BACK TO ITALY!

Okay, I think I've covered just about every aspect of our transatlantic journey! I hope you enjoyed reading about the voyage and seeing the photos, but I'm sure by now you're saying "but you live in Italy - what's going on there?"! so, without further delay, here's the update from Umbria:

Spring, really wants to arrive, but it's apparently going to be a very long, slow process. Yes, it's just March, but there are daffodils blooming and forsythia budding, and although it still seems to rain more often than I'd like, we are seeing a little more of the sun these days, or at least less rain than before. We've been able to take our afternoon walks about 5, maybe 6 days out of 7, so that's pretty good, but even on the days we walk it still might have rained in the morning, or later in the evening. The nights are also still cold - as in near zero cold, so spring is still somewhere off in the future.

We took some friends to visit the Vini di Filippo winery just outside of Cannara the other day, and then went for pizza at Carlo Magno pizzeria in Cannara.  We all really enjoyed the pizza, but what made this place really special were the onion dishes.  Of course Cannara is famous for it's onions, and holds a festa dedicated to all things onion every September.  At Carlo Magno's we ordered some fried onions, which were fried onion RINGS - and yummy! - and we also ordered a few plates of the onion parmagiana, and this dish was the hit of the evening!  It's listed on the menu under "vedure" (vegetables) to be served as a side dish, but we ordered it as an appetizer.  If you're in the area, you can find Carlo Magno's on the main road through Cannara (Piazzale C. Bonaca), between the IP gas station and the Conad grocery.  They're open every day, and the phone number is 074 272 234.

For dessert the kids had lemon gelato, which was served inside giant lemons!