Farewell Thursday - 10/8/15

Even though we don't depart Cretaoile until Saturday, today is our farewell day. We had our final planned activities and our farewell pici dinner. Tomorrow we're on our own. What a fantastic stay we've had. Lou was reluctant when I booked an agriturismo that I came across online. He wasn't excited about staying in an efficiency that was a former barn. In the end, we've had an exceptional stay and would recommend Cretaiole to anyone wanting to get immersed in Tuscany. The Dolce Vita package which covered all our included activities was worth every single Euro.

This morning we met Carlotta at the family farm at 9:30 to go on an artisans' tour of Pienza. Our first stop was at a pottery place that we'd passed several times. Each time we passed, I commented that I love the landscape tiles. Linda, the artist, explained her art, shared her background and demonstrated by making a tile. Just the one I liked. Don't be surprised if any future kitchen remodel includes her tiles.

From there, we walked across Pienza and up two flights of stairs to a gallery. We were there to see an exhibition of what is now known as recycled art. The artist is an 87-year old man who's been doing this kind of art since before it was a thing. Fascinating stuff. I was floored by some of the creativity.

We were there for awhile so we skipped going to a weaver's studio. Carlotta told us we had to walk back to the cars to caravan to our final stop, an iron forge. We walked a different route back to the cars and ended up stopping at the home of the artist whose exhibition we'd just attended. We got to go explore his workshop.

The artist was a partisan during World War II and has seen a lot. In a town not far from here, the Nazis came to round up the residents to take them away. The priest said they had a German woman living in the town and asked if she could come speak to the Nazi. It turns out she and the Nazi were from the same town so he let the residents alone.

That was an interesting visit. Then we were off to our final stop on the artisans' tour to see a blacksmith at an iron forge. I didn't expect what we saw. Gorgeous sculptures, gates, headboards, decorative art, house safes, you name it.

Our next tour separate from the Artisan's Tour was a cheese tasting at a pecorino farm. I learned that the Italian word for sheep is pecora so any cheese made from sheep's milk is called pecorino. This part of Tuscany is the best for you aiding the Sardinian sheep who make the best cheese. (We also learned that ricotta is technically not cheese because it's cooked twice. Cheese can only be cooked once. Additionally, rich means re and cotta means cooked. So this stuff is rebooked.)

We got to sample 8 different varieties. Some aged more than others (one not aged at all), some flavored differently and three aged surrounded by different flavor enhancers such as walnut leaves, flowers or bran.

We sampled those cheeses with bread, salt, olive oil, wine and a green salad.

For dessert he brought out ricotta which we spread on bread and covered with sugar. Delicious!

Giovanni told us a story about how he suggested they open the farm to visitors interested in learning about pecorino. His father thought this was ridiculous. "Who would pay to see us make cheese?" That is until he went to Holland and paid money to see Durch cheese makers do their thing.

Satiated after the cheese tasting, we headed back to Cretaoile where we had time to relax before our pici making class. Pici is the pasta love cal to the Val d'Orchia.

We made the past a. I'm using the royal we since I just watched and took photos. They worked on the pici while I worked on the pics. After the pasta was rolled and cooked, we all shared a delicious dinner. What special night of good food, good wine, great comraderie.

Too much vino and I can't keep my eyes open a moment longer. Buona notte.

Siena Wednesday - 10/7/15

We woke up to thunderstorms this morning and wondered what that might mean for our tour of Siena.

We also woke up to this treat provided by our hosts at Cretaiole.

At 8:50 our tour guide for the morning, Antonella, arrived at Cretaiole. Rain or shine, we were on our way, caravaning through fog and lingering rain. Antonella told us that for the sake of not losing anyone she'd be driving like a nun. She also taught us two other expression. Get two pigeons with one fava bean which should be self-evident and Are you building a cathedral? when someone takes too long doing something.

We all arrived safely in Siena at about the same time and within minutes of leaving the parking garage the sun was shining.

I'd say there were two highlights to the trip. The first was seeing the most magnificent cathedral I've ever seen.

How interesting to see Jewish prophets adorning the outside of a Catholic Cathedral!

