A STAY AT IL FALCONIERE {Tuscany}

Il Falconiere ( hotel and restaurant)

On the train leaving Rome we had the misfortune of sitting behind a newly wedded  American couple

on a honeymoon.

Them:    "Yeah, like we're going to Florence for a week and then we're driving to Tuscany n' stuff. We're even going to take a cooking class at that Antinori place!"

Me:     "Nice, You both like to cook"

Them : "No"

Me:   "Buona Fortuna"  ( good luck)

THE DAYS OF WISTERIA AND WINE

A cooking class is work, if cooking is your passion then it is enjoyable work, but work it remains. As a gift from my wife Elizabeth I was given a private cooking class with Executive Chef Richard Titi at the Relais & Chateau Restaurant Il Falconiere outside of Cortona in Tuscany. You can see Cortona from Panicle but we decided to spend a couple of days there.

Sparkling wine

I had always heard of Il Falconiere and the restaurant has earned a michelin star.  Chef /owner Silvia Baracchi is a driving force behind the kitchen and is the face that greets guests every day. Her husband Riccardo tends to the world class wines that are produced from grapes grown on  the estate.

And then there is Giocco

And a resident falcon.

THE COOKING CLASS

The class was about three hours long and covered 4 courses. It was an absolutely terrific experience. I don't know what my final grade was but I am now a confident pici maker....many secrets. 

DRAWING AT IL FALCONIERE

Petunias at Il Falconiere

James Aponovich

pencil on paper,  9" x 8"

In Italy, Elizabeth and I are constantly drawing. Drawing enables you to organize space in order to capture the essential aspects of place in ways a camera cannot. Often , the drawings remain in the sketchbooks but others transmigrate and find themselves transformed into paintings on the easel. That is winter work.

MOUNT AMIATA

The Falcon and Mount Amiata

James Aponovich

pencil on paper, 10" x 8"

Mount Amiata is a dominate visual anchor to Southern Tuscany. Pope Pius II ( Piccolomini)

recognized this when he built the Renaissance city of Pienza. The mountain stands alone and in many ways it reminds me of Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire. Here, at Il Falconiere, there seems to exist an intentional visual conversation between the estate and the distant mountain. So, as we were sitting at dinner with the sun setting we could see the lights of Montepulciano across the Valdichiana Valley with Mount Amiata glowing....Magic.

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

THE LURE OF DRAWING IN ITALY

James Aponovich

sketchbook

"Idle hands are the devils tools."

                           - Puritan proverb

Q.  I've noticed that you do a lot of drawing in Italy, what gives?  Are they studies for paintings?

                                                                                  - Roberto C., Toronto

A. I don't crochet so it keeps me busy.

DESIGNARE

Drawing is active meditation or it can be likened to a dancer taken class daily or a pianist playing scales. With drawing, you sit yourself down in front of something and you must digest a lot of information. Somethings are discarded as superfluous, others are emphasized. The minds eye  edits and the hand puts it on the paper. Tools are simple, pencil and paper, but it is not easy.

Podere Poggio del Lago (abandoned farm / ruin)

James Aponovich

Due Pini  ( Two Pines)

James Aponovich

Today, Elizabeth and I went to Bagno Vignoni in the Val D'Orcia. It's a tiny Medieval Spa known since Roman times. A large Piscina (pool) dominates the piazza which was constructed by The Medici's. Lorenzo D'Medici himself came to the pool in an effort to alleviate his gout.

 It is one of the most charming spots for a light lunch. While we were sitting there at a small enoteca, I did what I so often do in Italy, I drew.

Bagno Vignoni

James Aponovich

{week 32}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

FLORENCE IS BURNING!

Florence ( in progress)

James Aponovich

pencil and oil on panel, 16" x 20"

Florence fears death by water ( the Arno), not fire. But, as the year 1500 approached Florence was swept with Apocalyptic fever, many feared the Final Days and Resurrection were close at hand. This was brought to mind as I applied a wash of red ochre ( curiously called Burnt Sienna), to my drawing on panel. The wash creates an overall tone and makes the surface easier to paint on. Back to Florence, then

THE MAD MONK FROM FERRARA

Portrait of Savonarola

Fra Bartolomeo

His name was Girolamo Savonarola and he was born in Ferrara in 1452. Girolamo was an introspective boy, gloomy and pale with a large nose and piercing eyes. It was said that he fell in love with a Strozzi girl, the daughter of a Florentine exile. She firmly rejected him, he looked into the mirror and decided to dedicate his life to God, rigid austerity and sermonizing. he would have not made a very good dinner guest.

