Me and Ric and a Can of Olive Oil

After 4 lonely weeks of producing my show, I ventured into foreign territory by having one of my best friends, Ric Hirst along with me to help narrate. Ric lives 5 months out of the year in the Upper Lazio town of Roccalvecce with his lovely wife, Sharon. His experiences buying the house, living in this very small town,  and traveling around the area are featured on the show. When we were in Italy in October 2010 with our friend, Randy, and her son David, we visited with Ric and Sharon, while we stayed at the nearby town of Montefisacone, which is right on Lake Bolsena. During that trip we had the chance to see areas we had never seen before, namely Upper Lazio (where we actually had been since Civita di Bagnoregio is located there), and the very southern portion of Tuscany at the town of Pitigliano. So for the last night's show I began by showing the can of olive oil, Laura had used the night before in her expert cooking of a fratatta, which is basically an omelet perfectly round due to her specially designed twin pans, continually flipped for maximum taste. She threw in some shallots, broccoli, and some other items to create this masterpiece. She had told me that Ric made the olive oil himself, and he gave us one of his cans when he was last in Italy. Actually he picked the olives, but they were pressed into the oil by others. We went on to take the viewers on a tour of that stunning area of Italy. Our intention is to visit them again in May, and spend some time in that same area, but with a different bent. This time we hope to explore some Etruscan sites, such as Norchia, Tarquinia, and the town where we will spend 3 nights, Orvieto. All three towns have necropoli and some wall decorations from 3000 years ago. I would also like to head east into Umbria and visit the towns of Narni, Amelia, and perhaps Terni. Although Laura and I have sent a lot of time in Umbria at Assisi, Todi, Spello, Spoleto, Pergusia, and Gubbio, we have never been this far south. We did spend the night in Orvieto in 2006, gosh 6 years ago ! It is a large town, but very beautiful and sprawling along a mile long flat area built out of the tuff of volcanic rock. I hope to get some shows out of that area, one on Etruscan history, one devoted just to Orvieto, and one on the area of southern Umbria. Then we head north and northwest to visit with my two friends, Luca and Lidia. Those experiences should net some additional shows. I would also like to videotape interviews with Luca's and Lidia's families which, I think, viewers will find interesting. Then back to Florence, where I hope to photograph some of the wonderful parks and piazzas of Florence and perhaps some museums. And again perhaps an interview or two with people I know who work at the hotel, Croce di Malta. I sure liked sharing the limelight last night with Ric and hope to do that again, not only with Ric, but other people as well. Ric and I have already planned for a show labelled Michelangelo in Florence. Although many of his masterpieces are all over the place, like for example, Rome where he has Moses, his best Pieta, and, of course, the Sistine Chapel among others, Florence boats 23 pieces of art from the world's great master. Surveying his work in Florence not only affords the opportunity to trace his artistic development from the time he was a teenager almost to his death at age 89 in 1564, but also a chance to get a nice tour of this amazing city, as his work can be found all over the centro district. We will work on other possibilities as well. Tune in live if you live in Woodstock or follow the shows on Youtube.