 

 

The second highlight was learning about the fierce rivalries amongst the and how that plays out in the Palio horse races held each summer. (I'd read a book called Juliet by Anne Fortier in 2010 which gave me a little bit of background on Siena and the Palio so I was anxious to learn more.)

Really prime spots for watching the race

Although Antonella was born in Sardinia (who has a fierce rivalry with Sicily), she is a giraffe.

Really prime spots for watching the race

 

 

At the conclusion of the tour several of us went out to lunch in a ristorante that used to be a church.

After lunch we walked back to the main square to hit up the ATM and from there we headed back to the parking garage. Until we passed a sign directing us to the synagogue... So that's where we headed instead. Disappointingly, we arrived there at 2:50pm, it closes at 3pm and when we rang the bell, no one answered. We ambled down that street hoping it would meet up with the street to the garage.

Rather than driving straight back to Cretaoile, we headed for Bagbo Vignoni. It's a small town centered around a Roman bath fed by hot springs.

 

 

The town also is the site of mills due to the hot springs providing a continuous source of energy. These mills were in use until the 1959s, not that long ago.

We took a stroll around the quaint town, stopping for gelato before going back to our car. Next stop was the agriculture place (can't recall the exact title) where Lou had hoped to buy packets of seeds. That place always seems to be closed when we stop by. Italians have a crazy way of doing business.

Off to the Coop (grocery store) to buy a few things we needed for dinner. We needed olive oil but unfortunately, they had only two varieties, two that we tasted last night and didn't like, and only one size - large! We paid for our purchases and drove to the family farm to see if anyone was around to sell us Cretaiole olive oil. Liliana was there. She got us the oil but had no change so told Luigi he could pay Luciano at grappa time tonight. I'm not sure if Luigi went to bed too early or if Luciano didn't show up but... we'll have to remember to pay him tomorrow.

Once back at Cretaiole, we stayed outside walking in the garden, picking tomatoes for dinner and enjoying a magnificent sunset. Dinner "at home" followed by a very quiet evening in La Cantina, our home away from home.

We have another jam packed day tomorrow starting with an artisan tour in the morning followed by a cheese tasting and ending with our pici (local pasta) making lesson and communal dinner.

Buona notte!

 

Laundry day - 10/6/15

This is where I'm sitting as I write. What a setting! The sun is shining, there's a delightful breeze and I'm taking a break from the hectic touring we've been doing. A forced break because after 12 days on the road, it's absolutely necessary to do laundry.

We were on the go early this morning to visit a privately owned hermitage. We were able to get in because the owner of the property is the son of the owner of Cretaiole.

We met the group at the family farm and explored a little in Pienza (mostly the views from atop the wall) before hiking over to the hermitage. There was always talk about "something special" in the area but by the time Carlo took ownership, it was covered with trash, several feet high. After a little clean up, he realized he'd found something special and spent the next few years, with the help of Luciano and a cousin, thoroughly cleaning up the site.

Unlike in the US when you find relics while cleaning up a site and the government steps in, here the thought was, "Thank you for cleaning up. Now you maintain it." And so he does.

There are many parts to the hermitage and the thought is that if digging continued deeper that there would be Etruscan ruins as well. Picture which don't do it justice will serve better than my words.

After the hermitage, Carlotta, our awesome guide and companion took the group to something called the People's Church. Not a Catholic Church so it had different engravings and decorations. We went to walk back the way w came and couldn't. Paving of the road had started and it was impossible to enter the area. Carlotta found us another route which involved walking through a field and climbing up a very steep incline. Much more than we had bargained for.

We need to pay for Cretaiole in cash at the end of our stay and since last night we've been having problems with our debit card being unauthorized to make international transactions. Not a good thing. This is our brand new debit card that we went to so much trouble to get!

Today rain or shine, I knew I needed to get laundry done. It had rained early morning and I hoped for fairer weather later in the day.

After a bunch of false starts, I got the first load started. Lou had prepared lunch for us, tomato salad and ricotta, the likes of which we never get at home. We ate outside with fellow guests and devious cats keeping us company. Lad one is hanging to dry and load two should soon be ready to join it. And ah, the sun is shining!

