Buona Pasqua a tutti!

In other words...Happy Easter to all!
It is now the week after Easter and Rome is still buzzing with German, American, and Chinese tourists (they are all over the place).
The weather has turned cooler and rainier than in previous weeks. We have slipped into the 60s during the day and the 50s at night. It is supposed to rain for the next 7 days - not a bad thing. It should be really good for the garden!
Speaking of the garden, everything is doing very nicely. The plants have doubled in size and we already have started to see flowers on some of the tomato plants. The herbs are growing like crazy and I have started to harvest and dry them for use later...

Tomatoes are getting big...

The herbs, already trimmed once...

The lemon tree is growing its leaves nicely and I already see flower-buds for a ton of new lemons! Lemoncello year, here we go... (oh yeah! And Lemon bars for our friend Erika - a special request).
Thank goodness I have enough of the last batch saved up to hold us over till the next batch comes along.

Let's get back to the subject at hand... Pasqua and our weekend trip to Sperlonga. Due to Easter and the Italians - Tom had a four day weekend for the holiday. Back in February we took a day trip about 1.5 hours south of Rome to a cute little beach town. After just being there for a few hours we decided we wanted to spend more time. We came home and booked the holiday weekend in this quaint little beach town. Unfortunately, the weather did not seem like it wanted to cooperate. The forecast was for rain the entire time we were there and the tempurature was only to be in the 50s-60s. We did get lucky and had some sunshine the day we arrived and the day we left. Even with the not-so-nice weather we had a peaceful, relaxing, delicious time!
I thought we would start by giving you the view from our room...

Now this is a terrace with a view...

It was truly an amazing place to spend Easter.
Saturday was rainy but this did not stop us from exploring. We decided to take a drive to a nearby town called Gaeta, known for its olive oil and military base. It was a really cute place to wander around even in the weather. We were amazed by the number of little produce stands and meat stores that lined the little roads that ran through this town. We were equally amazed with the fact that all (and I mean 'all') the churches were closed and were having renovations done. Though cold and wet we walked up the hill to see a huge church and look down at the view of the water below (and the battleship)...

Church on the hill...

A view from the church...

The battleship & the fisherman...

Gaeta, a step back in time...

Of course after walking in the cold and rain, what were we to do?
Have a wonderful local lunch at La Cantinella Gaetana. It was an intersting little place. During our meal one of the proprietors (an older man in his 60s) approached the table, asked us how our meal was, and then asked us if we were a couple... Very odd but funny!

After lunch we left Gaeta to drive back to Sperlonga - on the way back we decided to stop at another local landmark - The Tiberian Grotto and museum. The museum was erected on the ground of the former Villa of Tiberius. The villa included a grotto down by the beach where some amazing sculptures, now partially housed in the museum, had been found. The statuary celebrated the deeds of Odysseus. I guess Tiberius got bored with the area because in 26AD he moved to Capri (another fine choice according to me).
Let's take a look...

Walkway to the grotto...

...and the entrance...

...a nice place for lunch...

...or just to enjoy the view...

Replica of the sculpture that sat inside the grotto...

Some of the...

...original pieces...

...that still remain!

It was a wonderful experience being in and around these ancient works of art and history.

On top of everything that I have already written, one of the most amazing parts of the weekend happened at night. We were lucky enough to be in this location during a full moon! The images at night were absolutely outstanding...

A beautiful view of the moon over the mountains...

The sea looking like flowing black satin fabric...

On Monday we left early and came back home to Rome - it was a nice relaxing end to a wonderful hoilday weekend...
We have to thank the town of Sperlonga and the amazing Hotel Corallo for another great adventure...

On the home front, I started something new... I am taking a ceramic painting class. Something I thought would be lite, fluffy and simply fun - turned into a serious artistic adventure...
Here is what I have to show for it...so far!

The original artwork...

My version...

Watch out Sistine Chapel restoration - here I come...
More to come, I am presently working on a large plate with a snowy mountain scene...

Ok, enough for this week!
We hope that your Easter (Pasqua) was as relaxing, beautiful, and wonderful as ours!

To all - Abbracci a tutti (hugs to all), we send our love to all our friends and family.
With love always -
Ron & Tom

Spring has sprung in Rome...

Ciao a tutti! (howdy all!)
Sorry for missing last week but as the title said - Spring has sprung and so has all the pollen!
The reason I missed last week was because my head was going to explode!
We did not have our usual rainy February-March so I guess that is why the pollen is in the air and not down the sewers (where I feel it belongs).
I am better now so back to work - here is your blog for this week...
Updates:

• The weather has instantly become beautiful - our days are sunny and in the 70s and our nights are in the 50s with tons of stars.
• Tom spent most of this week in Switzerland attending meeting with folks from around the world.
• I signed up for a ceramic painting class. It should be real interesting. The lady who runs the class speaks no English and my Italian is still pretty rusty. I still think it should be a great experience and hopefully one that leads to a new 'craft' in my life... I will let you know how it goes...

