Biding Our Time

  Well, it's getting to be that time. 

  Time to head over the pond to our our little piece of heaven in Umbria. 

  There is way too much to do in the meantime, as always, and I should buckle down and get to it...but I'd really rather look at photos and dream a bit.

  Is that so wrong?

  No, no, it isn't.

  That being in mind, I'm looking at our visits from last year. Spring and Autumn. Both were a blast.

  Upon arrival in late February, we were greeted with a blanket of snow...

Our 'first morning' view from the terrace.
Um, Brrrrrrrr!

  Fortunately, the snow only lasted a couple of days, and eventually the area warmed up and got green and pretty...

Now, this is what I dream about!
Lunch with a view.

 Unfortunately, the winter took it's toll on our marble table, and it broke! We had to borrow another table from our dear landlord, Carlo, for the rest of the year.

This temporary table worked just fine.
Thanks, Carlo!

Lunch at The Nut is always a dream come true for me.

  We are having a new marble piece cut to fit the old iron base, though, and I can't wait to see the new terrace table when we finally have it in place.

  Another new addition will be a much more efficient wood burning stove. I'll miss the fireplace, which has been knocked down and removed, but we really need a warm Nut to come home to, and the new stove is going to be great.

  We loved the romance of the old fireplace, and it was a blast to cook in, but if we weren't right in front of it, we were really cold. We'll be super cozy during those brisk days now.

  We ordered wood in October, so we'll be all ready when we arrive:

Johnny will still have his work cut out for him!
Good thing he likes to chop wood.

We have lots of good, green Umbrian oil waiting for us, too. We helped with the harvest, and the trade off for our hours of work was oil, oil and oil. Oh, boy, I can't wait!

Green Gold.

Watching the olives from the trees at The Nut being turned into oil.
That was a treat to see!

  

There are many things I'm looking forward to, but one of my very favorites is to spend time watching sunsets at Lago Trasimeno. With a glass of good Umbrian wine, of course.

  This never gets old, man...

Isola Polvese, one of three islands on the lake.

  I'm always up for a day trip, and if we go by train, even better!
  I love looking at the train schedule. It gives me wanderlust.

Let's go, Baby!

The train is perfect for catching up on reading.
Or sleeping, like the dudes over my shoulder...

  We love being able to relax with a little treat to sip and a little something to munch...

Mid-day Proseco enjoyed in a pal's garden...

Wine with a view in Spello...

...or with a view in Montepulciano.

  

  If you have spent any time at all on this blog, you know I love to eat.

  I'm holding back calories now so I can enjoy double doses in Italy. I enjoy eating out as much as cooking and eating in. It's all good, and to have the time to do either is pure luxury. When we are here, in California, I'm working full time, and on my days off, we do chores, etc. We do enjoy ourselves when we can, don't get me wrong, but it's usually work, home, sleep...repeat.

  I love being able to enjoy a leisurely lunch out, especially in Umbria...

  

Cheesy good pasta and grilled eggplant, why yes, please!

My favorite pizza in the world.

Spring veggie risotto for Johnny, simply wonderful
stuffed pasta with tomato sauce for me. Mmmmm.

  The thing I don't usually share?

  What my reality looks like after one of these meals:

Just find me a sunny, warm spot, and I'm good.

Real good.

  I don't know if I'll get another post done before we leave, but I'd like to.

  If not, just know that there will be many more once we get there, and this year we'll be stopping in Paris for a week, so that will be big fun to blog about.

  While we wait, I'll just think about stepping onto the terrace at The Nut at the crack of dawn to enjoy the sunrise....

Ahhhh...I can already hear the birds singing.

Day Tripping: Spello, Trevi & Modern Art 2015

  Now that I've made it through the End-O-The-Year festivities (not my faves), I am anxiously looking forward to the next trip across the pond.

  Jeez...were we not just there? 

  Yes, and there is not one thing wrong with that..... as long as we can get away with it.

  As the planning gets hot and heavy, which means, in my case, looking up all the new and exciting places we can have a meal in Rome and Umbria, I do love to look back at some of the adventures we had on the last trip.

  One day, when we knew it would be nice and sunny, we took the gorgeous drive down to Spello...itself more than just a little gorgeous. 

  Spello is mainly known for being the cutest, steepest, and flowery-est little hilltown in the area. In fact, every May or June there is a huge festa which includes streets filled with the most amazing artworks made of flower petals. You can read all about it here.

  We are never there to enjoy the "Infiorate", but I do love looking at the website to see the lovely and complicated creations created each year.

