Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
What the hell is this?
What the hell is this? I can hear you saying. A plastic cup of weeds and some red thing that looks like a cooked red pepper? You would be only partially right! This is not just a bad picture of some weedy flowers, no this is the aftermath of a typical Italian meal! Notice the almost empty wine and water bottles, the stained table cloth? Yes, table cloth even though it is out doors, Italians love to eat in style as it were. The silverware, dishes and of course the white table cloth. Fine dining in the great outdoors, it civilizes the meal! and as we all know, the Italians have been the great civilizers after all! Think Rome! Running water! Toilets! And I am sure back then they had the ever present white table cloth! What else were they to wipe their hands and mouths on?
I recall going to the beach with my in-laws for a weekend. At the time they had reserved a spot in this campground for the summer. They would go every weekend, my mother in-law would go to the beach and my father in-law would ride his bicycle all over kingdom come. They went prepared, with a table and chairs, electric stove, silverware, china, essentially the entire kitchen including fridge and yes the ever present never forgotten, table cloth. Funny, my mother in-law had two on this table, a flowered vinyl table cloth which stayed on the table at all times, and the white cotton cloth which only appeared magically at meal times. I don’t know if she had the self cleaning type or a stash of clean ones but every time she pulled it out it gleamed bright cleanliness in the sun. Who would have thought camping could be so civilized?
Of course in Italy, camping is quite the different experience. Within the grounds there is a restaurant, a bar, a place for music and gathering and huge bathrooms with immaculate white tiled walls and floors that are lovingly cleansed daily, twice even! Often there is a gelateria as well. The Italians aren’t much for roughing it, as I said Rome and civilized and all that. But sleeping in a tent is pretty rough, especially when your air mattress deflates and you don’t have a way to patch the hole because it is eleven o’clock at night and the little store that carries everything just closed! Damn! Just grab a couple table cloths and make a bed, you’ll sleep fine!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
A timeless beauty
Amazing to think that I actually left this place all those years ago. I needed a job and I knew I could generate money in the States, when all my contacts in Florence had generated nothing in a year. It does seem silly to have left the beauty and tranquility behind, but I had a beautiful girlfriend and I had to support her. Money does that. I wonder now what would life be like if I had stayed and struggled to make it work over there. I just felt it was the right thing to do at the time and I feel that if we had not made the choices we did, we wouldn’t be where we are and have the family we do.
When I was in Florence, I did an amazing amount of writing. Of course I had lots of time, we rehearsed maybe three times a week and gigged once every two or so, so I wasn’t busy. I used to write on command, poems, songs and short stories. I have a stack of that stuff. Then it was like waking up, here in America, ok time to go to work now, dream is over! Hup! Hup! Put that silly stuff aside and get your lazy ass moving! And guess what? I did. For fifteen years I haven’t written a lick, other than the usual letter or proposal, contract and now email. Writing takes time and needs a quiet place of inspiration, of which Florence is very much. Every time I think that maybe I can sit down for a couple of weeks and hammer out some things, life gets in the way, things like the electric bill, cable and phone, and oh! Oh! Can’t forget taxes!
The funny thing about life in Tuscany is that there seems to be more time. The days seem longer, with the minutes stretching before snapping to the next. Maybe it’s a space time contortion thingy, you know, the fact that they are six hours ahead of us gives them more flexibility, rubberizes there minutes and stretches their hours! Or maybe some things are just not that important that they can’t wait until tomorrow and hey there’s Fede and Vitoria let’s sit and have a coffee! Time seems to be found almost as easily as turning over that next rock and finding a worm! You know those roll over minute commercials for cell phones, the ones where you can reuse unspent minutes? I think maybe that is what the Italians have mastered. They have figured out how to roll up all those unused minutes at the end of the day and reuse them the next! Fantastic! If only they could market that…………………….
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Arizona?!
Well worth the visit!
Well it has been a long while since I took time to think about writing. What with the end of school and trying to organize for the summer!
We spent the end of June motoring up from Phoenix Arizona through the Grand Canyon and Navajo country into Utah and Nevada. What a country! I would have to say, that part of the United States is just spell binding! I just love the stark wild beauty of the area, which flows from arid desert to bejeweled green covered canyons with cold crystal clear waters cascading cheerfully through.
