Art and Barb Live in Italy! (House for Sale in Umbria!)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
WE'RE MOVING!
No, not us, just our blog! Our new address will be http://www.artnbarb.com/, simple, huh? It will take a day or two until we have the blog setup at its new address.
Until the changeover is complete, some of the photos will be missing, but with the help of Cristina and Pauline, things should be back to normal within a week. (Fingers crossed!)
I thought about how to write this story, but I think it’s best to write as I always do, just letting the ideas flow from my brain to my fingertips, hoping that it’ll make sense in the end. Bear with me!
This is a story about the internet, and about how our lives are just out there, for good or for bad. I’m sure anyone who reads this blog knows the wonders of the internet. I’m sure some of you found my blog via some sort of search. Others are friends, many far away, who can check in to see what’s new in our lives. The internet offers these advantages and more. The chance to find obscure facts, to search for a recipe, to connect with a friend, to order something we don’t have time to shop for in person. The internet also has its dark side. The spam, the porn, and sites that spread lies about people and keep ridiculous stories alive. (How many times have you gotten the email saying that Microsoft will PAY you for every person you forward an email to???)
For people like me the internet is a way to not only stay connected, but it’s also a way to express my opinions, to vent and to complain. These are usually the posts that attract the most comments, and usually the comments are negative. People just aren’t interested in hearing other people bitch, no matter how justified. For me the negative comments aren’t that important because for the most part this blog is something to record a specific time in our lives so that we can reminisce one day and laugh about silly things that seemed SO important at the time. If I’m having a bad day, am fed up or pissed off, then I’ll write about. In my opinion it’s just as important to record the bad times as well as the good.
A few months back I wrote about a bad experience I had with USAirways…or more specifically, with one of their customer service representatives. Really, it wasn’t that big a deal, but it was just indicative of how rude customer service reps can be, how they can use their position to prove that they hold all the cards and that we, as the customers are basically at their mercy.
I won’t go into it all again because truly, it was a small incident. The rep just couldn’t come out and give me a simple answer to my very simple question. I felt as if I was in a power struggle, and I definitely came out the loser. Eventually the problem was resolved….I got the refund I was asking about, and the incident was forgotten. Well, forgotten to some degree. I still feel that so many….TOO many....customer service reps…AND their bosses, just don’t treat their customers as people, but rather as problems.
And then the other day there was a flurry of comments about that old post. Most were anonymous (as the nasty one always are), and many were sent in duplicate, bad spelling and all. It seemed obvious that they’d been sent by, if not just one person, then at least by people with some similarities. They all defended the customer service rep and bad-mouthed me. The poster(s) didn’t really seem familiar with how a blog works, and I’m guessing that he/she/they aren’t regular readers!
And then Cristina, who hosts my blog on EXPATS IN ITALY, contacted me to say that she’d been contacted by the same rude customer service rep who I’d dealt with at USAir! She of course had nothing nice to say about me, and asked that her name be removed from my blog…or if there was any way to have that posted deleted. Gosh, she wasn’t afraid to sign her name to her unhelpful emails, but when I wrote about them and made them public, all of sudden she was…what…embarrassed? Certainly not remorseful. Or apologetic. She said “I don't think she should be allowed to post anything she wants about me.” Even if it’s true? Even If I quoted her verbatim from her own emails? In our discourse, she was the voice of USAir, for better or worse, and thanks to her superior, unhelpful attitude she made herself AND USAir look bad.
Maybe the good news for everyone is that you CAN have a voice! If you have a problem or complaint, don’t be afraid to speak out! Write a letter…..or letters….send an email, post a comment, start a blog! You ARE entitled to your opinion, and you ARE entitled to report the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it might make others. Don’t be intimidated, and don’t back down.
For those of you in business, those of you who depend on good will and a good reputation to stay in business….BEWARE!!!! There are people out here in the real world who aren’t afraid to report your misdeeds, to call you on your mistakes, to investigate suspicious activities. Yes, we might be in the minority…we might be labeled troublemakers or be called names…but eventually, someone WILL listen. That someone will tell someone else who’ll tell someone else, and eventually, sooner or later, bad business practices will be out in the open for all to see.
