Author: AnnaD

Arrivederci Italy!

 

We left Italy last Tuesday and made our two-day drive back to Paris to return our rental. We then left Paris on Thursday to travel back to the States. I have been struggling to write this post partly because I am suffering from jetlag and don’t have the mind power to string thoughtful sentences together, but also because I don’t want to accept that our trip is over.

We wrapped up our adventure due to a number of reasons. When it came time to plan the next leg of our trip for the month of July, we were really stumped about where to go… a place where we wouldn’t be met with hoards of tourists and ridiculous summer prices for rentals. When we thought ahead to having the same issues to contend with for August, we realized that while it would be fun to extend out trip, our funds reserved for the trip would probably be depleted or possibly even overextended by the summer’s end and we would have to return anyway. So we decided to wrap it up and get back to reality sooner rather than later.

We flew into Dulles on Thursday and plan to settle in VA for the near future to be near Fritz’s family. For me, this is a new sort of adventure since I have never lived south of NYC or truly outside of a major metropolitan city. Currently staying with family, our plan is to scope out locations in VA to determine where we want to settle, buy a car or possibly two (we haven’t owned a car in 11 years), and find jobs.

I do plan to write an Italy wrap up post and possibly a trip wrap-up post, but not sure when my brain will be fully functional and ready to dictate the writing.

I haven’t decided on whether I will continue the blog documenting my adventures in VA, but I am planning to unlink my blog from Linkedin and Facebook, so if that’s how you get word of a new post, this will no longer work. Instead, you can go here https://annadement.wordpress.com/and sign up to get notified whenever I publish a new post or you can just visit the site when you like.

Feel free to email me if you just fell off your chair from my news and want to chat.

Here are some more delicious dishes we enjoyed that I haven’t yet shared with you folks.

by AnnaD

Mosquitos, beetles, scorpions, oh my

The title only summarizes only a few of the bugs we have come across and ultimately killed. Ants, bees, gnats, grasshoppers, and moths are some of the others. We live in a 15th century house without screens and nooks and crannies in every room so we get exposed to many more of the outside elements than the average person. It feels like every flying critter has found a way into our home. While it had rained for a few days before we arrived and spot showered during our first week here, but not since then . So now that it’s been dry and hot for the last three weeks the mosquitos have reared their ugly heads and stingers.

Since we don’t have central air and rely on a sole fan, the screen-less windows need to be open during the day to get some fresh air into the house. Fritz has become very strategic in keeping the sun from heating up the rooms while getting a cross breeze. But once the sun goes down and the lights get turned on, the doors and windows must close (why oh why don’t Europeans use screens?). In the process, we often trap some mosquitos into the house who then find their way to me. This last week the mosquitos were especially bad and I have the welts to prove them. Not only does the itching drive me crazy and keep me awake at night, but the mental work it takes to not scratch them makes me break out in sweat in an already warm house. Even when one isn’t around, I still can’t help but flinch and check every 5 seconds to make sure there isn’t one on one of my ankles.

As for the ants…they seem to have made a nice home for themselves in the kitchen around the sink. Each morning we have to wash the dish rack of both live and dead ants only to find it infested again within hours. Fritz has sprayed the heck of the kitchen, but there’s always more coming. At one point, I thought I was on the set of Antz (the movie) trapped on a green screen with hundreds of ants marching towards me.

Luckily with the help of various allergy pills and the constant application of domeboro, tea tree oil, and toothpaste the itching has been kept to a minimum. Negroni’s have also been proven to help.

 

I want to end this post on a more pleasant note and leave you with some pics of flowers blooming around the house.

by AnnaD

Day Trips to Florence

This week and last week we took day trips to Florence. It’s fairly easy to take the train from Borgo and be in Florence in less than 45 minutes, but with the heat and the added convenience of not having to check the time all day, we opted to drive in instead. We’re only about 25 kilometers north of Florence so it’s a quick 30 minute trip from our door to the parking lot on some very narrow roads where the distance from the side of the car to the houses is not even the length of an arm. Yeah, it’s really close.

Temps have been around 90 degrees the last two weeks so Florence was extra steamy from being closer to sea level, the onslaught of tourists, and just heat radiating from pavements and buildings. Everywhere we turned we were greeted with lines of tourists waiting to get into churches, museums, or monuments. We chose to go to the Boboli gardens, intentions were good but it wasn’t well executed. The Boboli is an open-air museum, not the pizza you create at home, that was completed in the 1500’s and in addition to taking up

The Boboli is an open-air museum, not the pizza you create at home, that was completed in the 1500’s and in addition to taking up some massive real estate in the center of Florence, it boasts a huge collection of sculptures, features many fountains and a has a huge variety of trees. Within seconds of entering the grounds, we realized it required walking up pathways in the exposed hot sun.

