A Lovely Birthday

Had to work this morning...I believe this is Day22 since we returned from Italy and I have not yet had a day off. Last week was especially hectic with work in the mornings at Hoffman Haus, then running home to change clothes and driving to San Antonio to teach. By the weekend I had laryngitis. Saturday was our 5th anniversary and I told Scott that I was giving him what every man secretly wants as a gift from his wife but would never ask: a day of her not speaking! I took a long nap that afternoon when I got off work and then made a wonderful dinner of Claudio's mothers' Seafood Pasta. I found Nocciola (Hazelnut) gelato at the grocery store...the REAL stuff-imported from Italy!...and then we took a walk to see our neighbor MaryAnn. It was a wonderful anniversary, even if I hardly spoke a word. But we did kiss alot!

So this morning I went to work as usual, fed the small group at the Inn and was heading out when here comes my sweet grandbaby Natalie across the Great Hall (the "meeting room" of Hoffman Haus) with a little ladybug balloon in her hand. "Gramma, here!" She handed me the balloon and then scrunched up her eyes a bit, trying to remember what she was going to say. Then she brightened and yelled, "Happy Birthday!!" What a very sweet moment. Marta gave me a hug and also wished me a happy birthday. We said good-bye to Martha and Courtney in the back offices (any opportunity to show off Natalie) and then we were off. After a quick stop at the grocery store for a bottle of Chianti, I headed home. Scott and I packed a quick lunch-boar salami and Parmesan we bought in Italy, some whole grain bread, 2 wine galsses, some goat cheese, pistachios, fresh organic strawberries, a bar of 85% chocolate and a tablecloth-and we drove away. It took us almost an hour and a half to get to Lost Maples State Natural Area in Vanderpool. The day was a bit dreary and overcast. a few times we had to use our wipers, but it never rained hard. The park was deserted for the most part, which was fine with me. We were starving and headed down to the Sabinal river to eat lunch at a picnic table perched on the bank. It drizzled a bit more, but we didn't care. We hauled our leftovers back to the car and found the trailhead. What a glorious walk we had! The entire park was in bloom! I never realized that there were so many Mountain Laurels up there! We were walking in a sea of grape perfume! About half way through the East Trail we started climbing...1.5 miles almost straight up. They have made crude (yet perfectly serviceable) rock steps out of the many boulders in the park and we kept stopping to catch our breath. Some of the boulders were thigh high on me, I kept telling myself how good lunges were for my legs as I huffed and puffed my way to the top. About 2/3's of the way, I got hot, so I took off my shirt. I was wearing a sports bra and it resembled a bathing suit top and, well, there was no one else on the trail and it felt so good! We walked and walked, stopped at streams and ponds to splash our faces, watched a blue heron catch fish in a creek, took pictures of wildflowers and scenery below from the highest points in the park. By the time we got back to the car about 3 1/2 hours later, our legs felt tired but strong and we were very happy. I almost fell asleep on the ride home I was so relaxed.
When we got home there was a key lime pie on the table with a note from Marta. We each grabbed a fork and dug in...no plates, just forks and we ate almost half of it (it was a SMALL pie). Yum!!

So now here I am- 50 years old. I remember a time in my early 30's when life was particularly tough. I was raising the 3 girls alone and felt quite discouraged about how difficult life was. A thought popped into my head"...just wait till you are 50!" I don't know why it cheered me but it did and I have held on to that thought for about 17 years. And here it is. I have reached this day and it is a good one. I feel healthy, strong and extremely happy. I don't think that 17 years ago I could've envisioned HOW good my life would be at 50. I never knew this could be possible. I am blessed.

