Ah, yes, all my relatives especially Mrs. Phactor and the F1
think my retirement was a brilliant move.
Well, at least the part where TPP rented (actually Mrs. Phactor made
this happen if truth be known and credit is given where credit is due) a villa
so that everyone had an excuse to visit Tuscany. Presently the number of visitors is 9; next
week it’s just 4 (but more troublesome types), then 4 more, and then 5 more the
week after that. Thirteen relatives (rent-a-mob), 8 friends, and a young German
biologist, go figure. How’s that for
instigating travel? How's that for mooching? The Italian tourist
bureau should be giving us a medal! Is
it an actually villa, you may ask? Sadly
no, firstly because Torre a Cona is the summer manor house of the Count Rossi
di Montelera, so it actually isn’t for rent, and secondly because TPP was just
a university professor, but the estate has a number of residences that are
within TPP’s price range. Look down the
hill to the right of the monstrous manor house and you’ll see the 3rd
floor loft of our quite spacious, pinkish Tuscan residence sticking up above the olive trees. It’s
disappointing that the Count has not walked, or driven, or been driven, down the hill to greet us yet, so
he’s probably busy, or just most likely he doesn’t realize who his tenants are.
He makes some very good wine & olive oil. Obviously vineyards and olive groves dominate the
agricultural landscape here abouts, although a great many other tree fruits are
grown in way smaller amounts: apples, peaches, plums, figs, cherries, and even
a medlar here or there. The scenery is
just wonderful with manor houses, fortresses, and little towns dotting the
hilly landscape with ochre and red tile splotches amid the green of orchards
and vineyards. The fresh produce is
quite nice and surprisingly extensive. It appears that testing the concept that
someone could get tired of Italian food may take some time. By almost anyone’s
standards the assembled troops are eating and drinking very well. Mrs. Phactor is on a quest to do 30 gelato
flavors in 30 days. Hercules should have
had such tasks! Today she checked off
mango & lemon. Do the Italians make
a sausage that isn’t terrific? Do they
make a cheese that isn’t wonderful? Do
they make a bread that doesn’t have a nice crust? The world wants to know.
Someone has to try to find out. TPP is the man to let you know. Ciao.
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in The Biology Files
A plant pundit comments on plants, the foibles and fun of academic life, and other things of interest.
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2 comments:
Oh my - I just finished breakfast and I'm drooling. But the plants, the plants, tell us more about the plants.
I didn't get to eat enough. Made my own little flat bread pizza for dinner last night and covered it in fresh arugula when it came out of the oven. Good, but not AS good.
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