After a few days of readjusting to American culture and debriefing myself, I have lots of final thoughts about my trip.
Italian Driving: I was definitely worried about this aspect of the trip, but save for my own screw-up on the first day (first HOUR!) of driving, it went pretty well. I love that Italians, despite driving like insane people, really all stick to their "rules of the road" - you travel on the right and pass on the left. And if you want to pass someone, you just do it, you don't give them a dirty look or the finger or a horn. You do NOT travel in the left lane and it's ok to go as slowly as you want in the right lane. I love it. So civilized in a crazy way.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
November 2(-3) Blog
This is the final real blog. This weekend I'll be posting a final entry that has some "last thoughts" if you will.
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I have no idea what time it is because I have no idea where I am: On the plane back. Holy hell 12 hours is a long flight. I've watched 2 movies and an episode of mad men and it's not even half over. I barely got any sleep last night and gave up shortly after 5am. Finished everything packing-wise and caught a taxi from the stand in Piazza della Repubblica. Got to the airport just after 7am, and luckily a café was open so I got a chocolate muffin and my final Italian cappuccino :(
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I have no idea what time it is because I have no idea where I am: On the plane back. Holy hell 12 hours is a long flight. I've watched 2 movies and an episode of mad men and it's not even half over. I barely got any sleep last night and gave up shortly after 5am. Finished everything packing-wise and caught a taxi from the stand in Piazza della Repubblica. Got to the airport just after 7am, and luckily a café was open so I got a chocolate muffin and my final Italian cappuccino :(
Florence November 1 Blog & Pictures
Last sight-seeing day:(
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622622391231/
10:30am: in the B&B in Florence after a bit of a hectic morning. Woke up at 6:15 and finished packing to get ready to take Renee to the Certaldo station and myself to the Florence airport to return the car. Went down to leave just before 6:45am and there was ICE ON THE DAMN CAR. And no scraper, of course. So I turned it on and we had to wait a few minutes. Finally it melted enough and we were on our way. Made it to the Certaldo station without much problem except that I took a wrong turn and drove a little bit into a ZTL so I hope I don't get a ticket for that - I didn't see any cameras in this town.
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622622391231/
10:30am: in the B&B in Florence after a bit of a hectic morning. Woke up at 6:15 and finished packing to get ready to take Renee to the Certaldo station and myself to the Florence airport to return the car. Went down to leave just before 6:45am and there was ICE ON THE DAMN CAR. And no scraper, of course. So I turned it on and we had to wait a few minutes. Finally it melted enough and we were on our way. Made it to the Certaldo station without much problem except that I took a wrong turn and drove a little bit into a ZTL so I hope I don't get a ticket for that - I didn't see any cameras in this town.
October 31 Blog & Pics - Greve, Panzano and tour of an olive frantoio!
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622746453632/
4:45pm: At the farmhouse after our last, fun, beautiful sunny day in Tuscany. Woke up around 6:30am, showered, and we left around 7:30am. Set off for Greve in Chianti along the beautiful country roads and the famous road 222 that goes through Chianti. A pretty easy hour or so drive and we were there. Greve definitely wins the award for most convenient parking lot, which is large and free and just a short level walk from the town center. We had a delicious pastry and cappuccino at a café and found the main square where the weekly market was going on - it was pretty impressive, with mobile pharmacies and clothing and shoe and kitchen stalls, in addition to some food, fruits and veggies, fish, meat, cheese, rotisserie chicken, and much more. I bought a type of olive - Ascalone or something probably not even close to that - that I've never heard of. They're huge and green and fairly mild and delicious indeed. I bought a huge apple to eat and it was also quite tasty. We wandered around a bit. I found a wine shop that advertised new oil and it was in a small .25 liter can, so I bought it because to that point all the olio nuovo we'd seen was in huge glass liter bottles or more. Then across the square there was a little alimentari (mini food market basically) that had oil in a big metal cask. So I bought a quarter liter bottle of that, which was cool because he poured it out into the "amateurish" glass bottle then capped it for me.
So then we went to Lucarelli, which is nothing more than a few houses, and to Panzano, where we went into this neat shop called basically "academy of good taste" (Accademia di Buon Gusto, I believe) - so the guy, dressed all funny in an apron and beret, tell us it's good music, good food, and good art. It was cute because his little daughter was there, asking to taste the local honey and she was shy. He was asking her to say her name in English and was taking pictures of her. He said she only gets to come to the shop with him on weekends. Really special to see this kind of family involvement that is so rare back home. So we're chatting with him a little, and he asks if we want to taste something special that's nonalcoholic. I joked that I didn’t believe him, but what he did was pour out a couple drops of this thick liquid - basically it is the new sangiovese grapes (the ones used to make chianti) that were harvested in September, cooked down into a syrup but not fermented. It tasted kind of like thick liquid figs. A really cool experience that I will probably never get to have again. He told us we must go to the famous butcher's shop, so we did. It was pretty funny. This crazy guy is behind the counter selling tons of good-looking meat, and then all these men are in the butchery eating little snacks on bread and drinking Chianti at about 11:30am. We watched the scene for a few minutes and then left.
I had the bright idea to drive up to this little hamlet called Lamole because I'd heard there was a good restaurant up there for lunch. After the most harrowing 15 minute drive of our whole stay here, circles and circles of really narrow winding roads to the top of a hill, we arrived at noon only to see that the restaurant didn't open til 12:30, and this was a problem because we had to be in San Polo, about a half hour away, by 2pm for the olive oil tour.
So, we drove back down and just decided to go back to Greve for lunch since it's a bigger town and it's on the way. So we went back and went to the main square and ate at Il Portico, a cute little place that had been recommended to me. I had roast chicken and fried potatoes, which was good (even though the chicken was dark meat). It was a nice change. We got a gelato on our way out - I got dark chocolate and chocolate mousse - and headed towards San Polo. We had no idea where in San Polo the frantoio (oil factory) was, so after driving around for a while (and seeing other people painstakingly harvest their olives by hand with a blanket under one tree at a time), it was 2pm so we called our buddy Paolo at Pruneti. We were completely lost, so he said he would meet us in the Center, he would look for our Ford and find us. I was convinced this was never going to work. Luckily he had Renee's number that we had called from, so after about 20 min he calls and says he was there and didn't find us. I tell him we're in front of the Coop supermarket, so he says he drove by there but that he'd be right back. So a few min later he shows up and asks where's the Ford, so we point to it and he says he didn't see it the first time, ha. Surprisingly, he's quite a young guy - I guess I figured someone this excited about his family's oil business would be older since they say it's often hard to get the younger generations involved and excited. So we follow him to the frantoio which was hilariously only a couple minutes down the road - but in a place we never would've found.
So he takes us in and explains how, in adorably broken English, this is a new building they only moved into a couple weeks ago, and how they just started harvesting the olives 2-3 days ago and they just set up the machines and whatnot for this year's harvest and that they'll finish it next spring. He proudly explains how it's a 3rd (I think?) generation business and how he and his dad and grandparents and wife and brother and everyone in the family is involved in the business and that they really specialize in the oil (though we saw saffron too, in the Buon Gusto shop in Panzano). He even more proudly shows us all the different machines, that take apart the olives from the stems, that clean the olives, and finally and most proudly of all, the new high-tech machine to press the olives for oil, that controls the temperature and the air that can ruin the oil, etc. I joked that they don't use the stone mills anymore and I don't know if he realized I was kidding but then he excitedly explained in the best English he could muster how he's been studying how to use the old mill in a way that will still produce good oil. He explained that right now it's too hard to control with the stone mills, and that too much air gets into the oil that way and oxidizes it so the quality's not as good as with the new fancy machine. I mean I love olives and olive oil and all but this is this family's passion and it was amazing how warmly he and his family greeted us in a brand new building that was clearly not open to the public yet.
So he explained that they were still out harvesting the olives in the afternoon and the process of actually crushing them wouldn’t begin for a couple hours, and he said we could stay and wait if we wanted but right then, we could at least taste the oil pressed last night, or we could go to the office and see last year's production and I guess the whole range of what they produce. We said tasting last night's oil was fine so he took us into the temperature controlled room which was FULL of vats of various sizes of different oils. He explained how, unlike most producers, they keep all of the different types of olives separate and make separate oils because they specialize in oil. So first we tasted a lighter kind of oil, which was pretty amazing. Of course he showed us the proper method to taste it. Then we tasted the "normal" production which was so strong it burned going down. It was so green and thick and cloudy, I've never seen anything like it. So of course then we had to buy some. We chose the "lighter" oil, and he got the tins and filled them by hand with a ladle and a funnel. The tins don't even have their labels on it. It was quite reasonable, much less than what I paid for the stuff I bought this morning, which of course I now regret buying. I now have a loooooot of oil to take home :)
He asked if we could stay to see the pressing later but we explained we were staying a bit far (about an hour) and that we were leaving tomorrow morning, and he actually sounded sad. He said we should write to him and he can tell us where to get their oil in the US and that we should come back because after the harvest in the spring they will finish the building and have a tasting room and everything, so hopefully they will start offering real tours and tasting to the public because I think people would enjoy it.
So he introduced us to his brother, the master oilmaker or whatever, and many other members of the family were there. It was really just amazing. There is nothing like it in the US, with people who have this kind of passion for what they do and the product they produce and are willing to just open their doors to these nobodies who don't speak their language who are just interested in what they do. It was really touching and special and I am so honored they were generous enough to share it with us. I will definitely spread the word about this company. We didn't take any pictures or videos b/c it seemed a little inappropriate so that is why I have been so detailed writing all of this, because I never want to forget such a special experience and kind gesture.
So then we headed back to the farmhouse and started packing up. Can't believe these last 2+ weeks have flown by so fast.
9:20pm: back after a lovely last dinner in Tuscany at Antico Desco down the hill. Before we left, the owner was in the sales shop downstairs waiting for us. He was so nice, he joked that he was here during the week but never saw us because we left so early. He asked us all we saw and once we started listing it out and stuff, we realized we really did see quite a lot of the places in this whole area. So we paid the balance and agreed to leave the keys in the same little box where we found them. I promised him I'd write a nice review online so more people might find them. He said no one new was coming to stay, at least not this coming week, so this lovely place will be totally empty for who knows how long, and that makes me sad.
Anyway, at dinner, our waiter tonight was there a week ago when we went on our first night, but if I recall correctly he wasn't there during the week. Anyway, he sat us at the same table, which I feel now is "our" table. He gave us a little aperitif of their white wine and didn't ask if we wanted it, so we presumed it was free (it was). We had the awesome roasted potatoes with the sliced Tuscan beef steak. It was awesome of course. Then we each had a chocolate soufflé for dessert, which was also awesome. We mentioned we were leaving tomorrow so he gave us a booklet that describes the restaurant, farm, and the products they produce. Also, like the other times they took off a bit from the bill because I think they have an arrangement with our agriturismo. I meant to leave a couple euros on the table as a thank you for the things they'd given us the times we went, but I totally forgot. Then again we did eat there 3 times in 8 days and the place is pretty quiet otherwise. Anyway, it was nice to have such a nice place like that such a short drive from where we stayed. If anything, the remoteness of where we stayed was the worst part. Driving in Chianti yesterday and today, I noticed that the distances are much shorter. All the towns in Chianti are about 20 min from each other and Siena and Florence aren't much further. Staying there makes more sense because you just have options when you're a bit tired and maybe don't feel like driving 20, 30, 40, or more minutes after dinner at night on dark roads, etc.
Anyway, can't believe it's the last night in Tuscany in our farmhouse. I'll take Renee to the station in Certaldo so she can get to Pisa for her flight home, then I'll drop the car at the Florence airport and taxi into town for the day. It's a holiday so I figure the city will be super busy or everything will be closed. We'll see.
4:45pm: At the farmhouse after our last, fun, beautiful sunny day in Tuscany. Woke up around 6:30am, showered, and we left around 7:30am. Set off for Greve in Chianti along the beautiful country roads and the famous road 222 that goes through Chianti. A pretty easy hour or so drive and we were there. Greve definitely wins the award for most convenient parking lot, which is large and free and just a short level walk from the town center. We had a delicious pastry and cappuccino at a café and found the main square where the weekly market was going on - it was pretty impressive, with mobile pharmacies and clothing and shoe and kitchen stalls, in addition to some food, fruits and veggies, fish, meat, cheese, rotisserie chicken, and much more. I bought a type of olive - Ascalone or something probably not even close to that - that I've never heard of. They're huge and green and fairly mild and delicious indeed. I bought a huge apple to eat and it was also quite tasty. We wandered around a bit. I found a wine shop that advertised new oil and it was in a small .25 liter can, so I bought it because to that point all the olio nuovo we'd seen was in huge glass liter bottles or more. Then across the square there was a little alimentari (mini food market basically) that had oil in a big metal cask. So I bought a quarter liter bottle of that, which was cool because he poured it out into the "amateurish" glass bottle then capped it for me.
So then we went to Lucarelli, which is nothing more than a few houses, and to Panzano, where we went into this neat shop called basically "academy of good taste" (Accademia di Buon Gusto, I believe) - so the guy, dressed all funny in an apron and beret, tell us it's good music, good food, and good art. It was cute because his little daughter was there, asking to taste the local honey and she was shy. He was asking her to say her name in English and was taking pictures of her. He said she only gets to come to the shop with him on weekends. Really special to see this kind of family involvement that is so rare back home. So we're chatting with him a little, and he asks if we want to taste something special that's nonalcoholic. I joked that I didn’t believe him, but what he did was pour out a couple drops of this thick liquid - basically it is the new sangiovese grapes (the ones used to make chianti) that were harvested in September, cooked down into a syrup but not fermented. It tasted kind of like thick liquid figs. A really cool experience that I will probably never get to have again. He told us we must go to the famous butcher's shop, so we did. It was pretty funny. This crazy guy is behind the counter selling tons of good-looking meat, and then all these men are in the butchery eating little snacks on bread and drinking Chianti at about 11:30am. We watched the scene for a few minutes and then left.