Parched, perspiring profusely and possibly nearing heat stroke, we kept ascending thinking we would soon be in the vicinity of a café that would provide us with cool, refreshing water. But with each pathway, we were left disappointed. We did finally find a vending machine, but by then I was completed drenched, so over the entire experience, and ion a desperate search for shade. Fritz soldiered on while I descended and hunted down a cool stone bench to sit on and gulp down  the rest of, by now, my lukewarm beverage. Afterwards, reading up on the Boboli and all the things I missed, I came upon this very funny yet sad statement on one of the websites, “(Boboli) offers peaceful shelter from the warm Florentine sun in summer”, good luck finding the handful of spots that offer relief since there really aren’t that many. I look forward to visiting this place in the future, but preferably in the spring or fall  this very beautiful place in the fall or winter.

 

After lunch, we headed to the Uffizi. We had reserved tickets for 2:30 hoping we wouldn’t have to stand in line for too long. We stood in one line for a while, only to be told we had to go across the streets to pick up our tickets. At the ticket office, we stood in line waiting our turn to retrieve our tickets and then crossed back and stood in line waiting to be let in for the 2:30 reservation all while roasting in the Florentine sun. Once were inside, we were greeted with swarms of people, huge groups and lots of selfie sticks. Once we got to the top floor where most of the collection is kept, some of the rooms were so steamy that I within seconds of entering I could feel the sweat accumulating, anticipating the plop of a drop streaming down my back.

Needless to say, I missed quite a bit but was grateful to see as much as I did. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that the 2nd floor but especially the 1st floor had vast collections that not many people were interested in (the Botticelli’s were on the 3rd floor) making for a more pleasant experience, plus the lower floor was also cooler.

And now some more ranting……summer travel is an oxymoron in my book. Who thinks traveling and vacationing in the summer is a good idea? Between the heat, the crowds, and the sweat it can turn  a somewhat enjoyable summer day into one hot mess.
I don’t know about you but sweating profusely and then going to eat lunch or visiting a museum or even shopping are not things I want to be doing when a cool shower is what should be the next activity.

This week when we went to Florence, we had absolutely no plans to sightsee. Instead, we were going to walk around, get some lunch, and maybe do some shopping. While the shopping part didn’t pan out, we did have an amazing lunch – and I found a new carb favorite, panzanella (see below), which is a bread salad made with tomatoes, basil and onions (but can really be anything you want), dressed with olive oil and a little vinegar…. and caught some shots of the Duomo along with the hundred of other tourists. It was still a hot day, but nice to not be pressured to sightsee.

 

by AnnaD

Italian Coastal Visits

Last week we drove to the eastern coast of Italy, to the Emilia-Romagna region. It is about 110 kilometers from Borgo and takes about two and half hours on local roads, or you could drive it in under two hours on the highway, but you would have to drive out of the way and go north to Bologna before making your way south to Ravenna for a total of a one-way trip of 170 kilometers. Once there you can drive to some of the Marina towns like Marina Romea, Marini di Ravenna or Punta Marina. We had initially thought of going to Rimini, but that also presented a long triangular drive, so we chose to go to Ravenna instead.

It was an exceptionally steamy day, so Fritz was especially looking forward to dipping his toes and possibly his whole body into the Adriatic sea. As we got into town and passed street after street eyeing the beach access paths we were stumped to see restaurants lined up for what seemed like an eternity, as barriers between the street and the beach. It was around 1pm by this time so we decided to get some lunch and see if we could figure out what others or some of the locals were doing to get to the beach.

We dined on some pretty awesome seafood. We got a primi of spaghetti with seafood, the griglia misto which is a mixed grill of seafood, some grilled vegetables and when I saw the table next to us get the grilled octopus, I also had to have it as well We were seated outside under a huge tent which opened up to the beach. One step from our seats the beach started which was lined with what seemed like an endless sea of beach chairs, beyond that you couldn’t really see the sea or tell if there was an actual beach where people laid out or if it was rocky and not meant for lounging.

Except for one lone person lying in a beach chair, all the others were empty. After a very perspiring lunch of grilled seafood and a bottle of Rose, we were ready to get back into the car, crank the a/c and see if there was another way to get to the beach besides walking through a restaurant. We drove for a while longer but never did figure out how to access the beach.

