While walking around Terni we came upon several vending machines along the road. As we’ve seen before, they always offer an unusual assortment of items for sale. Guess which item is NOT for sale in this vending machine? (No, not this Lavazza coffee machine. The once next to it.)
Four years ago we went to dinner at a beautiful restaurant called Osteria dello Sportello which is perched atop the ancient town of Casteldilago – just across the valley and in view of our rental. We went with Elda, Daniela, and Roberta. The meal was simple and delicious with everything made in house. Then, 3 years ago, we returned with the same group only to be told that they were sold out for that evening, forcing us to find a suitable alternative. This year we were sure to make reservations and were not disappointed.
It’s Sunday. This is the final day of the Festa dei Santi Patroni Rocco e Teodoro. There is a mass in the church at 11am. Afterwards, families gather in their homes for a big lunch. We’ve been invited to Maria Giulia’s for pranzo and are joined by Antonella’s family and Elda. She begins with lasagna, my favorite, followed by roast chicken, stuffed cherry tomatoes, chicken liver pâté, grilled eggplant, fruit, and biscotti. Everyone is stuffed and ready for a nap. During the conversation we learned that Antonella had been involved in a head-on collision just days after her father passed away 3 years ago. This left her in bed to recuperate from a spinal injury for 3 months. Maria Giulia said it was a miracle she survived. We had originally thought that she was just stricken with grief, but now know that it was an auto accident. She laid down on the couch after lunch to rest her back a bit before we all parted ways. After our short walk back home I laid down for a nap and didn’t wake up until 5pm.
This was going to be a long day. Tonight’s event was the second “long dinner in the Borgo” and the theme was pecora (sheep). As in the U.S., lamb is expensive here in Italy, but sheep is abundant. We like grilled sheep, or mutton, and are looking forward to tonight’s feast. To start our day we decide to head to the bar and see if anyone is about. It’s a beautiful day and the walk from the Colle gets us there at 10am. Our “neighbors”, David and Laura from Wisconsin, join us at our table. We speak about who knows what as the sun slowly beats back the cooling shadows covering our table in the piazzetta. After a while we inch our table into the retreating shade until the sun has declared victory. We wave the while flag and decide to gather back at our apartment for a light lunch.
We were invited to pranzo (lunch) at the home of my cousin Luigino and his wife Flavia today. They live in Arrone next door to their son Graziano and his family. Flavia had been in contact with Cinzia throughout the year via Facebook and Facebook Messenger. When she saw our Mardi Gras posts she even asked if we might bring her some beads. We made it a point to pack some, along with small gifts from the Disney Store for her 3 grandchildren. Luigino picked us up at noon in the piazza after checking on his father, Virgilio. It was a short drive to his home, which we can almost see from our balcony.
Tonight is the pasta making contest. We’ve witnessed this event 2 or 3 times during past festas. Tables are set up in the piazza and the contestants come armed with their boards, mattarelli (rolling pins), knives, and anything else that they might need to produce the best tagliatelle that they can in the 25 minute timeframe. There are about a dozen participants, and oddly enough many of them are men, or teams of men. Among them is a woman we’ve seen win twice. She is a member of a traditional pasta-making society and my money is on her. When we ask someone why there are so many male contestants we’re told that they are not really serious, but have entered for entertainment. Also, the older women have given up participating in the event both due to their age and the fact that this woman is a ringer.
