29 June
It’s All Over
Well the flight back happened. Not the way we planned, but it did happen. We got our luggage today. Funny, I thought it was supposed to get to our destination the same time we did…
It was a great trip overall. Great company, wonderful food, excellent wines and a whole lot of high speed driving. What are our take-aways?
1. Gelatto is better than ice cream (and makes a great breakfast food).
2. Pork and cheese are the #1 and #2 food groups. Pasta is as foundational as air.
3. Piemonte is a wonderful place (few tacky tourists). Go there to stay; tour the rest.
4. A big meal covers for no one being able to speak a common language.
5. After 1128 miles in two weeks I’d rather drive in Italy than California (JB).
6. Italian food is good.
7. Italian wine is good (and makes a great breakfast food).
8. Family is good.
9. Small wineries in Italy are a lot like small wineries in California.
10. We would all go to visit again.
Recommendations (in no particular order):
• Pietro Rinaldi (Piemonte near Alba)
• Crociani (Montepulciano)
• Arnaldo Caprai (Montefalco)
• La Villa Favorita (Alba)
• The gelateria on Via dei Serpenti just down from the Maharajah restaurant in Rome
• Target restaurant (Rome)
• Ristorante Nelle Vigne (somewhere near Alba)
• Ra Del Ca (Verduno in Piemonte)
• La Taverna (Perugia)
And that’s about it. Our next blog will be for harvest and will start in late August (who knows, I may do a twitter feed. Just what you need: a text message that says “Holy @#?! 14 tons of nebbiolo? Now what?!?!” but who knows, it could be interesting.
Thanks for following. Any comments, suggestions or ways we could make our blogs better in the future please send to john@augustridge.com.
Ciao!
Jill, John, Sheila and David
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
San Gimignano and return to Roma
25 and 26 June, Friday and Saturday
San Gimignano and return to Roma
With heavy heart we left La Villa Favorita and started our trek back to Roma and Paso Robles. Another beautiful day in the Piemonte as we pulled out of the driveway with Roberta waving goodbye. Sheila led us on a quick drive through of Barbaresco (just so we could say we done it) and we are off in earnest.
The only event of note was our lunch break in Carrera where the marble quarries in the hillsides are so extensive it looks like snow. In fact, one of us (no names here) claimed it was snow until we stepped out of the car for lunch and realized it was in the mid-eighties (Farenheit)! Lunch was at a great little fish place that Sheila found; John was the only one to take advantage with a garlic, shrimp, zucchini, paparadelle dish prepared in a garlic/wine sauce. Everyone else went down the spaghetti pomodoro road – which given the quality of the tomatoes we continually encountered is never a bad bet. Jill insisted on continuing the gelato tour of Italy but none of us could get her to try the marble flavor.
I do find it interesting the Jill can sleep in the back when I’m doing 150km/hr sustained on the Auto Strade but gets all fidgety when I’m doing 70m/hr on the interstate… (JB)
San Gimignano is a quaint but very touristy town. John had his one bump incident of the car turning around on the ring road outside the wall that turned out not to be ring – and not to be road! The town itself is based in the linen trade and the many tall towers are not – for once – intended for defense but were part of the textile manufacturing process used back in the day.
From a gustatory perspective (which if you haven’t figured out is about the main reason we came) San Gimignano stands out for the meal we lucked into. The hotel desk clerk (this was the only place we stayed in a purpose built hotel and I’d go back there tomorrow just to unwind for a week. Beautiful rooms, great pool, wonderful view and people) sent us to La Mangiatoia which is tucked away on a little side street. We imitated the Piemonte style only this time with forethought and ordered food for two instead of four (and they had excellent wines available by the liter instead of the bottle)!
Antipasti:
• Two kinds of salami
• Crostini with tomatoes
• Barley salad w/cucumber, tomato and red onion
• Chicken liver pate on crostini
• Artichoke hearts
• Proscuitto w/melon
• Sausage frittata
Prima:
• Ravioli stuffed with pecorino and potato in a butter & truffle sauce
• Paparadelle with pork ragu
Secondi:
• Venison stewed in a mushroom sauce
• Chicken baked in a mushroom/cream sauce
• Cannelini beans in olive oil
• Roasted potatoes
And that’s about it for San Gimignano. Obligatory gelato walking back to the hotel. A few more touristy places for Jill and Sheila to look at ceramics and linens and we are done. Everyone is sort of in a reflective mood after 14 days of close quarters, messed up sleep patterns, too much good food/wine and facing down the return to reality.
Saturday morning was a pack up; hit the road and head for home time. We had a brief lunch at the same place in Orvieto as we did on the way up (the grilled sausages still excellent; the house wine – thoroughly tested with another 1.5 liter sample – still delicious). Sheila and John passed their final exam – navigating/driving into Roma back to the Hotel Bolivar and then to the Termini to drop off the rental car – with outstanding marks (although John felt that the test was a bit of a pushover as it wasn’t Friday night rush hour but he did get extra points for casually driving through the pedestrian only area of the Roma center as if he belonged there!); Jill finally got to toss her coins into the Trevi Fountain and it started to rain again. Another excellent dinner at Target – the same place we ate on our first night in Roma – a glass of wine in the lobby and the trip (or the fun part) was over.
Sheila and David leave on Sunday at 7:00 AM; John and Jill at 8:30. We will see you all back in Paso!
Last post to come: What did we learn?
Ciao!
Jill and John
San Gimignano and return to Roma
With heavy heart we left La Villa Favorita and started our trek back to Roma and Paso Robles. Another beautiful day in the Piemonte as we pulled out of the driveway with Roberta waving goodbye. Sheila led us on a quick drive through of Barbaresco (just so we could say we done it) and we are off in earnest.The only event of note was our lunch break in Carrera where the marble quarries in the hillsides are so extensive it looks like snow. In fact, one of us (no names here) claimed it was snow until we stepped out of the car for lunch and realized it was in the mid-eighties (Farenheit)! Lunch was at a great little fish place that Sheila found; John was the only one to take advantage with a garlic, shrimp, zucchini, paparadelle dish prepared in a garlic/wine sauce. Everyone else went down the spaghetti pomodoro road – which given the quality of the tomatoes we continually encountered is never a bad bet. Jill insisted on continuing the gelato tour of Italy but none of us could get her to try the marble flavor.
I do find it interesting the Jill can sleep in the back when I’m doing 150km/hr sustained on the Auto Strade but gets all fidgety when I’m doing 70m/hr on the interstate… (JB)
San Gimignano is a quaint but very touristy town. John had his one bump incident of the car turning around on the ring road outside the wall that turned out not to be ring – and not to be road! The town itself is based in the linen trade and the many tall towers are not – for once – intended for defense but were part of the textile manufacturing process used back in the day.
From a gustatory perspective (which if you haven’t figured out is about the main reason we came) San Gimignano stands out for the meal we lucked into. The hotel desk clerk (this was the only place we stayed in a purpose built hotel and I’d go back there tomorrow just to unwind for a week. Beautiful rooms, great pool, wonderful view and people) sent us to La Mangiatoia which is tucked away on a little side street. We imitated the Piemonte style only this time with forethought and ordered food for two instead of four (and they had excellent wines available by the liter instead of the bottle)!
Antipasti:• Two kinds of salami
• Crostini with tomatoes
• Barley salad w/cucumber, tomato and red onion
• Chicken liver pate on crostini
• Artichoke hearts
• Proscuitto w/melon
• Sausage frittata
Prima:
• Ravioli stuffed with pecorino and potato in a butter & truffle sauce
• Paparadelle with pork ragu
Secondi:
• Venison stewed in a mushroom sauce
• Chicken baked in a mushroom/cream sauce
• Cannelini beans in olive oil
• Roasted potatoes
And that’s about it for San Gimignano. Obligatory gelato walking back to the hotel. A few more touristy places for Jill and Sheila to look at ceramics and linens and we are done. Everyone is sort of in a reflective mood after 14 days of close quarters, messed up sleep patterns, too much good food/wine and facing down the return to reality.
