Monday Melange

I’m going to start a daily thing here, mostly for the sake of quickly warming up my writing muscles again. It will probably end up being like most of my other well-intentioned plans and collapse after a few days as I get interested in something else, but let’s give it a shot. Just a daily digest of what I’m reading, writing, watching, eating/cooking

and getting peeved about. And maybe other things.

Reading: It dawned on me that periodicals circulate in our local library, so I did a lot of New Yorker reading last week, in my favorite spot – lounging on the back patio in 90 degree weather. Actually, that’s not my favorite spot – that would be lounging by water – but I cancelled our pool membership, and we’re four hours from the ocean. So. In reading the New Yorker, I ignore politics, focusing on culture and so on. Like Adam Gopnik on a California vintner and Burkhard Bilger on gourmet/heirloom legumes. 

Books? I dug out Excellent Women by Barbara Pym from our basement. A couple of decades ago, I went through a Pym phase, reading a lot of her books. I got halfway through this one and was enjoying it, so during a library stop, I pulled several more, anticipating a week or so of immersion in that world. But by the time I’d finished Excellent Women, I was already tired of that very world. I started another one – I don’t remember which one – got five pages in, and thought, No, I actually don’t want to be in this world for even another hour. That’s enough. 

Then, on Friday, I think, I read Saints at the River by Ron Rash – which begins with an intriguing hook: it’s about the conflict between a family whose daughter drowned in a South Carolina river and environmentalists: the family of course wants to recover her body, but there’s no way of doing so without disturbing the ecology of the area. I thought, great idea for a story! And although Rash is a well-respected writer, especially of short stories, I found the writing flat and while I did finish the book (in a day) – mostly to see what happened – I wasn’t inspired to read more.

Then onto a book I’m reading via the Internet Archive: I Was Dancing by Edwin O’Connor, author of, among other books, The Edge of Sadness, a recent edition of which I edited for the Loyola Classics series. I’m really enjoying it so far, but will hold off writing about it until I finish it – probably tonight.

Writing: This!

Also – I think after I finish this, on the Monday of my first full week in which I no longer have any excuses, I’ll pull out the Guatemala stuff once again and see what I can make of it. I also have a short story that’s half-finished, which I will look at again, after some months.

I also have a series of blog posts on technology/social media mapped out. I’m hoping to start that today. We’ll see. It looks like it’s going to be another sunny day and I have another issue of the New Yorker waiting before it has to go back to the library.

Watching: 

Better Call Saul, of course – new episode tonight, which is always so great to pause during the day and consider. Ahh…Better Call Saul will be on tonight. 

I’ve also started rewatching Breaking Bad   – with the boys. Yup. After last year’s Lost mega-viewing (which was, I repeat, one of the best things I’ve ever done with them – I recommend it), I had been thinking about moving to Breaking Bad.  For the record, the guys are 17 – not too far from 18 – and almost 14. I really wanted to get it in before the older one goes off to college, because it’s such a spectacular, layered piece of storytelling with a lot of moral resonance.

The only issue I have is that the versions that are currently streaming are just a bit rougher than what originally aired on AMC, but honestly – the language is not much worse than you hear on the much-vaunted, Stranger Things – especially season 2. There are some scenes that I’ve fast-forwarded through (if you remember the first episode of the entire series – you’ll know what I’m talking about. They are certainly scenes that illustrate Walt’s character, er, development – but not, as we say in this house “appropriate.”)

It’s great though. We’re up through episode 6 of season 1, and believe me, there is so much to talk about – which is why I do this. Such as the moment in “Gray Matter” when Walt has (again) a profound choice to make, is about to step out of the car to hook up again with Jesse, and grace – in the form of Gretchen – calls up on the phone with another way through the problem, a way that doesn’t involve sin, but does involve setting aside pride – well, yes. Lots to talk about.

Listening: A lot of piano jazz – Bill Evans and Thelonius Monk, mostly. Handel’s keyboard suites, trying to help M figure out which one he wants to play. Ginastera’s Danza del Gaucho Matrero as M learns it, trying to get the rhythms right. The Ink Spots’ My Echo, My Shadow and Me because one of the boys was watching the first part of Better Call Saul with me last week – and it was the framing song for the opening, and he was taken with it. And plays it several times a day now.  Nothing Else Matters by Metallica – on keyboard, because M is learning it to play with this flutist jazz teacher.

Eating/Cooking:  I tend not to cook a lot in the summer. The “summer foods” that I like – lots and lots of salads – are not popular in this house, so I don’t bother. We also take the summer to do a lot of eating out – trying out various holes-in-the-wall in and around town, mostly. But a local restaurant – the Miami Fusion Cafe – ran an Instagram photo of a big pan of Ropa Vieja –  so I looked up the recipe and made a pot of it yesterday – and yes, it’s delicious – and not spicy, which is appreciated by some around here.