I had the bright idea to drive up to this little hamlet called Lamole because I'd heard there was a good restaurant up there for lunch. After the most harrowing 15 minute drive of our whole stay here, circles and circles of really narrow winding roads to the top of a hill, we arrived at noon only to see that the restaurant didn't open til 12:30, and this was a problem because we had to be in San Polo, about a half hour away, by 2pm for the olive oil tour.
So, we drove back down and just decided to go back to Greve for lunch since it's a bigger town and it's on the way. So we went back and went to the main square and ate at Il Portico, a cute little place that had been recommended to me. I had roast chicken and fried potatoes, which was good (even though the chicken was dark meat). It was a nice change. We got a gelato on our way out - I got dark chocolate and chocolate mousse - and headed towards San Polo. We had no idea where in San Polo the frantoio (oil factory) was, so after driving around for a while (and seeing other people painstakingly harvest their olives by hand with a blanket under one tree at a time), it was 2pm so we called our buddy Paolo at Pruneti. We were completely lost, so he said he would meet us in the Center, he would look for our Ford and find us. I was convinced this was never going to work. Luckily he had Renee's number that we had called from, so after about 20 min he calls and says he was there and didn't find us. I tell him we're in front of the Coop supermarket, so he says he drove by there but that he'd be right back. So a few min later he shows up and asks where's the Ford, so we point to it and he says he didn't see it the first time, ha. Surprisingly, he's quite a young guy - I guess I figured someone this excited about his family's oil business would be older since they say it's often hard to get the younger generations involved and excited. So we follow him to the frantoio which was hilariously only a couple minutes down the road - but in a place we never would've found.
So he takes us in and explains how, in adorably broken English, this is a new building they only moved into a couple weeks ago, and how they just started harvesting the olives 2-3 days ago and they just set up the machines and whatnot for this year's harvest and that they'll finish it next spring. He proudly explains how it's a 3rd (I think?) generation business and how he and his dad and grandparents and wife and brother and everyone in the family is involved in the business and that they really specialize in the oil (though we saw saffron too, in the Buon Gusto shop in Panzano). He even more proudly shows us all the different machines, that take apart the olives from the stems, that clean the olives, and finally and most proudly of all, the new high-tech machine to press the olives for oil, that controls the temperature and the air that can ruin the oil, etc. I joked that they don't use the stone mills anymore and I don't know if he realized I was kidding but then he excitedly explained in the best English he could muster how he's been studying how to use the old mill in a way that will still produce good oil. He explained that right now it's too hard to control with the stone mills, and that too much air gets into the oil that way and oxidizes it so the quality's not as good as with the new fancy machine. I mean I love olives and olive oil and all but this is this family's passion and it was amazing how warmly he and his family greeted us in a brand new building that was clearly not open to the public yet.
So he explained that they were still out harvesting the olives in the afternoon and the process of actually crushing them wouldn’t begin for a couple hours, and he said we could stay and wait if we wanted but right then, we could at least taste the oil pressed last night, or we could go to the office and see last year's production and I guess the whole range of what they produce. We said tasting last night's oil was fine so he took us into the temperature controlled room which was FULL of vats of various sizes of different oils. He explained how, unlike most producers, they keep all of the different types of olives separate and make separate oils because they specialize in oil. So first we tasted a lighter kind of oil, which was pretty amazing. Of course he showed us the proper method to taste it. Then we tasted the "normal" production which was so strong it burned going down. It was so green and thick and cloudy, I've never seen anything like it. So of course then we had to buy some. We chose the "lighter" oil, and he got the tins and filled them by hand with a ladle and a funnel. The tins don't even have their labels on it. It was quite reasonable, much less than what I paid for the stuff I bought this morning, which of course I now regret buying. I now have a loooooot of oil to take home :)
He asked if we could stay to see the pressing later but we explained we were staying a bit far (about an hour) and that we were leaving tomorrow morning, and he actually sounded sad. He said we should write to him and he can tell us where to get their oil in the US and that we should come back because after the harvest in the spring they will finish the building and have a tasting room and everything, so hopefully they will start offering real tours and tasting to the public because I think people would enjoy it.
So he introduced us to his brother, the master oilmaker or whatever, and many other members of the family were there. It was really just amazing. There is nothing like it in the US, with people who have this kind of passion for what they do and the product they produce and are willing to just open their doors to these nobodies who don't speak their language who are just interested in what they do. It was really touching and special and I am so honored they were generous enough to share it with us. I will definitely spread the word about this company. We didn't take any pictures or videos b/c it seemed a little inappropriate so that is why I have been so detailed writing all of this, because I never want to forget such a special experience and kind gesture.
So then we headed back to the farmhouse and started packing up. Can't believe these last 2+ weeks have flown by so fast.
9:20pm: back after a lovely last dinner in Tuscany at Antico Desco down the hill. Before we left, the owner was in the sales shop downstairs waiting for us. He was so nice, he joked that he was here during the week but never saw us because we left so early. He asked us all we saw and once we started listing it out and stuff, we realized we really did see quite a lot of the places in this whole area. So we paid the balance and agreed to leave the keys in the same little box where we found them. I promised him I'd write a nice review online so more people might find them. He said no one new was coming to stay, at least not this coming week, so this lovely place will be totally empty for who knows how long, and that makes me sad.
Anyway, at dinner, our waiter tonight was there a week ago when we went on our first night, but if I recall correctly he wasn't there during the week. Anyway, he sat us at the same table, which I feel now is "our" table. He gave us a little aperitif of their white wine and didn't ask if we wanted it, so we presumed it was free (it was). We had the awesome roasted potatoes with the sliced Tuscan beef steak. It was awesome of course. Then we each had a chocolate soufflé for dessert, which was also awesome. We mentioned we were leaving tomorrow so he gave us a booklet that describes the restaurant, farm, and the products they produce. Also, like the other times they took off a bit from the bill because I think they have an arrangement with our agriturismo. I meant to leave a couple euros on the table as a thank you for the things they'd given us the times we went, but I totally forgot. Then again we did eat there 3 times in 8 days and the place is pretty quiet otherwise. Anyway, it was nice to have such a nice place like that such a short drive from where we stayed. If anything, the remoteness of where we stayed was the worst part. Driving in Chianti yesterday and today, I noticed that the distances are much shorter. All the towns in Chianti are about 20 min from each other and Siena and Florence aren't much further. Staying there makes more sense because you just have options when you're a bit tired and maybe don't feel like driving 20, 30, 40, or more minutes after dinner at night on dark roads, etc.
Anyway, can't believe it's the last night in Tuscany in our farmhouse. I'll take Renee to the station in Certaldo so she can get to Pisa for her flight home, then I'll drop the car at the Florence airport and taxi into town for the day. It's a holiday so I figure the city will be super busy or everything will be closed. We'll see.
October 30 Blog & Pics - Southern Chianti (Gaiole, Brolio, Radda, Castellina)
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622744012816/
7:30am: Slept pretty well last night for once. Better late than never. Got up around 6:30 and put some things into a small wash to last me the final few days of the trip. It is so foggy today - even worse than yesterday. Typical that the last few days we're going to the parts of Tuscany with the most beautiful roads and landscapes and we won't be able to see most of it. We're not leaving til a bit later today because Chianti's closer, so just hoping it will clear out a little as the day goes on.
9:00pm: phew! Back at the farmhouse after quite a long day. Well, when we left this morning at around 8:15 it was not looking very promising. Then as we started heading towards Chianti, the sky basically opened up and blue skies and sunshine poured in!! On the road there, a cop appeared behind me. I was freaking out. The first gas station I saw, I pulled in and we got cappuccini. We ended up driving through Castellina and Radda, the other two towns we'd be visiting later. Because it was sunny there and warming up quickly, we rolled down the windows and thank goodness we did because as we started rolling into Radda, the air actually smelled of wine. I've never experienced anything like it.
Then we made it to gaiole, which is really quite small and took all of… 20 minutes? We decided to detour to Castello di Brolio, one of the biggest wine estates and very important in Italian history because Italy's 2nd prime minister Risacoli's family owns the castle. So we found it and parked at the bottom, then had a llllooooooooooong hike up to the castle. Admission to the gardens and whatnot plus a tour of the new little museum in the castle's tower was 8 euros so we went for it at 11:30. The views from the Castle walls onto the surrounding landscape were absolutely stunning and worth the price (and uphill hike) alone. It was really quite cool because the museum was a little guided tour for about a half hour and it's in the tower of the castle and it's dedicated to Risacoli and the armory they used to use. This guy was into drawing, scientific experiments, obviously politics, and he also basically invented Chianti Classico. We also learned that the noises we're hearing in the morning that sound like fireworks are most likely gunshots to kill the chingiale (wild boar), because the hunting season is right now.
So around noon after the tour, we went down to the wine shop because our tickets for the museum tour gave us a free tasting. So we went for the expensive stuff - 2005 Riserva - which according to the price sheet (if I read it correctly) sells for 234 euros a bottle. I thought it was vile, quite frankly. I'll just never like red wine :(
So then we set off for the next town, Radda, where we found a little very busy place for lunch. I had a panini with prosciutto, cheese of some kind, and black olive paste. It was basically awesome. We wandered around for a little bit but of course at that time pretty much every place is closed for afternoon siesta, so we went back out to the main street where a place advertised bruschetta with NEW OLIVE OIL!!! So I had to try this of course even though I was full. It was, well, awesome. The oil was so peppery and had such an astringent or antiseptic quality that my mouth where I ate it felt a little bit like I put orajel or something on it. Incredible experience, if a bit creepy.
Then we detoured to the Volpaia hamlet, which is cute and all but really kind of remote and boring. So we doubled back and continued to Castellina, the biggest town of the 3 we were going to visit today, and as we exited Radda in that direction, we got the whiff of wine yet again. Still pretty incredible. On the way we stopped at the Montecalvario (or something) etruscan tombs, which are on a little mound with four separate tombs/entrances. Apparently these are very important tombs. There was this case with informational cards, which was nice and all but the tombs had no lighting at all so it was dark in there. Otherwise they were neat. So then we made it to Castellina, which has lots of little wine shops and other types of shops. One was selling bottles of olio nuovo that were in a more manageable size than I'd seen anywhere else to this point. We wandered around the main streets and made it to the gelateria I'd read about at the other far end of town. We both had hot chocolate with gelato for only 2 euros. Mine was with coffee gelato. So of course the rich thick dark chocolate melts the gelato and it became basically a warm mocha drink. It was amazing, so rich. So then we wandered back to town in and out of wine shops and the like and went to the archaeological museum, which was in the main palazzo in the center of town. It had a lot of stuff recovered from etruscan tombs in the area, which was pretty neat, considering how old this stuff is. The nice thing is that it had wonderful explanations that they handed out and put on the items, which all had english explanations too. They even gave us a clipboard with even more information, and it included a questionnaire about the visit to the museum, which I thought was nice.
So then it was about 5pm and we had wanted to stay in Castellina for dinner so we had to kill some time. Across from the museum there was an internet café so we logged in and caught up on some news. I checked my email and luckily the olive place I had written some time ago wrote back today asking if we were still coming tomorrow. Yay!!! So after about 45 min we called him and set up a visit for 2pm tomorrow, so that should be exciting. It's a good thing I held off on the olio nuovo I saw today. So we just wandered around for about an hour, in and out of shops and through the little Coop supermarket in town until it was finally 7 and we picked a pizzeria. We'd had a ton to eat all afternoon so we weren't that hungry. We just split a mixed salad and a pizza and at about 8pm set off back for the farmhouse. Besides being incredibly dark, it was a pretty easy 40 min ride, so that was good.
Northern Chianti tomorrow - cannot believe it's our last day :(
7:30am: Slept pretty well last night for once. Better late than never. Got up around 6:30 and put some things into a small wash to last me the final few days of the trip. It is so foggy today - even worse than yesterday. Typical that the last few days we're going to the parts of Tuscany with the most beautiful roads and landscapes and we won't be able to see most of it. We're not leaving til a bit later today because Chianti's closer, so just hoping it will clear out a little as the day goes on.
9:00pm: phew! Back at the farmhouse after quite a long day. Well, when we left this morning at around 8:15 it was not looking very promising. Then as we started heading towards Chianti, the sky basically opened up and blue skies and sunshine poured in!! On the road there, a cop appeared behind me. I was freaking out. The first gas station I saw, I pulled in and we got cappuccini. We ended up driving through Castellina and Radda, the other two towns we'd be visiting later. Because it was sunny there and warming up quickly, we rolled down the windows and thank goodness we did because as we started rolling into Radda, the air actually smelled of wine. I've never experienced anything like it.
Then we made it to gaiole, which is really quite small and took all of… 20 minutes? We decided to detour to Castello di Brolio, one of the biggest wine estates and very important in Italian history because Italy's 2nd prime minister Risacoli's family owns the castle. So we found it and parked at the bottom, then had a llllooooooooooong hike up to the castle. Admission to the gardens and whatnot plus a tour of the new little museum in the castle's tower was 8 euros so we went for it at 11:30. The views from the Castle walls onto the surrounding landscape were absolutely stunning and worth the price (and uphill hike) alone. It was really quite cool because the museum was a little guided tour for about a half hour and it's in the tower of the castle and it's dedicated to Risacoli and the armory they used to use. This guy was into drawing, scientific experiments, obviously politics, and he also basically invented Chianti Classico. We also learned that the noises we're hearing in the morning that sound like fireworks are most likely gunshots to kill the chingiale (wild boar), because the hunting season is right now.