Sunday 10/4/15 was a full day

Just a quick post which I'll flush out at a later point. (Anything in italics added on Tuesday)

• Horrible night's sleep. Maybe the coffee, wine, grappa combo?

Our little efficiency at Cretaiole comes equipped with a small kitchen. Small as in it fits inside a cabinet. Lou was anxious to try out the cute little espresso pot (4 cups) last night so I indulged. Then at about 10pm, our host Luciano came banging on our door. Time for grappa. I noticed he served the men grappa but the women got vinsanto. (Found out the origin of the name today. This labor intensive wine belongs to the land owners and not to the share croppers. As an aside, I'm not sure why I hadn't realized gar share cropping existed and was legal into the 1960s.)

Another aside, Luciano was a share cropper but after it was abolished and there was still a need to have people work the land, the workers were able to buy the land with interest free loans. Right now, Luciano and his family are huge land owners. They own quite a bit of land in this area.

Back to grappa... I had two or three sips of Luigi's. Was glad to stick to my vinsanto into which you dip little cookies like biscotti - but with a different name.

Caffeine, wine, a new place, very little sleep.

• Very interesting orientation given by Isabella regarding Cretaiole, Val D'Orcia and Tuscany. We planned out our chosen activities for the week.

Upon arrival, in our apartment, we found a full schedule of activities for our week's stay. Sunday morning was when we met with our host, Isa, to make our selections. Before we did that, she got us oriented to the area. We're not just in Tuscany. We're in Val D'Orcia. She talked about the rivalry between Pienza and San Quirico. She talked about the dream of Tuscany (think Under the Tuscan Sun) versus the reality of hard work and living in an area where nothing much has changed or can change over hundreds of years. We reviewed traffic rules, cell phones, tipping, etc.

Then each activity was described and we were able to sign up. Many are included with our Dolce Vita package. I wouldn't recommended coming without purchasing that. We signed up for every included activity. I also signed up for a hike and we signed up for a walking tour of Pienza and San Quirico, a tour of Siena and a cheese tasting. I didn't sign up for the photo safari on Friday afternoon because we had plans to travel to Florence. Even though we're no longer going to Florence, I like the idea of keeping the day totally open.

First activity was wine tasting.

• Trip to Abbey to experience Gregorian chants.

It was recommended that we stop at this abbey either before or after wine tasting. We decided t go beforehand. It was our first exploration in the area and we used Cretaiole's travel bible to get there. We questioned whether we were following the directions properly. We arrived just fine, with time to explore the outside of the abbey before the arrival of the monks. Sitting inside were many spectators like ourselves but a smattering of devoted followers who came for religious reasons. Our service lasted about 20 minutes. We heard from folks who went after the winery that 45 minutes after they started, the monks were going strong.

• Tour and tasting at local winery.

As part of our Dolce Vita Package, we got a wine tasting at a small relatively new winery named Nostra Vita. It's the dream of a 65 year old Sicilian man. When his wife retired in 2000, he started his vineyard. He kept his day job (some kind of engineer working in a winery) until his winery was income producing. His is a fascinating story. He's a man of many talents - smart, very artistic - and he's got three very talented artistically daughters as well.

After our tour, we were brought into their kitchen which was used as a tasting room for our purposes. This is a region known for red wine and they only make two kinds of wine - using only Sangiovese grapes. They make Rosso di Montalcino and Brunello. We tasted three wines, one Rosso and two Brunelleschi of different ages. We had cheese, crackers, a raisin cracker and a sort of Italian macaroon to accompany. I didn't love the Brunello and was shocked at how expensive it was. I guess the process for making it commands the high price.

• Search for restaurant in Pienza.

• Local area history slide show.
  
• Early (for me) to bed, hike in the morning.

 

Sensory overload - October 3, 2015

I realize tonight that it's far easier to get photos from my camera into the blog (although with an iffy internet connection that is far from easy) than to include the ones from my phone. If you're a Facebook friend, you've seen today's photos. If you're not, just be patient.

A good part of today was spent on one autostrada or another. Over €26 worth of autostrada, as a matter of fact. We stopped at several rest stops along the way and had late lunch at the rest stop in Chianti. Another bread less grilled cheese for me.

