Wiretaps and Castles

I was rudely woken at 7am by someone using a garden strimmer. Don't they realise that there are lazy holidaymakers in the vicinity who need at least another 2 hours of shut eye?
First stop of the morning was at the DIY place by the city walls to buy a saw and then to the newsagents, where strangely they had run out of papers by 10am. Then on to Caldarola where another newsagent told me that all journalists are on strike protesting at a law that Berlusconi is trying to introduce to reduce the number of wiretaps. Ostensibly this measure is to protect citizens, but the press say it is to protect Berlusconi and his cronies.
Nick and Glen are staying with me and we decided to take a tour of the castle in Caldarola, home to the Pallotta family. They famously (?) invented a weapon that consisted of three metal balls dangling from a stick that I presume they threw at people to knock them off their horses. Anyway this weapon became the family crest and is emblazoned on the walls, doorways and even embroidered on the coachmen's coats. There are lots of artefacts in the house, but no examples of the weapon, they must have forgotten to pick them up. In a moment of serendipity (my second favourite word after "tousle") the 3 of us were on a tour with an Israeli woman who lives in the village on the hill opposite San Ginesio, where there is an annual cheese festival, but I digress. She was translating the tour into English for her Israeli friends and, as she had done the tour with guests many times, she knew as much background as the Italian tour guide. So we spent a really pleasant hour with this little group. Transpires that her friends have a hotel in Tel Aviv where I may be meeting my sister later in the year, so we swopped email addresses. And the lovely lady from the cheese village gave me her number and said not to stand on English ceremony and to drop in for a cup of tea whenever I liked.
This evening there is a "Secret San Ginesio" event where the doors to secret places will be opened. But it is so secret I can't actually find anyone selling tickets! Maybe it will all become clear later. I am cooking tonight so I am off to leaf through the Silver Spoon for some inspiration. This is the encyclopedic cookery book that all dutiful Italian brides are given so that they can care for their husbands in the manner in which their mothers have made them accustomed. Think of it as the baton in a culinary relay race and woe betide any bride who drops the baton - mamma will be coming after them.
Once next door's garden is in the shade the saw will be making an appearance.