Hi all, Spoke to Bill briefly (strangely disconnected) yesterday (Tuesday), to discover him allegedly on a train. He sounded well if a little disappointed that we won't be meeting up in Abruzzo -- I will be doing that by myself in May, shortly after I arrive.....now over to STGT. Carole
This is very strange.....the phone must be broken. We were disconnected mid sentence and when I redialed it was answered by an Italian who promptly hung up on me.....weird. Anyway I concluded that it must have been a crossed line or some such, and as we had finished our travel talk and were heading for pleasantries I decided not to try again. I have never had that happen in six years of calling and receiving calls from a mobile (in Italy), to and from Australia. Next person to see him will no doubt pass on the message. Maybe James can help. Carole.
Found!!! he's in a railway station, hoping to take the right train and crossing all fingers for tomorrow (sciopero here ).......he speaks an excellent italian (molto raffinato, perbacco) and has a beautyfull voice (may I can say this about a man's voice, or I have to say "handsome voice"??? )....luckly, Italy is so little
He is on his way here to spend the weekend. Apparently the strike has not (as yet!) adversly affected his travels and is due in a couple of hours. Will report back - unless I can get him to log in and do so himself! Ahhhh, the pressure of celebrity.
Just had a letter from Bill in which he speaks so glowingly of all of you and your generosity that I won't even give you the gist of it, for fear of embarrassing you. You'd probably break down and cry, unless you were busy separating the dog and cat, as I was.
So I'm going to use some of that generosity to ask any of you who talks to Bill or sees him to (1) call me. I can't get a decent connection to his telefonino. (2) Stop worrying about money. I'm going to deposit a couple of thousand dollars into his bank account tomorrow and he is to spend them. I got a much larger tax refund than I expected, so this is like free money. (3) All is well here. Crocuses in bloom, the dog eating them. Chicago in early spring.
James, can we get you to join us more often? That was a great Friday evening chuckle! And re 3), is it only in Chicago that dogs eat crocuses? (or croci) I thought most bulbs were poisonous, but come to think of it, the skunks dig ours up; I thought it was to get at the slugs. Maybe he/she only eats the flowers? Since he/she's still fighting the cat, obviously they are sources of strength.
Posts: 2054 | Location: Suburban Philadelphia | Registered: 08 July 2002
OK Folks, amazed and ego much gratified for everybody's kind wishes and/or curiosity, here's Boobykins himself, the guy with the elegant Italian, perbacco, the monastic tonsure, the frugal disposition and the erratic (tele)fonino....
Thanks first of all to several of you for relaying messages and making sure both Karen (in whose study I'm now typing away) and Maria-Cristina got in touch with me; wouldn't miss either one of you for anything.
Nor the massed hordes descending on Migianella de' Marchesi in May, brighter than yours truly: I was there no later than the 3rd of March or so and froze my butt off, walking several miles uphill into increasing snow flurries, muttering (mild) imprecations at Deborah half the time. It's a little remote.
Thanks also James; yet my phone works most of the time, except when I'm in some desolate hole of a place out of range -- much mystified by everybody's phone problems; especially Carole's, and my own cellphone refused to register the incoming number else I'd have called you right back. I myself had a weird one with the phone, dialing what I thought was the Segreteria, and somehow getting a hotel in Venice: Shannon playing some kind of joke on me I guess. Carole do write me (care of Mrs. James McGarrell, that's important, please, else it may not be delivered) or phone again as soon as you know when before May 15th or so you'll be in Italy.
Barb and Art know it's just a matter of time before I turn up a casa loro, and thanks. Maria-Cristina, in April in Gaiche? Hai il mio numero, 3 giorni di avviso prima mi basteranno.
I regret I had to back out of Jeanne's Spello (or somewhere) expedition: on closer study with the rail schedules, I'da been stuck three trains away from Umbertide and would almost certainly have been unable to get back home in the evening, thus involving an expensive night in a hotel in Perugia or somewhere.
If Ann reads this, one of the two cats is doing very well and likes his food inside, please (it's been raining off and on, now fortunately mostly off); the other much less so and I haven't seen her in two weeks.
Met Rebecca of Brigolante, we had an enjoyable coffee in S. Maria degli Angeli for a couple of hours last week, at a pastry shop known by that most Italian of names, "ex-Harry's Bar".
