Alles gut zum geburtstag, Pippo

14 aprile
I am just getting back from a fact finding expedition in Umbria, probably my last until low season in late Fall. Never lacking in opinions, I must recommend for those who are making this region a priority. Be sure to visit Castiglione del Lago and Spello, two new towns to add to my list of favorites which also include Norcia, Spoleto, Orvieto and Assisi and Perugia in no apparent order. I now lack only a few must sees in Umbria including Terni and its nearby waterfall and Todi and Gubbio which are supposed to be special.
I really have to recommend Spello for americans who want to do a day trip to Assisi and have time to drive another 10 minutes east to Spello which is full of great views, things to see and cute shops.
Castiglione del Lago is on the other side of Umbria near Tuscany and has a nice castle with a theater inside and also nice shops and restaurants and one can take a ferry to islands in the middle of the lake, which is surrounded by olive groves.
For those with too much time, near the town of Montegiove is an architects dream of the perfect city called La Scazuola, but you need to hook up with a group of at least 10 total to visit.
We broke down and bought good equipment for the yardwork and having a Stihl weedeater in hand after the plastic piece of junk I was using is like a slice of heaven for a contadino!
The pool is lined inside and out and tomorrow they start planning the cement base and the final stair to enter the pool.
My knee is primed for a bit of exercise in the form of lawn and vineyard work; I am tired of its aching and complaining about long drives in the car.
Bacco has just suffered through a bout of GI upset which reminds me of on call nights as a surgeon. Instead of phones or beepers ringing, I have a dog whining in my ear which is no less an emergency if you don't want to mop at 5 AM!
The pix are of Castiglione and the castle, Spello, and my chick magnet dog who has learned to drink out of public fountains at Trevi.
I also visited Montefalco, Bevagna and Trevi, which I am not putting on my list of must sees for Umbria, but each with its little points of interest.
I now need to search out some other sites in the Northern Marche like Urbino and think I have a perfect excuse with a Mark Knopfler concert coming up in that town. More pix of Bacco and the pool progress tomorrow or day after.
Finally, the title is an attempt at Happy Birthday for Philip, our friend and classmate from the Unisg master's program
d

growing vines and how i broke my knee

10 aprile
Today, I got Raffaele out into the field to do a bit of hoeing. tough work. We are trying to extirpate all the weeds near the 30,000 new vines while at the same time filling little holes that have been exposed around some of the vines from the rains we had.
Then, it was on to mulching the olive trees around our little road to Nascondiglio di Bacco and finally a visit with our friend Adele at the coldiretti who helped me fill out my indecipherable form for my permit of stay.
Bacco found a stye to roll around in, so afterwards he and I took a walk on the beach at San Benedetto del Tronto to clean him off.
The pictures show our permit for construction, the pool as of today, our poppy field (something to fall back on if the B&B doesn't make a go) and the hill I completely cleaned with a machete and weedeater and where I slipped and tore my MCL.
I won't let that little injury stop me, but i just got my bike serviced and new rollerblades and they will all have to wait a few weeks while i heal! Bummer!
dds

concrete, too many supervisors and bacco

9 aprile
Buon compleanno a Matteo! 10 Aprile. Stiamo aspettando per te a Nascondiglio!
Today was the pouring of the cement around the frame of the pool day.. this pool ain't goin nowhere now.
As in America you need 3 supervisors smoking and shooting the bull for every worker and you see Italy is no exception to that rule.
Bacco eats everything and has found a nice piece of wood as an antipasto.
I finished all of the yard today with my bum knee slowing me only slightly. I used a machete and weedeater, leaving the poppies where i could, and also the bietole, which is a bit like our spinach and was planted on the hill il Signore knows when. We ate some of the latter for supper and it was wonderful!
Time to start the whole grass cutting process over again, as it's grown in other parts while i finished the hill.
Not much new to report otherwise although I continue to try to get my permit of stay so I can drive my car.
As I told my friend Larry Cordell yesterday, good airfares are still to be found to Italy. I am flying back here in May with a round trip fare of 790!
dds

Pool update

8 aprile
They are laying the little brown rocks around the pool frame which will serve as the base for the cement. All the frame is locked in, including our roman staircase to enter the pool which has a built in lounge chair for the 1st guest to claim it each day.
Today, i have continued my efforts to hoe all 12 acres of vines as well as completely weed eat and machete all the tall weeds and grasses on the hill Nascondiglio di Bacco sits on. This to prevent seeding of the vineyard with the weeds. Don't want all those dandelions!
Unfortunately, the hill is steep and i slipped with weedeater in hand and heard my right knee pop. Bye bye to some of the ligamentous attachments in the MCL. Thanks again to Larry for my Relafen bottle. I hope it works!
dds

