Yesterday in Barga

Wednesday – Nov. 24^th

A view from the apartment window

We had a good night’s sleep and woke up to gorgeous views from every window in our apt. and the sun was shining brightly.  There are 5 windows in our apt. and you can see the town of Barga with mountains behind it  from one side and the Alps on the other.  The snow seemed to melt some today  but is still there.  I am not sure why it makes the sight of mountains so much more majestic but its an amazing thing to see ….maybe its because I lived for 7 yrs in texas and 9 and SC where you just don’t see things like that often.

Picking Olives with Owner

We had breakfast about 9 this morning and while we were eating we saw owner of this place and his parents harvesting olives in the field near where our car was parked. They had rakes they used to knock the olives out of the trees onto nets that were around the base of the tree on the ground.  We stopped to watch on the way to our car when we were getting ready to leave.  They said it has been a terrible crop this year for olives because they have had so much rain…so if you use it you might want to stock up as I have a feeling the price is going up.   Before we knew it we were helping pick the olives and we made up conversations in English of what we imagined they were saying about us in Italian…Roger’s commentary kept me laughing.  After about an hour and half and 2 and half trees later we headed into town.  They would be working all day to get their crop in to town to have it pressed into oil.  I would love to see that. 

Walking the Streets of Barga

We spent the day in Barga exploring the old city part.  It is so cool to walk the narrow streets…all stone..and look at shops along the way.  I found my first fabric.  For those who don’t know that is all I am buying on this trip as a souveneir…a half yard of fabric from each place to make a memory quilt someday…or have someone make it for me more likely…ha ha…  We had lunch at a nice little café and then came back to our place to rest awhile since we decided it was time to eat dinner out in the evening.  They eat soooo late here for my liking…and it’s a long affair…not the hour rush at Olive Garden.  We went into town a bit early to walk around and happened to finally find the place people had been telling us about where we could get on the internet.  We can’t use our computer but at least we will be able to connect.  It means a lot to us to keep up with everyone just because we will be gone so long.  After a few min on the computer we disconnected and went back to old town and found a restaurant that was open at 6:45!!  Amazing.  Of course we were the only ones there but we didn’t care…the owner kept us company coming to watch a nearby tv with Italian version of who wants to be a millionare.  The food was by far the best we have had since we arrived in Italy and maybe we will go there again before we leave.

So back at the apartment…still calming my nerves from the harrowing ride back from Barga…narrow road…narrower road thru dark forest and one way rickety bridge…then the worst…the narrower yet drive down to our place…you have no idea how scary it is STILL after doing it about 6 + times already!