A Boar for a Birthday Husky Boy

One of the few sad thing about our Italian pre-tirement was the folks that couldn’t make it to visit, including pal Jeremy Holt (though, for full disclosure, he and his wife Megan were with us on our first trip to the Upper Tiber Valley, and another one too, so we have had the pleasure of hanging out with them in Italy). Jeremy’s not only a great pal, but also the co-author and omnivorous half of Double Take, and is mighty fond of the pork products. And, it’s his birthday today, so I wanted to invite a large member of the Italian pork family to send along birthday wishes:

Happy birthday Husky Boy! May your glass and plate never be empty.

*Note: We were on pre-tirement, and now we’re back. Want the full story? Start the pre-tirement journey here. Want to go backwards? Read the last pre-tired post here and scroll back. Or, just keep coming back for pretty Italy pictures.

Who Knew Jeremy’s Cousin Played Accordion?

Okay, Ivano Pescari may not, as far as any records show, be traditionally related to Jeremy Holt (pal of ours who also co-authored Double Take). But he’s the only Italian I’ve seen (and by “seen” I mean saw on a poster as I was driving through Verna) who has a ‘stache that can rival Jeremy’s March mustache marvelousness, or even approach it. Sadly (oh, so sadly) we missed out on Ivano’s performance that this flyer was advertising (as we were exchanging cars in Rome), but we are certainly watching for upcoming gigs. As a sidenote, Ivano has not been the only accordion player gigging lately—there have been like three fellas advertising upcoming shows where they're tickling the portable ivories, as well as a couple groups. It’s accordion season in Italy.