Three of Umbria's Lovely Hilltop Towns

A leisurely drive into the countryside took us to a few beautiful locations:

ARRONE

Arrone is an Italian village in the middle of a beautiful Umbrian valley surrounded by rocky mountains near the Marmore waterfall. It is a very popular area for hang gliding, biking, river rafting, hiking, etc.  As we drove up, up, up to Arrone we saw many people standing in the piazza near the town center.

The people had dogs on leashes, cats in crates, and even a cow on a leash. And they seemed to be waiting for something outside of church. Was it a wedding, a celebrity????

It was not until a parade of horses and riders passed by that we solved the mystery....they were all there to receive a blessing from the priest for their beloved pets and animals!! 

We chatted with a couple who had brought their beautiful Great Dane for the event and learned that it was the Feast of St. Anthony, the patron saint of animals. We had accidentally arrived at the exact day and time to witness this unique event!  

Next we wandered to neighboring CASTELDILAGO 

A Medieval hamlet on a hill with 1033 BC as its first recorded date. It requires walking through the town's narrow lanes, archways and stair-stepped passages all hewn out of rock. 

At the recommendation of the owners of the Great Dane, we had lunch at Osteria dalla Sportello. It turned into a dining experience to be remembered!!!  Delicious dishes made with local truffles, wild boar, lamb, asparagus, Roe deer, etc. It was remarkable! We wish we could share tastes but the best we can do is share pictures...... 

Our last stop of the day was MONTEFRANCO.  

Visiting these small, lesser-known hill towns gave us a real feel of stepping back in time. They all have a history of invasions, feudal and papal battles, and it is no wonder that they were built on high ground, where Umbrians could hope to find some protection.  

Every town has at least one church located in the center. It is the heart of the community and is another reminder that Italy (with over 100,000 churches) played a important role in preserving the Christian religion through the centuries. 

Friend Connections

Our son, Jared, came for a visit!! 

And while he was here we attended church in the Terni ward, about an hour north of Rome. He was able to connect with the friends of a friend of his at home who had served a mission in Terni 20 years ago.   

Making it even more special was that we had become friends with these same sweet people while working at the temple! As they say here in Italy "È un mondo picolo!". It's a small world!!

In-house Chef

 Being in Italy is amazing but being in Italy with Frank, my own "in-house chef" is fabuloso!!  Frank makes the most delicious dishes from the Italy's plethora of fresh ingredients....  

... like MUSSELS 

(before and after)

.....and OCTOPUS!!!

Quiet Beauty - #2

 Our very favorite find of the day! 

The Thursday after Christmas, while strolling near Piazza Navonna, we noticed a nondescript doorway with a deep courtyard beyond. We had tripped upon The Church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza. 

It is strikingly different from most of the churches we have visited in Rome. It contains just one painting is over the altar. There are no statues. Most churches are very elaborate, full of colors, artwork, symbols, figures, and gold accoutrements. 

But, this church is different, it is ornate but not with things. Its ornateness comes from the concave and convex corners and edges and everything being white. It was built in the mid-1600s and is regarded as a masterpiece of Baroque architecture. It was the chapel for the University of Rome, thus the name Sapienza which means knowledge or wisdom. 

And the "steeple" is awesome!! 

It is a remarkable spiraling lantern that looks very much like a soft-serve ice cream cone!!

Now here is the fun part of this find!! This church is typically open ONLY on Sunday...but we "tripped" upon its open door on a Thursday! That is what we call splendid serendipity!! 
 

Quiet Beauty - #1

 One of our favorite activities is to stroll around Rome and see what we can see. Some of the scenes we want to remember....

Very large seagulls visiting the fountain in the courtyard of Palazzo Venezia. Their hefty size is probably due to the abundance of edible litter available in Rome. 

Tree full of blooming Trumpet flowers.

Blood red berries. 

The sky could not have been a more vivid blue!

Scenes from a Merry Mission Field Christmas 2023!!

 

Downtown Rome is lots of fun at Christmas time.

Our grandson, Ethan, is serving a mission in the Brazil Rio di Janeiro North Mission. Christmas was made extra special with emails and phone chats with him

Nativity on temple grounds.

Homemade decorations...Snowmen from Pringle cans!!

Frank served up a delicious traditional Christmas Eve dinner for 2...Calamari, Shrimp, Crab and Clams!! 

The small mall near our apartment went "all out" with holiday decor including a skating rink for kids.

Natale Pranzo (Christmas Lunch) with our temple co-workers held at the Visitors Center. 

An amazing abundance of food, friends and fun! Buon Natale, and God bless us...everyone!!

Come Dine With Me! - Vieni a cenare con me!

We accepted this invitation from our friends, the Guidara family, and had an amazing time! The previous post shows the olive harvesting experience. Now we will share the dinner experience!

But before dinner we harvested a few olives from some ot the Guidara's 300 olive trees.

It required donning "harvesting footwear" then dragging the nets to the orchard where we used small hand-held rakes to shake the olives off the tree. 

The women were called in from the orchard by Nonna Rosita who insisted that each of them took a turn shaping the homemade pasta. She rubbed and warmed up our hands before showing us how to place the small ball of pasta on the knitting needle and roll it into the correct shape. At age 93, this Sicilian born sweetheart has had LOTS of experience making this type of pasta. We asked what the shape is called and chuckled when she told us is called "macaroni". 

Her daughter-in-law, Silvia, cooked up the pasta and served it in a delicious mushroom sauce. Stuffed cabbage rolls and a chicory sauté came next followed by sweet and delectable dessert.  

The Mumfords, Weeds, Boyntons and Sanos considered it a great blessing to experience the hospitality and friendship of...

...the kind and generous Guidara family in their beautiful farm home in the Italian countryside. 

(An interesting side note: As we chatted, Elder Weed, who served in Italy as a young missionary, recalled Silvia's maiden name of Perticaroli to a family he knew when he was here in the early 1970's. She confirmed it and we all celebrated the connection! He told us that he has an old photo of the Perticaroli family. They deduced that Silvia would have been just 2-years-old. What a small world/piccolo mondo it is!)

Olive Oil 101 - An Italian Education

 An invitation from our Italian friends to tour an Olive Oil Processing plant was an opportunity not to be missed!! It was interesting and very educational. 

Olives are harvested from October through December by placing large nets on the ground below the tree and reaching up with vibrating rakes to shake the branches which makes the olives fall into the nets.

Italy is the world's second largest producer of olives. 

Independent olive growers from the area can bring their harvest to this processing plant and take home the oil from their own home-grown olives. First the olives are washed and separated from the stems and leaves.

Then the clean olives bounce their way into the plant...

....and through the grinder until the oil is extruded...

,,,into a large tank for a final clarifying. The acidity level of the oil determines its grade: Extra Virgin oil comes from same-day harvest with an acidity of less than 0.8%. Virgin olive oil is between 0.08 and 2%. The lowest quality is called lampante olive oil which is not edible but can be used as fuel in oil lamps and has an acidity level of higher than 2%.  

Then into the container it goes, ready for transport to kitchens around the world!! Another thing we learned is that the shelf life of olive oil is about 18 months IF it is kept away from its enemies which are....air and light. The experts say that the best place to store olive oil is under the kitchen sink. 

The remnants of the olive is not wasted. The mash is separated and the broken seeds of the olives are dried and packaged as wood stove pellets/fuel. The wet stuff (which looks like brown manure - but is not stinky) is sent to be recycled into bio fuel. You are now graduates of a course on Olive Oil 101! Boun appetito!!