Another Candle

This post was originally titled "If it's Tuesday, this must be Holland" because we arrived in Amsterdam today... But I heard the news that an old friend died, and my light-hearted post was not coming from a light heart anymore. Steve was one of my favorites in the advertising business. We were never partners, since he was also an art director, but we connected... with humor... a shared sensibility for our craft....an appreciation for the underdog... and, again, humor. He had the best twinkle in his eye, and loved laughing at his own funny comments. A trait I loved. Rest in peace, dear Steve. I lit a candle for you in Bologna.

For Steve.

I started writing this post at the airport—leaving Rome for Amsterdam, where Fred has an Urban Sketchers teaching gig. We'll spend five nights with the group at a hotel, and four more nights on our own.

So I'll wrap up some thoughts about Italy before the next post, which will be ALL Amsterdam.

Early this week, we had to take down a show Fred had hanging for a whole year in the neighboring town of Vittorchiano.  That took about 1/100th of the time it took putting it up! It hung with magnets —one magnet on the head of a nail, the other on top of the artwork — like a sandwich.  It was down in five minutes. We gave one each to the two public administrators who helped bring the show to fruition.

After this, we moved on to one of our favorite little towns — Narni. Turns out C.S. Lewis did name Narnia after this town. We've been several times, but found some new stuff to explore. Every church we went into had a piano on the altar because there was a big music event happening.

The pianist was at this piano.  She was rehearsing in this otherwise empty church. 

This shot was taken from the inner courtyard of someone's building. Fred sat in there for hours drawing.

Speaking of inner courtyards — any open door is an invitation for Fred to explore. He once found himself on the second floor of some guy's private home. Apparently, the guy was having some construction done, so there were workers coming and going. Fred thought it was a MUSEUM! HAHAH!!!!  The guy didn't seem to wonder who Fred was or why he was there...

I posted this already to social media, but here's the coffee shop I hung out in after my walk, while Fred was lurking in that courtyard. It was a pretty lively place, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I had a cappuccino, then an ice cream from a freezer (alas, not a cone...), and then, when Fred joined, the owner showered us with attention and food!

This dress was part of an exhibit in the same church where the woman practiced the piano.
It's made from straw. The entire dress is like a straw hat.

A close-up.

I think this was the day we had 9 pm reservations at "The Duck," our favorite Viterbo restaurant. The owner is a very excitable skinny guy with a mop of curly salt and pepper hair, a ton of bracelets up his arm (mostly colorful strings with a few beads), and skinny white jeans. He always makes us feel like a million bucks when we arrive. My meal was bucatini—my favorite pasta. They're like straws. We should use bucatini instead of plastic straws!  Anyway, bucatini with clams and pistachios.

Silly ashtray! 

My date.

First gray cat of the year.

Here's another meal we had this week at La Spaghetteria. This place was in the Guiness Book of World Records for having over 300 different sauces. First, our appetizer was honey and pecorino. The only weird part was the honey was infused with chestnut, which threw off the taste, we thought.

Spaghetti with zucchini. Really good!

And another road trip this week was to Spoleto, a lovely and cultural/artsy town. Lots of festivals — music, art, fashion... Here are some visual highlights.

I have no idea the meaning of these pigs because it was a cheese shop... 

Ha! ONLY in Italy would one find sheet music for Carmen lying around in a church.

This dress! It was on a mannequin in a store window promoting a sale. SALDI means SALE. The dress and suit were made from paper.

This font...I am guilty of using it, but seriously, there are OTHER fonts to use! IT IS EPIDEMIC!

 I LOVE THIS. It looks like a pizza peel but it is a DOOR to a little shop.

And here's how it looks when it's open!

Like a postcard.

Adorable dog water station. A "Bau Bar."

A bigger Bau Bar!

And finally — Over the years, I've kept a "cast count" for the month in Italy because of the striking number of very large heavy casts we see here.  The count is six this year — and this is what I'm talking about.

Ciao.