Surfing: Related to some of the content in this post – a couple of sites to recommend:

Serious Eats is one of my favorite recipe sites and they have a great Instagram, too.

Neglected Books has smart commentary on literature, in general, and is so helpful if you want something to read that you’ve never heard of – which is always what I’m looking for.

Travels: Wearing out that path back and forth to school again, that’s all. But San Antonio is coming, so there’s that!

Not, unfortunately, to Sorano – featured, for some random reason, in this graphic. My ideal place: a gorgeous, half-abandoned Italian hill town, filled with stray cats, where no one really wants to talk to you and you couldn’t understand them even if they did.

 

 

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Up to Siena and more

All right, the last couple of days in a quick nutshell.

Sunday morning, I spent a while wandering Sorano looking for another Catholic church I swore must be there. Indeed, one church was right around the corner from our apartment, but as I interpreted it, the Mass times were 8 and 11:30 – the first being too early, the second being later that I wanted.

When I mapped it, I thought I had seen another Catholic church, but when I set out walking..it was nowhere to be found and my data didn’t work. So..I wandered. Which was fine.

Got the boys up, then we left at 11:29.30 for 11:30 Mass, which is nice. The congregation was composed of 18 people, including the three of us. More on that later when I can be more reflective. It was sad, with one tiny glimmer of hope who wished us pace with great sincerity.

We then headed to the path below the village that led to our own area’s via cave – of San Rocco. It was quite a hike up – and when we were back “home” looking up at the plateau upon which we’d stood, it was hard to believe we’d done it. But worth it. Several Etruscan burial sites, caves and niches, and a small (locked) Romanesque church.

And on the way back…it started raining. We were wet, certainly, but not soaked or hurt, so who cares. We hung up our cloths, dried off, ate, waited for the sun to come out, and made our next moves – a tour of the town’s castle (I didn’t take any photos because it was just the three of us, an elderly American couple and our sweet Italian tour guide with her charming, precise English, and it just didn’t seem like the right time. For most of its history, it belonged to the Orsinis. If there is one aspect of history I am emphasizing to the boys on this trip it is simply the patchwork history of Italy, and I think they are getting it. I know I am certainly coming to a more solid grasp of it myself.

The sun was out, so we decided to head over to Pitigliano – this amazing place – where we actually parked (free, because I had actually studied up on it and understood that if the lines were white, the space was free), wandered, checked out the duomo (Mass was happening), the Jewish quarter, and ate some dinner. There was a substantial Jewish population in Pitigliano until World War II, when most left, but the synagogue and other historic buildings are still maintained – not open on Sunday. What was terribly sad was that the complex was guarded by two military guys with machine guns. How tragic that that is necessary.

****

Back to the home base, where we did a bit more wandering, up to the rock that has been built up into a viewing wall. We spent a lot of time up there looking, studying the landscape, talking, and imagining the people – from the Etruscans to modern times – who have inhabited the place.

***

Then it was time to go. The apartment is located in a pedestrian-only zone (as is most of the town), so you can’t park there. The instructions I got for where to park were basically this: “Don’t go in the main gate of the village. Keep going and you will come to some nut trees near a power station with a yellow sign. Park there, walk down the stone steps and you will find the road to the apartment.”

O-kay. 

It took me a couple of tries – I drove past once, couldn’t imagine that that was actually where I was supposed to leave my rental car, but the road led me up, up, up a mountain across a gorge from the village. What was funny was that when I finally found a place to turn around, not one, but TWO cars pulled into the same place behind me, both drivers studying maps when they pulled in. Solace in a confused community.

Well, it was a safe place, the car was fine, and the walk wasn’t bad, except a bit of a chore up the stairs with suitcases. But I didn’t do that, so not my problem, eh guys?

***

The drive to Siena took a bit longer than I thought because I turned off on one wrong road, and instead of backtracking, I decided to just keep going an alternative way. It’s fine. It’s all gorgeous scenery.

***

When people drive to Siena, one of the great concerns is parking.  Most Italian cities have what they call ZTL zones – historic zones in which driving is limited to those who have special permits. If you venture into a ZTL, you apparently get zapped with a massive fine, and everyone is super scared. I didn’t have a problem – I just followed the “P” signs which indicated a lot with available spaces – Il Campo – and parked there. Easy.

***

We only did the basics, unfortunately, but they were quite enough for one afternoon – the Campo, the Duomo, inside and from up top, and the Catherine of Siena sites, include the relic of her head, which was not at all gruesome.

I’ll write more on that later.

It was a rainy day, but not too bad. We found shelter in churches and gelateria. Which is a metaphor for something.

