Gregor and Josefin arrived Thursday afternoon. We had the best three days of summer so far. It was hot, but not so hot. We walked all over CVS up into the earthquake zone and all the places we had not found when they were here last summer.
Jim inside a house where he should not be. Gregor is also inside this house. Josefin and Jeneane are wisely waiting outside.
The Gagliano Danes very graciously drove us all up to Rocca di Mezza. It was beautiful on the drive. The mountains are enormous. It is hard to realize from the valley, but once you are on top and you can see the entire valley with its villages spread out below you get a sense of the hugeness of the landscape. I road with Kirsten in her Jeep sort of auto. They had bought it from some people that used it to jack wild boar. These men would go out at night, turn on the light and ram the boar with the grill on the front. Jim, Josefin and Gregor had the smooth Alfa Romeo ride with Rolf.
Saturday Josefin and I walked to Gagliano Aterno. We took a small road that went more straight across the valley than the main road. We were walking through wheat, sunflower and other grain fields. Two deer ran across our path through the wheat. We spent a little time looking around Gagliano, because it only takes a little time, and had an excellent cup of coffee.
As we were starting to leave town we passed a woman and man selling garlic from the trunk of their car. The garlic was in long braids that split after about 8 inches. The woman kept crossing herself and holding up the garlic as if you would put it around your neck. We were virtually the only people in Gagliano. I do not know who she expected to buy. Once I had given in to the garlic, out came a huge bunch of onions. I bought those too, but clever me asked for two bags so I would be even on the 4 km walk back. The garlic are beautiful and we feel much safer now.
On the way back to CVS we took an even smaller road which proved to not be any shorter, but had more shade. It was obvious no one had walked or driven this road in years. The ruts were 2 feet deep in places and the entire road surface was covered in sticker plants. At one of the worst places in the road we were met by a real tractor, not one made out of a rotor tiller. It was pulling a large piece of equipment and I would have been felled by that if Josefin had not pushed me further into the sticker bushes. I had to un-thread the stickers that were stuck through my pants to get out. The tractor driver was also surprised and will be telling the tale of the crazy Danes for years to come. (since everyone assumes we are Danish, it is quite convenient to blame them as needed) He did confirm it was the road to CVS.
After a long nap we all set off for Castel di Ieri to have a coffee and as it turns out, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. It was pretty bad having been in the freezer case for at least 2 years.
G & J left today. It was great to have them here in their Italy home. Now I have to get back to work.
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