Buon Natale

Tuscany!

The Tuscany region of Italy is how many Americans imagine life in Italy must be like - thanks to the cinema and television industries that frequently film in this area. Recent films like Under the Tuscan Sun, The English Patient, Life is Beautiful, Gladiator and Il Postino depict a picturesque landscape of rolling hills, lush, carefully cultivated vineyards, vibrant colors, historic art and charming old towns with a piazza that beckons you to sit for a while, sip some Chianti and sample some fresh pasta and bread drizzled with the best local olive oil.

On our trip to Tuscany the first of November we were pleased to discover that it was all – true! We too fell under the spell of this spectacular Italian countryside. Tuscano (Tuscany) is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The regions function similar to the states in the US. Most tourist guides will highlight the towns of Florence, Siena, Pisa, San Gimignano and Pienza as a must see when exploring Tuscany. Our viaggio (trip) included only a drive through the suburbs of Florence but we did see San Gimignano along with the towns of Greve in Chianti, Certaldo and Vinci (as in the birthplace of Leonardo).


Of course I was going and I was able to convince Michael to come along as the “token” male.

Testosterone Power!

The villa, Fattorie Giannozzi, was located in the town’s central piazza. The very plain exterior was not indicative of the spacious and lovely appointed interior. There were eight bedrooms, several sitting rooms, a courtyard and a large formal dining room with a warm fire place where we had breakfast and dinner.

Michael and I stayed in the spacious loft

It was a unique three day weekend. Our group was large enough to rent out the entire Villa. At dinner, the owner and host Simone regaled us with stories about the villa, their family history and their olive and wine making business. The meals were outstanding and served with their best wines. You have never had lasagna until you have had Italian lasagna with home made noodles and all fresh ingredients. Molto delicioso! It was fortunate that we just had to stumble to our rooms and not drive after indulging in several bottles of wine.

One of the highlights of the trip was our personal tour to Simone’s family olive farm where we got a lesson in how the olives are raked not picked from the olive threes and then processed to a final state of various grades of olive oil. It takes two trees to make about one bottle of olive oil.

Our day trip to San Gimignano was lovely with a lunch of pasta Bolognese (meat sauce), Chianti, pane toscano (unsalted bread) and of course gelato. There were dozens of small and interesting shops. With ten women you can imagine there was some purchases made. This small walled medieval hill town is well known for its architecture and high towers that can be seen for miles.

Wars, catastrophes and urban renewal resulted in Florence and most other cities in Tuscany being without their towers. San Gimignano has managed to conserve fourteen towers of varying height which have become its international symbol and the distinction of being one of the most photogenic towns in Italy. It is also a popular location for film making. Tea with Mussolini was filmed here staring Judi Dench and Cher in 1999.

In the background, near Florence, is the home where Leonardo da Vinci painted the famous portrait, Mona Lisa that now hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

In the town of Vinci, Leonardo’s home town, we visited the Vinci museum. My little nephew Cooper (a talented architect with his toy blocks) would be totally enthralled if he could see all the displays that highlight the creativity and prophetic inventions of this genius. Tuscany was also the birthplace of Michelangelo and Botticelli. Dante Alighieri (the father of the Italian language) was also from the Tuscany area.

Mike bought this shirt and likes to wear it. I am not sure why.

Translation: “I am a genius!”

After about 36 hours with the ladies, the token male was looking for a little more testosterone or a least another bottle of Chianti.

Michael did a fabulous job with all the driving and after a four hour drive through the mountains, navigating through dense fog, three women providing annoying “back seat driving” he returned us safely home to Vicenza. We look forward to returning to Tuscany and for Mike’s sake, with a lot less estrogen.

Ciao!

