the yummy custard on Enzo’s fantastic chocolate cake. I knew that would be a perfect marriage!

Peter had rearranged our living room to accommodate the serving table, and we ate and ate with lots of sharing of everyone’s customs from their countries. It was a good lesson in “everybody does it differently!”

Just as we were preparing to have dessert, Lee Anne showed up at the door with some fresh fruitcake. She had been invited to dinner at a neighbor’s house, but wanted to drop by our house afterwards. She’s the only other one in Peter’s cohort who is still here, so we were glad to welcome her. And, just as she got settled, Enzo and Lisa came by after eating with her family at Ella’s house. It was so good to get together with all of them. Pay particular attention to the picture of Lisa trying to help Enzo think of the English word for “moose!” She’s so entertaining!

As everyone left, we got messages from Cati and Nick that they were on a group Skype page, and we talked with all of them for a long while. Peter missed Kyle, Victoria and Jill when he tried to Skype with them, but we’ll try again tomorrow. It’s not the same being away from family at Christmas, but I was pleased that we could be family for the students who were here.

Later, our neighbor Alberto rang the bell to say he was on his way, but needed to go by his apartment…in our complex…to pick up some wines and cheeses. He came back a little later, and we continued our Christmas celebration with him. He is full of information and stories about lots of places nearby, and now we have plans to go with him to a great place near the mountains that he wants to share with us. We have not known Alberto long, but he is becoming a dear friend. We are glad he lives so close by. As he left, he invited us for aperitivo at his apartment tomorrow night. We hope he will let us bring some pasta, since we have much more than we needed for today. Also, we asked if Lee Anne could join us, since she is alone. He readily agreed. He had met Lee Anne this week in Bra, and was happy to have her join us at his house.

Peter and I hope that all of you are having a joyous Christmas season.

Colleen

EXCURSION WITH CLAUDIA

Italy Journal

Thursday, December 20, 2012

AN EXCURSION WITH CLAUDIA

https://picasaweb.google.com/105096135818321367223/AnExcursionWithClaudiaToCherasco?authkey=Gv1sRgCNv7rrWGtfi3-wE

I got up early this morning to go and pay our huge gas bill for the house. It was huge because they have been estimating all year, and now they have suddenly actually read the meter. Peter and I may have our Christmas vacation on the gas company’s steps! Fortunately for me, I went to EGEA at 8:25a.m., at Enzo’s recommendation, and ONLY 5 other people were waiting with me when they opened at 8:30. It worked out fine, though, because most of the people were like me and just wanted to pay a bill.

Mid-morning, Claudia came to the house. Both her sister Ana and Peter are still working on their papers for class, so Claudia and I decided to go on an excursion.

We started off in Cherasco. It was very chilly and overcast, so it didn’t take us long to understand that we should just take short walks from one warm place to another. We started at Riccardi’s Chocolate Shop, and I didn’t even try to resist getting a large bag of Cherasco Baci (Small dark chocolate medallions with hazelnuts crunched in them.).  I did get them wrapped up for a present, if for no other reason than to keep me from eating them on the way home. They are the hands-down favorites of all of our guests! Mr. Riccardi asked about Peter and asked me to remind him that he was going to come and visit the production facility soon. Yes, I will definitely remember to tell Peter that! We will take our tours there for sure, too.

After a stroll through the street market near THE TOWER (see picture), Claudia and I chose to stop in at a café for a bathroom break and a warm drink. We stayed there talking until almost time for our reservation at La Torre for lunch. The walk to La Torre was short and sweet, and we were ready for lunch in that lovely restaurant.

Claudia liked the idea of tasting 3 yummy appetizer dishes, but then she hadn’t had gnocchi here yet, too. She ordered those items, and I chose a salad with the veal plate. It was all soooooo fine, and we were “fat and happy” when we left.

We considered taking a nap in the car before going on to Eataly, but desided to wait. I had promised to take Claudia to the Slow Food store. We took our time in Eataly and found everything we were looking for. I was glad to have Lisa’s 5% off card by the time we got to the register with a buggy full of items for Claudia to take home and a few things for Peter and me, too. Then, we heard from Ana that she wanted Claudia to come home and play with her. She was almost finished with her writings.

