Posts Tagged ‘Montone’
And the winner is…
Congratulations to del Borgo for winning the 2011 Palio!
We lost by one single point, but the jury gave us high points for our ‘nearly cineographic’ performances.
Read MoreMontone, the Palio and A Waiting Game
Everyone has given their all, and it is now a waiting game.
Who will win the Palio this year?
In the News
It’s been a roller coaster week for Aroma Cucina! On top of crazy festa doings, we’ve had some other good stuff going on.
Read MoreMontone: In the service of Dionysus
By most accounts, our del Verziere spettacolo was a grand success. It came off as a powerful, dramatic piece, and that was the intent. Five all-out rape scenes in a very challenging (as in STEEP) setting also took its toll on us. Skinned knees and elbows, bruises, banged shins, jammed fingers, and scraped toes, all in the service of Dionysus, the Greco-Roman god of wine, theater and ecstasy.
Read MoreMontone Donazione della Santa Spina: In Bocca al Lupo!
Lavinia In bocca al lupo!
Crepi!
In the mouth of the wolf!
I’ll murder it!
And that’s how you wish an Italian good luck. You tell them to look into the mouth of the wolf and they return with full bravado and machismo, “I’ll murder that wolf!”
Read MoreMontone Marathon: Day 2 of Donazione della Santa Spina
Tues morning, Aug 16
Town is a beehive of activity. Those little 3 wheeled Api’s are buzzing around town hauling sets and props, garbage, chairs and what ever else needs to be transported through our tiny medieval streets. Anything larger and Jeff is hauling it around in our trusty-rusty pick-up truck.
Clusters of people with clipboards gather, confer, and separate like so many drops of mercury, endless reorganizing according to the task at hand.
Montone in Festa!
It’s that time again! Donazione della Spina in Montone!
A full week in August where the town of Montone remembers Braccio Fortebraccio, our illustrious mercenary ancestor who survived many a battle against the Pope. His equally illustrious son, Carlo, as a reward for his heroic efforts, was given a precious thorn from the crown of Christ. As he rode into town with his prize, bells miraculously rang without someone yanking their chain, flowers sprang into blossom, horses genuflected as he passed and …. there was unbridled partying for seven days.
We are on the eve of unbridled partying.
Read MoreLa Dolce Vita Veloce
Lazy summer days, flip flops, reading a book until you fall asleep. Is this for real? Life in Italia hurtles by at breakneck speed during the summer. The Italians LIVE for summer, the socializing, the dinners, the festas, the concerts, the film festivals; they all tug at you and say, “Come on! It’s summertime!”
And we’ve been doing our best to live la dolce vita.
Read MoreExhale! Inhale! We’re back in Italia. And Sleeping Beauty Slumbers No More.
We opened the door and the house exhaled. As though it had been holding it’s breathe since we closed the door last fall.
First things first, we flung open the windows and let in sunshine and fresh breezes; in the process we woke up a few sleepy spiders and sent dust bunnies flying.
Finally, it was Kitchen Assault day.
Bye-Bye City Life
Our nomad urges can no longer be denied; it’s time to go plant tomatoes and other yummy things. So we’re heading back to Montone to open the windows and hear bird song instead of car horns. I’m looking forward to fava beans, artichokes and other spring surprises in the market. But I know I’m going to miss those blueberries and mangoes that have flooded the Chinatown markets.
Read More