From Pasta Salad to Puccini
Farm Produce Inspiration
After coming back from Verona, it was time to hang out at home for awhile. I love to travel, but I think I love being at home just as much.
Our first summer here has been a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables, which has inspired Ira to step out of his comfort zone in the kitchen.
One of the things he's been wanting to make is pasta salad. He had a memory of one that he really loved and worked with AI to try to recreate it. Not only was the recipe a success, it was as much a feast for the eyes as it was for the stomach.
Tennis Anyone?
Meanwhile, our new friend Janie asked if we might be interested in taking up tennis with her. Although we're committed walkers, we figured it couldn't hurt to try something new, right?
So that meant a trip to the Decathlon in Grosseto.
The first time we ever encountered Decathlon was in Sydney, when we visited my brother and his family and were gearing up for a camping trip. If you're not familiar with it, think of Decathlon as a Costco for sporting goods. The huge box store is divided by activity, and you can pretty much buy everything you need to start a new sport without ever leaving the designated section.
Trouble is, like Costco, it's pretty difficult to get out of there with only the few things you originally came to buy. There's always something else cool to see, try and check out.
We've been there for yoga pants before--remember Ira ruined his trying to get the perfect sunflower video? If you missed it, you can check it out here.
Today, however, we walked straight to the tennis section and came out with racquets, balls, and outfits. You have to have pockets for balls, thank you very much. And of course, a visor and a hat.
I remember my old ballet instructor telling my adult self, "It doesn't matter how old you are when you start, you dance better when you look the part."
That probably applies to tennis too, right?
Well, we got our gear and were out of the store just in time for lunch. Janie suggested we kill two birds with one stone and have lunch at one of her clients. She took us to this little beach bar, Bagno Capezzòlo, in Castiglione della Pescaia, where we ordered a few things to share and, of course, a bottle of Janie's wine.
It was hot, and we weren't dressed for the beach like the other diners, but the food was delicious. Nothing beats fresh seafood by the sea. I don't remember enjoying seafood as much as I have here in Italy.
Fresh ingredients, it's makes all the difference!
Lirica in Piazza
Back in Massa Marittima, one of the main events of the summer is Lirica in Piazza. Every year on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of August, the town hosts three different opera productions using the top of the steps leading to the Duomo as the stage.
We'd known about this event since we first started spending time here two years ago. It's a beautiful piazza and a gorgeous Duomo, so we were excited to finally be here to experience it.
Our thought was we should buy tickets this year because, in the future, we'll be able to watch from our apartment.
For those of you new to the blog, we're renovating an apartment in the piazza. In the video, our building is the one with stone on the first floor, yellow on the upper floors--and, at the moment, no glass in the windows!
This year's lineup was La Traviata, La Bohème and Il Trovatore. We decided to attend the first and last nights.
On the first night, La Traviata, the square was packed. The audience was excited for this classic tragic romance and one of opera's most popular stories. The plot was also one of the inspirations for Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!, starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan MacGregor--one of my favorite musicals, by the way.
The nice thing about the Lirica in Piazza was that our seats were much closer than they had been in the Arena in Verona. The opera felt more intimate and, somehow, more inclusive. It was a very different experience.
Fibula di Montieri
The next morning, we had a date with Melissa to visit the local museum's new exhibition. There were banners all over town advertising A History on the Threshold of the Year 1000. Plus, we hadn't been back since November 2024, so it seemed like perfect timing.
The star of the exhibition was this stunning 1,000-year-old gold brooch, recently discovered beneath the floor of a church in nearby Montieri.
This incredible piece of medieval luxury is known as the Fibula of Montieri and was found buried alongside a mysterious 11th-century hermit.
The brooch was likely donated by the bishop or a wealthy local noble. Depositing it beside the body during construction may have served as a gift to consecrate the church's foundation and honor the holy man buried beneath it.
Il Trovatore
The next evening, we headed back to Piazza Garibaldi for our final opera of the season: Il Trovatore.
This time we knew the drill. To help us better understand and appreciate the opera, I pulled up a scene-by-scene summary beforehand. It was a huge help and made the story much easier to follow, allowing me to focus more on the music.
I wish we'd done that for the first two operas!
Oh well. We have many years of Lirica in Piazza to practice.
Il Trovatore, in contrast to the romantic tragedy of La Traviata, was a chaotic, dark thriller featuring a love triangle, a stolen baby, and an accidental case of fratricide driven by a mother's revenge.
Don't you just love opera?
Born to Dance
As if opera wasn't enough, after our lesson that week, our ballroom dance instructor Elisa told us that the studio would be performing in Massa.
Apparently, Massimo and all the students from Grosseto and the satellite studios around the area had produced a show Born to Dance. When Elisa tried to explain what the show was about, she finally said it was a little bit of everything--a variety show.
What we couldn't believe was this: why was this the first we were hearing about it?
Why wasn't it on the Massa events page? The Commune was sponsoring it, you'd think they would have let the Tourist office know to put it on the schedule.
Anyhow, at least we found out about it in time to see it. It made sense--the stage for the Lirica was still up, so why not use it for another show before it came down?
We had no idea what to expect. In fact, we were expecting a fairly typical dance recital, like most studios put on in the U.S.
We were mistaken.
Elisa had reserved two seats for us and greeted us when we arrived. We said hello to everyone from the studio we recognized and settled in.
There were far more seats than we thought would be needed, but once again, we were wrong.
The sound system was professional, and so was the show. It showcased students of all ages and across many genres of dance. It even featured some of the local kids, including the daughter of the girls at our neighborhood salumeria.
The show lasted an hour and a half, and Ira and I were both astounded by how much choreography the entire studio had prepared, learned and performed.
When we turned around, every seat was filled, with people standing in the back.
It was impressive!
We stayed behind long enough to congratulate Massimo and Elisa. He asked if we would dance in the next show and, to my surprise, Ira said, "Maybe next year." Which isn't exactly a "no," right? And with that, it was finally time to head home.
And that was our week--a week of very late nights!
But we were really proud of our adopted town. It's exciting to see so many people participate in so many fun events. It really warms the heart.
And if that weren't enough, I'm ending with another one of Ira's sunset photos. He takes a lot of them, but this one I particularly like.
We're trying to embrace the countryside while we're here, because our apartment is going to be nothing like it.
Speaking of our apartment, it may be time for a renovation update.
Stay tuned!
Ciao, ciao!
Beautiful & interesting read again. Wonderful experience, excellent writing.. Thank you again.❤️❤️❤️🇨🇦
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome. I'm glad you're enjoying them.
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