Saturday morning was a pack up; hit the road and head for home time. We had a brief lunch at the same place in Orvieto as we did on the way up (the grilled sausages still excellent; the house wine – thoroughly tested with another 1.5 liter sample – still delicious). Sheila and John passed their final exam – navigating/driving into Roma back to the Hotel Bolivar and then to the Termini to drop off the rental car – with outstanding marks (although John felt that the test was a bit of a pushover as it wasn’t Friday night rush hour but he did get extra points for casually driving through the pedestrian only area of the Roma center as if he belonged there!); Jill finally got to toss her coins into the Trevi Fountain and it started to rain again. Another excellent dinner at Target – the same place we ate on our first night in Roma – a glass of wine in the lobby and the trip (or the fun part) was over.Sheila and David leave on Sunday at 7:00 AM; John and Jill at 8:30. We will see you all back in Paso!
Last post to come: What did we learn?
Ciao!
Jill and John
Saturday, June 26, 2010
At Pietro Rinaldi
24 June, Thursday
At Pietro Rinaldi
So Sheila found a winery on line called Pierto Rinaldi. Katrina (remember Katrina? I told you she was good…) had made an appointment for us at the winery to taste their wines. At 10:30 in the morning. Talk about a beautiful day: maybe 78 degrees, blue skies, birds chirping, virtually a storey book. After our breakfast of yoghurt, muesli, cheeses, hams/salamis, fresh bread and an artichoke/cheese/egg thing wrapped in puff pastry, homemade jam, two kinds of juices (orange and red) plus good strong coffee we were off to taste wine…
Piemonte is a beautiful place and the area around Alba is no exception. To get there we travel through a patchwork of immaculate vineyards, orchards, wood lots and houses. Steep hillsides with every inch tended as farm surround us for the thirty minutes it takes us to get there. Pietro Rinaldi is not in a town. Pietro Rinaldi is out in the countryside living in a traditional Italian style farmhouse in the middle of beautifully tended vineyard which we were actually able to find. We drive up the driveway, past the little winery building, and when we get to the house a dog (Toby) comes running out to meet us. A woman (who we would later learn was Monica) motioned us to drive around to the back of the house to park. The dog follows barking all the way. Out of the back door runs a little girl (Clara, 8 years old) who calls the dog and drags him back into the house. Déjà vu all over again…
We met Monica and introduced ourselves. She asks if we want to taste in the winery or up at that house. By consensus the winery. So we walk back down the hill and meet Paolo, Monica’s husband and co-owner, and Mario the Cellar Master (for want of a better term). At that point we sit down and proceed to taste 2 Dolcettos, 2 Barberas, a Nebbiolo and a Barbaresco. The colors are perfect, aromas complex and delicate, flavors typical for the variety with complex overtones that express the winery and its location. In short, the wines are all excellent.
Paolo keeps up a running commentary on the wines, the business, their back story, the plans for the winery. Fascinating. Turns out he has been to Paso and is coming again in another month or so. He and Monica started their project at virtually the same time we started the project that would subsequently become August Ridge. His passion for the project is evident as is his love for the wines and for the Piemonte area and culture. By this point we’ve had in depth discussions on barrels, wine regulations, bottling equipment, comparisons of varietals and wine making styles, the New World vs. the Old World and life in general. But we didn’t, throughout all of this, forget that Monica had put their Arneis in the refrigerator up at the house to chill for us to taste.
When we walk back up to the house and round the corner to the back terrace, we see that Monica has set the table with cheese, salami, breads, bruschetta, homemade fruit spreads, etc. We ended up with a full lunch and we just came to taste the wine! And yes, the Arneis was excellent. Somewhat more delicate and a little less tangy than the August Ridge Arneis, generally a more subtle wine overall. Throughout it all Clara was the picture of a perfect hostess, helping Monica set the table, clear the dishes and helping wherever possible (Isabella pay attention!). Toby, however, slept on my feet or ran off to chase this, that or the other thing…
After wine, lunch and coffee Paolo took me into their vineyard for a discussion on spacing, weed control, varietal selection, pests and so forth. BTW they don’t have gophers in Italy. The birds don’t eat their fruit. Deer, while around, don’t seem to be a problem. They have plenty of water. Sounds like it takes all the fun out of farming!
By now it is 3:30 pm and Jill and I are feeling like we have taken way too much of Paolo and Monica’s time. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed their company, their hospitality and their wine. The experience – and the uncanny parallels between our project and theirs – is exactly what we were hoping to find and why we have embarked on our journey to Italy. Jill and I both hope to see Paolo and Monica again and are planning to stay in touch as the two families work forward to build our dreams into the future.
If you are fortunate perhaps I will open up a Pietro Rinaldi Barbaresco one day when you visit the winery. Perhaps the two wineries can develop a sister relationship. In any event they do have distribution in the US so seek them out and support them in their efforts to realize their dream.
Next up: San Gimignano and our last day in Rome.
Ciao!
Jill and John
At Pietro Rinaldi
So Sheila found a winery on line called Pierto Rinaldi. Katrina (remember Katrina? I told you she was good…) had made an appointment for us at the winery to taste their wines. At 10:30 in the morning. Talk about a beautiful day: maybe 78 degrees, blue skies, birds chirping, virtually a storey book. After our breakfast of yoghurt, muesli, cheeses, hams/salamis, fresh bread and an artichoke/cheese/egg thing wrapped in puff pastry, homemade jam, two kinds of juices (orange and red) plus good strong coffee we were off to taste wine…Piemonte is a beautiful place and the area around Alba is no exception. To get there we travel through a patchwork of immaculate vineyards, orchards, wood lots and houses. Steep hillsides with every inch tended as farm surround us for the thirty minutes it takes us to get there. Pietro Rinaldi is not in a town. Pietro Rinaldi is out in the countryside living in a traditional Italian style farmhouse in the middle of beautifully tended vineyard which we were actually able to find. We drive up the driveway, past the little winery building, and when we get to the house a dog (Toby) comes running out to meet us. A woman (who we would later learn was Monica) motioned us to drive around to the back of the house to park. The dog follows barking all the way. Out of the back door runs a little girl (Clara, 8 years old) who calls the dog and drags him back into the house. Déjà vu all over again…
We met Monica and introduced ourselves. She asks if we want to taste in the winery or up at that house. By consensus the winery. So we walk back down the hill and meet Paolo, Monica’s husband and co-owner, and Mario the Cellar Master (for want of a better term). At that point we sit down and proceed to taste 2 Dolcettos, 2 Barberas, a Nebbiolo and a Barbaresco. The colors are perfect, aromas complex and delicate, flavors typical for the variety with complex overtones that express the winery and its location. In short, the wines are all excellent.
Paolo keeps up a running commentary on the wines, the business, their back story, the plans for the winery. Fascinating. Turns out he has been to Paso and is coming again in another month or so. He and Monica started their project at virtually the same time we started the project that would subsequently become August Ridge. His passion for the project is evident as is his love for the wines and for the Piemonte area and culture. By this point we’ve had in depth discussions on barrels, wine regulations, bottling equipment, comparisons of varietals and wine making styles, the New World vs. the Old World and life in general. But we didn’t, throughout all of this, forget that Monica had put their Arneis in the refrigerator up at the house to chill for us to taste.
When we walk back up to the house and round the corner to the back terrace, we see that Monica has set the table with cheese, salami, breads, bruschetta, homemade fruit spreads, etc. We ended up with a full lunch and we just came to taste the wine! And yes, the Arneis was excellent. Somewhat more delicate and a little less tangy than the August Ridge Arneis, generally a more subtle wine overall. Throughout it all Clara was the picture of a perfect hostess, helping Monica set the table, clear the dishes and helping wherever possible (Isabella pay attention!). Toby, however, slept on my feet or ran off to chase this, that or the other thing…
After wine, lunch and coffee Paolo took me into their vineyard for a discussion on spacing, weed control, varietal selection, pests and so forth. BTW they don’t have gophers in Italy. The birds don’t eat their fruit. Deer, while around, don’t seem to be a problem. They have plenty of water. Sounds like it takes all the fun out of farming!
