Time Flies When You're Having Fun

It hardly seems possible, but tomorrow Amy and I will have been married for three weeks. All the evocative mental images of that day -- the tears, the sweat-soaked groom melting in late afternoon sun, Puba stealing the show and that speech -- are now but fading memories. [And, though we missed much, we did notice a few of you were enjoying yourselves - above.] Perhaps even hazier are our memories of the glorious week leading up to the wedding, during which pantegrulian quantities of beer and wine were quaffed by you wedding guests as you warmed up your drinking muscles and livers for the final onslaught on June 28th. So it is with great anticipation that we await the delivery of our wedding photographs which we hope will fill us in on some of what actually happened in that 6-8 hour period. Of course, that photographic story will be far from complete and because of that we'd love it if you could either send us or e-mail us a link to your best and worst pics of the week and the wedding.
We've uploaded our pictures of the wedding week to Snapfish so we invite you to check them out here
[Note: If you'd like to share you pictures with other wedding guests but don't have their e-mail address, please feel free to post links to your pics in the comments section of this post.]

We're sure most brides and grooms feel the discomfort of being so in focus with everyone snapping away, and while we did too -- particularly for the first dance, as we did our utmost to shuffle around without stacking-it on the uneven parquet while being blinded by the videographers' light -- we got used to it in the end, as the image to the right, i think, shows. [We thank Mrs. Louise Culshaw for capturing this beautiful, romantic nuptial scene.] Anyway, we encourage you to share your pictures with us and each other through whichever medium you prefer. We can't wait to see them!

Practically, though not actually, related...

Thankfully, we're putting the finishing touches to the wedding planning and you'll be pleased to learn that you can help us do this by answering two very simple questions.

1. Do you have any special dietary requirements? [vegetarian/vegan, kosher/halal, macrobiotic(?), food allergies etc.] Please let us know so we can have the caterers fix up something appropriate and delicious for you.


2. Will you be at Lupinari on the evening of Tuesday, June 26th? We are planning a short wine n'cheese welcome / get-together, so please let us know if you will be around.

Note: The consumption of wine and cheese is not mandatory at said welcome event, and definitely not for those with certain food allergies. However, those among who you believe they are lactose intolerant will be reassured to learn that not only are very few of us so afflicted with this condition that we cannot drink a daily tall glass of milk without ill effects, but cheese contains no lactose. Lactose is a sugar found in milk, 98% of which is drained off with the whey (cheese is made from the curds) and the other 2% is quickly consumed by lactic-acid bacteria in the act of fermentation.

So, in two weeks time, let's eat (cheese), drink (wine) and be merry!

P.S. - the interesting cheese factoid comes straight out of Jeffrey Steingarten's witty and informative book, The Man Who Ate Everything. We highly recommend it to everyone, but especially those who are fussy eaters.

Bucine - Piccolo, ma Corposo...

Lupinari as the better-informed amongst you will know is adjacent to the small town of Bucine (pronounced Boo-chee-nay, emphasis on the nay). At first glance, which is probably all you'll have time for, especially if you blink while driving through it, Bucine looks remarkably similar to many other small Tuscan towns, particularly those not on the tourist map. It seems prosaic and ordinary, without the wonderfully-intact medieval architecture of Montepulciano or Greve in Chianti - "fly-paper for tourists," according to ultimate travel nerd, Rick Steves - and in some ways it is.


However, it almost certainly has several things going for it that the more touristy towns do not - useful shops: butcher, baker, electrical supply store, florist, and food co-op (supermarket); a movie theater (open two days a week) - see at right; and a polo club. Indeed, scratch the surface and there is much more to Bucine than meets the eye. For example, according to local legend, Jesus Christ appeared to the villages' children, standing on an oak log at what is now the site of the sanctuary church of San Salvatore. Then, many followers then led a procession to the site carrying stones for the temple. These stones were all different shapes and sizes, and they can still be seen cemented around the gates of this rural church. Roots of an oak tree were found on the site during renovations in the 19th century and have been preserved for posterity in a display case inside.

For the less devout amongst you, who are looking to spend an afternoon poking around Bucine, perhaps walking off a large lunch of the local specialties, boiled meats and bread soup, you might be interested to visit the town's Palaeontology Museum. On the other hand, palaeontology might be a bit hard to digest, and so, after strolling around the town, you may be curious to know the meaning of the net in the shape of a seashell held by a lion you've seen in various places. Well, wonder no longer, wedding-bloggers, the symbol is the coat-of-arms of one of the former ruling family's of the area, and features this strange trap which was used to catch fish and small birds in the abundant local rivers and streams. The trap is known as a bucine, and is thought to be the origin of the town's name.

