Thursday, Aug 31
Friday, Sep 1
Saturday, Sep 2
Sunday, Sep 3
Monday, Sep 4
Tuesday, Sep 5
Wednesday, Sep 6
Thursday, Sep 7
Friday, Sep 8
Saturday, Sep 9
Sunday, Sep 10
Friday, Sep 8 - The Market at Bra and Alba
After breakfast, we went to Bra for the morning market. Gorgeous vegetables and fruit!! There were also clothiers and other vendors, and we bought Craig a leather wallet. We bought apples, cheese and bread for lunch. We decided to skip the live eels and the octopus.
We then drove to Alba, where we ate in the car. We window-shopped (all was closed up, of course, until 3:00), and then when the shops opened I bought a leather purse. While we were waiting for the shops to open, we had a gelatto and a glass of wine, sitting on the piazza in the shadow of the chiesa (church). Also, Pat found an enoteca that will ship us some special Barbera wine once the 2005 vintage is ready for drinking.
So far, I have used 2 public restrooms in Italy, and I hope I never have to use one again! They’re just holes in the floor, surrounded by porcelain. You have to squat and just hang over it and hope you aim okay and don’t hit your shoes. There’s nothing to hang onto to steady yourself or keep from tipping back into the wall. Urine is all over the floor, not to mention other gross stuff. And frankly you could use Italian toilet paper to scrape off paint. Gotta love the American standard for restrooms.
It’s difficult to figure out how and where Italians shop. They apparently just cruise the shops in the nearest village, although it’s still not clear where they buy their jeans and other clothing. Or lumber. Or towels. I haven’t figured out shopping outside of Rome yet. But I’m thinking things have remained as family businesses because of the labor laws in Italy. Too expensive and tough to hire others. Employers have to pay an enormous amount for FICA (or whatever the Italian equivalent is), 100% of what they pay the employee!
Came back to Sinio and sat by the pool for a long time and played with Pinot, the wine kitten. Then we showered and went back down to finish our cooking lesson from yesterday. We rolled up the tuna mousse inside the peppers and wrapped them for chilling.
Went to dinner at Le Torri, in Castiglione Falleto. There’s a great castle there with three huge towers, hence the name of the restaurant. I ate salmon with cheese, and roasted chicken, and Pat had the carne crudo and a lamb dish. We returned to pack. It was a very relaxing, wine-filled week!