BONFIRES OF THE VANITIES

Fra Angelico
The Damned (detail)
San Marco

San Marco, interior

He became a Dominican monk and eventually ended up at

 San Marco in Florence, the City of God ( and the Medici's). He preached against what he saw as the physical excesses of the day and he proclaimed that God spoke through him to foretell the end of time. Thousands flocked to his sermons even though he spoke in a high pitched voice, heavy with Ferrara accent. They believed every word. He formed his own version of the Revolutionary Guard 

called the ' Blessed Bands'. Children in white robes and short hair would carry olive branches and red crosses and walk about the city collecting expensive clothing, jewelry, profane books and paintings ( the  Vanities) and build mounds of 'stuff' in the Piazza della Signoria and set it ablaze to singing and bell ringing ( the Bonfires). Even the painter Botticelli succumbed to the fervor and threw some of his paintings into the flames. Savonarola also condemned the Papacy for its rampant corruption. Rome was not pleased, in particular the corpulent and lascivious Borgia Pope, Alexander VI.

Fresco from San Marco

Fra Angelico

"Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles to watch you burn."

                                              - Chinese proverb

Had Girolamo read this in his fortune cookie, he would have known his own demise was coming. The pope had excommunicated him and Savonarola saw and praised the invading French army under Charles III as the hand of God punishing the Italians. He was loosing his popularity, even his supporters turned on him. He was arrested, tortured and, along with two of his fellow monks, burnt to death in the same Piazza della Signoria where he held his Bonfires of the Vanities. Today, a plaque is set on the spot where he was exected. It is a strange sight to watch tourists walk over it, eating gelato.

UPDATE ON THE FLORENCE PAINTING

Florence ( in progress)

James Aponovich

pencil and oil on panel, 12" x 20"

{week 29}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

AN EVENING IN BEDLAM

THE COCKTAIL PARTY, Circa 1990

Blue Hill, Maine

" You realize, James, " Barbara said as she cupped her glasses, as to emphasize her point, "You must choose, you are either Roman or Florentine, you cannot possibly be both."

I stared vacuosly into my drink and nodded. A cocktail party on Parker Point was a long way from Italy. I didn't have the foggiest idea of what she meant. At the time I had only been to Italy once and the closest I ever got to Rome was the airport. She had lived there for years! "Wh...what exactly do you mean by that?" I finally stammered in response. She backed off slightly, giving me a look that was part surprise and part benign dismissal. "Guess you'll just have to find out for yourself," she said turning to give her attention to another, more worthy guest. "Oh," I muttered.

FAST FORWARD

FLORENCE

Florence

James Aponovich

pencil underdrawing, panel, 12" x 16"

Q. Although I do not as usual read "blogs", I was advised to follow yours by my American colleague, Kurt ( whom, I assume you know). I cannot disagree in its interest, however, in reference to your depiction of the City of Florence, I was astonished not to find the Badia and Bargello. For what reason did you omit them?

                                                                                                     - Giancarlo A., Art Historian, Milan

A. It's not Florence, it's a painting ( I do not mean to be cheeky, refer to Matisse*)

* When Matisse was asked why he had painted a green stripe down the face of Madame so and so, he replied, " It's not Madame so and so, it's a painting!"

I admit that I have had a difficult time warming up to Florence. That does not necessarily mean 

that 'I'm Roman', but Rome is a Baroque powerhouse, full of ostentatious grandeur, spectacle and over the top flavor. Florence, on the other hand is a Renaissance city, prone to a certain somberness and restraint, attributes that I am well familiar with living in New England. However, there is something in Florence that literally rises above all else.

IL DUOMO e IL CAMPANILE

Santa Maria Dei Fiori

Duomo (detail)

James Aponovich

pencil on panel, 12" x 16"


Brunelleschi's Dome and Giotto's Bell Tower, together dominate the city. For the most part, as you walk the streets you cannot see them, turn a corner and they tower above you, all out of human scale like a leviathan breeching. I have always wanted to paint them.

"This is insane, this is insane!"
                                                                         -Tom B., Appliance Repairman, NH.

In the first light of the morning, I often draw at the kitchen island, my 'office'. I began a panel depicting Florence, after a sketch I had completed of the Duomo and Campanile from the top floor of Orsanmichele. It is pure fantasy, at that early hour, last nights dream cycle is easily conveyed into the buildings and streets of my imaginary yet real city on the Arno. When Tom, our friendly repairman was in the kitchen working on the fridge, he saw the panel on the island, picked it up, looked at it and kept saying, "This is insane..." Insane you say.... I'll show you insane!