So around noon after the tour, we went down to the wine shop because our tickets for the museum tour gave us a free tasting. So we went for the expensive stuff - 2005 Riserva - which according to the price sheet (if I read it correctly) sells for 234 euros a bottle. I thought it was vile, quite frankly. I'll just never like red wine :(
So then we set off for the next town, Radda, where we found a little very busy place for lunch. I had a panini with prosciutto, cheese of some kind, and black olive paste. It was basically awesome. We wandered around for a little bit but of course at that time pretty much every place is closed for afternoon siesta, so we went back out to the main street where a place advertised bruschetta with NEW OLIVE OIL!!! So I had to try this of course even though I was full. It was, well, awesome. The oil was so peppery and had such an astringent or antiseptic quality that my mouth where I ate it felt a little bit like I put orajel or something on it. Incredible experience, if a bit creepy.
Then we detoured to the Volpaia hamlet, which is cute and all but really kind of remote and boring. So we doubled back and continued to Castellina, the biggest town of the 3 we were going to visit today, and as we exited Radda in that direction, we got the whiff of wine yet again. Still pretty incredible. On the way we stopped at the Montecalvario (or something) etruscan tombs, which are on a little mound with four separate tombs/entrances. Apparently these are very important tombs. There was this case with informational cards, which was nice and all but the tombs had no lighting at all so it was dark in there. Otherwise they were neat. So then we made it to Castellina, which has lots of little wine shops and other types of shops. One was selling bottles of olio nuovo that were in a more manageable size than I'd seen anywhere else to this point. We wandered around the main streets and made it to the gelateria I'd read about at the other far end of town. We both had hot chocolate with gelato for only 2 euros. Mine was with coffee gelato. So of course the rich thick dark chocolate melts the gelato and it became basically a warm mocha drink. It was amazing, so rich. So then we wandered back to town in and out of wine shops and the like and went to the archaeological museum, which was in the main palazzo in the center of town. It had a lot of stuff recovered from etruscan tombs in the area, which was pretty neat, considering how old this stuff is. The nice thing is that it had wonderful explanations that they handed out and put on the items, which all had english explanations too. They even gave us a clipboard with even more information, and it included a questionnaire about the visit to the museum, which I thought was nice.
So then it was about 5pm and we had wanted to stay in Castellina for dinner so we had to kill some time. Across from the museum there was an internet café so we logged in and caught up on some news. I checked my email and luckily the olive place I had written some time ago wrote back today asking if we were still coming tomorrow. Yay!!! So after about 45 min we called him and set up a visit for 2pm tomorrow, so that should be exciting. It's a good thing I held off on the olio nuovo I saw today. So we just wandered around for about an hour, in and out of shops and through the little Coop supermarket in town until it was finally 7 and we picked a pizzeria. We'd had a ton to eat all afternoon so we weren't that hungry. We just split a mixed salad and a pizza and at about 8pm set off back for the farmhouse. Besides being incredibly dark, it was a pretty easy 40 min ride, so that was good.
Northern Chianti tomorrow - cannot believe it's our last day :(
Thursday, November 5, 2009
October 29 Blogs & Pics - Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622743554940/
6:30am: Sitting on the toilet with feet in the bidet soaking in hot water and I cannot believe there's only a few days left. The sun's rising and it appears it's going to be yet another glorious day. Was worried about weather when that storm for Cinque Terre showed up but other than that one day, it has been pretty amazing weather the whole trip and I guess it's supposed to last the final few days as well. Today, off to Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, and maybe some important abbeys along the way.
8:00pm: back at the farmhouse after a long and for some reason frustrating day. It was quite foggy and cloudy most of the day, which was a bit of a bummer considering we were in some of the most beautiful parts of Tuscany. Anyway, this morning we left a little after 7 and stopped on the way for breakfast and gas. Fascinating how these gas stations have full bars with huge espresso machines and fresh pastries. Not bad at all. Then we continued on our way to Montepulciano, which is about an hour and a half from our farmhouse. Arrived shortly after 9 but drove in circles for nearly a half hour trying to find the parking Rick Steves recommended. Finally found it. Montepulciano is really quite cute. Lots of wine shops, but the cool thing is the old cellars - we went into two. Contucci, which was cool, filled with cask after cask, and Ercolani, which was so hardcore it has the name "Subterranean City" and they even provide a map. Walking down through these cool dark cellars filled with huge tanks of wine is more interesting than most museums - and I don’t even like wine. This one had marked rooms and told you that this cellar dated back to about the 13th-15th Centuries, if I recall. The cool thing was near the end as it wound back up to their tasting room, there were some etruscan ruins. I bought a vacuum packed set of 2 1/4 liter olive oil cans - one of their own and one organic one. Yay for vacuum packed cans, no mess getting it home :) Took a different road back to where we parked, which took us by Bottega del Rame (I think?), a coppersmith's shop where everything's handmade in town. Absolutely stunning, gorgeous stuff. What I would not give to have a set of those pots. I bet they cook amazingly well, but I'd hate to use them. Instead I bought a little oil can and a teeny knick-nack. I'd seen this place online before going so I knew what to expect, but the stuff was still absolutely gorgeous (and expensive - but worth it for the craftsmanship!). I think, with the purchase of the oil can, that completes my "must buy" list for Italy except for some more olive oil in Chianti.
So around 11:30am we left and stopped at the Tempio San Biagio - which is incredible from the outside and a bit lame from the inside. We then made our way to Pienza, famous for both pecorino cheese and for being this strange planned renaissance city. Only problem is that the town center was taken over by some kind of filming for a renaissance movie. Oy vey. So meandering past the horse and sheep poop, we made it to the end of town to a restaurant recommended by both Rick Steves and the Blue Guide, and it was quite good indeed. I had homemade pici with mushrooms. There was an older couple next to us who had been to Pienza several times and seemed to always eat there. Even some of the cast from the movie made it down for lunch. It was warm enough to even eat outside! And this place had no cover charge, which is always awesome. Our whole check including water came to 16.50. Can't beat that for incredible handmade, homemade pasta.
Then we wandered around a bit more but unfortunately several of the interesting-looking cheese shops were closed for 'siesta' so we went in a couple and then set off for Montalcino, which is a little bit further.
Arrived there about 2:30pm and found a parking lot. Made our way up to town and wandered around. Besides lots of wine shops and a few pottery shops, this was a ghost town of sorts. We went into one Enoteca that had a "wine card" system - you take the card and it has 50 euros on it, then you stick it in the slot and get a taste of any one of 100 wines you want. Then you just bring the card up to the register and pay for whatever you spent. We tried a rosso from Montalcino, which I thought was truly vile, and a Brunello, which is the really famous wine from this area of course. It was significantly better, but still not something I'd pay 30+ euros a bottle for.
Then here's where the annoyance begins. We were going to head up the Via Cassia - SP2 - which is supposed to be some of the most beautiful scenery in Tuscany (and thus, the world). But trusty GPS (she needs a name) sent us a different way and then we figured we were too far to turn around. We were going to stop at the Monte Oliveto Maggiore Abbey then the town of Asciano. Well, we ended up heading to Asciano a different way. Then we couldn't find proper parking and were going in circles so we were like, forget it. Then we decided to go to Monte Oliveto Maggiore anyway but by then it was almost 5pm so by the time we got there it had closed (at 5pm, naturally). By then the light was fading fast and we were about an hour and a half from the farmhouse. At first we thought, why not go to San Gimignano for dinner. Then we started heading in a "wrong" direction (less direct, really, but not "wrong" per se) and turned around and wasted about 15 min, so it was going to be almost 7 by the time we got to San Gim. So we decided instead to head towards the farmhouse and stop somewhere along the way. Well, we didn't see anywhere, really, nowhere at all (much of this drive is on a bigger road, which was nice, but there's less to stop and do), so we just decided to come back here and have our leftovers for dinner, so that is what we did.
I'm sure part of my crankiness is from being tired so I will try to sleep well tonight (as if I haven't been trying all damn vacation) as we head for Chianti tomorrow and Saturday.
6:30am: Sitting on the toilet with feet in the bidet soaking in hot water and I cannot believe there's only a few days left. The sun's rising and it appears it's going to be yet another glorious day. Was worried about weather when that storm for Cinque Terre showed up but other than that one day, it has been pretty amazing weather the whole trip and I guess it's supposed to last the final few days as well. Today, off to Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, and maybe some important abbeys along the way.
8:00pm: back at the farmhouse after a long and for some reason frustrating day. It was quite foggy and cloudy most of the day, which was a bit of a bummer considering we were in some of the most beautiful parts of Tuscany. Anyway, this morning we left a little after 7 and stopped on the way for breakfast and gas. Fascinating how these gas stations have full bars with huge espresso machines and fresh pastries. Not bad at all. Then we continued on our way to Montepulciano, which is about an hour and a half from our farmhouse. Arrived shortly after 9 but drove in circles for nearly a half hour trying to find the parking Rick Steves recommended. Finally found it. Montepulciano is really quite cute. Lots of wine shops, but the cool thing is the old cellars - we went into two. Contucci, which was cool, filled with cask after cask, and Ercolani, which was so hardcore it has the name "Subterranean City" and they even provide a map. Walking down through these cool dark cellars filled with huge tanks of wine is more interesting than most museums - and I don’t even like wine. This one had marked rooms and told you that this cellar dated back to about the 13th-15th Centuries, if I recall. The cool thing was near the end as it wound back up to their tasting room, there were some etruscan ruins. I bought a vacuum packed set of 2 1/4 liter olive oil cans - one of their own and one organic one. Yay for vacuum packed cans, no mess getting it home :) Took a different road back to where we parked, which took us by Bottega del Rame (I think?), a coppersmith's shop where everything's handmade in town. Absolutely stunning, gorgeous stuff. What I would not give to have a set of those pots. I bet they cook amazingly well, but I'd hate to use them. Instead I bought a little oil can and a teeny knick-nack. I'd seen this place online before going so I knew what to expect, but the stuff was still absolutely gorgeous (and expensive - but worth it for the craftsmanship!). I think, with the purchase of the oil can, that completes my "must buy" list for Italy except for some more olive oil in Chianti.
So around 11:30am we left and stopped at the Tempio San Biagio - which is incredible from the outside and a bit lame from the inside. We then made our way to Pienza, famous for both pecorino cheese and for being this strange planned renaissance city. Only problem is that the town center was taken over by some kind of filming for a renaissance movie. Oy vey. So meandering past the horse and sheep poop, we made it to the end of town to a restaurant recommended by both Rick Steves and the Blue Guide, and it was quite good indeed. I had homemade pici with mushrooms. There was an older couple next to us who had been to Pienza several times and seemed to always eat there. Even some of the cast from the movie made it down for lunch. It was warm enough to even eat outside! And this place had no cover charge, which is always awesome. Our whole check including water came to 16.50. Can't beat that for incredible handmade, homemade pasta.
Then we wandered around a bit more but unfortunately several of the interesting-looking cheese shops were closed for 'siesta' so we went in a couple and then set off for Montalcino, which is a little bit further.
Arrived there about 2:30pm and found a parking lot. Made our way up to town and wandered around. Besides lots of wine shops and a few pottery shops, this was a ghost town of sorts. We went into one Enoteca that had a "wine card" system - you take the card and it has 50 euros on it, then you stick it in the slot and get a taste of any one of 100 wines you want. Then you just bring the card up to the register and pay for whatever you spent. We tried a rosso from Montalcino, which I thought was truly vile, and a Brunello, which is the really famous wine from this area of course. It was significantly better, but still not something I'd pay 30+ euros a bottle for.
Then here's where the annoyance begins. We were going to head up the Via Cassia - SP2 - which is supposed to be some of the most beautiful scenery in Tuscany (and thus, the world). But trusty GPS (she needs a name) sent us a different way and then we figured we were too far to turn around. We were going to stop at the Monte Oliveto Maggiore Abbey then the town of Asciano. Well, we ended up heading to Asciano a different way. Then we couldn't find proper parking and were going in circles so we were like, forget it. Then we decided to go to Monte Oliveto Maggiore anyway but by then it was almost 5pm so by the time we got there it had closed (at 5pm, naturally). By then the light was fading fast and we were about an hour and a half from the farmhouse. At first we thought, why not go to San Gimignano for dinner. Then we started heading in a "wrong" direction (less direct, really, but not "wrong" per se) and turned around and wasted about 15 min, so it was going to be almost 7 by the time we got to San Gim. So we decided instead to head towards the farmhouse and stop somewhere along the way. Well, we didn't see anywhere, really, nowhere at all (much of this drive is on a bigger road, which was nice, but there's less to stop and do), so we just decided to come back here and have our leftovers for dinner, so that is what we did.
I'm sure part of my crankiness is from being tired so I will try to sleep well tonight (as if I haven't been trying all damn vacation) as we head for Chianti tomorrow and Saturday.
Parmigiano Cheese Tour Videos Added
Pretty fun to see little snippets of the process, videos at the end of this photo set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622585466171/
October 28 Blog and Pics: Florence
pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622738271734/
8:00pm: back at the farmhouse after a long but enjoyable day in Florence. Woke up at 6:30am after finally sleeping ok, and we set out for Certaldo station by 6:45. Luckily we'd scoped it all out the day before and knew where to park. Found it today with no problem and hopped on our 7:18 train to Firenze SMN station.
Arrived a bit late because the train just stopped in the middle of nowhere for a while, but finally arrived and set off for the Accademia. Caught breakfast at a bar on the way and made it shortly after 9am. No wait at all, so we went in and saw the David. It was 10 freaking euros because of a mapplethorpe exhibit, as if anyone cares. Instead of the cool video renderings of the David that were there the first time I went, it was a bunch of his photos and drawings. Boooooring. Anyway, we wandered a bit through the musical instruments collection (the permanent one, which was not even remotely as nice as the temporary exhibit I was lucky enough to catch a couple years ago), then we set off for the San Lorenzo area and the Medici chapels. Like 2 years ago, the big chapel of the princes was still under major reconstruction but it is still impressive to see the utter wealth the Medicis possessed. I also love, in Michelangelo's chapel, how the notes he left on some of the back walls behind the altar are still preserved. Most people don't even go back there to see it.
