Miriam took me up to the very top floor of this castle.  I don't know which floor it is. 4th, 5th?  But it's like anyone's attic with the beams showing-totally unfinished.  The children of the Baroness talk about finishing it into an apartment so Robby's mom can stay there.  But I also learned that there are 4 apartments here within the castle and no one lives in any of them! One of the daughters' (name escapes me) I'm told is like a museum.  No one is allowed to touch anything.  There were 2 chandeliers up there; one was really beautiful.  Just sitting there on the dirty floor.  And picture frames!  Lots of them.  And old.  And some old windows with the wooden sheathers attached.  I found an old basket-perfect shape with a cover.  And some iron bed frames-really pretty.

The name Battaglia means battle which I think is why this castle was built.  In the kitchen area are two gun racks.  One filled with rifles and the other empty.  I took pictures.  I also took pictures of the kitchen with the wood cook stove and the wall of copper pots.  Little by little I will see it all.  And I want to pick Miriams' brain and do a family tree with all the traditional Italian names.

I made another zucchini, walnut bread and stuffed zucchini for supper.  I put some yellow plums in the zucchini bread.  Miriam just picked another bowl of zucchini and summer squash.  More tomorrow

Ciao

I got to meet the Baroness last night for the first time.  It was late.  Around 10:30.  She's been asking to meet me.  She's absolutely charming and beautiful with long, white hair of which she apologized for being down, not fixed.  She was supposed to come over to the courtyard (palazzo) tonight and eat dinner with all of us but it got too late.  Robby's sister, Renata, her husband Giovanni and two girls, Katarina and Francesca ages 6 and 7 were also here and it takes these people a very long time to get it all together.  That is why we seem to always eat so late.  So I got to see a little more of this wonderful place.  I will take pictures of the inside of the rooms.  The original kitchen has a wood burning stove that is probably, conservatively, 15 feet long with several cooking places on top of the wood burning area.  I'm not sure how to describe it.  Maybe pictures would be better.  On the opposite wall from the stove is a whole wall covered with old copper pots.  I will count them later but from memory possibly 30 or more.  There is a table with several irons for pressing clothes on it and a scale.  All of these items of course are very old but just how old I cannot guess.  I will drill Miriam on such details later.

I went outside to another spot that I have not ventured into yet; outside of the Baroness' side of the castle and saw two large 'things' that  I have found out to be:  1) an olive press and 2) a mill for making flour.  I will take pics.  Awesome.  I also learned that Robby has an apartment somewhere within this castle.  No one lives there but I think Miriam, Robby and the girls might move there for the 3 days of the wedding to give up their room for guests.  I will be moving into Uncle Mario's apartment in town, just a short walk down the hill.  There is also a VW bus in perfect condition under a carport there.  No one uses it.

The plum cake I made yesterday (with zucchini) was a huge hit and I now am jokingly referred to as the zucchini person because I have been making so many things with it.  We have so much!  And someone in the village gave us a basket of their gold plums.  So I don't want to waste them and will be cleaning them to put into something today maybe.  They also cater to my obsession with eating tomatoes every day.  I can't seem to get enough of them.  I eat them with everything.  So they will probably get another case of them soon I hope!  How wonderful.

I will try to make a zucchini crusted pizza today with their tomato sauce and mozzarella.  I've been experimenting on these people and so far they like everything.  I will also make a chocolate zucchini cake that I found online.  What the heck.  Why not?  Cooking and baking for people who appreciate me has never been work.  It's play and they like it when I play.

It's 7:15 now.  I know this because although I never wear a watch or look at a clock, the church in the village, down the hill chimes every 15 min.  So I always know what time it is.  I will walk down there soon to see what church is to everyone here in the village.

Ciao!

                                                                        MINIMALIST LIVING

It has been so nice living with this family.  They have no up to date electronics except a computer.  Their one tv is very small and never on.  The children have absolutely NO toys.  I asked if Sophia likes to draw or color and Miriam said 'oh yes.  She loves to draw'.  All she has is 8 colored pencils and one coloring book.  Sara (8 months) does not have a playpen or swing or ANYTHING!  The rooms are sparsely furnished with just enough to get by.  Yet it all works.  We all keep very busy all the time between the garden and cleaning up this place of neglect to making food for the almost constantly hungry Sara.  She only has 2 teeth but does not want to eat mushed up baby food any more.  They have one car-a Ford Fusion.  There is never any snack food anywhere.  So no eating in-between.  Tonight for supper we had cooked fava beans from the garden, tomato salad, potato salad I made from left over cooked potatoes from last night.  Rare there is any leftovers for the next day.  And water.  Never juice or milk or soda.  Sophia runs around naked most of the time.  And the place is very quiet in between Sophia's whining.  More about Sophia another day.  A page will be dedicated just for her.

Tomorrow I will talk about the inside of this magnificent house (castle-Palazzo Gallotti).

I am so fortunate to be here.

I love it here.

Ciao

I worked so hard today sweeping and trimming the miles of ivy here.  I had to package up 4 big bags of junk that has been lying around this place to bring it to the big garbage can on the street.  I also pulled weeds that were growing in the rocks.  Everything here is made of rock.  But I can't understand how anything can grow in rock!