This would have to be my second favorite world spot behind Italy, although Machu Picchu is up there as well!
Just a couple of shots, which don't do justice!
Well it has been a long while since I took time to think about writing. What with the end of school and trying to organize for the summer!
We spent the end of June motoring up from Phoenix Arizona through the Grand Canyon and Navajo country into Utah and Nevada. What a country! I would have to say, that part of the United States is just spell binding! I just love the stark wild beauty of the area, which flows from arid desert to bejeweled green covered canyons with cold crystal clear waters cascading cheerfully through.
This would have to be my second favorite world spot behind Italy, although Machu Picchu is up there as well!
Just a couple of shots, which don't do justice!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
All kinds of fuzzy, but lots of hair though!!
I had a lot of fun when I lived in Italy and this was one of those fun things. Playing in the band. Crowds were never that big except when we played the amphitheater in Florence, that was a good size crowd. What a fun show, to be on stage outdoors in an old Roman structure, to be making noise where others, albeit dressed in togas, may have done similar. Unfortunately I have no photo's of that, the individual responsible for the camera passed out in the car! We played these venues which were essentially state owned property which was taken over by these anarchists. Pretty wild the parties they used to throw, never really understood what they were doing, looking for free rent I suppose. There was this one place out near Pisa I think, an old castle. The stage was set about ten feet off the ground, we had to climb up a ladder in the back, crawl through a tiny sound room until you emerged onto the fifteen by eighteen foot stage. I didn't understand why until we started playing. I have never seen people slam dance to the blues and have never seen it since. Slam dancing. The violence with which these people threw themselves and each other around was rather amazing and rather scary. It became clear as to why the high stage was needed. That was an entertaining gig to say the least.
Like the spurs?
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Shopping?
You know, one of my favorite things about living in Italy, once you get past the fact that the country shuts down from noon til three, are the markets. Not just the open air markets that happen just about every weekend in every little town. I mean the little produce markets, the butcher, the baker all the individual compartmentalized little stores that give shopping for dinner a sense of adventure.
Of course there are the mega stores that rival Costco or your typical American supermarket, that seems to be the trend of the world, fast and all in one place. Those places make shopping a burden, something that has to be done every week, it becomes almost a military operation. Get in, grab your stuff and fight your way to the check out and run! Pushing through mobs of sweaty bodies only to find wilted old produce or stuff that was grown in some third world country with who knows how much chemical compound used to kill bug infestations. There is something about shopping at these mega stores that is dehumanizing, almost degrading. It isn't a pleasure, at least not in my humble view. There is no connection between the product your buying and you.
When you walk into a bake shop in Italy it is almost like entering the Ritz. There is so much polished glass, marble and brass, the gleam almost hurts. Pristine white walls are obviously washed along with every other surface. It is just the way it is done, the product takes center stage within a clean, neat, inviting environment. There are actually people there who will service you, even discuss the weather! It seems like people have time! Lord knows where they get it, can you save up green stamps and exchange them for more time? I would like to know!
The butcher shop is a sparkling white tiled sanctuary for the meat lover. There you can find large Italian guys willing to carve up your animal of choice just the way you like it. Oh the joy! Sausages and prosciutto hang from the ceiling like prizes to be won at the carnival. Brash voices are heard bantering back and forth about all manner of things, one gets the sense of life in these places.
I guess it is the sense of community one gets from patronizing these small establishments. The fact that these businesses are mom and pop owned, not some large corporation over seas kind of deal. It allows one to feel like they belong and the more you visit these places the more you get known, your likes and dislikes. It makes you feel special. To be able to walk into an establishment and be greeted with a warm sincere hello is often enough to make anyone's day.
I don't think I'm slamming the American model, as I said it seems to be the way the world is turning and with more and more people arriving daily, we may lose the mom and pop shop entirely one day but I hope not. I think big stores are okay and they serve their purpose, albeit their purpose has become muddied because they try to cater to all and everything.