After that, we wandered through the San Lorenzo market and over to the Mercato Centrale, which is a complete wonderland of fruits, vegetables, salamis, meat, fish, cheese, olives, wine and oil, and anything else you can imagine. We spent a good hour walking around there and then set off for the real historical center. I found the Global Refund office and got my measly $22 in tax refund for the jewelry I bought yesterday. I just now have to get it stamped at customs and stick it in the mail from the airport and I am good to go. Went into the Orsanmichelle church and found I Fratellini, a literal sandwich window. They sell about 30 kinds of sandwiches, all 2.50. I got salami and artichoke and it was on a great warm crusty roll. Then we found my beloved Perche No gelateria and got a cup. Then we set off for the amazing and always awesome Ponte Vecchio, where I resisted a strong urge to buy these lovely and delicate 140 euro earrings.
Wandered through the Oltrarno a little bit and then made our way over to Santa Croce. There's a big gold shop there too and I found a pair of earrings almost as lovely that were 89 euros, but she gave me a 15% discount so they were 76. Not sure why, but they are two round circles, one in yellow, and one in white gold. And they have a bit of a diamond cut so they are nice and glittery. Not as lovely as the others, but close enough for half the price. Of course, that brings my earrings haul from this trip to 6 pairs, and I think I will stop here. Usually I am too lazy to change my earrings that often but I guess I will have to start!
Went into Santa Croce, much of which is actually being restored. It's still always interesting to see Michelangelo's and Galileo's and Machiavelli's tombs, among others, and the Leather School is amazing - really top-quality handmade works and you can see many of the craftsmen making items. Too bad a fairly small purse was 330 euros :(
Anyway, just before 4pm, we took a taxi up to Piazzale Michelangelo, because we were hoping to catch a 5:10pm train back to Certaldo. Cost was just under 10 euros but it saved a ton of time. We got there right at the right time as the sun was hitting the city. It's now my third time up there and it still does not get old at all. Took MORE pictures and caught a 4:30 bus down to the station and made it with about 10 min to spare on our 5:10 train.
Had trouble once again getting out of Certaldo back to the farmhouse because the street it wants me to take every time is closed for construction. But after going in a couple circles we finally made it and just had some cold cuts and bread for dinner, simple Italian style eating.
Tomorrow will be a long driving day - more than 3 hours total probably. Still haven't had to fill up the gas tank - it seems like it should get over 800 kilometers per tank, which is pretty darn impressive. Will fill up tomorrow just to be careful and I bet we won't have to do it again!
October 27 Blogs & pics - Volterra and Certaldo
pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622738262886/
7:25am: Slept horribly again, don't know why. Finally got up a little before 7 and took a shower. Looks like it's going to be another glorious day here. I love hearing the sounds of the birds and the owls in the morning. We were going to go to Florence today but decided that since we didn't do much driving yesterday and florence would be a very small driving day, we'd split up the longer driving days, so today we're going to Volterra which is almost an hour away. We're both pretty excited about going here because there's a big alabaster craft community and lots of really fun and interesting looking shops!
7:00pm: Back at the farmhouse, ready to cook dinner! We first set off for Volterra, which took about an hour to get to. Arrived without much problem after driving around a bit to find the correct (convenient) parking garage. Had pastry and cappuccino at a nice café. It was only 1.90 euros for both. Crazy cheap. Then we wandered and found a whole ton of alabaster and other awesome shops. I had taken down the name of a couple interesting-looking ones and we found them and I was in big trouble. One was a handmade jewelry shop with gold and silver things in the etruscan style. I bought a gorgeous ring and little stud earrings. They were just barely the 155 euros needed for a tax refund, but he had never filled out the form so I hope it's right. It looks like he signed it in the wrong place so I hope they give me my money! Anyway, then we found some really beautiful alabaster shops, I bought a couple of butterflies and a hand-painted alabaster magnet (purple!). One had an open showroom around the corner and we saw a guy working hard on something. Alabaster is really cool especially when lit from within. We then found this Vitrium shop, which I'd found on the internet beforehand. They make everything by hand in Volterra with glass. So I bought 2 pairs of silver and glass bead earrings that totaled 18 euros.
Then we went into the Etruscan museum which is one of Italy's biggest. It was sure huge - stuff on 3 floors and in more than 20 rooms. It was pretty amazing to see all the stuff they found.
Then we had lunch at a Pizzeria recommended by Rick Steves a bit off the main tourist avenue. We split a small "torta di ceci" - a round 'cake' of sorts made from chickpea flour that was baked in the wood oven. It was pretty good. Then we each got a pizza, which was probably a huge mistake. I got a regular margherita and it was only about 5.20 euros. Interestingly, the place didn't charge a cover charge, they just had a 10% service charge, so it was pretty darn cheap. Then we used the internet café "Wine and Web" or something for a little while - it was interesting, the computers were above the wine bar/café on a little loft.
Volterra is quite nice - not too touristy, but touristy enough to have nice shops and restaurants featuring local craftsmen and really talented people. The problem with Volterra is all the Twilight stuff - books, calendars, tours, celebrations, souvenirs, etc. Sad.
Then we left and set off for Certaldo, which is near our farmhouse. We wanted to check out the old part of town and also the train station parking situation since we'll need it tomorrow for Florence. I think the GPS took us a circuitous route, but a little less than an hour later and we were there and found a free parking lot just a short walk from the station. We bought our train tickets for Florence tomorrow and found the funicular to get up to the old part of town. 1.20 euros for a return trip. There is only one little main street in the town, which is made entirely of red brick and beautifully preserved. There was a gorgeous ceramic workshop/showroom where I had to buy a little squid figurine just because it was so cute.
Wandered around for maybe a half hour and caught the funicular back down. We decided we weren't that hungry tonight so we'd just cook in and for tomorrow we'd get some stuff to make a sandwich type meal. Asked at the tourist office by the station where the Coop market in Certaldo is and it was only a half km away so we just walked. Got some salami, cheese, bread, etc., and some eggs for the chicken that we'd forgotten to get.
Came back to the farmhouse after getting a teeny bit lost getting out of Certaldo and made our way back where we are now cooking, even though we're still not that hungry from the pizza!
8:30pm: dinner was a decent success. I overcooked the chicken and everything tasted bland without any garlic, but otherwise it was a pretty good Italian feast! And so ends another glorious day in Tuscany. We didn't do too much but again it was nice to be semi-relaxed. Also another successful driving day, yay!
Domanni andiamo a Firenze!
7:25am: Slept horribly again, don't know why. Finally got up a little before 7 and took a shower. Looks like it's going to be another glorious day here. I love hearing the sounds of the birds and the owls in the morning. We were going to go to Florence today but decided that since we didn't do much driving yesterday and florence would be a very small driving day, we'd split up the longer driving days, so today we're going to Volterra which is almost an hour away. We're both pretty excited about going here because there's a big alabaster craft community and lots of really fun and interesting looking shops!
7:00pm: Back at the farmhouse, ready to cook dinner! We first set off for Volterra, which took about an hour to get to. Arrived without much problem after driving around a bit to find the correct (convenient) parking garage. Had pastry and cappuccino at a nice café. It was only 1.90 euros for both. Crazy cheap. Then we wandered and found a whole ton of alabaster and other awesome shops. I had taken down the name of a couple interesting-looking ones and we found them and I was in big trouble. One was a handmade jewelry shop with gold and silver things in the etruscan style. I bought a gorgeous ring and little stud earrings. They were just barely the 155 euros needed for a tax refund, but he had never filled out the form so I hope it's right. It looks like he signed it in the wrong place so I hope they give me my money! Anyway, then we found some really beautiful alabaster shops, I bought a couple of butterflies and a hand-painted alabaster magnet (purple!). One had an open showroom around the corner and we saw a guy working hard on something. Alabaster is really cool especially when lit from within. We then found this Vitrium shop, which I'd found on the internet beforehand. They make everything by hand in Volterra with glass. So I bought 2 pairs of silver and glass bead earrings that totaled 18 euros.
Then we went into the Etruscan museum which is one of Italy's biggest. It was sure huge - stuff on 3 floors and in more than 20 rooms. It was pretty amazing to see all the stuff they found.
Then we had lunch at a Pizzeria recommended by Rick Steves a bit off the main tourist avenue. We split a small "torta di ceci" - a round 'cake' of sorts made from chickpea flour that was baked in the wood oven. It was pretty good. Then we each got a pizza, which was probably a huge mistake. I got a regular margherita and it was only about 5.20 euros. Interestingly, the place didn't charge a cover charge, they just had a 10% service charge, so it was pretty darn cheap. Then we used the internet café "Wine and Web" or something for a little while - it was interesting, the computers were above the wine bar/café on a little loft.
Volterra is quite nice - not too touristy, but touristy enough to have nice shops and restaurants featuring local craftsmen and really talented people. The problem with Volterra is all the Twilight stuff - books, calendars, tours, celebrations, souvenirs, etc. Sad.
Then we left and set off for Certaldo, which is near our farmhouse. We wanted to check out the old part of town and also the train station parking situation since we'll need it tomorrow for Florence. I think the GPS took us a circuitous route, but a little less than an hour later and we were there and found a free parking lot just a short walk from the station. We bought our train tickets for Florence tomorrow and found the funicular to get up to the old part of town. 1.20 euros for a return trip. There is only one little main street in the town, which is made entirely of red brick and beautifully preserved. There was a gorgeous ceramic workshop/showroom where I had to buy a little squid figurine just because it was so cute.
Wandered around for maybe a half hour and caught the funicular back down. We decided we weren't that hungry tonight so we'd just cook in and for tomorrow we'd get some stuff to make a sandwich type meal. Asked at the tourist office by the station where the Coop market in Certaldo is and it was only a half km away so we just walked. Got some salami, cheese, bread, etc., and some eggs for the chicken that we'd forgotten to get.
Came back to the farmhouse after getting a teeny bit lost getting out of Certaldo and made our way back where we are now cooking, even though we're still not that hungry from the pizza!
8:30pm: dinner was a decent success. I overcooked the chicken and everything tasted bland without any garlic, but otherwise it was a pretty good Italian feast! And so ends another glorious day in Tuscany. We didn't do too much but again it was nice to be semi-relaxed. Also another successful driving day, yay!
Domanni andiamo a Firenze!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
October 26 Blogs and Pictures - San Gimignano and Colle di Val d'Elsa
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622732458140/
6:15pm: In the farmhouse after a fairly relaxing day. Woke up a little before 7:30 after not sleeping too well again :( We did laundry just before 8 - the washer was much smaller than I anticipated! Anyway, it took nearly an hour but since it was so bright and clear we then hung everything on the provided clotheslines and went on our way to San Gimignano around 9.
Got there shortly before 9:30 and found the correct parking spot. Right inside the wall we found a Bar and got a cappuccino and pastry - nutella croissant for me (it was awesome.). Wandered around and in and out of shops, into the gorgeous duomo and just seeing the funky little medieval town. Around noon we went to a pizzeria and got a pizza to eat there. We then set out to find the San Gimignano Coop (supermarket) which we knew was close. After driving around in a few circles we finally found it and picked up some things to cook in tomorrow - fresh pasta, tomatoes, grated cheese, olives, some clementines, olive oil, salt, pancetta cubes, grated parmigiano, etc. We also got necessities like toilet paper and paper towels. Then we set off for Colle di Val D'Elsa, which I wanted to go to mainly b/c it is where 95% of Italy's crystal items are produced. After driving around in circles we found proper parking and made it up to the upper town (there's an upper and a lower). This town is basically a ghost town. We were there in 'siesta' time and mostly everything - including most of the crystal shops - were closed. Managed to find a couple shops with some gorgeous stuff. All I really wanted was a little figurine and finally I found a cute little owl for only 13 euros. We took the elevator down to the lower town and checked out a great gelateria, then went back up and left. Really not much to do in this town. Even the duomo was kind of plain.
We then realized we needed some kind of meat for our cooking in so we went to the HUGE - and I do mean huge - Coop supermarket in Poggibonsi. We got some bread crumbs, chicken, fresh tomatoes, and I got a nail file that actually worked. So now we pretty much have everything we need to make a pretty nice feast tomorrow.
Came back to the farmhouse shortly before 5 and took our mostly dry laundry down and just came back here to relax before going back to Antico Desco for Renee's birthday dinner.
Today was an absolutely glorious day weather-wise, about 20C (around 70F) and literally not a cloud in sight. Hopefully every day will be like this for the rest of the trip!
9:05pm: Went to the restaurant down the street. Had bistecca alla fiorentina that we split, and some roasted potatoes. It was so good. I am so full. It will be hard to eat regular American supermarket beef again. That's all really. Oh, and there was a party of about 6 annoying Americans behind us. The lovely waitress (same as the other night) was trying to explain to them that they had ravioli with pumpkin, so she said "Halloween" and they were like "oh, you have halloween here?" then later they got their food and were trying to figure out if their beans were cannoli beans or cannelini beans. I think I smacked my face at these people at least 10 times. Anyway, I had told the waitress it was Renee's birthday, so after our meal even though we asked for the check, she brought us two pieces of a traditional seasonal dessert made with chestnuts, she said not everyone liked it. It smelled like gingerbread, but tasted like a nearly-tasteless chewy pancake. Not really my thing. It was quite nice of her though, especially since they gave us a small discount again (I presume for their arrangement with our farmhouse). Love this place.
