THE KING OF CHEESES

Anyone familiar with Mario Batali knows what cheese I'm referring to:  parmigiano reggiano.  Now, I grew up eating very little Italian food.  When my mom made spaghetti she made the sauce with a packaged spaghetti sauce to which she added tomato paste and water - along with a pat of butter!  To top off this dish there was that ubiquitous green can, so well known on most American tables when I was growing up.  For some unknown reason, that stuff in the green can just never appealed to me - perhaps my taste buds knew they should be saving themselves for the real deal in years to come!  Last fall, on our grand tour of Italy, we were finally able to visit Emilia-Romagna, home of parmigiano reggiano, and to see it being made.

While I don't remember all the details about the process, but I can tell you that to be authentic parmigiano-reggiano cheese it must first of all be made within the designated region.  It must also be made from the milk gathered from two different milkings:  the milk that's collected in the evening has to sit and be treated, then it's mixed with the milk from the morning milking, stirred in giant copper vats.  The curds are then gathered up in cloth, drained, set in forms, and left to sit in a salt water bath for several days.  After that the wheels of cheese are stacked on shelves where they age for anywhere from 18 to 24 months.  Making parmigiano reggiano is serious business, and each batch of cheese must meet strict standards and must pass a taste test  conducted by a panel of experts before it can have 'Parmigiano Reggiano' emblazoned on its rind.

Here are some pictures from our tour:

SPECIAL MEMORIES

Quite a few years back, when my son and his wife lived in Italy, they bought a gift for my daughter and her family. That gift was one I was so jealous of! I wanted one of my own! And now, finally, I have something very similiar, and one that has special meaning for us. The gift? Ceramic letters, spelling my daughter's last name, mounted in an iron bracket. Ours is slightly different, using our house numbers instead of our name, but both the ceramic tile and the iron bracket were made just for us on our trip to Italy last fall.

Originally I thought we'd be able to find the ceramic tiles all over southern Italy, and my plan was to buy them while we were in Puglia. At the last minute we decided to see what was available in Deruta, which of course is very near San Venanzo. After searching through many different shops, I really wasn't happy with what we'd found - I know this must be hard to believe, since Deruta has more ceramic shops than you can imagine! We found ceramic tiles, measuring about 3" X 6", each with a small flower border on the top and bottom, and one large number in the center. For a four digit house number you'd buy the 4 number tiles, then two 'end' tiles that wrapped the border around the ends. Our problem was that we didn't like the border pattern or colors, and the two or three shops that had the number tiles all seemed to have the same thing.

We started out going into the larger shops but then turned to the smaller shops, hoping we might stumble upon the right numbers with the perfect design. As we were getting ready to leave yet another small shop, right across the street from Grazia, the clerk, an older man, asked if he could help. We explained what we were looking for, but no, he didn't have anything like that. BUT.......he could very easily make one for us.....and he motioned for us to follow him to the back of the store, to the workroom.

I, of course, was skeptical. Would there be enough time? Would having something custom made cost an arm and a leg? the man showed us various sized tiles, and various designs. It was pretty easy to make a decision - yes, that size would be perfect......no, not that design, something simple, maybe just some variation of the traditional 'Deruta' design...no not the one with the dragon, the other one.....Okay perfect. Now, how long, and how much? When we were told it would only take one week, and that the cost was only €40 we knew we'd found the right shop!

After picking up the tile a week later we knew there was only one place to find a bracket that would fit our tile - we'd have our fabro in San Venanzo, Paolo, make one for us! Paolo was very surprised to see us! Although we'd spent the day in San Venanzo when we'd first arrived in September, that was several weeks ago, and we hadn't seen Paolo then - I'm sure he was working. I tried to describe what I wanted - something simple, I told him. I drew a sketch on a piece of paper and that was all he needed! He told us to come back in a few days to pick it up! I know it's geeky, but we were both so excited to have this bracket made just for us! And Paolo was SOOO excited that something of his was going to the United States! (For so many people in Italy the United States is still thought of as the place where the streets are lined in gold and all the girls look like they do on "Baywatch", or whatever other American-style soap opera/sitcom/dramedy happens to be hot in Italy.)

