Jim and Diana Zurer's Italian Journal

Day 18: Massa Marittima

2002-05-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

The weather is warm and sunny this morning for our expedition to the island of Elba. We drive to Piombino and get our tickets for the 11 am car ferry; the trip to the main town--Portoferraio--takes about an hour.

Once on the ferry we climb to the top deck to get some sun and sea air. Most of our fellow passengers are German tourists; Elba is very popular vacation destination for then. The sun is warm and I enjoy watching the mainland recede as we approach the island.

Elba is very hilly--there are actually three thousand foot mountains in the center of the island--and the coastline is made up of a series of picture book bays, some with pretty sand beaches. The main town--Portoferraio (this was once an iron mining center) is an attractive town of mostly pastel buildings climbing up from the large, almost circular harborThere is a fortress guarding the entrance to the harbor and there is still an operating fishing fleet. There are a lot of Napoleon-related historical sites here--this is where he was exiled after being removed as emperor. He lived here for nine months and, while not planning his campaign to return to power, gave some of his attention to improving the administration of the island.

Our plan is to spend about four hours driving around as much of the island as we can....there is a pretty extensive network of roads that both circle the coast line and also go into the interior. The island is about 20 miles long and 6 miles wide. Driving along the north coast, we are struck by how green the island is and how the resorts seem to be of a appealing size....small hotels and houses that seem to fit in with the landscape. The island also seems to be well maintained and the towns are pleasant and manageable. As we begin our drive, it turns overcast and when we reach the town of Marciana Marina and stop for lunch at a small bar with tables right on the water, we are hoping for the return of the sun. Even without the sun, we have a nice lunch--shrimp salad for Diana and a focaccia sandwich for me--watching the boats in the harbor and people watching.

Of course, just as we finish lunch and drive off, the sun comes out. Our route takes us inland and up to the hill town of Marciana, set on the slope of Mt. Capanne, the over 3,000 foot mountain at the center of the island. The road twists up the mountain side and there are gorgeous views of the north coast of Elba. They also have a cable car that climbs to the summit, but that will have to wait for our next visit to Elba. The hill town of Marciana is quite spectacularly sited and we stop to admire the views from some well placed parking areas.

The road continues back down to the coast and stays close to the shore on the western and southern sides of Elba, although the road climbs and dives regularly along the sides of the cliffs that come down to the water. There are some very nice strands of white sand beach mixed in with the rocky coastline. We are impressed by the number of bicycles out on the road; it is a major activity on the island. There are two or three more beautiful harbors along the southern shore that we visit before heading back to Portoferraio to catch the ferry. We have a little town to drive along the harbor, which has a nice pedestrian promenade. We stop for a gelato and take a look at the cruise ship that has docked since our arrival, before returning to the ferry for the return trip.

We are both favorably impressed Elba; the only negative is that the Italian presence on island, especially during the summer, is heavily outweighed by the German tourists. But it is certainly a physically beautiful place, with a combination of mountains, beaches and historical sites--it is not a one-dimensional resort island.

When we return to Massa, I take a walk around the neighborhood of the hotel. I discover a small trattoria--Il Pungolo--on the next street (I had seen signs for it, but I could never locate it). After checking the menu, we decide to eat there this evening. It is located on the ground floor of an apartment building but it is decorated vlery attractively with several small rooms. There is only one other table occupied (by two German women whom we had seen on two previous evenings at the restaurants where we had been eating) but the atmosphere is very cheerful and the waiter is very welcoming. We have one of our best meals of the trip tonight. The pastas are both exceptional--mine is tagliatelle alla Pungolo---with delicious mussels and fresh tomatoes--and Diana's is tagliatelle with a meat ragu--really savory. For seconds, Diana has a terrific veal and potato stew (spezzatino) and I have very good plate of swordfish carpaccio as well as a mixed vegetable sformato--a baked vegetable pudding studded with pieces of potato and carrot. We have a wonderful fresh white wine from the next town over, Valdipiana.

Another distinctive feature of Il Pungolo is the recorded American jazz they are playing. The waiter is tickled when I identify the recording (Jazz Samba with Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd). He then puts on a blues CD which I have to ask him to identify....it is by Keb Mo'. The bill for all this comes to less than $30.00--a terrific meal. No dessert and a short walk back to the hotel.

Diana and Jim

Day 17: Massa Marittima

2002-05-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

[5/12/02: We are back home....we flew back yesterday (Saturday) but I am still a few reports behind. I plan to finish in the next few days. It was a terrific trip. Jim]

This morning we explore the centro storico of Massa Marittima. The weather is sunny as we drive the car down the hill and park in the very convenient lot just below the Duomo. The cathedral is as impressive inside as it is from the outside. The light is especially nice as it comes through the distinctive oval shaped clear windows behind the altar. There are some well preserved frescoes on the side walls and the whole interior decoration is more restrained than many cathedrals that we have visited.

Outside people are gathering--tourists and townspeople--for a demonstration of flag throwing by the town's flag throwing group. This is a special activity that is common to many Italian towns; it is a historic version of baton-twirling--large flags on weighted poles are unfurled, thrown into the air and caught before they hit the ground. Today's demonstration is to show off the brand new uniforms that the group has just received. The uniforms are rich purple and gold velvet medieval costumes, with all manner of gold decoration and pictures.

We take seats on the steps of the cathedral and watch as the group--flagwavers and medieval band--warms up and then stroll to the other side of the town to start the procession. The band creates a great sound and the procession is quite spectacular as the group files into the main square from the narrow street. The captain of the squad puts on an exhibition, where he starts by tossing one banner and works his way up to four at the time--using both arms and his legs to catch and throw the flags.

After that, we see a group demonstration, where eight flag throwers put on a show involving throwing flags to each other in an intricate routine. There are a few close calls, but none of the flags hit the pavement. Unfortunately, during the routine, the sky begins to cloud up and a steady drizzle ensues; fearful of damaging their new costumes, they quickly end the show and race for cover.

We head for the car and head out of town to explore the coast to the south of Massa Marittima. We drive through a peaceful green valley on a back road towards the sea and then take the coast road out of Follonica to two beach resorts--Punta Ala and Castiglione della Pescaia.

We are not able to see the water because of the thick pine forest--"la pineta"-- separates the road from the beach, but there are many paths that lead from the road, through the pine grove to the beach. The road heads inland and we catch our first glimpses--on this trip--of Italian prostitutes. They're from Africa and they are sitting?by themselves--on folding chairs in rest areas just off the road. We have seen them on previous trips on the roadside near factories or commercial strips, but this is on a Sunday afternoon on the road to the beach.

Punta Ala, the first beach resort that we come to, is organized like the beach resorts on Hilton Head and Kiawah Island. There are commericial areas, recreation areas, and housing and hotel areas, all radiating off a central road. Access to the water and the harbor are strictly controlled and preference is given to residents for preferred parking near the water.

We drive around a bit but are frustrated in our attempt to get a peek at the beach and waterfront. On our way out, we stop by the side of the road and take one of those paths through the pine wood to the beach. It is a very nice sandy beach, that stretches around the long bay for miles. The water is extremely clean and the beach is nicely kept-- one of the most pleasant waterfront stretches we have seen in Italy. We sit on the beach for a while and then head further south to the next resort--Castiglione della Pescaia.

Castiglione is a completely different type of resort....it was (and still is) a fishing village and has a walled "centro storico" on the hillside above the port. The waterfront and the new town adjacent to the water are very low key--there are some hotels and many restaurants. We park and stroll along the dock looking for a place to have lunch. We stop at a large restaurant-pizzeria which sits right on the beach and get a table with the view of the water. Diana orders a pizza, which is just okay, and I have a plate of spaghetti alle vongole--which is also just okay; it doesn't compare to the same dish that I had for lunch the day before. We share a caprese salad--the mozzarella tastes as if it were the fancier cheese that is made from water buffalo milk; I like it but the consistency is a bit wet for Diana. This lunch is not intended to be an eating adventure....we wanted to eat in a nice setting in a short time for not too much money.

After lunch, we walk down the beach and eat some gelato, sitting on a bench overlooking the water; on this trip, the big surprise in the gelato department has been the "limone"--it has been very tart and very refreshing.

We continue south along the coast, but the road veers away from the water, so after driving through a couple more towns, we decide to head back to Massa on the fast road. To pick up the fast road, we have to go to the provincial capital--Grosseto. I take the opportunity to take a quick spin around the center of town on this quiet Sunday afternoon. Grosseto is not considered much of a tourist attraction, but the town still has its walls surrounding the town and some pedestrian-only areas in the old town--it certainly doesn't look too bad.

We pick up the SS 1 (called the Via Aurelia) from the old Roman road system; it is a limited access highway on this stretch and we make the drive back to Massa Marittima (about 25 miles) in 20 minutes. Before climbing back up the hill to town, we stop at one of the odder tourist attractions we have seen in Italy (or elsewhere). The Center for the Saving of Turtles--known as CARAPAX, and its associated organization, the Center for the Saving of Storks are located on a back road between Massa M. and Follonica and they are open to visitors. This is an international volunteer organization that is trying to re-establish species of turtles and storks, as well as a local strain of donkey that is endangered. They also nurse sick turtles back to health. You walk about a mile from the main road to a series of ponds, green houses, and fenced off areas where the turtles are fed and protected until they are ready to be put back in the wild. You walk past these pens and look at the turtles; they are very difficult to spot on land; since those are the first areas you walk past, I had the feeling that this might be a gigantic rip-off. But the pools contain many turtles, a few swimming or climbing on the banks, but most of them just sitting there. Diana thinks this is a gigantic joke - like watching paint dry.

The stork area is more compelling. There is a large netted structure draped off a tall central pole that serves as an aviary for this specie of stork, whose migration pattern from Africa to Europe had been disturbed by changes in the enviroment. This area provided a safe haven for the birds as they re-establish the traditional migration route. The storks are something to see--flying inside and outside the aviary--as well as making their nests on pole top platforms. The local donkeys have the additional responsibility
of keeping wolves away from the storks and they add a large amount of noise to the refuge with their constant braying. All in all, a very odd tourist attraction.....

It has been a long day so we head out for dinner at 7:30; we go a large restaurant-pizzeria overlooking the valley called Le Mura (it is set in the city walls). We are not the only ones with the idea of eating early; the place is packed--and the only tables available are in the back, without a view. We take it....Dinner is very fast--the staff is very efficient. We have some very good pasta--large tortelli in butter and sage for Diana and pici (local fat pasta) with a tasty ragu for me. Diana has a bruschetta with olive oil and garlic to start; to us, it is very untraditional--it is made with one gigantic slice of bread. It looks like a big open faced sandwich and is not the most appealing version of bruschetta. I also have grilled sausages done on the open fire. The meal was pleasant and quite reasonable and we are satisfied to be heading back to the hotel for an early night.