Well, maybe not Vito Corelone or Tony Soprano, but there was a soprano who sang the theme from The Godfather. More on that later. It’s Tuesday and we’re invited to Elda’s for pranzo (lunch) at 1pm, but before then we’re going to the SuperConti in Arrone for groceries. David has agreed to meet us at 9:30am and give us a lift to the store. He has some small shopping to do and tells us he’s in no rush. This SuperConti is much smaller than the Coop in Terni, so we should be able to pick up everything on our list in no time. The deli counter is manned by a single woman – one of the ladies we’ve seen around Torre Orsina. She recognizes me, obviously, and I order 3 etti of prosciutto, a fresh mozzarella di bufala sitting in a pool of its own cream, a quarter wheel of some soft buttery cheese, and a few small dried sausages. They have large blocks of Parmigiano Reggiano sold as is or cut to order. I point to a big hunk and ask for mezzo (half). I also want to try using guanciale (cured pork cheek) instead of pancetta (pork belly) to make spaghettini carbonara this week. The guanciale look like a tiny prosciutto – triangular in shape and wrapped in their entirety. She removes the colorful wrapping and puts her knife at the halfway point asking if this is okay. I don’t need that much, so she moves her knife until I say bene (good). She then trims off the skin and cuts my piece. It looks beautiful. I’d like to have a cool, dry, place back in Florida to hang a number of guanciale, prosciutto, copicola, and dried sausages of all varieties, but this is only a dream.
During the festa, the bar will host various tournaments to raise a small amount of revenue for the town. In past years they have held a Billiardo tournament, Foosball tournament, and Briscola tournament. This year there is a Burraco tournament. It costs €5 to enter. The tournament was to begin at 4pm today, but when I arrive at the piazzetta I join other players sitting around waiting on Carlo and Patrizia to open the bar. They arrive 15 minutes after the official tournament start time, but that was okay as several of the players have yet to arrive. Michele, Antonella, Maria, and Maria Giulia slowly make their way there until all 8 entrants were present. Slips of paper were produced, names were written, and several drawings were made to determine pairings and brackets. This didn’t take too long, but as I pointed out to Michele, we have 108 pieces of paper already in front of us (the double decks of cards). Oh well, it’s the Italian way.
Yesterday, a small notice was posted which advertised that bomboloni (donuts) would be available at the bar after church services let out. These are generally a mix of plain and filled coronetti (croissants). These “little horns” are filled with Nutella or pastry cream. There are also jelly-filled sugar-coated donuts, small crostata, and cookies. We planned on waking up in time and dragging ourselves into town to partake of the goodies. While the crowd was in church, we took a spot at one of the outside tables and selected our bomboloni and drinks before the rush. A short while after we were joined by David and Laura – the Wisconsin couple that rented the other apartment in our building from Corrado. Both are in their 60’s and are traveling the world. They’ll only be in Torre Orsina for a week after having arrived from Roma. David sold his automotive business (he made custom manual transmissions for 60’s muscle cars) and, following his wife’s lead, sold their home and are now self-proclaimed “global nomads”. They plan on traveling for a minimum of 2 years, but maybe as long as 8 years, depending on their health. Cinzia, having spoken with them a day or two prior, suspects that Laura is a liberal who forecasts doom and gloom now that President Trump is in office, so departing the U.S. for these reasons also played into their plans. We did not discuss politics, but instead focused on the state of Italy and managed to solve all of their problems from our tiny table in the piazzetta over pastries and coffee.
The social center of Torre Orsina is the small bar located on the piazzetta. It opens daily at 8am to serve caffé and cappuccino. There are only two stools at the counter, but a table and chairs for 4 inside, along with 3-4 additional tables and chairs outside. They will close just as the 1pm lunch hour approaches and then reopen at 4pm and remain so until closing well after midnight during the festa. The small town council owns the bar and sets many of the prices, but offers someone the opportunity to run the bar for a small annual fee. Any money they collect above the fee is theirs to keep. (Someone must have suggested that Cinzia and I pay for a membership since we’ll be here for a month, so we each paid €6 and received an official membership card with various other official documents being stamped and filed with the council, town, region, and Italian officials, I’m sure.) It’s certainly not a profitable venture, but more of a community service. Years ago Virgilio and Luigina ran the bar. I recall Evo running the bar in 1997 when I first visited Torre Orsina. In recent years, Cinzia and I have enjoyed Maurizio, and his wife, Fabiana, as they made a go of running the bar. About 3 years ago, just after our last trip to Torre Orsina in 2015, their daughter gave them their first grandchild, so they no longer had the time to properly man the bar and a new couple took the reins.
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