Santa Maria al Bagno July 31, 2016

We spent all day at the beach. It was super crowded and a total party atmosphere.

Horse shoe beach at Santa Maria al Bagno

The board walk above the beach. Lots of bars to the right.

One of the cool buildings overlooking the beach.

Public beach

Private beach

Happy beach goers at the end of the day after a gelato.

Nardo Now

Now we are in Nardo! We managed to get all the way here from Castelvecchio on the trains with only a 2 km drive to the train station in Molina and of course Rolf & Kirsten picking us up in Lecce. But still we were pretty pleased with ourselves.

We arrived last night and started the day off with a trip to the market in a nearby town. Here are some things that interested me.

In the back you see the way Italian snacks were sold. Now there are lots of terrible packaged things that people,
especially kids, are excited to buy. 

Hot peppers and all kinds of beans and grains. Food is even cheaper here than in CVS.

Salted capers: these are used instead of salt, because they are filled with salt. 

Dried tomatoes and all kinds of other stuff as well as spices. The air was rich with their scent. 

Meats 

The place is packed. Why is no one shopping here? 

Cheese

Cheese guys

And after the market it is time for a caffe, a beer, a coke and a lemon soda. Price 6E. 

Happy Danes!

Then we spent the day at the beach, but I did not take my camera so I will do so tomorrow.  You will not want to miss it.

 Look past the woman with big breasts and hips to the left. See the guy sitting with his back to the street. My friend tells me that this is how many Italians sit outside their houses: facing the house. We do not understand?

After a fabulous dinner we went to the Centro stoico of Nardo. We had never been at night and it was magic.

one of 28

two of 28

Jim in the piazza. Not as many people as in CVS on any given night.

Happy Danes and their friend at the base of a really high statue. 

Happy Danes and their friend after eating ice cream. 

Outdoor seating for ice cream parlor or galattotieria. 

The famous black christ of Nardo in church three of 28. Possibly this one is a cathedral.  

July 28 Waiting to Travel

Dinner with the neighbors was very successful. I think it is about the only time she gets to eat a meal that she has not made herself! Jim says that his favorite meal is one he doesn’t make, but I do not think that is why she is so complementary. The onion rings were a big success. He made poached pears for dessert which they had never seen before. We had a lot of Ginesana. They were excited, because they have run out. Our supply runneth over. 

On the walk

Nice church, but no good place to stand and paint.

Small piece of church in the  background!

On Wednesday we went for a 5 km. walk in an effort to get all our steps in. Steps do not really tell the whole story, especially the part about how intense the sun is. After that, I went back to the Commune to talk to the Mayor about how damp our wall is after every rain. It feels like wet laundry. He said this would take time to sort out. I am sure he was happy that I could not really say any more about it. I saw my friend, Vittorio, poke his head our of an office and then hide. Pretty funny. 

Wednesday evening we dropped in on the Great Danes armed with Tuscan wine and goat cheese. (actually, they knew we were coming) We had bread made by each of them. Both equally delicious. Karin had made a dish with thinly sliced beef covered in a sauce of reduced vegetables, sardines, and tuna. I will admit that I was concerned, but it was served cold and was delicious. She also made teremiso which was amazing! Sorry for the lack of pictures. It was a lovely evening under the Abruzzi stars. 

This morning...always amazing!

View

easel

This morning Irish Dude drove me back to Gagliano to paint. I was going to finish the one I had started, but when I looked at it, I did not know why. I like the colors how they are now. Finishing it would really just be to make it more salable. So I started another one. That one I did finish. That may be it for this summer’s pastels. The watercolors are certainly finished! 

While I worked away, Jim and Irish dude had multiple cups of coffee in multiple towns while staying away during the house cleaning of his house. Fred, the dog, hates the vacuum. 

This afternoon the clouds have built up and their is thunder in the distance. It rained for about three minutes yesterday afternoon and then did not cool down at all. Hardly worth all the drama and buildup. 

Tomorrow we are leaving for Nardo!

July 27, 2016

After a day of rain on Sunday we have had two beautiful mornings and afternoons marked by amazing clouds of all kinds in every direction and thunder echoing through the valley, but no more rain. Monday morning I finished by second view of Castelvecchio from the north side. I bet that not a single landscape painter in Vermont had a woman bring them expresso on a little tray along with a piece of Italian cake. It is a sweet life! I enjoyed coffee and cookies with this woman once before when I was painting near the same spot. This time her daughter, husband and three month old grand baby were visiting. The daughter and husband speak English, so we exchanged some pleasantries. Then the daughter said, in English, that her mother was driving her crazy with her endless advice. I said that that was her job, but it really bugged me that she used a language that her mom does not speak to criticize her mom right to her face. It seems even worse than talking behind someone’s back. I decided that the daughter would probably not be able to understand this until she is giving advice to her daughter about her grand baby. I wowed to give no advice to Jessie and Gina. This will be easy, because they are smarter than me. 

Yesterday Morning: view of Castel di Ieri from Gagliano.

And then there is the Ginziana. This is a liquor made from a wild, endangered radish. No one is supposed to make it and everyone does. At the start of the summer we had two bottles by two different people. These were given to us as gifts right before we left. (it keeps forever) We managed to finish one, but still have most of the second. In the last two days we have received two more bottles of Ginziana. Pretty soon there is going to be a raid on our house. 

Late morning painting started here. This is the place I had never noticed. It is pretty big and obvious. 

