We’re lucky that Seattle is a very tree-y and plant-y city--and that we have our very own cherry tree in the backyard (and a garden in the side yard). But I still miss the forests we were surrounded by in Italy, and I’m guessing Nat does, too. One of the trees we saw a decent amount of was the Castagno, or chestnut tree. The chestnut is a big deal in the Niccone Valley, and in the fall when we were there you’d see a ton of roasted chestnuts for sale near markets and even on the side of the road (our own local bar in Lisciano Niccone, Mafalda, even had plates of them as snacks during the aperitif hour a couple of days)--and one lovely little town near us, Preggio, has a huge chestnut festival. We also saw loads of un-shucked chestnuts on forest walks. If you haven't seen them, they're very interesting--spiny (though soft spines) and round and not looking at all like you'd expect:
I also think it looks like Nat’s about to send that one flying at me through the air, in some sort of Italian spell-casting. Hopefully it’d be a friendly spell (maybe one that ensured my bottle of Strega was always full)?
*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.
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