When we first arrived here, I intended to have themed blog entries for specific adventures and then have an end-of-week catch-all to capture miscellaneous observations.  Well, that happened for the first 4 weeks and then end-of-week thing fell to the wayside.  So I’m going to capture a bunch of random things here, starting with today.

We’re on day 4 of rain in our little village.

rainy clouds descended on the valley

cloudy, rainy evening

Because it’s been cloudy and raining for four days with spring weather, our apartment has been cold and a little damp.  I did laundry yesterday.  The laundry didn’t dry in 24 hours and I was cold, so I turned up the thermostat and dried the clothes on the radiators.

Italian clothes dryer

Yesterday evening we went to our little bar and had a pre-dinner drink.  One of the neighbors came in with samples of freshly made cheese, and Chad and I tasted it and swooned.  Then the bartender brought out samples of two other cheeses that he gives “only to his favorite customers.”  They were also delicious.  (No photos available because we were too busy with the tasting.)  Then Chad ordered a shot of rum to go so he could use it in a recipe.  Small-town hospitality from the bartender.

rum cup

Tonight the cheese farmer rang our doorbell and delivered a fresh round of ricotta from his farm, which I am sure was just made this morning.

fresh ricotta from a neighbor – it’s missing a bite that was eaten by Chad

We went on a walk the other day, and this sweet dog went with us.  We passed him on the street while he was taking a rest, and he stood up and trotted around with us.  He was so sweet.  Cute.

a sweet walking companion

We passed a house in Guardialfiera where the street address had changed at some point.

old address and new address on a house

And there was a beautiful moonrise this evening.

Tomorrow we head to Gargano for the weekend.  If you think of Italy as a boot, Gargano is the spur.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a state/national forest and quaint villages and towns.  We’re excited to see a different part of Italy and do some hiking and eatseafoo d on the coast.

Ciao for now.  Alla prossima (until next time) and ci vediamo doppo ( see you soon).

On April 25, 1945, Allied forces liberated Italy from Mussolini’s Fascist government and the Nazis.  May 25th is now a national holiday which is celebrated with marching bands, music concerts, festivals, political rallies, and other public events around the country.  Government buildings, schools, and most businesses are closed for the day.

Chad and I had a very interesting Liberation Day holiday.  In the morning, we took a leisurely walk out of the village into the countryside.  It is spring here, and the wildflowers are in full bloom.

spring flowers

I think this is a type of thistle

a mix of tiny flowers in a variety of colors

While walking on a country road, a car stopped next to us and it was Danilo, a younger guy we met a month ago.  We chatted for a while and then he said, “I’m going to a music festival this afternoon.  Do you want to go with me?  Great!  I’ll pick you up in the piazza after lunch.” 

I was taking photos of goats when Danilo showed up

When we returned to town and were walking through the piazza, we were waved over by Vincenzo, an older gentleman whom we had met a couple of days before.  He said, “Let’s go for a tour” and ushered us into his car.  We drove a couple of blocks and stopped at his granddaughter’s house.  There were several people milling around in her yard. 

It turns out that there is a traditional bread that is made on Liberation Day, and she makes a ton of loaves and hands them out to people in the village.  Chad and I were each handed a loaf, and then we were back in the car with Vincenzo.  I honestly had no clue where we were going.

We drove up, up, up the mountain, and we parked at Vincenzo’s friend’s house.  Now, it was getting close to lunch time, and I didn’t know if we were about to have lunch with his friend, but his friend wasn’t home.  Vincenzo just wanted to show us the view from the terrace.

The view – you can see Guardialfiera in the middle of the photo

With Vincenzo on the terrace

Then he asked if we like rosemary and sage, and he harvested some wild herbs out of the yard for us.

Wild rosemary blooming with purple flowers

Then we got back in the car and went up and over the mountain and then came back around and down into Guardialfiera.  We parked in front of Vincenzo’s house, and he told us to come inside.  I thought, “Okay.  Are we having lunch here?”  Nope.  He took us down into his basement and gave us a jar of dried oregano that he had prepared.  Then he asked, “Do you like wine?” and gave us a bottle of red wine from his favorite region.  And then Chad and I went home for lunch.