SPLITTING A HAZELNUT

The Fairy Fellers Masterpiece
Richard Dadd ( 1817-1886)
oil on canvas, 21" x 15"


Richard Dadd was a Victorian English Artist  contemporaneous with Lewis Carroll of Alice Through the Looking Glass fame. Dadd, however is not a recognizable name. In fact, even when he was alive he was referred to in the press as, "the late Richard Dadd!" I feel for him. This is his most well known painting, it was a commission of sorts and it took him some six years to complete, he had plenty of time on his hands.
The painting is quite small but utterly fantastic with every square inch crawling with minutiae. The scene is set with an erect woodsman about to split a hazelnut with his ax. All around are an hallucinatory assortment of fairies,  Spanish dancers, Lords, dwarfs, and one spectacular grasshopper blowing on a long trumpet, well worthy of Bosch.

(detail with grasshopper)

(detail with Woodsman and ax)


Dadd used to say that he would stare at a blank canvas until  forms started to emerge. Curiously, Leonardo da Vinci recommends throwing an ink soaked sponge against a wall and then observe the 'pictures' left behind, ever wonder where the landscape in back of the Mona Lisa came from?
Bt the way, the person who commissioned Dadd was the Warden of Bethlehem Hospital in England, what we now call Bedlem, Dadd was legally insane and spent the last forty years of his life there.


            

{week 28}

copyright 2015 James Aponovich

THE FOOD CRAFTERS ISSUE

PINEAPPLES

ANANAS ( A Pattern Pineapple)

Ana Aponovich

watercolor, 20" x 28"

"Don't play with your food!"

                                                   -Eve ( as told to Cain and Able)

Italians love fruit, strawberries, cherries, figs, blood oranges....you name it. But, I would say that they harbor a particular  fondness for two: watermelon (cocomero) in summer and pineapple ( ananas) the rest of the year. Dessert is often a perfectly ripe piece of fruit to balance the complexity of a meal. Other desserts tend to be simple and not overly sweet. What complicated desserts there are usually have trickled down from France. However, there is one indigenous dish that stands alone.....

" The best tiramisu in the world."

                                  -Aldous Huxley

Think Tiramisu ( trans. 'pick me up') and it may elicit a yawn from you and in general for good reason.

Without a doubt, it has been overused and butchered here in the states......

....tiramisu cupcakes.....tiramisu coffee?

However, there is one restaurant in Italy whose Tiramisu reigns supreme, at Befico family
 owned ( since 1959)  Ristorante Masolino in Panicale. While Bruna and Sonia cook, and Andrea pours wine, Stefania rules the dessert menu. Torta di Nonna, Crema Caramella, Biscotti and her tour  de force Tiramisu compliment one of the best Italian meals you can get.

Bruna, Stefania & Sonia in the kitchen

Stefania

Masolino's Restaurant, Panicale

But, we are here for for fruit, so lets leave Panicle and return to Tuscany and the 

walled city of Borgo Sansepolcro.

Journal Page: Sansepolcro

James Aponovich

Yeah, we were on the Piero Trail ( blog post 21) and spent the night at what I think is the only hotel within the walls, Albergo Fiorentino. For dining, there is the attractive Ristorante Fiorentino in the hotel presided over by the gregarious owner. To start, I ordered the usual affitasi ( mixed local cured meats and cheeses) , but then I saw the most amazing antipasto pass by me for the next table.

THE PINEAPPLE SWAN

"I'll have what they're having."

They serve the swan two ways, for antipasto, various salamis are placed between the pineapple slices, and for the dolci course it is served without meat but instead with whipped cream ( panna). Anyway they showed me how to make one and when we returned home and hosted a dinner party, I made one with salami and was curious to see how it would be received.

It was like kids at a birthday party....within minutes...gone!

(week 22)

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

CASTING A LONGER SHADOW (part III)

The Sevigalla Madonna
Piero della Francesca
Urbino, Italy

For awhile it was quite fashionable while touring Tuscany to engage in cultural pursuits,judging from the lines to see Michelangelo's David ( a.k.a. Naked White Guy), I guess it's still sort of true. If you belong to a certain 'set' and are more adventurous, you embark o the"Piero Trail", seeking out frescos by Piero della Francesca, in situ. They cannot come to a museum near you, so you must go to where they were painted. After all you must do something between that last caffe doppio in the morning and your first sip of Chianti Riserva in the evening. It becomes somewhat of a life list game.......How many Piero's have you seen?

