Rubber Slippers for 30 days in a row

I have...over 4 dozen young tomato varieties sitting on half of the picnic table right now. Roll call — Brandywine, Thessaloniki, Furry Yellow Hog, Cherokee Purple, Rouge d'Irak — and that doesn't even include the cherry tomato plants that we intend to pick up. In a couple of weeks some should be ready to go into the ground, but what am I going to do with the rest of them? I know! Stick'em all over the italian mountainside and see if perhaps it'll get a whole community buzz going if the plants actually do end up thriving in the heavy soil. Tomatoes will become the hottest traded gossip between the old folks around here. Lovingly tended by the pomodoro fairy, no one will ever know. I am Pomodoro Girl. See me grow!

Time out, enough of the daydreaming. I may, or may not follow through on that one. What I will be doing however, is posting for 30 days straight for the whole month of June. Call it a spur-of-the-moment challenge, or call it a blatant dare to my wonderfully efficient ISP that they Do Not Fail Me Now, but next month's calendar is FULL. Sagras, historical enactments, restaurants, birthdays (me!), anniversaries, recipes, gardening, hiking and hopefully a cool Hawaii (Kauai) event - all of this and more before it gets too hot to do much else other than fanning ourselves on the terrace, guzzling ice-cold beer and frosty margaritas by the pitcher.

Get your bets together. I'll wager the MotH daily foot rubs for the rest of the summer if I fail. It's Aloha Friday, no work 'til Tuesday (Monday is a holiday in Italy), but see ya on Sunday!

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E is for Excellent | Good Chat Blog Award | Gee Honey

Pop the cork and spill the champagne! (in my case, prosecco) Humble acknowledgements are in order for Rubbah Slippahs' excellence & chattiness and am I flattered {flutters eyelashes}. Who? Me? As far as awards go, I'm late on these two, with the first having come my way via manju of Three Tastes and the second from Anne of Anne in Oxfordshire. Thanks gals!!

Typically, award instructions dictate that you pass the honor on to 5 others but I know that these have been making the rounds for awhile. Instead, I'm making up my own award and passing it on to someone else but first allow me to explain how I came about this idea.

In the world of coupledom, there are often habits and traits completely contradictory to one another, am I not right? Example: He likes beef steak and chicken, deep-fried of course. She prefers chicken breast, from free-range hens, skin off if you please. He swigs directly from the carton of milk. She pours into a glass wide enough to accommodate dunking cookies. Homer belches. Marge does not. A recipe for disaster? Or happily ever after?

The choices are but two: continue co-habitating in relative harmony, tolerant of "the other's objectionable ways", or, claim irreconcilable differences in divorce court. These solutions may have arrived to a point after having spent hundreds on marriage counseling. Don't we all wish for pockets that run deep. There is, however, the possibility of some of "you" rubbing off on "him/her", creating an entirely new level of appreciation in the predictable realm of monogamous relationships. Some of you may agree with me on this, and some will most certainly not, but I can attest to this theory because I did a double-take when I went down into the garage this morning. No woman's land. His domain. And this is what I saw:

It may be just a few pairs but let me tell you, in nearly five years of wedded coupledom, this is the first time I've seen MotH (aka Man of the House) organize the haphazard mess of footwear in such orderly fashion. It was a tremendous moment folks, a moment of disbelief where I became a confirmed believer in the power of "actions speak louder than words", and right there and then, like a hero to be knighted, I mentally honored my husband with a:

All in good fun of course, but awwww...now isn't that speshul?

Mister Bentley

I was planning on publishing another post on the new puppy next week but in reading the comments, it seems that dogs (and for that matter all pets in general), generate the most immediate responses on web logs. Food? Travel? Forget those when Fido is on the screen. ;-)

Mister Bentley is a wire-haired dachshund. I think in the states they call his type of coloring "black and tan", but here in Italy he is simply cinghiale, which refers to the coloring of a wild boar. He isn't pedigree, and from what we understood, comes from standard-size doxie parents. However, he was clearly the runt of the pack and much smaller than his only sister. Apparently he was also picked on a lot by the other dogs because he had scar tissue from bite marks on his ears. BTW, Mr. B is my husband's dog!

