Demijohns and Local Wine

So I have decided to try again with the blog after my absence of almost a year. I am NOT going to try to catch up, because I think I would just get bogged down and stop again. I may add some posts on older events as the mood strikes, but mostly I am just going to try to keep up with current events. I realized that there are pictures and events that I want to share and captions on Facebook are just not enough to cover the subject.

So, we have discovered these beautiful glass jugs called demijohns. Italians use them to store large amounts of wine, when they are done with them (they get too old or dirty, or whatever) they put them out as trash (or sometimes recycling). We foreigners are quite taken with their beauty and have begun collecting them.

I was lucky enough to find one actually out by the trash near my house.

It still needs cleaning, but I think is quite pretty. It is one of the smallest size, approximately 12" high.

My friend Lucy recently stumbled upon a local wine store which has lots of demijohns, and the lady who runs the place was willing to sell them to us for 10 Euro apiece (about $13). We looked at them on the internet and they generally sell in the States for $100-$200 each. The lady at the wine store thinks we are crazy to want them, but she is willing to take our money as we take out her "trash." I went by the wine store the other day and bought 2 demijohns. One is green, and of the largest size, about 26" high. They come in a cheap basket (like the kind you might buy a bushel of produce in from a farmer's market) with a plastic cover holding them in, but when you take these off, the glass jug itself is beautiful!

I did not take a picture of this one before I took it out of the basket, but I will be sure to do that for the next one I get.

We are all searching for the elusive blue demijohn, since blue is apparently the rarest color. Only one friend has found a blue one so far. I saw this one at the wine shop, and called it blue, but the lady assured me it was not blue, it was green.

My friends and I decided it was aqua. However, this one is molto antica (very old), so the basket is actually hand woven and pretty, and I decided to leave it on. This one is of the medium-large size, about 21" high.

Of course, the wine shop also sells wine that they make themselves, so I had to purchase some of that as well.

This is a 5 liter jug of Pinot Nero, which is quite tasty, and, I am assured, will not give you a headache because it has no preservatives added. Of course, it is also recommended to be consumed within 20 days. Jeff and I are considering that a challenge. I will try some of their other wines on my next visit. We have been invited to return and taste all the wines with some aperitifs in the near future.

Apology

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. We had our internet connection worked on a couple of weeks ago, and now I am unable to upload pictures to Blogger! I am not sure when, but eventually we will get this fixed. I am still able to upload to Facebook, so there are pictures there, just not with the narrative detail that I reserve for the blog.

Cinque Terre

I wrote this post last May, but was unable to upload the pictures that went with it. Here it finally is!


I realized that, though I posted pictures on Facebook, I never blogged about our trip to Cinque Terre! The last weekend of April we went to Cinque Terre, on the west coast of Italy. The primary reason for going was that my cousin Beth and her husband Scott were going to be there on their 10th Anniversary trip, but we had also heard great things about the area and wanted to see it. The name Cinque Terre (chinkway terray) literally means Five Lands, and refers to five towns built into the hilly coastline on the Ligurian Sea. The area is a National Park and has a bunch of hiking trails between the towns and up into the hills.We drove over on Friday, April 24, to Levanto, which is not technically part of the Cinque Terre, but is right next door. Levanto has a larger, nicer beach than the other towns, and accomodations are a bit cheaper there. It is a 5-15 minute train ride from Levanto to any of the Cinque Terre towns. We spent the afternoon at the beach, and Emily had a fabulous time playing in the sand and water. We also had some delicious gelato just off the beach. I was pleased to find raspberry, which I had not seen before, but it was wonderful!

