Lilla Travels

Even though we left Pico several days ago, we wanted to share some photos of the town that we captured during that leg of the trip.

Views of the town

A lot of Mastro Lindo will be needed to eventually clean the cantina

Our commute

Watch this video from the piazza to our front door, and where we prefer to park the car past the house.

Also, the doors on the street do not make sense.

Or instead of video, here’s the commute in pictures, standing in Piazza Diaz with the fountain, our street is to the left of the fountain. Pass the nonnas weeding and continue down the street past the bend to get to our house.

Town center

With the fountain to your back, walk down this street to reach the town center. Outside the bank, inside one of the local bars, outside the commune (aka town hall), inside the local market.

There’s always a lot of cats. We drive past this shrine often when leaving the town.

Here are some photos of the house in progress:

The pictures are pre-paint, as Massimo, the local painter who fixed the cracks in the walls before we arrived, is going to paint everything at some point. We picked colors and gave him a spare key so maybe it will be done while we’re away for two weeks. And then again, maybe it won’t. And we’ll pay him the next time we see him, whenever that may be. That’s just how it works.

Paul has a few projects to tackle when he returns to Pico in two weeks:

• Talk with Massimiliano to get the screens replaced,
• Talk with Guiseppe about how much it will cost to fix part of the retaining wall in the garden,
• Clean the terrace,
• Fix the locks to the terrace doors,
• Try to get rid of the furniture and miscellaneous housewares we stuck in the cantina,
• And a few more odds and ends.

There’s a lot to tackle before we buy furniture for the spare bedroom and living room, or even think about renovating the bathroom or kitchen.

As Paul reminds me, “piano piano” which means “slowly, slowly” or “little by little.” We are in no rush to get everything “done.” We don’t want it to cause stress, and it can sit there for another decade empty and be in better shape than it was previously. So with that, we say farewell to La Casa Pico, for now. 

Today is our last day in Pico before we start the next leg of our vacation.

Paul and I spent time packing, Maria came by to confirm she will pick me up at 4 PM to walk me to her daughter in laws home so I don’t get lost, and Paul drove to a larger market to try and buy more espresso pods (they don’t have the brand that works with our machine at the local market and inexplicably the larger market was closed.) 

Around 10:30 we drove to Frosinone to pick up D’s phone but unfortunately, they could not fix it. Since it was still in pieces, we were told to return at 3:30 to pick it up reassembled. With several hours to kill, we found a shop that sold exclusively espresso pods, so we stocked up on the size that fits our machine. They offered us an espresso to drink, of course.

We then drove to the historic center of Frosinone to find the Santa Maria Assuntta church. We climbed, in the sun, to the top of the historic center since we weren’t sure if we were allowed to drive or if it was a ZTL area and didn’t want to risk a ticket.

D googled where to go for lunch, and we ended up at Old Wild West — a themed restaurant exactly as you’d picture it. We ate at one in 2018 and were happy to have burgers and onion rings for a change, even though everything tasted very salty. Being Old Wild West in Italy, we ended the meal with espressos (our third of the day.)

After a quick pit stop at Orizzonte to pick up some additional things for the house (a new stock pot to boil water, a bedside lamp, citronella for the terrace, etc) we headed back to the cell phone store to pick up D’s phone. Unfortunately, the phone isn’t reassembled yet, and they told us to come back by 7pm. Argh! D will need to use my phone on the next leg of the trip, so we have a way to reach him when he’s with the rest of the athletes, he has a way to communicate with teammates, etc. 

Paul drove me back to Pico for my nail appointment. Instead of trying to find a local nail salon that knew how to safely remove dipped nails, Federica hooked me up with Maria’s daughter-in-law, Ilaria, who has been doing nails for 20 years but no longer works at a salon. Maria walked me to Ilaria’s home at the base of the castle for a perfect manicure. Her house was beautiful — a complete gut renovation five years ago — and being at the top of the Borgo they had sweeping views of the entire valley.

While I was at my appointment, Paul went on a few errands. He successfully located Italian hydrogen peroxide to have in the house, went to Frosinone to pick up D’s reassembled phone (they didn’t charge us since they couldn’t fix it), and went back to Orrizonte to exchange the lamp as it was damaged. It’s just been one of those days. 

For dinner, we drove five minutes from Pico as the sun set over the mountains to Profumo di Caffe just into neighboring Pontecorvo. On the main road, and located next to the Agip gas station, it had a cute outdoor area decorated with strong lights. There were several families eating dinner and around 10:30pm, Mimo and Tiziana from Piuma Nera Bar arrived for dinner as well. The restaurant started us with tomato bruschetta, D had spaghetti carbonara, Paul had a pizza with zucchini flowers, yellow tomato sauce, pancetta and cheese, and my pizza was fiore di latte cheese, mortadella, pistachio pieces and basil. We had a choice of crust (high or low), Aperol Spritzes, and watched the parade of cheeseburgers, gorgeous appetizers, and desserts get served to the tables around us. It all looked delicious and we will be back. 