Home again, home again, jiggity, jig

For two nights now Scott and I have awakened in the dead of night not knowing where we were. In the dark, home seems foreign. By the light of day, it is a delight.
After arriving home about 5 p.m. on Tuesday, I began dinner while Scott unloaded the van. I had already decided on the drive home from Houston that I was going to make one of my favorite dishes from Italy (and one that I wrote of in the blog) of spaghetti with anchovies, capers and hot pepper. We had stopped at the store on the way home and I picked up some arugula, a few blood oranges and looked at the fennel, but passed them up as they were small and gray, obviously past their prime. So a simple salad would accompany the pasta dish. We had brought home a stash of anchovies in olive oil and the giant capers they use (I have seen them here but at about 6 times the cost of the ones we bought...however, not buying them might have helped offset the 90 Euro charge from the airline for overweight luggage), so as Scott unloaded the van, I began tearing through the suitcases for provisions. And I proceeded to try to recreate the dish I ate so often in Italy. I have to admit I was anchovie shy, not wanting them to overpower the dish. In retrospect, I wish I had doubled the amount of anchovies. When dinner was just about ready, I realized we'd have no where to eat as the dining room table was stacked with a months worth of mail and various things I'd pulled from the suitcases while looking for ingredients. Scott said, "I'll take care of it..." and dashed outside. A few minutes later he walked back in and made a few spritz (he'd found the bottle of Campari we'd hauled home and there was, remarkably, an ice cold bottle of Italian sparkling wine in the fridge from before we left) and said, "Let's go eat!" and he led me outside. He had set up 2 hay bales in the driveway, one as our seat and one as our table. He'd opened the van doors and dialed the radio to our local classical station. We set our plates down on our makeshift dining table and breathed in the warm, sunny Texas Hill Country air and felt so glad to be alive. We looked around and Scott said, "Do you know what we would pay for a hilltop like this in Italy?" Indeed, I could probably make an educated guess and for right now, our hilltop is heaven. Yeah, when I went to our local grocery store this afternoon, I realized so much of what I wanted wasn't available but, on the other hand, I encountered a neighbor and caught up on some local gossip, saw that the blood oranges were on sale (and I stocked up) and felt happy with the familiarity of the place.

I have plans for a new garden, one based on what I saw on our trip. I brought home seeds for me and to share and hope to be able to better recreate some of the meals we had with some fresh produce from our garden. And of course, we are busy planning our next trip to Italy, probably in October/November of 2009.

Life is good.

Goodbye to Florence

Well, we are off to the train station to go to Rimini for 2 days. Our last morning in Florence was full of packing (can we really fit all this stuff in the 2 new suitcases we bought?) and then caffe, caffe and more caffe. We went to the corner to the shop where Anna always has breakfast but she was not there. We had a caffe and went to our favorite shop in the market to have another and say
good-bye to Benita, the proprietress. We shared a piece of freshly made apricot tart and then she brought us out a piece of chicken liver pate on toast. Not exactly breakfast food, but it was the best we have had yet. We wandered through the vendors stalls on the way back to our room and when we returned, Marco invited us to breakfast. We walked to the other corner and had caffe and a pastry with Marco. So now we are all caffein'ed up and ready to haul our very heavy bags to the train station. Ciao ciao Florence...we will miss you!

Art and Food

With all the warnings I had read about the Uffizi...long lines, surly staff, odd hours...we had an extremely good experience. Walked up to the window, paid for our tickets, went and ate lunch and when we returned we stood in line for about 15 minutes before we were let into the gallery. FIVE HOURS LATER we exited. It was exhilarating and exhausting! It was a good idea I think to go on a Tuesday as it was not crowded at all and we could linger in front of the paintings that captured us (most all of them). There were no photos allowed or this page would be full of them. There was a painting that I can't get out of my head. It was a portrait of a young man, a teenager really, by the painter Perugino. It was from the 16th century, I believe, but the picture could have been a photograph of a teenage boy today. He just had the same careless look, half bored, half arrogant, that I sometimes see on adolescent boys. Like perhaps his father had forced him to sit for this painting and he was not very happy about it. I liked that the painting was ancient and contemporary at the same time.
The morning of our Uffizi trip, we went to the market. Scott had told the wonderful folks that run our "hotel"; Marco, his gal Natasha and his sister Anna (marcosplaces.com) that I would make dinner for them. Marco is a vegetarian so I decided on a big salad of arugula, shaved fennel and the wonderful blood oranges that are everywhere here now. When I got to the market, the raspberries were beautiful also, so I decided to add those to the salad. I made a light vinaigrette out of the juice of an orange and a lemon, some of the great olive oil here and a bit of salt. I bought some roma tomatoes, small zucchinis (with the flowers still attached) and pine nuts to make a sauce for some pasta. Anna added a jar of broccoli raab that her mother had sent up from Southern Italy. It is spicy, similar to the taste of mustard greens and wildly delicious. I served some over the pasta but also ate it piled on some bread we got at the bakery. A bottle of Chianti rounded out the meal. It was a simple meal, but the company at the table made it great. Marco and Scott talked a lot of politics and Anna made us espresso afterwards and served some wonderful sweets she and Natasha had picked up at the pasticceria (pastry shop) at the corner. These folks are so much fun. Marco is a card, 28 years old and itching to make his mark. Natasha is from Russia and incredibly beautiful. Anna is so sweet, I feel like she is one of my own children. I just want to hug her all the time. They have made our stay here in Florence extra special and I would recommend this place to anyone.