 

This week we went to LIvorno on the western coast of Italy. It looks out to the Ligurian sea and if you could manage the swim across, which is greater than the distance from Ravenna to Livorno, you’d end up in Cannes. But I don’t recommend it. After doing some research on the city, I was looking forward to some shopping and Fritz was looking forward to a dip in the sea on a very hot day.

After we walked up or down what seemed like every street in Livorno, I was sure the internet had lied once again. Except for a few international retailers, there was no shopping to be had in Livorno. After our fruitless efforts, we settled down to another seafood lunch. Here too we dined on a mixed grill of seafood and an extremely tasty rice dish with a tomato base with steamed seafood.

Little did we know that would be the highlight of our day. Once we emerged from the old dimly lit restaurant into the bright hot afternoon sun at about 2pm, we were greeted with a very deserted city with even fewer shopping choices since siesta was in full swing and almost any shop that had bothered to open that day was closed. Even the tourists from the large cruise ship in port had retreated for their afternoon naps. So we decided to retrieve our car and begin the hunt for beach access roads.

In Livorno too we were left mystified that were no clear markings anywhere to indicate that you could access the beach at this spot, or whether you had to pay to access the beach, or whether you had to be a resident to park in the lot. Fritz was determined to see the beach, so we parked and he headed towards it only to return five minutes later disappointed that it wasn’t what he expected and he was ready to head home. We’ll have to work on getting him to a beach soon or he might just bust.

by AnnaD

Lucca, Italy

We took a drive last week to Lucca, a city a little over an hour from Borgo. It was the perfect day, sunny with very few clouds in the crisp blue skies with dry air and temps in the low 80’s.

We arrived in Lucca a little after noon and were ready to sit and enjoy a nice al fresco lunch. Within a few minutes ,we happened upon Christina’s which was serving very delicious looking cocktails in mason jars which some of the clients were already imbibing on and the bruschetta con pomodori looked like something we couldn’t pass up  when we saw that our neighbors were savoring every bite. Luckily we didn’t have to wait too long before we too got to drink our pretty summer drinks and crunch away on the garlicky  goodness of toast.

 

Afterward, we took a stroll around town to explore the well-preserved Roman walls which the city is famous for. The walls of the old Roman amphitheater dating back to 1st or 2nd century B.C. have been preserved. But the interior of the amphitheater which once seated 10,000 spectators was transformed in 1830 into a modern day square (well circle really) and named  Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, The piazza features about a dozen eateries from gelaterias to cafes and a dozen more shops selling household goods and food with private residences about the commercial storefronts.

 

We also visited the Lucca cathedral, Duomo di Lucca, Cattedrale di San Martino, wich was originally constructed around 1068 with parts of it rebuilt in the 14th century in Gothic style.

 

It was a spur of the moment trip and very little research had bene conducted prior to going. Once we returned home and read up a little on the city and the province, we learned there was so much we missed,and so much more to see. Will we have time to return before we leave or will we have to wait until the next time we’re in Italy to see more of Lucca? Oh, decisions, decisions.

 

by AnnaD

Lunch in Borgo followed by wine tasting in Dicomano

One day this week after the gym we headed into Borgo to try another restaurant and it did not disappoint. Passaguai – Cibo E Vino (translated means food and wine) has the business and kitchen area on one side and the dining and seating area on the other side in between the two areas is an old building with beautiful wood doors and decorative ironwork. Out front, there are plenty of chairs and tables under the biggest umbrella I have ever seen making for a cool lunch even when the temps are nearing 90 degrees.

 

They have a short daily menu which I love because it often means fresh ingredients and confirmed happiness even before you place the order. We each ordered a glass of wine and I had the gnocchi with walnuts and Fritz had lamb skewers over a bed of potatoes that weren’t quite mashed nor quite potato salad. Over that was a light salad of greens and tomatoes accompanied by a tzatziki sauce which complimented all the ingredients nicely. After our meal, we enjoyed creamy desserts mine with meringue and bitter chocolate chips and Fritz’s with shortbread and berries with coffees. All week it had been in the 90’s and I was dying for an iced-coffee which is a rarity in Europe. I asked our server if he could bring a cold coffee instead and he presented me with a cold espresso that was made using a cocktail shaker and some ice. It was presented in a martini glass and it tasted awesome.

