Giulia Scarpaleggia

AT) Your blog is not only beautiful but provides delicious recipes. How long have you been writing it, and what factors inspire you to write (ie. how do you come up with the recipe or post ideas?)

GS) I started my blog on the 1st day of February 2009, so it’s almost three years now. I started a blog, after mo

re than one year of passionate foodblog reading, because I wanted something to call mine, a place to post recipes, photos and my thoughts about daily life.

At the beginning I was into foreign and ethnic food, so I was inspired by this desire to experiment whatever was far from my daily culinary world.

Then I started to feel the urge to explore the world that everyone – especially those abroad – loves, and where I had the good fate to live: Tuscany. So back to home cooking and family recipes, to discover my roots and my smell and taste memories.

Now my focus is the ingredient. I look for fresh, seasonal, preferably local produce. I’m not a fanatic or a control freak, but my aim is to use the best products of the season, and from there to develop a recipe.

Usually each recipe is related to a story, and the story is inspired by my life, my dreams or my memories of the childhood. I’m quite a romantic person!

Mac and cheese, click for her awesome recipe!

2) Tell us about the services you are now offering in person, beyond the blog.

My first cooking class for foreigners dates back to 2006, and it was a way to spend a different evening with an American friend. I realized there was something special in cooking together with people belonging to different food cultures because it gave us the chance to understand us better, and I managed to show to the fullest what my region was through ingredients and cooking rituals. This is the main reason I enjoy teaching cooking classes.

Now my basic offer is a three hour hands-on cooking class during which we have the chance to create a complete menu, from appetizer to dessert, using only the freshest seasonal ingredients. Every dish is usually introduced by a family story or a local tradition, because this is how I learned to cook, listening to my grandma’s or mum’s stories in the kitchen and watching their movements among pots and pans. The class  can be held in my family kitchen, located in a traditional country house in the heart of the Tuscan countryside, between Siena and Florence or, by request, in a rented villa or apartment.

Along with cooking classes there is also the option to take tours to a local cheese farm, a beautiful and rustic organic podere, and a farming estate producing Chianti Classico wine, Extravirgin Olive Oil, and raising the rare Cinta Senese pigs.

I’m also organizing two week long tours with the Art centre Verrocchio in Casole d’Elsa (Siena), with three hands-on cooking classes, daily trips to markets and local farms, to have a firsthand experience of our production: wine, extra virgin olive oil, goat cheese and pecorino cheese, Chianina, Cinta senese and seasonal vegetables.

The last idea I had was inspired by my friends’ requests: a custom cooking class. Juls’ Kitchen on Demand was the solution:  you choose the theme of the class, you call me and I arrive directly at your doorstep with my car loaded with pots, pans and supplies. I just need a kitchen that may contain from 5 up to 10 people and some basic equipment, the rest is up to me!

zucchini!

3) You’ve taken a big risk during a moment of crises. What makes you think that this business will work?

My dreams, my hopes and a sturdy faith in fairytales!

This is how I face my life, if I have a dream I do all that I can to realize it, and my dream is to have an independent job related to food: cooking food, teaching how to cook food, writing about food and taking pictures of food.

In this serious moment the old style secure jobs are even more impossible to obtain, I think the solution is to invest time, strength and sleepless hours to discover and pursue your passion, because it’s the only richness that doesn’t lose value!

Besides this, you need planning: I’ve been blogging for three years now and teaching cooking classes for more than one year as a second job. So, when my primary job ended I was not left alone in the dark, I had already contacts, skills and ideas for the future, now I have also the time to turn them into reality.

Last but not least, I live in Tuscany and I love Tuscany. Isn’t it one of the best places in the world to deal with food?

4) Big dreams or plans for the future?

My aim is to become a food writer along with a cooking class teacher, because I re-discovered after so many years how I love to write, I’m actually in love with words, and I feel a powerful energy when I tap on my keyboard, telling stories, recipes and episodes related to food. Maybe I am just a wordy person, but, seriously, I feel the urge to write!

Next to my literary ambitions, have I ever told you I love England? Yep, I love England, London, English humour, the English people and even the English rain, oh, and Jamie Oliver as well! So one of my big plans is to teach a few Tuscan cooking classes in England, once in a while, but I’m still working on this project!

5) As you know, I recently failed at making gnocchi. When I sign up for a gnocchi making lesson with you, what vegetarian menu would you propose to go around them?

It will depend on the season, because I strictly use seasonal produce, but there could be a soup – ribollita, pappa al pomodoro, acquacotta, panzanella -, a raw salad with nuts and honey, some roasted vegetables or a vegetable flan (I love spinach flan!), and obviously a dessert, from tiramisu to tiny rice cakes, my favourite as a child.

Catch up with Giulia at her blog Juls’ Kitchen or book a lesson by emailing her at juls@julskitchen.com. I wish her all the best and look forward to our vegetarian cooking lesson!

If you got here because you follow the Italy Bloggers Roundtable, you will know that the topic of the September post is “back to school“. This topic had caused me no small amount of grief, because for the first year in my whole life, this Fall I am not attending or teaching school, and I am pretty thrilled about this. However, I could not cop out and just write something about the study abroad process that I experienced or taught. This was not current enough for me, and furthermore, I am here at table with people who will go to any length for a post, including faking the ability to ride a Vespa. So I had to take the theme of “learning” away from my immediate idea of the traditional classroom, but also from the idea that learning starts in September. We learn new things every day (there is a platitude for ya), and can start a conscious course of learning whenever we want, especially if it is something as flexible as taking up a sport. So, I said, why start in September when I can learn something in August? But what can I do while I am on holiday in Maremma? And so here we are.

Windsurfing looks really cool and easy when you watch people who are good at it. My only previous experience with the sport, however, was enough to leave me with a lifetime scar… At a scrawny age ten, sent to a rustic Canadian summer camp in which water sports and living in a tent were meant to strengthen character if not muscles, they attempted to teach me to windsurf. They also attempted to inculcate in me a love of sailing, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, and god knows what else, but the only sport I liked was archery, in part because wild strawberries grew in the brush nearby (the mess hall was famous for taco night and Tang instead of water…). On a positive note, I excelled at arts and crafts. Anyway, all I remember about windsurfing is a complete inability to get the sail out of the water. Tug tug tug… And if I was lucky it would come up for a moment, only to tip me backwards and whomp me on the head. 25 years have passed and I have been going to the gym. I am sure I can do better now. Right?

There is a surf school at Riva del Sole, just a ten minute walk down the beach at Castiglione della Pescaia from where we usually park our rear ends. Determined as I was to take up this impressive sport, I sought out a crew of sporty types so we could egg each other on. My husband Tommaso, his brother Gianluca, and my sister in law Laura signed up with me for the six hour beginners’ course. This is usually taught in the morning because the wind always picks up here in the afternoon. However, that slot was taken, leaving us with a 3pm lesson.

My windsurf experience, day by day

The "quattro ragazzi" are ready to learn using "The Simulator" (from left, Gianluca, Laura, Tommaso, and Gherardo the instructor)

Day 1 of windsurfing dawned, windy and wavy. In a fit of cowardice, I phoned to ask if they really intended to send us out in this weather. Sure, they said. We walked over, being blown strongly in the direction of Lampedusa, and I was pretty worried. We started out with 40 minutes of theory explained by the instructor in the blazing sun of mid afternoon, of which I understood about 20%, not being particularly drawn to theories of fluid dynamics and physics (although they were not put to us in this complex language, but to me it was all Greek. If I don’t DO it, I just don’t get it).

On land it is perfectly easy. Why not in water?

Into the water we went. To my surprise I was able to lift the sail out of the water! Okay, it said “kiddie” on it, but never mind. The second step was to stand in a T position and get the wind to take you in one direction, then execute what is called a “virata” to turn around and come back. I am pleased to say that I did stand up and move in essentially the right direction, but getting back was more challenging, resulting in swimming, which I still dread from my camp days. All in all though, I had no big falls and was not particularly sore after this first experience. We booked for the next lesson.

Day 2, morning. The water was a calm turquoise mirror and there was no wind. Perfect to learn, properly now, how to do the basic moves required of any windsurfer! We, known now as “I quattro ragazzi”, were joined by Silvia, a 20-something roman psychologist who became an important element of our group. I pretty much got it. Windsurfing with no wind or waves is fun!

Day 3, afternoon. It is so cold and windy that we manage to cancel the lesson first thing in the morning, and reschedule for the next day, which proved not much better. The wind was blowing from land out to sea, and in these cases you don’t go out, unless it is at sufficient angle to ensure that you can come back without a helicopter. Lucky us, it was at an appropriate angle, so lesson went ahead as planned. We had Luca, the boss, as our instructor, so by the end of class all of us managed to stand up, go out, turn around and come back, the latter being the most difficult part since waves and current united to make our life just suck. For the better part of an hour, I swam, and cursed. At one point a kayak rescued me. But. exhilarated by success achieved only in the last 3 seconds of class, we signed up for more torture.

Day 4 looked a lot like day 3, only I was given a taller sail. I must be really promising! This one is three meters tall and does not say “kiddie” on it. Tommaso is heading towards the pro category, and towards the island of Elba… Silvia is doing quite well. Laura appears skilled, though all of us girls have a defensive tendency to stay hunched, looking way less cool than we should (with butts sticking out), and resulting in sore backs.

Me (green sail) demonstrating how NOT to stand on a windsurf (my butt should not stick out!)

Then, tragedy! Our instructor is stung by a jellyfish, right on his private parts. Jellyfish?! Oh, sheisse! Five were spotted in various zones, and with the drift, waves, and wind, those areas of water were impossible to avoid. Gianluca was the next to succumb, and did not come back out for more surfing. I vowed to stay on the board at all costs so as not to get stung. As a result I took some very impressive wipeouts. Out of complete desperation, I managed to pull off a “strambata“, an advanced move that I shall not attempt to explain but that is the best sounding word in Italian windsurf vocabulary. In the end, Tommaso and I were the only ones not to get stung, he because he is really good at the sport and so stayed on the board, and I out of pure luck. Sore, bruised, and 50% stung, the quattro ragazzi decided to take two days off to recoup and hope the wind changes.

Day 5. Finally the weather decided to cooperate and provide us with pretty ideal wind for our level; unfortunately Laura and Gianluca had to defect as the former had a fever. Today was a kind of turning point for me. I actually never felt frustrated. Luca assigned us a task which we doggedly attempted to execute and I have to say that I did much better. It is all in the position of the body – once you are confident to stand up and lean back, another world opens up!

Tommaso (pink sail) tries to avoid running into me as I float around aimlessly

By Day 6 I was using a decent sized sail and not killing myself to hold it up and stay on my feet. I was having so much fun that I booked a seventh lesson, just Silvia and I, and we moved up to an intermediate board that I liked better, and a 4 meter high sail. We were even pretty unphased by the jellyfish, which we would sail over and shout out “don’t fall!” to each other. I still have a long way to go, but I can say that I’ve gotten the basics of windsurfing in a short period of time, and I have good intentions of continuing this sport.

What I learned

Enzo, my father in law, with his sailboat

The choice of doing an activity of any sort on our holiday, beyond the usual routine of beaching, dipping, and playing beach racquetball, made a decisive change in the whole family’s vacanza. For us “quattro ragazzi”, days revolved around the timing of lessons, and conversation often veered to discussion of winds and practical demonstrations of these theories. But even more interestingly, my father in law, perhaps inspired by our burst of energy, decided to go to the same school for sailing lessons, with the goal of getting his certificate in this.

I learned that starting a challenge like this is best done with loved ones. I learned the hard way that surfboards rub your arms and knees until they turn into a bleeding rash, and that the impact of a body on water can cause bruising. I learned at least ten specialized words in Italian, the vocabulary of windsurfing that will, for me, always be in this language (and so I refused Luca’s offer to tell me the terms in English).

And finally, I learned that what is already pretty great – a family vacation in a place that we all love – can be made even better if we put our minds to it, collaborate, and decide to do something different.

We also got a sage life lesson: “Don’t look at your feet, look out at what’s ahead!” If you think about it, this can be useful advice in a lot of situations.

Where to windsurf in Tuscany

I asked Luca, head of RDS watersports in Castiglione Della Pescaia, to tell me what are the other best places to windsurf in Tuscany. Here are his answers, from south to north along our coast.

• Talamone, in southern Maremma, presents a protected bay with large beach and a good range of winds appropriate for all levels of windsurfers.
• Marina di Grosseto, known for its wind, has an excellent surf school, and is home to Alessandra Sensini, Italian wave champion.
• Just up the coast from there, Fiumara beach is known for kitesurfing.
• San Vincenzo and Vada are also good, though more so known for (wave) surfing, particularly in the winter months.

Italy Blogging Roundtable – September edition

Here are the other posts in the roundtable on the topic of “Back to school”:

• Jessica’s What I’ve Learned from Italy
• Melanie’s On Getting Lost in Italy
• Gloria’s Back to school… or maybe not
• and Rebecca’s Back to School: Lessons Learned the Hard Way

And if you missed them, check out my contributions to the topics of Favourite work of Art, Driving in Italy, and Why I write about Italy, at the bottom of each of which you will find links to the other contributors’ posts. Thanks for reading!

The more famous Giuseppe Mazzini

If you’ve been reading about the 150 year celebrations here in Italy you will know that Giuseppe Mazzini was an important revolutionary. Well, he is also a farmer with property at one end of the Lattaia, a country road not far from Sticciano, and one of seven brothers who are all farmers (though this I found out later). I have been admiring his peach trees as they change with the seasons, and especially as they recently bore plenty of fruit that looked quite ready to eat. At the same time, another of his fields presented some lovely sunflowers, which I stopped to photograph (and posted on this blog). As luck would have it, the farmer pulled into his driveway, which we had blocked with our car, while I was snapping pics, so I complimented him on his sunflowers and asked him about his peaches. He said that he’d have happily sold me some but they were not ripe, however that he sends them over to a central collection area when they are ready. He then described how to find this place. For good measure, we exchanged names. I will certainly not forget his.

What I will call the “centro raccolta agricoltori” is the first middleman in the area’s farm product distribution system. It is located on the road that takes you from Montemassi to the fiera area near Braccagni, along the vecchia Aurelia, and is owned by one of the Mazzini brothers. I have added it to foursquare for your convenience. This centre concentrates, apparently, on just a few fruits, and has a monopoly on peaches, including signor Mazzini’s. These can be had at 5 euros per case, ie around 80 cents per kilo! It is open to the public Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 3pm to 7pm. (Click this button to see where it’s located.)

Loaded with peaches, we asked the signora where to get vegetables, and she said to go to her sister’s just one street over. Here, there are actually two farms that will sell you whatever is on hand. On the left is the larger and cheaper of the two, and at key afternoon hours you are likely to see other customers outside this large warehouse. In august prices are very low, everything about 80 cents or a euro per kilo, and Rita generously rounds down the price while chatting you up. We got a bit of everything, from onions to watermelon that you can see growing in the field right there. They provide to stores and supermarkets in the area, and sell a few things on the side to passing customers. As they don’t have cold storage, everything is picked and sold same day, which means you get real sun-ripened tomatoes. If you don’t see what you want, ask, and you will learn when it grows, or perhaps they’ll step out back and pick some for you. The exact location can be found now on Foursquare. (Click this button to see where it’s located.)

It’s a pleasure to know of these resources now, as we’ve been eating well, and cheaply too!

We opted for the luxury of a stabilimento (bathing establishment), preferring to pay for the beach in order to have parking, bathroom, umbrella and lounge chairs. There is, however, free parking in the woods (if you arrive before 10am and snag a spot) and plenty of free beach around. The strong wind at this beach makes it difficult to make an umbrella stay put, so bring a sun tent or if you’re the type who likes to tan, this is the place for you.