The big question of course, is why the name Mister Bentley? Well, remember the british character in The Jeffersons? Adult wire-haired doxies have a characteristic beard and bushy eyebrows which we felt made them look more "distinguished", hence a likewise-sounding name was in order. I guess it was a good choice. At his first visit to the vet's, the mention of his name elicited a humorous response from the doctor. “Ahhhh...we have a 'sir' in our midst!” Sir or not, the Mads is still adjusting to the new family addition. Ask her what she thinks and you're most likely to get a blank stare or an indignant “RUFF!”

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Maddie Maddie quite contrary

Texas Flame triptych: original, sans green, Photoshop-modified

... how does your garden grow?

Heatwave in the Pacific Northwest. Near 100 degrees in Los Angeles. I should count myself lucky for the relatively cool temps (low 60's) brought on by persistent rain. The garden has been coming along outrageously with flowers - first the hyacinth and daffodils - both already done and divested of blooms. Three types of tulips: a mauve-hued, a deep purplish-black, and the above Texas Flame - came and went during the period in which we were gone up until now. Vegetables - we had no one to come in and check on my seedlings so I lost almost half of them in our absence. Some of the young tomato starts survived but are nowhere near as robust as the whole new group below that I had seeded immediately. Adori i pomodori?

A show around the damp terrace this morning and I'm busting at the seams. I know that some readers have been waiting in suspense..drum roll please... Notice anything new?

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Truffled scamorza and other treats from Abruzzo and Molise

In another life, I must have been a pirate engaged in continuous plunder. Wherever we travel, I have eyes in the back of my head that will spot a specialty store at the last second when the MotH barely misses a red light. S-t-o-p-p-p! Depending on the perilousness of the situation, tires screech, or signal blinkers begin ticking, and we head back to the targeted booty - the most memorable - a store in the suburbs of Milan stocked top to bottom with calabrian goods. I've a weakness for 'nduja that borders on addiction. It is a staple in our fridge.

Anyhow, crossing the regional border from Abruzzo into Molise we were in blind search of a shop carrying local molisano products - unorthodox methods perhaps, but it is this impulsive treasure-hunting attitude that fuels the chase. L'Angolo del Gusto (the Corner of Taste) is a gem of a nook which specializes primarily in all things truffle. Oils, butter, spreads, pasta...in essence, the Mother lode! However, reluctant to burn further holes in our pockets, we settled for truffle-specked scamorza and pecorino, plus a modest wedge from a voluptuous hunk of caciocavallo cheese, this last one also flecked with bits of black truffle. In addition to that, some strolghino - check out IL Forno's post on Salame Strolghino which is worth a read.

Truffle-specked pecorino and scamorza from Abruzzo

Abruzzese goodies accounted for, all that went lacking was something from Molise. How lucky that the shop also took this into consideration, and the first item I spotted, a slim blue box with the words Le Ostie, enclosed a sweet concoction that is, how can I explain it, a sandwich-type cookie made with host wafers holding a filling of chopped walnuts, almonds, cocoa, sugar and honey. It seemed as if my brief fascination with host scraps would be relived again. The Hosts were tasty in a novel sort of way (I was toying with the idea of eating them like an oreo!), but they should come boxed in amounts greater than a meager 4.

The Molise company that makes these also produces a bell-shaped cake appropriately named La Campana. It's a simple yellow cake lightly dispersed with walnuts and covered in hazelnut chocolate. Although I'm tempted to compare it with a buttery pound cake, the crumbly texture makes the cake lose a few points. Between the host cookies and this bell cake, I prefer the former. Website: Labbate Mazziotta Company

A sackful of italian loot is never complete without a really good bottle of evoo, and this one from Azienda Agricola Valentini in Abruzzo is listed in Slow Food's 2007 guide to extra-virgin olive oil. I lucked out on finding it at Pasticceria Lullo in Guardiagrele. Rated 2 olives out of 3, details describe the aroma of freshly cut grass, a velvety green-hued oil that leaves a sensation of artichokes and almonds on the palate. Sweet, dark and spicy notes are in beautiful harmony with a long finish. Priced in the mid-range.

