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Hello friends,
It has been an amazingly emotional and surreal couple of months.
Thank you for all of the emails and thoughts for us and our Cinghiale crew. Without going too deep into the craziness and expected backlash of the coronavirus we would like to let you know that your friends in Italy are well!
Gerardo and Daniella are healthy— Daniella is busy in the kitchen, thus Gerardo busy eating, and their kitty, Tigre, is happy to have them both home. Gerardo is not riding the trainer I gave him from my Motorola years “Because the coasting down from Castagneto feature is not working on it.”
Enrico is riding rollers in his yard, working from home and keeping his pizza oven busy and his family well fed.
Both Enrico and Gerardo are getting used to the fact that there is NO SOCCER TO WATCH!!
Kerry is busy in Trento keeping her two boys healthy. In her words "We have about 200 meters from our front gate to our back gate with a nice little hill on it and Giorgi and I can log about 15km in an hour on our road bikes in this long driveway--which we did about 5 days straight before getting a bit bored."
Chicca is, wait for it, COOKING, a lot. If you don’t follow Cooking in Tuscany on instagram you should be— there is a lot of kitchen inspiration to be had.
Our friends at Chiappini Winery are doing well. The family is healthy and they continue to make sure good wine is available to us all. You can keep your cellar full by ordering directly from them: http://www.giovannichiappini.it/en/home.html
The gang at Zi Martino is fine, and Isa, the matriarch of the Guargualini family, is healthy. I can almost smell a sauce bubbling away in the kitchen…
Our little village of Castagneto Carducci is hanging in there. There are few cases in the area and everyone is taking the social distancing orders very seriously. No bike rides, no romps on the beach, everyone staying at home and waiting— true heroes!
Elaine, Emma, Oscar and I are in Boulder, Colorado, and we are doing well. We seem to be busy with all the projects we’ve been brainstorming over the years. Of course we are itching to get back to “life as it was”— back to Italy, on our bikes, finding new places to share with you…
But social isolation is the recipe of the moment and we are happy to oblige.
A typical day always finds it way to talk of Tuscany and our favorite foods. Where will we eat first? What pizza will we order? Gelato! etc…
If there is one thing we have taken from our friends sheltered at home in Italy is the importance of taking this time to be still, be at home, keep each other safe, support your community however you can.
I wish you a happy and healthy spring,
Andy Hampsten
A film to pass the evening with Toto.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U47w5wS3iC8&feature=youtu.be
Speaking of riding rollers, here is the greatest cyclist in the world.
Making beautiful music together but apart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtX1r0SzxlI
If you are able, consider supporting your local farmers and businesses by shopping directly or buying gift cards to use later!
