Villa Maddalena, one week's settling complete and the Giostra di Simone festival in full swing!!

Good morning!  So much is going on here that I will take only a few minutes to send you this greeting and set the stage.  Later today, I will write and post about the festa and the fun we are having, having given over almost the entire ground floor of the house to the Contrada San Martino!!

But first to introduce you to my breakfast companion - glossy and green in the morning sun....

The papyrus has grown very tall in its pots in the fish pond and this fellow turned and strutted as I had my morning coffee.

Summer lunch -
Patrizia and Giuliana now have, from time to time, fresh buffalo mozzarella....just add

..sun ripened, warm Fiorentino tomatoes and....

...some fresh basil chiffonade, a little La Romita oil....  Lovely lunch sitting under the pergola which is now heavy with clusters of grapes.

And finally, for now, the Ladies are arriving....

Last Wednesday 62 in number, this morning 128!  And they are about to unpack their finery....

Laurie and Martha, you will have quite a lovely parade of the Belladonna lilies!!

Well, that is all for now.  I will write about the festival and some of the small things later today.  Now, I must put water into the pond, water and plant a few things....  the air is soft with a very light breeze.  They are predicting, perhaps, thundershowers for the period of the parade and the jousting, so we shall see!!

Madelyn arrives Tuesday night into Florence and Wednesday she will have a massage and settle in.  We are here only a few days and then begin a month-long journey together!!  More on that later!!

Ciao,
Marcia

Campo dei Fiori and environs.  A food tour....

First, find breakfast....

...tempting...

Ah...perfect!

Then off to the amazing neighborhood bakery...

A short walk to Campo dei Fiori...

A stop at a wonderfest of delicacies...

Then to the campo...

Notice that wild, field asparagus is also on offer....  Il Conte Matto's wild asparagus with spaghetti comes to my mind...I've never seen it for sale before.  Made me want to have an apartment.

 

Agretti for sale.  It's an Italy-only and only-in-the-spring vegetable.   I can buy it in Sinalunga, but here it's loose in boxes and already washed....  More on this at the end...  It's delicious.

 

Someone in my life LOVES pumpkin...

These melons, in the 85F temperatures of the day were perfuming the air. 

More agretti...

Busy morning at the market.

 

Wild strawberries, mirtilli and lamponi.

 Agretti, close up...

 

Nespole - what Californians call loquats.   They are short season, delicate to ship and taste of apricots and strawberries.  They have smooth seeds in the center and can be peeled.  Possibly the most delicious tree fruit I know.  I was raised on them in Santa Barbara.  I wanted to plant one immediately in Montisi, but found that they do best where their leaf drop and dropped fruit aren't close to terraces.

Serbian mushrooms!

Cherries ripening in Tuscany, but these are from the south.

And now a walk through the flower stalls.  Enjoy!!

 

Marguerites and below, sweet William for nosegays.

 

 

And now final word on agretti.  Steam it until tender.  Drizzle with really good olive oil and add a squeeze of lemon and a grind of salt.  It's really such a subtle, lightly asparagusy flavor, but sweeter.  If you get the chance, try it.  See below.

So, that catches you up with the sights, colors and maybe the fragrances of Rome just a few days ago.  Evenings were spent dining with friends in little places I would not have found.  Good friends and Rome, what a wonderful combination!  Thank you for the hospitality!

M

Rome

My new strategy for exiting Italy is to go to Rome, stay in a small place in the center (cheaper than airport hotels by far), wander, have a last lovely dinner and then get up early (most of the connecting flights to the long-back-to-Seattle legs from AMS, CDG and LHR leave painfully early) and taxi to the airport.  What I've found is that even with the taxi fare to FCO, this strategy is either lower cost or on par with staying 'at the airport' - AND I have a last wonderful meal and a stroll!!  Join me....

Arrived by train, settled into my funny hotel and then sought a 'snack' to last me until 9 pm dinner....

This little piazza is just off Campo dei Fiori...

Campo lower right....

Watched over by eagles and lions...

Two priests share quiet moment at the end of the day...

My next hotel to try.  A little 2 star just off Campo dei Fiori...bedecked with jasmine and bougainvillea with roof terraces for guests.

Out the front door of this little 2 star....

Now to continue strolling.

And this, in Campo dei Fiori.  Reflections against the upper basin of the fountain...

A little scent of jasmine as the last linger at dusk...

Rome draped in jasmine.
M