Tuscany

Tuscany is that magical land in Italy where the hillsides are covered in vineyards and olive groves and the hill tops are crowned with castles and villas.In real life, Tuscany measures up to its reputation quite well. There are plenty of olive groves and plenty of vineyards and plenty of stunning scenery. The wine from the Chianti and Montepulciano and Montalcino regions are as good as any to be found in Europe. (Stay away from the bottles in the woven baskets though.) The hill top villages are all disgustingly old...dating back to Roman times or before. All in all, it would be a beautify place to have a home.

Florence

After Pisa, Theresa and I spent a couple of days in Florence, Italy. Florence is the capital of Tuscany and the self-proclaimed birthplace of the renaissance. A stroll through the museums there is like an episode of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.....all about Donatello and Rafael and Leonardo and Michelangelo.

The intro picture has Theresa posing in front of the Basilica Santa Croce, or Church of the Holy Cross. The building is a pilgrimage for art students and architects who are studying the Italian masters. To the rest of us, it is known as THE place to be buried if you die in Florence. Galileo is buried there. Michelangelo is buried there. Dante would have been buried there but he had the poor fortune to die while on a trip to Ravenna and that city wouldn't give Florence his body. Finders keepers.Above is a picture of the Palazzo Vecchio, or old palace. This was the home of the Medici family when they were just filthy rich...before they came obscenely rich and moved across the river into the Palazzo Piti. Originally, Michelangelo's staue of David stood in the plaza outside the Palazzo Vecchio and right next door to the Uffizi Museum. Later, the city moved the statue to the Galeria dell'Academia to protect it from the sun and rain and car bombs. In the shops around the palazzo, you can buy miniature statues of Michelangelo's David. My favorite is the version below, which has been updated slightly for the 21st century.

Florence is a city of many old and famous churches. One of them, shown below, is the Basilica de San Lorenzo, or Saint Lawrence Church. I really like this church for three reasons. First, for many years Theresa and I went to Saint Lawrence Church in Lafayette, Indiana. San Lorenzo in Florence is kind of like an Italian relative. (Saint Lawrence, if you remember, was martyred by being burned alive on an iron grill. Inside San Lorenzo, there is a great, gruesome painting of the martyrdom. Unfortunately, they do not allow picture-taking so I could not provide you a photo.) The second reason I like this church is because Donatello is buried in San Lorenzo of Florence. (that would be another of the ninja turtles). The church is adorned with a good deal of his artwork - especially sculpture.

And thirdly, the church does not have a facade. (I remember being 18 and trying to figure out what the word "facade" meant. It would have been so much easier if I could have simply compared the opening photo, which shows the facade of Santa Croce with the photo below of the facade-less San Lorenzo. A picture or two can say a thousand words.) The story goes that there was a design competition held for the facade design. Michelangelo won the competition but became so aggravated with Florentine politics that he walked away from the city before starting work on the facade. The citizens of Florence must have thought him to be an ass. To this day, the building still waits for him to begin his work.

Finally, below, is a poor photo of the main church of Florence, the Duomo. The Duomo, or Sainta Maria del Fiore, is stunning with its stone veneer in white, green, and red marble. The engineer in me also reveres the Duomo for its architectural achievement - the Dome of Brunelleschi. This is the largest span for a cupola every built of masonry - before the age of iron and steel. And it was all built without any bracing, forms, or interior support. This is one of those things that you look at and wonder "how the heck did they do that".From the outside, the dome towers above the city of Florence and is the defining landmark upon its skyline. From the inside, the dome is decorated with frescos from which the saints seem to climb out of the ceiling.The last photo we leave you with is a view from the Ponte Vecchio, or the old bridge. This shows you the river Arno that cuts through the heart of Florence. It also gives you a feel for the cramped, close packed buildings that are so typical of Florence and any other large Italian city.