During dinner, we reminisced about the highs and lows of the trip. For D, his “highs” were visiting Naples, Florence, and meeting all the Pico townspeople. His “low” was the same as one of mine: the bugs. We’ve had some wonderful meals, but the gnats and mosquitoes have really put a damper on things. It’s been the worst for D, with his back and arms being attacked. Paul had all highs and no real lows, as things have gone better than he expected with the house, and he has appreciated all the friendly and kind people we’ve met in the town. And for me, while the entire trip has been a high, a low for me was that Miss M was not with us. For me, something was missing, and I wish our whole family could have been together for this experience.

As we drove back to Pico for the final time this trip, we were stuck behind a truck carrying bales of hay. Paul adeptly passed the hay truck, as many drivers had done to us over the past two weeks. Throughout the trip, we’ve commented on how crazy the drivers are, and how Paul’s crazy driving fits right in here. Carlo was impressed that Paul drove in Naples and said next time to take the train. Driving here is not for the faint of heart. But Paul knows the road so well at this point. He knows where there is a straightway and it’s safe to pass, even though the road is generally windy and it’s pitch black outside. During the nighttime drives, D keeps his eyes peeled for chingale and stray cats or dogs, while I sit in the back seat with a shielded view of the road and panic only slightly. We’ve all made progress on this trip, enjoying it in our own way, and are ready for the next adventure.

In the morning we awake to the sounds of a rooster (or multiple roosters) and lots of birds chirping. The rooster crows continue throughout the morning and often into the afternoon but they are drowned out by the din of the town. 

Some mornings, we also hear men’s voices as the hillside plot two doors down from ours is being reconstructed from a sloping hill to a multi-terraced garden built around their mature olive and fruit trees. We hear they are also putting in an above ground pool Construction begins as early as 6:30am, even on Saturday, and one day they worked through siesta until about 4pm. 

By 10am, the cicadas begin and they stop late afternoon. We sometimes don’t hear them in the evening, perhaps because it’s not hot enough on the mountain?

Occasionally in the late afternoon we hear a cow, but it can’t be that close by. We’ve also heard some baa-ing, and whether it’s sheep or goats, they sound angry and cause D and me to laugh whenever we hear them. Paul and I drove through a neighboring mountain with designated hiking trails and found four donkeys, but no cows. We heard the cow bells very late at night when we returned from one of our day trips. 

Because our flat is on street level, we can hear people talking when they walk by the house. There’s no sidewalk – the street is barely wide enough for a car, nevermind a truck, so when anyone is talking when they walk by, it sounds like they are in our kitchen or bathroom. We often hear Angela laughing next door. (Side note: Paul measured the width of the street and it’s 5’2” wide.)

We also often hear calls of “India!” as people in the neighborhood are greeting the dog next door who roams up or down the street. Calls to India may also be trying to get her to move out of the way of a vehicle. 

We think there is an elementary school nearby as we sometimes hear a group of children’s voices in the distance in the afternoon. Maybe a summer camp?

At night, Pico is very quiet, so it’s easy to hear a car approaching or driving through the town while sitting on the terrace. If D drove here, he’d really have to tone down the loud music he plays in the car to not upset the neighbors. 

There are hourly church bells and my guess if someone rings the bell versus it being automated. When we look at the time on our phones, the church bells are often a minute early or a minute late. There are different bells to signal the call to Mass on a Sunday or a funeral. I’ve seen two funerals in the past week. A telltale sign is people gathering around the nazzoni (public fountain) at the beginning of our street. Twice I’ve seen the white hearse carrying a coffin adorned with red and flowers to the piazza, family members gather in the square and then walk behind the hearse as it goes slowly down a street. 

We’ve noticed that people do not dress up for church, whether it was Mass on the feast day or for funerals – jeans, pants, t-shirt, a blouse, or even shorts. No one is wearing black. Death notices are posted on bulletin boards around town.

The town bulletin boards are only used for death notices and not for other promotions. For example, we learned from the electric company that there would be a service disruption on our street Monday from 7am – 1pm because we saw the flyer on the tree next to where we’ve been parking the car. 

It’s been a busy two weeks in Italy so we decided today we’d stay in Pico and do our best to relax. 