And that wraps it up! Now for next month's pillaging and plunder . . .

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Those famous "sise" pastries of Guardiagrele

EIGHT down and one more to go!!! — I'm referring to the number of entries for this entire visit to Umbria and Abruzzo but it could have meant something else had been greedy enough and asked for 9 of these sise delle monache pastries instead of half a dozen. Mentioned several months ago in an attempt to create the much talked about dessert from Pasticceria Lullo, my doubtful baking results (and a mad desire to visit pastry shops in all of Italy) led me to heavily underline the words gotta visit Guardiagrele in Abruzzo. I bought, I tasted, I liked! It is a sponge cake deal with very thick pastry cream filling sandwiched in between. Why it tasted better than mine is probably because, you know, 1. those savvy pastry people assemble the sise on order instead of having them sogging up in the display case 2. Guardiagrele is a lovely old town, and most importantly 3. the sise things come wrapped in a pretty package with pretty ribbon. It felt like my birthday walking out of there. Related link: Sise delle Monache

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Si può trovare questi stampi per pizzelle
in via Roma 203/A, Guardiagrele (CH)

Now, I can't phase out of this trip recap without listing some of the take-home goods, so listen up. Most of it were of the edible sort, but on the way to get my sise fix, these pizzella irons caught my eye in a hardware store. The shop (located on via Roma off of Largo Garibaldi square), has several designs in both electrical appliance and over-the-flame metal flyswatter-looking thing, and I was already dreaming of wafer cones, cannoli shells and edible cookie bowls for serving gelato when a salesperson appeared and said, “Croccante or morbido?” (crunchy or soft?) Right then and there I had a brain fart because it didn't occur to me that there'd be a choice between textures, so when I point to another and he replies "mezzo croccante", I'm like - Half crunchy?!? Hey buddy, if I buy one of each will you cut me a deal?

Unique food purchases coming up next...

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Hiking in the Gole di Sagittario

Mountain-top village of Castrovalva — click to zoom in

Castrovalva to Anversa degli Abruzzi (AQ) - Despite that whole spectacle with the snakes, it was still a go for hiking anywhere in Abruzzo's mountain parks. Bears, snakes or wolves couldn't stop us. Our studio rental was located in the near-deserted hamlet of Castrovalva (fans of dutch artist Escher may be familiar with his depiction of the village). The village's proximity to Gole di Sagittario, a WWF-designated gorge and natural preserve, afforded us a well-trodden loop trail which led down the mountain to a natural oasis created by the Sagittario river below, and to the neighboring burg of Anversa degli Abruzzi before circling back. The river hosts an environment which nourishes a microclimate of flora and fauna that will appeal to nature lovers and photographers -- it seemed quite like a miniature Eden in the middle of all that sheer rock cliffs and rugged mountain tops.

Yellow star marks define our path.

We are such map fanatics that I've taken the liberty of scanning this one to give an idea of what can be done in 3 - 3½ hours if you're in Castrovalva or Anversa. It seems a lot of people think that you can't get down to the bottom of the gorge without driving off the cliff, but it is reachable either by foot or vehicle.

I'd like to quickly mention that this area of Abruzzo certainly has a long history with the Roman deity named Angitia (italian Angizia), the goddess of the snakes. As if that should be enough to explain the snake procession in Cocullo, it naturally made her an expert in the preparation of medicinal and magical potions by association - how else are you supposed to treat a snake bite? Shrubs and plants in the oasis were mainly unknown to these eyes, so here are a few photos for ambitious herbal medicine healers and hopeful snake goddesses like myself. Mouseover for details.

