A Weekend in the Country

"A Little Night Music" has always been one of my favorite Sondheim musicals - and no not just because of Send in the Clowns (though Glynis Johns and Len Cariou singing it can still reduce me to tears - sadly that video is no longer available on YouTube) but more for the sort of writing heard in numbers like "A Weekend in the Country."


And tomorrow we're going on our own Weekend in the Country and Laurent will get a much-needed break from the glory that is Roma. After work today our friend Linda came and picked up Reese, who will be spending his own weekend in the country at her place. Of course that meant I spent this morning in the kitchen cooking up his food - ground beef, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, green beans and rice, that dog is eating better than some people I know!

Tomorrow morning we set out - our trusty TomTom set for Rieti, about 80 kilometers north-east of here. We're meeting up with a small group of people - Susan from Italytur, two other Canadians and a trio from Naples at the Fiano Romano roundabout and heading for:

• A stroll through an olive orchard with spectacular views of the Appines and an olive tasting
• a visit to an 11th century Monastery including a look at the Illuminated Manuscripts in their Scriptorium
• Lunch at the Monastery
• A visit to an olive mill that still grinds and presses for oil using the old methods
• Then off to Susan's B and B for a cooking class with chef Maurizio concluding with dinner combining some local wines with the fruits (and meat and vegetables) of our labour

That's Saturday then on Sunday:

• Breakfast at the B and B
• A visit to a chestnut grove and processing facility - its chestnut season here and marroni canditi are in all the pastry and sweet shops
• A visit to a castle that has been in one family since it was built in the 10th century
• Lunch at a local wine shop with tastings
• A look-in at Reiti itself - once a major stop on the great Via Salaria

At that point we'll head over to Linda's place about 40 kms away in Capena for dinner with her and Nazareno and pick up Reese. The pace promises to be country-speed and fortunately, not as tenison fraught or hectic as the one Sondheim's characters are about to endure.

They (who the hell are "they" anyway) are calling for 20% chance of showers tomorrow in the Reiti region. Auld Hat, Lorraine, Cowbell and the rest of you Fire Dancers please start your engines and dance those clouds away.

16 novembre - Santa Marguerita di Scozia