 

After lunch we headed to Dicomano is a commune or town in the Florence province only about 15 minutes away from Borgo. We had made reservations at a local vineyard, Frascole, for some wine tasting. Enrico Lippi, the vintner, who had bought the farm, built in the Middle Ages, in 1992 shortly after he married, and has been expanding his wine offerings ever since. His wine production has been certified organic since 1999. We tasted 2 white wines (a Sauvignon Blanc and a Traminette) and 4 reds wines many of them using a large percentage of the Sangiovese grape, except for Limine which is 100% Merlot. Lastly, he also had us taste a very pricey but delicious dessert wine that is aged a minimum of 9 years before sold to the public. I later learned through readings about wine tastings that Enrico’s dessert wine has won the prestigious Best of Italy Vin Santo award a number of times. Glad we got a bottle for later.

by AnnaD

Day Trip to San Gimignano

We arrived in San Gimignano around noon just as all the parking lot electronic signs started to display “Completo” meaning the full leaving us no option but to park at the only remaining parking lot available to visitors which is located at the very bottom of the medieval hilly town. As with many towns and cities in Tuscany, visitors are not able to drive into the central parts. These areas are usually limited to residents with special parking permits.

Having driven in circles a number of times in search of parking, we caught glimpses of the beautiful stone and brick buildings perfectly distanced from one another, but it was only when we started to walk from the parking lot and ascend the hill to the were we really able to take in the sheer magnitude of the beauty of the alabaster and apricot-toned buildings against the gorgeous green countryside and sparkling blue sky. At times it felt like we were looking at paintings and when we took some of our selfies it looked as if we superimposed ourselves onto a fake background. The pictures really don’t do justice to what the eyes are able to take in in person.

San Gimignano is often referred to as the Manhattan skyline of Tuscany because it has tall buildings that can be seen for miles and miles unlike the rest of Tuscany where houses and buildings are comprised of one to two stories. But before you go rushing to see Empire State Building level monuments, hold on….these buildings are only 10-15 stories at most. Compared to the one to two level buildings, they might seem enormous to some, but not everyone will it that way. But, because of all the hills and mountains and the countless houses fitted nicely into the small crevices of each of these landforms, the area is anything but flat and quite scenic leaving little need for tall buildings which also gives way to plenty of viewing of greenery and blue sky.

The day we visited was a beautiful day, sunny and breezy with temps in the mid 70’s. Plus with it being June, tourists, many part of the ever annoying travel groups, can be found in every nook and cranny of Tuscany – and here too the gorgeous old town was just a sea of tourists many waiting in line for some tasty gelato. The more popular places like San Gimignano, Florence etc. are flooded with American tourists talking loudly on their cell phones in English as they sit in restaurants or walk down streets. Most annoying of all has been their assumption that everyone speaks English so they dive into conversation with Florentine purveyors or Tuscan business owners by saying “hi, I want…. Instead of the more considerate buongiorno in the morning, or buonasera in the evening… mi scusi, parla inglese…excuse me do you speak English.

There are plenty of places within the old walled town to grab a bite whether literally getting a slice and continuing with your walking and exploring or sitting down and enjoying some vino with your antipasti or primi. Besides the historical richness and the eating, you can also do some great shopping. Two long wide pedestrians walkways are lined with dozens of shops on either side making for an overwhelming and possibly costly experience.

Many shops offer the usual touristy tchotchkes, but you can also find some items Tuscany, and Italy all over, is better known for like olive oil, olives, wine, murano glass etc. I didn’t pay particular attention to these things thinking they were overpriced and better ones could probably be purchased elsewhere. Rather, I was more focused on shoes and purses and drawn to the rich buttery authentic smell of leather. I ended up purchasing a pair of sandals, not made in Italy, but rather in Spain, my third pair on this trip – they can also make great stuff – as well as an electric blue leather crossbody handbag that can double as a clutch. Coincidentally it matched the sandals I had just purchased and the top I was wearing that day. I guess you can say I like the color blue.

by AnnaD

In Town

 

 

Besides going to the gym and the large grocery store in the center of town, we have not set foot on Borgo soil for longer periods than getting in and out of the car in said parking lots. For the last two weeks we have driven around the perimeter of the town trying to navigate to roads that would lead us home or lead us out of Borgo, but had not yet caught glimpses of any interior streets.

On Saturday, we decided to see more of the city by parking and walking along the streets that are too narrow for cars to enter and maybe finding a place to eat. What I saw was a small town within an already small town. But since it was close to 2pm, except for a few eateries, everything was already closed for the weekend.

If you’re not familiar with European towns or even some of the smaller cities, everything closes shortly afternoon noon on Saturday only reopening on Monday morning. But if you happen to be in a Mediterranean region you best not oversleep that Monday morning, because siesta will set in around 1pm, and shops won’t be open again until later in the evening.