The stabilimento in this area is called Fiumara Beach and is known for its excellent fish restaurant and particularly nice decoration. It is beautiful and the staff is friendly; umbrella costs 25 euros per day. The bar serves take out food while the restaurant has fancier fare. Open also at dinner a full meal with wine will run 50 euros pp. The down side of this, as a beach spot, is that there is only one bathroom and it’s the only one for many miles around, so beyond servicing clients of this bathing establishment, users of the free beach for miles around come to the bar and bathroom.

Fiumara beach bar

The beach at this point of Marina is sandy and very deep, with the pine forest behind you and a long stretch to either side great for a long walk at water’s edge. Marina is known for its wind, which means that the water tends to get less clear and more sandy, with some floating algae, in the afternoons. This also means that it’s perfect for wind water sports!

At 3pm the kitesurfers came out in droves, like a flock of birds who all know when to fly south together. Kites of every colour filled the sky, attached to surfers of various levels who either zipped or hesitantly floated along the water’s surface. Some tugged on their strings to perform impressive jumps. Here’s a video, my apologizies for the quality but all i had with me was my cell phone.

Given the heavy traffic in the water, you probably wonder how the kitesurfers manage to not collide or get their strings mixed up. In fact we saw two such incidents, which cause the kites involved to come crashing down. In one case this happened scarily close to the water’s edge and two kites smacked down right near a family that was swimming. For this reason I would stay out of the water while this sport is being performed nearby, and you need to stay alert even if you’re on the beach near the edge, too.

How to get there: Getting to Fiumara is not entirely obvious. You need to take the coastal road between Castiglione della Pescaia and Marina di Grosseto. The access road is not indicated on the map but you can see it in satellite view. It is a sandy road that cuts through the pine forest. The road is a right turn from the main road if you’re driving south towards Grosseto. If you’re driving north, you’ll need to go over the bridge and make a U-turn to enter.

View Fiumara in a larger map

Sunrise from sticciano facing northeast

Every culture has its expressions for why you should wake up early. In Italian it’s “la mattina ha l’oro in bocca” (morning has gold in the air – they haven’t smelled my breath, apparently) and “chi dorme non prende pesce”. The latter about not catching fish is their equivalent of the English “the early bird catches the worm,” an expression with some disegard to the human preference for fish over worms. Then there is my maternal grandfather’s favourite, “the beggar’s already in the next town,” which was said to me as a child around 7am and is likely a direct translation of something in Hungarian.

A recent study by the sleep center at the Ospedale delle Molinette di Torino revealed that the average weekday alarm clock in Italy is set for 6:49am. Tommaso and I are happy to learn that we are completely average, as ours is set for 6:50, so my internal clock makes my eyes pop open at 6:49, even on weekends. We are known to use the snooze button a few times, but sometimes I’ve actually rested enough to get up right away. Which is what I did this morning. And it’s a dang good thing.

There are lots of things you can do in the morning if you get up early enough. How much depends on where you are in life, for if you have a young child you’re likely taking care of him or her right away. As we don’t, I find the morning perfect for long emails to my mom, inspired blog posts, quiet time to prepare the next lesson or lecture I have to give, or other seated activities.

But when it’s suddenly summer, the outdoors beckons. This morning at 6:49 I looked out the window from our “cottage” in Maremma and saw that the sky was pinkish. Perhaps had I gotten up even earlier it’d have been more spectacular, but nonetheless I tossed on sweats and ran out with my camera. Our little town of Sticciano is on a hilltop so I walked around the “loop” required to record the sunrise from each cardinal direction. Here are my results.

In the west, pointing towards the sea, fog was creeping in and reflecting the sunrise behind me.

Sunrise from sticciano facing northeast

Looking through a hole in a rock directly at the sun coming up

Pointing east

What do you do with that little gift of time to yourself in the morning?

PS the cats were still dozing…

Hermitage of San Guglielmo a Malavalle

They say that the voyage is just as important as getting there. I think “they” must be using this expression metaphorically, because frankly I like to have a destination. And when I get there, especially if I’ve made a supreme physical effort to do so, I’m going in no matter what.

Today’s destination was the ruins of the Hermitage of San Guglielmo a Malavalle, just 6 km outside of Castiglione della Pescaia in Maremma. I found this in the listings of pieve’s and churches in Maremma on the official tourism website, which provided “Loc. Malavalle” as the address. Unknown to Google maps and Bing, we found unconvincing directions on a website called abbazie.com. It was this author’s description of the way to the abbey that clinched the deal:

The ruins of the Abbey of Malavalle are situated in the comune of Castiglione della Pescaia in the locality of the same name. If you’ve never been there before, getting there is not easy since this requires taking a path alongside the comunal acqueduct of Castiglione for a while until one finds the secluded abbey. To get to this path, at the roundabout at Castiglione take the road on the right towards the artisans’ area, for about 2km until you reach an unpaved road. Here you’ll arrive at the first farm where you will leave the car and follow the acqueduct. The probability of getting lost is very high.

High probability of getting lost. Right on. What could be better on a sunny February’s day with a high of 18 degrees? So we packed cookies and water and put on our hiking shoes.

Sometimes when you want to get totally lost, you can be severely disappointed. There were signs for the hermitage right away on the first road away from the main roundabout at Castiglione! The road was paved and more signs led us to the final farm at which we were to park. There was a lovely sign indicating the hiking path to follow – with English translation! – and the path was nicely maintained and reassuringly indicated with signs the whole way.

Trail sign

No swarms of tourists, however, appeared to be following these signs. Nor was there a paved parking lot or restrooms, so it seemed promising. We set out on the packed earth trail, the sun warming the morning air and the sky a ridiculously strong blue. The first part of the path runs alongside open fields, and soon you find the ruins of an old stone acqueduct on your left. After a few minutes we ran into a group of friendly horseback riders with whom we confirmed directions to the abbey. They said rather dubiously that it’s a good three kilometers walk uphill. I guess we don’t look that fit.

Horseback riders greet us at the start of the path

The path is indeed 3.2 kilometers long from the first sign to the abbey, and goes 225 meters uphill. The terrain is easy packed earth, with a few opportunities to cross shallow streams. At the halfway point there is a mill (and picnic tables), after which it gets more rocky and the pitch gets steeper. Although you’re walking mostly in the woods, it’s not very thick so the sun shines through in many areas. This path continues another 3km beyond the abbey in the direction of Tirli, though that part is steeper.

Hermitage of San Guglielmo a Malavalle

The hike to the hermitage was certainly a major part of today’s fun, but arriving at the Abbey was our goal. It’s not at all cool when you hike an hour uphill to find a metal fence and a restoration sign around the ruin you intend to visit. The sign says restoration began in 2005 and was to end in 2006, and cost 86,000 euros. An amount that was barely enough to change the roof, it appears, for the restorers seem long gone.

The hidden hermitage of san guglielmo

Have no fear. While I don’t encourage trespassing, we did opt to enter the closed ruins, which appeared to be perfectly safe. Two parts of the fence had been very purposefully removed, in one case by someone who had clearly brought a large tool with which to do so. When trespassing in unsafe buildings, be sure not to enter any closed areas with unsafe looking arches that might collapse on you at any minute, and step carefully so as to not fall into holes. We did see what appear to be human bones inside the church…

San Guglielmo was a 12th century saint who, after various pilgrimages that brought him from his native France to Italy, retreated in Hermitage here in Tuscany. He is said to have slayed a dragon in the woods near Castiglione della Pescaia which means we can now hike safely without risk of dragon bites or burns (the only wildlife we saw was a field mouse). Malavalle became the main house of the order that this saint founded. The small church with a rounded apse dates to the 13th century, and the abbey appears to be annexed at one side. While it prospered for centuries, the order abandoned this location in the 15th century; kept by the Agostinian order until the 17th century, it’s been falling into ruin ever since. The recent restoration appears to be mainly consolidation and the new roof over the church.

Guglielmo’s saint day is February 10th but the locals celebrate him with a procession from Castiglione to the hermitage only on the second Sunday of May – probably because not every February is as warm as it was today!

On our way back down I reflected upon the medieval nature of the path we followed… probably it wasn’t all that different a thousand years ago, when sandaled monks hiked alongside the river whenever they needed supplies from neighbouring Castiglione, braving dragons and invading armies.

Who’s going to be the mayor of Malavalle? I added the venue on Foursquare:

I noticed a huge flock of birds stopped on a wire over this field, just as the sun peaked through the clouds. As I focused on them, they took flight, resulting in this photo.

Last weekend we were in Maremma and it was “variable” weather (grey skies, occasional rain) but we could see that things were clearer on the coast so we went for a walk on the beach at Castiglione della Pescaia. It was 15 degrees celcius and for a moment the sun came out. I love driftwood and flotsam and jetsam, and the healthy sea air. I also love the way the sea gurgles up on these rocks and the fact that I finally have the right camera to capture it.

Water on rocks in winter on a beach in Tuscany

Picture data: Shutter speed 1/4000; aperture F4; iso 800; focal length 32mm

PS: This photo was the runner up.

Foursquare is a location-based service and game that allows individual users to “check in” to places via a mobile application and receive tips – and sometimes special offers – for that location. Foursquare offers select institutions (from the History Channel to the New York Times) a customized branded page that users can “follow” to get tips and sometimes win badges.

The potential of branded pages for tourism was recognized early on by Explore Chicago, the first DMO (Destination Marketing Organization) to partner with Foursquare back in February 2010. They were followed by Visit PA in May of the same year; the first in Europe was Welcome to Yorkshire (September 1 2010).

Visit Tuscany launched its Foursquare page on October 1 2010, making it the first DMO in Italy to have one, and one of the first 10 in the world. Says Michela Simoncini, one of the channel’s administrators and a member of the social media team:

“We are constantly looking for new ways to interact with our visitors. Foursquare is pretty new in Italy but we’re all “tech geeks” here in the office and we see a lot of potential in the app. We hope that the tips we’re adding on Foursquare can help steer tourists towards the artistic and gastronomic excellencies of our region.”

Foursquare has a captive audience with the growing worldwide market of smartphone users – 29.7% in the USA and 28% in Italy according to recent Nielsen data; 4.5 million of these are already on Foursquare, and the Visit Tuscany team expects to see numbers in Italy (where it is still very much a niche market) grow quickly.

As of December 2010, Visit Tuscany has 1600 followers on its branded page and people have “done” 300 of the tips, from sampling street food in Florence to looking at Renaissance frescoes in Arezzo.

Source: I wrote this press release for Visit Tuscany using information gathered for my talk at the recent Girl Geek Dinners Toscana.

Blessed are the Cheese Makers

In one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever come across, near Pienza in the Val d’Orcia in Southern Tuscany, there is a farm that makes one of the most heavenly things on earth: cheese. Real cheese. Cheese that speaks to you of a place and the people who made it.

Pecorino cheese has long been famous in these parts. It gets its name from the word pecora, Italian for “sheep” as it is, unsurprisingly, made from sheep’s milk. There are many kinds of pecorino made traditionally throughout Italy, varying from region to region and sheep to sheep, the most famous ones being Pecorino Romano (from Rome), Pecorino Sardo (Sardinian) and Pecorino Toscano. In the Tuscan variety, Pecorino di Pienza is one of the most prized, traditional cheeses and was apparently even a favourite of Lorenzo the Magnificent. That said, Pecorino di Pienza is hardly produced these days as it was during Lorenzo’s time. Today much of it is sadly made with imported and pasteurised milk, creating a standard but rather characterless cheese, but there are a few artisan cheese makers who still strive to make it what it once was – a unique cheese that bears the character of the place it was made.

So I’ve come to taste some real pecorino and have a lesson on how to make it and ended up on a gorgeous property that sits atop a hill overlooking the entire Val d’Orcia and even Pienza itself. It’s a rustic, down to earth, organic farm called Podere Il Casale, run by a Swiss family who transplanted themselves here 20 years ago.

One thing that we often forget is that real, traditional cheese making is at the mercy of nature – the product itself has a life cycle that follows the cycle of the animal. Usually pecorino is made from Christmas time until the beginning of spring, when the farmer is able to get milk from the ewes. It’s right now the beginning of November, the wrong season for making pecorino (in fact the ewes have just given birth to their lambs just days ago so are rightfully fully occupied). The goats, however, more adaptable creatures that they are, have enough milk for us to make caprino – a beautiful, fresh goat cheese.

We start with a tub of five litres of unpasteurised goat’s milk gathered that morning to make around one kilo of cheese. To it is added rennet – in this case, calf’s rennet – to coagulate the milk, separating the milk proteins into curds and whey.

Ulisse, our cheese maker, explains that traditionally, if we were making a pecorino cheese, we could use a vegetable rennet known as presciura in Valdorcian dialect. Essentially it is a cardoon or wild artichoke with a purple coloured thistle-like top that grows sporadically all over the farm, and once grew all over the surrounding valleys. The spiky thistle is picked in full bloom, air dried and then infused like a tea to use for cheese making.

This, together with the naturally growing herbs and shrubs of the valley that the sheep graze on, gives the cheese its unique texture and character. Ulisse reminds us again of the role of nature in producing cheese – the local diet of the sheep affects the flavour and quantity of milk, when and for how long it is produced and in the end, the richness and quality of the cheese. Even though he’s a Swiss native, Ulisse is passionate about making cheese the way it has been made here for centuries.

As we sit there, listening to Ulisse recount the history of the local cheese and its traditional techniques, our goats cheese is showing that it is well and truly a live thing, growing and changing even as we speak. The curds are solidifying, transforming, taking on a silken tofu-like texture.

We try a few spoonfuls of the curds to taste – silky with a gloriously creamy texture. We take a sip of the whey; it is slightly sweet and delicious. Full of protein and very nutritious, whey is used to feed animals, make sports drinks or a reviving summertime drink when mixed with a little juice and even makes for a great skin treatment for those who want to bathe in it. In other culinary uses, cooking it longer simply makes ricotta.

Most of today’s pecorino di Pienza is now a shadow of its former self, as its popularity has turned it into a factory product available year round rather than the cheese that Tuscan grandmothers in the area may remember. Milk imported from Spain or France now takes away the unique character that the local grasses and sheep of this valley added; importation and factory standards mean the milk is usually pasteurised, zapping it of bacteria and, many argue, the flavour. Depletion of the local presciura, the wild artichoke, to use as rennet means that more often it is made with another kind of rennet. All this, plus the fact that most cheese makers in the area are no longer Tuscan but mostly Sardinian, who bring in their own local traditions to the mix (Sardinian pecorino for example is usually made with animal rennet), means presciura is hardly ever an ingredient in pecorino di Pienza anymore. These factors were what once gave this cheese its stamp of uniqueness and character.

While our goat cheese gets moved into forms, drained and left to continue its transformation, we visit the cheese making rooms, the fridges and the cheese pantry – and the smell of deliciously ageing cheese fills our nostrils. The rounds of pecorino are left to mature until they take on a crumbly texture and deep flavour. There are terracotta vases holding rounds of maturing pecorino nestled in straw, and shelves of rounds covered in various stages of tastiness, er, mould. There is even a barrel full of the dregs of the local Avignonesi vineyard from Montepulciano (the leftover skins and stems of the grapes, usually used to make grappa) that are soon to become the home of more rounds of pecorino, to impart an unusual flavour and beautiful deep purple colour to the crust of the cheese.

We of course also visit the sheep themselves and even meet the day old lambs that have stolen our sheep’s milk. Raised without any type of antibiotics and treated with homeopathy, these are some gorgeous sheep. A Sardinian breed (they were introduced to the area as far back as the 19^th century), the sheep are smaller than the local breed used to be, but hardier.

By the time we get back to our goat cheese, it is ready to be sliced and served for lunch with some freshly baked spelt bread and a tasting of five of the farm’s other cheeses, including three exquisite pecorino cheeses, from a smooth, younger cheese to a sharper, crumbly aged round. Drizzled simply with some extra virgin olive oil, so fresh it’s bright green, and sprinkled with chilli, our freshly made goat cheese is delicate, slightly sweet-acidic and oh so rich and creamy.

