Natural Disaster Here: The Terremoto- The Ugly, the Bad and the Good!

    Last year there were two terrible earthquakes in Central Italy. One destroyed the ancient town of Amatrice while the second caused further damage to already weakened areas and to new areas as well.

Where we are staying, Morravalle, a town that had considerable damage and daily we witness the slow state of repairs to structures.

Any time you see the orange fence up you can suspect damage. People and businesses had to desert their premises and take up temporary residences in either someone elses's home or in containers.

     Where we used to stay in the countryside outside of Sarnano the magnificent old country villa has been condemned until reconstructed.

It's previous owners said the roof was built like a tank but when the earth shook the beautiful old wooden beams from what had once been a convent some 600 years ago collapsed. As it still looks pretty good from the outside where only some cracks and missing bricks are evidence of the tremors and aftershocks looks can be deceiving. Their neighbors on their side of the white road had similar experiences. 

The other side had none. One is rebuilding from the ground up.

     Even Sarnano had problems. The old medieval towers stand but just below them reconstruction has been going on for a year and probably for lots longer.

When we were at the market there yesterday even the national police, the Carabienari, were housed in a temporary FEMA type structure as well as several banks.
     The Italian People are giving all they can to help. Much like the US is doing for Harry and Irma and now finally Maria, they donate and help out the others. Our host, Hugo, who is the same age as I am, took the two days extra for our apartment that we owed him and donated it to the reconstruction.  He gave me a copy of the Bank receipt. He was proud of his helping and kindness and I am even prouder for knowing someone who made such an act of kindness to his town.

This Happens Every Thursday in the Quiet Town of Sarnano

      Once a week in many of the small towns in Italy a phenomenon takes place. A whole caravan of merchants as well as the local town's merchants set up in the town's piazza and surrounding streets to sell their wares.

     This is not just a day to buy goods, often from Eastern Europe, with their cheap prices, but a community event. The only people missing are the children as they are in school from the hours of 8:00-1:00, the exact time the market takes place. I wonder if that is planned that way. Everyone from the countryside invades the town. People are often more interested in keeping up with the most recent gossip then buying a smoked dried fish or a kitchen utensil.

They convene at the town's coffee bars to swap stories and talk about the great deals they had found.

Usually during the daytime the men are sitting in the bars while the wives slave over their best marinara sauce, coming home only at the two big meals, pranza (lunch) and cena (dinner). But today, on market day, the ladies are regulars.
     You can buy almost everything from fine lace, to your undergarments or your next purse.

It is a cultural experience. Babies are wheeled down the sidewalks and people of all races are welcome. This event today took place in the little medieval town of Sarnano where Lynda and I first experienced the wonders of the weekly market over a dozen years ago. We are bringing home things bought there, as well as some tomatoes and bananas for our Italian cucina.

Mystery Dining in Old Mexico? I Thought We Were in Italy!

     As we're meandering down a series of winding back roads with our friend Michael I, the driver, asked him where we were going. He replied, "to Mexico". I said "what do you mean Michael." He replied "you will see." This would be mystery dining at its best.
    And after a few more twists and turns we went under a culvert like device to end up at a small cabana looking restaurant on the beach.

There we let Michael see if they were open. Most of the beach restaurants were closing or were closed for the season. This one was closing that day and we would be their last customers. It didn't look like much but it didn't disappoint either. This place came with the tiki type umbrellas that reminded us of Mexico, hence why Michael said we would be going to Mexico.

    As we sat and listened to the waves break upon the shore Michael

ordered a seafood delight for us, a bottle of Falerio white wine,

a local product and pasta for Lynda. The dishes starting with a fish anti-pasto

were delivered as we devoured the one before us. They came and came and came until we were full of fresh seafood taken from the morning's catch. After about two hours and a Limoncello and a coffee we took Michael back the way he led us. I could never find this place again on my own. No wonder, it was in Mexico afterall. The cook was from Argentina originally and we shared some Manu Ginobili stories.

     After dropping Michael off at his car we finished with...guess what...gelato!

