Friday, June 10, 2011

Sweet Little Gifts

Our little casa is a bit off the main path, so to speak.  It's not on a street as Americans would think of one.  To get here you have to walk a stone pedestrian lane - which is considered a sort of main artery despite the lack of vehicular traffic.  But then you go under an arch, down some steps, under another archway, down more steps, and you basically dead-end where our terrazzo opens up to the sun and view.  It's encircled on three sides by buildings yet it feels sort of secluded.  Anyone coming down here has to be coming for a reason - to see us.



The openness of the view to the hills and mountains, coupled with the sound of the sheep bells and the chirpy birds, almost makes it feel like it's in the country. Because of that, during my first weeks here, I felt like the place was hidden away and was surprised when the first person came knocking on my door.  It was a neighbor bearing produce and I was mightly surprised yet pleased.  Since then, several people have come a'knocking, some to ask for English lessons, others to bring us gifts of home-grown or home-made goods.  None go unappreciated, I can tell you.

This week, though, we got some sweet little gifts.  Several of my students completed their catechism and were confirmed.  Such an occasion warrants a party, of course (we were invited to two).  And a party for such an occasion means bombonieri, pretty little packages of party favors filled with confetti, the sugared almond candies we like so much.  Since Italians like bling and style, the bombonieri are always as pretty as the treats they contain.  One even came with a little sachet of potpourri tied to the top. 

We had no sooner broken into those goodies when Sandro came by with a bowlful of cherries and a sack of strawberries.  Fresh-picked and still warm from the field.  I made shortcake for the berries and have nearly polished off the cherries.

Whenever someone rang our doorbell in Virginia, it was almost always a salesman or someone looking for donation.  Here they knock on my door bearing fruits and candies - how sweet it is!

10 comments:

Yvonne said...

You are indeed blessed in your lovely village and home.

Saretta said...

You are lucky indeed to have such lovely neighbors!

Valerie said...

So true! I know I keep raving about the village so it may seem like Mayberry but I *love* it! Today a friend's dad gave us a huge crate full of strawberries he picked just for us!

Miss Footloose said...

Hi Valerie! How idyllic is sounds! We never ended up meeting in Leesburg, VA, but we have now escaped to Moldova for a few years, so we are closer to Italy again. Will go exploring there next year again.

I loved the picture of your house. Hope it all works and you're fully settled!

Nobody has brought us strawberries here, but we're in the capital and people are nice.

Anne Dye said...

We are surrounded by lovely neighbors who love to gift all kinds of food too, today it was zucchini blossoms and strawberries! It is definitely one of favorite things about our little town.

leslie said...

well i am officially planning our trip to italy, thinking of coming in june 2012. hoping the weather is warm so we can swim (staying in a house in puglia). because of you, we are hoping to drive through your area on our way back up to rome. thanks so much for your inspiring posts, i relish them!!

Geek girl said...

What great neighbors and friends you have.

LindyLouMac said...

We like you are so blessed to be able to enjoy this different way of life.

Lorenzo said...

I stumbled upon your blog, and I absolutely love this post, I can see myself walking towards tua casa, che bellissima!

I would love for you to join a new series about life in Italy called "La Dolce Vita' it is every Monday. You can see here:
http://ciaochristy.blogspot.com/2011/07/la-dolce-vita-sleepy-sundays.html

Thank you for sharing such great stories!

Christy said...

I stumbled upon your blog, and I absolutely love this post, I can see myself walking towards tua casa, che bellissima!

I would love for you to join a new series about life in Italy called "La Dolce Vita' it is every Monday. You can see here:
http://ciaochristy.blogspot.com/2011/07/la-dolce-vita-sleepy-sundays.html

Thank you for sharing such great stories!

(Sorry for the above comment, I was logged into the wrong account) :)