Signs of Spring in Lucca

April 30, 2018 by Joanne Bartram in Italian gardens, Italy travel, Tuscany, Italy, Lucca

Tiny yellow buttercups grow along the wall in Lucca, beautiful against a view of distant hills.

I’ve been waiting, not very patiently, for spring to arrive in Lucca.

Winter and early spring were unusually cold and rainy this year and the little hints of spring that showed up in early April were fleeting - the tease of just one warm day followed by several days of clouds, rain, and cool temperatures. The trees along the wall remained stubbornly bare, lemon trees remained in the limonaia, and vines were stark without even a hint of new growth.

I began to doubt that the sun would ever come to stay, that trees would sprout leaves, or that flowers would bloom. Flora (the Italian goddess of flowers and spring) seemed to have deserted me.

Today, I can happily say that the wait is over. Temperatures have soared during the past few days, changing from hat and glove weather to short sleeve and sandals weather in a flash. As I write this in late April, temperatures have hit the low 80s, not one day of rain is in the forecast all week, and i fiori (the flowers) have arrived. Sono contenta! (I'm happy!)

The trees along le mura (the city walls) are now green with leaves, tiny yellow buttercups bloom along the walls, and the sycamores in Piazza Grande (also called Piazza Napoleone) provide a beautiful green canopy around the square and the now-busy carousel.

This week I visited my favorite garden (on the grounds of Palazzo Pfanner) and found that the lemon and orange trees had been moved out from their winter home in the limonaia and were full of fruit. Showy peonies were blooming as was a magnolia tree and several bushes. Can roses and hydrangeas be far behind? How I hope they bloom before I head home to the U.S. in a few weeks.

The most dramatic and lovely proof that spring has truly arrived comes in the form of the glicine (wisteria) that have bloomed throughout Lucca. They spill over walls and terraces and across arbors with their soft colors and long flower heads. For me, it isn’t spring until the wisteria bloom.

I noticed the first wisteria blossoms along the wall that encircles the historic city. I then spent an afternoon wandering through town to the spots where I remembered the most stunning displays of wisteria from past years. While a few had not yet bloomed, several of my favorites, in Piazza Parigi and Piazza Antelminelli (pictured below), were just as beautiful as I recalled.

Italy in spring, Italy in flower - Bellissima! -post by JMB

A Little Taste of Italy in Washington, D.C.

April 23, 2018 by Judy Giannnettino in food, US Travel, Italian restaurants

I recently had the unexpected opportunity to eat again in the first restaurant I ever visited in Florence. What made it so surprising was that I wasn’t in Italy.

One of the dining rooms at the Washington, D.C., Acqua al 2

I was more than 4,300 miles away, in Washington, D.C. There for work, the group with which I was dining announced we’d be going to Acqua al 2. Even though more than 15 years had passed since I’d eaten at Acqua al 2 in Florence, I recognized the name immediately, and excitedly went online to find out if the Washington restaurant was related. Indeed it is.

Acqua al 2 first opened in Florence in 1978. It landed in D.C. many years later when one of the restaurant’s partners, originally from Washington, decided to move back home. When he did, he and another individual opened a sibling to the original restaurant in the Eastern Market of the District of Columbia.

Acqua al 2 is about a 20-minute walk from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The original Acqua al 2 was recommended to me by a friend in Italy when I made my first visit to Florence. The food was delicious (I had risotto) and the restaurant was warm and welcoming, which I greatly appreciated that night because it was a cold, rainy evening in January. The clientele was a mix of tourists and locals.

I didn’t return to Florence for many years and for a reason I can’t explain, I never returned to Acqua al 2 (probably due to the fact there are so many restaurants in Florence to try).

Once I found out we were headed to the D.C. Acqua al 2, I became curious to see if the Washington experience would be as good as the Italy evening. Upon arrival, I was comforted by a similar rustic décor and a menu that mimicked the best in Italy: carpaccio di manza (thin slices of raw beef tenderloin topped with arugula, grape tomatoes and shaved Parmesan); insalata di rucola e pera (arugula, Bosc pear and Parmesan); farfalline alla zucca (bowtie pasta with seasonal squash, garlic and rosemary) are just a few of the offerings that tempted me. I ended up ordering the insalata di rucola e pera and a filetto all’aceto balsamico (filet mignon cooked in a balsamic reduction sauce) and savored every bite.