6:15pm: In the farmhouse after a fairly relaxing day. Woke up a little before 7:30 after not sleeping too well again :( We did laundry just before 8 - the washer was much smaller than I anticipated! Anyway, it took nearly an hour but since it was so bright and clear we then hung everything on the provided clotheslines and went on our way to San Gimignano around 9.
Got there shortly before 9:30 and found the correct parking spot. Right inside the wall we found a Bar and got a cappuccino and pastry - nutella croissant for me (it was awesome.). Wandered around and in and out of shops, into the gorgeous duomo and just seeing the funky little medieval town. Around noon we went to a pizzeria and got a pizza to eat there. We then set out to find the San Gimignano Coop (supermarket) which we knew was close. After driving around in a few circles we finally found it and picked up some things to cook in tomorrow - fresh pasta, tomatoes, grated cheese, olives, some clementines, olive oil, salt, pancetta cubes, grated parmigiano, etc. We also got necessities like toilet paper and paper towels. Then we set off for Colle di Val D'Elsa, which I wanted to go to mainly b/c it is where 95% of Italy's crystal items are produced. After driving around in circles we found proper parking and made it up to the upper town (there's an upper and a lower). This town is basically a ghost town. We were there in 'siesta' time and mostly everything - including most of the crystal shops - were closed. Managed to find a couple shops with some gorgeous stuff. All I really wanted was a little figurine and finally I found a cute little owl for only 13 euros. We took the elevator down to the lower town and checked out a great gelateria, then went back up and left. Really not much to do in this town. Even the duomo was kind of plain.
We then realized we needed some kind of meat for our cooking in so we went to the HUGE - and I do mean huge - Coop supermarket in Poggibonsi. We got some bread crumbs, chicken, fresh tomatoes, and I got a nail file that actually worked. So now we pretty much have everything we need to make a pretty nice feast tomorrow.
Came back to the farmhouse shortly before 5 and took our mostly dry laundry down and just came back here to relax before going back to Antico Desco for Renee's birthday dinner.
Today was an absolutely glorious day weather-wise, about 20C (around 70F) and literally not a cloud in sight. Hopefully every day will be like this for the rest of the trip!
9:05pm: Went to the restaurant down the street. Had bistecca alla fiorentina that we split, and some roasted potatoes. It was so good. I am so full. It will be hard to eat regular American supermarket beef again. That's all really. Oh, and there was a party of about 6 annoying Americans behind us. The lovely waitress (same as the other night) was trying to explain to them that they had ravioli with pumpkin, so she said "Halloween" and they were like "oh, you have halloween here?" then later they got their food and were trying to figure out if their beans were cannoli beans or cannelini beans. I think I smacked my face at these people at least 10 times. Anyway, I had told the waitress it was Renee's birthday, so after our meal even though we asked for the check, she brought us two pieces of a traditional seasonal dessert made with chestnuts, she said not everyone liked it. It smelled like gingerbread, but tasted like a nearly-tasteless chewy pancake. Not really my thing. It was quite nice of her though, especially since they gave us a small discount again (I presume for their arrangement with our farmhouse). Love this place.
October 25 Blogs and Pictures - San Galgano, Siena, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, and the farmhouse!
Lots of photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622730119774/
6:45am (we turn the clocks back here today): Woke up about 15 min ago after finally getting a decent night of sleep. Went to the bathroom, where I saw this amazing glow coming, so I pulled back the curtains to see one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen - sunrise over the Tuscan hills. I immediately grabbed my camera, snapped some pictures, put on a jacket and snapped some more. One of the most amazing things ever.
8:00pm: Back at the farmhouse after a very long but fun and enjoyable day. We set off for the ruined abbey of San Galgano and the GPS got us there in just over an hour without any problem. It's in this gorgeous flat setting high above the valleys and it's really quite an amazing place. I won't really spend much time describing it since my pictures will do a better job of that. We wandered around, took many pictures, and set off for Siena.
We arrived in Siena shortly after 10am, and since I had a fear of crossing into the dreaded ZTL (electronically controlled traffic gates in many Italian city centers), we parked in the first lot we found, which turned out to be pretty darn convenient for the city center - after going up about 6 escalators! Anyway, we followed the plentiful signs to Piazza del Campo - the mindblowing main square in Siena, when I found it - THE olive wood shop I stumbled into 2 years ago and left empty-handed. It was open!!!! So, this time I wouldn't make the same mistake, I got a small bowl, a cup for pens, and a spatula type thing that will be great with pasta. And my credit card worked again, hooray. This kind of made my day. So we found the Campo and Renee was as amazed by it as I thought she'd be. We wandered around and into many little shops, including a bakery that was open til 1pm, so we got a few different cookies to sample and they were delicious. Around noon we got some takeaway lunch, I had a slice of pizza, and took it onto the Campo where we just sat in the shade and ate it, people-watching on this glorious and warm day.
Then I had remembered I wanted to see if we could find the Synagogue, which was only steps behind the Campo. We found it (despite it being on an almost totally unmarked building) and it happened to be open for visitors on Sundays from 10-5. So we buzzed the bell and a sweet lady opened it up. It was 3 euros and she basically gave us, and a French (or German?) couple a 20-30minute spiel on the history of the Jewish community in Siena in the beautiful little Synagogue. It sounds pretty similar to most of the other Jewish communities in Italy. It has about 50 people right now and she said the community has been revitalized a bit because they brought in a young Rabbi and his family from Israel. During our 'tour' the little girl came in and she was adorable. So anyway, the Synagogue is really lovely and was built in the mid-1700s. Interestingly, the women's section is not completely separated from the men.
By then, the Duomo was open, so we went in there. Luckily, the marble artwork on the floors was still uncovered so we could see all the gorgeous things on the floor again. Also, the little Piccolomini Library is a fantastic room. So after that, we decided our plan of attack. We were going to save a little town of Monteriggioni for another day, but… it's on the way back to the farmhouse from Siena so we figured we'd give it a look-see. So we got a gelato and set off for Monteriggioni. It was maybe 20 min from Siena, and it's a really cute little fortified village on top of a hill, and you can walk from one end to the other in about a 2 minute brisk walk (5 minute stroll). It has a cute little church, a couple restaurants, and a few little shops, and that's about it. So then we went to a town a couple miles away called Abbadia Isola, mostly because it was supposed to have great views of Monteriggioni, and it did. But it also has an important abbey, that of course is closed for restoration.
So, keeping on the theme with getting more done in the day than we'd planned, we decided to go to San Gimignano for a couple hours and have dinner there since it's a touristy place, we figured Sunday dining should be no problem. It was pretty busy and we had to drive around the walls to find parking but we found it in the end and it was fine. In the town, everything was open pretty much, you'd never know it was a Sunday in Italy in San Gimignano. So we wandered around in and out of lots of ceramic, jewelry, and wine shops and the like. Very busy indeed. We sat in a square and thought about dinner. One of the places Rick Steves mentioned actually sounded pretty good and he said it was open continuously from 11am through dinnertime so we figured if we could find it without too much trouble we could give it a shot. So we did ultimately find it and around 6-6:30, we went in. It was down a few stairs, almost like in a cellar. Maybe 10 tables, probably less. I had a mixed salad and STEAK! It was only 8 euros so I knew I was taking a bit of a risk. It was thin and maybe not the best steak ever, but it hit the spot and was what I needed after so much pasta and pizza and sandwiches. So then we walked back through town and got a gelato at a famous place that is supposed to have some of the best stuff in Tuscany. It was good, but not necessarily any better than other good homemade places.
Then set off to get back to the farmhouse. Thankfully, we had saved the RIGHT location of the farmhouse in the GPS so it got us back with no problems in about 15 min. So it was a nice and early night and now we're just going to look at pictures and make some panoramas and maybe watch some TV shows!
6:45am (we turn the clocks back here today): Woke up about 15 min ago after finally getting a decent night of sleep. Went to the bathroom, where I saw this amazing glow coming, so I pulled back the curtains to see one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen - sunrise over the Tuscan hills. I immediately grabbed my camera, snapped some pictures, put on a jacket and snapped some more. One of the most amazing things ever.
8:00pm: Back at the farmhouse after a very long but fun and enjoyable day. We set off for the ruined abbey of San Galgano and the GPS got us there in just over an hour without any problem. It's in this gorgeous flat setting high above the valleys and it's really quite an amazing place. I won't really spend much time describing it since my pictures will do a better job of that. We wandered around, took many pictures, and set off for Siena.
We arrived in Siena shortly after 10am, and since I had a fear of crossing into the dreaded ZTL (electronically controlled traffic gates in many Italian city centers), we parked in the first lot we found, which turned out to be pretty darn convenient for the city center - after going up about 6 escalators! Anyway, we followed the plentiful signs to Piazza del Campo - the mindblowing main square in Siena, when I found it - THE olive wood shop I stumbled into 2 years ago and left empty-handed. It was open!!!! So, this time I wouldn't make the same mistake, I got a small bowl, a cup for pens, and a spatula type thing that will be great with pasta. And my credit card worked again, hooray. This kind of made my day. So we found the Campo and Renee was as amazed by it as I thought she'd be. We wandered around and into many little shops, including a bakery that was open til 1pm, so we got a few different cookies to sample and they were delicious. Around noon we got some takeaway lunch, I had a slice of pizza, and took it onto the Campo where we just sat in the shade and ate it, people-watching on this glorious and warm day.
Then I had remembered I wanted to see if we could find the Synagogue, which was only steps behind the Campo. We found it (despite it being on an almost totally unmarked building) and it happened to be open for visitors on Sundays from 10-5. So we buzzed the bell and a sweet lady opened it up. It was 3 euros and she basically gave us, and a French (or German?) couple a 20-30minute spiel on the history of the Jewish community in Siena in the beautiful little Synagogue. It sounds pretty similar to most of the other Jewish communities in Italy. It has about 50 people right now and she said the community has been revitalized a bit because they brought in a young Rabbi and his family from Israel. During our 'tour' the little girl came in and she was adorable. So anyway, the Synagogue is really lovely and was built in the mid-1700s. Interestingly, the women's section is not completely separated from the men.
By then, the Duomo was open, so we went in there. Luckily, the marble artwork on the floors was still uncovered so we could see all the gorgeous things on the floor again. Also, the little Piccolomini Library is a fantastic room. So after that, we decided our plan of attack. We were going to save a little town of Monteriggioni for another day, but… it's on the way back to the farmhouse from Siena so we figured we'd give it a look-see. So we got a gelato and set off for Monteriggioni. It was maybe 20 min from Siena, and it's a really cute little fortified village on top of a hill, and you can walk from one end to the other in about a 2 minute brisk walk (5 minute stroll). It has a cute little church, a couple restaurants, and a few little shops, and that's about it. So then we went to a town a couple miles away called Abbadia Isola, mostly because it was supposed to have great views of Monteriggioni, and it did. But it also has an important abbey, that of course is closed for restoration.
So, keeping on the theme with getting more done in the day than we'd planned, we decided to go to San Gimignano for a couple hours and have dinner there since it's a touristy place, we figured Sunday dining should be no problem. It was pretty busy and we had to drive around the walls to find parking but we found it in the end and it was fine. In the town, everything was open pretty much, you'd never know it was a Sunday in Italy in San Gimignano. So we wandered around in and out of lots of ceramic, jewelry, and wine shops and the like. Very busy indeed. We sat in a square and thought about dinner. One of the places Rick Steves mentioned actually sounded pretty good and he said it was open continuously from 11am through dinnertime so we figured if we could find it without too much trouble we could give it a shot. So we did ultimately find it and around 6-6:30, we went in. It was down a few stairs, almost like in a cellar. Maybe 10 tables, probably less. I had a mixed salad and STEAK! It was only 8 euros so I knew I was taking a bit of a risk. It was thin and maybe not the best steak ever, but it hit the spot and was what I needed after so much pasta and pizza and sandwiches. So then we walked back through town and got a gelato at a famous place that is supposed to have some of the best stuff in Tuscany. It was good, but not necessarily any better than other good homemade places.
Then set off to get back to the farmhouse. Thankfully, we had saved the RIGHT location of the farmhouse in the GPS so it got us back with no problems in about 15 min. So it was a nice and early night and now we're just going to look at pictures and make some panoramas and maybe watch some TV shows!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Videos Added
Added 5 short videos from Florence, October 16 to this set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622481432437/
And 2 from Parma, October 20, to this set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622585379989/
And 2 from Parma, October 20, to this set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622585379989/
Pisa & Lucca: October 24 Blog and Pictures
Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622604928635/
8:10am: sitting on Eurostar City from La Spezia to Pisa. Slept horribly again last night, wish I knew why - maybe the not-too-comfy bed in our room. Anyway, took the 7:16am train from Vernazza and then had no problem booking this Eurostar with my credit card, go figure.
9:30pm: Holy shit what a day. Got to Pisa with no problems, checked our bag, got bus tickets to go to the tower, and set on our way. Finally found the right bus and made it out to the tower, which was teeming with a bazillion and one obnoxious Japanese tourists. They rival Germans in their obnoxiousness.
Anyway, we tried to go to the Baptistery and the guy said it was closed, so we got a ticket to the cemetery instead. It was... Interesting…and creepy. Lots of skulls and crossbones. So the tower is, well, the tower. Not sure quite what the mass hysteria is around but I figure, now I've seen it and I can move on with my life. We reversed Rick Steves's walking tour back to the station and got a tasty gelato on the way. Got our bags from the left luggage desk and got a taxi from the station to the airport car rental desk.