Eventually bad businesses will get their just desserts, but only if people speak out! Be part of the solution! I'm not suggesting that you become a professional complainer, but honestly, how many of us get ripped off or treated rudely and never do anything about it? We’ve become complacent, and I think big business is taking advantage of that fact! At least be willing to lodge a complaint or demand satisfaction when goods or services are not as promised. Call the Better Business Bureau, contact your local ombusdman, whatever it takes!
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE! The newest twist to my story is this: after removing the employee's last name as requested, and after receiving a sincere thank you from the employee via Cristina, I was later contacted by the employee via my blog. In this message the employee threatens ME if I don't remove the post altogether! I guess her appreciation was short lived! The worst of it is this: after calling ME mean, she's threatening to cause problems for our USAirways flight attendant friend, implying that she can get our friend fired! And she called ME mean! Can you say "hypocrite"? Threatening someone who's our friend, and who had NO PART in the situation is really, really low, don't you think? And although the situation might be embarrassing for this employee, everything I wrote was factual...no exaggerations, no lies, just the facts. Like it or not, side with me or side with her, but in any event, I think she's blown this whole incident way out of proportion, and has gotten herself and USAirways much more negative publicity than if she'd just left it alone!
Or even those of you who are slightly squeamish...or who think all that meat in the grocery store just magically appears on styrofoam trays! This post is about the reality of life in a farming community, and about the entire circle of life, which is sometimes just a little gruesome for some of us!
Living here in Umbria, and specifically in San Venanzo, we know that almost everything we eat is fresh. So much of our food is locally grown, and what was on the vine this morning will often appear on the dinner table tonight, even for those of us who don't have gardens. In addition to the fruits and vegetables, animals are also grown here...chickens and ducks, pigs and sheep, cows and....pigeons.
We all have our comfort zones, and our ideas of what's edible and what's just gross. I'll eat pork all day long (and my oh my do they know how to do pork in Umbria!), but don't even think about asking me to eat something that was inside that little piggy! No to liver and tripe (stomach lining...ugh!) and tongue and brains. No to testicles from any animal for sure! No, I don't eat bunny rabbits, but I will eat lamb. I can't give you any logical reason for any of it, but that's just the way it is.
Our neighbor Armando raises pigeons, and not to carry messages. He raises them to eat. Seems like a lot of work for such a small meal, but that's okay with him. The other day he brought some pigeons back from the coop and was cleaning them in his garage. I don't know (or want to know) how he killed them, but I do know that just like chickens, and all other fowl, you have to dip them in boiling water to loosen the feathers. After that it's just pluck pluck pluck until the feathers are gone. The finishing touch is the blow torch to singe off the remaining feathers, or stubs of feathers.
Armando said that Giulda (his wife) would clean out the birds and bake them in the oven like chicken, and that each bird would serve two people.
Here are some pictures of the process, well down the page, giving those who don't care to see the pictures plenty of time to click away.....
Beppo Grillo, a tireless promoter of truth, justice and the Italian way of life has posted an interesting article on his blog entitled NICOTINE AND THE DEATH OF THE HONEYBEE. I'm sure everyone is aware of the problems faced by the honeybee today, and man's inexplicable inability to reverse the chaos we've created.
Several years ago there was a mite that was attacking honeybees, causing them to die off in record numbers, and once that problem was solved I thought all was good in the world of bees. Apparently not. Even Grissom onC.S.I. is investigating Colony Collapse Disorder...although he did refute Einstein's theory about humankind disappearing within 4 years of the extinction of the honeybee.
Even so, the loss of honeybees represents not only an economic loss, but the loss of the world as we know it...really! Honeybees are one of those things we rarely see and mostly take for granted, but if they're gone, many, dare I say most, of the plants won't be pollinated. And "plants" include fruit trees, vegetables, and flowers. The world is meant to be a really interconnected place, with each creature doing it's part. Without the honeybee the world might not cease to exist, but it sure will make the phrase "Home Sweet Home" a thing of the past.
What can we as indivuals do? The NAPPC (North American Pollinator Protection Campaign) recommends such simple actions as NOT using pesticides, and planting good nectar sources like red clover, foxglove and bee balm. Those things seem easy enough. Let's try to keep our world a truly sweet place to call home.