As it was a Sunday morning, the church bells rang at 8am, 9am, 10am…no idea if there were three masses but the bells were definitely different on the hour and lasted several minutes. While I awoke to the church bells, D awoke on the floor with his air mattress completely deflated. We offered to buy a bed the first day we arrived but he wanted the air mattress, so now he’ll have to wait for the next trip. 

Paul and I went to the L’Angolo Bar for cappuccinos and croissants (Paul’s was whole wheat and mine was stuffed with apricot). At least 50 people were milling about the town center, socializing and having coffee. 

While I did six loads of laundry today in preparation for our next trip, Paul got his hair cut and built the IKEA wardrobe for the bedroom. D spent most of the day on his computer and playing the guitar. 

For lunch we made pasta salad with tomatoes, fior di latte cheese, and peppers from our neighbor. We snacked on an apricot tart and local olives in the afternoon. 

Carlo came by the house to see the progress on the house. Massimo, the local painter, stopped in as well to look at the work we want him to do while we are gone. 

For dinner we went with Carlo to Lo Stuzzichino in Campodimele, a neighboring town to Pico which has been researched by scientists for the longevity of its residents. As Carlo knows the chef well, we did not order off the menu and instead put our meal in his hands. We started with antipasto plates with a selection of salami and cheese local to the region, local itani olives, two fritters, grilled eggplant, plus the chef brought out a platter of four mini lamb burgers and a platter with four local mushroom bruschetta. Then there was a bowl of cicerchia (local lentil stew), a bowl of cannellini beans with escarole, and a bowl of tripe in a tomato broth with pecorino cheese and mint. I was so full after the antipasto course.

For the primi, there was two types of pasta: le candle di mamma which was candle-shaped pasta with veal from the monte Aurunci region and sliced apples, and il pacchero estivo which is pacchero pasta with tomato, basil and cheese. We just couldn’t eat any more and asked to skip the main course and go straight to dessert which was “an homage to campodimele” — a ricotta tart with farina crumble and a pear and local honey drizzle. 

Not pictured: a basket of homemade breads, four glasses of pear liquor, a glass of rosemary liquor and a glass of fennel liquor.

The chef, Francesco, and his brother Roberto who waited tables, prepared and delivered a meal that was just exquisite. They are desperate for help waiting tables and the restaurant can seat over a hundred. At several points the chef was bringing out the food he prepared to tables because they lack staff. Sounds like a great opportunity for D next summer, if only he spoke some Italian!

Throughout Italy, there are many stray cats, whereas the majority of dogs we meet are pets. On his first night in Pico, D jumped out of the car to make sure a kitten had properly moved away from our parking space so we wouldn’t run it over. We thought the cats were fast and adept at moving away from cars, but on our fourth day, we saw a cat smushed on the street. Paul did his best to dispose of the cat, and we gave some ripe banana to the baby kittens we saw nearby. 

By the 12th night in Pico, D told the darn cats to get out of the way of the car. His attitude has changed towards them!

There’s a kitten who spends a lot of time on our street. One night we put out a plate of wet cat food and within seconds, there were three cats and two kittens jockeying for space around the plate for nourishment. The second time the older cats let the kitten demolish the food. 

Across the street our neighbor has two dogs: a diaper-wearing chihuahua that she calls “la bestia/the beast” who likes to bark at us from their balcony and a German Shepherd mix.

India, another neighbor’s dog, is fed pasta by another neighbor. No collar. No leash. She spends all of her time outside roaming. We’ve seen dried up pieces of pasta on the street five steps from our front door, or freshly prepared pasta available on a paper towel, for India to enjoy.

We’ve also seen India an eighth of a mile away with her owners at a plot of land. We think that’s where the chickens and rooster are. 

While India is very cute, she is also a barker. The first few days India barked every time she saw us, then she started moving towards us with caution. Now she regularly wags her tail and approaches us when she sees us, and has accompanied Paul more than once while he worked in the garden. 

Eight years ago on the sidelines of the Belmont youth soccer field Paul introduced himself to a family we heard yelling “vai vai!” (Go! Go!) to their fourth grader running down the field. Luca and his family were in the US for two years on assignment and their son and D were on the same youth soccer team.

We struck up a friendship and when they returned to Rome, Paul kept in contact with Luca, who we’ve seen on previous trips.   

This July they are vacationing in the beach town of Formia, so after a relaxing morning in Pico we drove 45 minutes to meet up with them at the beach. 

It was wonderful to catch up and discuss the cultural differences we’ve observed and comparisons they were able to share having lived in Belmont. For example, Ana remembers her large American washing machine and dryer, but said there is no use for it here as it never gets cold enough that she can’t dry clothes outside. Buying a larger washing machine wouldn’t make sense as there is only so much space in Italian houses, and on the clothes line to accommodate a small load, which I now understand. I was also able to ask a few questions about things that perplexed me during the week, and she got to reminisce with me about things she missed in the US, like TJ Maxx. 

