It’s now the beginning of our 2nd week in Monteferrante and we have established a routine that includes a lot of eating. Gee, imagine that, but this is what brings families together and allows us the time to talk and learn more about each other – meals, and the evening passeggiata (walk) that is. They enjoy our stories and we are learning a lot from their stories. (Jim of course, has to walk 10 kilometers each morning to stay ahead of the calories!)
Lunch (pranzo) with about half of Adolfo’s family
And a light evening meal a couple of nights later.
We’ve taken a few (three) little road trips and this country is just beautiful. The weather has been good, some rain, some warmer days but the nights are cooler and some days I actually wear a light jacket. [On one of these trips, I actually drove and contrary to what you hear from almost any tourists, driving in Italy is quite easy and stress free! Being old and wise, I will not drive in Rome but then old, wise men usually avoid high threat areas, whether driving or for anything else! And then there is the fighter pilot credo: Speed is life; go slow, you die!]
The countryside right here next to Monteferrante. That’s Roio in the forefront.
The countryside of Abruzzo is every bit as beautiful as Tuscany
Va bene Jim – you did good. And we did find the little town of Berardinelli while we were out on this road trip. We haven’t been able to show that my Mom’s family came from this town but it is pretty neat to find a town with the same name as my family!
Berardinelli, Chieti, Italy. It consists of six houses and nothing else but fields.
On another trip, we went over to the coast of the Adriatic Sea, walked around Ortona, visited a Supermercato which was more like a mini-mall with a huge grocery store, and had lunch along the coast.
Gabriella and I after lunch at a restaurant along the Adriatic coast.
Saturday Jim and I took the family out for lunch at the local restaurant and we had a great time. It was Chad’s birthday so we did a little video of all of us raising our glasses to send him our best wishes.
Chad’s birthday lunch appetizer: fried cheese topped with prosciutto.
Primo included three types of pasta, and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo vino of course!
After lunch Antonino and Gabrielle took Jim and me for a drive up to a vineyard which is owned by a friend of theirs, Tomasso. It was beautiful. They have vineyards for making white wine and groves of olive trees for making olive oil. The vineyard and groves were breathtaking. We toured the olive oil factory. It was very interesting to learn how they process the oil but then we got to taste it. Oh my gosh was it unbelievable. First Place in both the Italian and Los Angeles olive oil competitions. We bought some, brought it back to the house and have really been enjoying it.
Grape vineyards and olive trees on Tomasso’s farm
It’s modern alright but still uses stone for the wheels and bottom plate of the crusher.
More processing equipment for extracting the oil.
Tomasso, the vineyard owner, then took us up to his home – a gorgeous, refurbished medieval home. He then showed us the 2 apartments he just built to use as rentals. Jim and I were totally amazed; they were beautiful and would have been fun to stay in. His farm is considered an agriturismo (like our B & Bs except that he receives some benefit or tax relief from the Italian government.) For many, the rented rooms help offset the cost of operating these farms. We think Tomasso is doing just fine without the rental cottages but then, take advantage of any government breaks!
The cottages sit right in the olive tree groves. We took this foto from one cottage.
On Sunday Jim went with Antonino to pick wild mushrooms. They brought home a basket of them, several different varieties. I think we are having them with lunch tomorrow. It was a great experience for Jim and he had a good time, learned which mushrooms were okay to pick, which do not taste good and which ones were poisonous.
One variety of funghi we found. There were four other types, including a portobello.
When they returned, Antonino took us up to the top of the mountain above Monteferrante where we had a beautiful view of most of this region. The town has many electricity producing windmills on top of the mountain. It was really cool watching them operate when we were standing right under them.
Above Monteferrante, some 3 dozen windmill electricity generators dominate the skyline.
Today the town is quiet so we went to the bar that is on the ground floor of this house and is owned and was run by the family. It is no longer open to the public and is only used for family parties. Today we were helping clean it up for Jim’s party on Saturday. He’ll be 70 Wednesday and this is a very special one to be celebrating for and with him. The fact that we are all going to be together on Saturday makes it that much more special. Chad and Juli will be here on Wednesday and Connie, Michele and Simon (Michele’s friend) will be here Friday. The family here is so excited that the kids are coming and we are all looking forward to the party. I know we will have more photos to post from that and I bet we have a few very good stories as well. [Fran keeps saying “Jim’s party” but in fact, the family here will be helping us celebrate our 47th anniversary (2nd), Chad’s birthday (20th) and Fran’s and Gabriella’s birthdays (12 September) as well!]
For now I hope you all enjoy some of our trip and photos of the past few days. Week 3 begins tomorrow! A presto!