The Cinque Terra

We head for the train station in Pietrasanta (free parking) and buy our tickets for the day trip to the five villages, crowded and touristy but also unique and incredibly lovely.  Best laid plans go awry and our 8:47 AM train is cancelled and the next one is at 11:30.  Yuck but not to be deterred we are in charming Pietrasanta so we head to the square to kill 2 1/2 hours. 

Botero's Madonna in the church in Pietrasanta.

Randy and Diane

The square

Back to the train and time stamp all our tickets and off we go.  We discover the trains were on strike yesterday so the crowds are unreal today.  The threatened rain holds off and things are looking up until we start to take the lovely walk along the via Amore only to discover it is closed by a rock slide.  Jon and I are really dismayed as this lovely dramatic walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola was one of the highlights of the cinque terra.  Back on the train and when we fight our way free of the crowds in Manarola we spot a restaurant way up above the village away from most people.  Never ever has a cold beer tasted so good!

Up the ramp and another and another. 

There is a reward up here besides beer,  a cool breeze and a spectacular view.

Jon loves the zoom on his camera so this shows it off.

I don't know why the fascination with laundry but does tell a story.

The setting sun turns the local wine into golden laterns.  On our tiny terrace clinging high above the jagged rocks and churning waves it is a peaceful moment.

By the time we wind our way back to the train and re trace our steps to the train and our cars the gates of the villa are a welcome sight.  The intrepid travelers have overcome every obstacle and managed to persevere.

Sunday is for relaxing

Sunday is thunder and lighting and pouring rain.  A house full of Texans love every rumble and the smell, the chill damp air while sipping rich warm expresso on the porch.  The simple things of nature  enrich the day.  Sunday lunch is a big occasion.  Reuniting Diane with her lost bag.  When she and Randy called from Heathrow we knew we had a problem,  there is no address for the villa to give the baggage people so the only thing we could tell Randy was send it to Clara's resturant.  It worked like a charm.  Now Sunday lunch and a toast to the unbelievable journey of the bag.

Claudio, Clara and mama who own the restaurant are our dearest friends at this point but there is a fun co-incidence.  He is showing us the photo of Botero, the world famous Argentine artist, who lives and works in Pietrasanta much of the year.  Their restaurant is one of his favorites.  Years ago some friends of ours bought a Botero in Venice from Paula Parmeggiani and we were introduced to her when she came to Dallas.  We remain friends with her and her family so we know this artist.  Claudio and Clara had visited the shop while on holiday in Venice.  Many of those of you who read this blog have eaten at Il Milion owned by Paula's former husband.  A small amusement.

The photo of Botero

Claudio and Clara

Plus food that is superb.

Diane setting our table.  Rain has stopped and we fire up the oven for home made focaccia and salad for a light evening snack.

On a rainy damp day this is our Italian clothes drier.  It works.

Letizia in her kitchen and a truffle lunch

This is Salvatore's daughter and she has prepared a special lunch with truffles in every course.  We are welcome in her kitchen to learn and we didn't think Patti would leave. She was in cooking heaven.

This truffle has a distinctive red stain from the plant it grows under.  It is extra rare and we are lucky to have one.  The plant is just turning crimson now and in a few weeks the forest we were in will be ablaze as it flaunts its fall cloak.

The first course is chick pea soup topped with freshly shaved truffles.  The essence of good Italian food. Perfect ingredients prepared simply.  The cook gets out of the food's way and lets it shine.  This is delicious and exquisite and the recipe is dried chick peas soaked overnight and cooked in water, salt and pepper, blended until creamy and served hot.

Our terrace dining room.

The view from the terrace.  Lunch is also served with local wines so everything is grown and made within a few miles of here.

The next course is perfect al dente pasta lightly sauced with cream, parmigiana, olive oil and butter and truffles.  Letitia then makes a nest of pasta in foil and wraps it so when it is opened at the table the rich truffle aroma enhances the flavor.  Pasta and eggs are the classic truffle dishes as they are delicate enough to enhance and not overwhelm the truffle.

A very poignant moment.  Patti has been in the kitchen most every moment and they were just explaining to her the reason the clock is at the wrong time is they stopped it the moment the grandfather died and leave it to remember him.

It has not been long since both she lost both her parents and sometimes it doesn't take much to rip that scab off and the tears flow freely.  Everyone here shares that pain.