Formia is a windsurfers paradise so throughout the day we watched Luca and 100+ other windsurfers on the water. See video. It was the perfect amount of windy on the beach – enough to make it not feel hot in the sun but not strong enough where it was blowing sand everywhere The water was clear and warm, and there were small waves as the wind picked up in the afternoon. 

We could see the island of Ischia in the distance and heard on a clear day you can see Sorrento and Vesuvius. 

The beach club, Bagni Parisi, served “crema cafe” which we haven’t had in years. It’s basicallly a frozen coffee smoothie concoction and sooo good. For lunch the boys had prosciutto and cheese paninis and I had a smaller sandwich. We enjoyed some beachside espresso and beer and relaxed all day in the sun.   

The beach in Formia recently received the La Bandiera Blu distinction meaning it meets high standards for quality, safety, environmental practices. It’s a source of pride for Italian beaches and promotes tourism as well. 

After a quick shower at their house two blocks from the beach, we had a cocktail at a nearby beach club before going back to Bagni Parisi for “Porcho Gin” — porchetta sandwiches and gin and tonics.

The DJ played Italian pop music and adults lounged under the canopy and on the beach while multiple porchettas spun on a nearby spit. We met many of their friends and relaxed under the stars for hours before calling it a night.  

We’ve been to Italy ten (i think) times and our only experience with Naples has been arriving at the train station and departing from the port to catch a ferry. Our perception was dirty, crime ridden, not worth the time when there is so much else in Italy to see. However on Friday, for seven hours we walked all over the port area, barely scratching the surface of this amazing city. 

We were collectively in shock at how large the city is, the sheer volume of people, and the variety of beautiful structures, statues and churches. Everywhere we turned there was something to look at. Narrow streets were lined with vendors and five stories of apartment window balconies, displaying laundry, people gazing at the crowds and the most proud display of the Napoli soccer support that I have ever witnessed. Napoli flags and art work and shirts and statues dedicated to Maradonna (their favorite player) and banners and signs and stores. It was visually overwhelming. 

And did I mention the street food?

• D has a whole Neapolitan pizza (hand held, folded into fourths, scalding hot), he had a kinder bueno cheesecake, a mortadella sandwich and an espresso
• Paul enjoyed a mixture of fried fish in a cone,
• I had a mini rum baba,
• At the historic Gambrinus Hotel we had deliciously thick espresso
• At Taralleria Napoletana, we enjoyed a savory taralle and Aperol Spritz for only 3.50 Euro! Taralle in Naples are larger than ones we’ve had throughout the rest of Italy and Neopolitans put almonds in them. 

We breezed through a lot of major sites in seven hours:

• We parked near Castel Nuovo, a medieval fortress from the 11th century
• Piazza del Plebiscito, which is an enormous town square built out of rock from Mount Vesuvius. It has several major buildings in it, including the Royal Palace and San Francesco di Paola Basilica, the exterior of which is lit up in Neapolitan blue at night
• Galleria Umberto I, a shopping plaza similarly designed to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan. At night the only people inside were a dozen kids using the Galleria as an indoor soccer pitch
• Naples’ cathedral, which was visually stunning
• Via Toledo, one of the main pedestrian streets dating back to the 1500s
• San Lorenzo Maggiore Basilica, one of the oldest churches in Naples and located in the exact centre of the historic city, 
• Walking back to the car we saw the exterior of Castel dell’Ovo, the oldest standing fortification in the city. Supposedly the Roman poet Virgil hid a magical egg in the foundations of the fortress, promising that if the egg were broken, the city would suffer great catastrophes. Hence the name “Egg Castle”.

We didn’t spend much time in any spot, trying to fit in as much as possible in one day.

The boys were also very patient as I dragged them to “Christmas Alley,” a narrow street selling nativity scenes. While it was not as pretty and extensive as I had hoped, we were surprised to learn that the official name of that street is “Via San Gregorio Armeno” or “Saint Gregory of Armenia Street.” St Gregory’s monastery, which was closed, is at the top of the street. For non-Armenian readers, Saint Gregory is the founder of the Armenian church, responsible for converting the country to Christianity, making Armenia the first Christian nation.