Sitting at a long table with a large group made the experience feel even more Italian, as family and food play such an important part of Italian culture and restaurants are often filled with entire families eating together.

Plates decorated and signed by patrons adorn a wall at the Washington, D.C., restaurant Acqua al 2.

Acqua al 2 in D.C. (at 212 Seventh St. SE) offers a selection of assaggio, or samplers, which is a great way to experience several delicious dishes. The restaurant also carries on the tradition started at the original Acqua al 2 of adorning some walls with plates signed by patrons. Aside from English being the language spoken, Acqua al 2 in D.C. made me feel like I was back in Italy, among friends, eating dinner, sharing stories and laughing. Next time I’m in Florence, I think I’ll finally have to return to the original!

-post by JG

(top photo and three small photos courtesy Acqua al 2)

The beautiful borgo of Sant'Andrea di Compito — The beautiful *borgo* of Sant'Andrea di Compito

Sant'Andrea di Compito, Borgo delle Camelie - and a Story of Flowers

April 16, 2018 by Joanne Bartram in Italian culture, Garden Festivals Italy, Italy travel, Camellia Festival Italy, Travel, Italy, Tuscany

About 40 minutes southeast of Lucca by car lies the village (borgo in Italian) of Sant’Andrea di Compito. The village is known for its Medieval charm and for an annual display of camellias (camelie in Italian), which marks the beginning of spring in this region. Recently I, along with new friends Jennifer and Gillian from Lucca Italian School, spent a lovely early spring day here. The village is easily reached by bus from Lucca and - per fortuna! - our visit fell on one of the weekends of the Antiche Camelie della Lucchesia festival.

Camellias grow above an old stone wall in Sant'Andrea di Compito.

Winding up the gently sloped streets we passed ancient churches, a tiny chapel (cappellina), an 11th century signal tower (where the severed heads of criminals were once displayed in an iron basket above the door), beautiful vistas, and an old cemetery where the grave markers gave hints about the history of this area (including one with the names of two men killed on the same day during WWII - a moving reminder of the very real effects of a not-so-long-ago war).

There are also villas that are hundreds of years old, small springs and creeks running through (and under) the village, beautiful stone walls, pretty houses, old wells, olive groves and, throughout the village on this spring day, beautiful camellias in flower.

Just one of many camelie in bloom on my visit to Sant'Andrea di Compito — Just one of many *camelie* in bloom on my visit to Sant'Andrea di Compito

Camellias are not native to Italy; they were brought from the orient by Italian trader/merchants in the 1800s. In the time since, they have thrived and become one of the best loved blossoms in the area around Lucca - so much so that each year, on weekends from mid-March to early April, there is the Antiche Camelie della Lucchesia event. During these weeks camellias in bloom can be seen not only in the village of Sant’Andrea di Compito but also in the gardens of the spectacular villas that lie north of Lucca (best known are Villa Torrigiani, Villa Mansi, and Villa Reale). What a great excuse for peeking into these beautiful gardens and villages!

Camellia come in many varieties. Best known are the ornamental ones with their delicate flowers in pinks, whites, reds. During the festival there is a beautiful display of cut flowers in a variety of colors in the cultural center in Sant’Andrea di Compito (camellia bushes are also sold there) along with information on the history of camellias in Italy and Europe.

A mapped walking route guides visitors through the village and describes the important buildings, sights, and some history. Along the way camellias can be seen in gardens large and small, along the stone walls of walkways, and beside many streets. There are also art exhibits, churches to visit, the signal tower to climb (for great views over the plains of Lucca) and a whole village to discover.

The Antica Chiusa Borrini, where a species of camellia is cultivated for the production of tea

In addition to ornamental varieties, the camellia family of plants is also used to make tea - white, green, oolong, and black. In the Antica Chiusa Borrini, a walled enclosed area where tea-producing camellias are raised along with flowering species, we learned about the cultivation of tea in Italy and how various types of tea are grown and processed and about the use of camellia oil in skin and hair products. The Borrini family was among the early collectors of these beautiful flowers and, in 1990, a Borrini descendant began the cultivation of tea here. Fascinating!