Tomorrow we will take the ferry to Elba.

Diana and Jim

PS from Diana: As you've gathered, on some of Jim's excursions (up the tower, up and down some hills) and on some other occasions, I instead relaxed and read. May I highly recommend

--A Hole in the Earth by Robert Bausch (a wondeful novel by a VA writer, about family, relationships and a father struggling to get to a better place),

--White Teeth by Zadie Smith (a big first novel that's been widely reviewed, so you probably know it, about three cultures and families in London), and

--The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (also widely reviewed, about NY Jewish comic books creators, the Holocaust, escape and the American dream).

Reading them added to making this a fine vacation.

Day 16: Massa Marittima

2002-05-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

It rains all night in Massa Marittima....it is still raining when we get up, but by the time we finish breakfast and are ready to go out, the sun is out, but it is very windy and cold. We decide it is a good day to get in the car and visit some of the nearby towns; it is certainly not the day to take the ferry to Elba.

We drive directly to Follonica, a large and modern beach resort. There is nothing particularly picturesque about the town, but it doesn't appear to be one of those tacky beach towns. The sandy beach stretched for miles on both sides of town and they have preserved long stands of pine forest which guard the coast line. There are seemingly hundreds of hotels in town and along the beach.

We drive to the middle of town and park near the water to have a look around.....but the wind is so stiff that we have a hard time walking anywhere near the water. The water is quite rough and waves are pounding the waterfront docks We quickly get back in the car and take the road along the beach to the north. At one spot, we are surprised to see a "fleet" of windsurfers out in the water, going at very fast clips in the rough water....I guess the windy day is good for some things.

We poke along the coast towards the next town, Piombino....stopping once in a while to get a first hand look at the rough seas. For our trouble, we get a lot of sand blown in our face.

Piombino is a steel town...the approach to town is dominated by a large electric power plant and miles of steel plants--with smokestacks and gigantic piles of coal. It is also the main ferry port for going to the island of Elba, about five miles out in the Mediterranean. We stop at the main ferry terminal to get information about the schedules and the costs; even today, the ferries are running.

We stop in the "centro storico", which is a pedestrian-only area inside the old town walls. Most of Piombino was bombed heavily during World War II, but the small historical center seems to have survived. The other side of the "centro storico" opens onto the sea and there are nice places to sit and watch the water and look at Elba. A castle dominates the town--it has just been restored and opened as a archeological museum--and there is a small fishing port in a protected harbor at the foot of the town. I wouldn't say it will ever be a big tourist attraction, but it is a reasonably pleasant town. We notice a poster advertising a memorial service the next day, for those who were killed in German concentration camps during World War II.

It is still too windy to walk around too much, so we get back in the car and start driving out of town toward to the north--looking for a town that is supposedly the center of strawberry cultivation in the area. We have some difficulty leaving the town--we drive around the modern suburbs and beach areas to the north, but we do get some nice views of the water while we are trying to exit Piombino.

Enroute to the strawberries, we head for the town of Populonia and the Gulf of Baratti, a smaller harbor to the north of Piombino. This little harbor seems to be protected from the winds on the other side of the headland. When we get out of the car and walk along the water, we are amazed that the wind is just a breeze and the sun is warm. It is a very pretty little harbor with many boats, a grocery store, a bar and a restaurant. We decide to take advantage of the change in the weather and get a table outside on the terrace, overlooking the water.

The restaurant turns out to be very good--we have tasty bruschette, spaghetti with clams (which is the best of the trip) and penne with asparagus and gamberoni, which is also very good. It is even more amazing to think that we could be enjoying a pleasant lunch in an outdoor restaurant with the weather that we had seen just an hour before. We also have a nice exchange with the young Italian couple from Volterra, who are sitting at the next table. They give us some restaurants recommendations in the area and we talk about traveling in Italy--they go out of their way to speak slowly and clearly so that we can understand their Italian without difficulty.

After lunch, we continue driving up the coast. We drive through the big resort town of San Vincenzo--hotels stretching out for miles along the beach; one of Italy's best-known seafood restaurants is there--Gambero Rosso. We then turn inland and begin to climb to Castagneto Carducci, the strawberry town. It is a very pretty town, with views all around, but no strawberries are for sale anywhere. We continue on to Suvereto along one of the most winding roads that I have ever been on in Italy. We pass through some nice hill towns and there are great views from the road as it climbs up and down the hills; this is yet another scenic area.

We finally find some strawberries at a stand just outside Massa Marittima and they are very fresh and pretty tasty. We drive down to the center of town for dinner again--to a Slow Food recommended restaurant called Osteria da Tronca. It is another cave-like setting, with arches and exposed bricks. We are glad that we had called for reservations, because a sign in the door announces that they are full--"completo". I have a mixed plate of salami and prosciutto and a pasta with a rich tomato sauce and Diana has a plate of cheese served with whole pears and some tortelli. I also order a "sformato" of cardoons (a vegetable that is a cross between celery and an artichoke)--it is a like a pudding that is baked in the oven. It is tasty, but the portion is gigantic and I can barely make a dent in it. The food is good, but we are very tired so it is not memorable; we are ready to get the check quickly after finishing and go back to the hotel early. We are glad that the car is close by and the we don't have to walk up the hill back to the hotel.

NOTE: We think that the portions that we are being served--especially the pasta course--are much larger than on previous trips. So much for the rationalization that it's OK to eat multiple courses, since the portions are small. Oh well.

Diana and Jim

Day 15: Castelmuzio-Massa Marittima

2002-05-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

It is hard to leave the villa and Castelmuzio, but today we are off to the far southwest corner of Tuscany--the area called the Maremma; we are staying in a hill town about 10 miles from the Mediterranean--Massa Marittima.

We say our goodbyes to Mark and Rebecca--they have been wonderful hosts; we tell them that we will be happy to "test-drive" any of their villas whenever they need us. We have one more errand before we leave the area--we want to stop in and buy some olive oil from Miriam's neighbor, Ruth McVey, who produces and sells her own oil. She is an American university professor who bought land in Montisi. Her oil was written up in Saveur Magazine about five years ago and we stopped to buy some then. On our way to her house, we see her driving the other way into Montisi so we turn around and catch up to her in town. She tells us that we can buy some oil from her associate, who is back at her house. We return and buy three liters of beautiful, thick green oil....

The drive to Massa Marittima goes through a very picturesque section of Tuscany; it is more wooded than the Pienza area, but it is very green and hilly. It is not very populated; the towns are few and far between.

The weather today has turned overcast and slightly cool. We are planning to have a picnic so we are looking for two things--the sun and a picnic table. Miraculously, as we hit the top of a hill, there is fenced off area with three picnic tables at the side of the road. We stop there, figuring we can't wait for the sun; who knows if there will be any more picnic tables down the road? Lunch is very pleasant, even with the overcast sky--bread, cheese, ham, salami, tomatoes, fruit....all in our own private picnic grove.

There is one important tourist attraction on the road to Massa Marittima....the deserted abbey of San Galgano. After one wrong turn--taking us about five miles in the wrong direction--we find the abbey. It is a roofless church from the 15th century, that was abandoned in the 17th century and became a ruin. It had been the seat of a very rich order, which had connections with the Sienese government. Now it sits quietly and mysteriously in the middle of a field, waiting for the few tourists who come this way. It is pretty impressive to see and to walk around. There is also another church, still in use, on the top of a nearby hill, It contains the sword of San Galgano, which he plunged into a rock in the 14th century as a symbol of his renouncing the material and warlike world and taking holy orders. It is also noteworthy because of its unusual octagonal dome and for some 15th century frescoes.

The gray skies give way to a steady drizzle as we continue to Massa Marittima. It is a very pleasant drive, up and down the scenic green hills. We approach Massa M. from the back; it sits on a the slope of a hill facing the Mediterranean. As we climb the hill, the vista stretches all the way to the water. We find the signs pointing us to our hotel, the Residence La Fenice, and locate it without difficulty.

The hotel has been open for less than a year; our room--actually a suite--is on the top floor. There is a separate living room with a kitchenette and a sloping roof with exposed beams. The ceilings also have skylights, so even with the gloomy overcast, the rooms are quite bright. It is also very nicely furnished with lots of wood and wrought iron. Once we are settled, I go out to check out the town. I walk towards the centro storico, which you enter through the old Sienese walls. Once through the wall, I am taken aback by the street that leads into the town; it is a very steep ramp that drops off sharply for about 100 yards. It is not a hill one will want to tackle after dinner and a bottle of wine.

Once down in the center of town, the main piazza and surrounding streets are fairly level. The main piazza is particularly striking, with an impressive cathedral set high on a platform over the square and other medieval buildings arranged on all sides of the piazza. All the angles are slightly irregular, giving the piazza a very distinctive feel. The raised platform adjacent to the cathedral serves as a stage for open air operas in the summer and the steps serve as seating for watching the passing scene in the piazza. You also have wonderful views over the countryside from some spots on the square. I also note, with some relief, that there are several parking areas just below the center of town, so driving down to town for dinner shouldn't present a problem.

The climb back up to the hotel convinces me, beyond any doubt, that we will be driving to dinner. I pick a restaurant out of the Slow Food Guide--the Vecchio Borgo--and call to make reservations. When it is time for dinner, we drive right down and park in the central parking lot. We stroll around town for short time, but the weather is getting nasty so we head for the restaurant.

It is already quite crowded- I am glad to have called to make the reservation. The restaurant iss all brick and stone, with rounded ceilings and heavy wood furniture. We order the speciality of the restaurant--the "gran misto antipasto". This is an endless series of dishes--both hot and cold--which is a sampler of all their appetizers. We eat them all with relish--the best is a carpaccio with a very savory dressing, but everything is very good. I order the local tortelli alla maremma--filled with ricotta and sauced with a meat ragu--and Diana has the ravioli with a walnut pesto. No dessert--we are too full. The wine was a hearty red from a neighboring town.

We walk back through the square, admire the cathedral in the night light, get in our car and climb the hill (the easy way) back to the hotel.