Old Friends, New Friends and a Little Bit of Wine

     There is something to be said of friendships. The friends you have at home and with family are the most important but when traveling in a foreign country it sometimes is a must to make new friends. They can be helpful and lasting. Now when we travel to the Le Marche part of Italy we have a handful of friends at our fingertips that we like to reaquaint ourselves with when we return here. Our longtime friends Michael and Liliana often introduce us to new people as was the case a couple of evenings ago when we met a lovely couple from Britain.

Often our conversations begin with the President and how we view him. Then we talk about work experiences until we know more about each other.
     Yesterday we spent a big part of the day with a friend, Andrea, whom we met a year ago when we stayed at his parents' house for a month.

He runs a winery, Lumavite, which he is very proud of, and rightly so. He is a wine perfectionist and works hard at putting out a good product. Last year we took a bottle home to our daughter and her husband and after finishing it she texted me with 'Dad, your friend's wine was scrumptious'.  That is a good testimony to his hard work.
     This time we went back there for what he said would be for happy hour before lunch. He has been working on a new wine, a Rosato, which has taken him three years to get where it is at now and believe me it is a delicious wine.

Lynda and I toured the winery

and the vinyard while he worked with some clients from the Netherlands. We saw the leftovers from the harvest which will be put on the vinyard as fertilizer.

The day was beautiful and the views were incredible- the sea to our right and the mountains on the left.

Then we all sat down and tested his new wine and now we have two new friends.
     After that we went back to his parents house and got a few updates on the family.  His father, Sergio, is suffering from sciatica and was scheduled to go to the hospital later and meet with a doctor. But before that he had to show us the work on his new apartments in an old church he was restoring and he served me some home made grappa made by a friend in the north of Italy.

     Later Lynda and I went to Fermo where we love their piazza.

We had a little lunch and another glass of wine. Tomorrow, the beach again.

We are Home in Italy

     Canada is the country of my birth and where I was raised and educated. The United States is where I worked most of my life and where I live but Italy seems like home everytime Lynda and I travel to it.
    Perhaps it is because we have been coming here since 1971. Perhaps it is that the language is no longer a barrier. Perhaps it is the friendships we have made with people here. Whatever it is there is a comfort zone that makes it feel like home.
    Speaking of home we have a nice two bedroom apartment in a villa in the countryside just outside the little town of Morravalle.

We are surrounded by fields and can even see one of our friend's house across the valley.

We have a kitchen and a living room complete with a large screen TV, which has all Italian channels except for one in French so we can understand it fairly well. Yesterday we woke up to beautiful blue skies and nice temperatures. Off the small white road that leads to our place we had a beautiful view of the Adriatic Sea and when we drove up farther the majestic Sibillini mountains had snow on them for the first time this year.

     After shopping for an Italian Sim card for my phone we headed to the coast. There we had an enjoyable lunch and then laid by the sea where Lynda swears I fell asleep and was snoring.

Darn congestion. Lynda prides herself on her language skills but every once and a while she screws up. At lunch she ordered what she thought was gnocchi with a marinara sauce. The look on her face was priceless as the waiter dropped a plate of gnocchi in front of her complete with clams, shrimp etc. I had extra seafood at lunch, needless to say, but her gnocchi was delicious.

    In the evening we went to dinner with some friends and had scrumptious pizzas of all types and some wine. It was a good day in a comfortable country.

Bled was GORGE-ous and a 93 year Old Rooster in a Hen House!

       Today in Bled it was all about water. Of course there is the beautiful Lake Bled with its tiny island dotted with an old church and it's castle standing guard from above.

     Also it rained buckets today taking time for the sun to peek out enough to tease you. It was also about the Vintgar Gorge where a torrent of rushing water speeds down an incline, over rocks and around curves. Lynda and I walked beside the rushing water as it sped by us.

The old man and the rain

Holding on for dear life

These water events coupled with the famous Kremna Rezina which I had been salivating over three years for, the last time this delicious cream cake, only made here, passed through my lips.

After driving through the rain through mountains and beside rivers and lakes we had a delicious lunch, was tempted by the cream cake again and met a fun bunch of English ladies who were accompanied by a 93 year old man. I asked him how he managed to be the only man with 30 woman on this trip. He simply replied "luck!" Here he is celebrating our new friend Norma's 67th birthday.