Camellia bushes in the Antica Chiusa Borrini

Waking back down the hill, we came across a small outdoor kitchen with a wood-fired oven and an old stove. The kitchen shed sat on a corner across from a house and next to an olive grove. The owner was busy trimming olive branches, and his wife came over when she saw us and explained how they use their outdoor kitchen. On Wednesdays, they bake cakes in the wood-fired oven (which they also use for pizza). The stove, which is also wood-fired and has a large grill rather than burners, is used for toasting bread for bruschetta and simmering sauces. Meeting friendly locals who enjoy sharing their stories, and being able to understand when they speak to me in Italian, opens the door to so many unique and interesting experiences. For me, this is travel at its most rewarding!

This little village is worth a visit at any time, but is especially beautiful when the flowers are in bloom.

A roadside shrine in Sant'Andrea di Compito

-post by JMB

A Winter Visit to San Gimignano

April 09, 2018 by Judy Giannnettino

In the summer, San Gimignano is a town crowded with, and catering to, tourists. The tour buses arrive full of day-trippers and passengers from the many cruise ships docked in nearby Livorno. The heat rises from the stone streets, the tour groups move down the narrow streets looking up at the towers and stopping to buy souvenirs along the way. The gelato shops, especially the award-winning Gelateria Dondoli, do a brisk business. For many visitors, this will be a quick stop on the way to somewhere else - Siena or Florence perhaps. That is how I saw San Gimignano for the first time, some 20+ years ago, on day trip out of Florence. I thought it beautiful and interesting, if a bit overrun with tourists. I had not been back since that long-ago visit.

Tuscan hillsides covered in a late winter snow

I recently had a chance to return to San Gimignano with a small group of fellow travelers, this time in late February*. As we drove through the Tuscan countryside, spring had not yet arrived and summer seemed a long way off. Approaching the village, stands of trees stood tall, their white bark striped with grey, bare branches reaching toward a cold sky. Fresh snow blanketed the surrounding hillsides and vineyards, giving the landscape a quiet wintery cast and making the always dramatic approach to this small hill town even more spectacular than usual. I knew immediately that a winter visit to this area would be something special.

Beautiful art can be found along the streets of San Gimignano.

Fourteen towers remain (out of a high of 72)

The history of San Gimignano is fascinating. Once an important stop on the Via Francigena (the pilgrim’s route between Canterbury and Rome), San Gimignano was a thriving town of wealthy merchants, traders, and nobles until a plague in the 14th century wiped out a large portion of the inhabitants. At its peak, the city had 72 towers, built to display the wealth and importance of the residents (a Medieval “whose is bigger” competition). Today, 14 of the towers remain and San Gimignano is a UNESCO World Heritage site with about 8,000 permanent residents. For a great sense of how the city looked in Medieval times, there is detailed model of the city, including the walls, in the gift shop of the museum, just off Piazza del Duomo.

Arriving in San Gimignano, we entered through Porta San Giovanni and began to wind our way up through the town. The streets were uncrowded (dramatically different than in summertime) and a bit icy, so going slow was required.

The slowness, and the lack of large numbers of tourists, provided an opportunity to really absorb details - the 13th century city walls, the stone streets, Piazza della Cisterna with its central well, Piazza del Duomo (site of the cathedral), the frescoes that adorn many walls, and the snow-covered rooftops of the houses. Standing at the edge of town, the expansive views over the snow-covered valley below were mesmerizing.

Snowy streets and rooftops in San Gimignano, February 2018

Even though some shops were closed for the winter, there was no shortage of shopping opportunities. Stores offered everything from local food and wine specialties - the area is known for saffron, the local Vernaccia di S. Gimignano wine, olive oil, and cinghiale (wild boar - yum!) - to handcrafted soaps, leather goods, and artwork.

After spending a crisp, cold morning in San Gimignano, we were off to the nearby Fattoria San Donato for a late lunch and wine tasting. The fattoria (farm) produces wine and olive oil, rents rooms to travelers and provides wine tastings.

The lunch prepared for us, including salumi (a variety of cold cuts), vedure sotto aceto (pickled veggies), cheese (including an amazing sheep’s ricotta and a local pecorino), and risotto-style farro with vegetables, was accompanied by the fattoria's own wine. The food and the wine were delicious and the hosts provided interesting and informative details about the production and preparation of both.

After lunch we toured the winery, which is small and family-run.

All and all, this was a magical day under a winter sky in Tuscany.

-Post by JMB

* this visit to San Gimignano and the Fattoria San Donato was a small group excursion with Viking Ocean Cruises' “Iconic Western Mediterranean” itinerary, February 2018.

