Gunternation

At every turn, the Royal Victoria Hotel in Pisa reminds you that it has origins in the 10th century and has been family run for 160 years. Rambling halls that open into landings and foyers and courtyards, tall ceilings with plaster peeling in a charming way, tile floors in one room, with marble in another, and halls lined with old photographs, architectural drawings, portraits and sketches. Our window faced the Arno river, and when the sun was shining, light reflecting off the water flickered on the walls of our room. Each bedroom had a table facing the window, with a single straight-backed chair, waiting to hold a portable typewriter and a bottle of wine.

On the way to The Attraction we wandered through narrow streets streaming with bicycles, browsed markets, and crossed the Piazza del Cavalieri, where pedestrians, bikes, scooters and cars are all welcome to find their own path. We found (an) Armani’s apartment. And then we glimpsed the tip of the tower.

To be continued…

Tonight was the culmination of the coolest culinary thing I’ve ever done. For dinner I made tagliatelle al tartufo, tagliatelle pasta with white truffle, butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano, using white truffles we hunted in the hills of San Miniato, Tuscany, Italy. I also made truffle butter for freezing and truffle oil for refrigerating. The white truffles from San Miniato are among the most sought-after in the world. The aroma is intoxicating, intensely garlicky but not sharp, with other fragrant notes. Think “Garlique (for Men)” by Versace. We’ll post more about the truffle hunt in the days to come.

Tomorrow we head back to Dublin after an amazing week in Italy. Looking out the window just now, Bill observed many people walking by eating gelato. Gelato is one of the great things about Italy. That, and truffle dogs, vin santo, wild boar, beauty, history, olive trees, friendly cats, cheese, leather, cured meats, marble, red wine, paintings, cathedrals, lardo, espresso and towers leaning and otherwise. Everyone should come to Tuscany. Now! (Based on the number of American accents I’ve heard in Florence, many of you have!)

Check back for our accounts of Pisa, Lucca, Montaione, and Florence.

A travelogue by Charles Lamb

Celia and I returned to Dublin Thursday, October 30. On Saturday Bill and Sharon drove us to Carlingford.

The next day we bussed to Howth for a nice Sunday.

We have been busy this week. We DARTed (train) into Dublin each day. We ate fish and chips at Leo Burdock’s and strolled the streets. The GPO (General Post Office) was the headquarters of the Rising in 1916 and it was bombarded by a British ship which came up the Liffey River a block away.

Celia is standing on the corner beside the O’Connell Statue on O’Connell Street just South of the GPO.

We visited Dublin Castle and Christchurch Cathedral; both sites date back to Viking and Celtic eras near 1000 AD.

The Ireland National Museum of Archeology was nice. We saw artifacts that go back 5000 years.

Celia in Raheny, home of Bill and Sharon, with fall colors. We missed the peak of pretty colors in Northwest Arkansas this week.

The Irish were very interested in the US election and seemed to be thrilled by the profound “Yes we can.”

We toured the Guinness Storehouse, where I posed with the safe containing a simulated aliquot of the secret yeast of Andrew Guinness, which is almost as important as the secret recipe of Coca Cola.

We passed St. Andrew’s Church on the way home.

Celia has a latte in the Kilkenny Store for shopping energy.

We went to the National Library of Ireland and saw an interesting exhibition on William B. Yeats. This poem seemed apropos.

The DART provides rides from Raheny into Dublin and back.

I’m so glad Mom and Dad spent a few days on Ireland’s west coast. After our world wind trip to the west with Peggy, I understand the allure of the other coast. But the east coast has its own charm and beauty, so last Saturday we took a drive up to Carlingford.

We stopped at Ballagan Point (we think) and looked for rocks. Then we proceeded to Carlingford for lunch. There were far fewer folks in town than we found during our visits last Spring. We lunched on chowder and chips and Dad and Bill shared a plate of oysters. We strolled the streets a bit viewing the various medieval sites.

On the way back to Dublin we stopped by to visit my work mate Colin and his dogs.