“The Creator made Italy from designs by Michelangelo.” --Mark Twain

“Traveling is the ruin of all happiness! .There’s no looking at a building after seeing Italy.” –Fanny Burney

“You may have the universe if I may have Italy.” –Giuseppe Verdi

Verona Wine Tour

On a sunny, but hazy day in October, our good friends Ann and Roland invited us on an excursion to several vineyards in the Valpolicella, a lush valley north of Verona. Roland is really into wines, and he was an excellent tour guide. The first stop was at a little cafe a few minutes from their house. We had delicious cappucini and fresh baked brioche (croissants). Although Italy does not have any triple shot, half and half, vanilla low fat lattes, the coffee here is incredible and better than anything that you can get at Starbucks. Even better is the fact that you can get it at a fraction of the price. The redhead and I usually stop at a small coffeeshop on base in the morning and get 2 cappucini and 2 croissants for about 4 euros (less than 6 bucks). It's great!

After a little repast we got on the road and headed west on the Autostrada to the neighboring town of Verona. All of you blog followers will remember Verona as the place were Cyn and I rubbed on Juliet's boob... Anyway, we did not actually go to the city center this time around, but instead sidled around the city to get to the foothills to the north. The first stop was up a narrow and windy road to the Le Ragose Vineyard. It can be kind of a crap shoot when going to vineyards on Saturdays. Sometimes they are open, and sometime they're not, but on this occasion we were lucky enough to have Paolo open up the shop and offer us a few of their vintages. After several tastings, I was feeling pretty good, and we ended up buying a bottle of Amarone "Marta Galli". Amarone is a very particular wine of this region and it can be very expensive because the vineyard will partially dry the grapes before pressing. This gives the wine a very rich and raisin-y flavor... Or so they say. I can't really taste the difference between a lot of these wines... oh well.



After loading the trunk with our acquisitions, we headed down the hill into the town of Negrar and stopped off at a Sociale. Here many small farms and vineyards can co-op the production and sale of their wines. Cynthia and I picked a couple of bottles: a Soave, a typical white of this area, and a Chiaretto, a blush that is the most lovely shade of pink. Unfortunately they did not offer tastings without a reservation. Shucks.


After that we headed back up in the hills to check out a very exclusive vineyard that Roland had read about in some of his wine magazines: Quintarelli Giuseppi. Although they were closed, somehow Roland sweet-talked the old woman that was home to give us a brief tour of their facilities and a quick sampling of their offerings. The wine was very delicious, but also very expensive. Undeterred we picked a bottle of a delicious Bianco Secco (Dry White) that Cynthia really enjoyed. One thing that we need to remember for the next time we go with Ann and Roland on a wine trip is to bring some snacks! All that booze with no crackers or cheese had me feeling pretty darn good, and after we thanked the nice woman and said our goodbyes, we were all in the mood for some lunch. We stopped off at a little restaurant in town called Alla Porchetta (to the Pork!), and had the best roasted pork dish with potatoes and fennel.




During our conversation over lunch, we revealed that we had never been to Lake Garda, Italy's biggest lake, which is just a few minutes west of Verona. Ann and Roland decided that we just had to go; especially since Roland knew of another winery that was close by. The last winery of the day was Zeni Brothers which is just a few minutes from the their favorite lakeside town of Bardolino. I abstained from the samplings at Zeni because I was pretty much wined out at this point. But Zeni did have a very interesting museum about the history of wine-making in this region of Italy. They had all sorts of old tools and machines, some of them dating back hundreds of years.

After Zeni, we headed on down to the lake. Unfortunately the air was very hazy and the views around the lake were not that spectacular. However that didn't stop us from enjoying a cool, refreshing gelato on the boardwalk.

You can't keep me and Cyn down, and we still really enjoyed our great day!

Ciao for now!
M

La Transumanza - When the Cows Come Home!

Ever hear of the term "doing something until the cows come home". I always thought it was a weird one. Where were those pesky cows, and exactly when would they be getting back?? Well on a cold day in September in the little town of Poianella, all of my questions were answered...