The beach at Levanto
Emily enjoying the beach at Levanto
Sunset at the beach in Levanto

On Saturday, we took the train over to Vernazza, where Beth and Scott were staying, and met up with them. We decided to take the boat over to Riomaggiore and hike back to Manarola on the easy hiking trail called the Via dell'Amore (Way of Love). We followed Rick Steves' advice in Manarola for a lunch place and had some delicious pasta with homemade pesto sauce. After lunch, we took Emily to the playground with the spectacular view. Then, the train back to Vernazza to rest for a bit in Beth and Scott's room with a view. We ran into some friends from Ferrara in Vernazza on the way to dinner, enjoying the 3 day weekend like we were. Dinner in Vernazza was good. Emily tried fried anchovies and loved them! Anchovies are a specialty of the area, apparently. Finally, we caught the train back to Levanto (just within the 6 hour validity of our tickets) and got to bed.The water in VernazzaView of Riomaggiore from the waterJeff and me on the Via dell'Amore

Emily on the Via dell'Amore

Beth at the playground with a view

Jeff looking down at Manarola

Jeff and Scott at the playground with a view

The view from Beth & Scott's room

Beth in the hotel room

View down to the water in Vernazza

Unfortunately, it was raining when we got up on Sunday, so we didn't make it back to the beach like we had hoped. But, it was a lovely trip, and we had a great visit with Beth and Scott!

Piadine

I met some friends downtown today to walk around and visit. We walked through the market and just around town for a couple of hours. For lunch, we stopped at a mobile food vendor for the regional specialty, piadine. A piadina is a type of sandwich which is popular in our particular region of Italy. It is made with a flat bread (similar to pita, but without the pocket) that is grilled and wrapped around whatever toppings you like. The one I had today was one of the specials the vendor was advertising. It was made with Fontina cheese and Zia, which my Italian friend informs me is a local salami made with garlic. I also had grilled vegetables on mine: zucchini, onion, eggplant, and bell peppers. It was delicious!

Belly Bulletin #2

Here is the latest belly picture at 18 weeks.

The bean is becoming a noticeable bump now, but not really obvious yet.

Of course, Hamlet didn't want to be left out, so he had to have a picture taken of his tummy, too!

Buona Pasqua!

For Easter, several families got together for a picnic and Easter egg hunt. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful, and we had a great time!

Emily and her friend Grace all dolled up for Easter.

The guys enjoying beer and fellowship.

The hunt is on!

Watching the hunt.

Checking out the loot.

After the hunt.

In Italy, rather than put out Easter baskets for the Easter Bunny, the children are given large, hollow chocolate eggs with prizes and toys inside. They range from about 6-9 inches high, to really enormous ones 3-4 feet high! The eggs are usually wrapped in fancy paper, and I have seen some wrapped in clear cellophane with writing in icing on the outside.

Emily with her Italian Easter egg. I neglected to take a picture of it before she unwrapped it, but it was a Disney Princess egg, and had a Belle comb inside. The eggs are very similar to the Kinder eggs that Emily enjoys all year round. Kinder eggs are hollow chocolate eggs about 3 inches high with little toys inside. Emily has a very large collection of Kinder egg toys.

Ancorra Venezia

On Thursday, April 9, Daddy, Jeff, Emily, and I took the train to Venice. Venice was also crowded with Spring tourists. The funny thing about Venice is, if you move 1 or 2 streets off the main tourist thoroughfares, there are almost no tourists at all. If you are lost, just look for the throngs of people - they will be on the main route between San Marco and the Rialto Bridge! Of course, we hit both of those spots. We did the tour of San Marco and the Treasures of San Marco, but did not go up in the belltower or on the upper walkway outside the Basilica itself.

The Basilica di San Marco.

The Basilica from the side, in front of the Doges' Palace.


The view from our hotel room. That is San Marco, just over those buildings.

The view from the hotel room, looking down.

Thursday evening, Daddy took Emily to see some Opera selections that were being performed at a local theatre by artists in 18th century Venetian costumes. They had a great time. Jeff and I had a date night, exploring Venezia on our own and enjoying a nice dinner. We, too, had a wonderful time.

On Friday, we attempted to go see the Jewish Museum, but it was closed because of Passover. We did find a museum of decorative arts and costume that was very interesting, and toured the Accademia Galleries as well.

This was just a building that I saw while we were waiting for the water bus, and particularly liked.

Jeff, Emily, and I took the train back to Ferrara Friday evening, and Daddy flew back to Atlanta from Venice on Saturday morning. We had a very nice visit, but, of course, it was too short!