By now it is 3:30 pm and Jill and I are feeling like we have taken way too much of Paolo and Monica’s time. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed their company, their hospitality and their wine. The experience – and the uncanny parallels between our project and theirs – is exactly what we were hoping to find and why we have embarked on our journey to Italy. Jill and I both hope to see Paolo and Monica again and are planning to stay in touch as the two families work forward to build our dreams into the future.If you are fortunate perhaps I will open up a Pietro Rinaldi Barbaresco one day when you visit the winery. Perhaps the two wineries can develop a sister relationship. In any event they do have distribution in the US so seek them out and support them in their efforts to realize their dream.
Next up: San Gimignano and our last day in Rome.
Ciao!
Jill and John
In Piemonte
23 June & 24 June (Wednesday and Thursday)
In Piemonte
Piemonte gets two thumbs up for being our favorite place in Italy. We stayed in Alba; drove to Barolo and Barbaresco and were able to get a good feel for the place. I’d say it is characterized by flat river bottom plains surrounded by very steep hills. Somehow it feels more like Paso than Tuscany did although Tuscany is to where the comparison is typically made. On the flats corn and grain; in the steep hills and canyons vineyards, olive orchards, hazelnut orchards and wood lots (subsidized by the government to preserve the truffle heritage) and overall very pretty. Like Tuscany virtually every hilltop has a castle, a church and a little walled town.
To get to Alba we drove up the coast through a variety of small towns until we got to Portofino where we headed back inland to the Auto Strade. The towns were reminiscent of Capitola and Santa Cruz, CA, although much more densely settled and a little bit older... It was great fun to stroll along the promenade, enjoy lunch in a café right on the water and gelato in the hot sun. I dare say that it would be a good time to spend a few days lying in the sun and swimming in the warm water… …but that was not the point of this trip so onward and upward in the hills around Alba.
Shameless plug for the place we stayed: Villa La Favorita. By far the best place on the trip. A beautiful B&B in an old restored house. Roberta, our hostess, was great and took whatever time we needed to guide us to restaurants, sights, etc. to ease our stay. The breakfast was wonderful as was her wine – she grows and makes Nebbiolo…
We had two dinners in Piemonte. Very different but still the same. The first was at Ristorante Nelle Vigne. It is not a menu place, you come in, you sit down, you eat and three or four hours later, you leave. Here is the menu we had:
Antipasti:
• Anchovies (whole and large) in hazelnut paste
• Panne frito covered with lardo (not quite bacon, not quite ham, mostly fat)
• Chicken, celery, cheese, cabbage & peppers salad
• Thin sliced beef tongue with fresh garden vegetable sauce (like a chunky salsa)
• Roasted red and yellow peppers, sweet and sour with tuna
• Zucchini torte
Prima:
• Ravioli stuffed with veal/pork/rabbit in a butter rosemary sauce
• Taglietelle with sausage ragu
Secondi:
• Veal scaloppini in an Arneis sauce
• Stewed veal in a hazelnut sauce
• Green beans steamed with butter
Dolce:
• Pana cotta with strawberries
• Semifreddo with hazelnut
• Pear tart with chocolate
• Rum soaked bread and chocolate pudding
Still water, and a bottle each of 2009 Langhe Arneis and a 2008 Barbera di Asti rounded out the meal (and us). What do you think? €60 each? €75 each? Guess again… The dinners were €24.50, the Arneis was €11 and the Barbera was €17. Folks don’t try that at home; we are profession diners eating on a closed track!
The next day, we were neither convinced nor hungry when dinner came around. So rather than try another traditional meal we hopped in our trusty car and sought out the little town of Verduno and a place called Ca Del Ra. To get to Verduno you have to go through the town of Roddi, in fact you go through the little town of Roddi several times. Like five times… …and no, we weren’t lost it just seems you can’t get away from Roddi. However, Verduno is a very cute little, not very touristy (hilltop, castle, church, wall, etc, etc, etc) town once we found it. We sat outside at Ca Del Ra and enjoyed a much simpler meal. Appetizers were salumi and brasceola; Pasta was taglietelle with beef ragu; Secondi was rabbit (grilled with thyme and salt) for John and veal (braised in Nebbiolo) for Sheila (and potatoes which turn out to be Sheila’s closet passion) and no Dolce for anyone (we did end up at a gelateria in Alba before we went home). The house wine went down by two liters in their barrel – a very good blend of Nebbiolo and a non-specified local red that was peppery with great structure for €5 per liter.
The net? When in Piemonte don’t eat in the tourist restaurants, don’t bring a lot of money and come hungry!
That’s about it for Piemonte. Great place to stay; beautiful scenery, wonderful little towns, excellent food, nice people – doesn’t have much going for it. Oh yeah, they make wine there too… …but that’s the next installment.
Ciao!
Jill and John
In Piemonte
Piemonte gets two thumbs up for being our favorite place in Italy. We stayed in Alba; drove to Barolo and Barbaresco and were able to get a good feel for the place. I’d say it is characterized by flat river bottom plains surrounded by very steep hills. Somehow it feels more like Paso than Tuscany did although Tuscany is to where the comparison is typically made. On the flats corn and grain; in the steep hills and canyons vineyards, olive orchards, hazelnut orchards and wood lots (subsidized by the government to preserve the truffle heritage) and overall very pretty. Like Tuscany virtually every hilltop has a castle, a church and a little walled town.
To get to Alba we drove up the coast through a variety of small towns until we got to Portofino where we headed back inland to the Auto Strade. The towns were reminiscent of Capitola and Santa Cruz, CA, although much more densely settled and a little bit older... It was great fun to stroll along the promenade, enjoy lunch in a café right on the water and gelato in the hot sun. I dare say that it would be a good time to spend a few days lying in the sun and swimming in the warm water… …but that was not the point of this trip so onward and upward in the hills around Alba.
Shameless plug for the place we stayed: Villa La Favorita. By far the best place on the trip. A beautiful B&B in an old restored house. Roberta, our hostess, was great and took whatever time we needed to guide us to restaurants, sights, etc. to ease our stay. The breakfast was wonderful as was her wine – she grows and makes Nebbiolo…We had two dinners in Piemonte. Very different but still the same. The first was at Ristorante Nelle Vigne. It is not a menu place, you come in, you sit down, you eat and three or four hours later, you leave. Here is the menu we had:
Antipasti:
• Anchovies (whole and large) in hazelnut paste
• Panne frito covered with lardo (not quite bacon, not quite ham, mostly fat)
• Chicken, celery, cheese, cabbage & peppers salad
• Thin sliced beef tongue with fresh garden vegetable sauce (like a chunky salsa)
• Roasted red and yellow peppers, sweet and sour with tuna
• Zucchini torte
Prima:
• Ravioli stuffed with veal/pork/rabbit in a butter rosemary sauce
• Taglietelle with sausage ragu
Secondi:
• Veal scaloppini in an Arneis sauce
• Stewed veal in a hazelnut sauce
• Green beans steamed with butter
Dolce:
• Pana cotta with strawberries
• Semifreddo with hazelnut
• Pear tart with chocolate
• Rum soaked bread and chocolate pudding
Still water, and a bottle each of 2009 Langhe Arneis and a 2008 Barbera di Asti rounded out the meal (and us). What do you think? €60 each? €75 each? Guess again… The dinners were €24.50, the Arneis was €11 and the Barbera was €17. Folks don’t try that at home; we are profession diners eating on a closed track!
The next day, we were neither convinced nor hungry when dinner came around. So rather than try another traditional meal we hopped in our trusty car and sought out the little town of Verduno and a place called Ca Del Ra. To get to Verduno you have to go through the town of Roddi, in fact you go through the little town of Roddi several times. Like five times… …and no, we weren’t lost it just seems you can’t get away from Roddi. However, Verduno is a very cute little, not very touristy (hilltop, castle, church, wall, etc, etc, etc) town once we found it. We sat outside at Ca Del Ra and enjoyed a much simpler meal. Appetizers were salumi and brasceola; Pasta was taglietelle with beef ragu; Secondi was rabbit (grilled with thyme and salt) for John and veal (braised in Nebbiolo) for Sheila (and potatoes which turn out to be Sheila’s closet passion) and no Dolce for anyone (we did end up at a gelateria in Alba before we went home). The house wine went down by two liters in their barrel – a very good blend of Nebbiolo and a non-specified local red that was peppery with great structure for €5 per liter. 
