After months of anticipation, Eleanor has come home, bringing boyfriend Matthew! It is his first time outside of the US, and so of course, he's observing a lot of differences. So far, they have:
- Cuddled bunnies
- They were sooooooo cute!! Smaller than the guinea pig and so snuggly! I *almost* took one home with me.
Bunnies! - Gone to the textile mills in Montefalco, then lunch at L'Alchimista
- The textile mills were fantastic. I had never been there before, but I got to see where all of our nice linen towels were made. Our guide, Augusta, started off by explaining the family history, which is of course inextricably linked with the history of the family mills. Not only have they been in the family for several generations, but the technician who works on the looms now represents the third generation of his own family to do so. The quality of the fabric produced is incredible, and it has been featured in a number of important magazines-- it was also used to make the bridesmaid dresses for (then) Prince Felipe of Spain's wedding! I was astounded by the intricacy of the looms and the speed with which they ran. I wasn't the only one; Matthew has been talking about building a loom ever since.
Montefalco...Tessitura Pardi with Augusta 
- L'Alchimista is only the best restaurant ever (for friends of my mother's, it's the home of the Famous Soup). It's in Montefalco, a lovely little town known worldwide for its wines, so it was nice to walk around a bit there as well.
Visit to Montefalco - Climbed San Fortunato
- San Fortunato is one of the local attractions, a church begun in the 13th century but never actually completed (a few decades ago, local authorities declared that it's as done as it will ever be, but it is still missing an entire facade). Jeremy took us up the bell tower, which is the highest point in Todi and affords an absolutely lovely view of the town and surrounding countryside.
In San Fortunato's Tower 
- Visited the cisterns
- The inhabitants of Todi actually had no idea that the entire piazza was built on top of Roman cisterns until the '90s, when a shopowner tried to repave and ended up drilling through the ground. Subsequent explorations uncovered vast cisterns dating back to (roughly) the town's origins. These were used to help catch excess rain and prevent flooding, as well as providing a reliable source of water to the inhabitants above via a number of small wells.
Cistern visit - Seen Cesare and his violins, Fabrizio/Daniele and their intarsia work, and generally visited the town
- Cesare is an absolute love. He showed us all the violins and other instruments he's been working on (including what will soon be the first violin for La Scala!). Not only is his skill at shaping the instruments unbelievable, but he also is able to carve incredible sculptures into the heads.
- Daniele and Fabrizio both do wood inlay, and, needless to say, Matthew was enthralled. Who wouldn't be?! Their work is lovely!
- Hung out at Pianegiani, in Piazza, and in the Giardinetti
- Ah, the classic Italian coffee break. Matthew seems to think that we live only for the next coffee-- and he's not really wrong! It's all in the name of cultural immersion...
Aperitivi near the Giardinetti 
- Seen the exhibition at the museum
- The Museo Civico houses artifacts old and new from Todi's history, including coins made many years BC (it's a technical term), beautifully embroidered religious robes, various paintings and sculptures pulled out of the many churches, ancient vases and dishes (very Greek style), and little Etruscan figurines. Oh, also centuries-old texts that were dug out of the library archives and that some of my family members have personally handled.
- Admired the castles in Fiore
- After Matthew was struck with the castle in Assisi, we decided to take a scenic tour around Todi and catch a few more castles.
The castle of Fiore - Gone to Assisi
- More detailed post to follow!
- Visited the wine shop in Ponte Rio
- Yes, the home of the famous wine pump. Matthew was very impressed that the cheap wine is 1.60 euros a liter, while we bought a pack of six bottles for about 15 euros. Not US prices!
- Toured the coffee and chocolate factories
- Since Matthew has been getting such a kick out of seeing where/how everything is made, we've made a point to visit lots of factories (which provide the goods we use at home every day). I decided I needed to take more coffee back to the US, so we stopped by the local coffee shop and asked to see the machines. Since the owner is a friend of my mother's, he was all too happy to take us back to the warehouse and show us the coffee blending process.
- We also stopped by Serrani, where some delicious local chocolates are made. While Florence played with their kids, the owners showed us around the one-room factory underneath their house and gave us all kinds of yummy treats.
- Seen Jeremy perform in the theater
- The theater is right across the street from our house, so it wasn't hard to get there. Jeremy played just a couple of pieces, but I was thrilled that Matthew was able to see the theater, since it's not open unless there's some sort of show going on!
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| In the theatre |
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| Jeremy was front and center for this performance |
I explained our mission to get pepper jelly, and the dad said, if we were going to be able to find it, it would be this way (and described the road rather minutely). Bear in mind that an agriturismo is like a country B&B, where city folk can get into the country for a bit of relaxation, fresh food, etc. So, generally, one would like clients to, you know, be able to find the place. Apparently not in this case. We wound in and out of fields and woods, bumped up and down on white roads, and carried along. At the point of giving up hope, we had to continue simply because the road was such that we couldn't turn around! However, we reached an intersection and...whoa! A sign for our goal!!!
We drove in, and a head popped out: our friendly pepper jelly vendor (they usually come to fairs, and he knows well how much Jeremy loves the condiment). His greeting was essentially, "How in the world did you find us???" After his having expressed much astonishment, his wife emerged. With the same question.
I asked about guests. After all, they have been selling at markets as an agriturismo for at least three years. He looked a bit embarrassed and explained that they were currently building a guest house. They have yet to actually operate as an agriturismo!
We happily acquired our jelly (and they did promise to bring the restaurant version to the next fair just for us), and were on our way!
Love,
Alexandra
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