Then a rather tortuous drive to the outskirts of Florence – probably more tortuous than it should have been – found the new place. We went to the biggest supermarket we’ve been to on this trip – an Esselunga – and stocked up, and then drove back up the hill to eat things like salami and prosciutto sandwiches, pepperocini stuffed with tuna. a cold pesto pasta dish, cheese, bread, olives and Italian chicken nuggets – “just to see”.

I obviously hope to get into Florence today…we’ll see…

Random photos I don’t have time to label. Seriously – follow me on Instagram or on Snapchat (amywelborn2) to get more during the day. I have videos on both – and remember Snapchat stuff is only up for 24 hours. You have to download the Snapchat app and register, but it’s painless – and you can make your kids cringe with embarrassment that you’re on Snapchat, and possibly drive them off of it as a result, so that’s a win.]

(Photo related – the blog header is from the Siena duomo – heads of popes lining the walls. I am convinced that whoever designed Disney’s Haunted Mansion had visited this place. It’s all I could think of as I looked at them looking down at me with their various expressions….)

 

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Etruscan Days

Yeah, well so much for thoughtful blogging. I just spent the late evening trying to figure out next week. Almost there, pending a response from an AirBnB host.

Today, we drove over to Sovano, where we explored some Etruscan vie cave – which are these trails amidst Etruscan burial sites. Burial sites are the only sites which provide evidence of Etruscan life, since the settlements they founded are mostly still settled, so their artifacts are buried very deep.

This is where we wandered today.

Then over to Saturnia, which is known for its thermal waters. I was a little confused as to where the waters were, my phone data wasn’t working, so we ended up in the town itself, where we found a place that was still serving something for lunch (at around 3 – not easy to find in non-heavily touristed Italy), got gelato, and then found the Information office, where the staff member was very helpful. In both Saturnia and here in Sorano, the information offices were staffed by people who spoke excellent English (and probably German and French as well) and were very kind and helpful.

Found it!

Only one of us went in – my oldest was fighting a headache, and I was just not in the mood for getting wet and then driving…but the younger was all for it, and took the waters with the Italians.

No mud, though.

The intention was to get to Pitigliano, which did happen, but not before a grocery store stop. As we drove through Montalcino, we saw a supermarket – which Sorano definitly does not have – so we made a stop for supplies, which also includes random food souvenirs that I will be bringing back. More on that later.

Back in the car, then to Pitigliano, the place that inspired my interest in this part of Italy.

We did drive through it, but it really looked like it was going to rain, so we didn’t stop. It was pretty crowded with visitors, anyway.

Back to Sorano, then a little break, then a walk down to the beginnings of our own vie cave – saw a muskrat in the river! – then back up into town, a bit of dinner here – it was very good and far superior to the dinner we’d had the night before. I hope it’s open on Sunday, because I will certainly return. I had tagliatelle with puttanesca sauce and a side of caponeta, simply because I was curious about the caponata – it was good, but I have to admit I like Michael Chiarello’s recipe much better – far more pungent and strongly flavored.

And that’s it. Tomorrow, Mass, back to Pitigliano to explore their vie cave, a walk on ours, tour the fortress here in Sorano and probably a bit of just driving around. We’ll see.

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And…not in Rome..

…with better internet.

But I didn’t get a chance to blog last night. Hopefully tonight it will happen. Short version of yesterday:

Train from Rome to Orvieto. Orvieto holds the corporeal that is the center of the Eucharistic miracle that is the root of the Corpus Christi feast. The duomo is astonishing – and to me what makes it even more so is that as we drove east, you could still see Orvieto, of course, rising on the mesa, as I’d call it if it were in the US, and the duomo standing tall in the center – even from 30 km away.

Oh, and yes, I did get the car in Orvieto. It worked out great. Train from Termini to Orvieto – Hertz office right across the street from the train. We put our bags in the car and they let me just leave it there while we took the funicular up to the town and roamed for a few hours. Then back down, and out. Very easy.I’m glad I did that rather than finding the car in Rome, navigating my way out of Rome and then having to find parking in Orvieto.

We drove east, swung down by Lake Balsano just to take a look, then up to Sorano where we are now. The apartment is definitely funky, as you would expect from what is proabably a 14th or 15th century building, but it’s a really interesting place.

Mish-mash of photos below includes train ride to Orvieto, funicular up to Orvieto, reliquary chapel, front of duomo, St. Patrick’s well in Orvieto, various shots of Sorano. Our apartment is right below the green door, and that’s the kitchen from the steps leading to the small living/sleeping area, which is a level below the other sleeping area…more later.

Follow more as we go on Instagram (amy_welborn) and Snapchat (amywelborn2)

 

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