1. Belladonna (translates to beautiful woman, yet deceivingly toxic)
2. Sideritis or ironwort (stregonia siciliana in italian) - used to treat the common cold
3. Pulmonaria (polmonaria dell'appennino in italian) - apennine relative to lungwort

Related link: Castrovalva informative detailed post by MotH

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Festa dei Serpari

One of the serpari extends her snake to the inquisitive crowd.

Cocullo (province of L'Aquila in Abruzzo) - They are creatures that have slithered through the revered pages of the Bible ever since Eve took a bite from an apple. Some people loathe them, others react in fear, but here, in the town of Cocullo on the 1st Thursday of May, visitors by the thousands flock from all over Italy and from far corners of the globe to witness in complete awe, the procession of San Domenico Abate and the snake catchers.

Festa dei Serpari program

The folk celebration of the snake catchers/charmers (serpari) has ballooned into cult-like proportions which have definitely crossed the line from tradition to tourist attraction — complete with toy serpent vendors to the presence of a whole brigade of food wagons lined up on the road to Cocullo. The appearance of snakes, thankfully none of which are of the poisonous type(!) undoubtedly steal the show here. This is not your run-of-the-mill parade from smallville. This is myth, miracles and old beliefs all intertwined in one spellbinding occasion. I quote verbatim from the information placard next to the church:

“According to legend, when the Benedictine abbot reached Cocullo, it was being invaded by venomous snakes and the Saint used his flute to gather together all the reptiles, charming them and rendering them harmless. . .

Two weeks ago to the hour it was standing room only in Cocullo. From my point of view, the sheer magnitude of people (over 20,000 according to the T.I. office) is what amazed me the most. We arrived well in advance to be on the safe side but in the distance, long lines of cars could be seen on the motorway from both directions. Parking was a nightmare (and 2 miles away) so we made our way to town on foot. Coming from a place where there are NO snakes - Hawaii tries its best to keep them out! - it was a bit of surprise to witness an attendance so grand where snakes are part of the norm.

As a fan of italian tradition and folklore, I will say that this is a MUST SEE event. I suggest this webpage - The Serpari festival in Cocullo - as an interesting introduction to this segment of Abruzzese culture. At one point when a thousand shutters were firing away, I caught sight of an elderly man, his face dark and solemn, brooding almost, who respectfully made the sign of the cross as the snake-laden saint passed by. Could it be biblical ties that elicits such reaction? In an ever evolving hi-tech world, will Domenico and the snakes continue to mesmerize for always?

I hope this post has shed some light on one of so many unique cultures within Italy. We don't regret having made the trip out there, despite the chaos. Ha! As a matter of fact, Maddie became the model for a pro photographer who couldn't resist Mads' own personal charms!

San Domenico wreathed in serpents.


Large ciambelle pastries carried in baskets atop the heads of women in traditional attire.

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Hiking Monte Cucco

Dropping out of chronological order here . . .

View from the heights of Monte Cucco

This is the awesome hike that preceded that fantastic asparagus chowfest in the previous post. If I were to suggest an all-day hike within the environs of Gubbio, this one is it. Heh heh, because it's the only one that we did of course. Every time I gaze at this photo, it's like “I should grow me some wings!” At such altitude, there is nothing cooler than being able to look down upon a bird of prey from above. Too bad my binocular tracking skills suck, as sighting them at closer range would've been icing on the cake.

Visualizzazione ingrandita della mappa

Monte Cucco stands to the east of Gubbio, right up next to the border which separates Umbria and Marche. A popular retreat in summer, it was blissfully devoid of souls when we arrived at the starting point. The hike begins on Sentiero nr.1 in Val di Ranco at the large parking area to the left of Albergo Tobia. Walk past the children's play area and head on into the forest of ancient beech trees -- up until the halfway point at Pian delle Macinare, the going is fairly level with minor challenges in ascent/descent. Along the way you'll eventually come to Passo del Lupo - yep, that's Wolf's Pass - complete with an ideal panoramic viewing spot. From this point on, nr.1 leads to Pian delle Macinare and the rifugio which goes by the same name. Again, not a blessed soul, and lunch was none other than what else? Simple prosciutto sandwiches and those lupini beans that I could not ever get enough of on this trip.