Poianella is a small town about 10 minutes drive southeast from our place in Montecchio Precalcino, and is the home of our good friends, Ann and Roland. The story of the cows is something like this: The ranching and dairy industry still follows the seasonal customs of taking their herds to the mountains and high plains north of Asiago during the warm summer months. Then as the cooler weather of autumn settles in, they march the herds back down from the highlands to warmer pastures. The trek is over 70 kilometers (some 42 miles) and is accomplished in just a few days. Considering the maniacal driving habits on most Italian streets, the process sounds like a recipe for disaster, but somehow the Italian cowboys manage to pull it off every year. After our friends shared this tale, we just had to check this thing out. So on a rather cold September weekend, just one day before my birthday, we piled in our little Blue Bunny, and headed over to Ann and Roland's.

It was about three in the afternoon and already there were throngs of people lining the roads around Poianella. We tried to make a left on to the street that would take us directly to Ann's door, but a police officer with a yellow warning baton directed us in another direction. Luckily we found some parking at the local church, and we started the 5 minute stroll up the road to Ann's house. The excitement was palpable as dozens of small groups assembled around garages and driveways along the route. We met Ann and her sister, Kay, halfway to the house, and within minutes were back at their place pouring ourselves glasses of prosecco, our favorite white wine.

We knew that getting to see a bunch of cows being herded right outside our friends door was going to be cool, but we had no idea how big the parade was going to be that preceded the event. First came the parade of cars starting with my personal favorite, the Ferraris. There were over 15 of them in the bunch: all red, shiny and purring with that signature Italian-engineered machinery under the hood. Then dozens of other cars, Minis, Lancias, Fiats. It was quite a show from the classic roadsters to the newest racers. That was followed with a parade of tractors, both modern and ancient. Then Vespa scooters, a marching band, cultural groups, and the Mayor.

This old timer was checking text messages on his cell!








Luigina tries to get a little luck for the returning cows!

Then after a long, agonizing pause in the processional, a truck bearing a sign that read, "Arriva La Transumanza" rolled into view. Then came the cows, and the cows, and still more cows!! Dairy heifers with their enormous, pendulous udders; Juicy looking cows that were going to be dinner; and spotted cows that would make a great Naugahyde couch! And all around the meandering beasts were the cowboys wearing leather and denim and looking right out of a western. Boy, it was great!! I got right down on the street in front of Ann's house to take some pictures. Right in the middle of the clanging cacophony of their huge cowbells. I was close enough to touch 'em. In fact, that's when the hilarity happened.

Right next to Ann and Roland's house is a large empty lot. Several of the herd decided that they needed a break from their Bataan death march, detoured into the grassy lot, and started leisurely munching on the sweet, green grasses and weeds that were found there. Well the cowboys weren't going to allow this disorderly conduct on their parade, and a few of them quickly separated themselves from the processional and moved in with their dogs to round up the wayward bovine. I also quickly moved to the corner of Ann's yard to get a better view of the action.

A few cattle take a detour

The cowboys quickly encircled the delinquent heifers and started pushing them back to the road and on with the march. The obedient beasts soon fell in line and started taking the quickest route back to the road, and the only thing standing in their way was... ME!!
Now I wasn't just standing so close I could touch them, I had to touch them in an effort to keep them from running me over!! It was scary and hilarious all at the same time!!

Cyn and the crew watch my plight from a safe position...



Future couch in a trendy night club.

After all of that fun, Ann and Roland's landlords, Mariano and Luigina, invited us over for a real Italian meal. We had lasagna with homemade noodles and pot roast and cooked veggies. Luigina kept bringing out more food and even though she only spoke Italian, we understood perfectly that she wanted us to eat, Eat, EAT!!! And even the food wasn't enough. When Ann tried to pour herself a glass of water, Luigina protested, "Anna!! No aqua, VINO!!". They were very gracious to Cyn and me especially when they learned it was my birthday the next day. It was so great to feel like part of a family, and it really made me miss my family back home.

Where else in the world can you do something like this!?!

Ciao for now,
M

Mike gets a little birthday love!