There I am at the farm, relaxing with a glass of local wine and my plate full of cheese, including the one we made that morning. And there, surrounded by farm animals, peacocks and the Val d’Orcia’s stunning backdrop seeped in autumn colours and Pienza winking at me from the next hill, I realise that there’s no doubt this cheese is even more divine because it’s eaten right here, in situ, and has only travelled from the barn door to the farmhouse. I suggest you try it.

Emiko Davies is a former paper restorer who now writes about the things she loves – food and travel, mostly in Tuscany. Keep an eye out for her upcoming food blog – I’ll let you know when it’s out. The photos are all hers and used by permission; they are protected by copyright.

You might like these related posts: How to make pecorino cheese (video); Take the kids to an organic farm; art history in the town of Pienza.

MY gnocchi.

There are a lot of ingredients that go into a marvelous meal: good friends, warm atmosphere, excellent service, truffles… I had all of this and more at Locanda nel Cassero in Civitella Marittima last week.

My positive experience started a few days before the meal itself. We had guests joining us in Sticciano and we wanted to offer them a great weekend in Maremma which of course would include much food… despite my not being much of a foodie. And the reason for this sad revelation is that I have a number of food “intolerances” that are any chef’s nightmare. Although I’ve met a few Tuscan chefs who refused to accommodate my inability to digest garlic (“All Tuscan food has garlic in it,” has been proclaimed to me on two occasions, one of which was at Cibreo), we’ve often had success with Slow Food locales throughout Italy due to their particular attention to quality and ingredients.

Locanda nel Cassero

To the rescue comes Alessandro Prosperi, chef and owner of the Locanda that happens also to be Slow Food, though we actually went upon recommendation of our local friend Gloria (Casina di Rosa). I emailed him in advance to ask for the menu, and having identified two potential primi that I might be able to eat, I asked about specific ingredients. The pumpkin gnocchi in the cream of tartufo sauce sounded like a bit of a bomb but that’s what attracted me the most, although I worried that the sauce might include some hidden ingredients. I was reassured by email: Alessandro was customizing “my gnocchi”.

One of the marvels of the Italian language is the use of possessive pronouns. While in English a plural object, say “pants”, is just “your pants”, Italian doubles that pronoun: “i tuoi pantaloni”. And maybe it’s just me but “i tuoi” seems doubly possessive.

And so I received this beautiful phrase from Alessandro the chef himself:

Sono riuscito a “estorcere” a mio padre (cercatore di tartufi) un piccolo tartufo bianco per utilizzarlo per i suoi gnocchi. Gli altri ingredienti oltre al tartufo che utilizzerò per la salsa dei suoi gnocchi sono solo panna e grana padano.

Which translates as: “I managed to extract from my father, finder of tartufi, a small white tartufo that I will use for your your gnocchi [sic]. The other ingredients other than tartufo that i will use for the sauce of your your gnocchi are only cream and grana padano (cheese).”

Feeling already highly possessive of my gnocchi, it felt strange to walk into the restaurant saturday night and know already what I had ordered, what was being prepared just for me. The much awaited personalized gnocchi were light and lovely – two fall flavours that you’d think might overpower each other were in fact in happy cohabitation on my plate.

Lasagnette ai funghi porcini

My partners in this eating adventure were also greatly satisfied. I didn’t get a shot of Terry’s cabbage risotto, but I can show you the very pretty “lasagnette” with porcini mushrooms and nipitella (a small wild mint) that Tommaso and Roy enjoyed. These individual portions of round pasta are really something special and delicate.

cinghiale e polenta

For secondi, being vegetarian, I opted for a cheese plate and salad but was overcome by the beauty of the cinghiale in umido on polenta on Tommaso’s plate. Despite the Italian saying “anche l’occhio vuole la sua parte” – said of the importance of presentation in food – it’s not easy to make stewed meat look like anything but what it is: brown chunks of meat. Here, colour is played up and savvily balanced with shape and texture as the reddish meat perches carefully on roundels of polenta, accompanied by a mini sformatino of spinach.

The steak ordered by our friends – rigorously brought raw to the table for our approval – was served cut into two pieces between which were nestled squares of potatoes; a side salad also came with this. Talking with Alessandro later he said that Italians were often surprised that the contorni (side dishes) were included – they tend to look for these on the menu and are used to ordering meat separate from sides. This little bit of anglosaxonism might stem from the chef’s training at the Hotel Savoy in London in the early 90s. A welcome change in Italy.

Blackberry tart

semifreddo

Sated, we still made room for a little dessert. This blackberry tart (the homemade jam inside was warm) was just perfect. I opted against trying the semifreddo on my husband’s plate because I didn’t want to mix the flavours.

Throughout the meal our friends could not curb their enthusiasm. Roy kept saying he loved this place because everything was perfect. Indeed, the atmosphere is calculated (darker striations in the ceiling paint had us mystified – was it intentional?) yet welcoming (the open fire helps – too bad we were seated a distance from it). The food was traditional, local and seasonal yet with a special touch (I want to avoid the platitude “international flair”). And let’s face it, the sum on the bill was also a bonus (125 euros for 4, including a good bottle of local wine). Watch out Alessandro, we’ll be back.

PS: Summer lunches are served in the locale’s three rooms – front, fancy, and garden – with a slightly reduced “fast” menu and more cold options. Prices are even lower so this might be the best deal in the Maremma.

Okay, I considered not blogging about this place, or keeping its location secret, but really there are enough chestnuts there for all of us (as long as arttrav doesn’t suddenly become the new york times of Florence). In the small town of Sassofortino there’s a public park with huge chestnut trees. And around mid October these trees yeild an unimaginable bounty of nuts! Locals bring their baskets or bags and take nuts from the ground or out of the burs that were constantly falling near or on us (being spiny the latter is quite painful). Each burr of this variety of chestnut contains 3, or sometimes 2 larger nuts. To get the nuts out of the burr without hurting yourself, step on one side with your shoe, or both sides if necessary. When picking nuts from the ground, check that the husk is intact; if it has a white secretion or any holes, that’s worms that have gotten in.

We met a local man who asked us how our hunt was going – clearly a ploy to engage us in conversation as we could barely carry the 5 or so kilos that we’d picked up. He said indeed this is a great free resource and that it’s perfectly legal to come here and pick chestnuts. He noticed that we were not armed with bottles to fill at the fountain in the same park, and told us something we didn’t know – that there is excellent fresh spring water available here too. Our conversation ended when the tree above us released about 5 burs all at once that fell with bangs, prompting him to joke that it was like afghanistan here!

How to cook your chestnuts

We boiled some in abundant water seasoned with bay leaves or whatever you have on hand, and a drop of oil, for 30-40 minutes (depending on if you like it more mealy or more liquid). Boiled castagne can be used in pasta or other meals. The more traditional solution is to cook them on an open fire, either with a BBQ or on a gas flame using a special pan with holes in the bottom. Remove the whole outer husk before eating! The sweet “marron glacé” is made with a larger variety of the nut.

Other chestnut events in Tuscany

This is the season to attend a fair at which roasted chestnuts and related products are sold. The most famous is the Sagra delle Castagne in Marradi, to which one takes either the regular regional or a special antique steam train. It’s a small town at the top of the Faentina, the road that connects Florence to Faenza over the Appenines. Firenzuola and Palazzuolo are two other places with chestnut fairs this month – check out the excellent article and list from APT Firenze.

Civitella is a small town (population circa 400) and an exit on the Siena-Grosseto superstrada. This location makes it convenient for visits to Siena, Pienza, and Montalcino; the beauties of the Monte Amiata area, and the whole of Maremma. It’s about 50 minutes’ drive to the coast where you can enjoy the beach at Castiglione della Pescaia or Marina di Grosseto, or drive further south to the natural park at Alberese.

We went there recently for dinner with friends and took a few pictures around the town, which looks like a typical town of the Maremma.

Where to stay in the area of Civitella Paganico

There’s a list of hotels and agriturismo’s on the official website which happens to be beautifully designed.

Stay at our friend Gloria’s little Casina di Rosa, recently restored and with the best hosts you can imagine.

The Locanda nel Cassero comes highly recommended and also has a slow food restaurant.

Visualizzazione ingrandita della mappa

Fritto di Paranza

At the beach

In the past I’ve written about how Italian beaches are often divided up into these “stabilimenti”, or bathing establishments, a civilized, groomed piece of beach with umbrellas that are too close together, but with the advantage of services like bathroom and bar. This year we booked the month of august at Pinetina Nord in Castiglione della Pescaia (around 700 euros for the month, tel 0564935454) because while we’re a fan of the “spiaggia libera” (free beaches), parking gets ridiculously difficult as the summer goes on, and this place includes parking. In order to get a parking spot, however, you must drag yourself out of bed at 8am and get there before 10am. I do recommend this beach; it’s a small establishment so the service is pretty personal and it’s not very crowded.

The restaurant on the beach is excellent as it has an internationally-trained chef. My husband suggests the “fritto di paranza”, or fried catch of the day of small fish caught with this particular net called paranza (see photo).

The highlight of the beach was the lifeguard, whose tower was right next to our ombrellone. This clueless 19 year old kid spent most of his time on his cell phone, from which we learned of the girlfriend who had left him 3 weeks before, his university choice (hadn’t decided yet, starting in September), about the new girl(s) he’d made out with, and the hours of his nightclub attendance (until 7am). He worked 10am to 3pm and you had to hope you’d never need to be saved by him. One one wavy day he boasted having “had” to execute “five saves”, but we bore witness and noticed that in most cases, the people didn’t need saving at all!

As the weather was generally hot and sunny, and hey, I was on vacation, we spent more time on the beach than visiting cultural sites, though on one overcast morning my sister-in-law and I went to the Etruscan ruins at Vetulonia, where they recently discovered a rather complete domus that I’d wanted to see. I’ll be writing about that next week on Tuscany Arts!

Where to eat in Grosseto area and Maremma

We liked Osteria del Mugnaio in Grilli (58020 Grilli (GR) – 57, VIA GROSSETANA tel: 0566 887201), half an hour inland from Grosseto in a very unpretentious setting. There is an ample garden/terrace at one side, though we were seated on the front porch which was just fine as it’s set back from the main road. Local specialties like tortelli maremmana (ricotta and spinach) with cinghiale (wild boar) sauce, steak, and for dessert don’t miss the whipped ricotta with honey and pine nuts. We spent a very reasonable 18 euros per person with ravioli, tagliata with porcini, dessert, wine, and coffee.

In Castiglione della Pescaia, Osteria Pizzeria del Viandante is always a good bet for either pizza, primi, or meats. It gets crowded on weekends so reservations are useful (Via della Liberta 19, 0564 933 726).

Don’t go to Osteria nel Buco in Castiglione della Pescaia (Via del Recinto 11); it is Slow Food, but gets my thumbs DOWN. We ate there a few years back and I was just itching to write something nasty about it. The effect has worn off but I recall that they put antipasti and a bottle of wine on the table as if they were free, but they were to in fact charged – at high price. They were not accomodating to my vegetarianism and the food was not good at all.

Locanda La Luna in the town of Tirli (0564 945854) is another one of our favourites (their annexed hotel rooms are a good value too). I like the gnocchi all’ortica while my husband likes the cinghiale in umido. The decor is upscale but the prices are reasonable. One downside may be that the menu does not get much lighter with the warmer season. I wrote about this place last December after a good meal.

If you happen to go to Grosseto you’ll find it to be a rather small town, though there’s a good archaeological museum and it’s generally pleasant for a wander in the downtown area. We found an interesting alternative bookstore called Libreria Popolare (via Ricasoli 17) with a great collection of local history books as well as sections on philosophy, psychology, eastern religions, etc. For dinner, try Vineria da Romolo, a crazy locale with both indoor and outdoor seating. Why crazy? In part for the photos that line the walls inside from the owners’ worldwide travels, in part for the printed paper placemats of amusing topics like “how to make a woman happy”. Food is pretty average but it’s a fun place; the crostone with gorgonzola and honey was a nice appetizer.

tommaso's in there "for scale" to show the romanesque church tower in sticciano

The August holidays have finally arrived and arttrav will be “closed for the holidays”. With all of Italy and Europe at my fingertips, where do I choose for my holiday? It’s easy: Tuscany. After last year’s beach-going in Elba, this year is dedicated to the Maremma area, to the little hamlet of Sticciano to be specific.

As many of you know, I write a blog about the Arts in Tuscany and lately I’ve written a lot about Maremma. I’ve been going on weekend trips in that area with my husband for about ten years now, and we really love it there… so recently we bought a little apartment in a little town called Sticciano.

I’ll write more about Sticciano soon, but suffice to say that the population of about 60 people swells to about 250 in the summer, but the town remains quiet and pleasant. It’s half an hour from the coast, so an easy drive to the beach at Castiglione della Pescaia, but also turns out to be rather centrally located to visit all the great things that the region has to offer. So we are really excited to spend 2 weeks in our new “home”.

If you’re a little jealous and want to spend some time in this part of Maremma, my friend Gloria rents a charming holiday home nearby, Casina di Rosa.

This is Sticciano in the Spring:

Thus is born the project “Nuovo Paesaggio Italiano” – new italian landscapes – developed by Toscani (photographer and founder of Fabrica) in collaboration with Salvatore Settis (art critic and professor). They want you to turn your camera towards the ugliest things you can find in this country, and email them the results, or post them on their facebook page.

From July 11 to October30 2010 in a town just outside Suvereto (LI) there’s an exhibit of the first ugly photos – abandoned villas, eco-monsters of various sorts.

From the gallery on facebook things don’t look that bad – honestly I’ve seen a lot of uglier examples of unfinished architecture or just plain “urban degradation”. A lot of this exists in the south of Italy where urban planning and architecture are foreign words and laws are entirely ignored. So much of this country’s natural beauty has been lost to the stupidity of man.

Taranto, still from the eco-disaster film "Arrividerci Taranto" Photo: www.cinemambiente.it

What is the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen in Italy? Let me know – and contribute it to the project!

This weekend there are a ton of nature-related events going on in Tuscany

Here’s what I have gathered for you:

Florence – Treasure Hunt at the Orto Botanico (Botanical Gardens): A GREEN treasure hunt in the garden for adults and children. Max 20 participants, call + 39 055 2346760 or surf www.musesplorando.it. Cost is 2.50 euros plus entry to the garden (3/6E).

Florence – Secret Gardens special tours: Saturday May 23d organized by the comune di Firenze, reservation required. Get into rich people’s private gardens downtown – you’d never know they were there, and they are pretty amazing. I heard about this event thanks Anna at the European School of Economics who rents space at the Palazzo Roselli del Turco, with a fabulous garden across the street (see photo) that also hosts an art gallery “Aria” in its limonaia (the garden structure used to house lemon trees in the winter). For more informatation and how to reserve, see intoscana.it.

Florence (province)/ Pontassieve – ANPIL led trail walks to see the historic butter making facilities in the woods (“Cammino delle Antiche Burraie”). This looks reallycool and I had no idea that these existed. For the “Giornata Europea dei Parchi” (see also below, Arezzo) the walk is organized by ANPIL and it’s free. There are two routes marked by the red and white symbol and the path name “SB” (this is usually a number). The path is a ring that leaves from Santa Brigida and takes either 3 or 4 hours depending on the path you choose. I doubt that my husband will spring for an 8:30 am departure this week but I hope to do this path on our own some time (and not get lost), because I’m interested in these stone structures that were used for the preparation of butter until the early 19th century. The path also includes a visit to the Sanctuary of Madonna delle Grazie al Sasso, established as a hermitage around the year 800. My information comes from a pamphlet picked up at a restaurant on the Faentina. It’s organized by ANPIL and the UISP.