After Pian delle Macinare you can either turn around the same way you came or continue on to the kick-ass part. And I mean that almost literally! Following the road out of P. Macinare, Sentiero nr.2 will be on the left. Keep an eye out for the telltale red/white marking. It leads immediately into the forest at an unforgivingly rapid ascent that will have you gasping for breath. We're talking a little over 600 feet (187 meters) within 30-40 minutes. Note below how the blue dots cut directly across the thin brown lines in the area named Val Rachena. Out of the woods, a fork in the path points to two ways to return to Val di Ranco. Turning left, we walk on level ground which gradually yields to a gentle ascent.

Black (1) and blue (2) dotted lines trace our path.

The general rule is that what goes up, must come down, and here is where hiking poles and a good sense of balance come in handy. The path (if you could call it that), zigzags downward on the exposed rocky face of the mountain. Dried clumps of grass crop up between the stones. The narrowness of the trail had me leaning toward the mountain's slant, acutely aware that one small misstep would send me tumbling down below on my butt. At a certain point, we had to toss down our hiking poles and scramble through this hole in the rock. On the other side, a constructed grid-type steel platform juts out over the ledge, offering an ideal (if not scary) viewing point over the lofty spaces all around and below.

From here on, the rest is easy. The trail ends at a large grassy area which is a takeoff point for hang gliders. Walking along the paved road, the turnoff to Val di Ranco eventually comes into view. Total hike time: 5½ hours (lunch break at Pian delle Macinare included)

Detailed itinerary (italian) at Parco del Monte Cucco website.

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Sagra degli Asparagi di bosco

Asparagus from the woods. Wild asparagus. They seemingly flourish like weeds in the region of Umbria and they don't exactly win any beauty contests either, especially when compared to the typical green spears that you find at the grocers. Be it cultivated or not, learning that there would be a week-long sagra celebration not far from Gubbio was too good to believe! We are back in the sagra and festa groove, and at the end I'll share a little secret on where you can easily part with 8 euros for a bundle like this one if you happen to be in Gubbio when the season is right and the asparagus foragers are lucky in the day's harvest.

Pietrafitta - As a small neighborhood fraction (of the town of Piegaro), I would never have known about the sagra if it weren't for the magic of the internet. This is just the sort of thing that I like going to at the end of a long day hiking. The food is cheap, good and plenty. The people are warm, friendly and clearly proud of their umpteenth edition of the event. You plop yourself down on any of the commune-dining type benches and someone comes along with a laminated menu. Everything is ridiculously affordable, and I'm ticking off this, this, this and that, when within a few minutes, someone is back to take our order. I really liked how organized these guys were! With great appetite comes even greater thirst, and the bottle of inexpensive local white commences the finale of a fantastic day in the mountains. From this point on it's show-n-tell time, but I do promise to reveal where I bought my wild asparagus, and a delicious recipe to follow later.

Bruschette with asparagus puree

Tagliolini al Mulinaccio - pasta with flaked perch, asparagus and pachino tomatoes

Risotto with wild asparagus - creamy and dreamy, a perfect marriage between the delicate flavor of wild asparagus and rice

Filetto di Maialino Umbro with asparagus and walnuts - tender and juicy baby pork fillet... this was reaaally good. The radicchio garnish gave a nice contrasting "bite" to the richness.

Lasagnette with asparagus - the thin, almost meager layering of pasta sheets, cheese and asparagus belied a pure and simple taste sensation

Wild asparagus frittata - for a split second I wished that there were hash browns, bacon and a side order of toast to go with it. Americans!

