On of the many pleasures of being in Umbria at this particular time of year comes with the opportunity to celebrate the birthday of our beautiful friend Giselle. And that means party time. Never ordinary, always fun and happy. Usually surrounded by other happy people and lots of wine and typical Umbrian foods, in complete and utter excess.
Good friends share the good and bad times. Our friend has completed a cycle of both and is now healthy and happy. That, in itself would be a cause of celebration but November first brought more. Giselle’s sixtieth birthday! And, with that, an invitation to share in the celebration. We were invited to the big baccanale at a winery owned by their friends in Bevagna and the other, the following evening, again in Bevagna, this one smaller and more intimate, one that was a “thank you” for friends who were considered as “special”.
A very long story, short, we decided to attend last night’s festivities in lieu of both which prompted a “proposal” from Giselle. “Can you please come to dog sit while we go to the party on Saturday night. Mark will pick you up and we’ll leave food, wine, Netflix and our Stuffa (heat) all fired up” . It didn’t take more than a second for us to visualize all of that plus a hot shower with real-life water pressure to say that indeed we would absolutely and eagerly trek the half mile down through town, armed with our overnight gear, to meet up with Mark.
Montefalco is the heart of the Umbrian wine story and this is Autumn so the colors of the vines are spectacular. They live in rural Fabbri, a small town that can only be reached by car. Dark and still at night, rather spectacular as the fog lifts in the morning and the mountains of nearby Trevi and Montefalco reveal their incredible beauty.
We had a lovely evening after sending the “kids” off to party hardy with their local friends (many of whom we know after many a party here) and their 14 friends who lovingly flew in from the UK to celebrate with their childhood friends. Giselle is Cornish. We even actually managed to not lose one of their precious pups.
The next day, yesterday, while Mark nursed one of the biggest hangovers he’s had in a long time, Joe and I took a lovely walk, greeting hunters and hunting dogs along the way.
A late lunch found us in a small trattoria in the middle of Bevagna, the ancient (what isn’t?) town where in a few short hours we would return for the “Apericena of Thanks” at the taverna “Le Barbetelle”. Here, there were only 23 of us, enjoying this menu:
Charcuterie of local meats, cheeses, olives, torta al tests
Hummus with corn tostadas
Mixed seasonal bruschetta
Vegetable frittata
Wild mushroom lasagna
Pork sausages braised with onions, peppers and potatoes
Water, WINE and coffee
No, that’s not considered a “dinner”!
Dinners in Italy don’t start before 8:00
By 8:00, our absolute-love-of-a-taxi-driver, Giuseppe Raspa, was outside the Bevagna walls, ready for our return ride of approximately thirty minutes, back to our apartment.
With a big care-package from our caring friends.
Old friends, new friends, an incredible weekend. Counting our blessings at the same time remembering the good friend who left her life on the same day that we were celebrating a life. Our beautiful friend, Pat Mello, gave up her long and hard battle. We knew when we left that we would be receiving the sad news while over here so we were prepared. The last thing word I heard from her was “Bellissimo”
Rest in peace, Pat. If there’s one word that can describe you, it’s that very one.
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