Everyone in Italy Said Tell You Hello!

[Auburnwine]

Hey y'all! I do hope that you drank some good wine while I was in Italy. Despite the lousy dollar/Euro ratio, we had a lovely time.

Oh, and it was hotter than hell -- unrelentingly so, and without the refuge of air conditioning that has made life bearable in our own sunny Southland.

Most of the wine that we drank was right out of the jug on the restaurant table, and it was perfectly satisfactory. We did have a few heart-breakingly tasty wines, however.

Ah, the food was so very good. There was a little wood-fired traditional bakery next to our villa, and we became quite accustomed to fresh, hot rustic bread for breakfast every day. And don't get me started on gelato or porchetta (the roast suckling pig that is the speciality in our region).

I thought Mississippi and Alabama tomatoes were great, but an Italian tomato can truly be a masterpiece. And cherries and peaches and melons and anything made with hazelnuts ....

The ten-year-old added lots of new items to his "I've never had that before" list: pig's cheek, wild boar, rabbit ragu, lardo, pasta with squid ink sauce, pasta with sea urchin ... and much, much more. And he saw more Ferraris and Lamborghinis than most car fanatics see in a lifetime.

We saw ballet at La Scala; climbed the Torre del Mangia in Siena (one of the most beautiful cities on this earth); felt parentally challenged when these butt-naked lads modern-danced in front of us at Spoleto; and stood weeping before the transient beauty of Botticelli's women.

It was fun. It was exhausting. It was moving. It was the most extraordinary summer of my life.