It. Journal
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Baladin
I had 2 Italian lessons today. Maybe that’s what I’ve been doing wrong…only having one in a day. Anyway, I had to cancel my Tuesday class with Sara, and it was rescheduled for this morning. Peter’s and my joint class with Sara was already in the evening, so we just went with it! It turned out great. I got motivated to study in between the two, and Peter used my “cheat sheet” to talk with Sara about his trip to Abruzzo in Italian. She really enjoyed hearing about Abruzzo, too. It worked out perfectly, and we learned from Sara that she does tours in this area herself. When she found out what Peter’s plans were, she immediately said, “We can work together!” Peter and I were very pleased. We have found a couple of other Italians who may want to collaborate on this tour venture, and Sara will be a great asset!
Ahhh, Massage! Patricia gave me a wonderful massage in the afternoon. She owns the massage parlor downstairs in our condo complex. What a nice, convenient benefit to living in this apartment! Monica reported a great massage and facial there last week, and I agree with her. It was so relaxing.
Peter took me on a date to get HAMBURGERS in the evening. We called Wild Dan to find out the name of the best hamburger joint nearby, and he told us Baladin, just 6 km away. That ended up being the sister restaurant to the Bierriera Baladin in Piozzo where we went with Gene and June. It was delicious. In fact, I couldn’t decide which I liked better – the meat or the bread! That was very unusual for me! We had a lovely time there.
It. Journal
Friday, July 13, 20112
Street Market, Hair Cut, Rossella
It’s Friday! After a little cleaning in preparation for our Sunday Supper with the group Sunday night, the street market was calling. I wished for the guests that we have had, because everything was marked way down, and the choices were very nice. I did try to find Peter a straw hat, but no one had hats for sale. Figure that!!! I’m hoping this great sale will still be on when the Aucoins arrive next Sunday! The locals say the whole month of July is sale month everywhere. Sounds good to us, huh, Valerie and Victoria???
Monica, you will be glad to know that I found the last of your lemon cake in the refrigerator this afternoon and finished it off with my lunch. It was just as good as it was when you made it. I seriously considered slicing it in thin pieces and putting your leftover icing on the slices. Now, that’s good stuff!
Fabrizio gave me a haircut this afternoon. I practiced for a long while to be able to say that I wanted a haircut that was the same as the previous one. (“Vorrei que il taglio lo spesso dell’ ultima volta.” Which worked well. Note to Colleen: Never answer a question until you know what the question really is. As you see in the picture, at the end of the haircut, I told Fabrizio to style my hair in a curly style, not straight. When he asked me how I liked it afterwards, I had to say I liked it a lot…it was different! I just had time at home to restyle it before Rossella came for our afternoon adventure.
My next door neighbor Lisa’s sister Rossella invited me to join her to visit a friend of hers. As it turns out, the friend is Anna, who helped to write the book that Rossella gave me when we first met. I found out that Rossella also had a big part in collaborating with that book, too. In fact, Rossella designed the beautiful pamphlet for the B&B, too. I loved getting to know Rossella better and meeting Anna.
Anna lives about half and hour away on a property in Nazarole, Italy, that has an old mill on it. The horses no longer make the mill wheel go, and the neighbors can’t bring their wheat there to make into flour; but, it’s a huge building that was once the center of the community. Anna has renovated a long one-story building that had been used as a storage building. She now runs it as a Bed and Breakfast, and it is quite charming. Each of the 6 suites at Il Mulino di Geminella has its own bathroom, all of the suites have either extra beds or fold out sofas. They also all have fully stocked kitchen areas, since no meals are served at the B&B. Anna said she doesn’t make any meals, but it is not uncommon for the group of people who are staying there to arrange to get together to prepare a meal to eat. Sometimes, it even includes showing everyone how to make pasta, then everyone getting to share the fresh-made goods. How does that sound to you “pasta snobs?”
Anna served us tea while we were talking, and she introduced me to Cogni di Narzole, which was served on bread, but she does a tasting with a wide variety of cheeses, putting a spoonful of this wonderful confit on each cheese and realizing how different the taste is …as the cheese gets stronger, the Cogni di Narzole tastes milder…or so she says. Anna also told us about her nephew, who has two vineyards nearby. One was Costa di Bussia in Monforte d’Alba. The other one was nearby, too.
When Anna found out Peter’s plans after school is finished, she invited him and me to come to brunch there with Rossella and her husband soon to hear all about the production of Cogni de Narzole and her nephew’s wines in her area. She even offered to be the translator for any group that we brought there and any Italian group that decided to visit San Francisco vineyards. I like the way she thinks! Her English is perfect in grammar, as well as ideas!
Peter came home late from school, so we had a late supper, but Enzo surprised us with his homemade tiramisu, made with lemoncello. There’s a surprise you don’t want to miss!
It was a bellissimo day!
Ciao,
Colleen
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