In which I fell off the face of the earth

Dear loyal blog readers (aka, Dad):

Sorry for not updating lately. Things that happened in July:

- Umbria Jazz (Perugia) - Ironically, all the musicians I saw (Sonny Rollins, Eric Alexander / Vincent Herring) were from New York. The jazz was excellent, tickets inexpensive, and, by nightfall, streets full of drunk Italians wandering throughout the city from one concert to the next. Also had Grom.

- Cathy came to visit, so we rented a car and wandered around the countryside. Woo freedom! I got to see Montepulciano and we visited a few wineries. A favorite: Pian Dell'Orino, an organic winery in Montalcino. They have distributors in CA and NY, so the best part is I can get their wine when I get back to the states!

- Marco turned 31, the twins who live across from me turned 24, and I turned 22. Walter, Monica's son, and a few other people turned a year as well. The unusual number of summer birthdays makes me think that there must be something romantic about post-crush and the olive oil harvest... (This is rivaled in funniness by the Corcoran family, whose members were born predominantly in November.)

- Had one final meal at I'Toscano (via Guelfa 70r, Florence) and a final ice cream at Vivoli. Now they're closed for the August Holiday :-(.

- Apparently, between July 21 - Aug 21 is the hottest time of the year in Italy. Temperatures of 40 degrees C have seriously sabotaged my motivation to run...

Will post more about food later.