Diana and Jim

Day 14: Castelmuzio

2002-05-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

Today we have an appointment to meet the owner of one of the properties I have used near Pienza, so we are rushing to get there on time. We decide to take advantage of the kitchen in the villa, as well as the access to fresh eggs from Rebecca's and Mark's chickens. However, we don't take into account the time it will take to figure out how to use the coffee maker and electic kettle, how to turn on the stove and where all the ingredients for breakfast are kept. So we are a bit rushed--but the eggs do taste good. I needed help from Mark to unseat the hen who was jealously guarding her cache of eggs. (It turns out that both the coffeemaker and the kettle have plugs that don't match the sockets; Rebecca gives us a proper adapter when we mention our difficulty.)

We drive to the property, right past the church of Sant'Anna di Camprena--one of the locations in the film The English Patient--to the farm property called Le Cretaiole. This property also has one of those priceless views, over the rolling hills to the town of Pienza about five kilometers away. Isabella, the owner who speaks English, is late and we spend some time talking to Carlo, her husband, in Italian. When our Italian runs out, we sit on a lawn glider and enjoy the panorama. When Isabella arrives, we talk about the travel business a little and have a look at one of the rooms; she tells us about the activities that they organize for their guests and we take some brochures. I think that I will have more clients interested in staying here.

We then move on to Pienza, where we have stayed twice in the past; it is one of our favorite towns to visit. I also recommend to it to clients who want a convenient and beautiful base in southern Tuscany. Things have changed somewhat since our last visit; the square just outside the walls--where we used to park--is now reserved only for residents and there is a new, pay parking lot a few steps from the walls of the town.

Pienza still has that beautiful look--the old brown stone buildings, the narrow gently-curving main street, the side streets with neat houses all sporting window boxes overflowing with flowers. The main piazza, with the cathedral and palazzo, still looks as it did in 1500. The walk in back of the town still has the gorgeous view over the valley to the mountains in the distance. It does seem that there are more shops selling local food specialities--principally the sheep's milk cheese (pecorino) that Pienza is famous for. And there also appear to be more restaurants.....

There are a couple of tour buses full of Americans--this is on a Thursday morning, but the town is certainly not overcrowded...as it can get on holidays and weekends. It has become a popular destination for Italians out for a day trip. We buy some bread for lunch at the bakery we have been to the past; the bread still looks as good as we remember. We also buy one of the famous cheeses--after some samples to choose which age cheese we prefer--and some prosciutto and salami (made of boar) to go with the bread. We also visit the very good bookshop in the town, which has a nice selection--even a number of books in English. We sit for a while on the promenade and drink in the view before heading back to the villa for our lunch. Pienza still is a very attractive town and I am sure we will come back again in the future.

Driving back to Castelmuzio, the sky darkens and rain appears on the horizon. We hope to be able to eat outside but the rain starts too quickly, so we have to move our picnic indoors. It still tastes very good.

Later in the afternoon, we get in the car and start driving in the countryside. We drive past Montisi and Trequanda (the neighboring towns) and then decide to go to Lucignano, a village to the north and east, which is known for its unusual urban design. The street plan is made up of concentric circles, which narrow towards the center. This plan results in four piazzas on each slope of the hill. The commercial area is concentrated in the outermost ring. The walls of the town are virtually complete and there are good views over the plain on all sides. It is yet another one of those attractive Italian towns--which the country seems to have an unending supply of. After a walk around the town and some window shopping, we stop for a gelato before heading back to Castelmuzio.

One interesting feature of the countryside in this area is that we discover a number of roadside picnic tables, perched along the road at places with particularly nice views. Something that sometimes frustrates us is trying to find an appropriate place for a picnic while we are driving. In the Val d'Orcia, this doesn't appear to be a problem.

Back in Castelmuzio, I take a walk around the village and discover that there is a bar, a newstand, and a small supermarket....all of which had been closed on the holiday yesterday. The hotel and restaurant in the middle of town is going through a change of ownership, so this large building in the heart of the village is closed. While walking back through one of the town parking lots, I see a tractor pulling a large wagon (it turns out to be a portable kitchen that had been used for the community Easter dinner). They can't get past a car parked in the lot. They ask me if it is my car and I have to tell them that it isn't. They are very frustrated and very determined to get the wagon through. I stop and watch for a while; the men are trying to lift the car and move it just enough for the wagon to squeeze through. When we go to get the car to go to dinner, both the car and the wagon are gone.

For dinner tonight, we are meeting our friend from the Italian forum on Compuserve, Miriam Margolyes. She has a house just outside the village of Montisi and is now in Italy shooting a program for the BBC about Tuscan houses. The restaurant is in Trequanda, about 8 kilometers (five miles) from the villa and we arrive a little early. We walk from the parking lot to the center and locate the restaurant, Il Conte Matto (the Mad Count). Miriam hasn't arrived yet, so we sit in the main square, watch the last merchants from the weekly market close up their stalls and enjoy the arrival of twilight. It is also interesting to watch these big trucks and vans easily negotiate the very narrow and winding streets of the village--something that I still find difficult in a normal sized car. We also direct a party of nine Norwegians to the restaurant.

Miriam arrives, along with the television crew (they are all staying at her house in Montisi and they eat together every night.) We have a very nice dinner and have interesting discussions with Miriam, the director and some of the crew about the project. It is a wonderful evening. It is always fun to get together with Miriam and spending time with the television crew is an extra bonus. The food at Il Conte Matto was also very good--I had parpardelle with a boar ragu followed by "fritto misto toscano"--fried meats and vegetables and Diana had a filet with pepper sauce and an unremembered pasta. A very nice evening.......

We drive back to Castelmuzio and walk to the villa from the parking lot...the stars are not as bright tonight as they had been the night before.

Diana and Jim

Day 13: Lerici-Castelmuzio

2002-05-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

We have our last Doria Park breakfast on this trip. Before we leave the hotel, Luigi takes us up to the roof of the hotel where they are now working on five new suites. They should be ready for use this summer. They will have large terraces and jacuzzis; Luigi is very excited about having these new, spacious rooms to rent. We take one last drive through the town, but we can't find any place to park, so we head out towards Tuscany. We drive on the back road along the Magra River for a while and stop to buy some produce at one of the many farm stands that are selling fresh fava beans and strawberries. The strawberries are very ripe, with a lovely texture.

We pass a park on the seashore where we see a sign for a picnic for the Communist Party....they are having their May Day celebration.

It is a very fast trip on the autostrada to Florence where we pick up the superstrada (free) to Siena. We get off and take some back roads to our next stop in Castelmuzio, a small village about 45 minutes south of Siena. This area of Tuscany is stunningly beautiful. The land is less forested and the terrain is more gentle than in Chianti--the hills seem to undulate and the vistas are wide and deep. In early May, most of the hills are a vivid green and it is a pleasure just to drive along the winding roads taking in new views at every turn. Sometimes, when driving on a ridge, you get these kind of views in both directions.

The landscape is also dotted with a number of small hill towns which provide a brown contrast to the green fields.....often, you see four or five of these villages at the same time.

Castelmuzio is one of these small towns. We have become friendly with Mark and Rebecca Abouzeid--he is American and she is Australian; they have lived in Castelmuzio with their two young daughters for about four years. They have a internet villa and apartment rental business called InTuscany.net that they run out of their home. My clients have rented some of the wonderful properties that they represent. They also make olive oil from their own trees. They have invited us to stay in the newly-restored villa on their property--they did the interior design themselves and much of the work--before they begin renting it out. For a look at the villa, go to http://www.intuscany.net/villas/villa_nell_oliveto.htm

Their property is just outside the village walls and has one of those fantastic views. To the south, you can see Pienza, the Val d'Orcia and Monte Amiata in the distance. To the north, you see the village of Montisi and its countryside. The new villa, which sleeps ten, is not quite finished--they have asked us to test drive it and let them know what is still needed--but it is everyone's dream of a villa...tile floors, beamed ceilings, beautiful views from all the windows, a terrace, modern baths, space to eat outside. They have just finished installing a large pool, where you can swim and enjoy the views at the same time.

We spend the afternoon sitting near the pool, watching the children swim and catching up with Mark and Rebecca. The weather is also beautiful--the sun is shining and makes the countryside sparkle. I take a short stroll in the village but everything is closed today because of the May Day holiday.

They have invited us to dinner tonight so we go over to their house about eight and have a glass of wine sitting in their dream kitchen, while Rebecca gets dinner ready. Dinner is informal--pasta with a spicy parsley sauce, grilled sausages and salad- served in their spacious dining room. They are very hospitable and we are having a very good time.

After dinner, we walk back across the property and are amazed at the brightness of the many stars in the night sky.

Jim and Diana

Day 12: Lerici

2002-04-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

The sun is shining this morning so our plans to take the boat to the Cinque
Terre are a go. After another wonderful Doria Park breakfast, we walk down
to the dock and buy our tickets for the boat. When I ask for tickets to
Vernazza, our favorite of the five towns, the clerk tells me that the sea is
too rough for landings at Vernazza and the boat will only be stopping at the
largest town, Monterosso. If we want to go to Vernazza, we will have to
walk or take the train.

The hour and a half boat trip is extremely pleasant. We stop at the
entrance to the Gulf of La Spezia--Portovenere, a very striking town with a
tall row of colored
buildings overlooking the harbor, a long boat harbor and an impressive
church set out on the rocks at the narrow mouth of the harbor. Soon we are
cruising along the Cinque Terre coast, with its olive groves and vineyards
planted on what seem to be impossibly steep grades. In addition to the
five towns, there are smaller villages scattered on the cliff sides--they
seem to defy gravity hanging on the sides of the hill.

We pass the first four villages and go in close to the rocky shore for
better views. At times, we can see the hikers walking along the trail half
way up the cliff face and once in a while, we see the train as it emerges
from the tunnels that have been blasted into the rock for its trackbed. The
sun is shining brightly, the water is a beautiful blue--a great ride.

We dock in Monterosso and immediately head for the railroad station to see
when the next train to Vernazza will leave. There is one scheduled in
fifteen minutes, so we buy our tickets and wait on the platform for the
train to come. Two trains come into the station at the same time and
somehow I have misread the schedule; we are waiting on the wrong track. We
run to the other track and jump on the right train just as it starts
moving--a close call. Vernazza is only minutes away and we hop off the
train and walk down into the town.

We have heard how crowded the Cinque Terre has become but thought it was
worst on weekends. But on this Tuesday afternoon, the main (only) street in
town is wall to wall with people. They are milling around, eating lunch,
shopping, strolling up and down, finishing their hikes, getting ready to
take their hikes--they are everywhere. We also note that there is not only
an internet cafe but a self-service laundromat--a far cry from the somewhat
sleepy town we had first visited in 1993. We make our way down to the
waterfront and walk around the rocks for a while....the town is still very
attractive and it is not hard to understand why so many people are there.
But it is not the same with wall to wall tourists.....

