chawen

The Saga of the Hot Water Boiler

Buon giorno,

I did get out in the afternoon--witness the shot I took of the famous Arco Etrusco, but I woke up to cold water again. I let my hosts know. They had a technician on call, so I had to wait around for him and Francesco to come. In the meantime I amused myself with my lap top

Of course, I have no idea what was wrong with the thing, but the technician worked on it with much banging and going up and down a ladder for at least forty-five minutes with Francesco asking questions and taking photos the whole time.

It was cool and very windy when I went out. My first stop was a bankomat to replenish my cash although Northern and Central Italy are card friendly.

Then I went in search of the Arco Etrusco. Predictably I got turned around, but what's the point of coming to Europe if one isn't going to walk and walk. I did pass this fun item on a wall.

Eventually I got on track and followed the sign posts--down a steep hill thinking all the while about how I was going to have to climb up again. The way was long, and I was thinking of giving up when I came upon the arch. It's an Etruscan arch, but the Romans invented the arch, and Augustus Caesar made sure there was an inscription honoring him on the entablature. There's a street that runs through it, so I decided to take that. It was steep, but also a bit of a short cut.

There's a window in the transverse arch across the street. Does someone live there? Wouldn't it be fun to stay in such a place?

The street dumped me out near the Etruscan Well so I knew where I was. I easily found the grocery store and picked up some tasty items, plus a couple of souvenirs. Italy has teeny tiny pastas for soup that I have never seen in the United States. Is it wrong to say the pasta shapes are adorable? Anyway I'm bringing some home for me and any friend who cares to have a packet

Dinner is linguine with tuna and pesto calabrese--not very Umbrian, but pretty tasty. Anything can be a pesto as long as it's pounded. Calabrese features red bell pepper, tomatoes, and some Calabrian hot peppers. It's delightful with pasta. I got some rose from Umbria to go with it.

Ciao for now