By 4pm we were winding our way through the hills of Tuscany towards Agriturismo Cretaiole, our home for the next week. Once we arrived, we mediate lay felt like we were visiting family. We were shown to our efficiency, La Cantina, which in its previous life was a barn. The bounty of food that welcomed us was astounding. It wasn't until about an hour after we arrived that we met Carlotta who welcomed us and helped to get us settled.

While we waited, we met most of our fellow guests. Everyone staying here is here for the week. I believe everyone is in Europe for 4 to 6 weeks. We're all at.various points of our trips. We'll be spending a lot of time with these folks this week.

Lou prepared our pasta dinner tonight prepared from pasta in our welcome "basket" as well as tomatoes, basil and peppers from the garden. We topped the pasta with cheese we got at the dairy near S. Pellegrino Terme. Yum.

While he cooked, I got acquainted with Luciano, the owner. We drank some wine and attempted conversation. I can understand a bit of Italian but have no speaking ability at all! The only foreign words that came to mind were in Hebrew. That's not going to work here.

Luciano promised us all grappa, a nasty distilled beverage made from the already pulverized skin of grapes that had been "stomped" as well as the pits and the stems. In Italian style he was late. But that's okay. Six of us were still up when he arrived. We drank, we talked, we laughed. Lou was our best translator. One woman even danced with Luciano. Women were served vin santo (like sherry) while the men got grappa first we ate grapes, biscotti and nuts.

The view, the food and drink, both taste, aromas and sheer beauty, the Italian are all contributing to my sensory overload.

Orientation is at 9:15 with Carlotta and Isabella, Luciano's daughter-in-law. We'll learn more about what's planned for us. It's after midnight so for now, buona notte.

Has it been a week already? October 2, 2015

We're back to Villa Barbarich tonight. Apparently we were in a deluxe room Wednesday night. Tonight we're in a normal room. Possibly even a handicap room. What a let down. After another sleepless night, I hope I get a good night's sleep tonight.

Achy knees kept me up last night. Almost 7 miles and lots of bridge climbing can do that to a person with bad knees. Carnivale Palace was an interesting hotel. Our room was darkly lit, the hallways were darkly lit. Quite a modern design. The bed was comfy, too. The hotel was in a great location for us. Away from the craziness of Piazza San Marco and the Grand Canal. Yet close to the Jewish ghetto and with super easy access to Murano and Burano. Lou did give me credit for making a good choice. Breakfast was the most varied, too. Scrambled eggs, some Italian ham cooked as bacon, Brie!

After breakfast, we checked out and left our bag in the luggage room so we could travel relatively unencumbered. The vaporetto stop to Murano was right across the canal from the hotel. We got off at one part of Murano, the island famous for glass and spent the next few hours walking in and out of glass shops, glass galleries and glass furnaces. I followed the rules and took no photos where they were forbidden. Now I wish I had some photos of the items we didn't buy - or that one of us liked and the other didn't. Those would be the more interesting photos. We played a game called If money was no object, what would you buy? I'd buy a chandelier even if it meant repainting the house. Lou would buy a sculpture or a fancy glass and carafe or pitcher set. I wanted something practical and Lou was focused only on beauty. When we saw a glass artist turn a blob of glass into a colorful squirrel, I was content to go with a squirrel. (In case you don't know me, I hate squirrels. But I think they are beautiful subjects of art.) We saw the same artist make a unicorn so we bought one of those as well.

After making our purchases, we hopped on the vaporetto to Burano, the island famous for lace making. What also makes Burano famous are the colorful houses there. It's like out of a fairy tale.

We strolled around, took lots of photos, went in and out of lace shops, ate lunch (Lou had the worst pizza either one of us has had so far. It was like basic NY pizza! Pizzeria Ciao Ciao in San Pellegrino Terme still has our top pizza so far.) and tasted "esse" cookies from two different bakeries. Who knew they were a dolce tipico from Burano?

We needed to take the #12 vaporetto back to Murano to connect to the 4.1.. or was it 4.2... back to Cannaregio. It started raining, our first rain so far, as we were making our connection. We had a small dinner in the neighborhood and then walked back to Carnivale Palace to retrieve out backpack and get directions back to the tram stop for our trip back to Mestre. (Walking back, we passed a sukkah where Chabad was getting ready for a holiday dinner.)

