Blink and Summer is Over

Yes, it’s hard to believe that we flew through summer so fast.  So now here I sit, trying to recreate all we’ve done.  Here are some of the highlights, not necessarily in chronological order. You can flip through photos by clicking HERE

In May, after recovering from my illnesses and eye surgeries, we took a few days away from home and went to Malta.  This is a country that’s been on my bucket list for a long time.  And we got to do everything that we wanted to.  I just now realized that I did not post about it.  So I will save that post for another time as it’s too much to see!

The heat in July hit us really hard.  So hot!  Last summer, we had our air conditioner turned on only three times.  This year, it’s been just about every day.  We joined a beach club again this year, and that provided us with our own chairs and umbrellas at a nice quiet beach that’s only five minutes away.  We rented for the season, which is June-July-August. During July, on many days it was too hot to go. 

We took several day trips to towns in Abruzzo, which is something we really like doing.  There are so many little towns in the hills and each has its own character, a story to tell. 

In June, we went with a small group of friends to see the Cascata del Vitello d'Oro (Golden Calf Waterfall) in Farindola.  It was a short hike and somewhat steep steps to get there, but definitely worth the effort.  From there we stopped at a B&B for a delightful lunch, then to tour a sheep farm that produces some of the best pecorino cheese I’ve ever tasted.

We went to a wine festival in the historic old town of Citta’ Sant’Angelo that was also lots of fun.  Wineries from other towns in Abruzzo were there and the tastings were abundant.  Live music staggered throughout the town.  I took videos so that we could all appreciate the liveliness of the event.

We often go to the lavender farm in Silvi for various events.  The owner, Mary, is warm and friendly and a very good cook.  When the lavender is in full bloom, she holds an aperitif event where attendees can cut their own lavender.  I love going there because the views are fantastic and the atmosphere is so relaxing.

In the evenings, we might go to the belvedere in the old town of Citta’ Sant’Angelo is a small restaurant that has music (dj), good food and drinks, and of course beautiful views.

Mike and I did more work on our balcony, and we almost have it looking the way we want.  I’ve arranged succulents on three rolling stands, and they seem to really like the morning sun and the heat.  A couple of my other plants not so much.  But the jade plants seem happy where they are around the post.  Maybe next year Mike will get us a grill and we can have our own arrostocini.

We arranged a guided tour of the nearby town of Atri for our group of expats.  It was so interesting to learn the history of the town and the churches.  It’s always better to have someone explain the frescoes.  I can look at them and say “wow”, but having someone explain exactly what I’m looking at surely enhances the experience.  After the tour, we had dinner at a restaurant in the main piazza.  By 9:00, the piazza was full of people of all ages, milling around, kids running and jumping, like one big party!

In Montesilvano, there is a concert hall called the Dean Martin center, in honor of his family who was from there.  There also is open space for outdoor events.  We went to a beer festival one evening.  It didn’t get busy until 10:00 p.m.

One day a group of us drove to L’Aquila to see an exhibit of a Raphael painting, the Visitation.  The painting was created there, but the Spaniards stole it. After over 300 years, it was returned on loan to the museum in the castle.  The museum is small, but has some very interesting exhibits, like a 1,300,000 year old mammoth that had been discovered in Abruzzo.

Mike and I have been to the town of Tornareccio several times to see the open-air museum of mosaics, so when Dione Swift announced that she was offering a tour, I invited our group of expat adventurers.  I think there were about 20 of us, plus a number of other people who had seen Dione’s announcement.  Because she loves to promote the honey production in the town, Dione added a tour of a honey farm.  It was so interesting to learn how the different flavors of honey are produced.    Then we were shown a handful of the 100+ mosaics that are part of the museum, and had an amazing pizza dinner on the veranda.

We also took a guided tour of Citta’ Sant’Angelo.  Yes, it’s our own town, but there are places that are not accessible to the general public.  We were taken down into a giant cistern that had been built in the 19^th century to provide water to the common people.  Wealthy people who lived in large palazzos had their own wells, but most people had to carry water from some distance.  So the city built this huge cistern, which provided water to the townspeople and was structurally sound enough to survive the war.    They are creating a town history museum too, which we were able to tour.

I do like to cook, and one of my specialties is pizza.  Sometimes we just stay home and enjoy the quiet.

Our annual trip to the USA this year is split into two trips.  In August, we flew to Chicago for a week to see daughters Caroline and Maureen.  We drove one day to Normal, IL, to see granddaughter Liz in her new dorm room at Illinois State University.  Maureen published her first book, and hosted a event at her house to celebrate. Mike wanted to go to a White Sox game, so he and friend Cecil did that.  Cecil caught a foul ball.  Valerie and I went to lunch at the Russian Tea Room, then spent a few hours at the Art Institute.  We met up at a café, then headed back to Evanston for dinner at a new restaurant by the train station.

For the weekend, we flew from Chicago to Buffalo, then drove to Batavia, NY, where my niece Anne Miller lives on a 200-acre farm.  My sister flew in from Raleigh.  We had a BBQ with most of Anne’s kids and grandkids.  It was really fun!

On Sunday we flew to Boston and met up with daughter Kate, her Hubbie Lane and son Frank.  Frank is just starting to look at colleges (yikes, is he that old?) so we stopped at two to get look at them.  Lane has taken a job in Boston and has leased an apartment for him to stay during the week.  This arrangement will last until Frank graduates from high school in two years.  We had a great time in Boston, walking around, seeing the sites, and eating (of course!)

Back in Italy, we will begin turning our attention to our planned trip to Egypt in October.  In the meantime, though, we are enjoying life in Abruzzo.