Mr. Bill trapped in the tulip

6 Aprile
Did anyone notice Mr Bill trapped in my tulip in the last set of photos or was that just one of my flashbacks from the 70's?
Fatherhood has its rewards and hardships and from the latter category, i was unable to go to Vinitaly because it rained. The pioggia started at 2 in the morning which meant to an awakened DDS, no builders were coming to work on the pool (alias dogsitters), so I was trapped with Bacco and worked around the house and in the yard when the weather cleared up.
Buon Compleanno to Adrian who is a regular contributor to this blog. 36!!! sorry adrian. I am sure he had a great dinner planned in San Francisco.
The garden is coming along with the newest additon of parsley. Basil is primed in the kitchen for planting outside in the coming 2 weeks when tomatoes will also be safe to plant here.
Guests will start trickling in this month including a long lost friend from Venice and our 1st guests from KC, winners of a week stay here which we donated to the KC Hospice auction. Also, I hope to see my friend Ann from KC, and her buddies as they tool around Italy the next couple of weeks.
I know everyone is afraid to visit Europe with the weakened dollar, but there are lots of ways to save here, just shop the bots (i like bookinbuddy.com for flights, hotels and rental cars) or ask me for advice. I am a bit Scottish, as everyone knows. And since our yard is a mess, as you can see by the photos, we are offering a special which basically makes our price in dollars + IVA (tax) or only 60 Euros a night total, including breakfast and a welcome prosecco as always. (That is a bit of leftover marketing from my trip to the US).
The pictures show our mess of a construction site with Sabrina's tulips and hyacinths to brighten up the back yard a bit, and the 1st one a hope for warm weather to return soon. Bacco and I have spent the last 2 days at the beach where he loves to run in the sand and the water.

The pool, day by day, and new blooming flowers

3 aprile
Bulbs coming up, the pool's external walls going up and a peach tree with new blooms.
Enjoy.
d

Return, recuperation, detox, back to work

3 Aprile
My journey back to Italy was almost as long as possible, I could have made it to Australia! I set 3 alarms the night of the 30th in Denver near Wash. Park; one rang at midnight, my watch was hidden under the covers and the 3rd went off 30 minutes too late! I arose by chance at 4:51, showered and shaved and packed the car, drove to DIA to return the rental and was at my gate at 6:08, with my plane leaving at 6:45. That was the fastest part of my day. Off to Chicago, which thank goodness was not a necessary part of my trip as the consulate had come through with my Visa and sent it in time to Denver. I arrived at 8:50 or so, caught 2 CTA trains from Midway to O'Hare (which took longer than my flight from Denver), arriving about noon. My flight on British Airways was scheduled for 7:45, but I snuck onto the earlier flight at 6PM. I then flew to London, watching American Gangster and Juno and enjoying the free wine, unlike stingy American which charges for everything. I arrived on time, around 7:30 and took a shuttle bus to the infamous new Terminal 5. No lost luggage for me, just a 7 hour layover. I did try out a Gordon Ramsay restaurant called Plane Food and with just one brochure remaining, I happened to meet 2 very nice folks from LA, the Gindroz', who are travel agents and forced them to listen to my marketing spiel. If you need a personalized trip , check out their site at www.gindrozandco.com
The salmon was fine, but overpriced. On to Rome, arriving at 1810. I am not sure I can even do the math, but I think start to finish was 30 hours or so.
Bacco is bigger and was glad to see me and now my ear is clean as well. I caught up on a bit of yard work, with at least 2 days worth of work ahead, checked out the new vines-happy, but no buds yet.
I gave Raffa many gifts like Kool Aid and flavored Jello, which are unknown in Italy as are Keebler graham crackers. I passed on Jasper's gift of a slow food t shirt from KC and finally the 2 packs of camel lights which are almost 3 times more expensive here.
I got back to cooking normal food, like wild boar along with our garden's last bounty from 2007, some cauliflower and fennel. I am going to let my liver shrink for a couple of days before going to Vinitaly, but many thanks again to all the fine cooks and their wonderful wines in America: Larry and Pam, Larry and Marcia, Jasper, Norma and Milton, Sharon and my bro and sis-in law, Kim.
The pictures are of the vines at arrival, the pine tree my dad planted for me as i entered med shcool and the beginning of the pool construction.
d