It’s all about the food…

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Melonie

We are back from our quick Spring Break trip to the flat in Crasciana and it was a great vacation once again.

Every time I visit I give it a nickname..there is the romantic weekend trip, the olive trip, the museum trip, …etc. This is without a doubt the FOOD trip! Not that we planned it but we really had some of the most amazing food this time.

Our first day in Tuscany is always rough because we have just survived 13 hrs of travel and although we have tried to sleep on the plane we rarely get the rest we need-so the first night dinner we like to be close to the flat so we can then crawl into bed….

We arranged a dinner 1 mile away in Casabasciana with a lovely lady who was described as “addicted to cooking”-her name was Gabriella. She cooks  real Tuscan meals in her home to weary travelers who want to experience a true Tuscan “cena” (dinner). It was the best meal the kid and I had ever had! The pork roast was crazy great but the best course was the “Italian” flag color pasta dish. The previous day was Italy’s birthday (150 years since italy was unified)so she wanted to celebrate by offering a spinach ravioli filled with white cheese and red sauce-the colors of the flag! My aunt and I enjoyed the wine and the vin santo and the kid and her cousin licked every plate!

Sunday we went to a festival which will deserve it’s own page that was a flower festival but actually turned out to be…FOOD! A walking tour of 11 food and drink stations…kid and I loved the farro/bean soup so much I bought some! We also bought some fresh pecorino cheese and fresh baked “dolce” (sweets). It was a lovely sunny day and what a surprise to find all the food the kid and cousin could eat!

Monday we went to a farm to make bread with Paollo.  We went to also learn about farro and baking and of course the baker’s wife made us a 5 course lunch! This FOOD was serious…I think the cousin wanted to marry Daniella…her cooking was so fresh and she was so eager to share that I actually wrote down a recipe…I know…all of my friends are in shock…to make it more dramatic..last night I made this dish for my family and so far everyone is still living!

Tuesday we went to Florence where we ate our weight in gelato-Florence has the most lavish gelatera’s. The kid spend enough euro’s on gelato I had to visit the ATM!

We also visited a wonderful Pizzaria the night after touring Lucca-we all had our own pizza on the ramparts of Lucca and waddled to the car…the walk around the Lucca walls at night was beautiful and we sure needed it…

I’ll share individual posts regarding all of the above but here are a few pics the kid took of her FOOD trip.

Breakfast anyone?

First of eleven food stops along this festival!

A plate of different meats to try.

Dolce…yum..we brought some home for Hubby.

 

Posted in Bagni Di Lucca, Family, Florence, Food, Italy, Lucca, Things to do, Travel Tips, Tuscany | Leave a comment

Rain Rain Go Away…

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Melonie

My kid and I leave in 6 days for a quick week at the flat. We are excited to be meeting up with our most adventuresome Aunt and cousin as well! It will fun to have another child along. We will land in Pisa and tour the tower-this time we would like to go to the top! Last time we visited we were very hot, grumpy and lost. The tower was covered in scaffolding-I wonder what it will look like this time?

The best part is watching all the crazy tourist take pictures of themselves “holding up the tower”. Of course we also took that picture! You feel like an idiot but something compels you to snap the photo-like you are missing out on some time honored tourist tradition…like everyone will point and call you a party pooper-so…you do it, then you look around at all the other people taking the same picture and cracking up at how silly it is! So next week I should have fresh “holding up the tower” pictures! I know your holding your breath with anticipation…

We also plan to visit the Camellia Festival (a lovely flower that is also used for tea), antique shopping in Lucca, a day in Florence attempting once again to get to the Children’s museum as it has been closed the last 2 tries, and of course a day with my lovely tour guide/friend Heather-who I will devote many blogs to later. She will be taking us to a farm that harvests and “polishes” farro-we also get to bake our own bread.

I am very excited to meet a new contact 1 mile from our village who will cook us a real Tuscan dinner in her home the very first night-what a treat after such a long flight and full day, we could just waddle home but I’m sure we will drive whatever tiny car they give us this trip.

Packing is always fun-we NEVER check luggage (travel tip #20 ) so we get a carry on filled with clothes and a “personal” item which for my kid is one HUGE bag full of snacks, techno garb and the “journal” of choice…for me…usually something for the flat…this time a sweet set of sunflower plates and bowls my hubby gave me this year for Valentine’s day. The kitchen at the flat is full of sunflowers and I can’ not wait to add these to the shelf. I’m also taking a sweet local treat for Heather, my neighbor Margaret and new friend Graziella. They will think it way too sweet but I’m doing it anyway-just to see them wince-what do you think it is? Made and packaged right in good old Chattanooga! Can you guess?