The net? When in Piemonte don’t eat in the tourist restaurants, don’t bring a lot of money and come hungry!That’s about it for Piemonte. Great place to stay; beautiful scenery, wonderful little towns, excellent food, nice people – doesn’t have much going for it. Oh yeah, they make wine there too… …but that’s the next installment.
Ciao!
Jill and John
Friday, June 25, 2010
Wednesday, 23 June
Firenze
By consensus we agree on Firenze (Florence) as our favorite city (and we don’t appear to be alone as the number of US expats seems to be remarkably high) although the number of walking tours with their tour guides pushing and shoving does seem to be a little excessive. But the city is accessible, fairly clean and has its share of the classic pieces of western culture available to view. It also has its place in our heart because when we navigated in from the Auto Strade Sheila was able to route us through virtually every part of the city from the oldest to the newest so we already feel like we know it. Plus, from Jill’s perspective, the gelato shop on every corner and, from John’s perspective, the coffee at the café across from the gelato shop is a key selling point.
Tuesday morning we were off to the Academia, a place known mostly for housing Michelangelo’s David, but also the home for many other sculptures and paintings of artists significant and not. One room is filled with the plaster castings and models used by sculptors over the last half millennia as ‘sketches’ for what would be rendered in marble. The David? Yes, quite impressive (David reproduction in the picture). And let me tell you he has got one HUGE… …pair of hands and feet. No, seriously, the hands and feet seem way out of proportion to the rest of his body (if my dogs were proportionally the size of his I’d probably wear a size 16 shoe…JB). The anatomical details (tendons, muscle striations, etc) are amazing. Quite the piece of work.
After the Academia we went to the Uffuzi which displays parts of the collection assembled by the Medici over the centuries. Fundamentally we were back to the pictures of key biblical events (a lot of reruns or, as the artistically refined would say: ‘interpretations’) as virtually all were religious in nature which is not surprising given the intertwined power structure of Church (stronger) and State (weaker). One collection that was particularly interesting was focused on how art and politics connected in the Florentine culture. The use of classic mythology, allegory and biblical references was combined with strategically placing the likeness of individuals from the significant political houses in the different roles of the story line being presented. Much like modern comic books the narrative would progress in different panels or canvases and would make pointed observations around an individual’s virtue, piety, integrity and so forth. What takes a program for us to understand from today’s cultural milieu was as clear to them as the different infighting factions in ‘Lost’ are to us today (note the not so hip cultural reference… …I don’t even know what that show is about. JB). We also got a great view of the Ponte del Vecchio from one of the upstairs windows…
The food in Firenze was wonderful although we never even had a Florentine steak (which at €50 per kg is not too surprising). Katrina took care of us both days (I don’t think that woman ever slept – she was on duty at midnight and at seven in the morning…). The first night (Cantina Giorna) was in a small, loud and very crowded place that served excellent food based in traditional Florentine dishes. The Owner/Chef is a wanna be biker with a Harely t-shirt and more jewelry than I thought one man could wear but the food was great! The second (Cantina Barbagianni) was in a small, quiet spot with the food a little more imaginatively prepared and also quite delicious. And both were just moments from the hotel. A nice touch from both places, which may be a Florentine tradition, were the included glass of prosseco, an assaggi (roughly translates as ‘gift from the chef’) and antipasti. The second place also finished the meal with vin santo and biscotti (For dipping in the wine. Actually very common. Jill remembers doing it at her Grandparent’s house in Colorado… …although they call them rusks not biscoitti.). At this point I’m probably supposed to say that I’m getting tired of freshly made pasta, prosciutto, pancetta, basil and garlic, rich and sweet (but not cloying) desserts, strong coffee and good wine. But I’m not… …and I’ll let you know if that ever happens!
On the morning before we left we visited the Firenze market. Fresh produce, meats, fishes, cheeses, spices and pastas plus whatever else they felt like selling. Outside the market were street vendors selling leather and cloth goods, trinkets glass beads and hatchets for the natives and clothing for the tourists. John found a leather jacket that would finally make him modern (didn’t buy it) and Jill found a skirt to keep her legs warm (and make her look like a chic Italian lady. JB) which she bought.
The only bad thing about Firenze was leaving. We all could have spent a few more days exploring the museums, eating the food or hanging out all afternoon in the restaurant on the piazza drinking good and cheap wine. But the Piemonte was calling so we left.
Ciao!
Jill and John
Firenze
By consensus we agree on Firenze (Florence) as our favorite city (and we don’t appear to be alone as the number of US expats seems to be remarkably high) although the number of walking tours with their tour guides pushing and shoving does seem to be a little excessive. But the city is accessible, fairly clean and has its share of the classic pieces of western culture available to view. It also has its place in our heart because when we navigated in from the Auto Strade Sheila was able to route us through virtually every part of the city from the oldest to the newest so we already feel like we know it. Plus, from Jill’s perspective, the gelato shop on every corner and, from John’s perspective, the coffee at the café across from the gelato shop is a key selling point.
Tuesday morning we were off to the Academia, a place known mostly for housing Michelangelo’s David, but also the home for many other sculptures and paintings of artists significant and not. One room is filled with the plaster castings and models used by sculptors over the last half millennia as ‘sketches’ for what would be rendered in marble. The David? Yes, quite impressive (David reproduction in the picture). And let me tell you he has got one HUGE… …pair of hands and feet. No, seriously, the hands and feet seem way out of proportion to the rest of his body (if my dogs were proportionally the size of his I’d probably wear a size 16 shoe…JB). The anatomical details (tendons, muscle striations, etc) are amazing. Quite the piece of work. 
After the Academia we went to the Uffuzi which displays parts of the collection assembled by the Medici over the centuries. Fundamentally we were back to the pictures of key biblical events (a lot of reruns or, as the artistically refined would say: ‘interpretations’) as virtually all were religious in nature which is not surprising given the intertwined power structure of Church (stronger) and State (weaker). One collection that was particularly interesting was focused on how art and politics connected in the Florentine culture. The use of classic mythology, allegory and biblical references was combined with strategically placing the likeness of individuals from the significant political houses in the different roles of the story line being presented. Much like modern comic books the narrative would progress in different panels or canvases and would make pointed observations around an individual’s virtue, piety, integrity and so forth. What takes a program for us to understand from today’s cultural milieu was as clear to them as the different infighting factions in ‘Lost’ are to us today (note the not so hip cultural reference… …I don’t even know what that show is about. JB). We also got a great view of the Ponte del Vecchio from one of the upstairs windows…
The food in Firenze was wonderful although we never even had a Florentine steak (which at €50 per kg is not too surprising). Katrina took care of us both days (I don’t think that woman ever slept – she was on duty at midnight and at seven in the morning…). The first night (Cantina Giorna) was in a small, loud and very crowded place that served excellent food based in traditional Florentine dishes. The Owner/Chef is a wanna be biker with a Harely t-shirt and more jewelry than I thought one man could wear but the food was great! The second (Cantina Barbagianni) was in a small, quiet spot with the food a little more imaginatively prepared and also quite delicious. And both were just moments from the hotel. A nice touch from both places, which may be a Florentine tradition, were the included glass of prosseco, an assaggi (roughly translates as ‘gift from the chef’) and antipasti. The second place also finished the meal with vin santo and biscotti (For dipping in the wine. Actually very common. Jill remembers doing it at her Grandparent’s house in Colorado… …although they call them rusks not biscoitti.). At this point I’m probably supposed to say that I’m getting tired of freshly made pasta, prosciutto, pancetta, basil and garlic, rich and sweet (but not cloying) desserts, strong coffee and good wine. But I’m not… …and I’ll let you know if that ever happens!