With my espresso this morning I had to have a piece of bread because Miriam brought out a jar of her yellow plum jam.  It was very delicious.  For lunch we had pasta-just plain with a salad.  But I asked if I could have a couple of tomatoes (Romas) with the pasta.  I saw Roberto brought home a whole case of Romas so I knew it would be ok.  I thought the taste was really good but Miriam and Roberto said "just wait till you try ours".  Their romas won't be ready for a while.  Then Roberto and Sarah and Sophia went away for a nap.  Miriam and I did some research on the computer and talked about the plans about the wedding which she is very nervous about pulling off.

It's midnight and we just got back from meeting Roberto's sister and gorgeous husband Giovanni and their two girls and a cousin (6) Leo short for Leonardo for pizza.  It was very good but I don't like eating so late.

Today I have been here for 3 days and I just tonight while it was still light out got to see the street view of this place.  Miriam and I went to town (Casaletto Spartano) just 2 km away across the valley.  This town is everything we all see in the movies about a small Italian town complete with groups of Italian men on the street playing some card game  and the women in their little groups on the street also-talking. It is a very small town with very curvy streets and so narrow, two cars cannot pass each other.  We went in this tiny store looking for a loaf of todays' bread but there was none left.  Then we went to another store almost as tiny to get ingredients for a 'test' cake for the wedding.  They did not have lemon juice-no one did in the whole town but would order it to be picked up tomorrow.  This is good because I will bring my camera to take a picture of the Palazzo Gallotti from across the valley.  The castle is actually in the town of Battaglia with 80 residents and one bar/store.  You can walk from one end of the town on the one road going through it in about  minute.  It was a much busier town several years ago but many have left for the city.  Their houses and apartments left empty.  I just learned today that there is 'the old house' up in the woods on this property.  The woods are very, very dense and I'm sure I would have to be shown it and not venture out to find it by myself.  This place is old but the old house is older.  Palazzo Gallotti was built in 1492 and yes, I still have not seen even half of it on the inside.  Miriam promises me I will.  I got to peek inside at the courtyard of Roberto's Grandmother, Maria.  Very, very lovely.  Tomorrow I must meet Maria.  I understand she has been asking to meet me.  She's 96.

Next week I'll have to move in town at Roberto's uncles' apartment for 3 nights so guests to the wedding can stay in my room.  This should be interesting!    Ciao

I worked all day in the garden on the hill, weeding mostly.  After a cool shower, I felt like a million bucks and rocked Sara to sleep in the swing while Miriam and Roberto moved a fence from around the chickens so they could freely roam around with hopes not to get eaten by the wild dogs that seem to be quite near and quite a problem.  Next week we're getting 2 mama sheep and 2 babies.  Today we picked more figs from the very tops of the trees.  There are several trees of baby plums which are incredibly sweet and are the size of a big grape.  We have purple and yellow plums that are this size and some purple ones that are a little bigger.  For supper tonight I had tomato salad on crunchy homemade bread.  I'm trying not to eat bread but I was sooo hungry after a busy day.  These people don't serve an abundance of food.  Even at Roberto's parents house on the beach, Carla (mom) made dinner for 7 adults and 5 children and had the amount of food I would have had for maybe 4 adults (or less).  The women are also very petite.  Tomorrow Roberto and I will build some steps up to one of the gardens with logs and stone.  It's very difficult to go up to and return from the gardens because the slopes are so steep.  I saw a few little lizards today.  It was HOT!  But not humid.  Also tomorrow I will be making zucchini parmagianno for the freezer for the wedding the following week.  Miriam made a huge container of zucchini salad in a jar for the wedding which will happen the following week.

There are a few, probably several, abandoned farm houses in this town.  The houses look like they're in really good shape.  It's a shame that this town of Battaglia has only 80 residents.  I'll take pictures from our farm across the valley, up the mountain at all the houses tomorrow.  It's very hard to believe there are so few people with so many houses.  I also want to walk to town (Casaletto) tomorrow.  Today was just too busy to go anywhere.  Although there is a small tv, no one has turned it on.  No radio.  No noise.  

I love it here

I have died and gone to Italy heaven!!  This whole trip so far has been amazing.  Flew 1st class.  Had my own 'pod' all by myself that reclined to a full horizontal.  Didn't have to bother anyone when I wanted to get up.  Had to pay a little extra but being a 9 hr. flight made it all worth while.  I spent from 5pm until now, almost 11 pm at a villa on the Tyronian Sea with Miriam (German wife) and her husband, Roberto, his parents, sister, her husband and a few other family members all talking up a storm in Italian and cooking fresh zucchini with anchovies and capers, eating cheese and figs that Miriam picked this afternoon from her trees.  We drank some kind of homemade wine and lemon cello.  And the kids! there were I think 6 all 6 and under running around speaking Italian.  It was wild!  I already told Miriam that I will never want to leave.  And we (her and I) have to do all the cooking for the wedding inside the palazzo of this 1492 castle owned by Roberto's grandmother, the baroness who also lives here... I am staying in one of the rooms of the B+B and loving all of it.  Have to keep the windows closed so the bats won't come it.  So much more I have to stop-exhausted!

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