“Why do we always talk a load of trivia, first thing in the morning, on the way to coffee?” I am thinking aloud but my man picks up on the question. He is the logical one in this partnership and has an answer for everything. “Well, its obvious really. Before we wash down a nice strong espresso, we need to get our jaws working and the brain functioning, so we can move on to the more serious and intelligent conversations later on!” He glances at me looking perfectly serious, as he is driving and needs to keep an eye out for crazy Italian drivers. I nod and hide my snigger, as the next maniac comes around the bend towards us on the wrong side of the road, just as my man is trying to avoid a pothole! We swerve, my man corrects the car and we carry on. So nothing unusual this morning. The trivia we talk about can include the state of the roads, Italian drivers, blossom appearing on the cherry trees, Italians walking their dogs or children with the little ones on the traffic side rather than on the inside, the weather and/or why the people who own the horses haven’t moved them out of their wet muddy field to higher ground for a few days! But enough of that. We are not really complaining, just being observant!
OK, so lets catch up. The last couple of weeks has seen the return of some delicious winter warmers to the restaurant tables including Ribollita and wood fired grilled vegetables. Ribollita is a Tuscan soup made with any vegetables, beans and importantly stale bread from the day before. My man loves it. For me I just adore the grilled veg, and come spring I’ll be able to order the same, but with that oozy soft cheese Burratta. Mmmmm.
Also over the last two weeks, what with the heavy rains, we have woken to see the valleys filled with fog. The view is spectacular from here, the only downside is having to drive down into it for coffee! But I have some good news. The resident butcher in our local village of Fiano, which is higher up and less likely to be foggy, is rescuing the Bar/Alimentare and it will reopen at Easter! Hurrah for the villagers and for us of course. We do like to ring the changes and look forward to once again splitting our time between Fiano and Certaldo for morning coffee. Also Fiano has some lovely people whom we haven’t got to see for a while.
So, back in Certaldo we read in L’Espresso, the Italian news magazine, that the American Ambassador has been summoned to Rome to answer reports that NSA has spied on Silvio Berlusconi and his close associates during the 2011 Euro zone crisis. This has been revealed through certain WikiLeaks documents. O Dio, we all say! It seems the US was allegedly concerned with Silvio’s relationship with Vladimir Putin and that he may be profiting personally from energy deals between Italy and Russia. Now in my view, Silvio has always had plenty of energy of his own, I mean, in 2011 he was seventy-five and also being accused of being full of zest during his Bunga Bunga parties! But anyway, this puts our man back in the headlines, some say bad news is better than no news in the political arena.
OK, so what next? Well, we are gearing up to move house and will be signing a new rental contract on 24th March, after which I will be able to tell exactly where we are going! But I can tell you that it is only a short distance away and will be great for our annual rock concerts! Watch this space…..
Well must get this blog edited then off to C’era Una Volta for more lovely winter warmer meals.
Have a great week and do drop me a line.
Salute June x
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Oh June – Ribolitta!!! You made my mouth watering! Everytime JS and I are in Tuscany I simply have to have this delicious soup (if I am not making it in our rented flat). I love that picture of Silvio Berlusconi you posted – despite everything he still has that twinkle in his eyes. 🙂 🙂 Good luck with your move – may you all be happy there.
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Thank you lovely lady, good to hear from you. Mmm, sadly I can’t eat the Ribolitta as I am alergic to gluten! But my man loves it. I can make my own using gluten free bread, but it just isn’t quite the same.
Yes, really looking forward to the move and a nice big garden for my rock concerts! xx
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