A week or so ago I wrote about seeing our appointments to continue the renewal process listed online. I hadn't been checking every day, and the first day I saw our appointments listed was on a Monday, and the Monday before ferragosto at that. Still, I hoped that whoever was inputting the info onto the website was coordinating their efforts with the person who'd be putting the registered letters advising us of the appointments into the mail. We'd paid for, and had receipts for the registered letters, but still no letters arrived. I felt sure that we really did have appointments scheduled, and knew that if push came to shove we could always print out the page from the internet site but still.....I wanted the letters to arrive!
This morning I thought maybe I'd go back online and check the status of our renewals again. Could a problem have been found? I didn't think that could be the case but still..... And then the door bell rang and it was our postina with the registered letters! Hurray...and finally! Interestingly enough, the postmark on the letters said "San Venanzo"...and had today's date! Obviously I have no idea how the registered letter system works in Italy, but it's quite different than the system in the states. Whatever.
We now know that after our visit to Orvieto we will NOT receive our new permessi that same day. I guess the fingerprints and photographs will have to go back to Rome for further processing. The questura in Orvieto should give us yet another receipt and a date to return for our permessi. For some this wait is months and months in the future. We hope that for us, in the province of Terni, rather than the dreaded province of Perugia, things will go a little faster. (Note to those thinking of moving to Umbria: the bureaucracy in Terni is MUCH less complicated than it is for Perugia! check carefully before making that final decision!)
Tomorrow we'll stop by the photo booth in Marsciano to have our photos taken. We're making progress, slowly but surely!More updates after our appointments on September 1st!
It wasn't easy for us to verbalize what we wanted when we first decided to live in Italy. It's easy to say "I want to live in Italy!", but a little harder to decide where. The big city will offer different options than country living. Life in southern Italy might be a little cheaper than life in northern Italy, but what are the trade-offs? And for new retirees like us, what would we do to fill our days? Art worked two jobs for more than thirty years, and never had the time to develop any hobbies. Although I only worked part-time, I didn't really have any special hobbies either, so we were at loose ends.
During our first trip to Italy we'd really fallen in love with Umbria, and it seemed much more affordable than Tuscany. Additionally Umbria is halfway between Rome and Florence, two of our favorite cities, with Orvieto, another favorite, at the edge of Umbria near the Tuscan border. the location seemed to be right in the heart of everything we loved about Italy.
Because travel has always been what we enjoy most, we decided that Umbria would be a great fit. We were within an hour's drive of so many fantastic places: Assisi, Perugia, Todi, Bevagna, Orvieto, Cortona, Lago Tresimeno, and on and on. We could be in Rome in about two hours, and Florence in a little over two hours. We could explore Umbria, Le Marche and Tuscany by train or by car....take day trips or spend a night or two for a more in depth visit. Once the Perugia airport started service with RyanAir we could easily (and cheaply!) visit London...and beyond, or Barcelona. The ocean was about two hours away in either direction. We could arrive in Italy at Fiumicino airport in Rome and be home in just a few hours.
Although the whole of Italy offers history, tradition and a variety of options, we knew that Umbria was the perfect fit for us...and we'd like to suggest that it might be a perfect fit for you too! You can read through our blog to see what we've been doing over the past five years...to learn about our town and the people we've come to know and love. You can find out more about our house, about the renovations and updates, and about the fun times we've had here by clicking on the picture in the right hand column labeled "House For Sale". Umbria is called "the green heart of Italy", but for us it's where our hearts are.
Once again we combined friends and food with stunning views and mild temperatures for the perfect summer's day in Umbria! Although JANE, Ken and Casey have been in Italy for two months (as opposed to last year when they spent a full twelve months!), we hadn't yet had a chance to get together with them. We were so glad when we found out that their last few days would be spent in Umbria, and best of all, at the GENIUS LOCI INN, run by our good friends MARY, Maurizio and Michael.
JUDITH drove down from Citta di Castello, RITA and LINO drove over from Tuscany, and including Michael's friend RHIAN who was visiting from London, we had quite a diverse group. Lunch was simple....fresh tomatoes, sliced meats and cheeses, eggplant, bread, more tomatoes, great wine from Tuscany, then more great wine from Genius Loci (good work Maurizio and Michael!), finished off with some all American treats for dessert.
The time seemed to fly, and just watching the sun change the hills in the distance was fascinating. Art said if he lived at Genius Loci he'd never have to turn on the television...just watching the view was entertainment enough! We skipped the wine tasting since we'd done that in June, so while everyone else went to learn about the fabulous Sagrantino, Art and I enjoyed the breeze and the view. We also bought some Sagrantino to take home....some lucky person will be getting a special gift this Christmas!