We've done the walks in the past and are just looking for a relaxing
afternoon in town. We decide to eat lunch on the main piazza, overlooking
the harbor, at Gambero Rosso, which has gotten very good write-ups in guide
books. We get a table quickly (one was vacated by a young couple who never
ordered--we
speculate that either they couldn't get a waiter's attention or the place
was too pricey for
them). The restaurant is crowded--there is a table of twelve German
tourists, who are keeping the one waiter that we see very busy. But a
second, very charming waiter saves the day....it is amazing how little
effort it takes for a waiter to ingratiate himself.

We eat very well and enjoy the unending passing parade of people walking
from town to the harbor and vice-versa. We have some local
specialities--Diana starts with tortelli with a very fresh and sparkling
pesto sauce and I have something called mes-ciua, a soup of various grains
and a delicate broth. For seconds, Diana has a composed dish of potatoes,
tomatoes and fresh anchovies, while I have a delicious plate of La Spezia
stuffed mussels--cozze ripieno. For dessert, I get a very good panna
cotta, with a chocolate sauce. We drink a local Cinque Terre white which
goes down very easily.

Lunch is a big success...we have a good time and enjoy the food very much.
It has been very leisurely so we head back to the station to get the train
for La Spezia. We have decided not to take the boat back, but will catch a
bus in La Spezia back to Lerici. Diana stops on the way at the bakery and
has the same type of walnut cake that she had on our previous visits....it
is still very good.

The station is packed with people going in both directions. Just before the
train is supposed to arrive, we hear an announcement that our train is
running about 25 minutes late. We tell this to some puzzled Americans on
the platform and decide to sit down and wait for the train. In spite of
the crowds, we have enjoyed our visit to Vernazza but think that this may
well be our last trip to Vernazza, unless we come in the off season.

The train finally comes and we are in La Spezia ten minutes later.....the
train spends most of its time in tunnels so there are no views of the water,
except when the train stops at the other Cinque Terre town stations. Once
in La Spezia, we find the bus stop for Lerici but we miss the first bus
because we don't have any bus tickets. (In fact, we could have jumped on
and made it without tickets; the inspectors on these buses are few and far
between.) We only have to wait for fifteen minutes for the next bus and
the trip to Lerici takes about 30 minutes. The bus makes a long circuit
through the city of La Spezia, passes the large naval yard and port area,
and goes through the beach town of San Terenzo before arriving in Lerici.
Very convenient.....

Before going back to the hotel, we stop in the wine and olive oil store that
we have gone to on previous visits. On both occasions, we had nice
discussions with the proprietor and he was very gracious giving us short
courses in olive oil and balsamic vinegar before we bought. After we show
him my card, he remembers us and we have another pleasant chat--in a mixture
of Italian and English--about politics in Italy and the introduction of the
Euro. We buy a couple of bottles of the Cinque Terre sweet
wine--schiacchetra'--for presents and a few bars of olive oil soap.

We only have about thirty minutes before Luigi, our friend from the Doria
Park, comes to pick us up for dinner. We are heading to Palmaria, the
island just across from Portovenere. You have to get to the restaurant by
launch from Portovenere. We drive to Portovenere, walk around, and have an
apertif at a cafe on the waterfront....as well as a nice array of snacks.
The boat ride to the restaurant takes about ten minutes. The restaurant is
a very attractive building with a covered porch with windows looking over
the water towards Portovenere. The light is wonderful as the sun is
setting.

We order the house specialty, the antipasto di mare. We get an endless
series of dishes with all manner of seafood--fritters, mussels, fried squid,
shrimp, marinated anchovies as well as some non-seafood dishes, like fried
rice balls. It is all delicious. There is so much to eat that we agree
that we can only order one more dish each--either a pasta or a secondo.
Luigi and I share two pastas--one with asparagus and shrimp and the other
with a red seafood sauce and mixed seafood. The asparagus pasta is the
better of the two. Diana has a grilled gamberoni dish, which is tasty but
difficult to deal with cracking the shells and getting the meat out. No one
has room for dessert. We agree that the antipasto was the high point of the
meal and that it would be nice to return to the restaurant in the summer
when one can eat out on the terrace.

We have to wait about 15 minutes for the launch to come and then the drive
back to Lerici takes about thirty minutes. We have had an extremely
pleasant evening with Luigi; we enjoyed the food and the company very much.

We are very glad that we decided to come back to Lerici....it is really one
of our favorite places in Italy.

Jim and Diana

Day 11: Lerici

2002-04-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

The sky is gloomy when we wake up and check the view from our balcony....but
there are holes in the clouds, so we have some hope for later in the day.
The famous Doria Park breakfast lives up to its reputation....fresh-baked
cornetti, the blood orange juice machine, cheese, salami, fruit,
cakes....you might not have to eat for the rest of the day.

Today my goal is to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa, recently reopened after
being closed for about 12 years. Pisa is less than an hour from Lerici,
mostly on the autostrada. The traffic gets thick as we approach the Campo
dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) where the Duomo, the Baptistery and the
Tower are located--slightly to the north and west of the center of Pisa.
This area is usually wall to wall tourists and today is no exception.

I try to find a parking space close to the Tower in one of the neighborhoods
that adjoin the Campo. After going around the block a couple of times, I'm
successful. We can see the top of the Tower just across the street from
where we park; unfortunately, there is a 25 foot high wall in front of us
with no apparent openings. So we have to walk down to the regular tourist
entrance, through the gauntlet of restaurants and souvenir shops, and
approach the Tower. The Campo would ordinarily be a pretty impressive
site--the three distinctive buildings set down on a wide expanse of green
lawn. But with the bus loads of tourists and the multitude of shops to
service them, it has gotten a bad name.

There is a long line for tickets to the Tower (I have been told that they
hope to institute an on-line reservation system soon) and when I get to the
front of line, the first available slot is at 2:30 pm, more than three hours
away. Diana doesn't share my enthusiasm for this activity, so she will wait
for me on the ground. I decide to get a reservation for later in the
afternoon--we will go to Lucca in between and come back to Pisa for the 5:20
reservation.

We have never been to the center of Pisa, so we walk toward the main area of
town. We stop at the Hotel Duomo to pick up some brochures for the office
and gradually escape the tourist crush. As we get into non-touristy Pisa,
the sun comes out; it will be a nice day after all. We walk through
handsome squares with impressive palazzi; the streets are crowded with
Italian university students--Pisa having one of the oldest and most
distinguished universities in Italy. The main commercial areas have wide
sidewalks covered with porticos. The Arno River (same one as in Florence)
flows right through the middle of town and the riverfront buildings on both
sides have a nice feel to them. I take a walk across the river to see a
small chapel on the other side. I walk back through a neighborhood of
shops, restaurants, and narrow streets that are lively and appealing. It
seems to us that Pisa has gotten a bad rap because of the excessive tourism
near the Leaning Tower--most of these tourists never see anything else of
the town. I would like to return and spend some more time in the city in
the future.

We walk back to to the car and discover (as I had suspected) that if we had
turned left instead of right when we hit the wall of the Campo dei Miracoli,
we would have missed most of the tourist crush and would have had a much
shorter walk. But it is a piece of information I use this afternoon when we
return to Pisa and I can also pass it on to my clients.

The drive to Lucca takes about thirty minutes. We are meeting my Italian
colleague in the travel business, Maddie Bacarelli. We have worked together
on projects for a couple of years, but have never met. She is driving from
her home in Poggio in Caiano, near Florence. We will meet at the Piccolo
Puccini Hotel, where we stayed last year. This also gives us a chance to
say hello to Paolo, the desk clerk with whom we have become friendly. We
drive straight to the hotel and have a nice reunion with Paolo. I then have
to move the car to a parking lot about five minutes away. We chat with Pao
lo while waiting for Maddie.

After Maddie arrives and we introduce ourselves, we head off for lunch at
the local trattoria, da Leo. We enjoy our meal (actually, the food is just
okay) and getting acquainted with each other. We have many of the same
attitudes towards travel and the travel business and we get along very well.
After lunch, we walk through Lucca--we all agree that Lucca is one of the
most charming towns--and sit outside at a cafe on the Piazza
Napoleone--having coffee and tea and enjoying each other and the weather.

Too soon, it is time to head back to Pisa and my appointment with the Tower.
We say our goodbyes and we head back on the same road we came on. The
traffic is heavy leaving Lucca but we appear to have plenty of time. Once
we hit Pisa though, it really backs up. We see some cars trying to beat the
traffic by going through back streets and we decide to follow-- a risky
strategy because you can caught in a worse jam or get trapped in a
residential neighborhood. We have to backtrack a little but we make our way
back to the street where we had parked in the morning. This time, I take
the left turn to the street that goes through the wall, almost in the shadow
of the tower.

I pull in to an illegal space--since Diana is staying in the car--and start
to walk quickly to the Tower. I make it just as the group is moving from
the ticket office to the Tower. There are thirty five people in each group
and they go up the tower every half hour or so. You are led in by uniformed
guards but there is no guided tour. Inside the Tower, the steps are wide
and there are small windows at most levels, so you can catch a glimpse of
your progress. You definitely feel the lean of the tower from inside but it
is not claustrophobic. There is nothing else to see, except the walls and
the steps--no decorations at all.

The climb of almost 200 feet is not too strenuous, but I am still a little
winded as we come out at the level just below the bells. The views of the
Campo, downtown Pisa, and the hills in the distance are quite nice and the
angle of lean is quite noticeable. But, in fact, the main reason to climb
the Tower is just to say that you have done it...you can't see the intricate
decorations and carvings on the tower--you can just see the view. The Tower
itself is much more interesting from the ground. I call Jonathan and Seth
from the top, just because I can, and soon it is time to descend.

We head back to Lerici and arrive there around 7 pm....we sit out on the
balcony for while and enjoy our vista. For dinner, I pick a restaurant out
of the Slow Food Guide in the nearby town of Sarzana (sort of non-descript
from the outside as you drive by, but quite charming and attractive in its
historical center). It is dark when we arrive but we find the right street
after only two passes around the town. We park and walk into the
restaurant--La Giara. It is pretty full; and in fact, they turn us away.
It is completely booked on a Monday night in April. We should have called
first to make a reservation..... the mystery of why some (good) restaurants
are empty and others are crowded continues.

To make matters worse, I have no contingency plan. The other recommended
restaurant in Sarzana is closed on Mondays. We walk around the dark "centro
storico" for a few minutes, hoping either to find the restaurant where we
had eaten some years ago or to stumble on another trattoria that can take
us. No such luck......