Arezzo (province) – Festa dei Parchi: “Tutte le aree protette della provincia di Arezzo festeggiano la Giornata Europea dei Parchi con un evento che si svolgerà nella Riserva Naturale Valle dell’Inferno e Bandella. Sono previste passeggiate, visite in barca, divertenti laboratori, spettacoli ed animazioni teatrali e musicali, che offriranno a grandi e piccoli occasioni piacevoli per vivere la natura.” Download the pdf flyer for complete information and how to reserve.

Giornata Europea dei Parchi in Tuscany – some more listings on this blog.

And if it rains (again)? Fabbrica Europa is on at Stazione Leopolda until May 25th with a strange line up of music and performing arts.

The future of traveling is technological, and it’s here in Tuscany

The application is made in Italy by the super cool company H-art. And did I mention – it’s FREE (on the app store of course). Not just for the first two weeks, either.

As a member of Tuscany’s social media team and employee of H-art, I have privileged access to this information (and have had the app on my phone for a while) but could only let it out now! Trust me it was hard to keep the secret, being the geek that I am. The application is similar to Around Me but has the added advantage of drawing from existing sources of information about monuments (from churches to palazzi). This information comes from wikipedia as well as from the editorial staff of turismo.intoscana, so it’s pretty complete. This means that you no longer have to buy a guidebook that has detailed information about every little thing. It also helps with those moments when you end up somewhere and wonder “what is that building?” or “I swear I have seen that before!”.

The information about restaurants and hotels includes reviews taken from social media, so it’s constantly changing and up to date. This information comes from Google Local so you can of course add your own reviews. The app is also social because you can share anything immediately on facebook, as well as create your own local favourites list.

A minor critique: Of course, no app is perfect – this one is only as good as the iphone’s compass and satellite positioning, so sometimes you have to spin around a bit before you get the right information – a building might be indicated about 60 degrees to one direction or the other. In map mode this works better.

The social media team editors - I'm the one in the white sweatshirt

Ok folks, I’m coming out of the closet. It’s no secret that I work for the social media team of Tuscany, and I’ve been meaning to write about my job here on arttrav ever since I signed on last November, but frankly, I’ve been too busy. Hence also the slowing down of posts… now that I blog professionally, there’s less time to blog in my… spare time.

As I explain in my latest article for The Florentine – Virtual Tuscany: Confessions of an official blogger – the experience writing arttrav and sharing it on social media, as well as my background in art history of course, is what landed me this great new job.

I have a job that any Italy-loving expat would envy. I work for the Tuscan region’s social media team. I attend art events and exhibits, write about art in Tuscany, and promote it on a blog and via social media. In our office, Facebook is not blocked, but mandatory. We don’t have phones; we use Skype. And we tweet during work hours, preferably as frequently as possible.  Although our role in Tuscany’s new tourism campaign is fairly well known in the communications industry thanks to our participation in half a dozen lectures and conferences in the past few months, the general public has not heard much about it yet. So The Florentine asked me to give you the inside scoop on the campaign and on what we do.

Read the whole article on TF.

For more information about the social media team and the voglio vivere cosi campaign, take a look at this presentation by Mirko Lalli:

Trips are planned for April 11 and 18, May 9, 15, and 21 2010 and organized by Aida Studio. To reserve, this is the phone number: 0573 97461. The itineraries are listed below (sadly I couldn’t find a press release in English). These are all places and activities you’d never find on your own! I’d encourage tourists to join these tours even if you don’t speak Italian.

MONSUMMANO TERME – PESCIA: DOMENICA 18 APRILE

Ore 10.00 Ritrovo alla Stazione ferroviaria di Pistoia e partenza in autobus per:

MONSUMMANO TERME

Ore 10.30 Mac,n – Museo di arte contemporanea e del Novecento – Villa Renatico Martini

Caffè di benvenuto

Sprazzi: colori, musica e parole

Itinerario performativo e musicale in villa e visita alla mostra di Leonardo Savioli

In collaborazione con Laboratorio Afrodita e Cooperativa Giodò

Pièces brèves

Marco Salvatori, oboe

Stefano Vicentini, fagotto

Musiche di Georg Friedrich Händel, Antonio Vivaldi, Joseph Fiala, Heitor Villa – Lobos

Ore 12.30 Pranzo – Agriturismo Poggio degli Olivi, Monsummano Terme

(prenotazione obbligatoria entro giovedì 15 aprile. Il servizio è garantito per un numero minimo di 20 persone. Spazio all’aperto per pranzi “al sacco” nel parco della villa)

PESCIA

Ore 15.00 Collodi, Parco di Pinocchio.

Visita alle opere di Venturino Venturi, Emilio Greco, Giovanni Michelucci, Pietro Porcinai, Pietro Consagra e Marco Zanuso

Ore 16.30 Visita alla Gipsoteca Libero Andreotti

Ore 17.30

Un soffio di Novecento

Quintetto a fiati del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Musiche di Nino Rota, Giorgio Federico Ghedini, Jacques Ibèrt, Gianfrancesco Malipiero, Ferenc Farkas

Massimo 50 persone. Prenotazione obbligatoria al numero 0573 97461. La partecipazione è gratuita e comprende il trasferimento in pulman, l’ingresso ai musei, le guide e i concerti.

PISTOIA CITTA’: DOMENICA 9 MAGGIO

Ore 10.00 Ritrovo a Pistoia in Piazza Garibaldi

Percorso a piedi

Visita guidata alle opere del centro storico: Giro del Sole di Roberto Barni, la Luna nel Pozzo di Gianni Ruffi, Il Miracolo di Marino Marini

Ore 11.00 Museo Marino Marini, Cavaliere a Cavallo

Colazione con accompagnamento musicale a cura della Banda Borgognoni di Pistoia e visita guidata al museo

Ore 13.00 Pranzo – Caffetteria Marino Marini ( prenotazione obbligatoria entro giovedì 6 maggio. Il servizio è garantito per un numero minimo di 30 persone)

Ore 15.00 Padiglione di Emodialisi dell’Ospedale del Ceppo (via Degli Armeni)

Scienza e arte al servizio dell’uomo

Visita guidata alle opere di Daniel Buren, Dani Karavan, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris, Hidetoshi Nagasawa, Claudio Parmiggiani e Gianni Ruffi

Ore 16.00 Palazzo Fabroni (via Santa 5) secondo piano

Un museo per riflettere sull’arte contemporanea

Visita guidata alla collezione permanente

Ore 17.00 Palazzo Fabroni, salone del primo piano

Attraverso la forma

Lorenzo Fuoco, violino I

Andrea Tavani, violino II

Pierpaolo Ricci, viola

Elida Pali, violoncello

Musiche di Ludwig van Beethoven e Claude Debussy

Massimo 25 persone. Prenotazione obbligatoria al numero 0573 97461. La partecipazione è gratuita.

PISTOIA-SANTOMATO: SABATO 15 MAGGIO

Ore 14.00 Ritrovo alla Stazione ferroviaria di Pistoia e partenza in autobus

Visita alla collezione privata della Fattoria di Celle a Santomato – Pistoia

(La visita ha una durata di 4 ore. Rientro previsto alle ore 19.00)

Massimo 50 persone. Prenotazione obbligatoria al numero 0573 97461. La partecipazione è gratuita

PISTOIA-FELCETI: SABATO 22 MAGGIO

Ore 15.00 Ritrovo alla Stazione ferroviaria di Pistoia e partenza in autobus

Ore 15.20

Villa Stonorov, Fondazione Pistoiese Jorio Vivarelli, Felceti (Pistoia)

Il teatro del ricordo

Pièce dedicata allo scultore Jorio Vivarelli realizzata da Massimo Biagi Miradario, con interventi musicali a cura della Scuola Comunale di Musica Teatro e Danza “Teodulo Mabellini” di Pistoia

Proiezione del video Jorio Vivarelli scultore: la materia della vita a cura di Veronica Ferretti

Massimo 50 persone. Prenotazione obbligatoria al numero 0573 97461. La partecipazione è gratuita

Other activities include: a flower arranging demonstration, a seminar on “how to taste coffee”, an exhibit of prints by artist Barbara Salani, and a mini-conference on the Neapolitan artist Salvator Rosa, (dead) guest star of the entire event, and his relationship to tenor Enrico Caruso (whose villa this was).

See the press release below for the full schedule of events (in Italian).

PRESS RELEASE (italiano only!)

Giardini di Caruso, la mostra mercato di florovivaismo che si tiene annualmente nello splendido parco della cinquecentesca Villa Caruso Bellosguardo di Lastra a Signa (FI), festeggia il tredicesimo compleanno ospitando deGustiBooks, la rassegna sul piacere della lettura e del buon cibo.

I giardini e gli edifici abitati agli inizi del ‘900 dal tenore Enrico Caruso si animeranno per l’occasione di espositori di piante e fiori, accanto ai quali quest’anno ci saranno produttori di tipicità agroalimentari. Una grande libreria, il wine bar e il ristorante renderanno ancora più piace­vole la visita a questo gioiello incastonato nella campagna fiorentina.

L’arrivo della primavera verrà salutato quindi con una festa all’insegna del buon gusto che da sabato 3 a lunedì 5 aprile offrirà ai visitatori la possibilità di ammirare un fiore, scegliere un libro, assaggiare un buon vino.

Tanti saranno gli eventi che animeranno l’appuntamento. Degustazioni guidate, presentazioni di libri, concerti, laboratori tematici dedicati alla cucina napoletana; e un ospite d’onore, Salvator Rosa, figura di spicco della cul­tura seicentesca, pittore, incisore, poeta, raffinato musicista, uomo di grande cultura legato a Enrico Caruso dalla comune matrice parteno­pea, a tal punto che il tenore volle per sé “Il ritratto di filosofo” che impreziosiva una stanza di villa Bellosguardo. Incontri e conferenze approfondiranno il legame che unisce questi due personaggi; inoltre una mostra di incisioni di Barbara Salani, uno spettacolo e una dimostrazione di arte floreale completano fin d’ora il programma della tre giorni che si annuncia ricchissimo di eventi.

Orari: sabato 3 aprile dalle 14.00 alle 19.00; domenica 4 e lunedì 5 aprile dalle 10.00 alle 19.00

INGRESSO: 3,00 euro – Sabato gratuito per i Residenti del Comune di Lastra a Signa

As you surely know, Prato is a major producer of cloth, and has an new textile museum. It also has an important Duomo (see photo) that holds the relic of the virgin’s belt, which is brought out in a public ritual five times a year – arttrav was there last summer to record it for you. There’s plenty to see for a day of great shopping and art – read more about prato on arttrav here.

The list is available in this pdf pamphlet or online on the Prato tourism site, click where to shop and select shopping in factory.

Some art has gotten too big

Tuscany, with its soft rolling hills, is a perfect frame for contemporary art. Projects include the Parco di Celle near Pistoia that belongs to the major international collector Giuliano Gori; the Chianti sculpture park (www.chiantisculpturepark.it); a redesigned woods at the “Ragnaia” at San Giovanni d’Asso by Sheppard Craige; and now the Casato Prime Donne’s “Trekking d’Autore”, works placed amongst the Brunello vines in the Crete Senesi.

Maybe one of the first works of this sort in Tuscany is the 1993 installation by sculptor Jean Paul Philippe, who chose the Crete Senesi (between Siena and Asciano) as the location for his work Site Transitoire. The landscape’s natural linearity was thus interruped by a work that both alters it and gives it value, points at its individuality. The work’s seven massive stones dialogue amongst themselves and frame the hills that they inhabit. www.jeanpaulphilippe.eu

Recently I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a big metal circle frame the landscape just outside the town of Volterra; this is by Mauro Staccioli and there are other works by him on display nearby. It’d be worth it to go find all the pieces, which are on display until September 2010.

Amongst Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s Brunello di Montalcino vines, the “Trekking d’autore” project invites visitors on a meditative walk punctuated by art. Each site is dedicated to a woman who has won the Premio Casato Prime Donne prize for a major contribution in the field in which she works, including author Frances Mayes, dancer Carla Fracci, human rights celebrant Kerry Kennedy.

Jeff Shapiro installing his speaking stones

American writer Jeff Shapiro makes his viewers ponder, via four “speaking stones”, the following questions:  “See what’s growing… See in order to grow… Do you see?… And are you growing?” – important questions that relate the viewer’s personal growth to the land upon which they are standing. Marco Pignattai refers to this land and its working by cattle with a life-size metal cut-out of the chianina cow who pulls antique farm equipment across the fields (see photo above). At a high point in the landscape, Rossana Mulinari recalls her solo pilgrimage to Santiago di Compostela with the installation of a wooden cross covered with mirrors and held up by six blocks of travertine marble.

Closer to the cantina, or cellar building, the artworks exalt the female nature of this enterprise – the only entirely female-run wine producer in Italy. Eight doves by the sculptor Orlando Orlandini are clearly a symbol of peace, while four photographic portraits by Bruno Bruchi and Giovanni Senatore record four very different but contemporary women including a grandmother who is making pinci, the typical pasta of Montalcino. The Cinelli Colombini estate is open to visitors; the wine cellar (for tasting etc) weekdays 9-13 and 14-18 or weekends upon request. The art trekking area is open to everyone during operating hours, year-round. They’re very happy to welcome you and they speak good English!

Chapel by David Tremlett and Sol LeWitt, photo: www.ceretto.it

The connection between wine and landscape art has inspired some other producers as well. Outside of Tuscany the most stunning example is the integration of modern architecture and natural views at Ceretto (Alba, CN – www.ceretto.it ), whose vineyards host a colourful chapel by David Tremlett and Sol LeWitt, as well as a futuristic glass bubble in which you can taste wine and enjoy cultural events.

Landscape art offers a new venue for self-discovery, as well as for discovery of the landscape itself, which on its own may not always provide sufficient stimulus for reflection or photography.

This article is a the result of a collaboration: I’d like to thank Alessia Bianchi and Violante Gardini of Cinelli Colombini estates for providing the great idea and much of the content.

I have recently received news of the Happy New Tuscany contest from the Regione Toscana.

You can WIN a super duper luxury week in Tuscany between Christmas and New Years (flight included), or New Years’ Eve in Florence, Siena, Lucca, or Pisa! This contest is open to everyone worldwide except residents of Tuscany (since hey, we already live in this fabulous place!).

Be quick – it’s almost Christmas, and this contest ends December 10th 2009!!

The city of Florence and council for the Church of San Lorenzo announced today the ambitious project to finish the facade of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, left incomplete by Brunelleschi in the 15th century. The project, due to start as soon as funds are available, should be done by 2059, in time for the celebrations of Firenze2059 (already the talk of the internet on twitter #Fi2059 and on the website www.Firenze2059.com). 

The artist chosen for the honour of completing the facade, after a public contest (“concorso”) evaluated by a committee of 150 citizens and 25 guild-registered artists, is Pablo Echaurren. Dr. Echaurren, astrophysicist as well as maiolica artist from Guadalajara Mexico, has spent the past 20 years in Florence and will be awarded honourary citizenship upon completion of his work. The maiolica tiles that represent massive graffiti-like animals are inspired by 16th-century grotesques, but also by early 21st-century street art.

Project by Prof. M. Ruffilli, Prof. G. Morolli, and Natali Multimedia s.r.l.).

The decision comes after over two years of deliberations. Arttrav readers will recall that in 2007, an image of Michelangelo’s plans for the facade, drafted in 1516-19, was projected on San Lorenzo. At the time, there was much discussion because the design was in fact not very close to that proposed by Michelangelo, and there was doubt that modern artisans could reproduce the feeling of a Renaissance building. For this reason, a contemporary solution has been favoured.

Dr. Echaurren has developed a brand new technology for the creation of the 2-meter square tiles that will be attached to the facade with a system of metal brackets. The Medici villa at Cafaggiolo, at which there was once a ceramics factory, has been leased to him so that he may use its ancient ovens to create the facade tiles. This is a nice way to link two Medici commissions – the Church and the Villa – with the new commission by the City of Florence.