A bit before noon, got the car with no problems. I laughed because it took me going to Italy to drive an American car. It's a Ford Fiesta. Thank goodness, the GPS worked and after trying for a few minutes to, well, start the car, I figured it out, and we were on our way to Lucca. A bit less than a half hour later and a leisurely drive on a 4-lane highway, we arrived. The GPS led us to a street I had seen was potentially good for parking. Well, I misunderstood my own notes and thought we were to go into a garage. Well, we pulled down the ramp and the garage door was closed and since we had gone downhill, putting the car in reverse was pointless and it was way too narrow to attempt to turn around. Needless to say, I started completely freaking out. So we called Hertz around 1:15 and they said they'd send a tow truck. I asked a few people around town and they spoke no English and couldn't really help. The funny thing is that this "ramp" was literally steps away from a Hertz office, which of course closed at 1pm. Anyway, then I saw a sign that said this was the parking for a hotel in town. So after running around and begging people for help I found out where the hotel was and asked if there was any way we could purchase a parking pass so that we could open the door and drive through and out. He was very friendly and helpful but said that the garage was actually closed for repairs. OY VEY. So needless to say I'm freaking out and finally about an hour later (so around 2:15), the guy shows up and backs the car out for us. I could've given him a hug and kiss right there. So, finally able to calm down at my own stupidity, we drove around and saw some parking spots around 2:30. Parked and got a slip for all of 20 cents for 2 hours and went in to see the town a little bit.
A medieval town surrounded totally by walls/ramparts, it's a pretty cool place and tents were set up all over town for some reason. So we just wandered around a bit, went into a few of the churches, got a quick sandwich and Lemon Soda, and set off for the farmhouse around 4:15. All was well with this lovely drive at a stunning time of day under a beautiful blue sky, mostly through country roads of vineyards and olive groves, until we were getting near the farmhouse. The GPS said we were there, but we were at a farmhouse of another name. Renee's phone wouldn't let her make outgoing calls at all so, in the fading daylight, we booted my computer up in the car and I called his cell phone and he said it was near there but not the right place. Then we got disconnected but I had gotten enough info to attempt it again. So we started heading in another direction - ignoring the GPS - and finally stumbled upon the place.
It's up a high and winding road that's really no fun at all to drive around, especially not at night, but the place itself is truly adorable and just like pictures. We called him to let us know we were here and he asked if we'd found the keys he left. We said no but that we would and he said he'd be here in 5 minutes. So we found them, with a nice note, and we let ourselves in to our wonderful little apartment. He came and showed us a few things, took our passport information and was on his way. He told us about a restaurant down the road only a couple miles that was thankfully open. We brought our luggage up and set off for dinner at Antico Desco.
It was a tad further than we thought it'd be, but at least we ultimately got there. Right after us, a family showed up and otherwise, it was just our two parties the whole time. It was a nice (not so little) place, the server was lovely, and the food was delicious. I had spaghetti. I definitely think we'll go back at least once, if only because it's so convenient, and also reasonably priced. Driving around up here is not fun, the roads are narrow and the locals get mad for going slow, but I don't care. :)
So, day one of driving in Tuscany is over and I must say it wasn't a great one. But we learned some lessons. I am still a bit nervous driving this car because even though it's automatic it still works a bit differently. I'm not used to always having to use the emergency break and I'm not used to having to turn the lights on and off manually. Going down hills it kind of "grabs" the road and makes a weird sound without me even stepping on the brake, but we're assuming (hoping?) it's supposed to do that.
Tomorrow will be interesting as we're going to Siena and it's Sunday. Supermarkets (even the super big ones) are closed, so we'll probably have to eat granola bars I brought from home for breakfast. Ah well, better than nothing! :)
8:10am: sitting on Eurostar City from La Spezia to Pisa. Slept horribly again last night, wish I knew why - maybe the not-too-comfy bed in our room. Anyway, took the 7:16am train from Vernazza and then had no problem booking this Eurostar with my credit card, go figure.
9:30pm: Holy shit what a day. Got to Pisa with no problems, checked our bag, got bus tickets to go to the tower, and set on our way. Finally found the right bus and made it out to the tower, which was teeming with a bazillion and one obnoxious Japanese tourists. They rival Germans in their obnoxiousness.
Anyway, we tried to go to the Baptistery and the guy said it was closed, so we got a ticket to the cemetery instead. It was... Interesting…and creepy. Lots of skulls and crossbones. So the tower is, well, the tower. Not sure quite what the mass hysteria is around but I figure, now I've seen it and I can move on with my life. We reversed Rick Steves's walking tour back to the station and got a tasty gelato on the way. Got our bags from the left luggage desk and got a taxi from the station to the airport car rental desk.
A bit before noon, got the car with no problems. I laughed because it took me going to Italy to drive an American car. It's a Ford Fiesta. Thank goodness, the GPS worked and after trying for a few minutes to, well, start the car, I figured it out, and we were on our way to Lucca. A bit less than a half hour later and a leisurely drive on a 4-lane highway, we arrived. The GPS led us to a street I had seen was potentially good for parking. Well, I misunderstood my own notes and thought we were to go into a garage. Well, we pulled down the ramp and the garage door was closed and since we had gone downhill, putting the car in reverse was pointless and it was way too narrow to attempt to turn around. Needless to say, I started completely freaking out. So we called Hertz around 1:15 and they said they'd send a tow truck. I asked a few people around town and they spoke no English and couldn't really help. The funny thing is that this "ramp" was literally steps away from a Hertz office, which of course closed at 1pm. Anyway, then I saw a sign that said this was the parking for a hotel in town. So after running around and begging people for help I found out where the hotel was and asked if there was any way we could purchase a parking pass so that we could open the door and drive through and out. He was very friendly and helpful but said that the garage was actually closed for repairs. OY VEY. So needless to say I'm freaking out and finally about an hour later (so around 2:15), the guy shows up and backs the car out for us. I could've given him a hug and kiss right there. So, finally able to calm down at my own stupidity, we drove around and saw some parking spots around 2:30. Parked and got a slip for all of 20 cents for 2 hours and went in to see the town a little bit.
A medieval town surrounded totally by walls/ramparts, it's a pretty cool place and tents were set up all over town for some reason. So we just wandered around a bit, went into a few of the churches, got a quick sandwich and Lemon Soda, and set off for the farmhouse around 4:15. All was well with this lovely drive at a stunning time of day under a beautiful blue sky, mostly through country roads of vineyards and olive groves, until we were getting near the farmhouse. The GPS said we were there, but we were at a farmhouse of another name. Renee's phone wouldn't let her make outgoing calls at all so, in the fading daylight, we booted my computer up in the car and I called his cell phone and he said it was near there but not the right place. Then we got disconnected but I had gotten enough info to attempt it again. So we started heading in another direction - ignoring the GPS - and finally stumbled upon the place.
It's up a high and winding road that's really no fun at all to drive around, especially not at night, but the place itself is truly adorable and just like pictures. We called him to let us know we were here and he asked if we'd found the keys he left. We said no but that we would and he said he'd be here in 5 minutes. So we found them, with a nice note, and we let ourselves in to our wonderful little apartment. He came and showed us a few things, took our passport information and was on his way. He told us about a restaurant down the road only a couple miles that was thankfully open. We brought our luggage up and set off for dinner at Antico Desco.
It was a tad further than we thought it'd be, but at least we ultimately got there. Right after us, a family showed up and otherwise, it was just our two parties the whole time. It was a nice (not so little) place, the server was lovely, and the food was delicious. I had spaghetti. I definitely think we'll go back at least once, if only because it's so convenient, and also reasonably priced. Driving around up here is not fun, the roads are narrow and the locals get mad for going slow, but I don't care. :)
So, day one of driving in Tuscany is over and I must say it wasn't a great one. But we learned some lessons. I am still a bit nervous driving this car because even though it's automatic it still works a bit differently. I'm not used to always having to use the emergency break and I'm not used to having to turn the lights on and off manually. Going down hills it kind of "grabs" the road and makes a weird sound without me even stepping on the brake, but we're assuming (hoping?) it's supposed to do that.
Tomorrow will be interesting as we're going to Siena and it's Sunday. Supermarkets (even the super big ones) are closed, so we'll probably have to eat granola bars I brought from home for breakfast. Ah well, better than nothing! :)
Cinque Terre October 23 - Blog and Pictures
I went a bit overboard at sunset: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622726192848/ videos too!
5:00pm: sitting in the room with the windows open, listening to the sea slap against the breakwater and the people below enjoying a cloudy and drizzly but otherwise nice late afternoon while I snack on some olives.
Started the day at Il Pirata again, this morning with a croissant bisected and stuffed with nutella. Went to catch a train around 9:30 to Riomaggiore but it was delayed 25 min. So it finally came at 10 and we started there. Riomaggiore is quaint with some lovely views. There was one shop in particular where a lady made dolls out of mohair and stuff. They were adorable. I almost bought a mouse but it was small and 20 euros. Around 11:30 we went to a snack place and got some focaccia pizza. Mine was covered with a couple slices of salame. They heated it for us and we got cans of Lemon Soda and ate it outside on a bench. Around noon, we did the via dell'Amore to Manarola. It was an easy level stroll but I was not particularly thrilled with walking 20 min on the side of a cliff :) the views were quite amazing though. In Manarola, we stumbled upon a wonderful ceramic shop I'd read about and I bought a couple small things. Then we did the Rick Steves walking tour, stopping at a gelateria where I had the best dark chocolate ice cream/gelato I've ever had. From this point forward, all chocolate ice creams will unfortunately be compared against this one :( I also bought my obligatory cheesy magnets.
We made it to the top of the town to a church and some amazing views, then we did this great 20-30min or so vineyard walk which was high but not too scary. It ended in the town's cemetery which is pretty unique and interesting (I guess they all look like this). There are pictures of the person outside the tomb, which I find to be a little creepy. We made it back to town and went to the train station where we had to wait almost an hour for the train back to Vernazza. What I'll really remember about this walk is the smell - of rosemary, lemons, and grapes (even though they'd already been picked). Really amazing.
Once back, I picked up something and we went to the "Internet Point" but the internet was down. Awesome. So we went to the Blue Marlin Bar where they also have a couple computers and we checked the train schedules for going to Pisa tomorrow. The guy/owner was hilarious. I didn't even notice but I was kind of half sitting on the stool and half standing and he was like "why don't you sit with your whole ass on the chair? Do you prefer the left half of your ass to the right? I like my whole ass." We were dying of laughter. So we confirmed the train schedule and got our tickets to La Spezia tomorrow. Then came back to the room to pay the owner since we'll be leaving early tomorrow. We buzzed from downstairs and he (the dad) casually just shows up and we pay and just will leave the key in their box tomorrow. So casual.
10:05pm: So around 5:30 we went down to the water to see if there'd be a visible sunset. Though it was drizzling a bit on land, there were clear skies in the distance, so we figured in a little while the sky would be quite beautiful. We wandered around a little bit. I got some money from the ATM which is just next to the Blue Marlin Bar and the hilarious guy saw me and came up and started joking. What a character. Anyway, we went back down to the breakwater and along with everyone else took tons of pictures and enjoyed the sunset. It was gorgeous and around 6:30 or so the sun was finally set. We moseyed up to the Il Pirata restaurant once again and it was almost full just before 7. They're one of the few places - maybe in all of Italy - that serves dinner starting at 6pm. Maybe it's an off-season winter thing but I doubt it. Anyway, our buddy from the morning has a brother (twin maybe?) and it was quite funny. The brother we'd seen in the morning was telling stories about what job he does when they close from December to March and which people from which cities request bacon and eggs the most (the two I remember were DC and Chicago). Anyway, I had risotto and it was pretty good. We tried to order tiramisu for dessert but he made a face at us and went into a long diatribe about how bad it is and they only make it because people requested it and how we had to have the panna cotta with strawberries. He didn't really give us a choice actually. It came out wearing a pink cocktail umbrella. It was pretty tasty but not what something chocolate would've been. Then we asked for 2 pastries to take tomorrow on the train. He was trying to convince us to come back early tomorrow morning because they'd be fresh, which is great but we explained it'd be early and we wanted to just get on the train and it'd be easier. So we got 2 nutella twists and he just gave them to us for free. He also went into a whole diatribe about how Mike's Pastry - so he's heard - has nothing on their cannoli. I'm sure that's probably true ;)
Then we came back here and looked at some of the pictures I took and watched some downloaded TV shows. Ah, stuff in English!!!!!!
Gotta go to bed early - or at least try to - tomorrow I finally see the leaning tower - and also have my first experience driving in italy - yikes! I am especially nervous since I turned on the GPS here today and couldn't get a satellite signal. Hope it's OK in Tuscany tomorrow…or else we'll be in trouble and I'll be pissed since this is the only reason I got it!!
5:00pm: sitting in the room with the windows open, listening to the sea slap against the breakwater and the people below enjoying a cloudy and drizzly but otherwise nice late afternoon while I snack on some olives.
Started the day at Il Pirata again, this morning with a croissant bisected and stuffed with nutella. Went to catch a train around 9:30 to Riomaggiore but it was delayed 25 min. So it finally came at 10 and we started there. Riomaggiore is quaint with some lovely views. There was one shop in particular where a lady made dolls out of mohair and stuff. They were adorable. I almost bought a mouse but it was small and 20 euros. Around 11:30 we went to a snack place and got some focaccia pizza. Mine was covered with a couple slices of salame. They heated it for us and we got cans of Lemon Soda and ate it outside on a bench. Around noon, we did the via dell'Amore to Manarola. It was an easy level stroll but I was not particularly thrilled with walking 20 min on the side of a cliff :) the views were quite amazing though. In Manarola, we stumbled upon a wonderful ceramic shop I'd read about and I bought a couple small things. Then we did the Rick Steves walking tour, stopping at a gelateria where I had the best dark chocolate ice cream/gelato I've ever had. From this point forward, all chocolate ice creams will unfortunately be compared against this one :( I also bought my obligatory cheesy magnets.
