Those who know me well know that I have a real problem with being cold. I consider these few days a challenge to rise above. We woke up to this view out the window:

Ken was awake for the ice storm during the night; I slept through it, but it was real. The locals are saying “Inverno in primavera/winter in spring”. Allora… we took it slow all morning, wearing a lot of clothes inside. I contacted the landlord and he consented to raise the heat one degree. It’s mostly that the insulation sucks, so it just really isn’t warming warm up.

We always have fun doing laundry in a lavanderia/laundromat, so off we went to the OndaBlu. The 15 minute walk would have been really interesting without the rain. I can’t get many photos because of holding my umbrella and wearing my gloves. You can still see the devastation from the earthquake; there are still (17 years later this week) occasional piles of rubble remaining but mostly construction and external structural supports everywhere holding up the remaining damaged buildings.

I had to stop to catch this Pace flag:

The laundry experience proved to be enjoyable., as usual. You can pay with a credit card now so no issues with the right coins . There was, as always, a woman, straight from central casting, to explain everything to us. First in Italian and then in English. She has to be a kindergarten teacher in real life. Connected to the laundromat is a large supermarket so we wandered in there while our clothes washed. As we returned to put them into the drier, I notice a new person in there–it’s our landlord, Gabriel. He is kind,, but not terribly interested in conversation. Clothes dry and folded into our shopping bag, we head back diagonally through the Piazza Duomo, all shiny from the rain.

Hungry now, we went to Pinzimonio, a restaurant about 100 feet from our place. Great spot! Pinzimonio means crudités and here’s the table when you first sit down including the QR code menu:

The food was really really good. The menu is a bit all over the place, including traditional Abruzzesi dishes, creative cuisine as well a burgers and paella. We started with sagnarelle coi fagioli, real comfort food with chewy short noodles and beans and a bit of herby broth. So rich, flavorful and plain old good. Perfect for the weather. Then we shared the roast pork with a sauce of honey, carrots and paprika–tasted a bit like barbque sauce, with roasted potatoes and a plate of perfectly sauteed greens. Coupled with a glass of the local Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, it made a perfect lunch.

Home again, I spent a good while on my laptop in the cozy bed.

We had leftover vegetable soup but no fresh bread so I found a bakery online, just a 7 minute walk away, so we geared up to find it. They were sold out of all bread but one, super healthy, heavy, seedy loaf which we could buy half of. And we couldn’t resist some sweets there too. With Easter coming, I realize we need to get our food scene organized. They had a big sign: reserve for Easter, in the bakery.

Back to the apartment, nothing to report. Dinner was good enough. I watched the first half of the Italy soccer match, but they ultimately lost in penalty kicks; it’s a shame:

I’m starting to think about this apartment as a comping experience. While I see objectively how lame the place is, I’m still having fun a lot of the day. The shower is hot, the bed is comfy and we have beauty all around albeit through the raindrops.

Lessons…