We get back in the car and head back to Lerici. This is really the first
time on this trip that our arrangements are not falling into place
smoothly...and it is getting late; it is now about 9:15. We head to the
waterfront and have to circle around to find a parking space. We head for a
new restaurant in the center--Il Cantiere.

They are open and they seat us.....it is a bright cheery place and we are
happy to be there. The food is even pretty good. I have spaghetti with
clams and radicchio ( a very unorthodox presentation but very tasty)
followed by fritto misto (fried fresh anchovies and squid, in this case).
Diana's pasta with gamberoni is okay and her grilled fish (an orata) is very
nicely cooked. Our expectations for this dinner were not high and they were
exceeded.

Back to the hotel and the room with the spectacular view.

Jim and Diana

Day 10: Busseto-Lerici

2002-04-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

We have our farewell breakfast at "our bar" and say goodbye to the
proprietors....it is a very small connection, but a pleasant one. The day
is cool and overcast as we leave town. We make a quick stop at one of the
churches on the outskirts of town--Santa Maria degli Angeli--and are
surprised to see that the church is almost completely filled for mass. This
has not been our usual experience. We also stop at the park right next
door, where we learn that they lend bicycles to tourists--maybe next trip.

On our way to Piacenza, we stop in the town of Cortemaggiore to buy some
fruit at a Sunday market. While we are walking around the market, we
encounter another town marching band. It seems that Cortemaggiore is
holding their Liberation Day celebration a few days late. We watch the
band--also a mixture of ages and gender and led by a woman--go around the
square and usher the town dignitaries into the church.

The entrance to Piacenza--a major provincial town to the west of
Busseto--goes through a grimy industrial quarter, which turns into a narrow
warren of streets as you enter the "centro storico". On a gray Sunday
morning, most of the streets we drive through are quiet and the stores are
closed; it is hard to judge a town when things are shut up like this.
After a few false starts, we find the Duomo and park right on the piazza.
The Duomo is pretty impressive--set high up a flight of steps--with a tall
campanile. The inside is quite bright, but there is a mass going on so we
are limited as to what we can see.

As we walk down the main street, there are quite a few people out strolling
and there are others sitting in cafes with their Sunday papers. The main
square--the Piazza dei Cavalli--is a broad expanse in the shadow of the very
Gothic provincial palace and dominated by two massive horses with riders in
bronze...a pretty impressive square. Since it is a little cold, we cut our
exploration of the town short, head back to the car and start our trip over
the Appenines--to Lerici on the Ligurian coast.

We plan to make a slow trip over the mountains--some of which are over 4,000
feet. On the way, we stop for lunch in the town of Ponte d'Olio at a Slow
Food recommended restaurant--the Bellaria. This is one of the rare
occasions when we find a restaurant which is on the right road and is
reached at meal time. The very pretty dining room is full, but they set a
table for us in the bar. The food is terrific--a mixed plate of appetizers
and an excellent mushroom tart for starters--followed by a terrific ravioli
(with pasta like silk) for Diana and a good plate of fusilli with a spicy
olive sauce for me. This is followed by an very good cheese course (again
served with honey). We really enjoy the food, the surroundings are nice and
the people are very friendly.

For the next two hours, we climb and descend a number of mountains on very
curvy and sometimes bumpy roads. The views are spectacular and the
countryside is very green. The sun even comes out to heighten the effect.
We make a stop in Bardi, which has a picture-perfect castle growing out of a
cliff hanging over the valley. We continue on through this very beautiful
mountain scenery but the trip is taking longer than anticipated, so I head
over to the autostrada that runs from Parma to La Spezia (near Lerici).
This is no hardship, because this stretch of highway has to be among the
most beautiful in Italy. The green of the forests on the slopes of the
mountains is intense and the road goes up and down the mountains with
ease....we remember our first trip on this road through rain and clouds nine
years ago.

We arrive in Lerici. This is our fourth visit...it is one of our favorite
places in Italy...and immediately feel happy to be there. The road into
town is familiar and we are very excited when we pull into the parking lot.
We are greeted warmly by Piero, one of the desk clerks, and given a room on
the fifth floor with a balcony and a beautiful view of the Gulf of La
Spezia. The only downside is that the weather has turned cloudy so we don't
have the sun shining on the water which would make it a very intense bright
blue. [For some pictures of the Doria Hotel and Lerici, check out this web
site]

http://www.domani-usa.com/lerici/doriapark/index.htm

We walk down to the waterfront; the hotel is set high over the town, but it
is only a five minute walk to the center. It is a Sunday afternoon and the
weekend crowds are still walking back and forth along the long waterfront
promenade. The sun has come out and the temperature is pleasant. We walk
out to the rocks and then sit on a bench and watch the passing crowd. As it
gets a little cooler, we head back up the hill to the hotel and have dinner
in the hotel dining room. We are greeting warmly by Claudia, the dining
room manager and wife of the hotel manager; she introduces us to her son who
works in the dining room from time to time.

Dinner is very good....to start, I have a soup of chickpeas, squid and
mussels, which I like very much, and Diana has a very good seafood risotto.
This is followed by a salt baked fish for Diana, marred only by too many
bones, and I have a octopus dish, which was especially recommended by
Claudia--it is very fresh and very tasty. The bread and foccacia are very
good--a welcome change from the bread in Emilia-Romagna.

After dinner, all we need to do is to get into the elevator and go to our
room.

Jim and Diana

Day 9: Busseto

2002-04-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

The sun is shining this morning, so we have our breakfast at the outdoor
cafe on the main square....Today we are going to visit Modena, one of the
wealthiest cities in Italy--home of Ferrari cars, Luciano Pavarotti, and
balsamic vinegar. Diana drives today as we take the autostrada east past
Parma; the trip takes less than an hour. As we approach Modena, the
weather turns nasty--it is raining and the sky is very gray. We drive
downtown and find the big parking area closest to the historical center; we
even find a parking space without difficulty. But it is chilly and we are
not dressed for this eventuality.

We head for the main square, walking down very attractive porticoed streets.
The main square--the Piazza Grande--is very impressive...lined with handsome
16th century buildings and interesting statues. The Duomo is on this main
square but only its back--the front of the cathedral is on a completely
different street. We look at the Torre Ghirlandia--the third tallest bell
tower in Italy--which has a pronounced tilt to the right. The Duomo itself
is an unusual building--very distinctive, with a high altar and decorated
columns.

By the time we leave the cathedral, the sun has begun to shine and the town
takes on an even more attractive aspect. We walk down to the central food
market, just two blocks from the Piazza Grande. It is one of the nicest
markets we have seen in Italy. Stall after stall of beautiful produce,
meats, cheeses, dry goods, etc.--it seems to go on and on.

We head for the Piazza Mazzini, a small park-like square just to the east of
the Piazza Grande. This had been the center of the Jewish quarter and
dominating the square is the large imposing "sinagoga", built in the second
half of the 19th century. It seems very closed up, so we guess that they
don't have regular Saturday services, but it seems well kept up and in good
condition.

We then look for one of the famous food stores in Modena in a town well
regarded for its cooking. The Gastronomia Giusti is an old fashioned store
on one of the main streets and has a gorgeous array of prepared foods,
cheeses, and meats. We window shop for a while and then walk around other
parts of the town, taking some back streets through old neighborhoods with
small shops and restaurants.

It is now lunch time and we just happen to be around the corner from one of
the recommended restaurants in the Slow Food guide--the Trattoria Aldena.
It is a plain room located on the first floor (upstairs) of a building in
the market area. When we walk in, there are only a few tables occupied.
Within thirty minutes however, the place is packed and there are people
lined up for a table. There appear to be large number of locals and
regulars.

It has a very good-natured atmosphere. The menu is recited by the waiter
and we order a lasagne (the pasta sheets are very nice but it is a little
bland) and ravioli in the style of old Modena, which is excellent--it has a
light cream sauce with pieces of ham. As usual, the hand made pasta in
Emilia-Romagna is delicate and delicious. Following that, I have the
"bollito misto". A local favorite, it is a combination plate of various
boiled meats--chicken, beef, tongue and cotechino sausage--served with a
green relish (in fancier restaurants, it is served from a rolling cart and
carved at the table); it is a mixed success. Diana has the mixed roast meat
platter, which is similarly not totally successful--the roast pork is much
too dry, as is often the case. We also have some spinach (with much less
butter than the night before) and some roast potatoes. We drink some wine
with lunch (living dangerously) and skip dessert.

Since we are going to see Jose Carreras later, we come back to Busseto
early. I go to a cafe and work on the computer and Diana stays in the hotel
and reads. Later, we go shopping for postcards and try to figure out how to
handle dinner--since we have to be at the theater before 8 pm to get a good
spot on line for standing room. Since we had a full lunch, we skip dinner
and go right to the theater, where we try to figure out the best strategy
for being in the best place when the doors open. It turns out that there is
not too much of a crush.

The doors open around 8 pm and we head up the stairs to the top level.
There is a bench around the front with numbered seats; they are the reserved
seats. The standing places are anywhere behind that front row and there are
cushioned high bar stools for the standees to perch on in back of the
reserved seats. However, the sight lines in the small theater make it
impossible to see the center of the stage while seated on the stools, so
most people end up hovering over the persons seated in the front row in
order to get a direct view of Carreras. Others just sit on their stools,
forgo the view and listen to the music. We get two of the stools on the
side and have a pretty good view of where the singer will stand, if we stand
up. Any hopes of slipping into an empty reserved seat is dashed when the
remaining ticket holders arrive close to the start of the concert.

There is a full orchestra and they play the first piece without Carreras.
The acoustics are very good. Carreras makes his entrance to an enthusiastic
welcome. Even in the top tier, we are very close to the stage and can see
the singer very well. The first half of the program is Verdi and with each
piece, the audience's enthusiasm grows and grows. It seems to be a
knowledgeable audience and they give Carreras a very warm reception.

There is a girl of about ten years old next to us with her parents...she is
conducting vigorously along with the music. We have some conversation with
her father about the theater and music in the Parma area.....he tells us
that his business is selling goods to museum shops (one of his big customers
is in San Francisco). His contact in the US has told him that he can sell
anything that he gets, as long as it says "Made in Italy".

The second half of the concert is Spanish songs by De Falla. I actually
like them more than the first half, but the audience, while respectful,
can't seem to work up much enthusiasm for the music. But during the "third
half" of the concert--the encores (we think that they are all Verdi)--the
audience really gets into it. Each number is received with tumultuous
applause and cries of "bravo". Each time Carreras leaves the stage, the
clapping intensifies until he and the conductor reappear. There are five
encores. Finally the house lights come up and the orchestra leaves the
stage.

