Alessandra and Eleonora were pleasantly surprised that none of our bags were lost. Alessandra teaches Italian and Ele is in charge of host families. They had bought some pasta and pesto for us, a lemon pie, some fruit. It is the middle of vacation here and they seemed anxious to get back to their families: "Now you'll shower and sleep -- arrivederci!" They were right in fact. But first we explored our new place, a little.
The view from our living room windows
KitchenThe furniture is a mix of antique, pseudo-antique and modern (coffee table, black leather couch and armchairs in the living room. 12" TV, only one channel shows the Olympics. In the middle of the night (8 pm "our time") we set up the Internet.
With Fabrizio in our living roomOn Tuesday took it easy, slept, walked, had dinner in Taverna Etrusca near the school (pizza con boleti, pizza con mozzarella e prosciutto).
On Wednesday went to the Prefecture to apply for the permesso di soggiorno, slept, walked.
On Thursday afternoon Fabrizio and Isabella arrived from their "dacha" on the lake and we drove together to Graffignano (about 40 km) to Sagra della Lumaca. A "sagra" turned out to be a pretty straightforward event: tables set up in an open space (for about 500 people), you order one or several dishes -- lumache alla romana (snails in tomato sauce), lumache fritte, etc., pay and take a ticket, a bunch of 12-15 year old kids work as servers, another bunch of 9-10 year-olds run around offering to clean your table. A separate bar serves beer and wine. Fabrizio ordered two beers and two cups of wine but received two bottles instead! Vino di providenza! We did make it home safely, though.
On Friday we went to Lago di Vico for a swim, then to Ronciglione nearby -- a small medieval town; had a tasty but way overpriced lunch in a pseudo-elegant place. It took 2 hours, too.
On Saturday, a nice trip to Tuscania, with its Roman churches (8th-13 Century), interesting archeology museum that holds recent finds from Etruscan tombs, and Etruscan necropoli nearby where the stuff was found.
Back home, Fabrizio made his own "fettuccini tonno alla romana" (olive oil, onion, mushrooms, tuna, crushed tomatoes) and we finished a one-liter bottle of Est! Est! Est! -- local white wine. (The legend has it that a gluttonous bishop was travelling to the area and sent his servant ahead to find good wine. The servant sent back a message "est! est! est!. Unfortunately, next day the bishop drank too much and died!)
Fabri and Isa left Sunday morning for Rome, and we rested, watched the women diving competition, walked, made (finally) pasta pesto, and figured out (almost) the eccentricities of the blogging software.
In front of St. Maria Maggiore in Tuscania
Sorting Euro coins from different countries with Fabrizio
Pasta with truffles in a pretentious restaurant in Ronciglione
(everything else was closed for Ferragosto)
1 comment:
The way I once heard the "Est Est Est" legend is that the overenthusiastic servant sent back the message "Est" about the first wine he tried. The second was better - what to do? - he sent back "Est Est!" When he had tried everything in the area and come up with the real thing, he sent back, "Est Est Est!"
Your view is spectacular. I haven't looked out any other windows in Viterbo, but I think yours merits all three Ests!
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