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Posts Tagged ‘Joel’

The Boys on the Bike.

Posted in Travel-Where in the World are Peterlori?, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on June 20, 2019| 3 Comments »

OR

Our Last Night in Guardia

The day had finally come, my last one in Guardia Sanframondi.  Over the the last two weeks, so many expats left;  Mike Simon went home today, Michael left two days ago, Sharon from Chicago left last week, Linda and Mike from Nova Scotia left,  Dan went back to England, Judith returned to Northern California, Marsha and Chris went home to NJ, Glen went back to Canada, Kelly headed to Rome,  I guess It  was time for me to leave too.  Many of those mentioned above will return in the fall for the harvest of the grapes and the olives,  I wish I could too!

I sorted out the food, some to Anna, some I could take to Pineto with me.  I had bought a lot of things while I was at Nonna’s House, things you need if you are going to live there because it is not a hotel and the kitchen really didn’t have a lot of  everyday items you need if you are going to cook.  I kept telling Peter I would ask Pasquale for the money although I kinda knew I wouldn’t. As I did discuss with him that I had made many purchases, he suggested he would put them all in a box with my name on it – a Lori box, it will be here for you when you return.  I thought that was so sweet as well as good salesmanship

Pasquale suggested we all go out for dinner that night to celebrate out last night. He would take us to a restaurant in Telese that served Florentine steak. I was up for that and hoping they really knew how to cook it and not over cook it like the veal I had that has to come from the cow not the calf. I cut it up and threw it to the dogs next door!

We are on our way…. First hugs and kisses with Anna, Pasquale’s mother just in case I don’t see her in the morning.

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Anna and me in the BAR.

Dawn is driving me and Joel is on the back of Pasquale’s new motorcycle. I told Dawn to be prepared, I was pretty sure we were in for a real “ride”.  Sure enough just as we head out of town Pasquale makes a sharp left down a steep hill, and the road twists and turns.  This is a really old road, one that goes from the town all the way down the mountain to the river!  Pasquale and Joel were zipping along, you would have thought they were racing for gold.  We tried to stay with them but common sense prevailed.

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They hardly enjoyed themselves as you can tell.

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Prepping for the ride back

The restaurant was great looking, not like any we had come across so far. The decor was a fusion of country farmhouse and Italian rustica.  Pasquale picked out four cuts of steak for us and we added insalata, chips, escarole and wine. What a feast! Heartily enjoyed by all right down to gnawing on the bone to get that tender rare meat.  If you are not in Firenze, and you want a great Steak Florentine, you must go to IL FIASCO DI VINO a Telese Terme.

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What a fun date!

The whole evening was wonderful and of course there is always room for gelato. AND Pasquale bought dessert, he took us to a special gelato place.  I love ice cream as any reader of my blog knows.  He remarked that all the Americans who come only want gelato for desert, why?  Perchce mangiare il gelato e come fare sesso!

To Be Continued….

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Boxing Day – A Cultural Difference

Posted in BY THE WAY, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 30, 2013| 2 Comments »

Many, many years ago I was invited to a neighbor’s house to celebrate Boxing Day.  I thought this was a bit odd since I wasn’t a servant and I didn’t have any servants.  I was soon introduced to an Americanized version of Boxing Day.  The premise here was to bring a gift all wrapped up that was actually something you had previously received as a gift and either a) you didn’t want it because b) it was ugly or useless.  Oh there were really some strange and odious gifts exchanged that day.  The gift-giving was done in the manner of a Yankee Swap;  You picked a gift and you kept it or traded it.  Well, anyway that’s how that Boxing day went down.

This is how we began Boxing Day this year!  We were all tired from the late night of Christmas Eve and the long day of Christmas night so everyone slept just a little bit later on Thursday morning.  But right after breakfast without any formal plan set, it just began to unfold….The day after Christmas could only mean one thing!  We MUST CLEAN!  Perhaps it is some genetic pre-disposition or familial personality disorder, whatever it is, this is what happened.