It took us over an hour to walk from Christmas Alley to the port which offered breathtaking views of Capri, Vesuvius, Sorrento and the peninsula. We had dinner at Pizzeria Errico Porzio, recommended to us by friends in Pico, and it didn’t disappoint. We didn’t have a wait, but by 9:15 there were 40+ people in line waiting to get in. I had a margarita pizza with San Marzano D.O.P. tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, D had the Parthenope pizza with pureed yellow tomatoes, fior di latte cheese, basil flavored grano parano cheese, a red tomato cream, and Paul had a La Picante pizza which tomato sauce and fiore di latte cheese, topped with grated cacioricotta, spicy extra virgin olive oil, and basil.

By 10:30pm we were back in the car leaving Naples. Our feet and legs were tired and our bellies very full.

We all agreed that Naples is an under rated city. People were outside dining on every corner. People were dressed up heading out for the night. It was vibrant and fun with people of all ages about. We wouldn’t recommend someone tackle Naples on their first trip to Italy, but if you like cities, Naples is a must visit. We all agreed we want to go back – next time wearing sneakers, maybe with a tour guide, and definitely for more time in the vibrant city.

This morning was outside the norm we had established over the past 12 days:

Paul and D drove to the town of Ceprano to try and get his iPhone repaired (he dropped it in the ocean while in Sperlonga.) The first place couldn’t help him, so they drove to the larger town of Frosinone to try a different place we had researched online. Hopefully we’ll hear by Monday whether they can fix it. 

Next the boys drove to a pick up point that we had arranged in Frosinone for an IKEA order. It is 9 Euro to order online and pick up in Frosinone versus driving over an hour to the store or incurring a 60 Euro delivery fee. They had a hard time finding the pick up point (inside of another merchant) but ultimately successfully picked up our wardrobe and a few other items and managed to fit everything into the car. 

Paul and D did manage to evade a security guard briefly and sneak into the Frosinone soccer stadium, which was a bonus.

While they were out, I walked to the store for a case of waters and yogurts. Unfortunately I grabbed the garden gate key off the hook at the front door instead of the front door key, and locked myself out. 

Leaving the groceries at the front door, I walked back down the hill to La Piuma Nera bar for a cappuccino. Using Google Translate and the few phases I could cobble together (Mio figlio iPhone roto! Giardino chiave, no casa! / My son iPhone broken, Garden key, no house!) I told Mimo about our morning as he shook his head with empathy. 

I then went to the hair salon where moments after I arrived, a woman came in from a nearby bar with a tray of espressos for all of the customers. Italian pop music played on the speakers and thankfully the salon was air conditioned. Only 39 Euro to get my hair colored and dried which is less than half the price than what I pay in Belmont. 

Arriving back at the house, Paul told me that I erroneously bought Gassosa, not sparllng water “con gas.” Gassosa is Italy’s version of Sprite. The first night we were in Pico, Stefano had topped off our glasses of beer with Gassosa to make a drink they call Panache or Radler. 

The day is not off to a great start, but all we can do is laugh it off as we know these mishaps are not serious problems to have.

By 1:30pm we decided to turn the day around and head to Naples, leaving all expensive jewelry at the house. More on the Naples excursion tomorrow as it’s late, we’re exhausted from the day and truly Naples deserves its own post.

This week the town of Pico has celebrated the feast of Santa Marina. There was small procession earlier in the week and mass each day, culminating in this evening’s festivities. Chiesa Santa Marina dates back to the 1100s and while Mass began at 7pm, people arrived throughout the entire hour. The church is so small that not everyone could fit inside; at least 30 people were standing oitside at the side and back doors, and even hanging out the windows of their homes to hear Mass.

At the conclusion, a regional band played while Santa Marina was paraded around the town to the main church, Sant’Antonino. Even Paul got in on the act.

At the end of the procession, there were fireworks but we have no idea where they being set off and it was raining on and off. The sound of the fireworks reverberated throughout the stone town; I felt like it would cause even the strongest building to crumble. 

In the town square there was a food truck with sandwiches. We saw many neighbors and socialized briefly before driving to Sperlonga to pick up D who had spent the night with his friend Andrea that he met on the basketball court three years ago. 

In Sperlonga we ate at Da Mari, a pizza place we frequented three years ago directly across from the beach front basketball court. A pepperoni and fior di latte pizza for me and buffalo mozzerella and tomato for Paul.

We briefly met up with Andrea and D before needing to part ways. Andrea is working hard to become a professional basketball player. At 6’4″ he is one of the tallest people in Sperlonga, trains each morning at 6am with a coach; and plays for a program in Turin during the school year. Hopefully it won’t be another three years before they see each other again. 

While D was in Sperlonga with Andrea, Paul and I took advantage of the free day to clean up the house a bit, Paul worked in the garden, and we drove to the town of Isola del Liri for the afternoon. 