The joy is knowing that the thing you are buying from that baker or that butcher or that produce vendor has been handled with care and passion. In a sense you are not buying an item but a creation. Something that someone truly believes in and that is what makes it so special. The joy is walking from one place to the next in the steps of generations, being a part of the fabric that makes life rich. Shopping in this manner helps to slow you down, allows you to interact with people and enjoy life. To smell the roses as it were. It also helps you connect with what it is you will be eating, and what is in season is what becomes dinner.
When you go to Italy, (for I know you all will!) make sure you visit some of these shops, you'll get a sense of what life is about!
Buon appetito
Of course there are the mega stores that rival Costco or your typical American supermarket, that seems to be the trend of the world, fast and all in one place. Those places make shopping a burden, something that has to be done every week, it becomes almost a military operation. Get in, grab your stuff and fight your way to the check out and run! Pushing through mobs of sweaty bodies only to find wilted old produce or stuff that was grown in some third world country with who knows how much chemical compound used to kill bug infestations. There is something about shopping at these mega stores that is dehumanizing, almost degrading. It isn't a pleasure, at least not in my humble view. There is no connection between the product your buying and you.
When you walk into a bake shop in Italy it is almost like entering the Ritz. There is so much polished glass, marble and brass, the gleam almost hurts. Pristine white walls are obviously washed along with every other surface. It is just the way it is done, the product takes center stage within a clean, neat, inviting environment. There are actually people there who will service you, even discuss the weather! It seems like people have time! Lord knows where they get it, can you save up green stamps and exchange them for more time? I would like to know!
The butcher shop is a sparkling white tiled sanctuary for the meat lover. There you can find large Italian guys willing to carve up your animal of choice just the way you like it. Oh the joy! Sausages and prosciutto hang from the ceiling like prizes to be won at the carnival. Brash voices are heard bantering back and forth about all manner of things, one gets the sense of life in these places.
I guess it is the sense of community one gets from patronizing these small establishments. The fact that these businesses are mom and pop owned, not some large corporation over seas kind of deal. It allows one to feel like they belong and the more you visit these places the more you get known, your likes and dislikes. It makes you feel special. To be able to walk into an establishment and be greeted with a warm sincere hello is often enough to make anyone's day.
I don't think I'm slamming the American model, as I said it seems to be the way the world is turning and with more and more people arriving daily, we may lose the mom and pop shop entirely one day but I hope not. I think big stores are okay and they serve their purpose, albeit their purpose has become muddied because they try to cater to all and everything.
The joy is knowing that the thing you are buying from that baker or that butcher or that produce vendor has been handled with care and passion. In a sense you are not buying an item but a creation. Something that someone truly believes in and that is what makes it so special. The joy is walking from one place to the next in the steps of generations, being a part of the fabric that makes life rich. Shopping in this manner helps to slow you down, allows you to interact with people and enjoy life. To smell the roses as it were. It also helps you connect with what it is you will be eating, and what is in season is what becomes dinner.
When you go to Italy, (for I know you all will!) make sure you visit some of these shops, you'll get a sense of what life is about!
Buon appetito
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Prior to our purchase
I wanted to show a couple more before we bought pics, so you can get a good idea as to what we were buying! As I stated, a beautifully shaped pile of rocks! When I went house hunting with my inlaws all those years ago, this was the last house we looked at.
After experiencing the view and the serenity of the place I felt we had to have it! Silly me............. nine years later we have the house back on it's feet but not much else! The experience I had on that weekend all those years ago to find a house was truly a wild ride.
I flew into Florence on a Saturday morning, was picked up by my in laws from the airport and immediately we drove to Perugia to look at homes. I believe we looked at 7 houses that day, returning to Strada in the late evening well after dinner. As we ate a late supper my father in law told me about this house that had been for sale. He had sent us pictures of it and we had told him no we weren't interested. He thought the house had been sold but if I would like we could stop to look at it on the way to the airport in the morning. That's right, I flew in on Saturday and was flying back out the next day! Crazy youth! I told him it would be fun to have a look.
The next morning we left at 6:00 am to check out the house.