Two weekends ago, Tom & I decided to take our first adventure to beach for lunch. It was an amazingly sunny day but there was a strong breeze that kept the beach pretty empty.
It was a great day for a great lunch then a leisurely walk on our own personal beach.
The only people out were a few para-surfers (it's basically surfing while hooked up to a parachute).
Still the food was as wonderful as it was last year and the scenery breath-taking...

Sunny day at Fregene...

...but still too cold for the Italians!

Sea shells by the seashore...

Tom relaxing at lunch...

Back on the homefront - since spring has sprung...it's time for gardening!!!
Again, the terrace is starting to look like a nursery. I decided this year beyond the standard herbs I was going to try and grow some Italian varieties of vegetables. We fell in love with many varieties of Italian tomatoes -

Datterino  - a large grape shaped tomatoe that is amazingly sweet and is commonly used for sun-dried tomatoes

Pachino - a cherry type tomatoe that grow in clusters. Also very sweet and tastes great with mozzarella.

San Marzano - the premier Roma or plum tomatoe used in all good sauces.






Now that you know what they are supposed to look like - here is what they presently look like:

the Datterino plants...

the Pachino plants...

We are also growing nice Italian Peppers, Calabrese Peperoncino Diavolicchio (small hot red peppers), Basil, Marjoram, Oregno, Mint, Italian Flat-leaf Parsley, and for the first time Garlic!

San Marzano...

Calabrese Peperonicino

Basil & Garlic



The nursery begins...

Marjoram, Mint, & Oregno

All the proper ingredients are now in place to make a great homemade sauce and some great home-grown salads.
Outside the house everything is beginning to bloom. The park is again lush and green, the horseback riders are out and the lake is filled with tourists...

Villa Borghese...

Horseback riding...

Rowboat lake...

Everything else moving along nicely!
For Easter (Pasqua) we are heading down to a lovely beach resort called Sperlunga (as seen in a previous blog). I will let everybody see that adventure after the holiday!

For now, that's all we have to report...
We want to wish all our friends and family a Buona Pasqua (Good Easter).
We hope this posting finds everybody in great health and even better spirits!
Abbracci a tutti!
Ron & Tom

Getting back to normal...

After our last posting of running around and the wonderful visit from Patricia and Brian - we are getting back to normal...
It hasn't stopped us from doing things but at a slower pace...
You all may remember that Tom gave me an amazing gift at Christmas - Cooking classes with the wonderful Diane Seed. After our class Diane was heading to India to host one of her international cooking classes. She just returned and we had the pleasure of visiting with her at her country house in Ferentino. Ferentino is a small town about 65km south east of Rome. A beautiful hillside town known for its textiles (linen and embroidery) and, of late, heavy growth of industry (mainly pharmaceutical firms).
It was a great day full of sunshine, amazing food and ever interesting stories...
Diane invited us down for the day to have lunch in this super quiant town! We arrived at Diane's house about noon. Immediately we were warmly welcome into her home and heard all about her excursion to India. While leisurely enjoying a lovely bottle of wine on her terrace, Diane regaled us with the tales of the trip to India and her wonderfully interesting past.
Equally amazing was the view from her terrace:

Just... 

...breath taking...

A day for sunbathing...

Artifacts embedded in the walls...

After polishing off a bottle of wine we then headed off for lunch. I think this was the first time Tom & I, since our time here, had a full multi-course Italian lunch. The place was charming and the food was fantastic. Thank goodness we have a large car - after lunch we would never fit in a typical small Italian car...
We definitely need to thank Diane and the beautiful town of Ferentino for a warm and welcoming day!

Rome itself is preparing for tourist season. Lots of street sweeping and landscaping being done all over town. They have started cleaning up the manicured pines for the summer in the Villa Borghese... Funny to think that I always thought that they just grew that way. Now I know the truth...

Piles of lower branches...

...just to make that perfect look!

The weather has finally started to cooperate though still cold at night, the days are in the 70s. Since the weather has been so lovely, I started wondering around the town again... I must say you find some really cute, artistic and sometimes disturbing things in Rome.

Creepy...

Fun Grafitti...

Cute marketing...

Also on the homefront we attended another wonderful 'theme' dinner over a local friends apartment. It was Gnoochi Dinner Night! A group of us got together and made fresh gnoochi with a  fresh seafood sauce. It was fun, messy and definitely delicious!  All done to celebrate a birthday and a farewell to Erika's dad. Again, it was a wonderful night for all!

Erika with the gnoochi...

...and the prawn sauce!

And I helped!

Charlie, sauce master!

Everybody lent a hand!

A '10' from our Argentinian Judge!

Buon Compleanno Robert!

To give you all an update on previous things...
- Starting to unwrap the garden - getting ready for a new season of fresh vegetables!
- Our second batch of Lemoncello is complete! Filtered, tested (taste tested that is), and bottled for mass consumption! I am now looking into what it takes to make Sambucca... My next yummy alcoholic venture!

Ready, Set...

...Done! Yummy!

Well folks, I am going to end this posting with the usual best wishes and love to all!
Abbracci a tutti!
Ron & Tom