rain in le Marche

Let me explain.  When I left Montreal it was 25 degrees and sunny, summer had arrived and then I came to glorious Italy and guess what-it's been raining and cold since I arrived except for 1 sunny day (the picture of me wearing Dexter gloves).  That was the day that I mowed a lawn for the first time in my life.

Don't get me wrong!  Italy is a beautiful country but there's only so much rain a  person can take. This morning Kevin and Jodie had some work to do at another house so Damaris and I spent the morning collecting rocks and weeds from the land around the house (with a massive hangover I might add). Doesn't sound very interesting until you take a break and look around and realize that back home people are sitting in an office at work and here I am in Italy looking at the most beautiful country side ever.  So when it began to rain I did what any logical person would do.  I pulled out my trusty camera and went around taking pictures of farm animals.  They all have their own personalities.  There are 2 roosters who don't get along so poor Rodney spends the night with the goats and doesn't get to socialize with the hens.  In return he gets to roam around freely all day every day. He's surprisingly unafraid of people and will walk up to you, sniff around and walk away.  Then there are the goats! They're all very friendly except for Mama!  She's very nervous and a little hostile and unfortunately on the chopping block.

By the way I've made a personal request that no animals be killed while I'm here.  As open as I am to learning about the farm and where food comes from, I'm not ready to eat an animal that I see walking around grazing every day!  This afternoon I went off by myself in my little Fiat and drove to Montefalcone. It seems that somewhere after the age of 40 I developed a fear of heights so I didn't actually make it to the town because the winding road to get there never stopped going up!!!  At one point I had a minor panic attack and just admitted to myself that enough was enough, how much higher could I possibly go?

Tonight Damaris and I ate at a famous restaurant nearby (ReArtu) and had the best thin crust pizza ever (along with more wine of course).

Tomorrow morning I'm off to Amalfi.  I'm determined to be there by 1 and to not get lost (and to not resort to GPS). Wish me luck!!!