Seven Days and Counting: Arrivederci Le Marche

"Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave." ~William Shakespeare

At our home in Le Marche, it is a rather crazy time right now.  We are packing up some things, cleaning up the house, and getting ready for another adventure.  This time, the adventure brings us back to the US for a year.  We, of course, have very mixed emotions about returning to California for a year.  While we are very excited about spending a holiday season with our son and his family and having the opportunity to get to know our grandchildren, we are also already missing friends and so many other things about our Italian life.  I find I am looking out the windows more often at the hills, mountains, hill towns, and vineyards surrounding our home.  I pay more attention as we wind our way down the hill or pass the gates of our little hill town.  All of those things that I take for granted after five years of living in Italy, I am now beginning to notice again.  

My stone farmhouse in the province of Ancona, Italy

So, here are a few of the things about my life in Le Marche that I will really miss:
1  Giuseppe and Graziella who have helped us with so many things as we learned about living in Italy.  And of course, Graziella's amazing cooking.
2.  Cristina and Massimiliano - Cristina has been so patient with us as we struggle to learn Italian, and Massimiliano has given us many opportunities to learn more about wines.  They are an amazing couple.
3.  Alessia, what would we do without her friendship and her wonderful restaurant at Vittoria il Graditempo where we dine weekly.

Vittoria Il Graditempo, Bed and Breakfast and Restaurant, Rosora, Italy

4.  Our friends from Osimo - We have known many of them for more than 10 years now and are watching their children grow.  We will miss our annual holiday luncheon with them and spending Christmas eve with Olimpia and Gabriele and their families.
5.  The ability to take our dog, Luca, almost everywhere we go including hotels, restaurants, stores (except grocery stores) and trains.  This coming year will be hard on Luca as he will not be included as often as he is now.  For this reason, we will probably be entertaining at home a lot in the coming year.  Good thing Jim likes to cook.

Luca in the Murano glass shop in Venice near Piazza San Marco on a rainy April day.

6.  Le Marche wines - It has been an adventure learning more about the wines of Le Marche.  We are still in love with the concept of going to a local winery with a 5 liter bottle and having it filled with sfuzo (loose wine) from the tanks for about $1.80 per liter.  And having the ability to go 15 minutes down the road to taste a number of wines without a fee for the glass or tastings is something that will never happen in the California wine regions.  Of course now, we are addicted to the Colonnara methodo classico spumante and their Cuvee which are not currently available in the US.  We hope they find an importer soon!!!  In the meantime, I guess we will be drinking lots of Prosecco again in the states.  

Remembering the Sommelier vertical tasting of Ubaldo Rosi at Colonnara winery. One of my favorite Marche wines.

7.  My home and the views - From our old stone farmhouse perched on a hillside, we have the most incredible views of the Apennine mountains, hill towns, olive groves, vineyards.  This view is irreplaceable.  

The view from my front yard. Spectacular.

8. Amazingly good and inexpensive restaurants - Going out to dinner, including wine, for under $30.00.  I am trying to prepare myself for sticker shock in California.
9.  All of the little local festas - Every little town seems to have something to celebrate - pasta, wine, mushrooms, polenta, wild boar, truffles, you name it and there is probably a little town somewhere in the Marche celebrating it at some time during the year.  These celebrations are mostly in the summer, but many spread into the fall and the Christmas season. We will be missing the Grande Maiolata celebration (the big pig) in our little town of Poggio San Marcello in January.

Barbecuing the bistecca fiorentina at the Grande Bisteccata in August in Poggio San Marcello, Italy

10.  Italian drivers - okay, they can drive you crazy sliding through stop signs, double parking on curves or anywhere else for that matter, tailgating, passing in no passing zones, acting like street racer, but in general, we have seen Italian drivers do many things that an American driver would never be able to do with such assurance and finesse.
11.  Our Alfa Mito - it is little and handles as well as the BMWs I once drove.  I wish the car was available in the US.
12.  The grocery shopping experience - Well, I am actually putting this here for my husband, Jim, who does most of the shopping  - first the grocery store, then the bakery, then the butcher, then the fruit and vegetable store.  Food tastes different here, so flavorful.
13.  Sunday lunch - In Italy, Sunday lunch is a major event when friends and families get together to share a leisurely multi-course luncheon sometimes lasting 4 or 5 hours.  We hope to keep this tradition alive in the US.
14.  The ability to hop on a train and be in Rome in 3 hours.  We will miss our annual Christmas trip to Rome to do some shopping this year.
15.  The language - While we do not speak it very well, it is going to be very strange to hear English everywhere we go.  In Le Marche dialect is a prevalent language and you do not hear English often.
16.  Those little things that you only can find in Le Marche like Visciola, a wine made from a small cherry that grows wild in Le Marche, and Varnelli, a licorice liqueur. 

The visciola cherry makes an excellent wine, perfect for an after dinner drink.

Of course, if I think a little longer, the list could go on and on.  But there is still more packing to do, so for now, I say, " Adieu to Le Marche".  But I will return.  Nothing could keep me away forever.