Rainbows and Billy Goats

Monday was another one of those slow, do whatever you want kind of days.  No plans, no commitments – just all of Italy at our disposal.  We took a long walk out in the country and saw a herd of goats watched over by two very attentive dogs.  Then it started raining, so we hightailed it back to town.  Then we did laundry.  When I say we, I mean Steve.  He took the dirty clothes to the lavanderia, started them in the wash, came back to the apartment, went back to put them in the dryer, and then I came in at the end like a knight on a white horse and folded them all nice and neat.  And they smell so wonderful!  I want to wash everything I brought before I leave so it will all smell so fresh and good.

After the laundry, we drove to Sansepolcro.  We went into a little shop in Anghiari on Sunday that sells handmade knit clothing.  Wraps, sweaters, hats, etc.  If you can knit it, she sells it.  And it’s all gorgeous.  Our little angel of a granddaughter turned 5 years old on Sunday and I wanted to get her a gift in Italy.  I thought one of those handmade sweaters would be good.  When we saw them on Sunday in Anghiari, we had no money with us.  The woman said she also had a shop in Sansepolcro and would be there Monday.  She also said she had many more items in that store and would bring the two little sweaters that we were trying decide between there so we could see everything together.  How nice is that?

So we planned our day around that.  We drove over to Sansepolcro and stopped by her store.  It didn’t open until 4:00 on Monday.  So we went to lunch.  What else could we do?  We went to a place we’ve been many times and have always had a wonderful meal.  Ristorante Fiorentino, in the heart of the old town.  They have an outdoor seating area and we asked to sit out there.  They said no, it was supposed to rain.  Well, it was bright and sunny, but whatever.  We sat in their huge, old dining room.  What a space.  You feel like royalty having you meal in this grand room.  We were the first people there (at 1:05 p.m.) and had the place to ourselves for a while. What a feast we had!

We decided since we had been eating so much we would have a big lunch and no (or a light) supper.  I couldn’t have asked for a better lunch in a more perfect setting.  We shared fried squash blossoms.  These were not stuffed, just perfectly fanned out flowers lighted dipped in batter and quickly fried.  Delicate, wonderful little pieces of perfection.  Then I had an amazing salad of greens, apples, berries and walnuts.  It was wonderful and so very needed after all the un-green things I’ve been consuming by the boatload.  Then I had gnocchi made with red potatoes and beets with a butter, sage, and walnut sauce.  Steve had two pastas, which confused the waitress immensely.  First he had tortellini in brodo.  The brodo was a rich veal broth – so divine.  Then he had agnolotti with butter and sage.  We had a hard time deciding which was best – we loved them all and cleaned every plate.  Then we had tiramisu for dessert.  So very different from what we have in the US.  Why?

The shop still wasn’t open after we finished our lunch so we went back to the apartment and had a little rest.  Then we drove back to Sansepolcro to visit the shop.  It was open, and as promised, there were many more things to chose from.  We settled on a blue poncho with fringe.  She has the most gorgeous blue eyes and this will look great on her.  And she can throw it on for school or anything and stay nice and warm.  I want one and if she’d had a bigger one I would have bought it.

As we were walking out of the shop, it started raining a little.  We ducked under the overhang of a building to wait it out and I looked up and saw the most gorgeous rainbow.  When the rain stopped and we made our way to the car, it had turned into a double rainbow.  I think that means something really good for us.

By the time we got home, it was time for happy hour.  We sat out on our balcony with our glasses of red wine and watched the storm move over the valley.  Dark rain clouds giving way to blue skies with white clouds.  The weather patterns here are amazing.  We’re almost in the middle of the peninsula that is Italy and the winds move from one ocean to another over this little strip of land.  The rain brought cooler temperatures so we moved our happy hour/light supper into our living room.  When the rain stopped we took a stroll through town.  We meandered through this day and into the night.  Saw rainbows, goats, and other simple, yet fantastic, things.