All in all, Bucine is perhaps more typical of modern Tuscan towns than the best-known places on the tourist trail. That's not to say that you should avoid one or the other, but that different towns cater to different populations. Bucine caters primarily to its residents and the local rural population, and Montalcino caters primarily to tourists fresh off the bus and jonesing to be shaken-down for souvenirs and over-priced lunches off the tourist menu. It's useful to bear these things in mind, that's all.

Anyway, here's a link to directions/map of Bucine, which is probably more helpful than most of the pointless witterings above.

P.S. - the post title means "small, but full-bodied," which I think fairly sums Bucine up.

Dancing Under the Stars

Vicky Pollard showing us all how it's done...

Many of us dream, we're sure, of whirling around a highly polished dance floor with aplomb, completely in step with a partner who is fleet of foot, erect of posture and minty of breath. Indeed, if you're like us, this may only ever be a dream, as the likelihood of straining knee or ankle ligaments, and/or head butting ones partner in the face, is far greater than the chance of successfully completing even the briefest of waltzes.

This should not dissuade you from shaking a leg come June 28th - quite the opposite in fact. For not only are all styles and ability levels welcome on the parquet, they are demanded. In submitting a request to have your fave tunes played at the reception, you, perhaps unwittingly, entered into an unwritten contract, committing yourself to abandoning any normal sense of decency and inhibition you might feel when bad music is playing. Maybe we should have made that clear when asking you for musical suggestions, but we didn't.

Some of you may be interested then, in working on your fancy footwork ahead of time and for those who do, we humbly submit this remarkable piece of footage for your consideration. We suggest you study this child's moves, they will come in handy should the music of a certain recently-divorced, serial-flasher, Louisiana-native, mother of two ring out during the reception...

You have been warned.

Cheese by Any Other Name is Still Formaggio

Believe me, you will dance to this...


Yes, indeed wedding blog readers, when you ask a stupid question, you are bound to get a stupid answer. So when we recently invited our wedding guests to tell us their favorite wedding reception tunes, we were unsurprised to be deluged with more cheesy requests than a DJ at a college formal. We were surprised though, just how seriously you took our invitation, and so we expect you all front and center when the dancing starts.

This post, as much as it might want to, is not about to name and shame you for your cringe-worthy selections, instead we thought it might amuse you to find out some of the aural delights your fellow guests put forward. There's quite a variety of formaggio... Enjoy!

Ice, Ice, Baby - Vanilla Ice
I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
Annie's Song - John Denver
Club Tropicana - Wham
Hit Me Baby One More Time - Britney
It Only Takes a Minute Girl - Take That
Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
Brick House - The Commodores

and, though we won't name names, (you know who you are Tim Hind) - Cotton-Eyed Joe by The Rednecks

Should you find that you're not as familiar as you should be with some of these "classics," you might decide to visit the toe-curlingly fabulous Am I Right.com where you can enter the lyrics you've been singing in the shower and find out what they really are.

Please note: that in asking you to submit your fave tunes, we understand that you'll be expecting to hear them. However, we feel it's important to add that some requests (Chaz & Dave, for example) were quite beyond the pale, and have been rejected for fear of reducing a fun-filled celebration to a groan-inducing headache.

Venturing Further Afield

Italy is a country of regions. In fact, until the late 1800s, Italy did not exist as a unified country, but as a collection of autonomous states, governed by a variety of princes, including the Pope himself. Some statistics we read somewhere suggest that, unlike in Britain and America where many young people flock to the major metropolises to find work before returning "home" later on, Italians tend to remain in the area they grew up in for life. Thus, history and a lesser degree of centralization leads to strong regional and sub-regional identities, which translate into things as diverse as strict adherence to the local football (soccer) team, impenetrable local dialects and, boon for the gourmand tourist, regionally-available dishes and wines.

In an earlier post, we covered some of the highlights of Tuscany, so now, for the more intrepid traveler, or one with more time, we're looking slightly further afield to the adjacent regions of Le Marche, Emilia-Romagna and Umbria. We cannot hope to do justice to the variety and splendor of these three regions in just this one post, instead we offer you some tasty morsels of information to whet your appetite and get you started.

Le Marche
Perhaps the least-known of these three regions is Le Marche, pronounced lay markay and sometimes known as "The Marches" in English. To the east of Tuscany and bordering the Adriatic Sea, Le Marche is almost completely undiscovered compared to Tuscany and Umbria. Having said that, the string of seedy beach resorts south of Rimini (in Emilia-Romagna) are a watchword among Europeans for tasteless seaside development, in much the same way as Spain's Costa del Sol. On the upside, however, the rest of Le Marche, from its beautiful Renaissance towns of Urbino and Ascoli Piceno, to the peaceful hill-towns around Fermo, and pretty little seaside resorts on the Conero Peninsula, remains unspoilt by the ravages of mass tourism.