On the morning before we left we visited the Firenze market. Fresh produce, meats, fishes, cheeses, spices and pastas plus whatever else they felt like selling. Outside the market were street vendors selling leather and cloth goods, trinkets glass beads and hatchets for the natives and clothing for the tourists. John found a leather jacket that would finally make him modern (didn’t buy it) and Jill found a skirt to keep her legs warm (and make her look like a chic Italian lady. JB) which she bought.The only bad thing about Firenze was leaving. We all could have spent a few more days exploring the museums, eating the food or hanging out all afternoon in the restaurant on the piazza drinking good and cheap wine. But the Piemonte was calling so we left.
Ciao!
Jill and John
Onward to Firenze
Monday, June 21, 2010
We leave for Firenze via Siena and Greve…
We get an early start to Siena (by now we can pack the trunk with all of our luggage in only minutes) find the town and after two laps around the inner city discover that parking is not a problem. Of course the town isn’t open yet but we are able to find a café for Americanos and pastries. We walked around the campo where the palio will be run in less than two weeks. Hard to imagine the banners, bleachers, barriers and sand that will be carted in and out for a two minute horse race. Then off to see the Ridotto Duomo (Cathedral) with Jill freezing in the wind for the 15 minute wait until it opened. An amazing and beautiful church. Fairly empty when we go in; jammed packed with tourists when we leave. The architecture around the duomo is significantly different from the smaller towns in that it is taller, more officious looking and generally less intimately inviting. I guess a city bureaucracy (which typically clusters around the church in the city center) has the same type of nameless, faceless look whether it is the 15th or 21st century.
Lunch is back at a pure tourist restaurant on the campo (the menu even noted that some of the food was frozen) but a couple of glasses of wine solve that problem. Still can’t imagine a horse race and thousands of people cheering in that small square. What a sight it must be! Finally, the sun came out (yes, it has been raining and cold the past couple of days), Jill stopped shivering, and life is good.
Sienna to Greve via the smallest roads Sheila can find. Some of them aren’t even roads but rather clay and rocky tracks (about 2 meters wide) with 150 meter drops to the right and cliffs to the left. Of course the traffic, what little there is, doesn’t believe that to be a reason to slow down at all! However, the views are spectacular, the castles gorgeous, and the country green and breathtaking. That’s Chianti for you…
Greve is known for its cured meats and sausages of all kinds. Walk into the iconic meat seller and you will be knocked over by a veritable miasma of pork fat and the odors of cured meats. They keep a team of paramedics standing by at the main entrance just to take care of the tourist. Bacon, ham and other less obvious cuts of meat hanging overhead in the shop; a basement with nothing but cheeses – the two primary food groups in one place! Clearly, in Greve it is not safe to be a pig. After a quick cup of coffee (and a piece of a fruit torte built up from a crostata with dried fruits, nuts and custard) we were off to find Firenze (Florence).
The trip to Firenze was pleasant. Sheila did a masterful job navigating us from one side of Firenze to the other; John managed to drive us safely through rush hour traffic without touching another vehicle, wall or traffic barrier (although I did not mention the one way street incident in Greve) and the Hotel Mona Lisa actually had its own car park. For not reading or speaking Italian and the confusing signage throughout Italy we have done really well getting around.
We found our hotel and have settled into to the Mona Lisa, a 15th century building in the center of the city with a beautiful garden and a wonderfully helpful desk clerk, Katrina, who will provide us with great advice over the next day and a half. Our adventures will include the Uffizi and Academia; a significant portion of gelato and, as you would imagine, at least one church…
Ciao!
Jill and John
We leave for Firenze via Siena and Greve…
We get an early start to Siena (by now we can pack the trunk with all of our luggage in only minutes) find the town and after two laps around the inner city discover that parking is not a problem. Of course the town isn’t open yet but we are able to find a café for Americanos and pastries. We walked around the campo where the palio will be run in less than two weeks. Hard to imagine the banners, bleachers, barriers and sand that will be carted in and out for a two minute horse race. Then off to see the Ridotto Duomo (Cathedral) with Jill freezing in the wind for the 15 minute wait until it opened. An amazing and beautiful church. Fairly empty when we go in; jammed packed with tourists when we leave. The architecture around the duomo is significantly different from the smaller towns in that it is taller, more officious looking and generally less intimately inviting. I guess a city bureaucracy (which typically clusters around the church in the city center) has the same type of nameless, faceless look whether it is the 15th or 21st century.
Lunch is back at a pure tourist restaurant on the campo (the menu even noted that some of the food was frozen) but a couple of glasses of wine solve that problem. Still can’t imagine a horse race and thousands of people cheering in that small square. What a sight it must be! Finally, the sun came out (yes, it has been raining and cold the past couple of days), Jill stopped shivering, and life is good. 
Sienna to Greve via the smallest roads Sheila can find. Some of them aren’t even roads but rather clay and rocky tracks (about 2 meters wide) with 150 meter drops to the right and cliffs to the left. Of course the traffic, what little there is, doesn’t believe that to be a reason to slow down at all! However, the views are spectacular, the castles gorgeous, and the country green and breathtaking. That’s Chianti for you… 
Greve is known for its cured meats and sausages of all kinds. Walk into the iconic meat seller and you will be knocked over by a veritable miasma of pork fat and the odors of cured meats. They keep a team of paramedics standing by at the main entrance just to take care of the tourist. Bacon, ham and other less obvious cuts of meat hanging overhead in the shop; a basement with nothing but cheeses – the two primary food groups in one place! Clearly, in Greve it is not safe to be a pig. After a quick cup of coffee (and a piece of a fruit torte built up from a crostata with dried fruits, nuts and custard) we were off to find Firenze (Florence). The trip to Firenze was pleasant. Sheila did a masterful job navigating us from one side of Firenze to the other; John managed to drive us safely through rush hour traffic without touching another vehicle, wall or traffic barrier (although I did not mention the one way street incident in Greve) and the Hotel Mona Lisa actually had its own car park. For not reading or speaking Italian and the confusing signage throughout Italy we have done really well getting around.
We found our hotel and have settled into to the Mona Lisa, a 15th century building in the center of the city with a beautiful garden and a wonderfully helpful desk clerk, Katrina, who will provide us with great advice over the next day and a half. Our adventures will include the Uffizi and Academia; a significant portion of gelato and, as you would imagine, at least one church… Ciao!
Jill and John
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Travel to Umbria
Friday, June 18
Travel to Umbria (warning: this one’s long)
Our itinerary for the next three nights had us up in Umbria. To maximize our flexibility we opted to drive and first thing Friday morning we picked up our rental car, a nice new BWW 3 series sedan – which was NOT the car we thought we were reserved – at the Rome Termini. BMW’s aren’t known for trunk space (unlike the car we had reserved) so it was quite the experience trying to first get our luggage (the picture doesn't show the 2 bags and half case of wine inside the car...) into the car along with four adults. John’s the Driver but more importantly Sheila’s the Navigator and she set to getting us out of Rome. Driving in Italy is not as bad as generally believed, the state provides traffic suggestions and the cultural laws of the road are simple and generally followed: 1) if a vehicle will fit it is ok to drive there, 2) don’t make eye contact unless you want to give way, 3) use of the turn indicator is optional, 4) be patient, 5) don’t hit anyone and 6) all but #5 don’t apply to motorcycles and scooters who can do whatever they want whenever they want to. Really quite simple – except that the roads were built in Roman times and are usually only 1.5 cars wide… And we were off!
Sheila found us a way out of Rome and onward to the little city of Orvieto. We hoped to take the funicular from the modern town up to the ancient hilltop city but it was unfortunately closed. We drove up and were taken quite by surprise by what a charming town it is. Most of the little tourist towns in Italy are on hilltops and built up around a castle and a church with the buildings surrounded by great walls but not all are charming as is this one. We wondered the streets looking at the buildings, stonework and plants and visited the occasional tourist shop. The Duomo di Orvieto is particularly stunning for such a small town and due entirely to the relic (a bloody cloth that miraculously showed the sign of the stigmata in blood after a monk used it) that is kept there. 
