Dogs in Springtime

It’s still a mix of days here in the Niccone Valley (the most beautiful valley in the world, some say), with some sunshine, some days where the rain beats the earth as if it were angry, some with wind whipping around the olive trees, and some with only a handful of big clouds hinting at blustery evenings. The sun is starting to win out more often than not, though, which leads to the dogs spending more time outside, sometimes running wild, and sometimes just smelling the newly blooming flowers on the breeze (as well as the deer droppings on the breeze):

Of course, all these smells also lead to a hunting mentality, because who knows what critter might be sunning itself, just outside of the world’s flimsiest fence:

All that spring can make a dog tired though. Luckily, recently Sookie had an awfully friendly pillow to sleep on—Jon Sholly’s lap. Sadly, the changing of the seasons also means that visiting friends have to hit the road, back to homes and stateside habitats, which means Sookie can’t have such a comfy spot all the time:

More Pals of the Mastro (Dante, That Is)

I’ve talked lots about the trucker restaurant Mastro Dante, about the lengthy and awesome veggie-packed antipasti buffet, the no frills but Midwestern homey décor, the big plates of pasta (and meat, if you’re inclined), the flowing wine and beer, the wildly affordability, and the dandy service. Go read more about the grub if you haven’t, but here I just wanted to show a few more pics, this time of some recent converts to the Maestro’s winning way of lunching, starting with a cuddly pic of recent visitor Jon Sholly and our waiter:

and following that up with a pic of Jon, Nicole (wife of said Jon), and pal Christy, under the sign that drew them like moths to a giant buffet of lights (or food, as you will), a sign you should watch for if ever driving the highway E45, as you can see it somewhat from the hungry highway:

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Birthday Cake at Calagrana

Now, we’ve detailed the Calagrana eating experience (and how delicious it is), and the Calagrana cooking class experience (and how much we learned and had fun), but I wanted to drop up a quick post to mention the Calagrana, well, personal experience I suppose—and how sweet it is. By the personal experience, I mean how well the folks at Calagrana (Albie and Ely, their kids, and occasional staff) treat all the guests. Like family, if you have a welcoming, friendly, family. For my example de jour, let me take you to a recent visit we had there, when we brought Jon and Nicole Sholly (who, if you’ve been reading the blog at all, you know were recently here in the Upper Tiber visiting us) there for dinner. It was Nicole’s 40th birthday, and not only did Calagrana have some off-menu veggie food for us (as always), but they also made Nicole a special cake. Look how excited she is:

And look at how amazing the cake is (all personalized and pretty):

After she blew out the candle, Ely took the cake back and cut us off slices, and then the slices came out with plates that had personalized Nicole b-day messages as well (and the messages were written in chocolate. Really):

The cake was more than a normal cake, too, as it had layers of chocolate cake, cream, filo dough, deliciousness, and strawberries. It was so wonderful of them to go to such lengths for Nicole’s b-day—but this just points out what I mean by how the Calagrana posse goes to extraordinary lengths to treat guests at the restaurant in a memorable manner. I realize I’ve skipped over the mains but this is intentional, cause I wanted to focus on the cake. But let me just say these words: warm bean and asparagus en salata, veggie risotto, tagliatelle porcini, and incredible roasted veggies with the finest mashed potatoes I’ve ever had. Oh, what the heck, here’s a pic of Jon getting ready to plough into his scrumptious veggies and mash:

Living La Dolce Vita with Shollys and Scharrer

So, apologies for the week-of-little-posts here on the six blog, but we’ve been basking in the company of Italy combined with our recent rad visitors, the Shollys (Jon and Nicole, that is) and the Scharrer (Christy, that is). There just hasn’t been time for blogging—it’d just get in the way of things like sitting on the shores of Lago Trasimeno in Passignano, enjoying the sunshine and a few bierras: