A Medieval village surrounds the castle (castello) in Bagnone. — A Medieval village surrounds the castle (*castello*) in Bagnone.

Castelli e Cipolle (Castles and Onions) in Bagnone, Italy

May 14, 2018 by Joanne Bartram in Italy travel, Tuscany, Italy, Italian culture, food

Some of my favorite travel experiences are the result of serendipity - happy accidents that result in the discovery of something wonderful. Though I am by nature a planner, I have learned the joy of leaving some things to chance and grabbing opportunities that arise during the course of travel.

Such an opportunity recently presented itself in the form of an invitation to accompany a fellow language student on a day trip to the small town of Bagnone for its annual spring onion sagra (festival). I knew nothing about Bagnone, or what made its onions worth celebrating, so some research was in order prior to this trip.

Bagnone lies in the province of Massa - Carrara, Tuscany, about 60 minutes from Lucca by car. This area is known as the Lunigiana, a historical designation from before the unification of Italy, crossing the border between Tuscany and Liguria. Importantly, it is home to a large number of Medieval-era castles/fortresses, about 30 of which are intact. Many others are visible as ruins, dotting hillsides and small hamlets throughout the Lunigiana.

Bagnone is charming, with a small branch of the Magra river flowing through the middle of town. There is also a 14th century castle that encloses a still-occupied Medieval village. This is not a town with many tourists. Strolling along its quiet streets (pictured below) was a pleasure, as was wandering through the village surrounding the castle, which lies up a hill above the center of Bagnone.

As for the onions - Bagnone includes an even smaller borgo (neighborhood) just up the hill from Bagnone proper and called Treschietto. A recent local census lists 96 inhabitants, most over the age of 65. Looming over Treschietto is the ruin of a castle, complete with a tall, round tower.

The tower and castle ruin in Treschietto, Bagnone.

Treschietto is famous for a small, round onion (cipolla) that is red on the outside and white on the inside. The Cipolla di Treschietto is mild and sweet. It is said that the onion “non fa lacrimare” (doesn’t make you cry). The onion is grown in fields in and around Treschietto and each year, at the end of April and beginning of May, the community hosts a festival where everyone gathers to eat piatti tipici (local specialty dishes) made with the famous onions. These dishes were a good example of cucina povera, simple foods eaten in rural areas where resources are limited.

Sitting under a large tent, at a communal table, we sampled Barbotta (a soft onion, cornmeal, and cheese torte), torta di cipolle (a crispy onion pie with the white and green parts of the onion and a spinach-like taste), and a pasta with sugo di cipolle (onion sauce).

We also saw many people eating the onions raw, dipped in a little bit of olive oil.

As a bonus, no one at our table spoke English and the meal was accompanied by lively Italian conversation with friendly locals, a spontaneous language lesson and a delightful cultural experience. Serendipity indeed.

-post by JMB

Learning to Live Aloha

May 10, 2018 by Judy Giannnettino

One reason I love to travel is to learn about other cultures. This was never more true than when I (Judy) visited Hawaii for the first time earlier this year.

The sun sets in Kauai (photo by Ann Hettinger).

I traveled to Kauai, which is called the Garden Island. I knew it would be beautiful and green and lush. I didn’t know the people there would remind me of the importance of love, kindness, respect, compassion, friendliness and so much more. All that is wrapped up in the word “Aloha.” In my naivete, I had thought Aloha meant hello and goodbye. Everywhere I went in Kauai, I learned it really means a way of life.

Ann Hettinger, paddling her one-man outrigger canoe, is the co-author of a book about the meaning of Aloha.

Two of my teachers in this were Ann Hettinger and Lahela Chandler Correa, who have co-authored a book for children about the many meanings of Aloha.

Hawaii is beautiful; the Aloha way of life even more so.

When I was on Kauai, I was fortunate to swim, surf, and stand-up paddleboard. Almost everyday was a new adventure in the ocean or on a river. My fellow travelers and I managed to do all that and more thanks to Ann, who leads adventure retreats for women, even though Kauai was receiving unusual amounts of rain for unusual lengths of time. We also got to hear Lahela, who was born and raised on the island, explain what her parents taught her about Aloha (taking care of family, being honest and kind, respecting their heritage and their elders, etc. etc.). It was a heartfelt lesson delivered in love and with the hope that we would carry it with us when we left the island.

It always rains a lot on Kauai – Mount Waialeale is one of the wettest places on Earth, receiving nearly 400 inches of rain a year. Kauai wouldn’t be as fertile and as stunningly beautiful as it is if it didn’t receive a lot of rain. But a couple of weeks after I left Kauai, the unusual amounts of rain the island had been experiencing turned into disastrous amounts. In a 24-hour period, the famed North Shore received more than 30 inches of rain. The torrential rainfall flooded homes, caused mudslides that buried vehicles and closed roads, and led to the evacuation of hundreds of people. Children at a school who had been learning about Aloha from Ann and Lahela’s book decided to show their Aloha by sending cards and other items to kids affected by the flooding – helping others and demonstrating how to “live Aloha.”

I share this story in the spirit of Aloha. To learn more about Ann and Lahela’s book, go to alohapublishinghawaii.com or click here. To learn more about how to help Kauai residents affected by the flooding, the website hawaiinewsnow.com lists several organizations accepting donations. -post by JG

From My Italian Kitchen: A Simple Spring Meal

May 07, 2018 by Joanne Bartram

The change of seasons from winter to spring also brings about a change in eating habits. I've spent the first six weeks of my time in Italy making hearty soups like minestrone and chicken with farro to help warm me against the cold weather. But now it is spring, and time for something different. Today my kitchen inspiration came from beautiful bright green bundles of asparagi (asparagus) in the local market. An Italian spring and asparagus go hand in hand and these are the first of the season.

This meal could not be simpler. After washing and trimming the asparagus, I drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled on some coarse salt. Then they roasted at 200 degrees Celsius (400 Fahrenheit) for 12 to 15 minutes (these were fairly thick stalks, adjust cooking time for thinner stalks). The asparagus will become the base of this simple Italian dish.

While the asparagus were roasting I prepared a side dish of sliced tomatoes (from Sicily, where it's even warmer at this time of year) with fresh mozzarella. I added a drizzle of a local olive oil and a good balsamic vinegar from Modena. A little salt and pepper was all that was needed to finish this side dish.

Next, I brought a pan of water to a simmer to poach an egg. Four minutes was just perfect to set the white of the egg and leave a runny yolk. Removing the egg from the water, a quick blot on a paper towel absorbed any excess water. After gently placing the poached egg on top of five or six asparagus spears, I dusted them with salt and pepper, and some shavings of Parmesan. That's it! The dish works equally well for brunch, lunch, or dinner. It never hurts to add some focaccia or bread (though it is blissfully carb-free without any).

Roasted asparagus with egg and Parmesan - tastes like spring to me! -post by JMB

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)