We stumbled upon a restaurant off a side street under a beautiful arbor and had lunch. With lunch we had the local blended white wine called Orvieto Classico which was wonderful.
On to Deruta which is known for Italian pottery. We visited both ancient upper city which is a traditional walled hilltop city based around a church and fortress and the modern lower town. The upper is filled with serious artists in their studios creating individual unique pieces of both traditional and modern design one at a time and the lower is filled with workshops where artisans handcraft many copies of mostly traditional designs in a mass production workshop setting aimed for the tourist and export trade. One can guess the price differences; however, the pottery is beautiful regardless of origin.
Last stop for the day was the Volpe de l’Uva (the fox and the grape) located just north of Perugia in Umbria and the agriturismo we would be staying at for our next three nights. Quite the challenge to find as it was located well up in the hills and off of any map the we had with us – but we did get a great tour of the old town of Perugia and the Perugian countryside (and John learned that a sign that shows what looks like a corset with the number 2.0 below means that the gap between the buildings suddenly becomes narrower than the car – never a good thing). But all turned out well. After dinner we sat outside in the warm evening drinking wine (a Chianti Rustico given to us by Pietro earlier in the week. Not bad at all…) and watched the fire flies in our own personal light show.
Saturday morning we left for Montepulciano on a tour of the hilltop town and wine tasting. Very charming tourist town full of shops and wine bars (most tasting is done here not at the wineries themselves). We tasted at some of the shops with nothing – either way – of significance to report. However, our Driver, Fabio (no long blond hair, sorry ladies) was able to arrange a tour and tasting at a local, small family run winery called Cantina Crociani (harder to arrange than it seemed as it was Sunday and those wineries that do tour are not open on weekends). Their specialties are Montepulciano Rosso, a young red wine based on Sangiovese, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano which is a DOC recognized wine blend of three grapes, and Vino Nobile de Montepulciano which is a DOGC recognized blend of three grapes with a significantly longer aging program. Crociani is a small winery (only about twice the size of August Ridge) that looks, acts and feels very much like us. We enjoyed the people and the wine – even to the point of flying a few (the wines not the people) back home!
That evening we had our first cooking class at Volpe de l’Uva. Stefani led the class and we prepared a four course dinner. We started with an Italian long green pepper bruschetta followed by homemade linguine pasta with fresh cherry tomato, basil and ricotta salata. Our main entrée was pork tenderloin braised in grapes and red wine with bay and shallots. Our dessert was a fig crostata. John was amused to discover that the pasta recipe was virtually identical to his (how many ways can you make pasta anyway?). Overall a good meal. The next morning we started cooking early for lunch. The antipasto was a pastry filled with fresh swiss chard (Sorry John!), parmesan and red pepper. The pasta was homemade gnocchi and fresh basil pesto with potato and green beans. For our main course we prepared a turkey cutlet with fresh herbs which was lightly floured and sautéed and placed on a bed of arugula salad (don’t ask any questions about the farmhouse cat and the turkey…). To finish off we made classic Tiramisu. Overall a great lunch to start us on our way to taste wine in Montefalco region of Umbria.
First (and last as the stop took 3 hours) stop in the Montefalco region was the winery Arnaldo Caprai were we were provided a very in depth tour of their large scale (750k bottles annually – they don’t measure in the standard US 12 bottle case in Europe) winery. The owner Marco Caprai, with whom we spoke briefly, was even in Paso Robles a short time ago visiting the wineries of our region. The operation is a very well run affair and the wines reflect the care given. We very much enjoyed their wines from a Sangiovese to a varietal special to Montefalco called Sagrantino. Apparently Marco has made tremendous efforts to revive the Sagrantino variety from near obscurity and in the last 20 years or so brought it to the attention of international wine connoisseurs and critics. As part of the efforts he is conducting many well thought out trials of vineyards spacing and management that were interesting to see and learn of. I highly recommend both the wines and the winery (if you just happen to be in Montefalco one afternoon…).
We also visited the hill top town of Montefalco (you probably guessed: fortress, church(es), little alley’s, stone buildings, etc….) and the medieval city of Bevanga (picture). They were in the midst of their annual medieval festival which made the trip even more fun. Then back to Perugia for our last evening dinner. Fabio, suggested a place called La Taverna on the other end of Perugia (away from the students) and we had a fabulous dinner of soups, pastas and veal in truffle sauce! We also enjoyed talking to the owner (who used to run hotels all over the US) very much.
That’s it. The net of Perugia: of the places we visited Crociani, Caprai and La Taverna are recommended. Very pretty countryside, nice people. You may have noticed that Volpe de l’Uva didn’t get a lot of press. Your conclusions are invited.
Now it is time for bed.
Ciao!
John and Jill
Travel to Umbria (warning: this one’s long)
Our itinerary for the next three nights had us up in Umbria. To maximize our flexibility we opted to drive and first thing Friday morning we picked up our rental car, a nice new BWW 3 series sedan – which was NOT the car we thought we were reserved – at the Rome Termini. BMW’s aren’t known for trunk space (unlike the car we had reserved) so it was quite the experience trying to first get our luggage (the picture doesn't show the 2 bags and half case of wine inside the car...) into the car along with four adults. John’s the Driver but more importantly Sheila’s the Navigator and she set to getting us out of Rome. Driving in Italy is not as bad as generally believed, the state provides traffic suggestions and the cultural laws of the road are simple and generally followed: 1) if a vehicle will fit it is ok to drive there, 2) don’t make eye contact unless you want to give way, 3) use of the turn indicator is optional, 4) be patient, 5) don’t hit anyone and 6) all but #5 don’t apply to motorcycles and scooters who can do whatever they want whenever they want to. Really quite simple – except that the roads were built in Roman times and are usually only 1.5 cars wide… And we were off!
Sheila found us a way out of Rome and onward to the little city of Orvieto. We hoped to take the funicular from the modern town up to the ancient hilltop city but it was unfortunately closed. We drove up and were taken quite by surprise by what a charming town it is. Most of the little tourist towns in Italy are on hilltops and built up around a castle and a church with the buildings surrounded by great walls but not all are charming as is this one. We wondered the streets looking at the buildings, stonework and plants and visited the occasional tourist shop. The Duomo di Orvieto is particularly stunning for such a small town and due entirely to the relic (a bloody cloth that miraculously showed the sign of the stigmata in blood after a monk used it) that is kept there. 
We stumbled upon a restaurant off a side street under a beautiful arbor and had lunch. With lunch we had the local blended white wine called Orvieto Classico which was wonderful. On to Deruta which is known for Italian pottery. We visited both ancient upper city which is a traditional walled hilltop city based around a church and fortress and the modern lower town. The upper is filled with serious artists in their studios creating individual unique pieces of both traditional and modern design one at a time and the lower is filled with workshops where artisans handcraft many copies of mostly traditional designs in a mass production workshop setting aimed for the tourist and export trade. One can guess the price differences; however, the pottery is beautiful regardless of origin.
Last stop for the day was the Volpe de l’Uva (the fox and the grape) located just north of Perugia in Umbria and the agriturismo we would be staying at for our next three nights. Quite the challenge to find as it was located well up in the hills and off of any map the we had with us – but we did get a great tour of the old town of Perugia and the Perugian countryside (and John learned that a sign that shows what looks like a corset with the number 2.0 below means that the gap between the buildings suddenly becomes narrower than the car – never a good thing). But all turned out well. After dinner we sat outside in the warm evening drinking wine (a Chianti Rustico given to us by Pietro earlier in the week. Not bad at all…) and watched the fire flies in our own personal light show.