I look forward to this special time with my kid as she drags me into every museum she can find and I drag her into every coffee bar I can find..and we link arms together skipping into every gelato shop we can find!

My only problem is the forecast…kid and I have endured the cold when we visited in the fall a few years ago but I don’t do cold AND rain! It has rained here in Tennessee for days-I hope it will be done before we arrive! Although there are several fabulous things to do inside-we long to enjoy the festival and farm tour and walking Florence!

I will report back soon-we have our Euro’s, maps, passports and a box of Pop Tarts so we should be just fine….

Tower of Pisa

Hubby uses his pointer finger to hold up tower.

Come on…every one takes this picture..it’s tradition.

Sweet Casa Carideo.

The best tourguide! Heather Jarmin

Posted in Family, Food, History, Italy, Lucca, Real Estate, Things to do, Travel Tips, Tuscany | Leave a comment

Hilltop Towns….yeah right

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Melonie

So I admit I have read over 20 books on Italy-Frances Mayes, DeBlasi, Franco, tourguides, tourbooks, language books, American goes Italian…blah blah…they always discuss the lovely “hilltop villages” , it sounds romantic, primitive, private yet homey, views to die for and more. What they DO NOT tell you is these AIN’T hills people-it’s the darn Italian Alps!!!

Remember, we are already squeeshed in a tiny rental car and we tried to save money by getting a stick shift. Driving up these tiny roads originally made for mules, not automobiles, can make “car sick” have an entire new meaning.  Here in Tennessee in the Smoky Mtns we always know when a New Yorker or Floridian is in front of us because they just don’t drive very well in the mountains. We laugh and make fun of them…well, I can only imagine how WE were the topic of dinner conversations for every Italian who lives in the Lucca Region. Our little rental sputtered up these “hills” with hairpin curves and no guardrails.  The hubby would grind the gears, then step on the gas cause someone “beeped” at him which he takes very personally! The girls would yell, then ask to please stop. We fought over who would get “shotgun” every time we would leave to go anywhere. Oh, and then we learned that you should “beep” to let others know you are arriving around the hairpin curves but we never figured out who was really responsible for pulling over seeing as there are no pull overs. In the Smoky Mtn National Park, there are a billion “pull over” areas for slow pokes but obviously these hilltop roads were build waaaaayyyyy before someone had that brillant idea! LESSON: Spend the extra money -rent the automatic and do not be afraid to beep.

So another suprise about sweet hilltop towns is…well you can drive to them but not in them! Parking in a car park requires a review lesson of the 3 point turn which actually becomes like a …ten point turn but who’s counting.  Once you do park, please use the parking break-remember no guardrails! Put your walking shoes on…cause it could be a walk to whatever you are looking for in your “hilltop town”. LESSON: Review driving manual from when you were 16 years old.

So why bother? Why drive up a mountain, raise your blood pressure, get car sick, fight with your family to visit these towns…well, easy….the food, the people, the views…all that stuff I read about in the books..it’s all true (they just forget to tell you about the above..so now you know!)

So go….drive, yell, beep-PLAN your visit around these charming towns…San Gimignano is the hubby’s favorite, I like mine…Crasciana, population 64!

View from San Gimignano-Town of towers

View fromour house…

Climbing the gardens in Pinocchio Park

View around Bagni

View from Torre in Lucca

Posted in Italy, Lucca, Rules and Regs, Things to do, Travel Tips, Tuscany | Leave a comment

No such thing as too much planning…

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Melonie

“You’re going to take the fun out of the trip” stated my friend who had watched me plan and plan and plan…two weeks in Tuscany with a nine year old and a teenager…Our goals were to vacation, learn about Tuscany, look at real estate, find fun things to do for each child…not kill each other.

What people did not understand is I think it is important to get from point A to point B with out toooo much drama. I had some worries…First we are  in a foreign country. Second I can say “Hello”, “Goodbye”, “I’ll take the chicken” and “How much does this cost” in Italian. Third…I had read that the roads don’t really have street signs…and various other issues that I wanted to make sure didn’t ruin our day while trying to get to the next amazing site.

