Terremoto e neve

Buon Natale a tutti.

Terremoto is a word I'd rather not have look up in our dictionary while living here. This Italian word for earthquake we had to learn this week. While preparing lunch we felt the house vibrate as if a train were passing. At first one thinks -wow, I don't remember any tracks near here. Then we heard the (empty, of course) wine bottles clanking together and knew this wasn't a train. We have patio doors just by the table and just I was opening them to tell the kids to get out of the house, the rumbling stopped. Sure enough a 4.2 tremor shook Perugia. Scary and exciting. Nina missed out of the fun. She was in Milan doing some interviews.

Then comes the snow. It nothing compared to what happened in the Eastern US, but for here it was a big surprise.

The pole just outside our house fell - from the snow, not from the quake - missing our friend Giulia's car by a few feet.

Scuola in the snow.

Strange to see a palm tree covered in snow.

Lulu showing off her her one-tooth-short smile. She lost her front tooth last night after DAYS of it hanging by a tread.

Felix presents a play for his class...in Italian! We're very proud...didn't even need his lines.  Press play to see him in action.

On Thanksgiving, Olive Picking and Hot Springs

Ciao Tutti.

We spent Thanksgiving Day olive picking. We picked three of our friends' 100 olive trees, leaving the rest for the pros, and got a long lunch and bottle of extra virgin oil for our labor.

But first some hill rolling....










They use a battery powered shaking devise that was very effective. The olives rain down by the dozen and land on nets, which are then emptied into crates.





Luca...a friend from Felix's class.





Working on the the nets, a very ancient gathering tradition.


They have a variety of trees that produce different color olives. They are all mixed together for the pressing to make the olive oil. In this region, the olives are used only for oil. The edible olives are found more in the south of Italy.





If there was any question about whether you can get a turkey in Italy, here is the answer. Just order one up from the local butcher. We kind of miscalculated the size we would need. Eight kilos sounded so small, but translates to almost 18 pounds. Oops. It was the biggest we've ever cooked.



No cans of pumpkin pie filling here. Nina and Felix and Lulu made a really amazing one from real pumpkin and without condensed milk, which cannot be found here.





Luckily it just fit in our oven...



Turned out to be a very yummy bird. We had 14 Italians over to eat it, but our photographer forgot to take pictures once they started arriving. They thought it was a very "exotic" dinner.



We often take Chili to run around in front of this amazing little church up the hill from our house. It is thought to have been a pagan temple originally. It is circular, not like Christian churches. It was probably retro-fitted for Christianity.

We often see what Felix calls a fairy tale sunset.







Our house is right behind those cyprus trees on the left. But his land belongs to the monastery just out of view to the right.



The local street musician gets in the spirit. His reportoire is pretty limited, but he always seems to enjoy himself.



A low fog in the plain below Perugia.



They had to go and put a carousel in the center. Needless to say it is hard to keep the kids off it.









A giant mortadella.



We went off to the countryside near Assisi for a couple days this weekend. Monday and Tuesday were a national holiday here. So they loaded up the teddies...



All were happy to be back in the countryside.



Felix is a donkey whisperer for sure.





One of the coolest things about Assisi is the 2,030 year old Roman temple to Minerva. She was (is) the goddess of medicine, science, the arts and war. The facade is original, but the interior has been reconstructed.



We drove over to some Tuscan hot springs in San Casciano di Bagni. They have a very chic spa resort, or you can soak with the locals here. Brrr! It was freezing getting there ...





The water was steaming hot!





Afterward a dramatic cloud formation.




Buona notte, San Casciano.


We'll soon be off to Geneva, Paris and Toulouse for Christmas...all are very excited.

Cortona and Lake Trasimeno

Ciao tutti!
It is Thanksgiving Day but Italy doesn't even notice! We're having some Italian friends over Sunday for an American-style day of gluttony. Turkey (tacchino) is easily found here, we just had to order one whole from our local butcher. A friend from Rome brought us up some of the other staples, like cranberries and pumkin pie filling, from the UN commissary.

Last weekend we made a day trip to Cortona, about 45 minutes away in Tuscany. This town was made famous by the Francis Mayes book Under The Tuscan Sun. It was such a huge success tourism flourished. But there was a worm in that apple. Rumor has it that they are now selling their house there because bus loads (literally) of tourists would pull up in front of their house to get a glimpse, ruining that loved Tuscan tranquility.

But we were lucky to see it on a beautiful November day, essentially tourist-free.

The Piazza Reppublica and the 'town hall':





There is a wonderful Eutruscan museum here. The Eutruscans were a fascinating people that lived in this area well before Rome came to dominate the Italian peninsula. The only archeological remains that can be found are in their tombs that dot the countryside. Their language is still largely indeciferable. The Greeks influenced them greatly, the copied their artistic style and borrowed their gods.

Here is a statue of Hericles (Hercules):



Sarcophigi found in the tombs:



There is a row of medeival houses on the old fortified wall:



A view from the wall of the cemetary:



The symbol of Cortona:



Make an offering and light a candle:



The art museum here houses the very famous "Annunciation" by Fra Angelico. Its in all of the art history books (I studied it). And it is a masterpiece.



Here is the Chiesa di St Francesco (13th century):





Cortona is on a serious incline..makes Perugia look flat.



Another day, another 13th century church...



But his one does have the corpse of Santa Margherita on display:



Playing on eutruscan stones:



The Medici fortress in the background is being restored:



Can't beat a sunset....





Wait! Can't beat a sunset with an amazing gelato:



A mysterious whole in the city walls:




We took a ride out to Lake Trasimeno Tuesday with friends who know of this truck stop that makes amazing food. Erik got to drive the Vespa. Lulu and Felix also got a ride:



Happy Dad:







With our friend Mila:



Happy Thanksgiving to all.