Saturday morning we left for Montepulciano on a tour of the hilltop town and wine tasting. Very charming tourist town full of shops and wine bars (most tasting is done here not at the wineries themselves). We tasted at some of the shops with nothing – either way – of significance to report. However, our Driver, Fabio (no long blond hair, sorry ladies) was able to arrange a tour and tasting at a local, small family run winery called Cantina Crociani (harder to arrange than it seemed as it was Sunday and those wineries that do tour are not open on weekends). Their specialties are Montepulciano Rosso, a young red wine based on Sangiovese, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano which is a DOC recognized wine blend of three grapes, and Vino Nobile de Montepulciano which is a DOGC recognized blend of three grapes with a significantly longer aging program. Crociani is a small winery (only about twice the size of August Ridge) that looks, acts and feels very much like us. We enjoyed the people and the wine – even to the point of flying a few (the wines not the people) back home! That evening we had our first cooking class at Volpe de l’Uva. Stefani led the class and we prepared a four course dinner. We started with an Italian long green pepper bruschetta followed by homemade linguine pasta with fresh cherry tomato, basil and ricotta salata. Our main entrée was pork tenderloin braised in grapes and red wine with bay and shallots. Our dessert was a fig crostata. John was amused to discover that the pasta recipe was virtually identical to his (how many ways can you make pasta anyway?). Overall a good meal. The next morning we started cooking early for lunch. The antipasto was a pastry filled with fresh swiss chard (Sorry John!), parmesan and red pepper. The pasta was homemade gnocchi and fresh basil pesto with potato and green beans. For our main course we prepared a turkey cutlet with fresh herbs which was lightly floured and sautéed and placed on a bed of arugula salad (don’t ask any questions about the farmhouse cat and the turkey…). To finish off we made classic Tiramisu. Overall a great lunch to start us on our way to taste wine in Montefalco region of Umbria.
First (and last as the stop took 3 hours) stop in the Montefalco region was the winery Arnaldo Caprai were we were provided a very in depth tour of their large scale (750k bottles annually – they don’t measure in the standard US 12 bottle case in Europe) winery. The owner Marco Caprai, with whom we spoke briefly, was even in Paso Robles a short time ago visiting the wineries of our region. The operation is a very well run affair and the wines reflect the care given. We very much enjoyed their wines from a Sangiovese to a varietal special to Montefalco called Sagrantino. Apparently Marco has made tremendous efforts to revive the Sagrantino variety from near obscurity and in the last 20 years or so brought it to the attention of international wine connoisseurs and critics. As part of the efforts he is conducting many well thought out trials of vineyards spacing and management that were interesting to see and learn of. I highly recommend both the wines and the winery (if you just happen to be in Montefalco one afternoon…).
We also visited the hill top town of Montefalco (you probably guessed: fortress, church(es), little alley’s, stone buildings, etc….) and the medieval city of Bevanga (picture). They were in the midst of their annual medieval festival which made the trip even more fun. Then back to Perugia for our last evening dinner. Fabio, suggested a place called La Taverna on the other end of Perugia (away from the students) and we had a fabulous dinner of soups, pastas and veal in truffle sauce! We also enjoyed talking to the owner (who used to run hotels all over the US) very much.That’s it. The net of Perugia: of the places we visited Crociani, Caprai and La Taverna are recommended. Very pretty countryside, nice people. You may have noticed that Volpe de l’Uva didn’t get a lot of press. Your conclusions are invited.
Now it is time for bed.
Ciao!
John and Jill
Monday, June 21, 2010
In Roma II
Thursday, June 17
OK. So a little later became a lot later. In the intervening times much has happened.
On Thursday we visited the Vatican. Given how busy we were I declined the Papal invitation to a private luncheon in his apartment in favor of continuing our exploration of the Vatican Museum and grounds. I suspect he wasn’t really that disappointed to miss us and was actually just being polite…
We saw sculptures, tapestries, paintings, carriages, some more sculptures and a few more paintings. Seems that everyone who was anyone (and a few who were no one) in the medieval/renaissance art world had to get in a few brush strokes on the subject. I was struck by how everyone painted Jesus as a cute, fat little baby and then as a gaunt, ascetic man. Must have been in the rules somewhere. The tapestries are amazing; hard to believe how old they are and how much detail is in them. The best are in a special climate controlled room that is dark and gloomy to avoid light fading the colors more that they already are. Incredible the amount of work and craftsmanship that went into them. Absolutely amazing! Probably my favorite place in the Vatican Museum was the hall of maps where the known world was recreated along the walls and ceiling. After the museum we went to St. Peter’s Square. The Sistine Chapel is well worth the wait in line to visit – it is an absolutely amazing place, and HUGE. I couldn’t believe the size of the place, the complexity of the art work and the overall impact. Religious art and structures were as much a worldly representation of power and place as they were manifestations of devotion and faith. St. Peter’s Square and the Sistine Chapel sets the bar for in both regards.
Leaving the Vatican we went for lunch in Piazza Navona which is a beautiful place surrounded by cafés, anchored at both ends and in the middle with beautiful sculptured fountains. The highlight of our lunch was a delightfully delicate Trebbiano d’Abruzzo which was the perfect antidote to the 95+ degree weather. Don’t have a clue what we ate – not so memorable as it is purely a tourist destination. After lunch – which could’a (should’a) turned into an afternoon affair – came a walk to further sites…
…somewhere along the way we came across this Italian Cow painted in the red and green for which Italy is famous. Reminded us of home so we stopped to chat a while…
The last special spot was the Spanish Steps which is a place not to be missed if only for its references in so much popular culture (Special prize for the first person who can name the West Texas singer/songwriter and the name of the country-folk song that makes a reference to the Spanish Steps.) as well as it’s impressive stonework and beautiful view from the top. Not to be named is the one of our group who didn’t want to climb them…
Then on to another dinner in an outdoor café, a couple more bottles of good Italian wine, blah, blah, blah… …you know how it always goes in Rome.
Ciao!
John and Jill
OK. So a little later became a lot later. In the intervening times much has happened.
On Thursday we visited the Vatican. Given how busy we were I declined the Papal invitation to a private luncheon in his apartment in favor of continuing our exploration of the Vatican Museum and grounds. I suspect he wasn’t really that disappointed to miss us and was actually just being polite…We saw sculptures, tapestries, paintings, carriages, some more sculptures and a few more paintings. Seems that everyone who was anyone (and a few who were no one) in the medieval/renaissance art world had to get in a few brush strokes on the subject. I was struck by how everyone painted Jesus as a cute, fat little baby and then as a gaunt, ascetic man. Must have been in the rules somewhere. The tapestries are amazing; hard to believe how old they are and how much detail is in them. The best are in a special climate controlled room that is dark and gloomy to avoid light fading the colors more that they already are. Incredible the amount of work and craftsmanship that went into them. Absolutely amazing! Probably my favorite place in the Vatican Museum was the hall of maps where the known world was recreated along the walls and ceiling. After the museum we went to St. Peter’s Square. The Sistine Chapel is well worth the wait in line to visit – it is an absolutely amazing place, and HUGE. I couldn’t believe the size of the place, the complexity of the art work and the overall impact. Religious art and structures were as much a worldly representation of power and place as they were manifestations of devotion and faith. St. Peter’s Square and the Sistine Chapel sets the bar for in both regards.
Leaving the Vatican we went for lunch in Piazza Navona which is a beautiful place surrounded by cafés, anchored at both ends and in the middle with beautiful sculptured fountains. The highlight of our lunch was a delightfully delicate Trebbiano d’Abruzzo which was the perfect antidote to the 95+ degree weather. Don’t have a clue what we ate – not so memorable as it is purely a tourist destination. After lunch – which could’a (should’a) turned into an afternoon affair – came a walk to further sites…
…somewhere along the way we came across this Italian Cow painted in the red and green for which Italy is famous. Reminded us of home so we stopped to chat a while…
The last special spot was the Spanish Steps which is a place not to be missed if only for its references in so much popular culture (Special prize for the first person who can name the West Texas singer/songwriter and the name of the country-folk song that makes a reference to the Spanish Steps.) as well as it’s impressive stonework and beautiful view from the top. Not to be named is the one of our group who didn’t want to climb them…Then on to another dinner in an outdoor café, a couple more bottles of good Italian wine, blah, blah, blah… …you know how it always goes in Rome.
Ciao!
John and Jill
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, 16 June: Visit with the Famiglia
Visit to the family! Up early and start with breakfast in the upstairs sunroom of the Hotel Bolivar. (Quick plug on the hotel… clean room, good service, moderately priced, great location and walking distance of most all must-see attractions).