I'm OK and by Monday I should be back in Umbria; i.e. by Tuesday I haven't the faintest idea where I'll be. Now offline, might as well be frugal for Karen as well as for myself (if less os, thanks James).
See y'all in various places -- A big hug for Pliny.
Thanks, Carol M. Believe you me, you really don't want to get me started on such topics as the edibility of bulbs, corms and tubers. Walk into a party, see everyone bunched on one side of the room, and James and a glass-eyed victim on the other side.... But crocus (corms) and lily and tulip (bulbs) are quite edible. Crocus and cyclamen corms form the chief diet of some of the best future hams of Italy. Get Bill to tell you our story of The Crocuses and the Carnivorous Squirrel.
What a treat to have Bill himself post!! Although, I agree with everyone - James, register for your own ID and join us here!!
It is really great that Bill is getting to meet so many other people from the message board - what fun for everyone. I know that since I started this message board, my trips to Italy have changed because we know a few people over there and are able to GTG with other travelers. Makes the world seem a smaller, more friendly, place.
Thanks for posting Bill!! But what about that cat you haven't seen for two weeks??
Really enjoyed the Bill Thayer sightings entries. Have gone to Bill's site to read his diary entries from years past and leaned so much about places I ride my bike thru almost daily(Pistrino). We leave for our house in Citta di Castello April 14 for 6 weeks and would love to bump into the elusive Bill. When and where is the Umbria GTG in May? We want to make sure to attend. Please advise.
Posts: 23 | Location: Pompano Beach, FL, USA | Registered: 27 September 2003
A fine time was had by....well, myself and my BF, for sure! We’ll have to read Bill’s diary to see if it was, indeed, one and all! Seriously, though we had a great weekend, enjoyed having him – and, he didn’t break anything! We ate lots, drank more than a bit, toured a few towns, talked non stop, giggled some, made a few discoveries, had a ‘moment’, met an €800 Border Collie puppy, and so on.
We went to a salt pan in Cervia in the 60,000 hectare Parco Regionale del Delta del Po (4 diary pages, I’m told), visited Marco Pantani’s grave (the ‘moment’), saw THE bridge in Savignano sul Rubicone, had a Piadina in Cesenatico, walked around Santarcangelo a couple of times, went to Brisigella and climbed to the clock tower, stopped in Faenza (nice enough town, but it leaves me a little cold and the church is rather ugly), had dinner at La Sangiovesa for Romagnola food.
As you would imagine, he is a bright, adventurous, engaging, affable man. It was our pleasure. Never did drink that Naturalis Historia (or eat that darn agretti - a spring green whose other name I can not remember), though. Maybe next time.
P.S. I have camera envy. Look forward to some beautiful pictures on his site. Ohhhhh, speaking of his site, he asked me to relay that his site may be off in the near future which will result in many broken links from ST and ST. If anyone needs anything there, I suggest you get it now. It will eventually be back, I'm told
Found it. Looks like GTG meet at noon May 9 in front of octagonal chiesa/rocca in Umbertide, bring pranzo fresco, caravan to MdM. Have room for 2 more if needed.
Peter and Marsha
Posts: 23 | Location: Pompano Beach, FL, USA | Registered: 27 September 2003
Hi everyone. It is with trepidation that I compose this post. Especially after Bill posted that he was "blessing" me as he walked up to MdiM. After having suggested and then encouraged this meet and greet on May 9th, I find that I will be unable to leave the USA at ALL!!!! No Italy, no Germany, no MdiM. Both my mother and my mother-in-law are experiencing medical situations. Not life threatening, but serious enough that for me to trot off to Europe for a month would be out of the question. I'm now regrouping and looking at July (one of my two LEAST favorite months to go). Forgive me for whinning here. And especially forgive me for abandoning the MdiM get together! I know that you don't need me there to have a great time. But I hope you will miss me desperately! I want to see LOTS of pictures, and please raise a toast to your "absent" participant! I'm posting this on the GTG board as well, but wanted to put it here since the discussion is along those lines. You know the Leanne Rhimes song "Blue"? That is what is running through my head right now!
Deborah Horn In a previous life I was an Umbrian sunflower farmer. I want to do a past life regression and stay there. ----------------------------------- www.petsburg.com My blog: Old Shoes - New Trip
Posts: 5599 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: 04 September 2001
Bill will be in Apecchio Saturday 3rd April, and then Pergola to see the bronzi d'orati. Hang along the road with signs, will ya? I've even found a restaurant along the way that serves guts, which Bill claims to love, and especially a local dish of guts with chocolate. A local policewoman raved about this place. Wonder what I will eat? Next week he will be at supper casa mia with my own 'rack and ruin' lovers and their SOs.