Le Marchigiani - the Marche locals - are reputed to eat more meat than any other Italians, and you'll find grigliata mista di carne, or mixed grilled meats, including game dishes like, stuffed pigeons (piccione ripieno) and rabbit cooked with fennel (coniglio in porchetta) on menus across the region. Given it's long coastline though, seafood is also a major component of the diet, and the local version of bouillabaisse, brodetto, which must be made with 13 species of fish, no more, no less, is a particular speciality around Ancona. For more information about all things Le Marche, visit Marche Voyager.

Emilia-Romagna
Lying to the north of Tuscany and spanning almost all the way across the country, Emilia-Romagna is Italy's dairyland. Like its American counterpart, Wisconsin, the landscape of Emilia-Romagna is relatively flat, only rising in the south at the foothills of the Appennines. However, unlike Wisconsin, this region is famous for its culture, beautiful cities and stunning food. Emilia-Romagna is one of Italy's most prosperous regions and is home to dairy giant Parmalat, luxury car-makers Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini, and electronics company Marconi. The beautiful historic cities of Bologna, Parma, Modena, and Ferrara offer fantastically intact Renaissance and Medieval architecture. Bologna is also famous for its university, which, founded in 1088, is the oldest continually operating university in the world.

Gastronomy, however, is what the region is synonymous with. Modena is world-famous for its aged balsamic vinegars, Parma for its cheese (parmiggiano-reggiano) and its ham (prosciutto di parma), and Bologna for lasagna, stuffed pastas like ravioli and tortellini, and, of course, spaghetti bolognese. The combination of the area's dairy farming traditions, its location just south of the grain-growing Po Valley, and the abundant game found in the Appennine foothills makes for a fattening combination of luscious dishes with cream, butter, cheese, meat and pasta. We encourage our guests to indulge themselves in the local cuisine and not to tell their cardiologist. To learn more about the region, visit the official Emilia-Romagna tourist board website.

Umbria
While it has become very much more popular in recent years, Umbria is still seen as Tuscany's poorer and less refined neighbor. In fact, Tuscans tend to look down their noses at Umbria in the same way that you would stare pitifully at your neighbors' ginger-haired child. However, this is unfair (the Tuscany/Umbria thing, not the ginger discrimination), as Umbria has much to offer the tourist, including smaller crowds, better deals, and charming rustic countryside, which is reputed to resemble Tuscany fifty years ago.

The towns of Spoleto and Gubbio are known for their architecture and history, Assisi for its Basilica to its most famous son, Saint Francis, and Orvieto for its stunning cathedral and eponymous white wine. Lesser-known attractions of this bucolic region include the hill-town of Norcia.

Not just famous for being the place where my mother-in-law to-be's family hail from, though that would be sufficient to warrant a pilgrimage, Norcia is famous throughout Italy for its hams. In fact, so famous is the town for its pork products that the word Norcineria is synonymous with charcuterie/cold cuts. The most celebrated of these products is prosciutto crudo, but the quality of others like capacollo (gabagool), pancetta (unsmoked bacon) and guanciali (cured pigs' cheeks) is also renowned nation-wide. Boar sausage is another Norcian delicacy. Rumor has it that Norcians also do a mean line in fresh bread rolls... For more information about Umbria and its many treasures, visit Umbria Online.

Il Palio - Rowdy, Medieval Fun

Many of our guests are planning to make a holiday out of their trip to our wedding, and we are delighted that you are. We understand only too well that once the wedding is over you'll be in need of some time to relax and get over the excitement of it all.

As we suggested in an earlier post, day-trips to Siena, Florence, Pisa and the Tuscan hill-towns are all within easy reach, and we recommend that you think about adding some or all of these to your itinerary for the wedding week. However, if you're planning on staying in Italy for a few days after the wedding, we would encourage you to look into checking out Il Palio - a Siennese cultural and sporting event for nearly 900 years.

Running from June 28 to July 4 in 2007, there's nothing like it anywhere else. With its medieval pageantry, colorful banners, lights and rough n'tumble horse racing, Il Palio is about as authentic a Tuscan experience as you can find. While we're sure you won't be there on the opening day, you might want to attend one of the other days. Finals are held, logically, on the final day, July 4. Click here to learn more about it, and here to purchase tickets.