31 August-10 September 2022
When the weather is good, Serrane are seated outside their houses chatting. What might sound like an argument to an American is actually just impassioned discussion. No need to call the police. After all, these people live only steps away from each other and see each other every day.
La Casa Sabbatini
The Sabbatini house probably dates back to the 1200s. The texture of the local limestone dominates the facade. Adriana had the stucco covering removed before our last visit in 2019. In the past, the ground floor of the casa was for the animals. Now it is an area for storage and laundry.
The first floor (one above ground level) is the heart of the house. Large oak(?) timbers support the floor and ceiling that is layered with stone or masonry. There is a tiny kitchen off the large room and a bedroom and bath in the back. The floor above has three bedrooms and a bath. Robert’s Zio Alfredo (Luciana and Adriana’s father) raised the roof in the back and added the upstairs bath in 1980. When my grandfather was young, the house accommodated nine—he, his parents, and six sisters. Robert’s father, born in the US, grew up here from nine months old until fifteen when he returned to the US to find work.
Panificio
The bakery in Serra opens from 8:00 to 12:30 PM Monday-Saturday. Although small, it provides a nice selection of breads, pastries, focaccia, and dairy-free cookies! Robert needs to be there by 8:15 before they sell out of the cornetti vuoti (an unfilled pastry) that he buys for himself and Luciana every morning. The proprietor practices her English with Robert on each visit.
Ramblings and Observations
I Gatti
The cat population in Serra has exploded! Most seem to be feral. One neighbor has six house cats and she also feeds the feral cats.
Dario, Alba, and Food
Dario arrived on Sunday in time for the main events of the palio We finally met his girfriend Alba. Very carina. Very kind. Very sympatica. She just finished a master’s degree in tech and was employed within a week as a web developer by a large national agency. They live in southeast France where Dario was recently transferred. Alba is ”smart working,” what Americans call working from home.
At Dario’s request, Robert made pomodore con riso, using Zia Santa’s recipe, with a tweak or two. This is tomatoes stuffed with rice and surrounded by chunks of potato, all baked in the oven. Dario ate three. Robert should have made more.
On Monday before Dario and Alba left for Rome, we went out for lunch outside Serra. Ice cream followed at the local bar gelateria, Crisma. The owner had run out of vegan chocolate gelato and won’t make more until next spring. For him gelato season has ended. For Bonnie, it has just begun. Bonnie was crushed.