Paolo wanted to show us how he made the ends of the brackets curled:







Here's the finished product:

INDECISION!!!

Okay, so I always drive myself crazy, trying to think of every possible scenario for whatever it is I'm planning.  Should we travel north to south, or would it be better if we travel south to north?  Time of year, holidays, weather patterns and more can make these legimate questions.  So can trying to arrange your stay so that any holidays and/or Sundays are used wisely.  Since many (most?) tourist sites are closed on Sunday, that can be a great day to be on the road - but if you're traveling by train there might be reduced service on Sunday.  And unless your picking up at the Rome airport, it probably won't be possible to pick up (or drop off) your car on a Sunday. 

Of course there are other concerns, like trying to beat the crowds.  EVERYONE wants to be on vacation for the best weather, coolest scenery and moving historical re-enactments, so yes, it can be a juggle.  And don't forget that the fact that EVERYONE wants to be there at the same time also means that prices go UP!  If you want to go during (traditionally) cold, rainy weather when it's dark by 5 p.m., you can save a bundle!  But there's that trade-off! 

I AM cheap cheap cheap, and damn proud of it, but I'm also incredibly ambitious when it comes to traveling.  I really do want to see and do everything, PLUS I want to stay in a great hotel located right in the centro!  So trying to decide just how close to high season I can get without actually paying high season prices.  I'll probably never see fields of sunflowers in Italy again because the airfare is always going to be crazy in the summer.  Another trade-off. 

Finding a great place to stay at a reasonable price is my second biggest challenge, right after finding a decent airfare with a reasonable itinerary.  It takes a lot of searching just to find ONE of those, and finding them together is like finding the needle in the haystack.  Car rental in Italy is terribly, terribly expensive, and many people fly into France or Germany, rent a car, then drive into Italy!  That they make you pay for the privilege of being tail-gated, cut-off and scared for your life makes it even worse!  SO........

Those are just some of the reasons I'm starting to question our plan for Italy and Slovenia next spring.  Should we wait until fall (September/October), when the weather will (possibly) be warmer?  When the days will be longer and there will be more festas and sagras, and more friends around?  I think we're both so anxious to get back to Italy that we just want to go as soon as possible - but that might not be the best time!  Maybe I'm just getting freaked out by the money - but with airfare hovering around $900 each, car rentals costing about $300 per week, and hotel costs of at least  $100 per night, probably more, my heading is ringing with all the cha-chings! 

Either old age is turning me into a travel chicken or the travel gods are trying to tell me something by putting all these doubts in my mind.  Either way I'm just going to wait, and try not to think about it at all.  Yeah right........

POSSIBLE ITINERARIES

Plans for the Grand Canyon are set.  First night at the Cameron Post Trading Lodge.  Next morning drive north to Page – tour Antelope Canyon.   Drive to the Grand Canyon (east entrance) – check in to our in-park lodge for 2 nights.  After leaving the GC we’ll head to Sedona where we’ll spend another 2 nights.  Our last day will be spent driving, then turning in our car at the airport and taking the shuttle back to the hotel.  Done. 

Now I get to figure out how to make this Italy trip work.  We want to be gone probably 25 days – that’s about 3 weeks of actual vacation time, minus the travel days.  We need to be back in the states no later than April 25^th.   Leaving before the end of March may or may not make the fare lower.  We want to rent a car and drive through Slovenia.   Flying in and out of Venice would be perfect for that, but flying into Venice costs WAAAY more than flying into Rome.  Why is that???    Now we could fly into Rome since I sort of wanted to spend a few days there last time and didn’t get to…… Plus we do want to visit Umbria.  Wendy might be the only one there – ooh, maybe Keith and Janine, maybe Belinda and Giacomo won’t have gone on the road for the season yet…..