It has been a lot of fun to be there--I don't know if we will become opera
fans--but it is terrific to be part of the audience in such a setting and to
have been able to hear some Verdi while we are staying in Busseto. And it
is a rare chance to hear Carreras sing in such an intimate setting.

We stop for a gelato before returning to the hotel...tomorrow we pack and
move on to Lerici.

We have really enjoyed our time in Busseto....it is an extremely pleasant
town to stay in, with good restaurants and other diversions and has been a
good jumping off point for excursions in the area. The six nights we have
spent here have gone by very quickly.

Jim and Diana

Day 8: Busseto

2002-04-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

This morning we head out, after breakfast back at our "regular" bar (the
no-smoking one), to Roncole Verdi and the "casa natale" (birthplace and
boyhood home) of Giuseppe Verdi. The sun is shining and it looks like it
will be a nice day. We look into the town church while we wait for the
tour; Verdi was baptized here and played the organ as a boy. The tour of
the house--an inn run by Verdi's father--(in English by a very enthusiastic
guide) shows us the kitchen (where Verdi's
mother cooked for the coaches) that stopped here on their run between
Cremona and Parma, the stable where the horses were fed and watered, the
bedrooms, etc. The tour was informative and entertaining and we--as
non-opera buffs--are learning a lot about Verdi, his background and works.

Ten minutes down the road is the town of Soragna; there is an industrial
products fair being held in the streets, so there is no parking downtown.
We somehow find ourselves close to the center of the town, so we park (in a
not too legal space) and head for the "sinagoga" and the Jewish museum.
The
province of Parma had Jewish communities in eight of the smaller towns until
the early 20th century (before the Fascists took power and instituted the
racial laws, the Jews had gone to live in larger towns and cities) and last
year, the province restored the synagogue in Soragna and opened a museum
with artifacts from the other buildings; we learn that
there was even a syngagogue in Busseto. (There is still a functioning
Jewish community in Parma.) It is a very lovely museum, with exhibits about
the Jewish religion, holidays and Jewish history as well as rooms devoted to
the Jewish community in Parma province and the Italian experience during the
Holocaust. The small synagogue is simple but quite attractive. We don't
have enough
time (and the explanations are all in Italian) to do the museum justice, but
we are very impressed with the way it is set up.

We walk around the town looking for lunch possibilities or a bakery to buy
some bread for a picnic.....it is hard to get a sense of the town because
there are tents set up in all the streets, but it looks to be "yet another
attractive Italian town." We don't find an open bakery so we get in the
car and head for the next town, Fontanellato, where we find some bread (but
not very good bread--for a place with such wonderful food, the bread is not
to our taste at all.....crisp, hard crust and soft, cottony interior.) We
pass the town park, so we stop and eat our lunch of cheese, prosciutto and
fruit.

After lunch, we head to the hills to the south and west of Parma; after a
week of mostly flat farmland, we are looking for some more dramatic scenery.
En route, we make a quick stop in Fidenza and walk around the "centro
storico". The Duomo is open and we stop in to take a look. We are
treated to another organ recital by someone practicing in the church.
Fidenza, from the outside, is one of those towns that appears very
industrial and somewhat gray, but when you get into the center, you find a
medieval town center with interesting architecture and pleasant streets.
Before continuing on, we stop for a gelato (at the Bar Diana) and eat our
ice cream in the park. Very pleasant.....

Next stop is the large spa resort of Salsomaggiore which is in the foothills
of the Appenines. This is a major resort with scores of hotels of every
level and an ornate 19th century public bath establishment which is
decorated with all manner of tiles and towers. We notice a sign for a
"strada panoramica" and, since I have hard time resisting such drives, we
decide to see where it goes. The road climbs quickly out of the town and we
are soon on the crest of a ridge with beautiful green valleys stretching out
on both sides and high mountains in the distance. The road continues on
(with no directional signs) for some miles and we are enjoying the scenery
and also enjoying trying to figure out exactly we are.

We come to a "T" intersection and turn left, but the road quickly peters out
to a gravel track, so we turn around and go in the opposite direction. We
start to descend--we can see the flat plain of Emilia-Romagna off in the
distance--and suddenly we are back in the middle of Salsomaggiore Terme....a
wonderful, unplanned detour.

We decide to head for the town of Castello l'Arquato, described in the
guidebooks as a Tuscan hill town set down in the Emilia-Romagna plains. We
try and find a route that goes through the hills, but after a dead end at a
castle in Scipione, we follow the road signs which takes us down to the
plain and back to Castello l'Arquarto on main roads. The town soon looms in
the distance, all turrets and towers topping the mound of a hill. The
elevation is only about 500 feet but it doesn't take much to make a hill
town in this flat plain.

We attempt to find a way to get closer to the top in order to avoid some of
the climb, but we get mixed up in narrow one way and dead end streets, so we
retreat back to the parking lot at the bottom of the town. I decide to walk
up and see what the town looks like. It really is a Tuscan/Umbrian style
hill town--narrow winding streets, medieval buildings, good views over the
countryside. The walk up is moderately difficult and I reach the main
square at the top in about 10 minutes. While walking up, cars are passing
me and the traffic signs say that cars are only prohibited on weekends. So
I walk back down, pick up Diana and we drive back up to the main square.
(The reason that I had problems initially was that I was approaching the
town from the top and the main street is one way in the opposite direction.)

We park and walk around--check out the castle and town hall, admire the view
from the park. It really is a terrific town and a worthwhile
destination...and not as formidable to visit as we had originally thought.

One last stop before returning to Busseto--we visit the Villa Verdi in
Sant'Agata, the house that "the maestro" lived in for the last forty years
of his life. He was in conflict with the people in Busseto because of his
"bohemian" lifestyle--he lived with second wife for ten years before they
eventually got married--so he left the town and built a villa about two
miles away. In addition to his music, he was very active as a landowner and
a farmer and gradually acquired a sizeable amount of acreage. The family
has kept the bedrooms and study as they were when Verdi lived there and
there are portraits and memorabilia all over. They also brought the
furniture from the hotel room in Milan where he died and have set it up in
the villa. We also get to walk around the grounds which are beautifully
planted. The tour is in Italian so we are not sure of all the details, but
we enjoy our visit.

Dinner tonight is at the restaurant recommended by the man at the Casa del
Parmigiano on the town square--the unfortunately named "Spaghetti House"
trattoria. It is a place you would walk right past and not think about
walking in--it is quite drab on the outside. Once inside, the main room is
attractive, about seven tables very well spaced and nicely set. We get the
last table, next to two families with three (very loud) children.

The food is quite good, but the service is a little erratic. After we sit
down, a group of seven men--obviously locals and regulars--are seated. They
have a great time flirting with the only waitress and she spends a great
deal of time catering to their needs. But between the noisy children, who
are running in and out, and watching the interaction between the men and the
waitress, we have a continuing floor show to entertain us while waiting for
our food.

About the food--for me, the local dish of gnocchetti and beans, pisarei e
faso (even better than the first time I had it) and a disappointing "pasta
di salame"--sort of a hamburger made up of chopped salami, fried and served
with a white wine sauce (unfortunately it was quite dry.) Diana has a dish
of spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and hot peppers (very tasty) and a veal
scallopine (nicely done). The highlight for me
is the side dish of spinach cooked with butter--it was like silk. Diana
liked her strawberries served with sugar and lemon for dessert. Even with
the floor show, the meal takes too long and we are
ready to get the check and leave--once we can get the waitress' attention
away from the table of seven men.

Another very wonderful day......

Jim and Diana

Day 7: Busseto

2002-04-25T07:21:00.000-07:00

Today is Liberation Day in Italy, commemorating the end of World War II. We
plan to attend some of festivities scheduled for this morning and we also
will visit the Verdi sites in Busseto. The weather is sunny and bright so
we change our morning routine and eat breakfast outside at the bar nearest
to the hotel. While we are eating, townspeople are milling around on the
square waiting for the celebrations to begin. We buy a couple of bottles of
the wine we had enjoyed at dinner on our first night here--Gutturnio from
the hills outside Piacenza; we will bring a bottle to Livio in Alessandria.

We go to the tourist office to get our admission tickets for the Verdi
sites. Since the Voci Verdiana competition is going on in the theater, we
have to take our guided tour right away--before the hall is again in use by
the contestants. The theater was recently remodelled with the seats
re-covered in red velvet, and everything looks very new. It was built in
the mid-1850s as the town's present to Verdi and it is modelled on La Scala.
It seats about 350 with a small orchestra, two levels of boxes and standing
room on the top level. The acoustics are said to be first rate. They now
have a full season of operas and concerts in Busseto. We are looking
forward to attending the Jose Carreras concert there on Saturday night.

Verdi himself never supported the idea of the theater--he thought it was a
waste of money--and apparently never attended any of the performances during
the first season. But he did contribute money to the project and we heard
mixed reports about whether or not he subsequently attended performances in
the theater.

Back on the square, we see the town band marching into town to start the
ceremonies. The band is a mixed group of about 25 players from teenagers to
retirees; the leader is a young woman and we later observe that the two
young assistant drummers (both under five) are her children. They are very
cute marching alongside the adult drummers. The small procession forms in
the courtyard of the municipal building--town officials, a representative
group from the school, and veterans of various wars are included. A small
number of townspeople are watching; it is all very informal. The band plays
a few numbers and
then the whole parade marches off to the nearby church for mass; the
dignitaries enter the church through the main central doors, which are
rarely opened.

We stay for part of the mass and slip out to visit another Verdi site--the
Casa Barezzi. This was the house of his patron and later his first
father-in-law. The music room and salon are preserved as they were in the
mid 19th century, including the piano that Verdi used to give lessons to
Barezzi's daughter, who became his first wife. In addition to the salon,
the very interesting museum houses much Verdi memorabilia--scores of his
operas, pictures f the famous singers who performed in them, papers relating
to Verdi's patriotic and charitable activities, and news accounts of his
death and funeral. There is a picture of Arturo Toscanini, then a young
conductor at La Scala, who conducted the music at the funeral mass in Milan
in early 1902.

While we are touring the Casa Barezzi, the band has already left on the
procession to Piazza Mateotti on the far side of town, where the speeches
will be given to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II. We hurry
to the piazza and hear the end of the program and catch the band playing the
same partisan song--Bella Ciao--that has become the "anthem" of the
anti-Berloscuni rallies now being held in Italy. We walk back to the center
of town with the marching band--who are really pretty accomplished--and head
for lunch.