Pisa

There is actually a town called Pisa in Italy. And in Pisa, there is actually a leaning tower. The tower is located withing the old walled city along with a church and a baptistry and such. That would be the leaning tower in the intro photo. The baptistry is shown below.Pisa takes the prize for being the most blatantly touristic city that we've visited. To get to the town square where the tower is located, you have to run the gantlet of hucksters and merchants selling counterfeit purses and clothing and souvenirs Once you get to the town center though, the landmarks are pretty cool though. Even though the place looks just like all the pictures, it was still nice to see in person. The weather was gorgeous and, being the off-season, the crowds were pretty small. The leaning tower was built as a bell tower for the church above. The church itself is worth seeing - very pretty with lots of artwork inside an a very intricate wooden ceiling.
It seems like in every tourist spot we visit we run into the Peruvian Pan Flute dudes or the Singing Native Americans. No Peruvians in Pisa. But the Indians were there.

Warning - Tourist Pictures Ahead

After Lucia's wedding in Casteggio, Theresa and I went on to visit Florence and Rome. The next several postings will be related to this vacation.

Be warned. I am going to post some photos, but probably not going to provide a lot of commentary on these trips. You see, to me it warrants several pages of typing to describe an Italian wedding in Casteggio because not everyone gets to go to an Italian wedding. On the other extreme, most everyone has seen pictures of St. Peters or the Roman Ruins....so what else can I add to that....other than to post my pictures to prove that we were there.

Happy Thanksgiving

Theresa and I would like to take this opportunity to send our love to all of our friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. We love you and miss you and will be seeing you soon.

The Sunday Market in Casteggio

In Casteggio, Italy there is a market on Sunday morning. This seems a bit weird because in Germany and France, Sunday is a day rest. There are markets on every other day but none on Sundays due to its religious significance. Why Italy views the Sundays differently, I do not know.Sunday, November 12 was the day after Lucia and Alberto got married. The group headed out from our castle hotel to Casteggio for a visit to the market. After that, all planned to go their separate ways. Cindy and Gabi were headed back to Strasbourg. Wade and Patrick were headed toward the Italian Riviera. Theresa and I were headed off to Florence and Rome.
The street market in Casteggio was held in the same village square where we had parked the car the day before. The square was full of booths selling cloths and leather goods and underwear and everything else under the sun. It was chock full of people too...I assume local folks from the neighboring villages. The best booths were those selling the local foods. I love the Salamis and cheeses and vegetables. The people come from all the local towns to Casteggio on Sunday mornings to buy their foods for the week. It was hard for us tourists to pass by without buying everything in sight.

More Faces in the Wedding Crowd

These are just a few more pictures from the wedding. The one above is my chance to pose with the bride. The picture below shows Lucia and her father. Señor Nogueda is a former governor of the state of Alcapulco in Mexico.The remaining pictures are the crazies that came out after the conclusion of the wedding feast.

Lucia, Daniela, Gabi, and Cindy.

Patrick and DanielaWade.

Living the Hard Life in Casteggio

The previous posts have described the wedding in Casteggio and the magnificent wedding feast that followed. As if that wasn't enough luxury...did I mention that we stayed in a castle? Actually, they call it a castle but it is probably more of a villa. Whatever it was, it was a pretty nice place to spend a week-end. The intro photo has Theresa, Cindy, and Gabi posing out in front of the main building.
The outside had these gardens like a miniature Versailles. The picture above was taken from the balcony of our bedroom. The bedroom was probably as big as our whole apartment in Strasbourg.

The inside of the castle was all antique paintings and furniture and kitchenware and armour. Below is a picture of Theresa making a new friend.

The Wedding Feast at Casteggio

This is the story of one of the most amazing meals I've ever had. At times it seemed to be more of an ordeal than a meal. The wedding dinner for Lucia and Alberto lasted nearly 5 hours..if you count the aperitif and the coffee. Death by a thousand bites.

But the food was amazing. I truly believe now that when you go to heaven, they serve Italian food.