Quick walk to the Rome Termini train station. Jump on train 12157, track 23 toward Castro-Pofi about an hour 15 minutes south. We saw a beautiful countryside full of olives, gardens, fruit orchards and vineyards. Along the way we also spotted the occasional ruin, the Aqueducts bringing water to the city and many walled, hill top cities. We were amazed at the many small farms given the relatively high population in both rural areas and the many small towns and cities. Farmers fit their fields in everywhere, wedged between terrain and roads/railways and houses. The other surprising thing was that virtually all the same plants and trees – native and non-native – that we grow in Paseo de Robles are here too!
We reached our destination train station of Castro and were immediately greeted at the train by Pietro, Massimo and family. We pack into two small cars (seriously small) and head to Pietro’s home. We are introduced to everyone including my Grandmother’s cousins (three sisters). Thankfully, Pietro’s youngest daughter spoke just enough English and with my bad Spanish plus a dictionary we got along fine. We sat down to an amazing lunch starting with an enormous plate of melon and prosciutto along with roasted peppers, crusty bread, hard salami, water and homemade wine. It was a locally produced red wine of some varietal which we couldn’t figure out due to our limited language skills. The second course of a large bowl of pasta (shaped like a twisted cigarette) with a beef and pork ragu with fresh cherry tomato followed. Yum! To top it off was fresh parmesan and ground red pepper powder (in a blackberry jelly jar – take care with that one!) which gave it a great kick. Next was a braised roast beef covered with a carrot pan sauce and served with green peas and mixed mushrooms. I didn’t think I could eat any more but along came baby romaine salad tossed with olive oil and lemon. Finally, we had a multiple flavors of gelato – as full as I was I ate it ALL. Thinking we were done… not… along came a huge platter of fresh watermelon and apricots from the garden. We have never tasted anything so sweet and delicious. We topped it all off with sweetened espresso. Next we were off to visit the ancient hilltop town of Castro de Volsci. What a beautiful little town of stone houses wedged cheek by jowl, brick streets and window flower boxes full of beautiful red/pink/purple flowers. With a valley view for miles around the realities of Italian city-state politics was obvious. Every hilltop had a castle and walled city around it. As peaceful and beautiful as we know it today, clearly the effort to build the houses, churches and walls on these bluffs would have never been spent without need. We returned to Piertro’s house to end up our day with the family and a serenade by Massimo on the organette. We made it back to the train and arrived in Rome just in time for dinner – although the splendor of the outbound trip was largely lost on us – we slept the whole way home! Overall great people, great food and no matter what happens over the next week this day made the trip worth the effort to get here. With luck one day they will come from Italy to the US.
After a day like that could we possibly be hungry again!? The answer of, of course, is yes. We ended up at another outside café and enjoyed a light meal of antipasti and pizza, a liter of a local house white wine and later a bottle of Chianti Classico billed as the 600 year anniversary wine for the winery selling it. Not a bad run; I’ve only got 3 more years to go to celebrate the 6 year anniversary at August Ridge!
Today’s story will come out a little later; suffice it to say that it involved a lot of walking and a lot of pictures of a fat little baby…
Ciao! Jill
PS: We've sort of got the picture thing down. We will keep working on it...
In Rome I
Thursday, June 17, 6:00am – What a day and a half…
After our nap on Tuesday afternoon we met up with Sheila and David to go forage for dinner. I don’t know if it was typical Rome weather or not but when we walked back out into the city looking for dinner we were greeted with cloudy skies and the occasional drops of rain. Along the way we found the Trevi Fountain – quite the impressive place. Marble gods and sea creatures of immense size rising out of the ocean with water pouring everywhere. I thought the building was the patronage of a Pope so you have to wonder what the pagan gods were doing in the scene but somehow it works…
We ended up at a small, sidewalk café (go figure) for dinner. Couldn’t have asked for a more perfect first dinner in Rome: orchiette with a tomato zucchini sauce, gnocchi with a Ligurian pesto sauce, a pizza of carbonara plus a pizza with prosciutto, tomato and mozzarella. Add to the equation a wonderful bottle of Vermentino (Sardinia), one of Nero D’Avola (Sicily) a little light rain on the umbrella, a huge appetite and a little jet lag and it was perfect. Or I thought so anyway. If you know Jill you know that dinner is not complete without dessert and in Rome that means only one thing to Jill: gelato! During the day we couldn’t get away from the little gelato places scattered around where ever you looked. That night, however, was a different story – we kept running into the places fronted by the Nestle signs greeting us with things like the Shreck III novelty ice cream food products that we have in WalMart back home! We did however stumble into a ‘supermarket’ about the size of a large walk in closet where we found of a beautiful display of cured meats and regional cheeses right next to the Disney characters and High School Musical shaped dried pasta. The gelato search turned out well in the end. We (I use the term loosely because neither of the men were involved in this) finally asked for directions and were sent to a perfect little gelato place that had gelato of many flavors, soy gelato of fewer flavors, ices, toppings, etc. And for €2.5 you could get three flavors in a little paper cup that held about a pint! Jill was in heaven…
That night ended in the hotel bar where – believe it or not – they didn’t even have four glasses of red wine available. But we made do with a bottle of August Ridge 2007 Nebbiolo carried all the way across the sea to be shared with the wine loving natives of Umbria. Sorry, but we were in need.
More to come.
Ciao! John
After our nap on Tuesday afternoon we met up with Sheila and David to go forage for dinner. I don’t know if it was typical Rome weather or not but when we walked back out into the city looking for dinner we were greeted with cloudy skies and the occasional drops of rain. Along the way we found the Trevi Fountain – quite the impressive place. Marble gods and sea creatures of immense size rising out of the ocean with water pouring everywhere. I thought the building was the patronage of a Pope so you have to wonder what the pagan gods were doing in the scene but somehow it works…
We ended up at a small, sidewalk café (go figure) for dinner. Couldn’t have asked for a more perfect first dinner in Rome: orchiette with a tomato zucchini sauce, gnocchi with a Ligurian pesto sauce, a pizza of carbonara plus a pizza with prosciutto, tomato and mozzarella. Add to the equation a wonderful bottle of Vermentino (Sardinia), one of Nero D’Avola (Sicily) a little light rain on the umbrella, a huge appetite and a little jet lag and it was perfect. Or I thought so anyway. If you know Jill you know that dinner is not complete without dessert and in Rome that means only one thing to Jill: gelato! During the day we couldn’t get away from the little gelato places scattered around where ever you looked. That night, however, was a different story – we kept running into the places fronted by the Nestle signs greeting us with things like the Shreck III novelty ice cream food products that we have in WalMart back home! We did however stumble into a ‘supermarket’ about the size of a large walk in closet where we found of a beautiful display of cured meats and regional cheeses right next to the Disney characters and High School Musical shaped dried pasta. The gelato search turned out well in the end. We (I use the term loosely because neither of the men were involved in this) finally asked for directions and were sent to a perfect little gelato place that had gelato of many flavors, soy gelato of fewer flavors, ices, toppings, etc. And for €2.5 you could get three flavors in a little paper cup that held about a pint! Jill was in heaven…
That night ended in the hotel bar where – believe it or not – they didn’t even have four glasses of red wine available. But we made do with a bottle of August Ridge 2007 Nebbiolo carried all the way across the sea to be shared with the wine loving natives of Umbria. Sorry, but we were in need.
More to come.
Ciao! John
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The outbound adventure...
We started our journey leaving from SFO (with 5,000 of our closest friends). Some how we skated through check in, security, etc in less that 10 minutes. Haven't figured out how that happened?! Made it to Chicago (after leaving 2 hours late) and thought we would miss our connection to Rome but thankfully that plane was late too! So we left Chicago and 9 hours later landed in Rome. Checked into the Hotel Bolivar in central Rome and just got back from a long walk to and around the Coliseum. We went up many narrow alley ways and discovered about 30 places we would like to eat. But for now a short nap and a shower will do. More to follow and next time we'll post pictures - if we can figure out how! :) Ciao!
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