Okay, so if we flew into Venice (and paid more), would it be worth it in travel expense savings?  We could train it to Trieste, then take a taxi across the border where I’m betting it’s a LOT cheaper to rent a car!  We can then drive to the capital city (don’t ask me to spell it yet, I’m just learning this stuff), spend a day or two here, I know there are some cool caves to see, plus of course there’s Lake Bled, which looks like a fairy tale from the right angle.  There has been talk of driving north to Vienna, perhaps a 2 hour drive?  Anyway, then back to Venice, turn in the car, maybe spend the night in Venice, or somewhere on the trainline.  Ferrara is on the list now, we missed it last fall.  I don’t know if it’s on the trainline, but I’m so afraid of those cameras on the autostrada!  Just a few kilometers over the speed limit and BAM!, a ticket arrives in you mailbox a few months later.  No thanks!

So, train it as far south as we can get, Ferrara, Chiusi, maybe even Perugia, then pick up a rental car for 3 or 4 days in Umbria.  Have to eat at Angelino and Peppa’s, the pizza place in Cannara, and Simone’s restaurant in Bevagna.  Oh, and visit the Perugina factory – chocolate bananas are running low.  After that turn in the car and train it to Florence for a few days, then  back to Venice for our last night.

If we flew in and out of Rome we’d probably skip Florence, do Rome at the beginning, train to Oriveto, rent a car and stay in Umbria for 3 or 4 days.  Take the train up to Venice, stopping at Ferrara if possible for one night.  Once in Venice I think we’d leave right away, training through Venice, on to Trieste.  Guess you gotta spend a day exploring Trieste, right?  Okay, then take a taxi across the border and explore Slovenia for – 5,maybe 6 days?  I need to go back and see how many days that would be.   ***TIME OUT***  Okay, that looks like about 17 days so far, so we would have time to stop in Ferrara, and to spend some time in Rome and maybe even Florence.  Gosh, now I need to flesh this out and think about the timing.  Perhaps after Slovenia we could train it back down to Florence, then take the train to Rome for our flight home.  Is that any more expensive than flying in/out of Venice and having to get as far south as Umbria?  In the end we might break even, so then what makes more sense - or is that just a question with no right answer?

I think we can also fly into Florence, but that would require a plane change in Europe, and I want a direct flight.  And now we have to figure out what’s a good price, and when are we likely to see ‘sale’ prices, or should we buy NOW?   This is the part I hate, trying to find the best schedule at the best price.  Sometimes I find the WORST schedule – flying into Heathrow but having to get over to Gatwick for the connecting flight! – and quite often it’s at a pretty bad price – who buys these tickets and let’s airlines strand us in airports for hours on end – aren’t we paying them to actually get us somewhere???  Okay, don’t  get me started. 

Now I need to make a shopping list – Eggplant Parmesan is on the menu for this week – I’m trying a new recipe, of course, with roasted eggplant instead of the usual fried.   Plus I want to make an apple pie – today felt like the most perfect fall day!  I’m almost ready to clean out the garden – wow, I can’t believe I’m excited to do it! 

TRAVEL PLANS

Yes I know I've been MIA, but really, I've been busy! We just got back from a trip to Vancouver and Seattle, a two week trip done on a budget, visiting friends we met while living in Italy. I swear, it's so nice to talk with people who really, truly, 'get it' - people who understand that while you might find a great pizza here in the states, or even some good gelato, without the accompanying ambiance of Italy itself, somehow it just doesn't taste as good. We talked of food and wine and wondered why it is that no one's adding porchetta trucks to the movement. We talked about the good and bad parts of living in Italy, and just like with family, it's okay to bitch amongst ourselves, but please, don't let anyone else talk trash about our adopted country!

So, that trip's over, time to start planning the next one, and the one after that, and then the one after that. I LOVE planning trips! Deciding where were want to go, how long we should stay, should we head north first, or maybe it makes more sense to go south? Should we rent a car or take the train? New unexplored areas always compete with old favorites anytime we're planning a trip, so maybe we can squeeze in a few days in Rome, or a quick trip to Florence.....
Up next on our horizon is a quick visit to the Grand Canyon, six days for sightseeing doesn't sound like nearly enough for the Grand Canyon and the surrounding area, and it's not, but it's all we can afford, and we just decided it's better to see a few things than nothing at all, so we'll head to Arizona, hope for good weather, and see as much as we can in our allotted time. In my next life I'm going to start traveling MUCH sooner and not save everything for my old age!