Isola del Liri is known for a waterfall that cascades down 70+ feet in the town center, with a historic castle at the top. It’s the only town in the country where a waterfall falls in a town center.

The town was bustling (until siesta) with restaurants, shops, a bookstore, brewery, salons, etc.

Lots of restaurants with outdoor seating lining the main street. It was a 40 minute drive north of Pico so we may come back here one night for dinner. Maybe we’ll come back on Friday night since my idea of a perfect dining establishment (A Prosecco bar with “Boards, Bubbles and Cocktails”) is only open on the weekend:

For lunch we ate at Miro Ristorante and Pizzeria where I had mezzi paccheri (large tubes of pasta) with a very light sauce of tomato, mushrooms and garlic.  Paul had tonnarelli all carbonara tartufata (thicker spaghetti with boars cheek and black truffle pieces.)

Every morning begins the same: we have a cup of espresso using the small Lavazza pod machine we purchased our first day here. We sit in the shade on the terrace and check our phones to catch up on what may have transpired overnight in the US. 

After our espresso (#1) we walked around town and met:

• Tamara who runs a salon 
• Cinzia who has a salon two doors down from Tamara, and she’ll color my hair on Friday (yay!)
• Aldo who saw us look in the window of his printing/photocopy shop and followed us down the block to see if we needed help
• Aldo (the aforementioned Aldo’s cousin, we think) who runs a barber shop
• Ana and Claudio in the flower shop which create floral arrangements and personalized favors for weddings and other functions. They offered us espresso (#2) and sugar covered almonds while talking with Paul about their relatives in Rhode Island. 
• Domenico who runs the meat market
• And we peered into the bakery where bought lunch on one of our first days here. 

As we walked through the center of town we saw Stefano, Ricardo and Gigiotto outside the bar having espresso. Paul met Ricardo and Gigiotto in April. Already two cups in, we declined joining them. Stefano said the outdoor table is “his office” and as our neighbor Biaggio walked by, Stefano joked Biaggio is the secretary of the office. 

We also met Mario who wanted to be clear that he speaks American versus British English. He used to work for the American company Firestone and appreciates the directness of Americans as the British style of speaking is more locacious and harder to follow. 

After stopping by the fruit and vegetable market (which is separate, but next door, to the dry goods/cheese/meat market) we walked back up the hill. Steps away from our front door we saw Ana on her balcony who invited us in for espresso. How could we say no to her and a third espresso of the morning?

For an hour we chatted with Ana, first in her living room and then her upstairs kitchen which she said is more suitable for entertaining than her downstairs kitchen. She told us about her children; her husband, her ailments, and how she is turning 90 in March. We heard of her pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, where she bathed in the waters only to come out of the water not needing a towel as she was dry. A miracle! In addition to the espresso (#3) which she made on the stovetop, she poured us two glasses of her homemade liquor. The dark colored liquor was stored in a tiny bottle in her fridge, When we tried to tell her that her homemade liquor is better than Paul’s homemade limoncello, she proceeded to pull a small bottle of homemade limoncello from the fridge. 

By Noon it was almost time for siesta so we hopped in the car to drive 15 mins away to pick up Damian’s suit jacket. While we were out we stopped into a different supermarket chain which  was more spacious than a Conad but had some pre-made sandwiches, bags of salad mix, and a large aisle dedicated to all types of alcohol, so D stocked up on 4 Euro bottles of liquor to bring home. 

The sounds of the cicadas and lull of the fan trying to cool down the bedroom was all we needed to take an afternoon nap. Briefly I woke up to the sounds of D playing the guitar, but otherwise D just hung around the house today, sweating and itching since he got eaten alive by mosquitos (aka zanzare pronounced zahn-ZAH-reh) overnight. It’s the only day that the house has been hot — it’s 90 degrees out. 

Late afternoon we looked at paint color samples, had an espresso (#4) and rested some more before driving D to Sperlonga to stay overnight with Andrea, a friend he made on our trip a few years ago.

Upon returning to Pico, we saw the neighbors next door who gave us eggs again and peppers that she jarred. We explained that India, the dog, has warmed up to us and they told us how India used to keep the prior owner of this home company. 

For dinner, Paul made us pasta with tomatoes and garlic with local olives we bought at the market yesterday and the peppers from  our neighbor Angela. Mari joined us via FaceTime for dinner so it was nice to catch up with her. 

After dinner we walked through the medieval borgo, meeting more locals. So many people know the home we bought and comments on the beautiful terrace. And so many people ask if we’ve met Gina, an American artist who bought and is restoring a large property near us, or the Americans two doors down, but neither of them are in Pico currently. 