A pretty courtyard in San Gimignano

Exterior view of the Abbey and the Chapel of the Madonna

Montserrat, Spain

April 02, 2018 by Joanne Bartram in Barcelona, Travel, Travel Spain

An hour away from the cosmopolitan buzz of Barcelona, Spain, lies the quiet beauty of the Montserrat Mountains and the Benedictine Abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat. This area is a natural park and the spiritual center of Catalonia, Spain. It was a miraculous vision of heavenly light and the sound of an angel’s song in the year 880 that led to this mountain being identified as a sacred place and to the eventual construction of the abbey. Today, a small group of monks lives here, spending the days teaching, studying, praying, and welcoming visitors. The abbey is also home to a famous boy’s choir (L’Escolania) and is a center of Catalan culture and pride.

The steep walking path up to the abbey from the valley below

There are four ways to reach the mountain-top abbey from the valley below - by cable car, rack railway, automobile, or steep and winding footpath. I took the small train, climbing along a ridge up 4,000 feet and stopping just in front of abbey. The exterior of the abbey complex is dwarfed by spectacular bare stone mountains that project skyward like individual rock fingers or, more poetically, like silent stone saints. The name, Montserrat, means serrated or saw tooth mountains, an accurate description of these jagged, rocky peaks.

The beauty of the abbey begins in the courtyard, with its long arcade of statue-filled arches looking out over the valley. The views here are not to be missed.

Entering the abbey itself, religious statues and alabaster carvings line the way to a staircase with an ornately decorated barrel vault ceiling. The walls of the stairway are lined with mosaics of female saints, all with golden halos.

I had plenty of time to marvel at the art (and read the name of each saint) as I waited in line for entry into the small silver-lined alcove that houses the famous statue of the Lady of Montserrat, more commonly known as the Black Madonna (the oldest known of several black madonnas in Europe; the color is said to come from natural aging of the wood). This lovely and culturally important statue, dressed in gold robes and holding the infant Jesus, is the star of the monastery. Just beyond, and down a short staircase, lies a small rounded chapel to the Madonna. Look up - near the ceiling above the altar is a small opening with a view to the back of the Madonna statue. Also in this chapel is a large statue of St. George (with sword, without dragon). The Virgin of Montserrat and St. George are the patron saints of Catalonia.

Continuing through the complex, there is an outside candle-filled grotto (the Cami de L’Ave Maria) through which lies entry to the main basilica. Each candle burning here represents an individual prayer to the Virgin of Montserrat. The basilica is much larger than the small chapel to the Madonna and is the site of church services and choir performances. Looking up again, high over the main altar, is another window to the alcove of the Black Madonna, visible throughout the basilica.

Just one of many beautiful lanterns in the basilica

With so many things to observe in this church, from statues, carvings, and mosaics to stained glass, the most intriguing to me were the many beautiful hanging candleholders. Each is uniquely crafted. There is no repeating pattern, yet the asymmetry of form creates an overall sense of cohesion and harmony. Each lantern is a donation from a different organization supporting the abbey (schools, guilds, towns, even soccer clubs; the donors are identified on wall plaques).

Leaving the abbey complex, across the street is a scenic path (heading away from the train station toward the parking lot). From here, a look back at the abbey provides a view of the rounded exterior of the chapel to the Virgin of Montserrat, one of the prettiest exterior views of the complex (top photo). The best views of the valley are also from this path.

Near the end, back across the small street on the abbey side of the road, a stone staircase leads to a garden path with a small pool, statues, several small grottos, and a short walking path.

My visit to the Abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat was coordinated as part of a Viking Ocean cruise that began in Barcelona. The abbey can also be reached by car or train from Barcelona. This unique place, a spiritual and a natural wonder, is a unique and moving place to visit.

-post by JMB

Practical information:

The abbey complex has a gift shop and a cafeteria. Daily Masses are scheduled three times a day: 11 a.m., noon, and 7:30 p.m. (the evening Mass is sung by the monks and the boy’s choir). Choir performances are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. daily.
The basilica is closed to visitors during services and Mass times may vary, so it’s a good idea to check the schedule before arriving for a visit.
The monastery, where the monks reside, is not open to visitors.
There is limited handicap access to parts of the basilica, in particular the statue of the Black Madonna.
The natural park surrounding the monastery also provides hiking and climbing opportunities.

For more information:

montserrat-tourist-guide.com

abadiamontserrat.net (abbey website)