I have to say there is a simple glow you feel inside when you can’t say “I told you so” (because that would be rude) but you just realized you were right to plan…here are few examples of why you can never plan too much for a trip:

1.Renting a car in Tuscany is a must. Renting a car in Tuscany that will fit your family and the luggage is not as easy as the online description states. Explaining that you would prefer your 9 year old  NOT have to sit on her suitcase for the hour drive to next location to a rental agent is not easy. Learn more Italian…or as we have learned…download the translation ap to your Blackberry. Plan Plan Plan

2. Driving on the Autostrada (interstate) …there is a learning curve. Do not take it personally when every car passes you when you are already going 500mph, do not take it personally when they honk at you (this is just a form of communication in Italy not a form of meanness like in USA). When you come to a toll booth find the picture that has a hand taking your money on the sign-DO NOT get into the Express Pass lane-I think the mafia runs this lane and will kill you if you put on your breaks…when you get to the booth PUSH THE RED BUTTON, take the ticket, then give it to the overwhelmingly bored attendant when you exit said Autostrada. Dont; try to figure out how much you will pay-just pay it and have fun.

Step on the gas, do not worry to look in the rear view mirror and enjoy the sunflowers, otherwise you will arrive pissed off. There is alot of reading on driving in Italy on Slow Travel…Plan Plan Plan

3. Shopping…Italy is lucky really-super giant stores do not complete with the little shop owner…therefore the little shop owner has never had to sit in large corporate world training classes on how to succeed in customer service (stand, greet the guest, etc). They are there to take your money when you finish shopping…end of story. Do not get upset if they do not rush up to help you with the sweatshirt you must buy but they will help if you ask… if you throw out a little Italian they will actually stand up! PLAN PLAN PLAN

4. Eating…unless you really really really like pizza…make sure you read up on store hours! Once siesta starts you will be stuck eating pizza at a gelato bar till dinner which in our world is pretty darn late…say 8pm!! You will also be sitting in a piazza (which is actually quite fun) or in a museum-when the shops close, the shops close…lunch is much more important than you shopping….and you should become familiar with menu items or you will be eating ravioli all week and there are so many amazing things to try! PLAN PLAN PLAN

5.If you happen upon a town that is having a festival you are in luck-you may also not get a room, have anywhere to park your very small rental car, and pay more from your meals and wine…but it is sooo worth it. We actually planned our trip around the festival in San Gimignano-it was fantastic-all ages love these festivals. I recommend you google  “festivals in Tuscany” then find your room in advance-be careful you aren’t outside the town it is located in just to save a few bucks-being able to go back the room between activities is worth the money.

6. Real Estate…no, I’ll save that for tomorrow.

These guys worked hard all weekend!

I….of course had no problems with any of the above issues because I planned!!

Posted in Family, Florence, Food, History, Hotels, Italy, Lucca, Real Estate, Things to do, Travel Tips, Tuscany | Leave a comment

Married to Italians!

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Melonie

The next step…we begin “interviewing” my hubby’s family about what they knew about his grandparents..we found something interesting…Grandmother from the South, Grandfather from the North…oooohhhhh…now, had they known each other in Italy-that was a marriage that would have never taken place…but in New York-all things are possible-so the North and South collided  ..and the result was my super fabulous 85 year old mother-in-law! The mother of 5, including twin boys-she raised her family embracing her Italian heritage. Her love for food and family are still unsurpassed. After visiting Rome I really began to understand my mother-in-law better-her hand gestures, her drama, her eye-rolling…Her dream is to visit South Tuscany where her mother is from. We hope to take her if her knees cooperate.  We began researching different areas to take the girls this time on another, longer vacation. As lovely as the South is…all roads seemed to take us North. So the planning began for the “research trip”. What were we researching???…well, the political change made me vow to go abroad for awhile till people here “got there head screwed back on”…so I personally was researching a location to escape to…..remember of course I am married to a lovely man who allows me to dream….who knew?

Posted in Family, History, Italy, Tuscany | Leave a comment

OMG! I bought a flat in Tuscany…

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Melonie

How did this madness begin? simple…a quick trip to Rome in 2007 with my husband( paid for by my incredible company for having a great year in Real Estate-before the market crash)…4 days and we were hooked, left wanting no more of Rome but much more of Italy. Without a doubt the best trip with my husband, my travel and dreaming partner for life. After a long and lovely tour of the Vatican, we found a little hole in the wall place to eat where we watched the Roman Army file in for lunch and knew we were at the right place. We started to see what so many others have written about and talked about…time stands still, nothing matters but the meal and those who are with you…and there is no rush to the next appointment.

We we arrived home we started dreaming of our next trip and researching my hubby’s Italian heritage…and then the real fun began.Lunch in Rome.The Roman Ruins.

Posted in Bagni Di Lucca, Family, History, Italy, Lucca, Real Estate, Tennessee, Travel Tips, Tuscany | Leave a comment