Joel got the vacuum cleaner out and he began vacuuming  the rugs, I took out the swifter and did the kitchen floor and the hallways and the foyer.  I used about 6 swifter pads;  There has been a horde of people going inside and out, through the garage, in from the pool and all about.  The house was recently renovated and all the floors  are now a white-washed wood and the swifter did its thing over and over again.  I left piles for Joel to swoop up with the vacuum.   Meanwhile, Chiara packed up gifts and swept up pine needles.  I tackled the stairs next and was quite pleased to see the white of the treads re-appear.  Elsewhere, dishes were washed, clothes washed and folded and the dishwasher emptied.  It was a glorious morning, the house had been reclaimed and restored to its pristine beauty and we had taken on Boxing Day and given it an Italian twist.

There would be a Yankee Swap later that night after dinner.  But first we had to do some preparing for tonight’s party. Oh yes, there WOULD be a party tonight, albeit not quite so large as yesterday but this one would be here!  Only 15 adults and 6 kids.  Chiara decided to make several baking dishes of Eggplant Parmesan, we would serve the pork loin left over from Christmas Eve and make a big salad and a bowl of quinoa.

Susan and JR were coming for dinner with their 3 boys, the youngest is Hunter who is a classmate of Finley’s.  Susan brought a huge spiral cut ham and it’s a darn good thing she did since the pork loin did not cook through and we couldn’t serve it pink and cool.  This party spread itself out through the house!  We had kids (big and little) watching Elf and a couple other Christmas movies, adults out on the veranda, a couple of us in the dining room dishing on everything and everybody, Finley and a couple of the boys had a bow and arrows and were shooting at the front door and lots of wine drunk in all the rooms.

JR took the boys home, eventually both the girls went to bed and the die-hard game players gathered round in the living room to play some games.  Joel had gone out with Chiara in the afternoon to buy some new games.  Tonight we were going to play Quelf and Loaded Questions.  We are hardcore, laughing, yelling, arguing and all the time playing to win!  The wine kept flowing, there was some other mind-altering substances and as they say, “Let the games begin”!  Quelf was hysterical as we watched Joel stand and try not to bend his arms and legs, Dennis had to sit on his hands, Justin did the color for a basketball game in the voice of a parrot as well as mind-bending tasks, some which were subject to group analysis.  Overall one might observe it as familial blood-letting!

Loaded Questions is an adventure in delving into your fellow players psyche.  Since I’ve already portrayed our family as the crazy bunch they truly are, you can only imagine how this game was played!  I’d love to tell you about it but like the New York Times only all the news that’s fit to print.  And on that note I think it’s time to close the chapter on Boxing Day with the Bertis/Clarks/Presses and Pucci’s came to an end.

Except for the Yankee Swap which was wildly funny as the swapping, trading, stealing took place.  Those that participated seemed to have a grand time and I think perhaps the $50 bill was the prize of the evening!

English: Gift ideas for men - wrapping paper e...

English: Gift ideas for men – wrapping paper example. Please source http://www.giftideasformen.com (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Sun and Sand, Sangria and Surfing plus Salmon, It’s Saturday-DAY 6

Posted in BY THE WAY, Finley Ray, Frankie, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

From the title of this blog you might not think that things are winding down, but today it does seem like they are.  Of course not having to start the day with the hectic madness of school clothes, hair brushing, breakfast and off to school, does make a difference.   When I went to bed last night which was REALLY early for me, I was looking forward to sleeping in this morning.   First of all , I figured the girls would sleep late because we didn’t return from the Ocean Club till about 9:00pm.

Last night we went to a Friday night buffet and pool party.  The kids had a blast jumping in and out and swimming and jumping off the diving board.  I wish I could have taken a picture of Francesca jumping off the diving board.  Unbelievable!  And this was not one of those diving boards that you step onto, this was one you had to climb up to.  I have never seen a child that small actually jump off a diving board and she didn’t even hold her nose.  Anyway, the party was a throwback in time for me. OMG it was retro to the old GCA; Golf Club of Avon.  Even the characters were the same.  We sat under the stars and brightly lit half moon that just hung in the sky over us all.  The weather was warm, the drinks were cold and the food was plentiful.  So familiar…even Chiara said, “I’m living your life all over again”.

So I didn’t think it was too far-fetched to think that after hours of swimming and eating (a lot of sugar), those kids would sleep late and so would I.  And that Daddy was home so he would entertain them in the morning.  At 7:20am Francesca came into my room.  She climbed up to be with me, but not for long because the purpose of her visit was really to get me out of bed and into the living room where Daddy was laying down on the couch to watch cartoons with them.  I saw that there was little to no chance of me remaining in bed so I got up.  Tom proposed we go out to breakfast and then pick up Tia who was arriving this morning.     I didn’t think we had that much time; Tom thought she was arriving at 10:30 but I knew it was 9:30.  So Tom and girls headed  out to the airport and I stayed behind to make Chiara a really good breakfast, something she has been sort of skimping on this week due to Fletch’s feeding schedule.  I’m going to post the recipe which came from Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond‘s famous blog.

We spent the afternoon at the Ocean Club, hence the SUN and SAND which was plentiful.  Lunch at poolside and once again I was taken back in time to Avon.  The kids spent time in the pool and then we went to the ocean.  The sun was glorious, Tom signed up for a surf board and Finley and two friends spent 2 hours getting up and falling off the board!  Finley did stay up long enough to float into shore – Uncle Joel and Uncle Justin take note!  SURFERS in the making.  We wound up the afternoon at the pool with a SANGRIA Blanco, NICE!

Tonight we are going to have a mini-birthday party for Francesca who turns 3 on Tuesday.  Since I’m leaving tomorrow, Chiara decided we could celebrate with dinner and invited her best friend who has 2 children fairly close in age to Finley and Francesca and so we had 4 kids plus Fletcher and 6 adults (you can get the picture).   The kids had pizza and we had SALMON!  And cake of course! Francesca had a ball opening gifts.  It wasn’t the gift that actually seemed to thrill her but rather the opening of the gift.  We had to hold off the older kids who so desperately wanted to help her.  Several threats of no dessert, a time out and the possibility of going to bed NOW were all invoked to keep the other 3 away from the presents.  Tia came through for them all;  She had assembled Halloween goodie bags for all 4 kids which amused them and held their attention for all of 2 minutes.

Well as you can see, things really have wound down.  There wasn’t any high drama today, there wasn’t anything too unusual going on around here, it was simply SATURDAY!  There was a very funny moment this evening when Chiara was discussing with Tom what Halloween costume would they wear when they went to a party with the theme:  Enchanted Halloween.  Ki has been online searching for appropriate attire and came up with a fairy-like outfit adorned with leaves.  Since they want to match somewhat, what does that leave (no pun intended) Tom to dress as?  The suggestion of stump came up but that was quickly withdrawn.  Chiara found a sort of shawl and hat that looked medieval and after ALL of the laughter died down, we all began firing out suggestions;  Maybe he could be a wizard, or a gnome or The Grim Reaper which put Chiara into hysterics, not to mention Tom who was more hysterical at the thought!  How about a Leprechaun? 

Pasha was quite evident tonight.  Wherever Mommy went or the baby, Pasha was soon to follow. Did you know that in Egypt Siamese cats were used to guard the throne of the King of Siam?  Pasha stands watch over our Prince.

Pasha Guards Fletcher

Pasha Guards Fletcher

Mommy, baby Fletch and Pasha

Mommy, baby Fletch and Pasha

It’s a wrap tomorrow morning!  I’m flying home, Peter will pick me up in Newark and we’ll head down to the shore.  LIfe just won’t be as exciting or as interesting to read about as it has been these past few days!  Oh well….

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Worlds Apart??

Posted in BY THE WAY, Friends, New York Speaks, Only in New York, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 27, 2010| 3 Comments »

It’s only Saturday morning and already this weekend, I am struck by the assortment of friends and acquaintances I have in my life and the different world we all live in.

First and foremost because of the gravity of the situation, there’s my friend, Josh.  Josh called me (actually woke me up) this morning with a phone call and one sentence, “Turn on CNN and call me at the office!”.  Groggily I went into the den, and tried to remember what channel CNN was on.  OMG what a horrible shock – an MAJOR earthquake in Santiago, Chile.  Josh’s partner and my friend, Ricardo lives in Santiago.   Josh had spent the holidays there and was expecting to meet Ricardo in Prague on this coming Tuesday.  Thank God, Ricardo called Josh’s cell phone at 3:00 am and had left a message that he was safe as was his father who lived even closer to the heart of the city.  No further communication from Chile; you can’t get through on the phone, you can’t reach LAN airlines, the airports are closed and since Ricardo is a chief resident at the hospital, we can only assume he is there.   Please keep Chile in your prayers, it is so upsetting that this event is following so closely on the heels of Haiti.

ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE – My nephew Justin, lives in Japan and I have just tried to reach him thru Facebook because I’m not sure how close he is to the epicenter of the earthquake that struck there.  Apparently that quake hit offshore and the major concern is a tsunami – I know he surfs so he must be somewhat close the shoreline.  As I type  this and listen to the CNN minute by minute coverage in Chile, I am learning how quickly a tsunami can spread from shore to shore, country to

The volcanic Ring of Fire

country and even continent to continent – especially if the country is in the Ring of Fire (see photo). Do I have to worry about my own surfer son, Joel, who lives in San Diego and lives well within tsunami wave range?

Closer to home, several of my friends are clearly living in worlds apart. Last night I took Peter and his lifelong friend Murray out to celebrate their joint birthdays.  After a delightful dinner at Compass, a restaurant on the Uppper West Side, we went to see the show, BAWDY at the Triad.  BAWDY is an old time burlesque show; complete with bumps, grinds and tasteful striptease.   The show is headlined by Jesse Lutrell, a very talented, very energetic and very gay performer.  He is a gifted young song and dance man and he sings in a story-centric style, so reminiscent of the cabaret and nightclub acts dating back to the American birth of vaudeville.  SO how did we happen to be at this show?  In two words; Grace Gotham.  It so happens that Grace Gotham a/k/a Sarah Liston is a friend of ours.  We hadn’t seen Sarah and her husband, Dave in quite a while and were we ever surprised to learn that our friend, wife of an Episcopalian  Deacon and member of our local Community Board, was actually performing burlesque!!! Well why not? Sarah is a published writer and you can read all about her journey into burlesque in an article published in the magazine, Marie Clare which I have published on this blog.  She’s a hoot and very good I must add – and yes she really can make her tassles twirl.

Then this is the weekend that The Glen Beck show airs where my sister-in-law, Juanita is in the front row of the audience.  She sent an email blast to all of us with the air times.  I told you she wasn’t a blood relative!! So I am DVR’ing this program (with explicit promises to Peter that we will only just see her and shut it off) at a time when I’m sure it won’t interrupt another really important show I might be watching like Grey’s Antatomy!! LOL Now we know she is in another world.

Next, my dear friend and mentor, Joyce is in the hospital recovering from knee replacement surgery.  She is in her mid-seventies and has the body and muscle tone of the someone 20 years younger but any surgery as you get older is serious.  I’m happy to report that she seems to have come through it very well and may even be home tomorrow.  And then rehab starts.

Lastly, we are leaving in an hour to get out to Port Jefferson, LI to attend a surprise birthday party for my daughter’s mother-in-law.  Because of the misery of the snow, our car is snowed in and this being Manhattan, even if we dug it out (good thing we bought that extra shovel last week!), we would never find a parking place when we got home.  The streets in Manhattan are very messy because when they plow, all the snow builds up around the cars.  We have to take the LIRR and to board that train, we have to go diagonally across town to Penn Station.  Believe it or not, we will be leaving our apartment at about 1:55pm and should arrive in Port Jefferson Long Island at 4:40pm.  In that amount of time, I could have driven to the Jersey Shore and back or to Connecticut.  And then we have to come home again.  It’s going to be a long day….

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