If you’re familiar with my blog, you’ve read my earlier tirades about this topic. As a lifelong city girl, I can understand the sometimes quieter hours of Sunday, but after countless trips to Europe and 6 months of continual living in Europe I still can’t fathom the complete shut down of towns to the point that if you didn’t do your grocery shop in time you might be left to dine on some sketchy food on Sunday – including a stale pack of crackers from the back of your cupboard, questionable yogurt from the back of your fridge and you might just end up having a bowl of cereal for both breakfast and dinner.

Luckily Fritz did a bit of research and we ended up in a rustic little restaurant that has a wine shop in the front when you first enter. The early drop off of a bread basket on our table exhibiting four types of bread was already a good sign that we would be enjoying our meal. We dined on some starters consisting of a chicken liver pate and a potato with salami containing fennel and our primi dishes consisted of a sage tortellini and a purple potato ravioli.

After our meal, we decided to embark on a futile adventure of locating an open bakery for some fresh bread. While we did see a few pastry shops open, none of them sold any bread. We promised we would return to the center of town again at a more Borgo reasonable time to see shops open and signs of people. I will report back on that outing which will hopefully entail news about much sought after fresh bread.

by AnnaD

Family Weekend

We met up with some family in Florence who were also visiting Italy. We drove from our home in Borgo San Lorenzo as far into Florence as we could and parked. Central Florence is restricted to traffic and you need a special permit to enter the historic area. Sunday are the only time the traffic cameras are off and you are allowed to enter the area. But even with that allowance, I would not want to drive nor be a passenger in a car travelling in central Florence.

 

After a lovely meal we ventured outside in search of gelato which is not hard to find. If you thought there were too many Starbucks in some cities to the point of one on almost every corner, Florence streets have at least one gelatoria every 20 steps. So if you didn’t like the gelato flavors you just picked, take a few breaths and you’ll soon be at the next gelatoria ready to select your next two flavors.

 

It was well after 9pm when we finally made it outdoors. It was Saturday and a mild June night, so it was expected that many people would be out and about. But I didn’t expect everyone to be out. From tourists to residents, from teenagers to grandparents it appeared as if everyone decided to descend upon Florence that night. We each got our two flavors and took a quick stroll to the Duomo before heading down to check out the Arno strategically moving through crowds. 45 minutes later we were back in the car heading home and thankful that we couldn’t drive into the historic center of Florence for we would still be trying to navigate out of the city dodging pedestrians and shimmying down some very narrow streets.

 

The next day, we reciprocated and invited the family out to the countryside. They took the train from Florence and we met then at the Borgo station. Fritz had been cooking for two days so we had plenty of food on hand and many libations to pour. It had rained ferociously hours before they arrived and I was worried that the day would be spent indoors. Luckily the rain stopped, the clouds disappeared and the sun made its presence all in all making for a wonderful day of eating and spending time with family.

But, between all the catching up and drinking and eating, I was remiss to take any pics, except for a sole photo of Chris’ dinner that he cooked for us Saturday night in Florence. It consisted of gnocchi, sausage and an abundance of fresh vegetables dressed with a sprinkle of parmesan and a sprig of basil. It was delish!

Gnocchi

 

 

 

by AnnaD

Northern Tuscany

We left Paris Monday morning for Tuscany. We planned to drive (or at least Fritz did) more than half of the 1,100 plus kilometer drive (about 11 hours total if driven straight from point A to point B without stopping) the first day and land in Torino by nightfall. We encountered some traffic blips heading out of France, one lasted about an hour, but we achieved our goal and spent the night in Torino. While we didn’t get to see much of the city that hosted the 2006 winter Olympics, we did get to enjoy some incredibly yummy pizza that night.

The next morning we headed out of Torino to our final destination of Borgo San Lorenzo. Along the way the roads provided some incredible views, exceptional tunnels within mountains (Big Dig should have taken a course in tunnel building from the Italians) and overall just a gorgeous landscape. We made some pit stops, refilled on gas –which when buying it in liters can be a shocker (see pretty views from the gas station below), got a quick bite and some caffeine and since we were making good time, we even had time to stop off at an outlet mall 30 minutes outside of Borgo.

We finally arrived in Borgo at around 3 o’clock at a designated meeting spot waited for our landlord who arrived shortly with her significant other and his son who would translate. We then made our way around some dirt road before ascending very slowly up a narrow pebbled dirt road to our house. The trip up the hill was turbulent and a bit nauseating, but now 5 days in, Fritz has become a pro at navigating and I have become accustomed to the stomach turning trip. The peaceful landscape and the beautiful views from the house make the journey to and fro worth it each time.

by AnnaD