Gifts from Vincenzo – traditional bread, red wine, a jar of oregano, and wild rosemary and sage

Danilo met us in the piazza after lunch, and we hopped into his car and headed to the music festival in Montenegro di Bisaccia.  We parked at the edge of town and then walked down a path into the countryside. 

walking…if you squint you can see the red tent of the concession stand

I was captivated by the views of the hills and their folded textures.

the hills

view of the concert area from the other direction

The path widened out into a clearing where the music festival was happening.  Some people were standing, some were lying on blankets, some were having picnics.  We each had a glass of wine and listened to music.

The path ended at a grotto with a religious shrine inside.

entrance to the grotto

the shrine

We left the festival and returned to Guardialfiera and had an aperitivo at the bar before going our separate ways for dinner.  All in all, it was a spontaneous and fun day.  And I will leave you with some more photos of spring flowers.

spring flowers

a flowering succulent

this is wild rapini greens

more spring flowers

more flowers

a flowering tree

and wild grasses…

We had a fun weekend exploring new areas of Molise and Abruzzo. 

On Friday, we went to the town of Guglionesi.  We knew nothing about the town; we had only seen signs from the highway pointing “turn here for Guglionesi.”  Before hopping into the car, Chad did some research and found a caseificio outside of the town that had great reviews.  A caseficio is a local cheese factory, so of course we went there.  This one was on a farm, and it had a little sales counter for the public.  We bought – wait for it – 1.5 kilograms of fresh ricotta in a bowl and (I think) a 2.0 kilogram wheel of aged pecorino.  We thought we would share cheese with our new friends in Guardialfiera, but so far we have been little piggies.

cheese displayed on the counter for us

freshly made cheese behind the sales counter

After buying the equivalent of 7.7 pounds of cheese, we went into Guglionesi to walk around and explore. 

view from Guglionesi looking down into the valley – note the snowy mountains in the distance

walking through a small street in Guglionesi

the corner of this little building with all of its plants was cool

I liked the arch at the end of this pedestrian street

I saw this turtle pile in a fountain and thought it was a sculpture – nope!

On Saturday we went to Fossacesia to meet Chad’s cousin Alice.  We first stopped at the greenhouse where she works.  It is a huge wholesale facility that grows only cactus and other succulents.  It was so cool! 

beautiful cactus flowers

Then we went down to the marina for lunch.  We went to a quick-service seafood joint, kind of like a cafeteria.  There is a small storefront where you walk up to the counter, look at the display cases, and order what looks good.  We sat at a table out on the sidewalk, and the food was delicious.

seafood salad, stewed squid, fish croquetas, and other delicious bites – not pictured is the calamari

After that, we drove to Vasto just down the coast to see the town and get a gelato.  Vasto was on my list of places to visit, so that was fun.  We walked around the old part of the town, taking in the views of the Adriatic Sea. 

view of the coast and the sea from the old town in Vasto

We also saw lots of old buildings.  (I’m showing them here in approximate order of construction since I don’t know the actual dates.)

perhaps this was a defense tower since it’s on top of the hill

old Romanesque or Medieval church courtyard walls (with Chad and Alice in the photo)

a Renaissance church

looks like a Renaissance palazzo (mansion) to me!

After all of this old architecture, we glanced into a shop window and saw some Givenchy eyeglasses frames that brought us spinning back into the 21st century.

these babies only cost 458 euros

Then we found a gelateria that was open during the lunch hour when so many businesses are closed, and I ate the best strawberry gelato of my life.  We laughed and talked about all sorts of things, and then we took this fun photo.

Chad, Alice, Juli

On Sunday, it was raining all day and Chad and I were tired of being in the car, so we just chilled out in the apartment reading books, watching Netflix, and hanging out together. 

in Guardialfiera, rain clouds over the valley

And Chad just made cannelloni with his homemade pasta plus ricotta from our Guglionesi adventure.

Chad’s homemade cannelloni