I'm so glad we had the chance to see Jane, Ken and Casey this summer....Casey's gotten so tall! As always Michael and his parents were the perfect hosts, and we're looking forward to our next visit to GENIUS LOCI, hopefully sooner rather than later!
Over on the SLOW TRAV MESSAGE BOARD we've been discussing variations on Tomato Pie. Someone mentioned PAULA DEEN’S RECIPE, then other variations were posted, all involving tomatoes, mayo and cheese in various combinations.
I didn't put out any tomato plants this year...it's Italy, tomatoes are cheap and plentiful! Also, when you have neighbors like ours who drop off huge amounts of fresh veggies on a regular basis, why grow your own? After Armando brought yet another basket of tomatoes yesterday, I figured I might as well give in and make a tomato pie just to use up a few! Yeah, it's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it!
I combined several recipes to get one that sounded good to me, and here's the result. I used cheddar (from my carefully guarded stash!), but I'm sure Parmesan would be equally delicious. Here's my recipe:
Tomato Pie
1 9” pie crust, baked about 6 large tomatoes...peeled and sliced 10-15 fresh basil leaves 4-5 cloves garlic 1 or 2 green onions approx. 1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese ½ Cup Mayonnaise ¾ Cup Shredded Parmesan OR Cheddar Cheese Salt and Pepper
VERY IMPORTANT! Put tomatoes in a colander, sprinkle w/salt & pepper and let tomatoes drain for at LEAST 20 minutes. Drain off liquid and wipe tomatoes w/paper towel to absorb any extra liquid.
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Bake Pie shell and let cool slightly.
Line bottom of pie shell w/ approx. 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
Layer drained sliced tomatoes on top of cheese in pie crust
Blend garlic, basil and green onion in mini food processor (or chop together) and put this mixture on top of the tomatoes.
Mix mayonnaise, remaining mozzarella cheese, and about half the parmesan/cheddar together. Spread this mixture over top tomatoes and basil/garlic/onion mixture
The medieval town of MASSA MARTANA, just across the E45 from Todi, is a town we discovered back in 2002 when we came to Italy to find the perfect place to live. Most of the walled city was destroyed during the earthquake of 1997, and only recently was the restoration complete. The town now looks like a medieval jewel, retaining its character, but with completely updated facilities like new plumbing and wiring, and anti-seismic protection built into the structures.
For whatever reason we'd never visited Massa Martana during it's annual Sagra del Gelato, and we decided it was about time we did! We met up with our friend Shelly and her friends Milena (and MIlena's husband, whose name I don't remember!). Dinner was simple, and since the feature of this sagra is gelato, simple is a good thing. We had our choice of torta al testo with sausage, prosciutto, pancetta or cheese. We each made our choices, ordered a bottle of wine, and went to our table to wait for delivery. Becquse we were there pretty early in the evening the food arrived quickly and we all savored our food. Once again, the simplest of foods are the best!
After dinner we took a stroll around town. Many of the shops stay open during the sagra and we found quite a few realy nice art galleries, as welll as a muscc museum set up in an old church. The moon was nearly full, the temperature was perfect, and off in the distance we could hear music....that polka/accordian music that could be Italian...or Swiss/German/Austrian. At the end of the street we found the band, and of course swirling dancers filling the piazza.
Eventually we made our way outside the city walls for the main event" GELATO! There were several types of sundaes listed, and I found one that I liked...except it was made with gelato. When it was my turn to order I asked if I could have it made with gelato instead of yogurt and with a puzzled look the woman told me that it was made with gelato. I told her that the sign said it was made with gelato, and after a pause she told me that "yogurt" was a flavor! Oh...okay. I explained that in the states we have frozen yogurt, but I'm not sure they really 'got' it. Anyway, we each ordered our gelatos and once again waited at our table for them to arrive. Within minutes we were happily slurping away, lost in the decadence of a warm summer's evening and a bowl of gelato.
Barb and Art have moved from Kentucky to Umbria. These are their adventures.
About Me
Name: Barbara
Location: Umbria, Italy
Bossy, opinionated, and impatient. Determined and stubborn. Quick tempered.
Fiscally conservative and politically liberal. A realist, not a dreamer. A detail person and a planner.
Spina Bifida