We asked Annamaria Gori-Cofani della Riva, curator of the International Museum of Tuscan ceramics at Montelupo, for an explanation of the new technique to be used. The brightly coloured, painted tiles will undergo three phases of firing. The first, for the unpainted tiles, will be at the temperature used for commercial porcelain, 1300 to 1400°C. The tiles will then be glazed and re-fired; finally, a third cooking at lower temperature with oxidization agents such as toenails and bones will help create a metallic sheen on certain detail areas. This technique was used during the Renaissance in Gubbio, but this will be the first time that it will be reproduced in Tuscany.

As we have learned from years of restoring the Duomo, easy maintenance should always be a factor when choosing buildings. Cleaning the new facade will be very easy, much easier than the current stone version, because ceramics are highly resistant. The artist pointed out that common bathroom liquid like “Mr. Clean” or kitchen soap like “Palmolive” will do the trick with a sponge or squeegee.

The new facade will come at the cost of 17.4 million euros, but the City is adamant to explain that this will not come from taxpayer funds. Rather, the money will be raised with the sale of a portion of Piazza Signoria for the creation of private, luxury apartment buildings. These buildings will not obstruct view of the Palazzo Vecchio as they will be made entirely of transparent glass.

For further information please see www.Firenze2059.com and extended art historical reportage at http://Firenze2059.tumblr.com

Your comments are welcome below.

There’s more to Tuscany than wine. After many years of traveling the wine roads of Chianti on SS222 under the looming gaze of the Black Rooster (Gallo Nero, symbol of the Chianti Wine League) I was ready for a change. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing more thrilling than traveling along the twisting Via Chiantigiana (SS222). Fields of sunflowers and hillsides of vineyards and olive trees pass by and the glow of burnt umber, olive green and red wine color the landscape with breathtaking beauty. You can easily spend a week wandering down the winding roads from this town to the next eating salumi, crostini and wild boar, searching for the perfect ribollito, stopping to sample the classic wines of the region, developing what I refer to as that “Tuscan Glow”. But on this trip I was in search of another Tuscan treasure, the aromatic white truffle (tartufo bianco) found in the woods near the town of San Giovanni d’Asso, south of Siena and along the way pay a visit to a terme, one of the many natural hot springs that can be found in the Tuscan countryside.

The village of San Giovanni d’ Asso is in the heart of the Crete Senesi. The Crete Senesi (pronounced KREH-teh seh-NEH-seh) is a rolling panaroma of wind swept hills and isolated farmhouses south of Siena. It is the parallel universe of Chianti and attracts travelers seeking the elemental Tuscan experience. The rolling hills are dotted with cyclists and the woods that straddle the Crete and the Val d’Orcia are the perfect place to find the legendary tartufo bianco.

On the road less traveled, among the clay hills of the Crete, most travelers would need to think outside the box to visit here. But if they do they know they have arrived at a place that is very special and are then confronted with an age old question, should I or shouldn’t I. Should I or shouldn’t I tell everyone I know about this wondrous, magical place of food and earthy delights, home of the Italian white truffle and a locanda (country inn) with a ristorante whose food is memorable and wine selection impeccable. Well maybe not everyone, but to a select few who will appreciate the unique nature of this small (938 inhabitants) medieval village, tell them and they will sing your praises and forever be in your debt.

Named after the Asso River torrent from which the village rises, S. G. d’Asso is near some of my favorite places in Tuscany as well as those that most Tuscan tourists want to visit. The wines of Montalcino with its famous Brunello and the Vin Nobile of Montepulciano are waiting to be tasted and the towns of Siena, Pienza, Buonconvento and Rapolano Terme are a short distance away. The abbeys of Monte Oliveto Maggiore and Sant’ Antimo are all within driving distance and Florence is 80 km.

But in November in San Giovanni d’Asso, it’s all about the Italian white truffle, tartufo bianco. Italian truffle hunters and their dogs take to the nearby woods in search of the “white diamonds of Italy”, to bring to S. G. d’Asso’s Annual Fall Truffle Festival. Held the 2nd and 3rd weekends in November, you can buy local products, eat local dishes made with truffles and arrange to watch truffle hunters at work. You can also visit the Museo di Tartufo, Italy’s first museum dedicated to the truffle. You will definetly want to visit the unique exhibits that allow you to get up close and personal with the prized fungus. There’s even an “odorama” exhibit that allows visitors to experience the heady aromas of dozens of different kinds of truffles.

The veranda at the locanda

Located in a 13th century castle, the museum is next to La Locanda del Castello, a country inn with an equally powerful effect on your senses. Your sense of taste, touch, smell and vision are all heightened by the atmosphere created by the owner Selvana, her son Massimo and innkeeper, Fiorella who make you stay at the inn very special. You arrive at the locanda piazza where a series of contemporary sculptures are on display then walk through the Castello drawbrige and into the castle courtyard.

The intimate ristorante downstairs from the inn (very convenient) is rustic-Italian chic with a private veranda that overlooks the landscape of the town and valley below. When ordering, I would willingly take the advice of chef Enrico whose Nouveau Tuscan cuisine and artful presentation was fantastici. I ate a delicious pici pasta with cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) one night and another night a wild boar ragu’ that was both delicate and bold. The caprese salad was a favorite and an antipasti of assorted salumi included Lardo di Colonnata, a protected Tuscan delicacy that is particular to the region. My room was decorated with 19th century Italian country furniture combined with touches of French toile fabric to create what I would imagine to be the style of day when traveling from locanda to locanda.

My final day in Tuscany was spent at an Italian terme. Terme is the Italian word for thermal waters. Popes, pilgrims, princes and everyday Italians have traveled to these natural hot springs seeking the beneficial virtures of the waters to regenerate the body and mind since ancient times. On last year’s trip I got “my feet wet” at Bagno Vignoni, a small medieval town south of Siena. The town itself is built around a central thermal pool with a thermal stream you can walk through. The ancient Etruscans and Romans knew about these hot springs and pilgrims traveling the Via Francigena Road on their way to Rome stopped to rest in the waters. Pope Pius II, St. Caterina of Siena and Lorenzo Medici all bathed here. But now it is very casual, with mostly Italians on holiday taking the waters at one of the two thermal centers in town. Not yet ready to take the plunge, I took off my sandals and felt the warm, rich volcanic water run across my tired feet and for a moment knew what it must have been like to be weary pilgrim on their way to Rome.

This year after tasting truffles in San Giovanni d’Asso, I was ready to get my terme on and decided the best place to loss my inhibitions would be at Terme Antica Querciolaia near the town of Rapolano Terme. There are other popular termes in Italy,Montecatini and Saturnia come to mind, that are more tourist oriented, but I like to travel like an Italian so this type of terme appeals to me. It is small, family oriented (yes, Italian children come with their parents) with 3 large pools rich in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. I spent one memorable afternoon in September languishing in the thermal waters of Antica Querciolaia under the Tuscan sun knowing that this was another reason why Italy is the best place on earth.

About the author: Cositutti, a travel and lifestyle resource for All Fine Things Italian, was founded by Pamela Marasco in 2005. Products available through Cositutti MarketPlace.com are based on her experiences eating, shopping, cooking and traveling in Northern Italy, Tuscany and Umbria with her Italian family and friends. Products available are sourced from producers that are committed to preserving the culinary and cultural traditions of Italy. Each product has been carefully selected to represent an authentic experience and sourced over 10 years and 10,000 miles of traveling and taste testing regional Italian food. Some products are unique and made only in the village of origin. Many are handcrafted in the “zona artigianale” of Italy.

With an Undergraduate Degree in the Biological Sciences and a Graduate Degree in Education, Pamela is committed to farming practices and educational programs that ensure the true flavors of Italy are protected and preserved. You can learn more about products available through Cositutti’s on-line store at www.cosituttimarketplace.com and her travels in Italy at www.cositutti.com .

Further reading on arttrav:

• Read the other arttrav writing contest winning essays here.
• Read all the articles about Tuscany.

Upcoming tours include (click for pdf): Nov 8th from Siena to San Giovanni d’Asso for the truffle fair and December 8th from Florence to San Quirico for Olive Oil tasting. There are whole day itineraries that cost 28 euros per person.

For more information see the website www.ferrovieturistiche.it

From www.terresiena.it : “Urban trekking is a sport for everybody. An itinerary on foot through an art city whose streets are on various levels does not require any special previous training. It’s perfect for toning up the body and mind of those who are obliged to live in enclosed spaces and who feel the need to liberate their energies. It’s also ideal for kids: urban trekking is a new and fun way to get to know the extraordinary historical-artistic beauty of a town where you can still walk around breathing clean air.”

There are four thematic urban trekking itineraries (in italian, with maps) available here.

Tessuto in seta e velluto con fondo ricamato con fili dorati e argentati Genova, XVI sec. St Petersburg, Hermitage

This weekend I went to the show “Lo Stile delle Zar” – the fashion of the Tsars, on the relationship between art and fashion and between Russia and Italy from the 15th to 18th centuries. Beautifully displayed at Prato’s Museo del Tessuto – fabric museum – the point of encounter between the two cultures is of course fabrics. This is no great surprise, given the city’s history in the production, first artisanal, then industrial, of highly valued cloth.

Unknown Venetian: Madonna con Bambino, Late 15th c. oil on canvas transfered from panel, Hermitage

The show puts paintings and cloth samples in relation to each other. The section I thought was most interesting was the first room on the ground floor, which had the earliest paintings on display (many from the Hermitage, so not things I’d seen before). The curators selected paintings with particularly stunning fabrics and patterning and set them beside pieces of similar historical fabric. In this setting, one is drawn towards noticing this aspect of the paintings that one might not have paid particular attention to in a regular museum. The lighting and otherwise rather text-free cases made for a lovely viewing experience.

The textile museum itself is also interesting, in an ex-industrial space that has recently been recuperated (a second section of it is due to open soon as a library). A permanent exhibit near the entry describes historical textile processes and the whole museum is set up in accordance with the latest curatorial ideas. The gift shop also has a really cute sheep and material-related gifties.

Important Information:

LO STILE DELLO ZAR. ARTE E MODA TRA ITALIA E RUSSIA DAL XIV AL XVIII SECOLO
Prato, Museo del Tessuto
Sept 19 2009 – Jan 10 2010
Open 10-19, tickets 9 euros, various discounts
Website: http://www.lostiledellozar.it

Photo credits: official photographs, Lo Stile dello Zar press area

Prato, as you well know, has always been an economic strongforce in the textile industry and right now they’re looking towards the future, with a good sum of euros to invest in the city. Due to its historic importance, Prato has a beautiful historic center with some important churches, a wonderful Duomo that holds an important relic (see my video of the ostension of the sacra cintola); its more recent wealth allows it to have a textile museum and a contemporary art museum too. The piazzas and museums are the backdrop for this festival and its numerous collateral events.

At the textile museum: Lo stile dello Zar - The Style of the Tsar. Italian and Russian art and fashions between the 14th and the 18th century” exhibition brings together more than 130 paintings, costumes and fabrics from the leading museums in Russia and Italy. On Sundays there are free childrens’ workshops in relation to this show. Tickets are 9 euros, various discounts available, open till Jan 10 2010.

At the contemporary museum, Centro Pecci, is a one-woman show by russian-israeli artist Lena Liv, entitled Hekhalot. Open until Jan 10 2010, for information see here.

At the same time there are other exhibits at the textile museum, including an interesting examination of iconographical and stylistic collaboration between embroiderers and painters in the 16th century. There’s some food and shopping events going on: Around town you will be asked to vote on window displays who are competing to win the “tsar’s cup” prize, and you can win prizes too. At the museum’s cafe’ there’s russian and italian food; there are related itineraries in the city’s restaurants and apparently you get a free apron if you participate… Sept 24 and October 4th are also market days in Prato.

One-time events this weekend:

Thursday night: 22:30 “Anima della terra vista dalle stelle” is a theatre production featuring the scientist Margherita Hack, with original music and words (in italian)

Friday night: at 6pm the opening of a photography show dedicated to people who work, by Paolo Cagnacci (the exhibit will be on view through sunday). The photo on your left is your invitation.

Saturday night:
-9pm presentation of the 1000 euro prize for Videominuto - the one minute film festival
-from 9-midnight – there will be a laser show projected on the Castello dell’Imperatore… cool!
-and in piazza del duomo and elsewhere in downtown prato there will be street bands, itinerant artists, food, etc.

In this photo you can see the paper diamonds in their urban setting – if you think this is surreal, you should hear about how they were moved into place!

AT: Please tell us a little about yourself!

Stefano Giovacchini: I was born in Lucca in 1975 and studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze from where I graduated in 2001 with a thesis on Color Design. After that I had an internship at the museum of Fine Arts in Brussels, and have studied the application of color also at the University in Milan. I now work as a creative artist and designer in Lucca, painting, doing graphics, and designing with color. Currently I run Di.Segno, a company that does color projects and domestic mural projects: www.disegnodesign.it

AT: What is Cartasia? Can you tell us something about the history of paper in Lucca?

SG: Cartasia (www.cartasia.it) is a Biennale of Contemporary art now in its 5^th year; an event related to the artistic use of paper and its derivatives. First I should clarify why this would be in Lucca – in this province, they make almost all the packing and transport as well as domestic-use paper for all of Italy. Furthermore, there are companies that make paper-marking machinery here in the province of Lucca whose clients are all over the world. So, paper is one of Lucca’s major economic channels. It seems that they were already making paper in the province of Lucca back in the 1200’s when it was just brought to Europe by the ‘mores’.

So, I consider it entirely normal that there be an event that puts into the spotlight Lucca’s role in the paper business, but also one that addresses it from an artistic point of view, one that points out the aesthetic and creative role of this product. Also, as we’re in this economic crisis right now, I’d like to point out how artists can help evolve, distinguish, and promote paper and the paper industry.

diamonds in the rough!

AT: Well put! How did you get the occasion to participate?

SG: I submitted a proposal in the international competition organized by Cartasia – the theme is “paper and creativity as renewable resources”. 170 artists responded, 10 were selected to show their works in July 2010, while I was chosen as the inaugural artist whose work is being shown this September, which is a very important month for Lucca.

AT: I’m really impressed – you have a huge installation in what is probably the most prestigious piazza in the city of Lucca! I read that your work is intended to signify the precious aspects of two renewable resources: paper and creativity. What role did PLACE have in the way in which the final work was constructed and placed?

SG: actually, having my work in that piazza was more than I expected! In fact, for the proposal I had suggested a smaller project for another piazza, the Piazza del Giglio (del teatro). But they liked my idea so much that they asked me to make it larger and think about how to put it in piazza dell’ampiteatro, which Cartasia also considers the most prestigious space. In the past 5 events, an Italian has won this location only twice, so I am really honoured.

The ampitheatre’s shape easily lends itself as backdrop or site for my diamonds – a precious but also popular container, coherent with the language of the material and shape used – a precious object or space made of traditiona, poor, recyclable material.

Just made it out the door

AT: I noticed from the photos on your website that you made the diamonds in a warehouse in Lucca and then transported them one by one in the streets of Lucca. That must have been quite the experience! How far did you walk and what were the reactions of people who saw this process?

SG: The transport was perhaps the most interesting part of the work. Three of us moved each single diamond on a cart, passing by some of the most significant areas of the city, from the ex-tabacco factory, along the urban walls, in front of piazza San Frediano with its mosaic fronted church, along via Fillungo which is the principle road since Lucca’s Roman foundation, all the way to piazza dell’Anfiteatro. This was about 1.5 kilometers.

through the streets of lucca

People we encountered on this road did not fully understand the object being transported. They understood the shape, but not its weight, use, or material. Many were fascinated by the surreal event that happened before their eyes. It is not every day that you see a 3.5 meter diameter diamond made of paper being walked through the city by three people.