  I think we must have gone late April or early May, as there were actually nice pots of flowers all about town...

Like this.

And this...

Not as much color, but still nice.

  The primary reason for this day trip, though, was that Johnny wanted to paint a small gouache on paper work of the old (very) Roman arch, way at the top of town.

  

He did it, too.

I wished that he included the kitty, but alas...no.

                               

  Afterwards, we walked all the streets (which was kind of dicey because they were tearing up all the roads to put in new pipes, etc.), enjoyed popping into a couple of churches, and just did some classic hand-holding along the way. I am certain that there was a stop for wine at one point.

  And some gnome hunting, but that was discussed in a previous post.

  Spello is a wonderful place to get lost....

View of Assisi from Spello.
It was a wonderfully clear day.

A perfect Lady Banksia rose, in a perfect spot.

Nice on a hot day, I'm thinking...

A great combination: Cersis and Wisteria.
Oh, and the green hills & blue skies of Umbria!
Sigh.

Overlooking his domain.....

  I mentioned that Spello is steep....

I love this.

And this, too.
Up, up, up we go.

The clock tower with it's crown of green.
This is at the bottom of town, near the best parking area.

  Yes, we love a good day trip.

  After enjoying the earlier part of the day in Spello, we decided to stop in Trevi, which is another hilltown just south a few kilometers. 

  I had read about this contemporary art venue, Flash Art, that had a main site in Trevi, and we wanted to see what is was all about.

  Plus, I had read a book that took place in this town, so I wanted it to 'come alive' for me.

  

  As you approach Trevi from the south on the SS3, a main road that runs north/south through the valley between Trevi and Montefalco, the view of the hilltown is spectacular.

  

Yeah, it's another one of those steep up and down towns.

  As these things generally go, it took us awhile to figure out the best place to park...without the need to hike all the way from the bottom of town. Did we accomplish this? No....because no matter what, we always seem to find the best parking after we have already parked and hiked into town.

  Oh, well...now we really know the best parking.

  We found our way through an entry gate, which is always a nice, regal way to come into a town. Any town....

Some day I want to go through one like this on horseback.

  We wound up the narrow passages to the top f town...

   I was quite taken by this mosaic stonework along the way.

Me like. 

  As we turned a corner, we were suddenly in the midst of a construction site, sort of. 

  This was the old Flash Art space, long closed from lack of support, we have since found out, and it was housed here, in the Palazzo Lucarini, which is now the home of Trevi's Galleria Civica, a nice contemporary museum. 

  It was getting a major overhaul, evidently.

  Hey, we enjoyed the murals which were surrounding and hiding the construction zone, and were happy to stop there:

  Then we found an entrance, which was open, so we continued our adventure inside. There was no one around, no one at the front desk, or anywhere inside. We were it.

  Not knowing what to do, we just went for it, assuming we would run into some attendant that we could pay, or at least say "Ciao" to.

  Fortunately, it was a nice bright day, since there were no lights on, either... I enjoyed the exhibition very much, despite the lack of illumination.

  Sadly, I didn't get any artist info, as there was none to be found. I gotta say...the whole experience was totally great. We felt we had made quite the little discovery. 

    The building itself is lovely, and the exhibit was primarily installation works on a grand scale.

This was great.

I think it was one really long canvas...so cool.

These paper pieces are huge...also wonderful.

  

The wooden sculptures were also a treat to see. Maybe it's the scale of them that appealed to me. I am assuming they were site specific, but with no one to ask, it's a mystery to this day. 

  I just found them so simple and meditative...

  I wish I knew who the artwork was by, but that will be a question for another visit, hopefully when the gallery is open.

  By the way, the mystery of the ghost town-like museum? It was lunch time, man....and this was Italy, after all.

  We left feeling satisfied that we had seen some nice art, but also hungry. 

  Heading towards the main piazza in town, we figured we might find something still open for a small bite, and we did.

  This little place was so perfect for us, I couldn't believe it. A one man operation which served a small but mighty menu, and it had just what we were craving.....

Fresh fava beans with young pecorino cheese. Oh, yeah.
Not something we see on actual menus, btw.

Yes, garlic rubbed and drenched in Umbria's best.
A slight sprinkle of salt...Heaven.

This is my dream of a light lunch, dear readers.

  After we finished our lunch, we began the trip back down the hill to our car...but found one last place to explore before we called it a day. 

  A beautiful old palazzo, now filled with apartments, that had the softest blue walls in it's entryway...we couldn't resist just poking around a little bit.

  

Yummy.

  It was a very good day trip.