Antipastone Torrione - all it means is a big mixed antipasto plate in lieu of dessert

Like I said, with great hunger comes greater thirst. We emptied this bottle before the meal was over.

Sagra degli Asparagi di bosco website

Directly across the street from Hotel Oderisi (via Mazzatinti 2, Gubbio) in the small parking square, there is a tiny fruit and vegetable vendor to the right. Generally, the season for wild asparagus begins around the last half of April until there is no more, but you won't find them stacked top to bottom at this fruttivendolo. I took a peek around to see if the elderly woman had some, and indeed she did, right there in her hands as she expertly tied bundles together with ease. Never mind the steep price - the rule of supply and demand applies here. Oddly enough, it was also market day in the square when I bought my cherished prize, but none of the fruit and vegetable sellers had any asparagi selvatici to sell me.

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Tracing the path of the “Ceri”

The only way to describe the “Ceri” is to take a close look at the picture above. Standing tall and stately in Gubbio's Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo, these wooden, hourglass-like “Candles” come off of their heavy pedestals once a year for the gathering of the Festa dei Ceri (May 15th). Each of the ceri are said to weigh over 400 kilos, that's almost 900 pounds, and if you try to imagine these things being raced around the streets with a saint on the top, you just might be able to catch the feverish emotion that draws hundreds of people to this spring event. We knew that there would be no way to extend our stay until the 15th, so instead we traced the part of the path which zigzags up the mountain. This video demonstrates how crazy it gets!

Gubbio map (enlarge)

The map shows where we parked at the funivia/cable car station. Follow the indications for Via Appennino. It takes about 1 - 1½ hours to the top, with beautiful views of Gubbio presenting itself at intervals on the way. This hike alternative is great if jumping onto a moving, 2-person, open-air cable car does not appeal to your sense of adventure.

During this time of year (last week of April), feathery fronds of wild asparagus flourished everywhere on the mountainside but I couldn't find even one spear. Not even one! Early bird gets the worm...

Wild asparagus in Gubbio.

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Gubbio: Dining Amongst Wolves

After all the attention heaped onto those lupini, the wolf that ate them, and the subsequent post-link to the Wolf of Gubbio, where else would you expect one to dine in the city of Gubbio? Why, none other than at the Taverna del Lupo of course [Frommer's review], and anyplace else that had the marketing wisdom to add Lupo (wolf) to the name of their eating establishment. Out of the four restaurants that we visited - two with Lupo and two without - these three are worth mentioning. All are located in the center of Gubbio.

***Taverna del Lupo is everything that Frommer's says it to be despite my attempts at photos (there is just something so wrong about whipping out the lens in an elegant setting). I am mentally revisiting the evening's experience as if it were only yesterday. You won't find lupini prominently mentioned on the menu, but you will find tartufi — truffles — unabashedly used in many of the plates listed. In each of the truffle-enhanced dishes presented us I will admit without embarrassment that it took great effort to suppress ourselves from behaving like voracious wolves fools! Really, truffles are the sort of thing that induces sweet slumber -- especially when you fall asleep with your whole mouth and palate lingering with the pervasive earthy flavor. Sogni d'oro as they say in Italy (sweet dreams). So what if I refused to brush my teeth before bedtime that night.

  
Left: Sfogliatina del Lupo con tartufo   Right: Frittatina gentile con lamelle di tartufo

Via Ansidei 21, lunch and dinner, reservations suggested, major credit cards, closed Monday

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**½ Enoteca/Wine Bar “La Madia di Giuseppe” was discovered by chance when I picked up the glossy ad flyer at our hotel's front desk. This is a great “chill” place to unwind and discuss everything from the state of affairs to how Maddie will take to her new doxie brother (we are picking him up this Saturday!). Something about the casual ease of this wine bar urged us to pay a visit twice...both times within the same evening. They serve light lunches, soups and salads along with selected wines by the glass and cheese/salumi plates. We started off with a leisurely aperitivo then returned, later that night, for more wine and nibbles.