Federico da Montefeltro 
Battista Sforza
Piero della Francesca
Uffizi, Florence

As an introduction, the trail begins in Florence at the Uffizi. Federico and Battista from Urbino sit in the middle of the room, husband and wife in profile in front of an imaginary landscape. They are paintings on panel and critically many feel these are lesser works, charming, as they say. But, to me they are splendid, there is an instant clarity of form and a real sense that these figures sit in air ( sfumato). Piero manages to paint atmosphere in front, around and in back of the figures. He paints the invisible. This was a big deal at the time when the Renaissance was abandoning gothic flatness. Take a quick look around and then onto the first stop.....


AREZZO, CHURCH OF SAN FRANCESCO

Legend of the True Cross ( detail)
Piero della Francesco
Church of San Francesco, Arezzo


Leave Florence and head east on the Autostrata ( S1) and you will soon arrive at Arezzo, a gritty thug town. The city was heavily bombed by the Allies during World War II, so much of its presumed charm has been lost. Make your way to the Church of San Franceso, walk past it and try to find the          
ticket office ( Bigletteria) and hope that its open. Return to the church and you'll see the fresco cycle of The Legend of the True Cross. Don't forget your binoculars, you'll need them. O.K. Next stop.....


SAN SEPOLCRO, MUSEO CIVICO

The Resurrection
Piero della Francesca
Museo Civico, San Sepolcro

As you drive east from Arezzo, the landscape changes, more resembling northern New England. You emerge to a large plain, Anghiari is to the north and further east is Borgo San Sepolcro, the birthplace of Piero himself. Here you will see The Resurrection, a painting that Aldous Huxley
 referred to as, " The greatest picture in the World." ( I wonder what Trevor F. would think of that!).....
Onward!


MONTERCHI

Madonna del Prato
Piero della Francesca

Quick! grab a bite at a Tavola Calda, no time to sit, we still must 'do' Urbino, but first we have a pregnant Madonna to visit.
I don't know ..... you know how far Urbino is? Anyway, it's almost 'Happy Hour' back at the villa and we do have reservations for dinner at Cibreo.... well...maybe next time.
Siamo Stanchi!  ( we're tired!)

