March 31 & April 1, Monday & Tuesday
*Oh yes, I’ve fallen a bit behind! The days have been full and good; how can one complain…not that I want or need to! 
We began language school Monday in a small operation run by the lovely Elisa. She is highly thought of by all who’ve studied with her or her colleagues, and it has been confirmed as to why! We are only doing two hours a day in a private lesson due to the flexibility it brought.
We parted with a coffee together the first day, and upon Elisa’s suggestion, made hungry haste to a restaurant just off Piazza Mercato to enjoy the local pasta “Strangottzi” dressed with pungent tomato sauce, pecorino cheese, and the most tender, delicate, tiny wild asparagus I’d ever seen. Tis the season for this, and like all good Italian food – eat what’s in season. The kind propriotiao, Rolando, told us about a nearby tulip farm when I made such a fuss over the gorgeous tulips at the counter. But more on that later!
* We were curious about a couple of not too far away small towns designated as “7% percent zones”…time to go see them. All of the zoned towns in Umbria are 1.) small and needing repopulated, and 2.) in earthquake zones. Hmmm.
Cascia was stop number one – a town found along the mountainous routes that run through the Apennine Mountains separating Umbria from the eastern regions and coast. It’s truly beautiful. We were puzzled when we pulled into town. There were plentiful parking areas for busses. Big busses, the kind that hold lots of tourists. What was up?? As we found the up escalator from the parking area, our curiosity was even more piqued. A complex and costly system of escalators and elevators kept leading up up up. We saw more and more signage and souvenir stands all related to Saint Rita. Ohhhhh, okay. This was the town of Saint Rita…of Cascia. The town and the Basilica that is dedicated to her…and holds her body encased in glass…is a popular pilgrimage site drawing thousands of visitors each year, especially in warmer months and during her feast in May. The basilica wasn’t built until 1937, and while St. Rita lived in the 1300 and 1400’s, she was not canonized until 1900. This small town was quaint, but was way too commercialized with all things Rita for our tastes. However, we’re happy they have a way to keep the economy viable.
* Ciao to Cascia and onward to Monteleone di Spoleto. This village is actually one of Italy’s “Most Beautiful Villages”, which is interesting it’s on the 7% list. It really was beautiful, however, and tucked in a fertile agricultural valley. We saw more livestock in the green pastures surrounding the village than anywhere else we’ve been. It also featured a neat little market space, ancient and now more of place to go and catch a great view, but we appreciated the signs explaining a few details of how things once were. No sign of much of anything going on nor of anyone out and about. We noted too, that there wasn’t really a main piazza. Without, it seems the heart of a town is missing. We wish you well, M. di Spoleto!
* Dinner – time to do a little cooking in the apartment, and thus I did! Nothing fancy, but a chance to use a few of the things we’d picked up earlier. Marty started feeling poorly when we sat to ate; chilled, flushed, achey. Uh oh. The over night story was one sick dude. We’re thinking probably covid due to some GI involvement, but not full blown.
By Tuesday morning, he was a bit better but certainly not well. Class cancelled, and dear Elisa was so agreeable to work it out with us for making up hours. Half the day was slept away, and that helped. We decided to get dressed and do a couple of errands, including grabbing a bag of a green weed looking plant I’d see at the grocery store earlier but had no idea what it was. Oh, we did laundry, too, to make good use of a fairly useless day. Anyway, the green stuff is called Agretti…a weed, basically, that only grows for about a month in the spring. I’d seen a recipe in an email I get…”Wow! I saw that in the store…gonna make that pasta dish!” It was so good — tender, delicate, with a low key flavor that blended so nicely with the other ingredients. I told our landlord about it the next day when we say him. He gave me a puzzled look and said he didn’t know about making a pasta dish with it, at least around here. No, it’s for salad…uncooked, fresh. Love how each region has their ways!