From bottom left and clockwise: Pecorino cheese - young, aged, truffle, saffron, walnuts

Via Mastro Giorgio n.6, credit cards accepted

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**Ristorante San Francesco e il Lupo is the answer to truffle lovers who may not have deep enough pockets to dine at Taverna del Lupo every single night. And what better place than this restaurant/pizzeria with an apropos name! That's how badly I wanted to get my fill of truffles, even if the pizzas at this place are not baked in a wood-burning oven. The MotH, automatic pizza gourmand by right-of-birth, deemed the “Tartufo” worthy of its creation. This translates to a return visit -- not something he easily concedes to given the thousands of pizzerie that dot this country.

Behold! The Tartufo!

Via Cairoli 24, credit cards accepted

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Gubbio in the month of April

Another couple on the road traveling in classic style.

Take two winter-weary adults and a feisty westie and what do you have? Aside from three compatible road companions, you've got a setting where the urgent yen for dining and hiking prompts the travelin' trio on a sightseeing tour of Italy's central and southern regions. Since April 25th and May 1st were holidays in close proximity, we turned them into one extended week to visit Umbria, Abruzzo and Molise. With the weather being ideal spring conditions (wonderfully sunny, with just a slight nip to the air), all that was required were light pieces of clothing enabling us to layer like an onion. Packed to the gills with hiking gear, a plug-in refrigerated cooler for the goodies, and our Slow Food guidebook, we set off for the place where St. Francis befriended the big bad wolf.

Focusing on the highlights for each region, I'll be covering a slew of topics within the next two weeks. Umbria is truly gorgeous. Abruzzo is dramatically stunning from a hiker's point of view. And Molise - well, destined to be a mere day trip, we stocked up on unique regional products and marvelous cheese that never fail to betray me whenever the MotH comes home from work. “I know what you've been eating!” he declares. “I smell truffles on your breath!” Here's just a teaser of what's to come:

That nasty wolf had exquisite taste . . .
The post on lupini may have stirred up memories for many, but it was the legendary Taverna del Lupo that fueled even more interest upon reading Frommer's review of this restaurant in Gubbio. We're talking truffles - on just about everything.

Walking the path of the "Ceri". . .
Weighing nearly 900 lbs each, the ceri are tall wooden ‘candles’. With a saint's statue affixed to the top, three ceri are hefted and carried on a race to the top of the mountain. Tracing the path of this annual event, Maddie becomes the unsuspecting video star of a group of japanese tourists.

A sagra of wild asparagus . . .
At this time of year, asparagi selvatici grows profusely among the verdant green hillsides of Umbria. We saw bushes and bushes of them, but nary a slender stalk in sight. Quickly harvested by the locals, the wild asparagus plays protaganist in a week-long sagra not far from Perugia.

Flying higher than the falcons . . .
It wasn't enough to simply eat at the wolf's tavern - we had to hike up to the Wolf's Pass as well. A 4-hour hike turned into a 5½ hour trek as we heaved our way to the top, ultimately granting us a bird's-eye view of predatory wings soaring through vast spaces below.

A saint slithering with snakes . . .
The girl at the T.I. office estimated that there were around 25,000 visitors to this cult-like event. That many onlookers from all corners of the globe in a tiny town of just over 300 inhabitants? Despite the huge crowds, it was preferable than being in the middle of say... an equal amount of snakes?

Hiking in an abruzzese natural reserve . . .
In my mind I can still smell the heady scent of dry scrub and brush that somehow survive the harsh conditions of Abruzzo's rocky mountain outcrops. Dainty blossoms everywhere, and being a fledgling gardener myself, it was nirvana to stop and smell the flowers.

The best little pastry shop in Guardiagrele . . .
Is a MUST if you are anywhere in the province of Chieti (Abruzzo). I tried to duplicate the famous "sise delle monache" some months ago, but ended up doubting my results. I'm glad for that, because getting my hands on the real thing was worth the wait!

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