Some streets are rather narrow!

AT: That’s exactly what I thought when I saw the photos. I hope you made a video too!! You must have made the works to measure in consideration of getting out the door from the building in which you made it, but did you encounter any really tight squeezes on the road?

SG: Yes, it turns out that the entranceway to the piazza dell’Anfiteatro is narrower than I thought, so we had to go around via an external road and enter through a side door!

AT: the work is of course made of paper, and there is an emphasis on recycling in your description. What happens if it rains? And what happens to the work when the month’s show is over?

SG: The corrugated paper used for this installation had to be treated against the elements with a resin that unfortunately makes it not recyclable in a traditional sense. It can however be re-used: the larger diamonds will be dis-assembled but the smaller ones (2.5 meters) will be re-used by the organizers of Cartasia for future promotions.

Stefano’s piece is on view from September 5^th to October 3d 2009.
In Piazza Felice Orsi-Porcari there is another installation work by Enzo Iorio.

All Photos are by Silvia Vercelli.

Installation in the piazza

Reservations have to be made by calling the Monday before, between 9am and noon, to this strange little number: 055.055 (yup, 6 numbers, apparently – the “contact center comunale”). Here’s the schedule.

September
Thursday 10, ore 15:30 Villa Le Balze
Thursday 17, ore16:00 Villa Medici
Thursday 24, ore 16:00 Villa Montececeri

October
Thursday 1, ore 16:00 Villa S.Michele
Thursday 8, ore 16:00 Villa di Maiano
Thursday 15, ore 16:00 Villa Schifanoia

Information from this page from the City of Fiesole.

Image borrowed from Princeton University Library: “double portrait of Gerard Mercator and Jodocus Hondius” 1636

For anyone planning a trip to Tuscany this Fall, there are a lot of interesting events going on… I know of some perhaps more geared to residents, so you can feel really cool discovering and attending something less touristy.

September:

Florence: Mostra Felina – The international Cat show (Sept. 5-6 2009), Saschall (Lungarno Aldo Moro). A strange idea, but definitely not your average tourist thing to do. More info from Anfi.

Lastra a Signa: Sept 11-20, is host to Pomarium, a show and market dedicated to the cultivation of antique fruits. Looks like a great photo op, and you will get to taste apples, figs, and grapes. There will also be a lecture on gelato.

San Quirico d’Orcia: Sept 12-13 is dedicated to motorcyclists! Organised for the fourth consecutive year by the San Quirico Motorcycle Club, two days dedicated to bikers from all over Italy, with music, food and stunt shows in the Via delle Scuole area.

Florence: In case you’re into electronic music, the Nextech Festival is on Sept 17-19. I honestly cannot tell you much more than that.

Prato: Economia3 – (Sept. 24-27) economics festival and associated music and exhibitions. The website is in Italian, but there will be talks by Nobel prize winners and others in English. Prato is historically an economic strongforce in Tuscany, known for its production of textiles to this day. There is an associated exhibit on the exchange of textile goods and fashion between Italy and the Tzars of Russia on in conjunction with this festival thru January 2010 (http://www.lostiledellozar.it/) .

October:

Marradi: The Sagra delle Castagne (chestnut festival) is a perennial favourite that lasts most of the month. Marradi is a small town in the mountain pass from Florence to Faenza on the road called, not surprisingly, the Faentina. There is a historic steam train (as well as the regular regional train) that takes you there through breathtaking scenery.

More chestnuts: If you like this idea, there is another chestnut-related activity that takes you by historic steam train to Casteldelpiano from Siena through the Crete Senesi, including the opportunity to pick your own kilo of chestnuts (see pdf in italian only)!

Florence: The Festival della Creatività (Oct 15-18) is a free event that welcomes “creativity” in any sense. It’s a project of the Regione Toscana and organized by a related company, Fondazione Sistema Toscana, that wishes to promote creativity in Tuscany through contemporary art, economy, culture, and innovation. This year the theme is “The city of the future/ the future of the city”. There will be conferences, booths, interactive activities, and the participation of important figures in the Italian and international art and science worlds. This is pretty much off the tourist radar, but there are aspects that will be of greater interest to visitors, like a section on food and wine books, childrens’ activities, and a section called “Supernova” where there will be innovation of all types on display.

Siena: October 31^st is not Halloween here, but it is Urban Hiking day. How’s that for weird. There will be hiking around the streets of Siena on the theme of “The joy of trekking: tricks and treats walking in the city”. For info see: http://www.terresiena.it/.

November

San Giovanni d’Asso (SI): Annual sale and show of white truffles (Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Bianco) will be held Nov 7-8 and 14-15 in this small town that is famous for its truffles. There is a truffle museum here too – not to be missed!

Florence: 50 days of cinema in Florence (October 29-December 18 2009) is a huge international film festival. The full schedule will be up in the fall. Right now I can tell you that there will be sections of the festival dedicated to a range of tastes and interests. There’s indian film, french, new italian, queer, contemporary artistic, documentary, women-oriented… you get the picture! With the usual film festival events like visiting movie stars, opening nights, parties, etc.

In December, look out for festivals exalting the new olive oil (raccolta olio nuovo).

Further information will be posted on all these events on arttrav as it becomes available.

Plan ahead with books from the arttrav reading list!

Palazzo Pretorio

Certaldo is a town in Tuscany best known for two things: they grow wonderfully sweet purple onions (cipolle di Certaldo); and, of no lesser importance, Certaldo is where Giovanni Boccaccio spent the final thirteen years of his life. The suggestion that Giovanni was born in Certaldo in 1313 has been mostly disproved (he was probably born in Florence), but Certaldo is the native city of his father, Boccaccio di Chellino, and the author was indeed familiar with the town early in life. It gets a flattering mention as the setting for the tenth story on the sixth day of The Decameron: “Certaldo, as you may possibly have heard, is a fortified town situated in the Val d’Elsa, in Florentine territory, and although it is small, the people living there were at one time prosperous and well-to-do.”

On a hot late July day I visited Certaldo for the first time upon the invitation of Judy Witts, best known to the blogosphere as Divina Cucina, where she delights us with her mouthwatering culinary photography and adventures. I’d never been to Certaldo, and found it easy to reach by train from Florence (50 minutes, cost about 4 euros). Certaldo is divided into a lower town, where the train station and most stores and services are for residents, and an upper historical town accessible by an inexpensive funnicular that runs every 15 minutes.

Via Boccaccio - the whole town is in this red brick

The town has three museums accessed by one ticket (6 euros for adults), which include a house museum dedicated to Boccaccio (Casa di Boccaccio), a museum of sacred art, and the priors’ palace. All are conveniently located on the main street, which is not surprisingly named Via Boccaccio. Also on this street is the church of SS. Jacopo e Filippo where you can see Boccaccio’s tomb marker in the floor.

The palazzo pretorio, or prior’s palace, was the home of the Alberti lords and later of the governing body of Certaldo. It’s located at the far end of via Boccaccio that you can easily see from its beginning when you come up the funnicular. This is a really interesting space with rooms off a central courtyard. As the prior was responsible for the detainment and punishment of criminals, some of the spaces were used as jail cells. One room in particular shows evidence of this use by the scratched in lines representing days spent in confinement, and by the innovative use of charcoal to write rather poetic lines on the ceiling dating from 1555. The rooms of this palace are often used to display modern and contemporary art which makes a nice contrast and adds a layer of things to look at.

Pinacoteca (painting museum)

The pinacoteca or painting gallery houses a nice little collection that is certainly worth stopping in to see. Of particular interest is a sculpted wooden Petrognano Crucifix, a triumphans type with Christ live on the cross. The date and origin of this work is subject of scholarly debate (but it is from some time in 13^th-century Italy).

Of peculiar note, there is also a separate Museo del Choido – a museum of antique nails, and other bits and bobs of iron and metal tools and building supplies. This costs a euro to get in and should be fun for kids and bigger male kids (ie. men).

The medieval town crest has onions on it

I was excited to be going for lunch in a town known historically (all the way back to the 12^th century for sure) for very fresh onions. The medieval town’s symbol was a shield with a glorified purple onion on a white background. This symbol can still be seen in a fresco on the wall of the Palazzo Pretorio. The town motto is a metaphoric encomium to the onion that can be loosely translated as “by nature I am both strong and sweet, and I please those at work and those at rest”. Amusingly, the lowly onion was removed from the crest in 1633, but reinstated 1867. For lunch at Trattoria La Casalinga (via Roma 44, tel. +39 0571/668198), Judy and I had panzanella (bread salad) with fresh raw statina onions that proved to be perfectly digestible. Judy’s husband Andrea ordered the local specialty, pasta with onion pesto, which I hope to recreate at home.

Certaldo maintains the character of a small medieval town that has not been beseiged by tourists. You can see the towers of San Gimignano on its hill in the nearby countryside, but there are no kitch souvenir stores or tourist trap restaurants here. For a list of where to eat in Certaldo, see this list on Judy’s website.

Look out for the review of Judy’s cookbook, “Secrets from my Tuscan Kitchen” coming in late September 2009.

Further reading

• if you like Certaldo, you might also like Pienza, which is known for pecorino cheese.
• Read Boccaccio’s classic novella – 100 funny short stories written in 1348 and considered very racy. Priests being duped, men being cuckolded, and numerous funny jokes in Boccaccio: The Decameron.

View down via boccaccio from palazzo pretorio

The belt of green camel hair material is displayed inside a gold and glass reliquary container from the pulpit on the exterior of the Cathedral during a special mass, the rest of which takes place inside the Duomo. The bishop holds it up for public view in three directions, three times. This belt is believed to be that passed from the Virgin Mary to San Tommaso during her Ascention to heaven. It was brought to Prato by a citizen of Prato from Jerusalem in the 12th century, and has both civic and religious importance. For this reason, the ceremony requires the participation of two authorities and their numerous representatives- one civic (the mayor) and one religious (the Bishop). While the religious authorities perform a mass inside the Duomo, there is a civic procession with drummers and trumpets that make their way through the city to the Duomo, where they are welcomed at the door. The reliquary box that holds the belt is unlocked through the use of two keys, one for each authority.

Click here to enter: http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/mtvituscany

Frescheggiare

A classic Tuscan Sunday excursion is to go “frescheggiare” in the Vallombrosa, but we’d never been. Somehow it came to mind today so we went for the first time for a real “gita fuori porta” – a trip outside the city gates. This is a FREE thing to do and the weather’s great up there! 

The state reserve of Vallombrosa is 1000 meters up and 1270 hectares large. It is located on one side of the “tosco romagnolo” Appenine mountains in the comune of Reggello. It is the biggest and most un-tuscan looking woods I’ve ever seen.

Natural reserves might fall into various categories, so that you have a “stazione sciistica” for skiing… “termica” for thermal baths…. Well this place is just in the woods, so that’s good for hiking, but hard to categorize. So a bunch of guys in the 19th century must have gotten together and said “what should we call it?”, and they came up with “impianto turistico climatico” – climate. Weather. Yup. Vallombrosa has the weather going for it. My husband suggested that I pack a sweater, but as the weather has been a steady 35-42 degrees in Florence all month, I laughed and packed a sun hat and mosquito spray, neither of which I needed – but a sweatshirt would have been useful after all. It was probably about 20 degrees celcius.

The artistic highlight of the park is the Vallombrosian Abbey founded in the 11th century and greatly amplified in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The Church can be visited (it has a Baroque ceiling and a Renaissance sacristy). There’s a museum (open in the summertime, but closed for lunch 12-15) that houses an important Madonna and Child with saints by Ghirlandaio (Pala di Vallombrosa). One of the saints pictured is Giovanni Gualberto, founder of the Vallombrosian order. There are a few small “museums”, one with park information, and the other with strange dendrological samples.

The main activity here, other than walking around and taking in the very fresh, cool air, is picnicking. This aspect is taken very seriously, and it became apparent as soon as we parked and unloaded our miniature soft cooler that we were sadly underequipped. Vallombrian picnickers, be they in the woods along the road or on the large lawn area, come with at least a blanket and folding camp chairs. The most common family group also brings a folding table, numerous chairs, hard sided coolers, real dishes, soccer balls, wine, an umbrella or tent, playing cards, and a portable radio. The crowd ranges from lip-locking young people on blankets to pensioners with pasta al forno and bridge cards. I was unable to discreetly photograph many examples but here’s a photo of an elderly group in the woods.

This is a pleasant excursion and the best thing is that it’s free, other than the gas in your car. I also noticed that the SITA bus goes there (pdf timetable) so you can even go if you don’t have a car.

The group will be touring Tuscany August 20-25 2009. See schedule below.

Schedule:

August 20 2009: Florence, Anglican church of St. Mark, ore 21: Faure’ Requiem, Bruckner Mottetti ($)

August 21 2009: San Gimignano, Chiesa di Sant’Agostino, ore 16: as above (free)
August 21 2009: Florence, church of Santo Stefano, ore 21: Dvorak and Elgar (free)
August 21, 2009: Florence, courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi, ore 21, choral works (free)

August 23, 2009: Massa, Palazzo Ducale, ore 21: hayden and beethoven ($)

August 24, 2009: Siena Piazza del Duomo, 21:15, various (free)

August 25 2009: Florence, Palazzo Vecchio salone del 500, ore 21: Hayden Te Deum and Beethoven’s 9th (free!)

“Eternal Love” – an elderly couple head to their umbrella

The term ”Stabilimento Balneare” may be best translated as a beach establishment. You will find these lining many shores in Italy, but nowhere so much as in Versilia. The stabilimento is an invention after my own heart. It’s a clean and orderly approach to going to the beach. On a daily, weekly, or seasonal basis, you can rent an umbrella or even a “tenda” (larger “tent”) and lounge chairs. These are neatly placed on a beach that has been combed just for you. The Stabilimento usually also has changing cabins, clean bathrooms, a bar and restaurant, and perhaps some services and games for children. They are particularly useful for people with small children, or people like me who just like traveling in comfort. This weekend I was in Lido di Camaiore as a guest of friends who rent a “tenda” at the beach by the season in a rather luxurious stabilimento. It was a very stylish place. I was particularly impressed by the geometry of the architecture and the surf-inspired colours. Here are my photographic impressions.

Surf-inspired colours for changing cabins

Cruise inspired colours and shapes

To find a beach establishment in Versilia, see the official website of the tourism board APT Versilia.

Read here for a review of all the Beaches of Tuscany!

The Fienile (barn) before restoration

This is the story of the restoration of a barn in Tuscany conducted by my friends Sara and Allen. Sara wrote this post for the website Wandering Educators. This is just the beginning of the article to tempt you - read the rest here.

In 1994 Allen and I bought the property we had been renting for over 10 years. The reasons why we ended up in Tuscany – on a hilltop in the Valdarno – are totally serendipitous, and entirely too long to go into here. But we did it, and lived in happy nonchalance, raising our daughter and commuting to work in Florence until the economic crunch began to make itself felt. In 2005 we had the belated realisation that this property had better help maintain itself, otherwise we would find it very difficult to keep up the land and buildings after we retired. I keep buying lottery tickets with blind faith, but in the meantime we bit the bullet, hocked our souls to the Banca Toscana, and decided to carry out a dream: to restore and convert the villa’s barn into a rental cottage…

Read the full story on Wandering Educators!

Impruneta is located on the Chiantigiana (SS222), a pleasant road that winds from south florence through the Chianti hills. Speed limits are 50/70km per hour and you might as well respect it and enjoy the views (there are plenty of speed traps to enforce it, and the curves can be dangerous). There is an ample parking lot as you enter town.

Below you’ll find some suggestions for a pleasant day in the area.

700 years ago, on March 23 2009, the guild of Impruneta kilnsmen was founded and recorded in a notarial act. The area has since been known for the excellence of its terracotta handicraft, both decorative and practical in function. To emphasize this history the town now displays very large pots at key locations, and parks are beautifully edged and ornamented by terracotta elements. Whether you’re just interested or if you want to buy some pots, it’s a great idea to visit some of the producers nearby (see below).

