Montalto Market...

As I promised...some pictures from the market this morning. The market vendors travel from town to town and each morning sets up in an open parking lot. The market is on Thursday mornings from 9 to 12 (I think...it may start earlier than that). There is a market on Monday morning in Pescia Romana. Each town has their own market on it's own special day...sometimes it is the same vendors and sometimes you get some new ones.

Here is a shoe vendor (let me know if you see something you like Krystal ;)...

Here is one of the produce vendors...I think that we are kind of on the cusp of getting some great fruits and veggies...Summer feels like it is just around the corner and I get the feeling we will be blown away by their produce...

This is a pretty interesting vendor...the fish shop on wheels!! The cases are even refrigerated and everything...

And this is one of my favorite stops of course...this is where I have been getting my veggie plants...this week I picked up some red and yellow pepper plants...

Well, I hope you enjoyed our trip to the market this week...I was feeling like a real tourist today! I am not sure that the folks here were enjoying my picture taking, but I did it anyway!

Ciao a tutti!

Montalto Castle...

Here are some fun pics of what we call the castle in Montalto...centro storico...in this castle the 'streets' are big enough for cars to go through! I posted pics for the entrance of the castle here...



Some inside sites...

Here is a church we found inside...

I am off to plant my flowers (2) and tomato plants in my front gardens! Here's to having hobbies that came to Italy with me! Now if I could have just managed to pack my craft stuff...

Some Outside Views...

I thought I might post some fun pics of outside things around our house. This is the first rose to bloom...it is about 7 inches across...what a fun thing to wake up to this morning!

We also have some Calla Lilies...

And we are just waiting for this lemon to ripen! Tobin picked several lemons that were ripe and he has already had his first fresh lemonade from our tree...he is sure spoiled already...

And of course, the ever present laundry...notice my laundry 'basket' that I just bought today. I had been hanging the laundry without one and boy are my arms tired! I saw it at a store and made a bee-line for it...Loving the blue...

Again, have a wonderful Wednesday!

Our House...

So here are some pictures of our lovely abode...or casa as the case may be. One thing of note, in the towns that we have been, in each and every yard/house has a very elaborate fence and gate. They are fascinating...they are no two alike and I can't seem to figure out if they are for security or for design. They can be constructed out of just about anything, but most have some combination of brick/rock and iron. Here is a look at the front of our house with our gate and fence...


Just inside the gate is my lovely gardens that are just waiting for plants. Our landlady mentioned that the local market (tomorrow) sells cheap plants (just in case they die, she said). I can't wait to get my hands in the dirt. The plants in the foreground are rose bushes...looks like I have a pink, red and white one so far...

This is our entryway...

The kitchen...notice the fish on the tiles!

The dining room or eat in kitchen (we have a second eating area with a more elaborate table and chairs)...

This is what we are calling the living room (this is also where the nicer dining table is) because of these comfy chairs and the tv. This is also where all of my fabulous blogs are coming from! Notice on the windows...ALL windows here have these shutter/sun shade things...I really like them! They keep it really cool in the house all day long. The windows also all have iron work on the outside...again, is this for security or just for looks??? We have seriously lucked out with this house...it has screens on the windows! Boy, God sure does provide! I was bitten by some bug last week on the ear and I, again, had a crazy allergic reaction...my ear swelled up and got red and icthy...I was even losing some hearing! Thankfully, Tobin was able to go to the Farmacia (pharmacy) and get something with anti-histamine...it worked great...maybe I will bring some home with me! Anyway, I am super thankful for bug screens!

This is our master bedroom...Don't you just LOVE our new sheets???? The house came furnished except for bedding and towels...so these beauties are all ours! They will fit in a suitcase! Also notice my pile of clean, line dried, and folded clothing! Go me...

We have a second bedroom where the kids were all sleeping when I took all these pics. I might be able to give you a video tour at some point... I hope that you enjoyed your virtual tour...if anyone is in the neighborhood, feel free to stop by!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Ciao a tutti!

Sites from Montalto di Castro...

I know that I am a bit behind but I am working on it! So much to do and so little time! Things do tend to take a bit longer to do here. Take food shopping for instance, everyone here only goes shopping for one day, so items tend to be smaller in quantity. Not to mention that it is all in Italian! But for most things...it is pretty easy to figure out what it is...talking to someone about it is another story altogether!

Anyway, sights of Montalto di Castro...here is a fun arch that one actually drives through with a car! Some of the roads are VERY tiny...good thing that the cars are small!

A fun fountain that we found...

The castle in Montalto...it is actually appartments...can you believe that you could actually live here...

And the kids at the Mediteranean Sea...we went down to the Marina di Montalto...the beaches have black volcanic sand...pretty cool (well maybe not when it is hot!)...wasn't expecting that!

So, this is the beginning of our first actual week here. Tobin was off to work this morning at 7:30, which is kind of nice...he usually went to work at 6 to 6:30, so I didn't always see him in the morning. A nice perk, if you will. We will usually have a vehicle to share between me and Pat. Kind of hard not being able to come and go when I want, but nice to have a companion to speak english with! Once we are in Montalto it should be a bit easier since we will be within walking distance to things (food store, shops, parks, etc).

We did get to visit both residences that we will be renting. Talk about nice places! Based on seeing things on the internet we are in palaces! Furnished and everything. The one we saw today has 2 bedrooms and 3 beds...even has a tub and much larger shower than we have now (again think phone booth with the folding doors)...kitchen with tons of cooking things, fenced yard, tv, a lemon tree (kind of excited about that...I have never lived somewhere that could grow such a thing), and small gardens in the front yard that I can plant with some fun things (I am imagining all sorts of things that don't normally grow in MT...). It has a washing machine (no one uses dryers in Itlay...you can always see clothing hanging from balconies and clothes lines) and a very long clothes line (something one needs with 5 persons dirtying clothes).

So hopefully that is a pretty good update for now...look forward to posts on food shopping, driving, and hopefully exciting trips and adventures...a train ride might be in my near future!
Ciao a tutti!