We made it to the top of the town to a church and some amazing views, then we did this great 20-30min or so vineyard walk which was high but not too scary. It ended in the town's cemetery which is pretty unique and interesting (I guess they all look like this). There are pictures of the person outside the tomb, which I find to be a little creepy. We made it back to town and went to the train station where we had to wait almost an hour for the train back to Vernazza. What I'll really remember about this walk is the smell - of rosemary, lemons, and grapes (even though they'd already been picked). Really amazing.
Once back, I picked up something and we went to the "Internet Point" but the internet was down. Awesome. So we went to the Blue Marlin Bar where they also have a couple computers and we checked the train schedules for going to Pisa tomorrow. The guy/owner was hilarious. I didn't even notice but I was kind of half sitting on the stool and half standing and he was like "why don't you sit with your whole ass on the chair? Do you prefer the left half of your ass to the right? I like my whole ass." We were dying of laughter. So we confirmed the train schedule and got our tickets to La Spezia tomorrow. Then came back to the room to pay the owner since we'll be leaving early tomorrow. We buzzed from downstairs and he (the dad) casually just shows up and we pay and just will leave the key in their box tomorrow. So casual.
10:05pm: So around 5:30 we went down to the water to see if there'd be a visible sunset. Though it was drizzling a bit on land, there were clear skies in the distance, so we figured in a little while the sky would be quite beautiful. We wandered around a little bit. I got some money from the ATM which is just next to the Blue Marlin Bar and the hilarious guy saw me and came up and started joking. What a character. Anyway, we went back down to the breakwater and along with everyone else took tons of pictures and enjoyed the sunset. It was gorgeous and around 6:30 or so the sun was finally set. We moseyed up to the Il Pirata restaurant once again and it was almost full just before 7. They're one of the few places - maybe in all of Italy - that serves dinner starting at 6pm. Maybe it's an off-season winter thing but I doubt it. Anyway, our buddy from the morning has a brother (twin maybe?) and it was quite funny. The brother we'd seen in the morning was telling stories about what job he does when they close from December to March and which people from which cities request bacon and eggs the most (the two I remember were DC and Chicago). Anyway, I had risotto and it was pretty good. We tried to order tiramisu for dessert but he made a face at us and went into a long diatribe about how bad it is and they only make it because people requested it and how we had to have the panna cotta with strawberries. He didn't really give us a choice actually. It came out wearing a pink cocktail umbrella. It was pretty tasty but not what something chocolate would've been. Then we asked for 2 pastries to take tomorrow on the train. He was trying to convince us to come back early tomorrow morning because they'd be fresh, which is great but we explained it'd be early and we wanted to just get on the train and it'd be easier. So we got 2 nutella twists and he just gave them to us for free. He also went into a whole diatribe about how Mike's Pastry - so he's heard - has nothing on their cannoli. I'm sure that's probably true ;)
Then we came back here and looked at some of the pictures I took and watched some downloaded TV shows. Ah, stuff in English!!!!!!
Gotta go to bed early - or at least try to - tomorrow I finally see the leaning tower - and also have my first experience driving in italy - yikes! I am especially nervous since I turned on the GPS here today and couldn't get a satellite signal. Hope it's OK in Tuscany tomorrow…or else we'll be in trouble and I'll be pissed since this is the only reason I got it!!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Cinque Terre October 22 - Blog and Pictures
including Monterosso, Corniglia, and Vernazza: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622590291715/
9:25pm: Whew, long day! Renee finally made it in around 10:30pm last night and all was well. Still was raining on and off.
This morning not long after 8, it was raining but we set off to the Il Pirata place at the top of town - it's owned by Sicilians but they make pastry there OH DO THEY MAKE PASTRY. I had a "twist" of flaky pastry and nutella and a cappuccino. It was melt in your mouth. Renee had a croissant filled with lemon cream. The problem is that they offered us a "latte" which is simply milk in Italy. They also have freshly squeezed orange juice - which is fine, but not particularly Italian I don't think. The owner or whoever was there is quite a riot and a funny guy, but I just hate that this is like an English-first town.
Just before 9 we bought tickets to go to Monterosso - the biggest and furthest north of the 5 villages - but the next train wasn't for an hour and a half. So we just wandered around Vernazza in the rain and caught the train when it came. It was raining pretty hard in Monterosso, which is the biggest most resort-y of the towns. There was the weekly market which, after Bologna's emporiums of inexpensive fresh food, was a little disappointing. We went into several shops, most of which seemed overpriced, touristy, and all selling the same thing (but which were good respites for the rain). In fact, I didn't really like Monterosso at all. There were bigger tour groups, cars, etc.
Around noon, we went to a place off the beaten track called AltraMarea, or something. I tried the troffie with pesto, which I liked more than I thought I would. The troffie was homemade and fresh, but very al dente and the pesto wasn't as "basily" as I was expecting. All in all a good meal, til we were almost done and the place FILLED UP WITH A GERMAN TOUR GROUP. Holy shit they were obnoxious and everywhere. Then we were kind of over Monterosso and the weather was bad (it thundered loudly while we were eating lunch) and we caught a 1:30 or so train to Corniglia. It was raining when the train left Monterosso and nearly sunny by the time we arrived in Corniglia 10 minutes or so later!!!!!
We had to wait about 45 min to the bus up to town, because neither of us was excited about walking 365 steps (which the sign said would take 15 minutes!!?!?!?!?!). No problem, because we weren't in a rush, and the weather was improving by the minute. So we got up to the town, which is smaller than either Vernazza or Monterosso and has more alleys and winding streets. I think we both agreed that this is why we came here, for views and towns like this. With the blue sky and puffy clouds surrounding the cliffs of vineyards and olive groves below (and the tiny town of San Bernardino up high, eek), we took tons of pictures and just took it easy meandering through the town. We were going to have a gelato break, but it was closed. So we ended up having a focaccia break instead. There was quite a selection and the owner was quite a nice fellow. We ended up having focaccia with bits of black olive and diced fresh tomatoes. He heated it up and cut it in 2 and it was AWESOME. I also introduced Renee to "Lemon Soda" which I fell in love with 2 years ago and she agreed it's AWESOME. It has 12% lemon juice and actually more lemon than sugar, so that's probably why it's so good. Anyway, it was a satisfying snack indeed. So a little more wandering and photography and we came back to Vernazza shortly after 4pm. The weather was so much nicer that I wanted to take some pictures of the same things I did yesterday since the lighting/coloring was so much better against a bright blue sky. Did that, wandered in and out of the lovely little shops, and picked up a gelato, which was creamy and delicious as always. Saw my British friends again, who also had a gelato.
Went into this art store I had spotted yesterday and I bought a print of one of his paintings. The artist was the shop owner and he signed the print for me. It was only 15 euros but I tried to pay with a credit card and it was either denied or just didn't go through - twice. So I will try again tomorrow and call CapitalOne if I have another problem. Hopefully not :( But - and you all know how much I don't really like art - the print is quite lovely indeed.
Came up to the room and took a load off for a little while before setting out around 7 for dinner. We looked at a few places and went up to the Sicilian place but it was small and already full, so we came back down and ate at Gianni Franzi, which was a bit more expensive but very nice inside with all the stone arches and good atmosphere. I had "spaghetti scarpara" - a local dish a bit like arrabiata I guess, but with oregano? It was quite tasty, and spicy!
9:25pm: Whew, long day! Renee finally made it in around 10:30pm last night and all was well. Still was raining on and off.
This morning not long after 8, it was raining but we set off to the Il Pirata place at the top of town - it's owned by Sicilians but they make pastry there OH DO THEY MAKE PASTRY. I had a "twist" of flaky pastry and nutella and a cappuccino. It was melt in your mouth. Renee had a croissant filled with lemon cream. The problem is that they offered us a "latte" which is simply milk in Italy. They also have freshly squeezed orange juice - which is fine, but not particularly Italian I don't think. The owner or whoever was there is quite a riot and a funny guy, but I just hate that this is like an English-first town.
Just before 9 we bought tickets to go to Monterosso - the biggest and furthest north of the 5 villages - but the next train wasn't for an hour and a half. So we just wandered around Vernazza in the rain and caught the train when it came. It was raining pretty hard in Monterosso, which is the biggest most resort-y of the towns. There was the weekly market which, after Bologna's emporiums of inexpensive fresh food, was a little disappointing. We went into several shops, most of which seemed overpriced, touristy, and all selling the same thing (but which were good respites for the rain). In fact, I didn't really like Monterosso at all. There were bigger tour groups, cars, etc.
Around noon, we went to a place off the beaten track called AltraMarea, or something. I tried the troffie with pesto, which I liked more than I thought I would. The troffie was homemade and fresh, but very al dente and the pesto wasn't as "basily" as I was expecting. All in all a good meal, til we were almost done and the place FILLED UP WITH A GERMAN TOUR GROUP. Holy shit they were obnoxious and everywhere. Then we were kind of over Monterosso and the weather was bad (it thundered loudly while we were eating lunch) and we caught a 1:30 or so train to Corniglia. It was raining when the train left Monterosso and nearly sunny by the time we arrived in Corniglia 10 minutes or so later!!!!!
We had to wait about 45 min to the bus up to town, because neither of us was excited about walking 365 steps (which the sign said would take 15 minutes!!?!?!?!?!). No problem, because we weren't in a rush, and the weather was improving by the minute. So we got up to the town, which is smaller than either Vernazza or Monterosso and has more alleys and winding streets. I think we both agreed that this is why we came here, for views and towns like this. With the blue sky and puffy clouds surrounding the cliffs of vineyards and olive groves below (and the tiny town of San Bernardino up high, eek), we took tons of pictures and just took it easy meandering through the town. We were going to have a gelato break, but it was closed. So we ended up having a focaccia break instead. There was quite a selection and the owner was quite a nice fellow. We ended up having focaccia with bits of black olive and diced fresh tomatoes. He heated it up and cut it in 2 and it was AWESOME. I also introduced Renee to "Lemon Soda" which I fell in love with 2 years ago and she agreed it's AWESOME. It has 12% lemon juice and actually more lemon than sugar, so that's probably why it's so good. Anyway, it was a satisfying snack indeed. So a little more wandering and photography and we came back to Vernazza shortly after 4pm. The weather was so much nicer that I wanted to take some pictures of the same things I did yesterday since the lighting/coloring was so much better against a bright blue sky. Did that, wandered in and out of the lovely little shops, and picked up a gelato, which was creamy and delicious as always. Saw my British friends again, who also had a gelato.
Went into this art store I had spotted yesterday and I bought a print of one of his paintings. The artist was the shop owner and he signed the print for me. It was only 15 euros but I tried to pay with a credit card and it was either denied or just didn't go through - twice. So I will try again tomorrow and call CapitalOne if I have another problem. Hopefully not :( But - and you all know how much I don't really like art - the print is quite lovely indeed.
Came up to the room and took a load off for a little while before setting out around 7 for dinner. We looked at a few places and went up to the Sicilian place but it was small and already full, so we came back down and ate at Gianni Franzi, which was a bit more expensive but very nice inside with all the stone arches and good atmosphere. I had "spaghetti scarpara" - a local dish a bit like arrabiata I guess, but with oregano? It was quite tasty, and spicy!
October 21 Pictures Part 2
2nd part of October 21 pictures are up - from when I arrived in Vernazza. Some of them look repetitive because there are panoramas at the end of the set. Enjoy! I'm going to post the rest of the blogs and pictures when I get home!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622711540498/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622711540498/
October 21 Blogs and Part 1 Pictures
Cheese tour pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622585466171/
And blog:
1:50pm: Train to Cinque Terre (through La Spezia) just pulled away from Parma station. Pretty empty so I have a whole little cubby of 3 seats to myself :)
So, what a morning!!!! Didn't sleep too well for some reason but woke up to the alarm at 6:30 and finished packing. Went down to Lino's Coffee (one of Italy's few chains) for a cappuccino and fresh chocolate cream-filled (and I do mean filled) croissant (for all of 2.40 euros. Eat that starbucks.)
Walked to the taxi stand about 10 min into town and was a bit earlier than I needed to be so I wandered around a bit before hopping on a taxi a little after 7:30. This was so much easier (and cheaper) than calling one. About 10 min and 12 euros later I was at the cheese dairy, called C.P.L., seemingly in the middle of nowhere yet so close to town. I must be honest, this was one of the things I was looking to most about my whole trip. I was there a bit early and soon after a group of 4 Swedes showed up, then an older American couple with their son and his Italian wife, and finally a few other people showed up. Then we were waiting for a big group of students from BC of all places. How funny. Anyway around 8:30 we went in and saw the milks (they use part skim from the day before, mixed with raw whole milk less than 2 hours old from that morning) mixing together with the rennet. It was basically a 3-man operation, and this is one of the bigger of the 400 dairies (it's a consortium of 12 milk farmers). This is simply fascinating. I took many videos and pictures to try to remember it all. We then went into the room where the cheese sits for just a couple days. In my pictures you'll see many cauldrons of milk - each one of those produces TWO WHEELS of parmigiano. That means this dairy makes about 24 wheels a day. Unbelievable. So after they sit for a few days, they sit in salt for about a month. Then they go to the warehouse where they must sit at least 8 months before they can be tested because, she explained, that's how long it takes the salt to permeate all throughout the wheel. And as this process continues, they keep losing moisture and weight (and calories and fat!). After about 1 year the cheese can be stamped with the official parmigiano-reggiano seal and can be sold with that name. In the warehouse, a machine (and sometimes by hand) brushes and flips each wheel. We got to see this unique "robot" in action. The cheese is whacked by a hammer and only is approved with the seal if it passes the test. Otherwise it gets processed or sold within Italy and stuff. This warehouse holds about 17,000 wheels of cheese when full. Then they have to send it out to the wholesalers where it sometimes finishes aging.