The spirit is willing
but
the flesh is weak

Madonna and Child with Four Saints
Piero della Francesca
Clark Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Don't fret! Back here in the U.S.A. you can find a handful of Piero's, Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, and right here at nearby Williamstown, MA.  This is why we came here, to the Clark.  It is what is called an easel painting and it probably hung on a wall to the right of a window.
 How do we know?........ The angel is casting a shadow.



~~~~~~~~~~

Il Duomo and Campanile,  Florence (in progress)
James Aponovich


"This is insane, this is insane."
                                                -Tom B., appliance repairman

He might be correct. More on this later.




{week 21}
Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

THE COCKTAIL ISSUE

THE COCKTAIL ISSUE

" I never have more than one drink before dinner, but I do like that one to be very large, very strong, very cold and very well made."

                                                             - James Bond, 007

DARK, DARK, WE ALL GO INTO THE DARK

I write this on the shortest day ( light) of the year, the Winter Solstice. If you are an optimist and your glass is always half full then you can call it the longest evening of the year. If your glass is half empty, its just plain dark. It is at this time of year that we cloak the days with tradition and custom and we call it 'The Holidays', from Thanksgiving to Epiphany ( Jan.6 ) there is a cascade of festivities designed to help us forget how miserable we really are. ( Think of how you feel in June.)

I do know of one way to assuage the misery of darkness....a roaring fire and a great cocktail.

THE (unofficial) ITALIAN NATIONAL COCKTAIL

" Hey Bartender, you got anything stronger?"

                                                                            - Conte Cammillo Negroni, 1919

Negroni Cocktail

James Aponovich

oil on panel,  9" x 6"

Beth and I were beating the streets of Florence with our guests, Tom and Shannon. It was a hot day and since we were near the Via Tournabuoni, we decided to head for Bar Procacci for a glass of prosecco and a tartufatto panini ( truffle sandwich). Of course, it happened

 to be Monday and guess what?....closed!

Tom then noticed a little bar around the corner with outdoor seating. It was there that we discovered the Holy Grail of adult beverages, Caffe Giacosa, the birthplace of the Negroni !

In general, Italians are not big cocktail drinkers. Order a martini and you are likely to get a glass of sweet vermouth ( brand name Martini and Rossi). They are fond of two types
 of liquor: an apertivo ( before dinner) and a digestivo (after dinner). One of the most popular apertivo is from Milan. It is distilled from rhubarb and herbs and it is quite red, its name is Campari. By itself, Campari is fairly bitter, so it is customarily diluted with soda water, add a little sweet vermouth for balance and it becomes an Americano.

Legend has it that in 1919, a Count Cammillo Negroni went to the Bar Casoni ( now called the Caffe Giacosa) and ordered an Americano, but he was not satisfied, and wanted 'something' added to it. He had  had a tough day and he needed a 'stiffer' drink. The bartender, Fosco Scarselli , thought for a moment and added a shot of English gin and in honor of the count, called the drink a Negroni. It was an instant hit. With time the soda water went away and it has become an Italian classic.

THE NEGRONI

1 oz. Campari

1 oz. sweet vermouth

1 oz. gin

Shake with ice and serve cold with an orange peel as garnish.

Salute!
Felice Anno Nuovo!

PS. Add the soda water back and it reverts to the original, the Italians call it a "long drink".

PPS.  I must confess.......I drank the still life.

{week 18}

Copyright 2014 James Aponovich

           

OLIVES { week 11 }

OLIVES

Ancient Olive Tree

James Aponovich

pencil on paper

" If I could paint and had the necessary time, I should devote myself for a few years to making pictures only of olive trees."

                 - Aldous Huxley

ITALIAN HARVEST

One morning, Katia came to our house for a visit. "James and Elizabeth, you must come to Panicale in October and help with the olive harvest, I will feed you!", she exclaimed with a flourish. It sounded to me like a Tom Sawyer and the fence set up. A lot of work, no pay. Elizabeth then replied, " Katia, you know that we would love to visit in the fall, but it is also a busy time for us in the studio, it is very difficult to get away" ( never mind expensive). Undeterred, Katia continued,"Senti carissima, the harvest is so much fun, we all participate, Massimo, my father and mother and even nonna helps out! And the food! Mama Mia!"

LITTLE DID WE KNOW WHAT WAS TO COME

olive orchard

The landscape of Umbria and Tuscany is characterized by two crops, grapes for the production of wine and olives for 'green gold', extra virgin olive oil. In both cases the fruit is harvested and pressed in the fall and miracles of everyday transubstantiation take place. all across central Italy, many private homes have a small vineyard for wine that will be consumed throughout the year, this is called table wine, humble and delicious. There is also usually from a few to hundreds of olive trees on the property. The oil that is pressed from the olives will sustain a families cooking needs for a year.

Together, these are the life blood of Italy.

Il Progresso olive oil

Who has the best olive oil in Italy? It depends who you ask. Some insist on the peppery Tuscan olive oil from Lucca and Chianti, others swear by the refined, elegant oil from Garda. Puglia, to the south has unwavering support, while to other southerners it is the dark green, sediment infused oil from Sicily.

Hillside of Panicale

James Aponovich

pencil on paper

Personally, all I have to do is look out the window to see where my favorite olive oil comes from. The hills surrounding Lake Trasimeno are considered by many to be the perfect blend of rocky soil and harsh climate necessary for the best olives.