The Madonna now conserved at Impruneta, by legend painted by St. Luke, was considered miraculous since at least the 14th century, when she was prevailed upon to protect Florence from the black plague. On various occasions through the early modern period she was processed from Impruneta to Florence, or simply kept in Florence. She was considered efficacious against not only the plague but also drought and floods.

The presence of the Madonna of Impruneta is recorded in archival sources in Florence. For example in the records of the Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore, one finds a payment on Feb 14, 1429 (1430 modern dating) for a meal given to the church wardens [operai] when the painting arrived. (See source.)

What to see

The church and cloisters of Santa Maria dell’Impruneta: The church was mostly destroyed by bombing in WWII and was reconstructed in the Renaissance style, foregoing the baroque decorations that had been added in the 18th century. Two late 15th-century  ”tempietti” were constructed by Michelozzo and decorated in glazed terracotta by Luca della Robbia. The left one houses the miraculous image, who is covered by a curtain. (The temple on the right holds a relic of the true cross). There is also a silver altar and some good quality 15th-century tomb sculptures. The richness of relics and art in this church attest to its historical importance.

The church has an annexed museum containing silver and other treasures, about which you can read here. To the right of the church there is access to two consecutive cloisters.

Visit a Kiln: There’s a list of terracotta kilns and furnaces that you may visit on the left hand side of this website (click each name for further information and websites).

Go for a wine tasting: the following farms in the area offer free wine tasting (list from the website imprunetacotto). Be aware that not all farms will have English speaking personnel. Furthermore, if you are tasting wine for free, generally you are expected to make a purchase. If there is a fee for wine tasting, you do not have to buy anything.

• Fattoria di mezzomonte
• Fattoria di Bagnolo
• Castello di Cafaggio 
• Azienda Agricola Lanciola 
• La Querce 
• Fattoria La Colombaia 
• Azienda Agricola Porcinaia 
• Fattoria Zucconi delle Massete

Have lunch: There are plenty of excellent restaurants in the area. If you just want a light snack to keep you going, try a genuine experience at the CDP Caffe’ , or bar of the Casa del Popolo. This large, airy and modern space has socialist roots dating to the 1950s. It remains a pleasant place to hang out and take in a fantastic view over the hills while you watch town elders play cards. There’s a huge terrace that is open as a pizzeria and restaurant at night. The casa del popolo also has an internet point that costs 2 euros per hour (open 7-23).

A bit out of town, the Ristorante Pizzeria I Cavallacci is a good spot for dinner and can accomodate large groups too (we often go there as a large group of friends). There is indoor and outdoor seating and an ample parking lot. [Address: via Aldo Moro 3, Impruneta; Tel.: 055 2313863].

There is a small Coop supermarket in Impruneta where you could also get sandwich fixings and picnic in the lovely park near the town center, which has various play areas for children.

Check out this video of the beautiful scenery in Impruneta provided by FlipFlorence!

I went this weekend and took in a marvellous day in the Chianti region. The exhibit is spread out within the ceremonial spaces of the city. In the pilgrims’ loggia, modern works will be on display until mid September. There is only one more week to see loan pieces from the 15th and 16th centuries in the courtyard and annexed spaces.

Of particular note from the 15th century are beautifully delicate works by artists of the highest levels – Donatello, Michelozzo – that are painted directly on the terracotta, without a second firing. This is different from maiolica which is tin-glazed terracotta; the painted terracotta pieces have a life-like quality and were valued, as were painted wooden scultures, for this very reason.

Further resources:

• on turismo.intoscana.it about Impruneta
• arttrav’s suggestions for a day in Impruneta (terracotta and miracles)
• Impruneta Cotto exhibition and information website.

The kids make a new friend

So. I had an 11 year old and a 13 year old from California with me for five days, and they looked like they’d have enough art history and walking around in Florence to last them a lifetime. If they were going to get a full understanding of Italian culture, I thought they ought to see where food comes from – or where it SHOULD come from. So I took them to an organic farm in the Chianti region of Tuscany. It was a beautiful, informative, somewhat sad (see why below), and fun experience for all, even when a massive thunderstorm broke out…

view from the road (keep going UP!)

I phoned Valerio Eternati of Podere Ruggieri Io near Pontassieve, who is one of the producers associated with the eno-gastronomic society that I belong to, De Gustibus. We went out on a Monday morning, when most museums are closed. To get there from Florence, one drives down via Aretina towards Pontassieve. At Le Sieci there are a few roundabouts, and you turn left at one that is brand new. You go under a train bridge and see a beautiful view of rolling hills, and you start going… UP hill! The road is nicely paved but narrow and you follow all these blind corners and hairpin turns. When you pass the point marked B on the map I’ve embedded below, keep going! I got to a fork in the road where there is a “chains necessary on tires in winter” sign and the street name seems to change from Via dello Stracchino to San Martino a Quona; don’t be fooled, keep going UP. The road turns to gravel and soon after we pulled into the driveway of our destination, marked by a beautiful sign that illustrates what they do. (A fun aside – the first time I saw that fork in the road I went down the hill and we were driving through woods, and about 500 meters down we found a fresh water spring at which locals were filling up, so bring some bottles!)

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View Larger Map–

Podere Ruggeri

I hoped to make another film after the success of the cheese video, which was filmed at another De Gustibus producer’s farm, but the narrative this time was just too complex. This farm raises pigs and cows – very special ones in fact – so I could not show the “from pig to salami” process in four minutes. They also produce wine, olive oil, vegetables, legumes, and grain for their own and for the animals’ consumption. Mr. Eternati (I feel like I can’t quite call him by his first name; he’s so distinguished) took us on a tour of part of the property – it’s 60 hectares so there was no way the kids would walk around the whole thing. But the kids were fascinated and really enjoyed everything. It turns out that they had never been to a farm before, other than a petting zoo. I tried to translate the jist of Mr. Eternati’s steady stream of italian story-telling but I think they were mainly interested in the animals.

Here’s some of what we learned.

Farm Machinery (how authentic)

We first saw the farm machinery, which looked like something out of a 1970s sci-fi film. Everything from tractors to grain cutters were pretty small and painted fun 70s colours. He explained that the machinery could not be very big, because as we noticed on the way in, the roads are really narrow! There were lots of hay bales stored up to feed the animals next winter, as well as logs for the wood burning fires that heat the home and with which the family cooks. The property hosts two silos and they make a very rich blend of flour (which contains some kind of soy and corn). All this stuff grows on the property so you see where this is leading… it’s a closed circuit. They feed the animals stuff that they grow, and that is helped along with the same animals’ own manure. No chemicals please! This is an organic farm, remember?

So, on to the animals. The cows can come into the barn area to eat, but generally

That's one rare cow

have run of a large property and seem able to hike up some pretty big hills! These cows are a special breed called Razza Calvana, an almost extinct protected breed close to the Chianina (this latter best known as a delicious steak). The Calvana is in fact traditionally raised in the Appenine mountains (thus hill climbing skills); it is a white cow with horns. This breed was popular pre-war as a beast of burden – a cow to pull machinery – although it also makes excellent meat and is able to survive by grazing in quite sparse landscapes. Mr. Eternati has been one of the promoters of this rare breed, of which there are only about 250 in existence (all in Tusany, and many of them right here on his farm).

Cinta Senese

Frankly, the pigs smelled a lot better than the cows. These Cinta Senese are very close to a wild boar. Cinta means belt, and this refers to the white belt around the belly of this hairy black pig. In keeping with the rarity of the cows on this property, the Cinta Senese is a race that can easily be documented to the fourteenth century as it is depicted in the city hall of Siena in Lorenzetti’s painting of Good Government. Now it’s near extinction, and it can only be found in Tuscany. They are born in the wild and have to be lured into a pen with food and a heat lamp (so cute!). It’s a very lean animal, unlike most pigs I’ve met, although they do love to take mud baths and play in dirt like their pink brothers. These pigs take 2 years to maturity at which point I’m sad to say that they make an exceptional prosciutto (or so I’ve been told – I don’t eat meat). I got half a kilo of 3-year aged prosciutto in a chunk and my husband has been progressively sawing away at it. Everyone says it’s like no other prosciutto they have tasted, and hey, it didn’t even cost that much (38 euros per kilo).

Our host in his garden

Now on to other things. We passed numerous fruit trees from which we sampled excellent plums of various types. We didn’t see the 10 hectares of olive groves nor all the vines (just a few baby grapes). There is a garden behind the main house with beautiful flowers, and tables around to seat about 50 people for special events. They can hold tasting dinners or pretty much anything else you want. There are lots of fruit trees here with birdhouses that Mr. Eternati builds to encourage different bird species to take up residence and eat the insects from the lawn.

What struck me in particular was the delicate balance of nature on this farm. Every little thing is perfectly calculated and it seems like if you changed something – took away a certain kind of tree or did something to make a certain bird leave – it’d all mess up, and you cannot solve it with chemicals here. For example, when they rennovated the house, they filled in some of the old holes and attic nooks that housed bats. But bats eat mosquitos and other insects in the garden, so they installed a “Bat Box” for the winged friends. These boxes are developed by the University of Florence and distributed through the Coop, who sometimes sells 5 euro tshirts that are in fact very cute, to support the production of said boxes (read more here).

THE ORGANIC LIFESTYLE  

ain't nothin' like when a farmer points out a storm...

I met Mr. Eternati’s mother when the thunderstorm broke out and we had to take refuge in the entranceway of their home. She was sitting outside cleaning vegetables. She’s 97 years old and sharp as a knife. Her brother recently passed away at 104 years old. I was told that this is the benefit of eating organic food that you grow yourself, for a  lifetime. This family didn’t just jump on the organic bandwagon; they’ve been living like this for generations. We visited their personal vegetable patch from which I purchased some very sweet zucchini and flowers; I feel more sprightly already.

Ok, here’s the sad ending. Or maybe a happy ending for you, if you have two million euros handy. This farm’s for sale. Mr. Eternati Junior can’t keep it up by himself, and the older generation is starting to feel the effects of age despite all that organic food. Mrs. Eternati’s doctors recommend that she live by the sea due to her asthma. This farm needs someone who is passionate enough to carry on their organic lifestyle, and a good businessperson to keep up the important contacts with buyers, organic product groups, tour groups, events, etc. Valued at 3.7 million euros with about 600 square meters of habitable space, 1200 square meters of barns, 60 hectares of land of which 10 hectares are olives… but Mr. Eternati hinted that for the right buyer he’d let it go for 2 million. Please pass this news on and help him find the right buyer. You can send me an email if you’re interested and I’ll put you two directly in touch (he’d rather not use an agency).

Buy this organic farm for 2M euros

Furthermore, you can help this farm by visiting it! If you’re an interested local or tourist, you can make an appointment by phone and come learn about the animals and organic farming. The family welcomes groups for wine tasting and aperitifs with their many products, or for larger lunches or special occasions. Call them at home: +39 055 8317362. Ask for Massimiliano (the son) who speaks a bit of English (i think!).

Further information:

• “A farm holiday with the kids” from turismo.intoscana.it
• The Chianti region of Tuscany
• Another arttrav farm visit in which I produced the cheese video
• A great place to stay in the region: Il Poggiolo Tuscany

Elba: "our" beach at Seccheto

Frankly, before my now-husband took me to Maremma 10 years ago, I’d never thought of Italy as having beaches. I realize that it’s a length of land that sticks out into the sea and so technically has water on three sides, but I’d never taken that into consideration. I came here to study Renaissance art. I came for historic cities. And frankly, I’m not much of a fan of water, sun, or sand.

Well, times have changed, and this year, exhausted from a hard winter at work, we needed a relaxing beach holiday. Preferably inexpensive and easy to get to. Although Elba is a common beach destination for Tuscans, my Florentine husband had never been there (his family tends to go to the beach either at Viareggio or down south in Puglia). We found a cheap mini-apartment for weekly rental, I got over my total fear of boats and booked the ferry, and we packed the car to the gills for our week on Elba. I did not have very high hopes; this trip was not my style and I feared near-mortal boredom. But when I got there I was struck by the relaxing natural beauty of this island, the lush vegetation, the clean water, and the long days with temperate weather.

HISTORY

In typical arttrav style I researched the history of Elba and the cultural or artistic things to see with my trusty Touring Club Italia Guide (mine’s Italian but this one’s a decent english substitute). Basically, the island is very rich in iron deposits, and was used as a mine from Etruscan times onward. The principal port city is in fact called Portoferraio, in which is buried the word ferro, or iron. A Ligurian population lived on the island during the iron age (lucky for them, their island had the most fashionable metal…), then the Etruscans, then the Romans who liked going there for vacations in splendid villas. It passed through various hands during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Interestingly, the Medici changed the mining system from tunnel to open air. Since the second world war, the island’s economy has moved increasingly towards dependence on tourism.

Elba may be best known for the fact that Napoleon was in exile there from May 3 1814 to February 26 1815. This had an impact on the constructed landscape of Portoferraio, which already was dominated by its Cinquecento fortifications – including a Medicean bastion upon which you can walk, built by Bernardo Buontalenti in 1558 – and late 18^th-century structures ordered by Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo. The National Museum of the Napoleonic Residences can be visited daily in the summer from 9am to 8pm and according to the outdated official website, this will cost you six thousand lire.

THE BEACH  

The rocky beach at Pomonte

This research proved entirely useless to me, because once I saw the little beach in front of our rental hut, I didn’t want to leave to go explore the rest of the island. Apparently there is hiking and various sporty activities for those so inclined. We stayed in the very small town of Seccheto, which is between the two more famous beaches of Cavoli and Fetovaia. The town features two restaurants, two hotels, two mini markets, a bakery, pharmacy, and newspaper vendor. The tourist population was mostly northern Italian, and in June it was not too crowded. We did drive around to check out Marina di Campo, a town with more stores and hotels and something of a nightlife, and Pomonte, a really freshing rocky beach at which there is a famous wreck popular with divers.

"The Quechua" (we like saying that) from Decathlon

I will definitely return to this beach. The water was crystalline and just cool enough to be hard to get into but wonderful once you’re in. The beach is free and without the services found in Viareggio, but there is a little bar hut that rents umbrellas and lounge chairs for a reasonable price. We brought our own adorable pop-up sun tent from Decathlon that makes you look like a pro as it sets up in two seconds… and then takes two people with higher degrees half an hour to figure out how to close it. After week we could close the thing in a flash and in the end I highly recommend a tent of this sort for fair-skinned people or children (you can get a similar Pop up Beach tent on amazon). The sound of the waves and the long lazy days were so relaxing that I just read a whole lot of good fiction and became regenerated and healed by the sea air. (There’s some good Italy-related books here and here.)

PRACTICAL INFORMATION to plan your trip to Elba

There are two ferry lines that take you from Piombino to Portoferraia: Moby which has nicely decorated newer boats, and the slightly cheaper Toremar which we took. It’s an hour’s trip so frankly there’s no point in spending extra money. There is not much shade on deck so bring an umbrella if you don’t mind looking like a dork (that’s what I did). Tickets can be reserved online; you must know the model of your car because you pay by weight/volume. Incidentally they don’t weigh your car when you get on, so you can then load up with beach toys, food, towels and everything else you need without fear!

On that matter: There are large supermarkets in Portoferraio and Marina di Campo. Prices are slightly higher than on the mainland, so if you have a cooler and are staying in a self-catering accomodation, consider buying some food elsewhere and bringing it with you.

There appears to be only one, centralized tourist office for the whole island. We should have stopped there when we were in Portoferraio because all the other ones were unceremoniously closed down despite online informaton to the contrary. This is the official tourism website.

There’s a good introduction to the seven jewels of the Tuscan Archipelago on the official tuscany tourism website, where you can also book lodging online with no booking fee.