Smiles return....life goes on, the scab slides back in place.

The egg course is not the usual scramble but two egg whites coddled in these baking dishes, the raw yolks slipped on top, and the truffles.  Stir with a wooden fork and we are eating the most divine egg dish ever.

Plus we are having lunch with Jeb Bush. Think John Keir and he were brothers in another life.

Vin Santo they make at home and a little sweet with truffles.  WOW!

We finally drag ourselves off and pry Patti's fingers off the kitchen counter.  I think she was trying to pick out her room.  The road to the A11 is an adventure in it self and John Keir is getting real good at the Italian roads as today he crawled through medieval San Miniato, navigated through a crowded street filled with guests at a wedding, negotiated an ancient bridge that is one way at a time, all this plus the roundabouts and the high speed driving on the A roads.  Plus there is a forest fire in our valley as we head home the helicopters are flying a rapid rotation and picking the water right out of the river next to the road.  Naturally the road is clogged with locals stopped to watch.  

Ah! the massive gates of home swing open and we are in our tranquil paradise. The cool night air descends as we savor the memories and the church bells peal in the valley  still punctuated by the continous whirl of helicopters.

Truffle hunting San Miniato

After spending a slow day just enjoying being here on Friday, Saturday we headed an hour away to a tiny area of Tuscany famous for it's white truffles.  These precious little hunks of fungus sell for $6,000-$7,000 usd per kilo.  There is culture and a community of hunter families here built around the elusive delicacy.  The dogs only find it when it is ripe so a hunter can go in the morning and get nothing and another go back in the afternoon and find a huge one.  Hunters are secretive and sneak off to their best spots when no one is looking.

Our hunters, Salvatore, one of the most famous in Italy and the master, with is son Massimo. In the car is is the real hunter and star of the day, Stella.

We all follow Stella into this forest over a rickety wooden bridge and up and down the hillside.

Much to our delight she is on to one in 5 minutes.  It turns out to be an inferior black but we know now they are there.

The next one is a diamond truffle,  The famous mysterious white with the earthy pungent scent that is so distinctive.  It invokes rain, freshly turned soil, and warm forest plants. A smell like no other.  Randy inhales his first whiff.

Good Stella!  There are little treats in Massimo's pocket that she likes better than truffles so that is her reward.

The church bells peal the noontime hour as we count our truffles and head back to Salvatore's home where our lunch and cooking with truffles lesson is waiting.

We leave the peace of the forest so the truffles can grow quietly feeding on the tree roots until their spores release and call to the nose of a dog and his master.

A day long wine tour

This is Diane's first day in Europe. It will be memorable and starts as we are introduced to Andrea, our Italian driver and sommelier, who drives through the villa gates just as the sun is chasing the morning chill. We set off up over the mountains on a narrow curving road that is a travelogue of the best of Tuscany.  Colorful villages, vibrant flowers and every fold in the earth or hillside covered with vines or olive groves.  As we climb higher there are amazing views off to the high alps or the sea.

We visit three wineries and each one has a small production so they are very much boutique wines.  All wonderful in their own way and we bought.  This is about half the days haul.

The first winery was organic and family run with delicious wines.

The second one was larger, more organized and served a tasting lunch.

Then Andrea had to improvise because one of the scheduled wineries had the Italian wine inspectors show up and we were cancelled so he added a bio-dynamic winery.  This was the wonderful serendipitous experience of the day.  We headed up the dramatic Garfagna valley following the river bed as it cuts through steep dramatic mountains. We passed the old Roman footbridge that is a perfect intact arch.  

As we rounded a curve this dramatic little village was visible way way up the mountain side and Andrea turned off unto a vertical track that curled up and up until we reached a tiny wine farm perched on the mountain side just below the village.

They just started harvesting their small production.  Everything is all natural and the wines are fed with herbal infusions and pruned, planted and picked according to the waxing and waning of the moon.  These are old farming techniques practiced since ancient times and produces healthy vines with a lot of heart that produce no matter what the weather.

This was just the next step so Diane happily got to do her Lucille Ball imitation.

Admiring her handiwork.  One of the young workers hopped in to finish up as we left.

This was by far the most interesting and unique experience of the day as we cruised home while the sunset painted the sky in a peach and golden glow.

If you ever are here call or email Katherine or Andrea at Tuscan Drivers in Lucca as they are totally fabulous.