On Wednesday, we visited the Accademia which houses Michelangelo's David. It is a small museum with David as its' centerpiece. And what a centerpiece. It takes your breath away. They have a fine collection of paintings and it was nice that each painting was accompanied by an explanation of the artist, what the symbolism in the painting represented and details about the restoration. Some descriptions even showed sections of the paintings before the restoration work began. Fascinating!

We walked and walked that afternoon and got lost in the maze of back roads that lead up to the Piazzale Michelangelo. This is the point at which you are overlooking the entire city of Florence and some of the surrounding mountains also.

Lucca in Bloom

Back on the train and another 20 minutes or so and we were in Lucca. My fascination with this city lies in the ramparts that circle the city. These walls; which are 40 feet high, 50 feet across and with a circumference of 2 1/2 miles are from the 15th century and remarkably preserved. On top it's like a promenade, where townfolk take their evening strolls on foot or bikes, teenagers congregate to raise hell, old men gather on the benches to argue and parents bring the kids to run around the playgrounds. There are places where you can peer over the edge of the wall into enclosed greenspaces where catapult balls {I assume them to be catapult balls} are strewn about the grass. You enter the walls through enclosed walkways, really tunnels, that gradually take you higher and higher until you exit at the top. You are overlooking the city up here and what a grand city it is! Incredibly clean and well laid out, the grid of streets are clearly visible from the top. During our visit the trees that lined the streets were all in bloom, great cup shaped flowers in pink and white, and we walked out of the ramparts to the city inside the walls to experience the fragrance. We didn't have much time in Lucca, it was getting dark and we had a train to catch back to Florence. But we decided it was a town that deserved more exploring on the next trip.

Pisa-Town of the Leaning Tower

The train ride to Pisa was short, maybe 20 minutes, and I was having second thoughts. I mean, The Leaning Tower of Pisa??? It seemed so...touristy! But it was on the way, so we got off the train, bought 60 minute bus tickets and hopped a bus to the Campo di Miracoli, the Field of Miracles {not to be confused with the Field of Dreams}. It still seemed kinda' cheesy when we stepped off the bus with about 20 other folks. We walked towards a rock gate with vendors on either side {anyone for a genuine plastic replica of the tower??} and passed into a wonderful {and yes, tourist filled} expanse of gorgeous green lawn. Hundreds of people were sprawled out on the grass...some reading, some making out, some sleeping...and beyond them were the Baptistery, the Camposanto and...gasp...THE LEANING TOWER! It was pretty darn cool to tell the truth and well, we were tourists I told myself, so get over it.

A Trip To The Ocean

On Monday as we were heading to the train station Scott suggested we go to Livorno first to "stick our feet in the Mediterranean" and then head on to Pisa and Lucca on the way back to Florence. It was about an hour and a half train ride and by the time we got to Livorno, it was about 60 degrees and sunny. A beautiful day! We didn't know where the train station was in Livorno in relation to the ocean, but we headed off in the direction of the breeze and made a direct route through downtown and to the sea. It was a long walk but extremely pleasant. The ocean was so blue and quite clear. There were huge ships, cabin cruisers, tug boats and little rowboats all coexisting at the docks. We made our way to a rocky shore and climbed over the rocks to the water. Tiny crabs scrambled out of the way and I finally sat on a flat rock near the waves, took off my shoes and socks and dipped my feet into the icy water! It felt so good! We strolled back to shore and stopped at a little restaurant half a block from the ocean. We ate seafood of course, and lots of it: polipo {octopus}, squid, shrimp, smoked fish shaved like proscuitto, all on a bed of rucola {arugula} with warm crusty bread to mop up all the juices. We smiled through the entire meal. The waitress enjoyed our rapture. We finished the meal with some creme caramel and caffe {espresso}. We left the restaurant very happy and sauntered back through town to the train station to catch a train to Pisa.