PS/ his telefonino just doesn't work half the time, although he told me no one else was having trouble reaching him on it. Three calls, one connection, and it was on everyday.
Decobabe - Good to see you posting again, it seems like a long time since I've seen you on the boards. Hope all is well with you. Please pass along to Bill that the meeting place of the Umbertide STGTG has been changed. Thanks in advance. Will you be there by any chance?
Guts and chocolate, Judith! This sounds fascinating: do tell us more. We've got a week booked, just N of Cagli this time (just above Smirra), 7-14 Aug, so if the guts are tasty...
Jonathan
Posts: 3404 | Location: Stroud, UK | Registered: 18 November 2001
Colleen, I just don't know. With the dollar in the toilet and gas near $6 a gallon, I am more restricted than I used to be and try to make my trips extremely useful. You may never have met anyone before who has to buy manure, get a pedicure and have her hair done all in one trip---then perhaps also pick up the groceries for the week. Jonathan, you will have to ask Bill, because you don't think I am going to eat guts, do you? I'm American! The policewoman was rapturous over them, explaining that this dish is rarely made even at home anymore, and it was only one of 12 dishes served on a one price Euro 20 meal. You eat guts and have to pay for them, too? Maybe if someone bet me 100 euros I couldn't, I could. It is called Franchino and is up in the hills over Apecchio, she said just ask anyone in Apecchio.
Judith, last fall you recommended the Bronzi d'Orati in Pergola to me as something worth seeing. How right you were!
When we walked in the museum, the ticket-taker advised us that it was closed that day. We were so disappointed. He smiled and said, follow me. He went to every room, turned on all the lights for us, and left us alone for our private tour. When he clicked on the lights in the room with the bronze horses, I thought I would cry. They were so amazing. I don't have my notes to tell everyone how old they were, but they were found in a field by a farmer. It's a great story.
A fabulous museum in the little town of Pergola, and the typical Italian kindness of strangers. Priceless.
They are still every bit as stunning and worthy of conjecture and mind-romancing. We had to miss the guts and chocolate because we were at Apecchio too early. Bill says please remove his review of Ristorante Santa Lucia at Fossombrone, since today we found it is via con vento. He has the flu a bit and therefore can eat only for two men, rather than the 3-4 he normally claims.
I'm sorry about the guts 'n chocolate: I was looking forward to a photo at least... But I agree that the bronzes are marvellous. There's a catch, though: here's a bit that I wrote last year, when Bill first mentioned his desire to see them.
quote: That's if the ones at Pergola are the real ones. According to our Cagli landlords this Summer (Peter Greene & Richard Dixon, who run the Marche Voyager site, and do a lot of translation work in the region), a set of copies were made during the latest restoration process. And there's been a long-running wrangle between the Pergola people and the Museo Archeologico Nazionale delle Marche, at Ancona, about who should get to display the originals. At one time, the originals were spending 6 months in Pergola and 6 in Ancona; but the travelling wasn't doing them any good. Hence the copies. But no one is letting on which ones are the copies.
We saw the ones in the Pergola museum. They look marvellous: I just hope they were the real ones!
Jonathan
Posts: 3404 | Location: Stroud, UK | Registered: 18 November 2001
quote:Originally posted by decobabe: Bill says please remove his review of Ristorante Santa Lucia at Fossombrone, since today we found it is via con vento. He has the flu a bit and therefore can eat only for two men, rather than the 3-4 he normally claims.
Restaurant review has been deleted.
Sorry Bill's not feeling up to his usual dining standard! Hope he's better soon.
30 CE is what it says. Bill and I were talking about what it must have been like for someone then, living in a world without lights and travel for the most part, to walk out of the typical mist of the region (at that time Umbria) and see these ablaze in the sun. I felt that I understood for the first time something about Roman women. You see drawings, paintings, but when you see that one entire woman, you see how she had to hold herself and how regal one had to be to keep ones clothes on correctly. You can only guess about the other female, but she was surely jazzier, maybe younger, because she is wearing pointy platform shoes and her skirts are frillier. I had bought postcards last year and I never sent them, because this is something that you can't see until you see it. Live. And I don't care if they are copies or not, because if they are they are magnificent copies.