We go to the Salsamenteria Baratti, described as a shrine to both lovers of
Verdi and lovers of "salume". In an old storefront on the main street,
decorated from floor to ceiling with Verdi memorabilia and a multitude of
food products, this eating place is furnished with simple tables and
benches. They serve all the local specialities of cured meats--salamis,
prosciutto di Parma,
culatello di Zibello--cheeses, various sauces and relishes to be spread on
bread, as well as local wines (which you drink out of traditional
earthenware bowls)--all to the accompaniment of the recorded music of the
"maestro", as he is referred to in Busseto. We snag the last table and
enjoy some very good salume (with the very mediocre bread which is served in
Emilia-Romagna), some interesting salsas and relishes, and some very
refreshing fizzy Lambrusco. We finish off the meal with some
parmigiano-reggiano and walnuts--all very satisfying and a lot of fun in the
lively atmosphere.

We go back to the hotel after the lunch--we need to recover from the
wine--before leaving for Alessandria to visit our friend, Livio Misgur.
Alessandria is in the Piemonte region--about 60 miles to the west of
Busseto. We get a little off track as we try to go west on the
autostrada--for some reason, the traffic pattern at the entrance at
Cortemaggiore won't let us do that; we have to backtrack towards Busseto
before we can get going in the right direction. I still can't understand
the logic of the autostrada directions....but we get to Alessandria about 5
p.m. We have little difficulty following Livio's directions through the
city to his house. We meet Alba and Valentina, his wife and daughter, and,
after some conversation in the house, set out on a tour of Alessandria.

Livio apologizes for the fact that Alessandria doesn't have any tourist
attractions per se and for the fact that all the buildings only date back to
the 1700s. In spite of this, we have a nice walk around the town, which is
quiet because of the holiday. We visit several churches, see the school
that both Livio and his daughter attended, and walk past the building that
Livio lived in as a child. We stroll past the sinagoga, a large building no
longer in use, which is located right in the middle of the "centro storico".
We are unable to visit it today because the responsible person is out of
town for the holiday.

We then drive out to a large villa on the outskirts of town, which belongs
to friends of Livio and Alba. This is a real country villa, which had
belonged to a noble family years ago and had been bombed and badly damaged
during World War II-- it was occupied by the Germans and bombed by the
Americans. The villa is absolutely stunning...the friends have lovingly
restored it but made it very liveable. Large rooms with beautiful stencil
work on the ceilings (done by Livio's wife Alba), incredible art work (the
owners buy and sell Far Eastern artwork)--it is one of the beautiful houses
one sees in Architectual Digest. We have a nice visit and later Livio
explains how they got started in the art business in the '60s as young men
bumming around
India, Nepal and Afghanistan, buying art pieces and selling them back in
Italy and bringing Italian coral (from Sardinia) to India to sell and buy
more art with the proceeds.

We have a very nice meal at Livio's--he is accomplished cook, as is
Alba--and spend a very pleasant evening with the Misgurs. About 10 pm we
leave for the drive back to Busseto, which is uneventful. Another wonderful
day.

Jim and Diana

Day 6: Busseto

2002-04-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

Diana gets up early and takes the dirty laundry to a local shop; we have decided not to try and use the laundromat in Parma this trip. After breakfast at our "no-smoking" bar, we head over to the Teatro Verdi ticket office to see if there are seats available for Carreras. The clerk offers us what they call standing room tickets, but, in reality. are unreserved seats in the highest balcony. We buy two at Euro 35 each--about $30 US.

Today is our appointment at the prosciutto factory near Langhirano, south of Parma. Diana gets her first chance to drive this morning and we make it to our appointment in plenty of time. I do a good job of navigating on this trip; the route crosses three separate pages of our atlas and is slightly difficult to follow.

We beat the student group by a few minutes. Michelle, my travel colleague's daughter, comes up to introduce herself and we meet the teacher in charge of the trip--which includes about thirty young teenagers. The tour is interesting but, in fact, the production of prosciutto is quite straightforward. The hams, from pigs raised in the four specified regions--Piemonte, Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna, and the Veneto--and fed with the residue of the production of parmigiano cheese, are brought to the production house. They have a salt massage and are left to cure for a few weeks. Then the salt is knocked off, the joint (without a covering of fat) is dusted with rice flour and pepper (to keep the flies off, not for seasoning), and the hams are left to dry for the specificied period...12 months to two years, depending on size. The inspectors from the consortium come at intervals and do a random check of the hams--using a needle fashioned from the bone of a horse. The needle is driven into the ham at five specified points and by a combination of smell and feel, the hams are approved or discarded. Mostly you see hundreds of hams hanging from the ceiling in different parts of the factory.
Before we leave we get a tast of the prosciutto--it is delicious--and the boss, Gianluca, offers us a glass of wine.

Next we head off for the nearby castle of Torrechiara, a massive fortress that dominates the valley. We meet the student group again in the parking lot, but they walk up the hill and we drive (offering a lift to the grateful teachers for part of the climb.) They invite us to have lunch with them at the restaurant at the castle, but it is taking a long time to organize the students, so we decline and head off to tour the castle. The castle dates from the 15th century and is one of about 30 scattered around the Parma countryside. This one is distinguished by a fresco cycle which tells the story of the romance between the owner and his bride and also gives a good geographic picture of the layout of the Parma countryside in the middle ages. There are also lovely views over the hills; this section of Emilia-Romagna is in the foothills of the Appenine range and the terrain is markedly different than the usual level plain of the Po Valley. The green of early spring is also quite striking, both in the grass and the trees--even if the sky is overcast with a threat of rain.

We finish our visit at the castle and head into Langhirano; now we want have a plate of prosciutto for lunch. We stop at a restaurant in the center of town that features prosciutto. Unfortunately the place is packed and there is only one waitress. After waiting for about fifteen minutes, we walk out and start searching for another place. Just past the castle on the road to Parma, we pass a big modern restaurant--Dolceparma--with lots of prosciutti hanging in the window. We get in just before they are going to close. We order a large plate of mixed "salume" (with lots of prosciutto), some grilled vegetables and a local speciality called "torta fritta". I have seen "torta fritta" advertised as specials at several restaurants--they turn out to be fried pillows of dough, crispy and light, which go very well with plates of local prosciutto. We enjoy our lunch very much--the only downside is the noise generated by the several groups of school children who are finishing their lunch. After another episode of the "disappearing Italian waiter", we pay and head into Parma.

We find a good parking space very close to the "centro storico" and walk to one of the main piazzas--the Piazza Pilotta. By now the sun is shining and it has gotten warm. We sit and read about Parma and decide to head over to visit the Duomo. The Duomo is a handsome building on the exterior, but the interior is very striking with frescoes everywhere--some of them masterpieces by Corregio. We walk outside to the see the Baptistery, which has just been restored. It is a tall octagonal building, with columns, statues and carvings artfully placed on the outside. We meet up again with our student group from the prosciutto factory and have a reunion.

We are starting to flag now--it is almost 4 pm--so we quickly inspect the church in back of the Duomo, San Giovanni Evangelista and head back for the car. We stop to look at the posters for a museum show devoted to the Italian actor Ugo Tognazzi; I wish that we had known about it before and could have planned to go. We stop for a gelato en route to the car--so far the most successful flavor of the trip has been limone--tart and refreshing. We agree that Parma is a beautiful city and that we have barely scratched the surface of its attractions. I would like to return on a future trip and stay there for a few days to do it justice.

Back in Busseto, we go to our "neighborhood" cheese store--the Casa del Parmigiano--to buy some parmigiano cheese and some culatello to bring as presents to friends in Italy. We are momentarily confused about the pricing--culatello is a very expensive local specialty--but the owner is patient and we finally figure out how much we need to buy. We strike up a nice conversation with him and his wife and he offers us generous samples of the culatello, the prosciutto and the parmigiano cheese--which may be the best that we have ever tasted. A very nice interlude and we will certainly go back to buy some provisions before we leave Busseto.

He also gives us some restaurant recommendations for Busseto. He says that a trattoria called Spaghetti House (near the hotel) is very good, despite the name. We had seen it several times, but would never have tried it without this recommendation. I mention another place called da Ugo and he says that they are clients of his and that the food there is also very good.

Since the Spaghetti House is closed tonight, we head for da Ugo, which is located just outside the historic center in a modern building. It is a very attractive room--nice colors, nice linen, nice lighting. The only thing missing are customers; we are the only people there. The waitress recites the menu and we both start with a colorful vegetable flan with three layers--cabbage, carrots, and broccoli; we both like it very well. For the pasta course, I have an excellent dish of tortelli filled with pheasant and topped with a basil and vegetable sauce and Diana has a kind of tagliatelle with a different tomato based meat sauce. The hand made pasta is exceptional. Diana can't resist the baby lamb chops for a secondo and she enjoys them very much. The wine is another version of the local grape from the Piacenza hills--Guttornio Superiore; this one is a riserva and is smoother that the first one we had. All of this comes to about $45 US....a bargain. And while we are there, only one more diner shows up and he only eats a pasta course. Someday we will figure out how places like this stay in business.

We have an enjoyable stroll back to the hotel through the quiet streets and go to bed.....we have again had a wonderful day.

Jim and Diana

Day 5: Busseto

2002-04-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

The weather is slightly overcast and cool as we head out of the hotel for breakfast--it is not included with the room at I Due Foscari. We discover that Tuesday is market day in Busseto and the streets and the squares are filled with stands selling all the usual goods of an Italian street market--food, clothing, dry goods, etc. Before checking out the market, we stop at the large, busy bar nearest the hotel for breakfast, but the air is heavy with cigarette smoke, so we move on one of ntthe others in town; I estimate that there are a dozen bars along the main street. We find an attractive one down the street and go in--miracle of miracles, it is a non-smoking bar. We immediately order our cornetti and drinks and enjoy them in the "fresh" air.

One central fact about Busseto that is that Verdi is ubiquitous....besides the statue on the main piazza, every store has at least one portrait of the "maestro" and most have multiple pictures. There is Verdiana everywhere....

Next order of business is to check out the market--we walk from one end of town to the other. There are many townspeople out doing their shopping; our only purchase is a comb. But it is always fun to window shop and people watch at markets. We stop at the post office and buy some stamps for our postcards....we never seem to get the same quote for the proper postage when we buy stamps from the "tabacchi".

Our destination today is Cremona, just across the border from Emilia-Romagna in Lombardia. Cremona is about 25 kilometers from Busseto, but we take a round about route exploring the small towns in the area--including Zibello, the center of production for the cured meat specialty--culatello. We cross the Po River (the biggest river in Italy); the bridge is about 10 times longer than the river, but there is an extremely wide flood plain.