It’s 10pm and the feels like temp is 78 degrees, but we forgot to open the shutter door to the bedroom when the sun went down so it’s warm inside. Hopefully it will cool down shortly and the mosquitos will stay away as Paul ends the night reading a book on the terrace. 

Today we deemed as shopping day. 

We started at the Sarni AutoGrill which is basically a rest stop off the highway to get gas, but as we’ve encountered previously, the Italian AutoGrills are so much more than rest stops in the US. We bought a gift for a boy in the neighborhood, sweets, taralli, and had espresso. At the AutoGrill you can get a full meal, and it’s not fast food. It’s of a high quality. 

Next, a two-hour trip to IKEA on the outskirts of Naples with a view of Mt. Vesuvius. We bought a dresser, laundry baskets, bedding and much, much more. The wardrobe doesn’t fit in the car so we’ll look into buying it online for delivery at another time. Shopping in the IKEA maze is exhausting on its own, but navigating the store in Italian, with the metric system and Sunday crowds, was a lot.

Next, we picked up D at the train station in Caserta. He had a whirlwind 24 hour trip to Florence and had a blast. He brought us back gifts from Officina Profumeria Santa Maria Novella which was very generous and thoughtful.

And finally, we went to the La Reggia Designer Outlets, a maze of stores. We’ve been to La Reggia previously and knew we’d be able to get some basics at a higher quality than IKEA, but still didn’t find everything on our list. We were all too tired to shop for clothes and prioritized a few select stores.

Back in Pico by 6:30pm, we spent the rest of the night in the town square, as there was go-kart racing through the streets. Little kids and teens in full race car driver attire, zipping around a course defined by hay bales.

We watched the races for hours,  socializing with Marinella and her family and Tiziana as she tended to the crowds coming in and out of the bar. When D joined us in the square he wore his Mkhitarian jersey from when he played for InterMilan, and that made our friends very happy. “Inter Forever!” Marinella would chant and give a thumbs down to Napoli, while Tiziana would frown, as she and her husband Mimo are huge Napoli fans. We enjoyed the company of our new friends for almost 4 hours just relaxing both outside and inside the bar and meeting new people from the town.

This morning we had a visit from Massimo, the gentleman who plastered the wall cracks before we arrived. Because of the consistency of the walls (everything is textured), filling in the cracks is not a messy job as there is no need to sand to achieve a smooth surface. Paul paid Massimo and enlisted him to paint the interior walls (sans bathroom) in the future. On Monday at 6pm he’s going to bring paint color samples for us to review, so no need for us to go back to the hardware store. 

Massimo is the first person all week to suggest a time for his appointment with us. Biaggio yesterday said “later today” for his visit with the drill. Yesterday we were told to call the beach club “in the morning” and the waste removal people said they’d call us “the day before we arrive.” We’ve been lacking in specifics and are used to it at this stage. 

Before Noon we had dropped off D at the local train station (he’s visiting a friend vacationing in Florence) and Paul and I went to a beach club in Sperlonga. The beach club was ten minutes away from where we had stayed 3 years ago, and only $31 Euro for an assigned, shaded parking spot (no over crowding) in a lot lined with olive trees, two beach chairs and an umbrella.  Upon arrival we saw Marco who we had run into at the hardware store earlier in the week, his wife Frederica, and their children, who live in Pico. While we arrived at Noon, they left at 12:15 for sit down lunch away returning more than two hours later. Because you rent your chairs for the day, it’s safe to leave everything at the shore. 

I just love Italian beach culture: the silver-haired men wearing a blue pin striped button down shirt, mostly unbuttoned, with his bathing suit. The women of all shapes and sizes wearing small two piece suits. The public displays of affection from 20-somethings infatuated with each other; the kids eating bowls of pasta in red sauce as their beach snack. 25 years of visiting Italian beaches and the scene never gets old for me. 

I fell asleep on the beach and awoke to the familiar sounds of a beach vendor selling cookies. “Bella bella signori!” he calls out followed by some indecipherable sentence. It caught our interest on the last visit and know he has a cart of cookies. It’s literally the same guy selling cookies three years later.

For lunch we ate at the beach club: prosciutto with melon to start, fried calamari for Paul, and gnocchi in a very light red sauce for me. 

The music thumped all day long but wasn’t intrusive – a mixture of American songs with a constant dance club beat. Similar to what I remember from years past, the 1950s tunes start in the late afternoon. 

By 7:30pm it was time to leave the beach and drive into the Sperlonga borgo for dinner. Driving is an adventure here; and Paul is very good at it — stick shift and all. We secured a spot in a tiny garage and walked through the borgo to our favorite restaurant from 3 years ago: La Piazzetta. 6 Euro aperol spritzes, an appetizer platter of potato chips, peanuts and local Itrana olives, a platter of bruschetta and a spaghetti cacio pepe (cheese, salt and pepper.

