Mushroom city

Well, it's good to be home again. Our yard was in desperate need of our help. We came home to a front yard full of dandelions, and calf-high grass. We immediately decided to give up on the lawn, so I went to town with the round up sprayer. Our front lawn is now slowly dying, only to be reborn as a beautiful, landscapes space.

We also discovered quite the crop of mushrooms in the back yard. When you spread much, you expect some mushrooms to pop up. We have exceeded expectations. There are mushrooms everywhere! We have a lot that look like portabellas, though, I'm not confident enough in that guess to eat them. We also have what appears to be morels. I'm almost confident enough in that guess to eat them, but there were only two, so I let them be, in hopes that they will spread spores for next year. Mushrooms aren't exactly what we had in mind for our landscaping, but on the positive side, they are a sure sign that the much is decaying, which means better soil beneath the much, and happier plants.

Roma

"Rome wasn't built in a day," as the old saying goes. But we did see Rome in about a day and a half. This being a culinary tour, we didn't plan to spend much time with history and monuments, ruins, etc... so we didn't plan much time in Rome.

We got in around noon on Tuesday, and checked into our hotel, a few blocks from the Colliseum. The hotel was nothing to talk about, just a decent place in a good spot. Then we walked across the city and over the Tiber to the Vatican. We got there just in time for the daily English tour of St. Peter's Basilica. Our guide was a young priest in training from Minnesota. The tour was fascinating, with a great blend of history and trivia about the cathedral and the various pieces of art. It was the best free tour we've ever had. The Basilica itself was incredible. It is absolutely huge and filled with art. The highlights of the tour included the spot where they believe Peter the Apostle is buried, Michaelangelo's Pietà sculpture of Mary holding Jesus's body, and a bronze statue of Peter that they believe to be over 1000 years old. We were here only a few days after the beatification of Pope John Paul II, so there were a lot of signs and banners all over the city about him. They had just moved his tomb from the crypt of St. Peter's, up to the main floor of the basilica. So that was also an attraction that drew a lot of people as well.

After St. Peter's, we went to a little neighborhood down the river for dinner, where I had some great gnocchi, and Emily had an interesting octopus salad. Pictures are below.

On our second day, we saw the colliseum, Roman forum, Pantheon, Spanish steps (which we climbed), and the famous Trevi fountain. With the exception of the Pantheon, we didn't go into any of the attractions due to time constraints (colliseum and forum) or steep fines (Trevi fountain). We didn't have enough time to spend half a day in the colliseum and forum, so we just took a stroll around the outside. It was still pretty amazing to see this massive stadium as big as most modern stadiums, but built thousands of years ago. Although we weren't planning to see much of the ruins, it was fascinating to see the little that we did, and to imagine what the ancient city must have been like it its height. We had pizza for lunch, and you'll see a picture below of my arugula topped pizza. They call arugula "rocket" for some unknown reason. I've also included a picture of Emily with a delicious cappuccino.

As I write this, we're sitting at the Rome airport waiting to board the flight home, though, I won't post this until we find an internet connection.  Stay tuned for a trip retrospective.

Tuscany...ciao Bella!

Well, it's been a few days since we have written anything, so I'll sum up our 5 days in Toscana in a single post... here goes.

For starters, we are staying at this great agriturismo, called Savernano. It's a mixed farm with grapes, olives, some animals (mostly poultry from what we saw). The farm itself is perched atop a beautiful hilltop overlooking the valley and out over the Tuscan hills. When you walk out of your room, you are instantly surrounded by vines and olive trees and a postcard view in all directions. The drive up to the farm is an adventure itself, with several steep and Sharp switchbacks, which our sweet vw suv handled without any thought. Aside from a great breakfast, with delicious cappuccino, they also offer a delicious dinner for much less than most restaurants. They are the perfect hosts, friendly, helpful, all around great.

So we spent two days in Florence at the start. It was a great city. Getting in was a breeze, thanks to a convenient train from near the farm. Except, on the first day, the trains weren't running due to a strike. We would have stayed away, but we had reservations at the Uffizi gallery, so we drove in. What a mess. Don't drive in Florence if you can avoid it. We made it, thanks to our gps, but it wasn't easy. see the picture of the truck below to get an idea of the sort of thing you deal with. This truck is actually parked. Note that it is mostly on the sidewalk, and the rest is in the crosswalk. In general, it seems that the rule of driving in Italy is that you probably should get out of the way, and remember that lines on the road are only a suggestion of one possible trajectory you might choose to take.

Unfortunately, due to the strike, the Uffizi was closed. So we couldn't go anyway. But in the end, it was all good. We had lovely day seeing other art, like sculptures by Michelangelo and Raphaello, and pre renaissance sacred art, plus a climb up a tower to catch a view of the city. The next day we went down to Florence again, saw the uffizi, which is home to the Birth of Venus, as well as a number of great renaissance and pre renaissance works, and the Medici chapels, which were partly designed by Michelangelo, and quite impressive. In all, Florence was a beautiful city with great history and amazing art. The sheer numbers of priceless works was mind boggling.  While there, we had lunch at a couple of great non-tourist restaurants. One, called trattoria Mario was this tiny place with a few tables, which you share with strangers to leave no spot empty. We got there at noon and went right in, but by the time we left, there was a crowd waiting to get in. The pasta was great, and affordable. In the pictures below, you'll see Emily eating ribbolita, a soup thickened with bread, and a plate of pappardelle from Mario's. I also snapped a shot of the packed restaurant. You'll also notice a nice Florence pizza and some gratuitous gelato pics. For the record, it is perfectly acceptable to eat gelato twice a day.

