Italy:Day One

17 hours later, through Chicago,
through two accidental security check points
in Frankfurt before I could locate my gate,
I emerge from customs in Rome.
I was to meet up with Nancy and Laura at the rental car counter.
Ended up twenty feet from behind on the moving sidewalk.
Nancy somehow got us upgraded to a Mini Clubman.
We drove north to Orvieto
to meet up with Kip
who then drove us into the countryside
to our residence for the week.
A lovely villa set amongst
the rolling hills and olive and fruit trees.
Everything is as picturesque
as you would imagine the Italian countryside to be.
Revines and
mountains and
curving roads that arise to
vistas of ancient hilltop cities
with buildings that bleed into the landscape below.
Upon arrival at the house
we sat on the patio off the kitchen
and ate on fresh ricotta ravioli with
fresh zuccs, funghi, fresh herbs
fresh greens from the garden and haricot verts
rolls with raisins
and capped it off with a ricotta almond torte
A nice long nap was in order
due to the fact that my vicodin vodka cocktail
only gave me two hours of sleeping on the plane
Our evening took us to Bolsena
a lovely little lakeside town
where the hydrangeas were as prolific
as the cobblestones through the city
We then spent the evening around
a table at Da Giggetto
a lakeside eatery with fresh fish and wine a plenty.
The night was cool and fresh
The children running around us with water guns
Giggling and not paying adults much mind
We feasted on bruschetta and salametti and proscuitto and roasted eggplant
Our secondi consisted of fresh fish and arrabiata, tartufo and garlic

The next morning we ventured into Pienza
A hillside town in Tuscany about and hour from where we are
The country side looks unreal
As if
We were in the scene of a movie
The towns on hills look large and ominous
Until you get into the heart of them
And they are tight and cozy
Pienza was no different
We had a reservation at Trattoria Latte di luna at one
A little trattoria on the edge of town
We sat outside under canopy
Surrounded by grape vines and greenery
Ordered a bottle of Prosecco [the girls like the bubbles, what can I say]
And ate plates of pasta from ragu to tartufo
All delicious and fresh and perfectly cooked and seasoned
The service was not the best, but we are in Italy
And service is relative to how much time you have
We strolled the streets that were lined with cheese and salami and wine
And, well
Pasta
Bought some aged balsamic for T and some spices
We slipped out to the edge of the town
And found a bar to have a glass of wine
And overlook amazing snapshots in every direction
On the agenda, we had two towns to visit
We pissed away our afternoon in Pienza
Had to be back to the house by five to get
Enough time to chill before heading off to
Passa ggiata in Orvieto
And the
Sagra di Gnocchi in Subano
Weaved in and out of feasting adults and
Children running wild everywhere
We found a picnic table up against the wall
Which we later discovered was available due to
Its close proximity to the grill
To our dismay
We found out that they ran out of GNOCCHI
They offered to toss the sauces in regular pasta
We didn’t refuse
After dinner we meandered over to the entertainment portion of the evening
Rita and Robert
He had the accordion
She had the hips and the ten gallon hit
There were waltzes and tangos and line dances
We got our fill
And weaved our way back to the house
For a nightcap
Tucked ourselves in
For we had a big day of planning
and prep for the big party.