Before driving back to Pico, we walked through the borgo and grabbed our first gelato of the trip: tiramisu for me, and chocolate/nociola for Paul.

Today was our last day of deep cleaning in the house. I’m looking forward to shifting our focus to truly vacationing, decorating and enjoying more of our time here.

This morning I spent two hours on the IKEA website researching what’s available so we can spend as little time as possible in the actual store this weekend. Fingers crossed that we find everything we need.

Paul spent the morning doing odds and ends around the house including arranging for a bulk trash pick up (they said they’ll call the day before they arrive, but we don’t know when that will be).

He also spent a bunch of time figuring out which key in the pile we were handed goes to which lock in the house. Carlo has a front door key, we’ll leave a complete set in the house, and a complete second set will return to Belmont with us. There are seven keys in total: 1 for the front door, 3 keys for doors off the terrace (one of which is missing), there’s a key to the garden gate, a key to the water main box on the street; and a key to the back up water supply cabinet in the yard. 

The door to the terrace from our bedroom is the missing key so we asked our neighbor Biaggio if we could borrow a drill to get the thing open. Biaggio came to look at the door this morning and said he’d come by with a drill “later today” (does that mean after siesta?). I wish we could communicate with him better. He’s a widower, super friendly, has a great smile, and you can tell he wants to talk with us. A lot. Today he was trying to tell us a story but we aren’t sure we caught the whole gist of his tale. By the way he was laughing he certainly got a good chuckle from it, but we just didn’t get it. Paul had him repeat his story twice, but with Biaggio’s Picano dialect combined with his speed talking, we’re not quite sure what he was saying. Something about coffee and a table. (Shrug)

He ended up coming by around 3pm and for 90 minutes tried unsuccessfully to break open the lock with Paul. They did stop at one point for an espresso break. While we’ve purchased an espresso machine, I had no sugar for the espresso, so Biaggio quickly went back to his home and returned with our first housewarming gift: a bag of sugar packets! He laughed at the rather large teaspoon that I offered him to stir the sugar. (Note to self: bring the demitasse spoons that we never use in Belmont on our next trip.) 

In addition to the door lock project, today Paul deep cleaned the hallway while I tackled the cooktop and oven which I had avoided on kitchen cleaning day. They weren’t too bad but I’ve really had enough of the cleaning fumes:

• Maestro Lindo (aka Mr Clean) has a strong odor and we’ve gone through two bottles already pouring it directly onto the floor tiles as we scrub.
• The oven cleaner, Fornet, smells like American EZ-off,
• SMAC is the liquid chrome polish which smells like the polish we use to clean sterling silver.
• Vetril is similar to Windex so using that to clean the glass doors to the terrace is fine
• Emulsio spray is similar to Pledge
• I do like the Nelsen dishwashing detergent since it comes with a curved spout which makes dispensing the cleaner onto a sponge easier than the upright spouts we’re used to on a bottle of Dawn for example. 

Paul and D carried two more pieces of furniture to the cantina/garage so I could finish deep cleaning the living room. The boys then went to find a dry cleaner in Pontecorvo so Ds suit could get cleaned in preparation for the next leg of our trip.

The moment they got home there was a knock on the door: Angela next door bringing us four eggs from her chickens (no idea where the chickens are.) She gave me a big hug and kissed both cheeks telling us we’ve been working very hard. The moment the door closed, D asked “are these things even safe to eat?!” Only time will tell. We put them with the rest of the unregridgerated eggs on our kitchen counter. 

Back to Senza Nome for pizza dinner. Paul had a pizza with sausage, porcini mushrooms, black truffle and cheese.  I had braciola with tomatoes and arugula pizza, and Damian had eggplant parmesan pizza. We fnished the meal with a glass of Amaro for Paul and limoncellos for D and I.

As we walked back to the house, we ran into Carlo and his cousin Stefano that we had seen earlier in the evening at the restaurant. They were chatting with Rafaela, who Paul met during the car rally here in 2018, and her sister Daniella. Stefano invited us to his home (diagonally across the street and above from us) to see how he renovated the place a few years ago. It incredible how beautifull and spacious it was restored.  

After a beer at his place, we all walked up to the castle to see it lit up at night, look at the view and enjoy the cool breeze. The mosquitos didn’t start biting until we got back to the house and I was on the terrace hanging more laundry again at 11:30pm.  

Tommorow, we finally go “alla spiaggia” (to the beach!)