Thanks, Claudia, for a super enjoyable excursion! Colleen

Farewell to Guido's

Italy Journal

Saturday, December 22, 2012

This was the first day that Peter hasn’t had to write on his paper, so we took it really slowly. It was 11a.m. before we finally took off for Dogliani to get some sausages. We did find some yummy cheese and other tasty things, but the sausage vendor did not come to market today. We will have to look at Eataly for sausages. Today was the last day for the Dogliani market until Easter, but we arranged with Anna at Casa Matilda to bring Jim and Joan there, and she has for sale a lot of the other vendors’ products.  Saved by Anna!

Walk with Theo

https://picasaweb.google.com/105096135818321367223/FarewellToGuidoS?authkey=Gv1sRgCL-mz_Hp_dqfKw

Theo is one of the few other students in Peter’s cohort that is still in town. She asked if I wanted to walk with her, so today Peter and I took her on our 5-mile circle out in the country. We particularly enjoyed finding some very friendly free-range chickens that were very entertaining in their scratch and sniff routine. It was a cold day, but I had both of my jackets, my headband and my gloves off by the time we returned. It was a great walk, and the view of the snow-covered Alps surrounding the area was fantastic, even with cloudy skies. The higher up on the hills you go, the more of the Alps are visible in any weather. They are gorgeous!

Farewell Dinner at Guido's

At Carlo Petrini’s presentation about next year’s food plan for the university, he announced that the new student chefs would take over the current university building of Guido’s Restaurant to be the dining hall. So, tonight was the last meal that will be served at Guido’s before they move their facility to the nearby Fontana Fredda Vineyard. It seems the owner of that vineyard has some connection with the owner of the restaurant, so that is a good place for them to go. Peter got tickets for us to attend the farewell dinner at their university location.

As you can see from the pictures, our dinner was much more than just acceptable, and our server Benedetta was the first person we met when we first arrived in Bra. She and her friend, Marianne, who also is a waitress at Guido’s, were walking across the farmland to (or from?) the university at the same time we were. They made us feel really welcomed; and at that point, we knew we would have a great year. Thanks, you two! We’ll see you at the new Fontana Fredda location when Guido’s opens back up.

It was so nice to have Peter all alone and without pressing homework to do for a change. I told him that the Guido’s dinner was a great Christmas present for me. We left for home after the traditional 3-hour cena (dinner). Thank you, Peter, you are my sweetheart!

Love, Colleen

CELEBRATION TIME!

Italy Journal

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Sara’s plant

https://picasaweb.google.com/105096135818321367223/SarahSPlantsAndMittens?authkey=Gv1sRgCL2G7eyg4vKo5AE

While Peter continued working on his final paper, Sarah brought Widget and Poppet to me. Babysitting Sara’s plants while she is gone on her internship in Ireland seems like the least we can do for our good friend. I just hope Widget and Poppet live through their separation anxiety of being away from their mama, and that I don’t kill them with too much/too little water or some other mistake in gardening. I may have to ask Gardening Man (Enzo) about the best way to keep them alive!

Have fun, Sarah,

Colleen

https://picasaweb.google.com/105096135818321367223/EmanuelSSconesCELEBRATEPeterFinishedHisResearchProject?authkey=Gv1sRgCMKd-r7CvIqHYA

P.S. Friday night, Dec. 21 – The news is great! After a short break for tea and scones with Emanuel, Peter finished his research paper in plenty of time…a gracious 2 ½ hours before the midnight deadline today! We spent the rest of the evening at Bar Carbonaiae, celebrating with a rotating group of friends, 5 of whom had also just finished this huge 6-month assignment and 5 more that finished only yesterday! Italian time, right??? Congratulations Peter and all the rest of you. Now, on to the internship, another paper and presentation, then GRADUATION on March 8…or so! WOW! This year is going by sooooo fast!