There is a man here who is a breakfast friend of mine. We have said good morning and possibly some other things each morning I am in Italy for the last six years. I did his portrait and this summer gave him a pastel. (hence one bottle of ginziana.) A few years ago I noticed that he seemed like he was recovering from a terrible illness. He had a cane and looked awful and had resumed or started smoking. I thought he had discovered he had some dreadful disease and that he might as well smoke. Yesterday, I found out that his daughter died that summer. Today I decided to speak to him about it and found out that it is the third anniversary tomorrow. This is a terrible disease that one cannot recover from. I honor the memory of his daughter, Suzanna, and all the lost children. 

Today, I really wanted to paint landscape and not more buildings. After market, we called up Irish Dude to see if he would drive us up to Gagliano to paint. He would and so we did. The light was so glaring and so strong that all the colors looked gray. I worked away at my pastel and was shocked that it took over two hours. (no drawing) I started walking up the road to my friend’s house and the place Jim was painting. This is a town I have painted in EVERY summer I have been here, but today was the first time I saw the view that is opposite the view over the valley. I had never looked above the brim of my hat before, but there it was, the church tower with the Sirentes soaring behind. The great clouds had started to build up so I started a new painting. It was getting toward lunch time and I did not want to interrupt our friend’s lunch so I took a photo and packed it in. At the house his wife asked us in and invited us to lunch. (ha, Vermont landscape painters) We said no no we could not impose and next thing we knew we were eating lunch. “No” is not a word in the Italian language when it comes to food. She blended feta cheese, boiled eggs, mayo and mustard to make a creamy sauce. Then she spread it on endive leaves. With it we had chopped tomatoes on toasted bread and apricots. So delicious and so nice to be treated so well!  This afternoon I re-did the portrait of the mayor’s wife. I still don’t think it looks like her, but I have put my watercolors in the cabinet and I am done. Twenty eight portraits. Two dogs, three kids, too many people smiling and lots of fun, because I listened to books on Audible the whole time. 

Looking normal.

Tonight the neighbors are coming to dinner for onion rings and some other stuff that is not the important part of the meal. They are coming over in about 30 minutes at 8:30. The sun has set and the melon colored glow is lighting the sky. The clouds are flat and not dramatic and there has been no rain. 

Last portrait!! Carmen

Never Eating Again! July 24, 2016

This is the photo I posted on our first visit six years ago. Nothing has changed except now there is
electricity and maybe soon: running water. 

Wood stove for warmth and cooking. There is a pot hanging over the fire with water.
Other cooking tools are hanging from the shelf on the left.

A pleasing mixture of old and new. This is a built in shelf. On the top right is one of the copper pots and head rings for carrying water. On the left is a yellow radio. Below is a place to keep modern day cleaning supplies and below that, large cast iron pots hang from hooks. The shells are a typical thing people like to make after a trip to the beach.

Today we went to the mountains with Ermelinda and Vittorio to their house for lunch. Mama mia. We went to their mountain house the first year we were here and it is even more amazing than I remembered. It is a museum. Ermalinda's mom and her sister lived there. It is a small shepherd house. All the heat is from the fire in the main room. There is all a bread oven in the house that would have made extra heat.

This is AFTER lunch!

Vittorio working on the ante-pasta. Three kinds of sausage, two kinds of bread and two kinds of cheese. 

gnocchi with ratatouille

Sorry, I did not take a picture of the meat. I just viciously tore into it without thinking of you.

Meat cooking

There are many fossils here. The mountains are still pushing up. 

Also after lunch.

It was such a great day. Fantastic friends, incredible food and lunch in a pastoral museum. Grazie Mille!

The Piazza, Sulmona and Jim's Work

These are my three finished paintings from earlier this week. Now I have embarked on a life of sloth. 

I have also done two portraits, but I have only taken a picture of Fred. He does not live in Castelvecchio and he is not a person, but he is so cute!

Today we went to Sulmona with Fred's owners. We walked around, ate galatto, ate some more galatto and then walked around some more. It is really hot and humid. The weather has been great the last week, but since it turned so hot I have quit painting outside. I have been reading "Jacob have I Loved" and the "Poisenwood Bible". They have a lot in common.

We have a bad habit of going to Sulmona and staying on our beaten path. Today we ventured out and
found this gate to the city. The painting on it is amazing if you look closely. 

Sulmona is divided in to Borgos or neighborhoods. Each year in late July there is a big jousting competition
 and each borga puts out its flags and gets ready to fight to the death. 

Just another amazingly beautiful church. 

Our new favorite lunch place. The old window on the left makes me wonder if it used to be a post office. 

A typically beautiful scene in Sulmona.

This last week we have taken to hanging out in the piazza in the evening even though there is no event. What were we waiting for? It is great. Everyone in town is out here. It is cool and fresh. You can have a glass of fizzy wine for 1E. Two nights we have gotten free drinks. Of course there may be a payback time. I call my mom on Skype while everyone is at dinner. Once everyone is in the piazza it is just too loud. Last night it was really loud because there was a DJ with lights and smoke.

Our friend "Italian Babe" and Jim with such beautiful green eyes!

It is almost mid-night!

Look at all the people!

Finally some great shoes!

Jim has done 20 drawings this year. Here are the most recent.

The crest over this door is a basket for making ricotta cheese. This was the home of the Ricatta family.
Don't you love the shadow of the railing?

He is enjoying doing drawings of doors. There are so many great ones.