DARK CLOUDS O THE HORIZON

That is until this year. The winter of 2013-14 was unusually mild, followed by a wet spring. we had heard rumors of a blight of Biblical proportions killing trees in Puglia and making its way north. The culprit is a fly inadvertently brought from the Americas, possibly California (gulp!). The fly burrows into the fruit, lays eggs and the larvae suck the olive dry. What is harvestable is questionable. A cold winter is necessary to control the fly population and it didn't happen,...so,what happens now?

One thing for sure, la casalinga (housewife) who was used to having oil for the year must now buy it...at higher prices. Italy is the second highest exporter ( after Spain) of olive oil in the world. That means less to export...higher prices.

Maybe next year will be better.

Ancient Olive Tree

James Aponovich

oil on panel, 10" x 8"

SPERO DI SI

( I hope so )

THE SHOPPING ISSUE (week9)

'THE SHOPPING ISSUE

CORTONA

The Val di Chiana from Panicale
James Aponovich
Pencil on paper


From the Piazza Masolino one can look over the red tiled roofs of Panicale and see the Tuscan city of Cortona nestled alongside the mountains that form the eastern edge of the Val di Chiana. By car it takes under an hour to get there. The road up to Cortona is not easy. It is full of hairpin turns, steep ascents and sudden cut offs. If the name Cortona sounds familiar, you are either a fan of Renaissance homeboy, the painter Luca Signorelli or you enjoyed basking under the Tuscan sun with one of Frances Mayes books.

Virgin and Child
Luca Signorelli
Tempera and oil on wood, c. 1505




ANYWHERE   ~   PRANZO  ~   ANYTIME

In Italy, for Elizabeth and I,  almost anywhere is worth going to as long as there is a decent chance of finding a great place to have lunch. Nothing wrong with a little destination dining and....by the way..."I wonder whats in that church ?"  You never know.
Aldo had told us that there are two "must do" things when we visit Cortona.
The first is to walk to 'Le Celle', an abandoned monastery founded by St. Francis in 1211
( Stew and I will do that in the spring). The second and equally important
 is to have lunch ( pranzo ) at  Osteria del Teatro.  Enough said.

Outside Aldo & Daniela's Bar Gallo


The four of us were having our usual morning coffee at Bar Gallo. It was the beginning of what was to be an unusually warm day for May. As we sat there I could sense an unease in our friend Debbie as she sipped her cappuccino grande. She seemed to be in a fog, even though we hadn't drank that much  wine the night before. Debbie is an articulate, intelligent and creative woman with the most uncanny sense of being able to do whatever it is a G.P.S. does. A few years ago we were lost, driving around the backroads of Tuscany trying to find our way to Siena. I was seemingly driving around circles when suddenly she screams "STOP!"
I slammed on the brakes and looked to the side of the road only to see a rundown factory with the name Pratesi on the side of it......OH, shoes...we will never make it to Siena now. this was a must stop. Elizabeth still wears a pair of red loafers she bought that day.


ITALIAN SHOES

Got Prada? Nah. Want Tod's? Too expensive. Bargain basement deal? Yes!
Place Debbie anywhere on the globe and she can locate wherever she is by the nearest shoe outlet. It is amazing, so I knew that the uneasiness I sensed that morning somehow involved shoes, or the lack of them. I decided to throw down the gauntlet...."Anybody up for a trip to Cortona?" Then over the empty coffee cups a war
cry arose......"Yes, shoes!"

We soon found ourselves in Cortona on the Via Natzionale looking for the Pratesi outlet.  Elizabeth and Debbie were on a mission for two finds: shoes and Italian leather purses, Jim and I, as usual, stood outside the more than tiny store  and did what men around the world do....we waited.



THE JOKER IS WILD

Cards From Cortona
James Aponovich
oil on panel, 7" x 5"



Boredom, or was it watching one too many people licking gelato soon got the better of me and I began to look around at the various shops. There was one in particular that caught my eye, Il Papiro.
It seemed to be a paper store and since paper is part of my trade, I decided to take a look and left Jim
standing sentry.

Me                   " Buona sera."

Comessa          "Buona sera, mi dica?"

Me                   " No grazie, sto solo guardando."

Comessa          " Bene."

* more of my butchered Italian

Looking over the cards, stationary and sealing wax, I noticed a deck of playing cards. A card player, I am not, I can't even play solitaire. But I love the hearts, clubs , spades and diamonds, never mind the King and Queen along with the Jack. However, I have always held the Joker in high esteem, and this Joker was one of the best I have ever seen. Paint him. I must!

Oh, Guess who ended up buying shoes?

Me! I need a pair of Italian suede driving shoes like I need a hole in the head. What's next, an Alpha Romeo?............Hmmmmmm.




POSTSCRIPTUM

Fighting The Italian Street Musicians Union Rates

We became exhausted after all that shoe shopping so the best remedy was to revive ourselves with a shared bottle of prosecco. We had just settled down at the nearest bar when a street musician came by and played a short riff on his accordian. Want to hear more, you gotta pay. Little did he know that I have harbored a lifetime of hatred of accordion music, must be the Lawrence Welk thing.
Anyway, I was feeling flush and offered a two euro coin. He looked at it, looked at me and walked on muttering something. Fortunately, I couldn't understand. So, I kept the coin and added it to the composition.

* 

Me                       " Good afternoon."

Shopkeeper          " Good afternoon, can I help you?"

Me                       " No, thank you, I'm just browsing."

Shopkeeper          " Very well."

'Tip O the hat' and thanks to Debbie DePeyster for suppling friendship and photos of Cortona.