Day 2: Cacciatore e Nuovi Amici

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I awake with a start. img_9284

The air is punctuated by the sounds of insistent dogs, trying desperately to alert someone… anyone, I think. But no one is listening. Suddenly, a single chime from the bell tower, and they are silenced.

Then the bells begin their lovely little tune, albeit slightly off key. They could stand a calibration. This sets the dogs off again. And just after, a shot rings out. And I realize that it’s le cacciatore, hard at work on a Sunday morning. Illusions – shattered.

Well, at least the view is fabulous!

As it’s domenica (Sunday) and almost everything is chiusa, we wander down to the little tiny alimentari in the little tiny borgo, where Roselle is the game proprietress, welcoming all of us stranieri to her little haven. She charms us with her warm smile, her slow Italian that we can pretty much understand, and of course, il cibo – the oasis in the food desert on this bleak Sunday. We choose the produce that looks the freshest among the lot: zucchine and the usual suspects in Italian cooking – onions, garlic, capers, and her locally produced olive oil, which she proudly presents to us in an emptied plastic soda bottle.

We also meet a couple of the other longer-term temporary residents – one from Sweden, the other an American who’s been living in Paris. The latter is Teresa, who promptly invites us to her place for a drink, but we have already made plans with a couple of the permanent resident locals to come to us for a quick visit, so it’s decided that Teresa will just join us.

Then back to the casa for a quick nap before Teresa comes for a drink, and we hear from the other friends that they cannot make it. So we extend drinks into dinner, which we make up on the spot: Tagliatelle con pomodori, cipolle e aglio di olio. And a side of zucchine with more garlic. Teresa contributes her amazing and very addictive salad to the dinner – the freshest cicoria, with her candied fennel and a light, tasty dressing. And more wine ensues.

We find that we have much in common, not the least of which is that she also is a vegetarian, and also wants to move to Italy and teach veggie / vegan cooking lessons! We decide it’s Il Destino that we’ve met and we decide we must make plans  to support each other’s visions!

Day 1: Italian welcome… (or, How to Gain 10 lbs in 1 Day)

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Troppo cibo!!! In one day, I undid all the good I had done prior to leaving…

Just an hour or so after touching down, it was lunch at an agriturismo our friends Leonardo e Elena chose for us. Course after course after course of divine food: simple, well-prepared and so fresh I think they picked it as the plates were being placed in front of us!

Then we checked in at our little Lovely Loft with Bianca and got settled in, and made a beeline for “the Vincanta” to procure wine to fortify us! A couple of roses, one bianco and 2 rossos, and we were off to cena at Al Palazzaccio:

  • Truffle bruschetta
  • Ravioli Letizia
  • Strongozzi con pomodoro e pepperoncini
  • Cicoria

I had an aha moment — realized I was shy suddenly, when it was just the two of us in this quiet little neighborhood restaurant, with no local connections to ease our way. But during dinner, I made a pact with Vittorio – Se e quando capiamo come si dice in Italiana, saremo! (If and when we know how to say it in Italian, we will, instead of constantly falling back on English, even with each other!)

Then back to the villa and falling into bed, despite my desire to post day one of our adventure here, fully not only satiated but stuffed!

PS – Forgot to take photos, I was being such a glutton!