Once in Cremona, we are able to park right outside the old city walls in back of the Duomo at parking meters. (It seems that parking, at least in medium sized towns has become easier since we started coming to Italy.) We walk into the "centro storico" and immediately find ourselves in the main piazza of Cremona, which is magnificent. The cathedral is an imposing structure with a large bell tower (the top of which is being worked on so we don't have the option to climb the approximately 450 stairs to see the view.) The front of the Duomo is decorated with rows of columns and a variety of carvings, including sime violin-like scrolls. The other medieval buildings surrounding the square all contribute to the harmony of the square.

By this time, the sun has come out and it is comfortably warm. We continue to luck out with the weather. We sit on a bench and read the guidebooks to refresh our memories about the buildings and the history of the town. It is past noon so the Duomo will not reopen until 3 pm; we walk across the town to visit the other star attraction of Cremona--the Stradivarius Museum. Cremona is the historical center of violin making and there are still dozens of master violin makers working in the town. The shop windows are filled with beautiful string instruments, making for wonderful browsing.

The town itself has retained its medieval flavor in the streets and buildings. There is also a pleasant park in the middle of town--the Piazza Roma--with benches, fountains and trees. The museum has been relocated (luckily only around the corner) and we get our tickets and go in. In order to reach the violin displays, one has to walk through the entire pinocateca (art gallery), which is nicely displayed and lighted--but we are on a Stradivarius mission today.

We finally reach the right section and the first room has a pictorial display of the step-by-step process of violin production, which is very informative. The next six or seven rooms are filled with a collection of mostly modern instruments--certainly beautiful, but after the first fifteen, a bit repetitive for the non-musician. Finally we reach a room that is devoted to the tools that Stradivarius used in his work and some of his models and written notes. This is more interesting to us, as is the room with letters written between Stradivarius and some of his customers.

We are glad to have to seen the exhibit, but we are ready to leave and get some lunch. We walk back toward the center of town and stop at a sandwich bar with outside seating. We have a good lunch--sandwiches on pugliese bread and piadena (a local flat bread that resembles a thick tortilla--and enjoy sitting outside and watching the passing scene.

Our next stop is the town's own collection of musical instruments (more historical) which are kept in a room in the town hall. We have to wait for a large of group of school students to finish in the room (the school kids are everywhere on school trips). While we wait, we walk around the imposing chambers of the town council--tall ceilings, draped windows, large paintings, massive tables and chairs, silver coasters and trays--all set off with small plastic cups for water.) This small collection of instruments are from the 17th and 18th century--some made by Stradivarius, some by Amati--and they are impressive. One had been owned by Pinchas Zukerman in the past. Worth a visit.....

Since the Duomo and the stores are still closed, we go to the car and drive around the town a little. We drive to the riverfront and take a look at the walking path and park that borders the river, as well as the places for boat access. Cremona seems to take advantage of its location.

We stop at one of the recommended pastry shops for coffee and a snack--Diana strikes up a conversation with the sales clerk, whose sister is studying in Wyoming. The school group that we had seen earler were now on the prowl for souvenirs and they had taken over the street and shops with their enthusiasm.

The Duomo is now open and we are treated to some organ music while we are there; the organist is practicing high above the church. It is quite a spectacular sound as it fills the church. We make our usual review of the cathedral...trying to find the highlighted works of art and appreciating the space. However, as sometimes happens,we find that we like the outside appearance more than the interiors.

We drive back to Busseto, stopping in at the tourist information office to find out if we can get tickets for any performance at the Teatro Verdi before we leave on Sunday. We are told that the only public performance will be a recital by Jose Carreras on Saturday but the staff didn't know if there were any tickets available other than the orchestra seats at over $100 a seat. We are told to check at the box office the following morning.

In the hotel, we can hear the contestants for the voice competition practicing their scales and exercises both in their rooms and in front of the hotel--the preliminary rounds of the competition are going on during these days in the theater. So

For dinner tonight, we stay in town and walk to a trattoria on the main street, La Porta D'Oro. It is a strange room, set in back of a bar and separated by folding room dividers. There are only two other tables occupied (which is a frequent occurence in Italy).....This always mystifies us--how can they stay in business?

Dinner is fine...nothing special but certainly satisfying. Diana started with a plate of mixed salume and I had a "bruschetta" with guanciale--cured meat from the cheek of a pig. I had a local version of gnocchi--chicche di nonno with a tomato sauce--and Diana had roast duck (unusual for Italy)--meaty and tasty. We drank the house red, which turned out to be a frizzante Lambrusco--a dry red fizzy wine with was surprisingly refreshing and enjoyable. For dessert, Diana had the "torta di nonna" which turned out to be a crostata and I couldn't pass up the panna cotta, which was licorice flavored. It was very reasonably priced and we only had to walk down the street to get back to the hotel.

Jim and Diana

Day 4: Milan-Busseto

2002-04-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

After breakfast, we make a last trip downtown to do some shopping. Unfortunately, we can't visit Peck and the other specialty food stores since they are closed on Monday mornings. Next time....

I had noticed the "sinagoga ebraico" marked on the map a short distance from the Duomo, so we start walking toward it. This route takes us through the old commercial section of the city, with its narrow streets and less trendy businesses. We stop to do some gift shopping and continue on through a university campus--not like a typical American campus, but a series of buildings and lots of bookstores.

We find the "sinagoga"--it is a substantial building behind an iron gate with a big Jewish star on the front--but it doesn't appear to be open. There is a lone police guard stationed outside and across the street there is a nice urban park. If we had come earlier in our visit, we may have found information about a pro-Israel rally that was held the day before (and on the TV news).

Next we head for the more fashionable shopping area near the Duomo and the Galleria; I need to buy a new set of maps and some guidebooks for our trip. The Feltrinelli bookstore in the basement of the Galleria is immense....Diana is amazed at the selection of English language books--the best she has ever seen in Italy. I get my maps and books easily, we stop to buy some postcards, and we head towards the car rental place. We get on a tram heading for the big Central Station; the car rental office is just around the corner.

However, the tram takes a direction away from where we want to go.....I am afraid that I have misread the route map. We get off and get on a tram in the opposite direction. We then begin to walk towards the station. The route takes us right up to the Pirelli building and we get a close up view of the damage from the plane crash. Unfortunately the area is also blocked off by the police because of the crash and we have to go around the block and approach the car rental office from the other side. As we finally approach the street where the car rental office is, we notice a small sign for Avis saying that their office is located two blocks further north. We trudge on (we should have taken a taxi). At the Avis office, the clerk can't find our reservation so I take out our voucher and she points out that we have booked with Europcar--which is two blocks away (where we have just come from.). I leave Diana at the office and walk back to the Europcar office. On the way, I see the tram stop for the tram we took from downtown. I realize that the tram's route changed because of street closings due to the plane crash--there had been an announcement by the tram driver but we hadn't understood it.

The car is an Audi and we are upgraded to an automatic transmission--Diana will get a chance to drive on this trip. We pick up our luggage at the hotel and head out of Milan. Driving in Milan (at least outside of the downtown district) doesn't seem particularly difficult. The boulevards are wide and the signs are good. We drive down a very handsome boulevard--the Via Majnes--which has beautiful apartment buildings and a green strip of park in the street's median. Even the other streets are well kept with frequent parks and trees--a pleasant city.

We do lose our bearings as we hit the ring road and head north instead of south for about ten minutes.....but we right ourselves and are soon going towards Piacenza and Busseto. We stop for lunch at a snack bar on the autostrada--one of the choices is a McDonald's! The Italian sandwiches are fine (as usual); maybe we can get Autogrill to open on the New Jersey Turnpike.

We arrive in Busseto--the hometown of Giuseppe Verdi--around 3 pm......the countryside is quite flat but very green and agricultural. The road takes many turns in spite of the level terrain and there are small towns dotted around the landscape--each with its large brick church and tall bell tower. Entering Busseto, we try to follow the signs to our hotel, I Due Foscari, but end up going the wrong way up the main street. After turning around and circling the town again, we find our hotel.

The town is quite attractive, with the Town Hall and Teatro Verdi dominating the main piazza. There is a large statue of Verdi seated overlooking the square. The hotel is right next to the Town Hall, made of the same brick with arched windows and balconies. Going inside, the main hall of the hotel is dark and no one seems to be around. There is a restaurant and a large bar-sitting room on the ground floor. The lady cleaning up in the restaurant checks us in and we go up a grand staircase to our room. The room is large and airy--once the blinds are opened--and it looks out on a green park. The furnishings are eclectic--an armoire and bed decorated with vaguely Oriental scenes. It lacks a comfortable chair and a writing desk but it seems fine.

We set out for a walk around the town....stopping for a map at the tourist office in the theater building. The town has one main commericial street which is porticoed on both sides. There are a number of bars, gelaterie, food stores--the nucleus of a nice small town. It seems to be very pleasant, with many people socializing in the cafes and on the streets.

During thentime we will be in town, there is a Verdi vocal competition going on which has its finals the day we leave. Also there is a national holiday on Thursday--Liberation Day--and Jose Carreras is giving a recital on Saturday night. We hope to be able to attend a performance at the theater.

Before dinner, we decide to tour the countryside around Busseto to get our bearings.....we drive through a number of small towns and lots of farms. The area is very fertile and seems prosperous. We decide to eat at restaurant which is written up as having excellent local hams and other cured meats. We have the address and circle around several times, but we can't find it. We decide to eat at another restaurant in the town of Roncole Verdi, right next to the birthplace of Verdi. The trattoria, called Le Roncole, is a very pretty place, with sparkling crystal and a nice ambience. They even ask if we prefer smoking or no smoking. In the non-smoking room, there is one other couple--Germans--and there is no one else in the whole restaurant. How do places like this stay open?

The food was quite good...we have a plate of the local cured meat specialty--culatello, which is not quite as silky as the Parma ham we are more familiar with. Diana has a local version of ravioli--filled with walnuts and sauced with gorgonzola cheese--which was wonderful; I have a regional specialty called pisarei and faso--little pieces of gnocchi and beans in a tomato sauce, which is also very good. The second course was roast veal with a savory minced vegetable sauce for Diana and trippa parmigiano for me--both very good. A cheese course with the local "mostarda"--preserved fruits in a sweet and sour sauce. We had a local wine from the Piacenza hills--Guttornio Superiore--which we enjoyed very much; we will try and find a bottle in a wine shop.

A very enjoyable meal.....and it all comes to about $50 US, a bargain for the quality of food and the experience.

A short drive back to Busseto and to bed.

Jim and Diana