She explained the aging process, how it is best for the cheese to age through two summers until it develops the white spots throughout it. She said that's not salt deposits, but amino acids, which gives the cheese the complexity, smoothness, and easy digestion. Very interesting stuff.
Then we went back in the main cheese-making room where the curds and whey had sufficiently sat in the rennet and cooled and whatnot, so the three guys collected the curds in each cauldron with a huge cheese cloth, cut it into 2 pieces, then let them hang there before putting it into the wood molds. Absolutely incredible ordeal this milk goes through to become parmigiano.
Anyway, then I bought a piece of cheese (of course) - it was only about 11 euros a kilo, which is about half of what the good stuff costs in the states - plus someone said he finds it just tastes better when you buy it from the dairy (plus it directly supports these hard-working people). We also got to sample some 30 month old cheese - amazing. And everyone on the tour got a little authentic parmigiano knife! So then I asked the tour guide how I could get a taxi back. The professor from the BC students' tour heard us talking and said if I needed to go back into town I could catch a ride on their bus! AWESOME! It would've been more expensive to call a taxi to get back, because in Italy they start charging you from the moment they leave from wherever you call them, so it saved me probably close to 20 euros!
Anyway, this has to be one of the coolest experiences of my life. Forever I will respect and admire how they make this cheese - these three guys doing all the work and carrying around these approximately 100 pounds of cheese. I don’t think I can ever by "parmesan" again. It's worth it to know the amount of work and love that went into this stuff. The tour guide said that this dairy's master cheesemaker has been doing it for around 40 years. That's dedication. I'm so glad we were able to take pictures so that I can always remember this special experience.
Anyway, I got back earlier than I expected so I wandered around a bit as I meandered from where their bus stopped back to my B&B. I went back to Lino's coffee and got a hot chocolate, because it started to rain. Then I went to the pizzeria and got a margherita foccacia for all of 1.60 to tide me over til the train ride. Went to my "room" where the maid was cleaning. Got my luggage and left the money and keys on the table like Max told me to do. Hope that was sufficient as he didn't answer his door.
Bought a bus ticket and got on the 12:41 bus to the station. This ended up to be quite a pain because what seemed like an entire class of kids got on the next stop after me. Anyway, I confirmed the schedule and waited til the train came and now at 2pm here I am on the way to Cinque Terre. It wasn't really raining in Parma when I left but it is raining now on the train. Definitely out into the countryside here with beautiful scenery (would be even more beautiful under a clear blue sky but maybe not as mysterious-looking :))
2:23pm: after not being checked from Florence to Bologna, or Bologna to or from Ferrara or Bologna to Parma, or on any of the city buses I've ridden, I was FINALLY asked for my ticket. Amazing!
2:55pm: don't know where we are but it's raining pretty hard out :( Also, this is a Regional train, so it is not as fast or nearly as smooth as the high-speed trains. Blech. We're passing on ground level underneath some pretty freaking high bridges that I am really glad we're not driving over.
3:05pm: stop in Pontremoli, wherever that is. Think La Spezia's about 40 more min.
9:14pm: Whew, long afternoon. Made it to Vernazza fine. Found Piazza Marconi (hard to miss, it's the main square and there's one main street through town) and got Martina's brother, I believe. He showed me the room and everything's good to go. The room's nice, the view's wonderful, you can hear the breakwater crashing against the harbor. No tv, no phone, no internet, pretty bare bones, but very big. And up a LOT OF STEEP STAIRS. Anyway, got settled and went out and about to take some pictures and explore the little town. Had a gelato at a little place that said theirs was homemade. It was quite tasty, of course. There's a little coop supermarket and I bought a delicious-looking jar of olives from Livorno (a town near here). They look, quite frankly, awesome. I guess it's because these towns are remote (and touristy), but things are eeeeeeeexpensive here. The coop prices are a good 2 times that of what I saw in Bologna and Parma.
It's really quite gorgeous here, stunning and unique. But, the first thing I noticed was the prevalence of English. Having just come from Bologna and Parma which are not all that terribly touristy (and completely ignored by Rick Steves), it's a bit shocking to see some things in english ONLY. And almost everyone walking around is American (or secondarily, British). I can see why people come because it's so uniquely beautiful, but I can also see why a lot of people are disappointed by the "Rick Steves effect." I can only imagine what the locals think.
So it's much warmer here, but it has indeed been raining on and off. All of the hiking trails but the one "paved" one are closed, at least today. Not that that's a problem for me. The main street's lined with shops, enotecas and restaurants, pretty much. Besides some production of local agricultural products, like pasta, olive oil, wine, lemons, etc., I'm pretty sure the only industry is tourism :/
Chatted with a British guy and (I presume) his son, who've been in Vernazza several days already - said the weather only started to change this afternoon. Of course. Very nice people and we talked about the "Rick Steves effect" a bit.
Had dinner at a recommended pizzeria right next door to my hotel. I had olive pizza and it was delicious and definitely homemade - the pizza was not at all round, the crust not at all even, and just tasted homemade and cooked in a wood oven. And while olives and pizza are definitely two of my top five favorite foods, I really don't think I like them combined together that much. Anyway, it was still good. The place is really cute inside, all old and stoned with arches and whatnot. What bugs me though is that all these Americans come and that's great but, at least try to speak a few words. It's just so incredibly rude. Imagine if an Italian went into a restaurant in the US and just started speaking Italian without even asking first.
Anyway, wandered around a bit more, came back to the room, washed out a few things in the sink, and now just waiting for Renee's arrival. It should've been around now, but her train out of Pisa was delayed :(
10:05pm: I don't have much to do. Organizing and photoshopping the pics I took since I arrived in Vernazza. Day 1 with no internet or TV… 11ish more to go. Oy vey.
And blog:
1:50pm: Train to Cinque Terre (through La Spezia) just pulled away from Parma station. Pretty empty so I have a whole little cubby of 3 seats to myself :)
So, what a morning!!!! Didn't sleep too well for some reason but woke up to the alarm at 6:30 and finished packing. Went down to Lino's Coffee (one of Italy's few chains) for a cappuccino and fresh chocolate cream-filled (and I do mean filled) croissant (for all of 2.40 euros. Eat that starbucks.)
Walked to the taxi stand about 10 min into town and was a bit earlier than I needed to be so I wandered around a bit before hopping on a taxi a little after 7:30. This was so much easier (and cheaper) than calling one. About 10 min and 12 euros later I was at the cheese dairy, called C.P.L., seemingly in the middle of nowhere yet so close to town. I must be honest, this was one of the things I was looking to most about my whole trip. I was there a bit early and soon after a group of 4 Swedes showed up, then an older American couple with their son and his Italian wife, and finally a few other people showed up. Then we were waiting for a big group of students from BC of all places. How funny. Anyway around 8:30 we went in and saw the milks (they use part skim from the day before, mixed with raw whole milk less than 2 hours old from that morning) mixing together with the rennet. It was basically a 3-man operation, and this is one of the bigger of the 400 dairies (it's a consortium of 12 milk farmers). This is simply fascinating. I took many videos and pictures to try to remember it all. We then went into the room where the cheese sits for just a couple days. In my pictures you'll see many cauldrons of milk - each one of those produces TWO WHEELS of parmigiano. That means this dairy makes about 24 wheels a day. Unbelievable. So after they sit for a few days, they sit in salt for about a month. Then they go to the warehouse where they must sit at least 8 months before they can be tested because, she explained, that's how long it takes the salt to permeate all throughout the wheel. And as this process continues, they keep losing moisture and weight (and calories and fat!). After about 1 year the cheese can be stamped with the official parmigiano-reggiano seal and can be sold with that name. In the warehouse, a machine (and sometimes by hand) brushes and flips each wheel. We got to see this unique "robot" in action. The cheese is whacked by a hammer and only is approved with the seal if it passes the test. Otherwise it gets processed or sold within Italy and stuff. This warehouse holds about 17,000 wheels of cheese when full. Then they have to send it out to the wholesalers where it sometimes finishes aging.
She explained the aging process, how it is best for the cheese to age through two summers until it develops the white spots throughout it. She said that's not salt deposits, but amino acids, which gives the cheese the complexity, smoothness, and easy digestion. Very interesting stuff.
Then we went back in the main cheese-making room where the curds and whey had sufficiently sat in the rennet and cooled and whatnot, so the three guys collected the curds in each cauldron with a huge cheese cloth, cut it into 2 pieces, then let them hang there before putting it into the wood molds. Absolutely incredible ordeal this milk goes through to become parmigiano.
Anyway, then I bought a piece of cheese (of course) - it was only about 11 euros a kilo, which is about half of what the good stuff costs in the states - plus someone said he finds it just tastes better when you buy it from the dairy (plus it directly supports these hard-working people). We also got to sample some 30 month old cheese - amazing. And everyone on the tour got a little authentic parmigiano knife! So then I asked the tour guide how I could get a taxi back. The professor from the BC students' tour heard us talking and said if I needed to go back into town I could catch a ride on their bus! AWESOME! It would've been more expensive to call a taxi to get back, because in Italy they start charging you from the moment they leave from wherever you call them, so it saved me probably close to 20 euros!
Anyway, this has to be one of the coolest experiences of my life. Forever I will respect and admire how they make this cheese - these three guys doing all the work and carrying around these approximately 100 pounds of cheese. I don’t think I can ever by "parmesan" again. It's worth it to know the amount of work and love that went into this stuff. The tour guide said that this dairy's master cheesemaker has been doing it for around 40 years. That's dedication. I'm so glad we were able to take pictures so that I can always remember this special experience.
Anyway, I got back earlier than I expected so I wandered around a bit as I meandered from where their bus stopped back to my B&B. I went back to Lino's coffee and got a hot chocolate, because it started to rain. Then I went to the pizzeria and got a margherita foccacia for all of 1.60 to tide me over til the train ride. Went to my "room" where the maid was cleaning. Got my luggage and left the money and keys on the table like Max told me to do. Hope that was sufficient as he didn't answer his door.
Bought a bus ticket and got on the 12:41 bus to the station. This ended up to be quite a pain because what seemed like an entire class of kids got on the next stop after me. Anyway, I confirmed the schedule and waited til the train came and now at 2pm here I am on the way to Cinque Terre. It wasn't really raining in Parma when I left but it is raining now on the train. Definitely out into the countryside here with beautiful scenery (would be even more beautiful under a clear blue sky but maybe not as mysterious-looking :))
2:23pm: after not being checked from Florence to Bologna, or Bologna to or from Ferrara or Bologna to Parma, or on any of the city buses I've ridden, I was FINALLY asked for my ticket. Amazing!
2:55pm: don't know where we are but it's raining pretty hard out :( Also, this is a Regional train, so it is not as fast or nearly as smooth as the high-speed trains. Blech. We're passing on ground level underneath some pretty freaking high bridges that I am really glad we're not driving over.
3:05pm: stop in Pontremoli, wherever that is. Think La Spezia's about 40 more min.
9:14pm: Whew, long afternoon. Made it to Vernazza fine. Found Piazza Marconi (hard to miss, it's the main square and there's one main street through town) and got Martina's brother, I believe. He showed me the room and everything's good to go. The room's nice, the view's wonderful, you can hear the breakwater crashing against the harbor. No tv, no phone, no internet, pretty bare bones, but very big. And up a LOT OF STEEP STAIRS. Anyway, got settled and went out and about to take some pictures and explore the little town. Had a gelato at a little place that said theirs was homemade. It was quite tasty, of course. There's a little coop supermarket and I bought a delicious-looking jar of olives from Livorno (a town near here). They look, quite frankly, awesome. I guess it's because these towns are remote (and touristy), but things are eeeeeeeexpensive here. The coop prices are a good 2 times that of what I saw in Bologna and Parma.
It's really quite gorgeous here, stunning and unique. But, the first thing I noticed was the prevalence of English. Having just come from Bologna and Parma which are not all that terribly touristy (and completely ignored by Rick Steves), it's a bit shocking to see some things in english ONLY. And almost everyone walking around is American (or secondarily, British). I can see why people come because it's so uniquely beautiful, but I can also see why a lot of people are disappointed by the "Rick Steves effect." I can only imagine what the locals think.
So it's much warmer here, but it has indeed been raining on and off. All of the hiking trails but the one "paved" one are closed, at least today. Not that that's a problem for me. The main street's lined with shops, enotecas and restaurants, pretty much. Besides some production of local agricultural products, like pasta, olive oil, wine, lemons, etc., I'm pretty sure the only industry is tourism :/
Chatted with a British guy and (I presume) his son, who've been in Vernazza several days already - said the weather only started to change this afternoon. Of course. Very nice people and we talked about the "Rick Steves effect" a bit.
Had dinner at a recommended pizzeria right next door to my hotel. I had olive pizza and it was delicious and definitely homemade - the pizza was not at all round, the crust not at all even, and just tasted homemade and cooked in a wood oven. And while olives and pizza are definitely two of my top five favorite foods, I really don't think I like them combined together that much. Anyway, it was still good. The place is really cute inside, all old and stoned with arches and whatnot. What bugs me though is that all these Americans come and that's great but, at least try to speak a few words. It's just so incredibly rude. Imagine if an Italian went into a restaurant in the US and just started speaking Italian without even asking first.
Anyway, wandered around a bit more, came back to the room, washed out a few things in the sink, and now just waiting for Renee's arrival. It should've been around now, but her train out of Pisa was delayed :(
10:05pm: I don't have much to do. Organizing and photoshopping the pics I took since I arrived in Vernazza. Day 1 with no internet or TV… 11ish more to go. Oy vey.
Parma October 20 Pictures and I'm Back!
Hello all! Back on the internet in Florence for one last day. Had a wonderful time in Cinque Terre and Tuscany and I will be getting everything I've written and photographed posted as soon as I can, I hope! To start, here are pictures of Parma from Oct. 20 - Beautiful city! http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157622585379989/
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