From the place of the wedding (the old monastery) we drove out of town and up through vineyards of Lombardy until we were up on top what was either a big hill or a small mountain. That is where the restaurant was located. It was a foggy day, as are most in November according to the locals. But the view from the restaurant was still stunning despite the haze.

First, there was spumante on the patio as an aperitif. Italian champagne if you will. Then we went inside and the food orgy began. On each table there was a selection of still water, sparkling water, white wine, sparkling red wine, and traditional red wine. These liquids were the lubricants to help the food slide down. The restaurant staff made sure that no empty bottle went un-replaced.

Following is a photo-documentary of the dining experience in the order that the menu items were served. Unless otherwise noted, the text below the picture provides the description.

Here we go. This is the menu, as printed on table cards.

ANTIPASTO COURSES

1. Souffle ai formaggi con fonduta di Casera e tartufo nero (Cheese souffle with melted cheese and black truffles - pictured in #3 below along with the polenta) 2. Cotechino nostrano con cipolla ripiena (local sausage and a ham- stuffed onion )3. Conchiglia di polenta con piopparelli (polenta cake with local mushrooms ...also with the cheese souffle and truffles from #1 )4. Salami - Coppa (Italian preserved meats)5. Lardo a vena doppia su soncino all'aceto balsamico (salted raw bacon on greens with balsamic vinegar)6. Insalata russa (russian potato salad)7. Filetto di polo al curry con salsa verde (chicken fillet with green curry sauce)8. Patè di tonno (Tuna paté)

PRIMI PIATTI

1. Risotto misto bosco (Rice with forest mushrooms. This was the star of the meal)

2. Tortelli ricotta e spinaci con sugo noci e maggiorana (pasta stuffed with ricotta, spinich and walnuts)

SECONDI PIATTI

1. Stracotto di pernice de manzo con funghi porcini freschi (some cut of meat with fresh porcini mushrooms.)

2. Petto d'anatra all'arrancia con verdure al vapore (duck breast with steamed vegatables)

3. Filetto di maiale con salsa al melograno (pork with melograno sauce)

DOLCI

1. Macedonia con gelato (fruit with ice cream - pictured above)

2. Torta degli sposi (Wedding cake)

3. Caffé (Coffee)

4. Limoncello (Lemon liqueur)

Faces in the Wedding Crowd

It was an honor for Wade, Patrick, Cindy, Theresa and I to be invited to Lucia's wedding. Some of us have all been working with Lucia, off and on, for probably 5 or 6 years now. Though we will never be the same as family, we got to act as her substitute family for the day....substituting for those who could not travel from Mexico for the event.

The intro photo shows the substitute family posing with the bride and groom. Wade, Patrick, Cindy Eaton, Gabi, Theresa and I are in the picture. Also pictured are some of the folks from Lilly's office in Florence, Italy, where Lucia spent a great deal of time.Wade, Gabi, Theresa, Patrick and I posing on the village well in the market square of Casteggio.Finally, a rare picture of Theresa and I together. Thanks to Cindy for taking the photo. This one is for my mom.

A Match Made in Heaven...A Wedding Made in Italy

November 11 was the day that Lucia and Alberto got married. The civil service was held in Alberto's home town of Casteggio, Italy...a small town south and west of Milan.

I've explained this before, but to refresh....Lucia is one of our group and she is originally from Mexico...Alberto is from Italy....they met in Switzerland. They will be having a second ceremony, a church wedding, in February in Mexico. I keep forgetting to ask which date they will celebrate as their anniversery.I especially like this photo above of the groom posing by the black Porsche Boxer that was his ride for the day. You see, to an Italian man a sports car is an essential part of the wardrobe. And he looked very good wearing this Porsche. It matches his suit perfectly. The only way it could have been better, I suppose, would have been with a Ferarri.

Anyway, the ceremony took place in an old fortified abbey that is now a museum. The setting was beautiful. Lucia and Alberto made a beautiful couple too, as you can see from the photos.