Casetta in Maremma

 My little house that I'm renting for May, then we will see... (the price seems to increase as the summer progresses so I'm looking for an alternative, which probably entails a camper in a field) But in the meantime, isn't this cute?

 The View from my door straight out

 The view on the left from my door

Just in Case

Just in case any of you don't have a tuning fork... I'd be happy to help. No kidding: I just took this test and it just confirmed what I'd felt all along: I have "selective hearing"!

Hearing Test Results

You correctly identified 26 tunes (out of 26) on the Distorted Tunes Test. Congratulations! You have a fine sense of pitch.

Thank you for taking the Distorted Tunes Test. More information about the the NIDCD's research into tone deafness is available from Dr. Dennis T. Drayna's web page.

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Punjab in the Dolomites

Another day, another hike, way back into the mountains, finally ending up at a "Malga" which is a very old farmhouse where they used to keep the cows or something... I'm not quite sure. But in any case, now they've converted these Malgas which are spread all around the Dolomites, mostly into restaurants and such where people can rest their tired bones. After much food (like salted beef and polenta) and much drink (wine and beer and grappa up the wazzzzoooo) they careen back down the mountain. It's great fun. Anyway, today I was alone, it being "off season" and not a soul to be seen. It's wonderful. When I arrived at the Malga Ritorto it was closed up, but a rather darker skinned person, unusual around these parts, opened up the upstairs window to inquire as to what I needed. I could tell by his accent that he wasn't exactly a local, so after some light conversation he invited me in anyway for a restorative shot of something. I chose "Vov" which is basically a strong eggnog, and very old fashioned. I love the stuff and was surprised they even had it: it's probably been up on the shelf for the last 30 years.... So we sat down together and chatted: he's a Pakistani, from the Punjab region! I couldn't imagine him up here all alone so far away from home. He is the guard there and has been for some years, working on the slopes in the snow cat during the winters: I'm curious about his story and how he ended up there.  We exchanged some ideas about our favorite Punjabi dishes so I promised him I'd bring something up tomorrow afternoon: I miraculously found some fresh goat at the store (I guess because Easter is around the corner) and I'm going to work on a Punjabi Goat Curry tomorrow. It's very exciting since I have nobody to share my exotic dishes with here in the culinarily "traditional" Dolomites.  Nor is there anyone to share travelling stories with so I'm looking forward to more "worldly" conversations. His name is Mohammed so he is clearly Muslim and knows quite a bit about current Pakistan political issues. Obviously more than I do, but since I've been sitting around and watching the news more than usual the past few weeks I've picked up some things... notions I'm sure but it's better than nothing. I find it wonderful that an American and a Pakistani Punjabi can sit down together in a Malga in the middle of the Italian Dolomites and share a meal.... will keep you all posted.

Space Commander to Space Cadet

That's what I meant by demotion. And de-motion... get it? Since I've recently been, if not halted in my tracks, somebody threw a wrench in the gears. Before I was cruising the Universe, Commander of my own ship, and now my mind is muddled and my body is weak and I have to work my way back up... But I'm not feeling philosophical today either: it's a beautiful day, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and I'm off to the flatlands for some Nordic Walking in the fields, about 1 hour north of Campo Carlo Magno, where I'm staying, to the Val di Rabbi and the Val di Non to buy some super duper apple vinegar. They can all be viewed in Google. But here's a couple of photographs of the surrounding areas that I've taken in the last few days, and a close up, for those of you that didn't get a good look at that viper (the infamous "Asp" of the Bible and Egypt!) wow!  That would be the one NOT on snowshoes! And for those of you that want to see TONS more photos, go to my Dropbox account and look to your heart's content. My Dropbox name is giulialatini... and the folder's name is Madonna di Campiglio. Unfortunately the Internet signal is not strong enough here for me to post a bunch of photos on the blog.... I'm sure you're all thanking God. Anyway, tah tah and I'd love some feedback.

Vipers are more exciting than philosophy

I was going to start on a philosophical ... diatribe I guess you would call it, but THIS turned out way more exciting: a real live Viper that was right next to the trail I was walking up this morning. He was sunning himself in a bare patch of ground, just having emerged from hibernation since the area is mostly still covered in snow. I recognized it immediately for what it was and checked it out on the Internet later upon my return back to the house. I've never seen a real live viper before although I've heard stories about them over the years in Italy since they used to be fairly common. But habitat loss, diminishing prey, and just plain having people kill them at every opportunity have made them pretty rare: I was extremely fortunate to see one up this close and it was very exciting. He was ready to strike, but when I got a little closer with a stick just to nudge him a little (I couldn't resist) he moved off into the brush. I then continued up the path to what was going to turn out to be a very strenuous uphill hike, since, as usual, I took the wrong way (hence the name Wrongwayjules, given to me by my trail boss years ago: it's a genetic defect I think since my sister Helen seems to be afflicted with the same "Directional Challenge"). It makes for some interesting adventures, but more about that later.  In any event, this time the reward at the end was magnificent, as you can see by some other photos.

Can you see the viper?

The Lake Nambino up in the Brenta mountain range where I eventually ended up after hiking about an hour.

The Hotel and Restaurant at Lake Nambino

Pretty beautiful bowl ..... well, I have TONS of gorgeous mountain photos (well, to me they are) and I'm just starting out with this blogger so .... I'm still testing out the format waters: more is coming.