Hello Judith, my goodness it is a long time since... Ok, Ok I am hooked.. going to have to visit Umbria and see those horses seeing no one wants to meet up with me. Nice to catch up with you Judith. Carole
Actually, Carole, they're in Le Marche. Pergola is about 15km E of Cagli: so quite close to Judith's bit of Umbria. If you draw s atraight line between Ancona and Città di Castello, Pergola is about half way along it. Not that the roads go in for straight lines much around there! But yes, the horses (and more so the people, as Judith says) are an absolute must-see.
Jonathan
Posts: 3404 | Location: Stroud, UK | Registered: 18 November 2001
Bill's been sicker than ary dog, and for a few days the hot water failed. He called yesterday (Tuesday) to say that he is recovering, that the hot water has been fixed, and that he was able to go to the alimentari. Chicken soup would seem to be in order, if anyone's near Umbertide with chicken in hand, and maybe some of those greens you see old ladies gathering on the side of the roads. Until yesterday, he sounded horrible on the phone. Now he just sounds a little miserable.
Oops. Created a bit of a monster here. Bill's not that sick -- is recovering, even travelling around a bit, was in Spello yesterday. (The chicken soup was supposed to be a joke.) Hot water is off again, on other hand, and it's Good Friday eve, so that's not so good, but he's a big boy and can survive. He's also a stubborn boy: I tried to talk him into going somewhere he wants to see anyway and checking into a hotel until the Easter holiday is over but I met with stiffish resistance. All is however okay. Don't worry. Don't call the carabinieri to make sure he's okay! (This I'm told happened.)
We're still waiting for him in our part of Umbria, but I'm not so sure he realizes that we leave for the states on April 21...would someone please pass this message along...or maybe I should just call him and hope his phone is working....
James, no Carabinieri were involved, but the tame local Vigili. There was mail piled up, no one had seen him in days and the shops will close and not reopen until Tuesday, so rather than leave, shaking my head, I walked to the Vigili and asked them what I should do. They wanted to break the door down -- I suspect they rarely get the opportunity to do this-- but I said no and told them I would contact Barb for the number if I couldn't find it in my computer. I found it, called him, got the segretaria, left a message. I also left a note at the door. If I had been as sick as Bill was, I wouldn't have been up to jumping on a train for Spello as he did, at least not that fast. Oh, and I made chicken soup.
Shared my beach walk and swim with a trio of dolphins this morning...what a wonderful way to start the day in Australia. Bill on the other hand said last night (Ozzie time) that the weather hasn't been very sunny so far. He said that he has only had 4 days with sunshine -- everyone should move here.
He was talking from Tuscany...(is that nn?) he did tell me the name of this small village in fact he went to great lengths to spell it for me but guess what?.... It has one of those silent g's in it. Anyway he asked if I would mind letting everyone know that he has recovered from his 'flu and is feeling fine while continuing with his schedule of activities.... He is half way through his time in Italy. Carole
Well Pauline, he did say that he was 'just in' Tuscanny......probably why he gave me the name of the town. I thought that he was just over the border. The phone connection wasn't the best and his voice kept fading in and out and did that while he was spelling the town. I didn't think that it was important enough to have him repeat it again given the circumstances. He did describe this little church, where I believed him to be at the time.
He was mainly concerned that everyone should know that he is presently feeling very well and getting on with his appointments and arrangements. Well and truly over his flu. Carole.
Hi, all. Bill will be in Rome tomorrow (the 4th) for a big blow-out of meetings with various people. Nothing much seems to be happening -- he's visiting the last commune of Umbria, the ones that are hard to get to even in a car. He tells me that as he was walking along a highway in a rain an Umbrian stopped her car and offered him an umbrella -- how very Umbrian, when you think about it! Been back to Spello and Bastardo a couple of times; greatly disappointed with the Pinturicchio, a restaurant we are, or were, both fond of. All good things come to an end, although I have to say that the Grand Vefours, and Androuet, and the Tour d'Argent have been around now for a *long* time -- but they don't depend on the mother of the owner as a chef, I guess, and of course Pinturicchio was never in that class anyway.
Topic Closed
please Karen, give him my phone number!!! kisses,
)....luckly, Italy is so little 
