Olive Picking in Umbria with Jan

For my 600th post: Enjoy the video. I really liked filming it.

More of Italy

We visited the wonderful town of Cortona and really did not (again) have enough time to see it all. It seemed a little more developed than when I visited in 2003, but maybe it was just due to the renovation of the museum and the improvements to the center of town.

We all got to go off by ourselves for a while and I dared to climb the stairs/alleyway and investigate the town a little more closely to see how others live. I could smell dinner cooking in one house and heard the radio playing in another.

Back on the main street I found a sign for Il Pozzi, a great little artshop with handmade leather-covered bound books. There was also a cistern from long, long ago and inside the glass-covered well were goldfish!

The owner of the shop helped me set up my camera, with no flash and setting the timer so I could just put it down flat on the glass. A beautiful hidden secret in this art shop.

We also had dinner in this town. I had the Sardinian pizza with cheese, capers and anchovies. Italian pizza is delightful. It's tasty, with thin crust, and you don't feel as stuffed with it as with our American-style pizza. Lovely!

We also had dessert - semifreddo. Seems a bit too much, but what else are vacations for? - femminismo

Coming Full Circle

I don't know what the title of this post means, but I do feel as if I've completed something I have always wished for: a return trip to Italy.

This journey lasted two wonderful weeks and was filled with all sorts of interesting, breaktaking, fully satisfying moments. Most important was connecting with new friends and seeing old friends I never knew I would see again.

We combined three loves of mine on this trip: food (including the cooking of it), photography and dramatic arts with a little physical comedy thrown in.

Our group of eight (sometimes nine) experienced some wonderful adventures and we bonded over the pasta machine. In the daytime we explored the Umbrian countryside. Whether it was in town (Umbertide or Cortona or Montone) or in the countryside chasing a dog (Emma) who was chasing truffles, it was all good.

At night we went home to our luxurious villa and sat in front of a warming fire with a fine glass of wine. Since this blog is also my personal diary, I will be putting more down as the days go by. (She said optimistically ... ) - femminismo