We’re enjoying the loosening of the lockdown rules, visiting Antonio’s bar daily for a nice cappuccino (or glass of red, depending in the time if day) as well as a trip to a garden centre up near Perugia. We’ve finally been advised that both the owner of the cellar below us and the owner of the empty lot next door are wanting to sell so we had a look at some plants to decorate the expanded terrace area. We also picked up a few hangers for some geraniums Colin had already gotten.
We also went to the large sporting goods store Decathlon so Colin could get some tape to replace the mangled area on his handlebars from his crash – there was a fellow at the entrance taking everyone’s temperature, and several tables with hand sanitizers. Luckily I still have my lovely lavender spray that I brought with me, and also everyone was wearing facemasks.
Mo and Henry had a little kerfluffle one night at bedtime – I think she gets a little jealous of him at times and feels the need to prove her dominance, although she’s barely half his size. She happily spent the night with me in my room to keep the peace.
One of the doctors that changed Colin’s dressings at the clinic actually has a small office in the village, right above the little Conad store – he visited her one day and got all of his prescriptions renewed. When he asked what her fee was she said ‘oh no – we’re friends!’. He did need a second round of antibiotics for the elbow gash, but the stitches were removed a few days later.
I’m still going on lots of lovely rides, although trying to get out a bit earlier in the morning before it gets too hot. Everything is so green and lush looking, and the air is so clear – it’s just beautiful wherever you look – bright, vivid colours and I am just loving being ‘stuck’ here.
There was another gathering of the locals down below us who’ve been helping clear the overgrown brush – our neighbour saw me on the terrace looking out and motioned for us to join them. We brought down some of my tzatziki dip with carrot sticks and a bowl of mixed nuts as our contribution – not quite as impressive as last week’s meatballs, but better than nothing.
There’s also been a nice cleanup of the small park/memorial/fountain in the village square – they painted the benches as well as the inside of the fountain and it really looks smart. It’s got to be one of the nicer village piazzas around.
We took a nice little trip to Lake Trasimeno today and it was just beautiful – the water was a gorgeous green, although the dead fish all along the shore weren’t so nice.
The little ferries aren’t running again yet, and there weren’t that many people about – especially screaming kids. It was quite lovely strolling along the waterside promenade.
After a wonderful few days at the coast with my very dear friend Lorna I made it safely to Italy. I love you Lorna!!
The flight from Van to TO was almost full, but the flight on to Rome was at most half full. As soon as they announced that boarding was complete there was a mass scurrying of passengers to the empty seats – some got a full row to themselves.
Colin was there to pick me up and I got to meet his new rescue dog Henry – a little sweetie.
The next few days were spent wondering if the races I came over early for were going to go ahead – right up until Wednesday evening we thought it might be ok, but then the bad news came. Not only Strade Bianche was postponed, but also Tirreno-Adriatico and the Giro di Sicilia – so disappointed!
We did have a nice day trip to Trevi for lunch one day, and have been regular patrons of the bar – Antonio makes a decent cappuccino and fusses over the dogs. We met a very nice british couple at the bar – they own a house in the village and are staying for an entire year. They know the area well and told us where an excellent butcher is in the next village – we picked up some excellent lamb chops for dinner the next day. We couldn’t see any chops in the display case but when the butcher understood what we wanted he went to a side room and brought out a leg of lamb then cut two nice thick pieces for us.
The weather has been mixed – pouring rain a couple of times, then other days beautiful sunshine, although not yet really hot. We went on a nice long walk yesterday and I tried out the new Nikon D7200 camera that Colin very kindly got for me. I still love my Canon, but can see that having more than one camera has its advantages, especially at a race (if there were any down here!).
We’re not in a ‘high risk’ area for the coronavirus as it’s mostly up north right now and our plan is to go south to Sicily in a couple of weeks. So far there doesn’t seem to be any panic around here – stores are still fully stocked and folks seem to be going about their normal business. Hopefully it stays this way.
We did get some more disappointing news, however – there’s an annual festival here, the ‘Festa di San Guiseppe’ and they fly large balloons from the village square, including ones at night with candles in them. It looked very interesting and we were excited that we would be here for it, but it also has now been cancelled out of an abundance of caution over the dreaded coronavirus – darn!
We’re still able to get some race watching in, albeit on tv – Paris-Nice is going ahead so all is not lost.
Upon leaving our nice parking spot outside the Royal Oak we took the ‘scenic’ route back via Bath.
Sally McKenzie's European Adventures 