Archive for 'Uncategorized'
My Grandmother’s War Diary Posted by Serena on Sep 13, 2013
“7-1-43 Arrivo a Pesaro. Le bambine e mio padre stanno bene. Siamo vivi grazie a Dio! Il viaggio è finito!” (Arrival in Pesaro. The girls and my father are well. We are alive thank to God! The journey is over!) These words are taken from the very succinct diary that my grandmother kept during the…
Nutella Party! Posted by Geoff on Sep 6, 2013
Ingredients for a Nutella party: 1. Lots of Nutella 2. Home made pandolce (sweet bread) 3. A rocky mountain stream 4. VERY IMPORTANT! Children Nutella parties don’t take place very often in our village here in Lunigiana. Nutella, pandolce, and rocky mountain streams are all pretty easy to find, but what we lack, unfortunately, is…
Fagiolini al Pomodoro Posted by Serena on Aug 9, 2013
This morning I picked a bag full of fagiolini (green beans) from the orto, “helped” by un corvo (a crow)! He kept hopping around my feet, pulling off beans with his powerful beak then flapping off a couple of meters. I tried to shoo him away with a cane, making sure I didn’t hit him…
Dark Lake Posted by Geoff on Aug 5, 2013
Like groups of dancers frozen in a still photograph, the twisted faggi (beech trees) repose upon a golden carpet of last autumns leaves. The rugged sentiero (footpath) mimics their contortions as it snakes its steep way up past monumental blocks, pried from the cliff faces to our left by winters icy claws and cast down…
Veleia Romana Posted by Geoff on Jul 12, 2013
I’m lying day dreaming on a bench beneath an imposing lime tree. The almost overpowering scent of the lime flowers mingles with the hum of the thousands of insects that have come to satiate themselves on the sweet nectar. The lime is part of an avenue that leads to the 16th century chiesa di Sant’Antonino…
Il Rosso Melograno Posted by Serena on Jul 10, 2013
Last Sunday we went for a day out in the hills between Parma and Piacenza, in Emilia Romagna. While we were wandering around Castell’Arquato, a beautiful medieval town on the outskirts of the Pianura Padana, I noticed that almost every garden had un albero di melograno (a pomegranate tree), covered in bright red flowers. My…
The Machine Gun Soloist: Part 2 Posted by Geoff on Jun 25, 2013
Luciano Lutring, ‘Il Solista del Mitra’, ‘nemico pubblico numero uno’, fuorilegge, e latitante (‘The Machine Gun Soloist’, ‘public enemy number one’, outlaw, and fugitive). At the end of part 1 we left Luciano at a turning point in his life … si era innamorato di una bella ragazza (he had fallen in love with a…