Further reading on arttrav: read about Beaches of Tuscany here.

CONTRIBUTE!!

• I didn’t get very far around the island – i was just too busy lying still on my little beach. What do YOU think is the best beach in Elba and why?
• Do you have any good Elba photos? if yes email them to me (info at arttrav dot com) or post a link…

While you’re at Il Poggiolo you could take advantage of its central location to visit Arezzo, Siena, Florence, and many small towns in between! It also happens to be right by the Prada (Space) Outlet, The Mall Luxury outlet, and not too far from the Valdichiana outlet (see my outlet page for directions and reviews). Il Poggiolo is in the area of Tuscany called the Valdarno, which has a lot to offer and is less discovered than the Chianti and other areas.

Most people find a stay at Il Poggiolo more relaxing and private than they thought possible. The place has gotten a lot of really wonderful, unpaid reviews! Here’s an article written by one guest, while there are lots of spontaneous reviews on slowtrav (listed at the bottom of this page).

Il Fienile: 4-6 guests at €1,250/week all included
Available dates: 

• Monday 17 August to Sat 5th September 2009
• Saturday 28 September – Saturday 10 October 2009.

The Casa Colonica: up to 4 guests at € 1,000/week all included
Available dates:

• Sat 22 August – Wed 9th September 2009
•  Sat 10 October – Sat 17 October 2009

Xmas special : 2 successive weeks in the Fienile, 4-6 adults at € 1,350/week, heating included

Plenty more photos and information on the Il Poggiolo official website, and on the flickr page.

When you contact for a reservation please say you saw it on arttrav.com.

This is the story of how Miriam’s study abroad experience inspired her to create a series of necklaces based on the display of goods in Italian open-air markets. Thank you Miriam Rowe for contributing your wonderful photos and story to arttrav!

I knew I needed inspiration.  Athens, Georgia, where I had been for almost four years, had a lot of exciting things to offer, but I was tired and felt like my artwork was suffering because of it.  I’ve always looked to my surroundings for artistic inspiration, but I had seen the same things for so long, I felt like I needed a change.  This change came in the form of a chance to spend my last semester of undergrad studying in Cortona, Italy with the University of Georgia’s study abroad program. 

As part of my final semester of my BFA degree in Jewelry and Metalworking, I was required to create a series of pieces with a related concept or technique.  I wanted to be inspired by my surroundings, and I had heard enough good about the Italian experience to hope that it wouldn’t fail me.  Our program met in Rome, spent a few days there, then moved on to Florence.  I saw so many museums and churches in those few weeks — more objects and concepts than I could absorb at once.  While I took in all of the exquisite and masterful works, I looked at how the themes, concepts, and techniques of these masterpieces could be translated into jewelry.  My notebook from those few weeks was filled with ideas for my show, but even with all of the ideas that Rome and Florence inspired, I couldn’t find anything that inspired me enough to make a whole series of jewelry.

After a few weeks of travel, our program moved to Cortona, a small but historically important town in Tuscany where we would make our home for the next few months.  We got to Cortona, settled into our new lives and learned our way around town.  I spent a lot of time pouring over ideas and designs, looking for a way to let Italy inform my work. 

a market

Eight weeks away from my show, with no concept and no work, I was starting to get desperate.  One night we had a professor from the program give a talk about her work, and she spoke about doing what you love.  I had a flash of clarity, then reached for my sketchbook and spent the next hour writing down the things about Italy that appealed to me the most.  By the end of the evening, I had the theme for my show and had designed my first two pieces.  I spent the weekend doing some experiments; seeing how the materials would translate into jewelry and making sure the technique would be the best one to use. 

I had decided to work on markets, something I observed and loved in Italy. I would create a series that explored the playful use of goods found in Italian markets in the context of jewelry. I noticed that, like artists, market vendors use color, line, and repetition to advertise their wares, so I designed a series of five neckpieces with those design elements in mind.

vintage lace

The five necklaces in the series explore different goods sold in marketplaces: produce, clothing, linen, and jewelry itself.  The visual elements of the neckpieces were inspired by vendors’ displays, using form and repetition to draw in the viewer. These neckpieces explore form through the repetition of similar shapes, using materials found in marketplaces as design elements and content.  All of the necklaces were cast using the lost wax process and were made with Shibuichi, a Japanese Silver-Copper alloy.

Cloth

The lace necklace is carefully flattened and shaped, while the cloth necklace looks like cloth that has been picked up and handled by passers-by. The necklace made with jewelry fragments uses portions of many different pieces of jewelry bought in Italian markets to create one cohesive display out of many smaller jewels.

Seeing produce displayed in open-air stalls, out of the normal grocery store context, adds a new level of interest to the wares.  Instead of being packaged together in plastic or thrown into a pile to be picked through, these individual fruits and vegetables look like gems on display.  The long strands of peppers hung from market stall roofs were the inspiration for the red pepper necklace’s slices of peppers hanging off the chain.  The mushroom and kiwi necklace shows the produce displayed in a different way: sliced, sorted, and carefully arranged.

The show at galleria il pozzo

I held my show at the Galleria Il Pozzo, an incredible art gallery in the basement of a tabacchi on Cortona’s main street, Via Nazionale.  The Galleria carries all kinds of art work- from leather-bound books to paintings to ceramics- the greatest thing about this venue is that there is an excavated Etruscan well, a few millenia old inside the gallery.  This very typical Italian venue was the perfect setting for this collection, titled “Market in Metal”. 

While sipping on a glass of Tuscan wine at the opening reception for my show, I looked at the series of necklaces that had taken so much of my time over the last few months.  The long days and nights, doing little but working in the studio with short breaks for meals and sleep, were suddenly worth it.  I was in Italy — I was inspired and life was good.

Miriam Rowe has been making jewelry since she was ten years old.  She received her BFA in Jewelry and Metalworking from the University of Georgia in the United States.  In the fall she will be attending England’s Birmingham Institute of Art and Design to work towards an MA in Jewellery and Silversmithing from the largest jewelry school in Europe. To see other art projects or to read more about her time in Italy, visit www.miriamrowe.com

Below, you’ll find an updated (2010) review of some of the beaches in Tuscany – Viareggio, Maremma, Follonica and Cinque Terre (which is not in Tuscany!) – with driving directions and specific directions on how to find the free or paid beaches mentioned.

Viareggio and the Versilia area

The catwalk in early morning

In late June, July and August, masses of Florentines head out on weekends to the beach. Some have beach homes, others drive there in the morning. All of them take the infamous “firenze-mare” road, which is congested with traffic, and they go in groves to Viareggio and its long strip of beaches.

Viareggio is not charming, but it has water, sand, bars and shops, and can be reached by bus for a day trip. It does have a few things going for it though:

1. The beach is very very long, so you can go for wonderful long walks along the water. If you are out early in the morning, this beach would also be good for running, but during the day there are way too many people to run.
2. It’s very shallow for a long bit of wading. This is a really good place for families with kids who can romp in the shallows for hours.
3. There are plenty of beach services – bars, bathrooms, etc – so it’s perfectly civilized.
4. There are even showers right on the lower part of the beach at many of the beach establishments (cuz let’s face it, there are some days that the water is kinda gross and it’s best to rinse off right away).

Nearby Fiumetto and Lido di Camaiore is frequented by families, and boasts beach establishments with names like “bagno roma”, next to “bagno milano”. It also has a roller rink. The theatre area called the Versiliana has cultural and childrens’ events.

Forte dei Marmi appeals to the rich and famous. Here you can observe boob jobs and other elements of tanned television stars. This is also where unstrung youth go for night clubs and overpriced drinks.

Getting there:
Should this description have enticed you to take a dip in the salty waters of the viareggio area, here is how to get there.
By Car from Florence: Follow the highway signs for “A11 Firenze-Mare”, out past the airport. This road leads to Lucca. The last exist is viareggio. To get to Fiumetto, keep going north from viareggio along the waterfront, following the signs towards Forte dei Marmi (A12/ SS1).
By bus from Florence: you can take the Lazzi bus for the cost of 5.70E per person. The Firenze-Viareggio bus also makes stops near some Versiliana beaches. From the viareggio station you may take a separate bus, operated by the same line, to get to Forte dei Marmi.

Viareggio is not far from the lovely town of LUCCA - why not combine the two for a few days?

Maremma – Grosseto area

The more adventurous or car-loving Florentines go to the Maremma or Grosseto region, which boasts cleaner beaches, colder cleaner water, and nicer views. The drive is a bit longer, making a weekend here more viable than a day-trip from Florence, though the latter is fully possible. This area has a lot to offer, including Etruscan ruins and fabulous hill towns, so you wouldn’t be bored if you decided to spend a few days enjoying both water and land. My favourite beaches are as follows:

Follonica

A beach-side town that has been relatively citified. There are numerous pay beaches and a long stretch of free beach. From Florence, drive the FI-PI-LI, then take the highway towards Rosignano and exit at Follonica. Follow a small sign for “Il Boschetto” which is the name of the free beach – you’ll get to a roundabout and see a canal. Park along the canal and walk towards a bridge over that canal, stay on the unpaved side of the canal for a few feet and you hit the free beach. The water is clean and pleasant.

There is a residential beach “village” with apartments and hotel in Follonica that has services at a similar level to Riva del Sole mentioned above. This is Golfo del Sole aka Villaggio Svizzero: www.golfodelsole.it

Cinque Terre

Finally, if you’re desperate for some nice water, cinque terre is not ridiculously far, and is (only!) accessible by public transportation. Yes, I realize it’s not in Tuscany, but we might as well adopt it. From Florence, it takes 2 hours on the Intercity train from florence to La Spezia, from which you need to take a regional train. There’s an 8pm train out and you can be home by 8pm, if all the connections work (which they never do). Much loved by american and german tourists, cinque terre is no longer undiscovered italy. The menu is the same in every restaurant, and you seldomly hear italian spoken. That said, the locals are very friendly and open to tourism, and the views are breathtaking.

The area is famous for its hiking, which is surprisingly strenuous. The “via dell’amore” is the best known, and hence the least romantic of the bunch.

In low season (early May, September etc.) it is possible to arrive in the morning and just ask around for a room. Just about everyone has something for rent and it is common to be assailed by offers as you step off the train. In high season, browse the net for B+B’s of which there are hundreds.

Further information: you might also like articles on arttrav about the island of Elba and its beaches, and the beautiful side of Viareggio – the order and geometry of the Tuscan beach establishment.

This post is sponsored by Sell my Timeshare Now.com who offers Italy timeshares for anyone who loves it here so much they want to come back every year! Arttrav thanks this company for its contribution which helps keep blog operating costs covered.

Panoramic views abound in Pienza

Pope Pius II Piccolomini visited his hometown of Corsignano in 1459 and found out that he’d grown up in a bit of a dump. He promoted it to the level of city-state, imposed upon it a new urban plan that corresponded with utopic standards, and renamed “Pienza” it after himself. The things you can do if you’re Pope!

Here follows a useful history of this town and what to see there.

Urban Planning

The newly developed center of Pienza reflects the urbanistic ideals of the humanist and theorist Leon Battista Alberti, who probably accompanied the pope on his 1459 visit. In his De re aedificatoria of 1452 Alberti, based on Vitruvius, proposed that the main palace in a city should be in a central piazza, adjacent to the temple, theatre, and the houses of other noblemen. Correspondingly, the central square at Pienza (Piazza Pio II) is the site of the Palazzo Piccolomini (papal palace), Duomo (Cathedral), government office in the Tuscan tradition (Palazzo Comunale), and the Episcopal Palace. The piazza is trapezoidal, with the church at center and the two palaces (episcopal and papal) at an angle on either side, creating a sense of monumentality in a rather shallow area limited by a street at the far end. Along this main street, about forty other buildings were either constructed or refurbished in the Renaissance style. The concept behind this rennovation is essentially utopic; that every element necessary to harmonious city life be accessible in one area to all citizens. Pius took a heavy hand in forcing cardinals of other cities to build palaces in Pienza, and even planned to flood the lovely Orcia valley to create a lake for fish supply, but his death in 1464 stopped progress on the city and its inhabitants returned to their previous, mostly agricultural pursuits. Nonetheless, the pope’s plan remained virtually unchanged, and Pienza is thus a rare example of a perfect Renaissance city.

Pienza Cathedral

The Renaissance Duomo on Piazza Pio

Bernardo Rossellino of Florence was chief architect for the redesign of Pienza. He had to contend with the inevitable contrasts between theoretical ideals and the reality of location. Pius was particularly preoccupied with the changing effects of light throughout the day in the beautiful valley area located now behind the Duomo. As a result, the cathedral’s glass apse was developed to take advantage of the light available on the north-south axis. Unfortunately, as you can tell if you walk back there, this is the edge of the hillside upon which the town is built, and the descent is pretty rapid. Rossellino’s foundation cracked soon after completion, and if you roll a bowling ball down the nave, it will pick up speed as it heads downhill towards the altar (do not try this at home… or in Pienza…)

Pienza's Duomo has a Germanic interior

The interior of the cathedral is unusual because it imitates a German Late Gothic hall church of the type Pius had admired on his travels as a young apostolic secretary and ambassador. Unlike most Italian and Siennese buildings, this church has three aisles of equal height, and it incorporates architectural features that are both Renaissance and Gothicizing.

The Duomo facade is articulated by four colossal pilasters on pedestals, reaching to the horizontal cornice of the pediment without any intervening entablature. Pius described the façade as being ‘modelled on those Ancient temples and richly decorated with columns and arches and semicircular niches designed to hold statues’ (Grove art online).

Pecorino

Pienza is perhaps best known, now, for its pecorino – sheep cheese, available in a range of varieties. Samples are available in the very smelly stores that line main street. Prices are not all that high, and you can buy vacuum-packed rounds of cheese that are ready for export. (Note that to import cheese in the USA, there are no clear regulations; it must be vacuum packed, but they prefer aged cheeses and may be more likely to confiscate a fresh cheese, which anyway would not keep that well while you travel.)

Seats and sign outside the porchetta store

Pienza may have some decent restaurants, I would not know. There is a place that sells roast pig sandwiches – “panino alla porchetta” for about 4 euros each and they are plentiful. Being vegetarian, I opted for the sandwich that contains pecorino al tartufo (cheese with bits of truffle in it). Neither sandwich comes with any vegetable, but you can go to a fruttivendolo (fruit and vegetable store) and pick up something to eat with your sandwich. Follow the left side of the Duomo and you’ll find a walled street that rings the back of the town. It gets perfect sun at lunchtime and there are inviting benches upon which to picnic.

A funny aside about the recognition of dangerous mushrooms

USL Certified mushroom expert at Porchetta store

My friend and colleague Roy is a fan of hiking, and of eating anything he can find on said hikes. Walking outside Cortona, he found a beautiful mushroom that he said was a puffball, or at least it looked like the puffballs he knew in the USA. Before cooking it up with tagliatelle, he had the prudence to have it examined by an expert. The question was, where in Italy should you ask? So, Roy asked me, and I told him to go to the Carabinieri. I have never found edible mushrooms myself, but I had a flashback to my childhood summers in Switzerland and I could have sworn that the police were in charge of these things. Well, Roy trekked into the Carabinieri station on via Dardano in Cortona with his puffball and said in broken italian to the 18 year old kid on duty “Conosci funghi?”. The kid looked at Roy like he was crazy, and eventually lead him by the arm to a restaurant down the street, whose cook confirmed that the mushroom would indeed be delicious, and not kill anyone. I got a good laugh at his expense. So back to Pienza: At the panino place, I spotted a framed sign behind the glass display (see photo). The owner of this locale, photographed mug-shot style, is a licensed authority on mushrooms, within the regulation of the local USL7 of Siena (the company that runs the health system). With this I learned that, if you ever have a mushroom you pick in a field, you should run it by an expert in “consulenza micologica”, of which, for the region of Siena, there is a list here.

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