Back in Black with White Collar

So we returned to Roma on Saturday. The mill in the countryside was nice. A nice setting to reacquaint ourselves after five months apart. A great setting to practice some meditation, to do cupping, to practice lots of naturopathic remedies for the cold I developed and to counter all the meat and white flour we were ingesting. My they love to eat there in the countryside.

Our neighbours Sandro and Teresa come from a heritage of DIY out of necessity, huge families, hard workers, big eaters. Before the second world war, it was common to have a large farmhouse with over 20 family members inhabiting. They would work their plot of land (not theirs, actually, belonging to a landlord), and would not make money, but sew clothing, grow food, milk and slaughter, press olives and crush grapes, hang raw legs of pork salted, stuff intestines with ground pork, age grape leaves and stems and other pomace to make Grappa. Very religious, pictures of Maria and Padre Pio in every corner of their farmhouse.

They would have almost adopted us if we showed up at their doorstep more often. The mill is 400 meters below an ancient town called Amelia. Pre-Christian, Pre-Roman, Pre-Etruscan, not much is known of these indigenous Italic peoples. The original walls of the town are still standing, huge blocks cut over three thousand years ago. The streets leave less than a meter on either side of a small/mid-sized car going 60 km/h not in a straight line. Lots of nativity scenes in the churches. kilometers of forest surround the area: Umbria is called the "green heart" of Italy, as it is green and lies in the center of the country. The forests are apparently full of wild boar, porcupines, and rifles.

At some point, I decided I would like to do an apprenticeship in basic carpentry in France. A good place to start, I think. Jesus did it! Who knows where.

My nonna visited, and she said, pointing to St. Peter's (translated), "Inside those doors, it is all gold." A few minutes later we stood infront of some part of the columns bordering the plaza infront, and she said something like, "Those are being repaired. That takes money. Our money. Inside the doors it's full of gold, and they take our money to repair their pillars." She also insists that the current pope is a Nazi.

Time for lunch! Fresh mozzarella with prosciutto is delicious.

Cheers,
Maurizio