The other part of Tuscany is the countryside. We enjoyed this part a great deal as well. There are small towns dotting the countryside, most on top of hills, and surrounded by ancient walls. We stopped at a few of these to take in the culture and drink the local wine. Each town has their specialty, and all were great. We especially enjoyed the small town of Montepulciano. There was a small door in the side of a building that led to a vast system of wine caves. Thousands of gallons of vino nobile sat in barrels aging to just the right balance of flavor and smoothness. The man in the tasting room was very cute. His name is Adamo, and he was featured in Rick Steeves guide and tv show. Adamo fancies himself a celebrity, and even autographed a postcard for us. He spoke very little English, but was so passionate about his wine, you hardly noticed. The wine was incredible, so we did take home a bottle.

Overall, it was a great time in Tuscany. Great food, great wine, and beautiful scenery.

Emilia-Romagna in a pasta shell.

We have now left Emilia Romagna. We didn't have WiFi access at our farm there, so I haven't had a chance to post pictures in a while. So this is mostly a picture post. I included some pictures of the food we ate in the region. Emilia-Romagna is an area of Italy that everybody has heard of, but most don't think to visit. It is north and west of Tuscany. The main cities make me hungry, because they are all the names of food. Parma in the north, known for Parmesano Reggiano and Prosciutto Di Parma. Modena in the middle, known for balsamic vinegar, and Bologna in the south, known for tortellini and pasta ala bolognese. The pictures below are of some of these foods. Tortelli, tortellini, pizza with prosiciutto, and there's a picture of the balsamic vinegar production at the farm where we stayed. It was a delicious time in Emilia-Romagna.

Bosco, Italia

On Monday, we drove from France through the mountains to Bosco, Italy. It's in Reggio Emila, close to Parma, Modena, and Bologna. We're staying at an agritourismo, basically a farm that also has a B&B. This farm grows grapes for wine and balsamic vinegar, fruit for jam, and various vegetables. They also have a few animals, but not that many. The breakfasts here are delicious cakes plus local parmesiano reggiano and prosciutto. This region is known for their pasta - the problem is that you are expected to get both a primi (first course) and secondi (second course), plus antipasti (appetizers). The end result is that we leave restaurants completely stuffed. We've resorted to only eating 1 meal a day (plus breakfast) and then snacking. They're a few weeks ahead of Wisconsin here so certain fruits are starting to be in season. We've eaten some very good strawberries. Plus there are oranges from Spain and Sicily all over the place which are amazing. Today we drove up into the mountains (that divide this northern region of Italy from Tuscany) and toured the ruins of a castle. We got some amazing views. Unfortunately, we don't have a wireless connection right now so we'll have to upload pictures later. Tomorrow we drive to Tuscany where we stay for 5 days. I'm hoping we'll take a day trip to the coast. We got great views of the Mediterranean on our drive here (at Cannes and Nice) but haven't gone down to the beach yet.

Aix-en-Provence: food, fountains, wine, and mote fountains.

Aix en Provence is a medium sized city In the southeast part of France. It is, appropriately, in the region of Provence. You have probably eaten food from Provence. Bouillabaise, niçoise salad, ratatouille, and many more dishes are the cuisine of Provence. They eat a lot of vegetables, seafood, olives, garlic and herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, lavender, and sage. Aix is not the largest city in the region, but we were drawn here by the history of the city dating back to the first century bc, and the atmosphere of a smaller city. Overall, the city is very similar in feel to Madison.

We are staying at a delightful b&b on what was once the edge of town. It is an old estate that had fallen into disrepair before the current owners bought it and made it beautiful again. The owners are Marie and Francois. She is a New Yorker, and he is a Frenchman. They met in San Francisco, and later moved to Aix to run this b&b they are wonderful hosts, and have created a truly unique place.

The city is known for their fountains. There are more than 100 across the city. Everywhere you turn, there's another fountain. Some are ornate and spectacular, others small. It seems like they just started with the fountains and couldn't figure out when to stop. It makes the city charming when you encounter a fountain at every turn.

We have enjoyed provençal cuisine very much. We had an amazing meal at a nice out of the way restaurant. The food was incredible. I had stuffed mussels and rouget in a traditional sauce. Emily had a fish terrine and traditional proveçal stew. Amazing ratatouille came with both, and both meals were completely delicious. We also went to a great market and bought veggies and cheese and olives for a lovely picnic.

I've included pictures below of the b&b, the market, the food from our amazing dinner, and some great pastries and a crèpe. Tomorrow, we head to Italy to continue our journey.