Here is a summary of the conversation Suzanne and I had
during lunch today:
CLT: Suzanne, it’s so quiet in here, where are the kids?
SHT: I just walked them over to Marina’s house (one of their new friends). Marina has an interesting accent having a mother from Bulgaria, an
American father, and speaks fluent Italian.
CLT: Yeah. It’s fun
to see Marina
teaching our kids Italian.
SHT: Right. And Marina’s mom gave me a brochure for that nice family
resort in Croatia,
the one she was telling us about last night at dinner (we met them for
pasta/pizza last night at a local trattoria).
CLT: Ok. Hey, is there any more cinghuale (slices of wild
boar salame we brought home from Tuscany
last weekend)?
SHT: Yeah. It’s in
with that really good Pecorini cheese that we got last weekend too.
CLT: Ooh, that’ll
make a damn good sandwich for lunch.
This isn’t the Pecorini, is it?
SHT: No, that’s that really good Provolone dolce (sweet).
CLT: Damn, that is really good. I might have to have some of that on the
side. You need to help me drink this
Prosecco I have left over from bottling this morning.
SHT: Ok. I really like that Merlot we’ve had lately.
CLT: I know, but if you’re still in the mood for red, try
this CabSav from Le Vegre (really neat old farmhouse/vineyard up the street
from us that sells wine on tap).
SHT: Oh yeah, I like that a lot.
CLT: Me too. It’s
such a deep, dark red. And the aroma is
really nice – give it a good swirl and smell it.
SHT: Yeah, that’s nice.
Do you think you’ve stocked up on enough wine yet?
CLT: I don’t know.
With all of the family we have visiting throughout the summer and what
we drink on our own, I think we’ve got a decent supply but not too much.
SHT: Hey, my parents may be shifting the schedule for their
visit. They’re still coming before our
vacation to Spain (we’re
spending 2+ weeks in Seville, Barcelona/Costa
Brava, and Pamplona). Fio (our neighbor) is in Barcelona this weekend as a matter of fact.
CLT: Oh that’s nice. Good
Lord, look what a nice day it is outside today – sunny, 70, and amazing. They called for rain all week, especially in
the afternoons, so I was really hesitant to ride my bike to and from work,
especially considering that we live up on some pretty high, steep hills.
SHT: Yeah, blame the weather forecast for not riding your
bike up the hills!
CLT: I’m serious…..anyway, wow, I’m lovin’ this cinghuale.
…..after a couple of minutes of quietly eating our lunches,
it dawns on me that the last 10 minutes of conversation was rather
extraordinary, especially considering that it was all so casual and natural for
us. I have to believe that that is an
indication that we are living a pretty charmed life these days.
ct
p.s. I've added a couple of pictures from our trip to Tuscany/Siena last weekend.
We had such a great time - even, maybe especially Josh, despite the fact that he hasn't been properly trained to smile on demand yet.
There was some race (running) and festival going on. It was rather crazy because the runners had to weave in and out of the meandering tourists, along these narrow, cobblestone streets.
I actually love this shot. This church/basillica was really amazing. The dome above the nave was as impressive as I believe the original architects intended it to be. This was an impromptu thing that Josh and Isabel did so that they could lay next to each other, look up at the dome, and chat away about it.
A gelato break after chasing pigeons around. I don't know if they were singing a song or hollaring "Mommy's got stinky feet!"
Yeah, that's the good stuff.
This came out a little out of focus (blame me), but this is actually one of my favorites.
Excuse a father, but could this girl possibly be any more beautiful!
It is written that this is one of the most ornate church facades in Europe. Funny thing is that I don't even see it.
I love my hometown church in Annapolis, St. Anne's. This one is ok too. The sculpture deal on the left was done by Michaelangelo. Actually, some of it was done by Mike, and the other parts he delegated to his students to finish up for him. He had to run off mid-sculpting because he got this really profitable gig up in Florence. I suspect was a big slap in the fact to Siena given that Siena and Florence were such feuding rivals. But then Florence out-paced Siena to become this great city whereas Siena was kind of left in the past...much to the delite of 21st century tourists as Rick Steve's notes.