2011 has been the first year since 1999 that we have not been to Italy, so obviously that's high on our list. And next summer my son and his family will be moving to Frankfurt German for a two year stay, so that sort of mixes things up. My head is swimming with possibilities: fly into Frankfurt then train or drive south to Italy, passing through Bavaria and Tyrol - gorgeous scenery, but pricey. Maybe we could fly into Frankfurt then take a budget airline to England for a week - at least we'd be able to leave all but the necessities in Frankfort; it just wouldn't be possible to fly into London and take a budget flight to Germany - those cheapie European airlines don't let you travel with much more than a purse these days.

We also saw a Rick Steves' show about Slovenia that really, really piqued our interest - it seems to combine the best of the Alps, Germany, Austria AND Italy into one compact country that's not (yet!) over-run with tourists!



So here's the rough plan, at least for today:

Spring 2012: Italy, with a side of Slovenia. We're still working out the details and checking various options, and I'd LOVE to be able to fly open-jaws with a huge surcharge, but that might not be possible. We want to spend some time in Umbria, of course, but I wouldn't mind a few days in Florence, then we thought we could do a driving trip, Venice to Venice, traveling through northeastern Italy and Slovenia. OR - we could fly into Vienna and drive down to Slovenia and back to Vienna - or fly out of Venice - but then we'd still have to get down to Umbria.....as I said, still a work in progress....

Fall 2012: Frankfurt, then a quick trip to London and southern England. Yes, the exchange rate IS even worse than the euro, but England is my first love and it's been a long, long time since we were there. I'm thinking this also might be the time to visit Belgium.

2013:  Ireland?  I'd love to see Ireland but the thought of driving on the 'other' side of the road just terrifies me!  Yes, we drove in Scotland, but really, it was scary.  Art does NOT share my fears and is happy to drive.

At some point I'll need another bite of the Big Apple, but who knows when that might happen. Oh, and we'll have to plan for a quick trip to North Carolina next May for our granddaughter's First Communion. What else? We still haven't visited Sicily, I still need to visit Carcassonne (France), and we'd both love to make another visit to Turkey.... 

My advice to you? Start traveling NOW! I wish I'd started traveling at a much younger age when I could sling on a backpack and walk to the nearest hostel without needing an Aleve (or two)for my aching joints, and I wished I'd started putting money aside for travel on a regular basis. Yes, I might have spent it as fast as I'd saved it, but in the end I would have travelled more, and really, that's what I love to do!

AT LAST - THE CINQUE TERRE

While living in Italy we always wanted to visit the Cinque Terre.  Somehow we just never made it, so for our six week adventure in the fall of 2010 this was at the top of our 'must see' list.  We left Umbria early on a Sunday morning and stopped by Carrara on the way.  I wrote about our stop in Carrara in THIS POST, and it really was well worth the time. 

As we headed up the coast, catching glimpses of the ocean along the way, I was fascinated by the mountains.  Not surprisingly the mountains get more and more impressive the further north you drive even though the Alps were still a good distance away.
For our three night visit we'd decided to base ourselves in Levanto, mainly based on what I'd read about it on the SLOW TRAVEL MESSAGE BOARD.  Not including our stop at Carrara, the drive from Umbria to Levanto took about four hours. 

As usual price was a big factor in our decision of where to stay and we decided upon  a very simple bed and breakfast place on the outskirts of town.  L’Erba Persa was about a five minute walk from the train station and it was only another 5 minutes into town. The price, €25 per person per night included breakfast and a shared bathroom.   We were pleased with our accomodations but I do have to note that there are two rather steep flights of stairs at L’Erba Persa. You have to walk up a flight of stairs on the outside of the house to enter it, and to get to the bedrooms there is another flight of stairs. There is an enclosed parking area on the property so we put everything we needed into one suitcase rather than lugging everything up those two flights of stairs.
 