The access road was in such poor shape that we left the car several miles away and walked to the property. As we approached I was transfixed. The early morning light was filtering through a thin haze, coloring all in a rainbow of hues. The greenery around us was a deep vivid green, luscious would be an apt word to describe it. For an abandoned property it felt like home.
As I walked up next to the building several thoughts and feelings rushed through me, was the building going to collapse right before my eyes? and Look at that front yard! The view from the front is spectacular! I knew at that moment that this was the house for us. It spoke to me that morning in a way I'd never experienced before.
I told my father in law that we needed to find out whether or not we could buy the place and if we couldn't we needed to figure out a way to!
I got on the plane later that morning as excited as I'd ever been in my life. Needless to say my father in law found out rather circuitously that the property had become available again having been under agreement which fell through. We immediately jumped at the opportunity. Maybe it was fate?
Nine years later it is still a beautiful place, made even more so by the craftsmanship that has gone into building the house.
After experiencing the view and the serenity of the place I felt we had to have it! Silly me............. nine years later we have the house back on it's feet but not much else! The experience I had on that weekend all those years ago to find a house was truly a wild ride.
I flew into Florence on a Saturday morning, was picked up by my in laws from the airport and immediately we drove to Perugia to look at homes. I believe we looked at 7 houses that day, returning to Strada in the late evening well after dinner. As we ate a late supper my father in law told me about this house that had been for sale. He had sent us pictures of it and we had told him no we weren't interested. He thought the house had been sold but if I would like we could stop to look at it on the way to the airport in the morning. That's right, I flew in on Saturday and was flying back out the next day! Crazy youth! I told him it would be fun to have a look.
The next morning we left at 6:00 am to check out the house.
The access road was in such poor shape that we left the car several miles away and walked to the property. As we approached I was transfixed. The early morning light was filtering through a thin haze, coloring all in a rainbow of hues. The greenery around us was a deep vivid green, luscious would be an apt word to describe it. For an abandoned property it felt like home.
As I walked up next to the building several thoughts and feelings rushed through me, was the building going to collapse right before my eyes? and Look at that front yard! The view from the front is spectacular! I knew at that moment that this was the house for us. It spoke to me that morning in a way I'd never experienced before.
I told my father in law that we needed to find out whether or not we could buy the place and if we couldn't we needed to figure out a way to!
I got on the plane later that morning as excited as I'd ever been in my life. Needless to say my father in law found out rather circuitously that the property had become available again having been under agreement which fell through. We immediately jumped at the opportunity. Maybe it was fate?
Nine years later it is still a beautiful place, made even more so by the craftsmanship that has gone into building the house.
What a view!
This is the view from the front door at La Vigna, the photo quality is poor because this was taken in 2001, long before we bought a digital camera. I scanned this with a Lexmark, not too bad.
Those are castles in the far distance on the hill tops!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
When you go..........................
I immediately fell in love with this ancient country. It was so different from any place I'd been before. Mountains that marched directly down to the sea, stone houses and castles hanging precariously to the edges of cliffs. Food that was as comforting as a mothers embrace. I was smitten.
I'd often dreamed of living in a land of castles, and there I was. My tip to anyone traveling to Italy, open your eyes! I know that seems too easy, but one can get lost behind the camera or stuck worrying over the itinerary. Relax, breathe deep, don't think about time constraints, if you do, you will never experience the sites, smells and sounds of a truly magnificent land. Something else to keep in mind, your volume! Try to keep your level down so as to hear the music and cadence of the place. Traveling in Italy is a wonderous experience and if you open yourself up and truly immerse yourself, you will enjoy it that much more.
From the Etruscans to the Romans to the descendants of serfs as well as the purveyors of the renaissance, Italy has a history and a beauty that runs deeper than the Arno. They are a people well versed in the art of love as well as the love of art, the love of life and all that it brings. To be able to slow down and see things through their eyes is truly a learning experience. One should enter in to their world not step all over it.
My first few months were an interesting experience. I didn't understand why the banks closed for a couple hours in the middle of the day, right when I needed money! I didn't get that approach to life, a set pace and a continuous pace, worked better for the stress and anxiety levels that are present in our American daily lives and pretty much non existent in Italy. Of course one can argue both sides of the issue (don't let people catch you doing that though, they'll think you're crazy!) there are benefits to working a strait eight and going home, but it doesn't end there. Italians seem able to separate life and work and they work to live not the other way around which seems very American; living to work.
When you go, for I strongly recommend that everyone visit Italia, just keep in mind that you are a visitor. That you are visiting someones home and treat it the way you would want your home treated, with care and respect. If you do that and keep your ears and eyes open, you will truly have a wonderful experience and make many new friends for life!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The early days
I landed in Italy in 1992 at the young age of 27. I had no idea what to expect nor what I would find. I tried speaking French my first go round, when I was lost in the Milano train station, the only foreign language I knew at the time, other than a little bit of pig latin. Needless to say I managed to get to my final destination of Firenze with only major confusion, a pissed off cabby, I couldn't pay in Lira only dollars, and a surprised friends mother. It would seem that she wasn't told I would be entertaining them with my presence! My friend/guitarist wasn't there when I arrived. He neglected to inform me that he would be out playing with his other band! Oh, well.
Once settling my stuff, two steamer trunks, two bass guitars, 5 foot stack amplifier in 3 componants, duffle bag and two suitcases (I packed light), I fell down in the indicated bed, for it had been a 24 hour journey which included planes,trains and automobiles.
I was rudely awakened at the crack of 11 am by my friend who dragged me down town, introduced me to Jamie Lazarra, and convinced me it was time to start consuming aperitivi, well beer any way. Thus I was shown Firenze for the first time, we went from bar to bar to bar in the old city, my friend yelling about and pointing at all the monuments and old stuff!It was rather entertaining.
We returned to via dei Leoni to a small wine shop that was really just a counter top in a wall with a guy named Nico on the otherside. He was a Greek and fairly nuts, but what the hell we all were.
I met my future wife there that day at the wine shop. She showed up on her motorino in a yellow raincoat, her long black hair flowing out behind her. I knew I had to get to know her.
Leave it to say that it was a full and crazy first day which has led to a very full and interesting life. I will surf and recollect as we go.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
This is how La Vigna looked when we first purchased, not much more than a nicely shaped pile of rocks!
As one can see, there really wasn't much there. If the house had been in a valley it wouldn't have been worth much. The fact that it is up on a mountain looking south over Chianti is priceless. I just wish the damn Euro would crash already so we wouldn't lose our shirts every time we send a penny!and we could hurry up and finish!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Explanation
At the bottom of the page you will see the house as it stands now. What house? You are probably wondering. Why the house we own in Tuscany of course! My wife and I bought this old farm house back in 2001, just after 9/11 I think it may have been November. We spent the next six years waiting for Enel to bring electricity to the bottom of our drive, half a mile from the house, as well as building the access road for all the trucks and cranes and such to come. Once the electricity was at the bottom of the drive, we had it placed under ground all the way to the house so as not to have to look at ugly wires and poles marching up the lane, great idea, much harder to achieve. The past three years have been spent rebuilding the house and the little barn next to it.
When we bought the property it was just a pile of rocks really, no foundations nothing of value to save other than a few chestnut beams and terracotta roof tiles. We did manage to save some of the old floor tiles, but not many. We have finally managed to work the property into four apartments which we ultimately plan to have available for rent. The location is priceless. We are near the top of a mountain in the Chianti valley on the way to Greve. The property holds sway over two castles, multiple vinyards and olive groves. The frustrating thing is trying to accomplish this renovation from afar as well as on a shoestring budget! I don't know how much longer it will take us, but as you can see it is coming out beautifully.
More later
When we bought the property it was just a pile of rocks really, no foundations nothing of value to save other than a few chestnut beams and terracotta roof tiles. We did manage to save some of the old floor tiles, but not many. We have finally managed to work the property into four apartments which we ultimately plan to have available for rent. The location is priceless. We are near the top of a mountain in the Chianti valley on the way to Greve. The property holds sway over two castles, multiple vinyards and olive groves. The frustrating thing is trying to accomplish this renovation from afar as well as on a shoestring budget! I don't know how much longer it will take us, but as you can see it is coming out beautifully.
More later
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