Carnivale Palace Hotel guy looked at our directions back to Villa Barbarich. He thought we could take the 5.2 outside the hotel to Piazzale di Roma and just hop on a bus. No need for the tram. I wondered by Villa Barbarich said we needed to take tram to bus. Villa Barbarich was right. Red tram to Mestre Centro, then transfer to the bus. It was easy enough to find the bus stop - but how would we know where to get off? It's great when kind strangers help out. We arrived back, safe and sound. Lou's comment about today, as we were walking to the bus/tram statio was that it was a good day except for needing to take all those boats. (What remained unspoken was ... and teams and buses.) He's a car guy, he likes to drive, and he's not a fan of public transportation.

We'll be back in the car tomorrow to drive 3+ hours to Siena where we'll stay in an agriturismo (farm stay) for a week I can't wait.

Before I wish you a buona notte, I want to add an observation. Italians don't seem to understand us when we say words that are written the same in English and Italian when we speak them with our American accents. Tram is tram and limoncello is limoncello, but they aren't pronounced the same. Blank stares met us. Silly us! And Lou, an Italian!

Ciao!

It's like NYC but with canals - October 1, 2015

I feel awful even though I know I shouldn't. Venice was on Lou's wish list. It's been a big disappointment for him. He's heard people sing love songs about Venice and he's just not feeling the love. Why, you might ask?

• He doesn't like cities that rely on public transportation.
• He doesn't love crowds.
• It's too touristy.
• The streets aren't marked.
• It's difficult to figure out how to get from here to there.

Our morning started in Mestre at Villa Barbarich. We got directions from that hotel to our hotel in Venice. Elisa, the front des clerk, gave us excellent directions. In a little over an hour we were at Carnival Palace Hotel in the Cannaregio neighborhood of Venice. I picked this boutique hotel because it was in a quiet neighborhood and also because of its proximity to the Jewish ghetto which I was anxious to revisit. (I was first here in 1978 as part of my European backpacking trip.)

We dropped off our overnight bag and immediately headed for the Jewish Museum. We browsed the exhibits while waiting for the synagogue tour. There were some beautiful artifacts.

The tour took us to 3 of the five synagogues in Venice. Two were Ashkenazi and one was the Levatine synagogue. Rather than incorrectly conveying what I learned, here is the website of the museum. http://www.museoebraico.it/english/ghetto.html

The Jews were forced to live in the ghetto for over 300 years. Such a small area for so many people to be locked in! But with over 500 Jews at present, it's a Jewish community that refuses to die. I would highly recommend that anyone, Jewish or not, visit this area.

We walked through Cannaregio and passed several produce stands. Lou was in all his glory.

Look at the size of the figs! And sweet! Why don't our figs grow and taste like these?

Happy Sukkot!

Our next stop was Piazza San Marco. Unfortunately, we got on the vaporetto (water bus) going in the wrong direction so rather than viewing the Grand Canal, we took the long route past the Port of Venice. I hadn't realized the port is so close to the island city.

Crowds and construction highlighted our time in the piazza.

Walking from there to the Rialto Bridge, we stopped at a high-priced trattoria for late lunch/early dinner. Very touristy and over-priced but the food was good. (Tomorrow we hope to eat at a neighborhood place in Cannaregio.) I think Lou's biggest disappointment was the Rialto Bridge. He imagined some photos we could take there. Half the bridge was covered in scaffolding and it appeared that the outer portion of the bridge was completely closed off. I wished there was a way for me to make it up to Lou but of course I couldn't.

Deflated,we decided to take the vaporetto back to the Casino and from there walk back to our hotel. Luckily we have unlimited transit passes because after several minutes other Americans that we were talking to suggested we were at the wrong vaporetto stop. At that point it just seemed easier to walk back to the hotel.

One of the many bridges we passed while walking back to the hotel

Once we were in Cannaregio, we stopped for dessert. Then back to the hotel for an early night.

Tomorrow we'll visit Murano and Burano. Until then, ciao!