That first evening we walked into town, strolled along the beach, watching surfers and enjoying the sunset.  We found a place to eat, one recommended by our hosts at L’Erba Persa.  Of course I had to try something with pesto - this is Liguria, home of pesto!  I'm sure that had we eaten in a private home the pesto would have been every bit as good as mine, but while the restaurant pesto certainly wasn't bad, I have to say that I still prefer my own!
 
The next morning we walked to the train station under VERY threatening skies.  There are regional trains that connect Levanto to the five towns of the Cinque Terre, and we headed to the southernmost town, Riomaggiore.  The train was crowded with lots of serious hikers and plenty of more casual tourists like us.  After a stroll through Riomaggiore we took the paved trail that leads north from there to the next town, Manarola.  This is the easiest and shortest walk of all, although when we were there part of the pathway was closed.  I'm not sure if the heavy rains of the past few days had anything to do with the closing - I suspect they did. 


We were able to walk up to where lovers are now attaching locks to the fence as a symbol of love - is this something from the "Twilight" series of books?  Wherever it started it seems to be a very popular trend and local hardware stores now make sure to have plenty of locks on hand.

Eventually we walked back into town and took the train to Manarola.  The weather was still threatening but we had umbrellas and warm jackets and weren't too inconvenienced by the occasional sprinkles. 

On another, nicer day we bravely (and naively) set off on the trail from Vernazza to Monterosso, the northernmost town of the Cinque Terre.  We knew it would be up up up, but wow!  We went up rocky steps literally carved into the hillside, then we went up more - and more - and even more!  Every time we thought we must be at the top we'd round a bend and find yet another series of steps!  Of course the trail has to follow the coastline, and in this part of Italy the coastline zigzags in and out and in and out, making our walk far longer than we had anticipated!  There were maybe three spots on the trail where I seriously doubted the wisdom of this walk, but of course by that time we were too far in to give up!  Once we had to jump quite a distance to avoid a rushing stream that was covering the trail.  Later we walked down a very long and rather steep set of stairs that was also serving as a running creek bed - which was made worse because there was nothing on either side of the stairs to hold on to.  Yeah, I know we're old and out of shape, but on this day, due to the recent rains, this trail was very, very slippery, muddy and challenging!  We both breathed a sigh of relief when we spotted Manarola - and then walked some more as it would come in and out of our view, just teasing us.  The good thing about the day we chose to do the walk was that it wasn't too hot - I can't imagine making this walk in the summer heat!

I've posted our photos of the Cinque Terre on our Flickr page in two separate albums - one when it was very dark and cloudy, the other from another day when the sun did manage to peek through on more than one occasion.  Here are the pictures from the cloudy day:

(Don't forget, once you hit the "Play" arrow you'll be able to click on the small box in the lower right hand corner to expand to full screen)





And here are the photos with a little bit of sunshine:

PUGLIA - TRULLI IN ALBEROBELLO

One of the places in Italy we'd always wanted to visit was PUGLIA, down in the heel of the boot.  We were lucky enough to have friends who own a second home in Ostuni and who offered it to us for our stay.  Down in southern Italy you could easily imagine yourself in Greece just as easily as Italy.  The whitewashed town of Ostuni tumbles down the hillside just as villages in Umbria do, but the feel is much more mediterranean.  The town of Ostuni has an ancient feel to it, but it's very much alive, and was a great place to call home for a brief period. 
 

Not far from Ostuni is the town of Alberobello.  Here is where you'll find the TRULLI, round stone houses made completely out of stone, including the roof.  Rocks are plentiful in this area, so of course it's logical that the house are built of stone, but the unique way in which these houses are built makes them even more interesting.  One theory is that these houses were built so that they could be quickly and easily disassmebled, thereby avoiding being taxed for a 'permanent' structure. 
 

There are mysterious markings on many of the trulli roofs, and depsite all the theories, no one really knows what they symbolized. 
 




This area was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, guaranteeing that the trulli will remain authentic for the world to enjoy.  The trulli of Alberobello are still inhabitated, some as private homes, some as tourist shops.  Wlaking through the streets among the trulli, despite the shops, despite the tourists, feels very much like a step back in time, with just a little fairy dust thrown in for good measure. 

Here are the photos we took of Alberobello and the trulli: