Predictably Unpredictable

Last night was my birthday dinner at Localita il Piano. How wonderful. We ate in the open air again and after our meal Adolfo and Ben came out playing happy birthday on the accordion and Darcy came out with a custardy dessert. Like a mixture of panna cotta and creme brulee. But light and fluffy. Everyone had a personal sized panna cotta, but mine was adorned with a diadem of one candle. Darcy also brought out all of her collected specialty wines. An apple wine, a cherry leaf wine, and more. She then gave me as a gift, a package of zucchini seeds and winter squash seeds with red bow! I love these people. So kind to me.

Setting up for the last dinner

Me receiving my birthday wishes (Thanks for taking pictures Olga!) Adolfo on accordion

Yummy Panna Cotta ish dessert.

I might have hated it though, clearly

Adolfo plays all night long

Last night on the farm

 I really enjoyed my time here. Its a stunning place to be with stunning people who have gone to great lengths to be show such great hospitality to me and the others too. I can't believe my time here has come to an end. Here, I have some more pictures that I am posting from my stay. Too much to share in such a small space.

Brick Oven

In the trunk of Bianca Neve (Snow White), Nona's (Grandma, Adolfo's mother) Fiat Panda

Olga with Ben

Son (Left) Mother (Right)

Dinner on the patio

Pre-fried zucchini flowers stuff with ricotta, thyme, chives, and sage

Series of Darcy with Ben

View of Localita il Piano from La Torre. House in the center, barn on the left, surrounded by groves and orchards.

View of Piedipaterno form La Torre

La Torre

On the hike to La Torre

I am sore. My hands are sore. After being in Italy for 2 1/2 weeks I left for Barcelona to meet my mother today. Today was extremely hectic up until arriving in Spain. I woke up early, had breakfast (thank you Kristen for making me a birthday breakfast!) and hiked down the mountain to Piedipaterno and was ready to catch the 7:52 bus to Spoleto, which was as usual, promptly early and left at 7:39. I made it Spoleto a bit after 8 and got a train ticket to Roma Termini. As I sat, waiting for the train, I listened to the mourning doves, they remind me of my Mimi and Papa's farm in Florida. These two woman, mother and daughter (elderly and middle aged) scratched lotto tickets (also reminding me of my Mimi and Papa) for an hour and then found 20 Euros on the ground. Funny. I sat there grinning at the sound of their squeaky and smoke coated voices. Still in the pattern of the the "two 8th notes, one quarter note, and one 8th note" of the Italian language. And unexpected earthquake then shook the ground beneath my feet. Yes that's right. An earthquake. It happened people. Randomly. I looked up at the screens that display the arrival and departure train times and they were also swaying. The few locals pacing the shaded platforms smoked their cigarettes (Paul Malls mostly) unfazed by this occurrence that had my jaw on the ground. I know they are supposedly common in Umbria but that surely didn't take they shock out of me, that's for sure. Aside from earth quakes, typical Italy is predictably unpredictable. Either you are 10 or 15 min early, or you are on time but don't even care to stop for passengers and drive and full speed pass the bus stop (buses did this to me on occasion), or trains are so late that you miss your flight. Take a wild guess as to which one landed me with a lovely day in Italy. Yep, the latter of the list. My train to Roma was 45 min late. You're right, this would not have happened if I left plenty of buffer time to just sit in the airport and wait, but that isn't so easy when you use public transportation. Getting from one place to another may be easy but you are limited to what times are available. Many other things made this day interesting and funny after the fact like fat 8yr old boy in a cheerleading shirt with pom poms on it. But I finally arrived in the BCN airport, later than planned. I can't get over how clean and efficient this airport is. I mean wow. Rome really has a lot of work to do before I ever consider stepping foot in that airport again. I've been up too long. But I'm glad I'm in the hotel room now. Ciao to Italia and Hola to España!