So much to do today, and not nearly enough time with which to get it done. We left the ferry behind at 7am and headed Lucca, and then Tiglio Barga. The agriturismo I Cerretelli www.agriturismoicerettelli.com lies at the bottom of a tiny street, which itself is at the end of a small twisting road that is surrounded on both sides by thick forest. It was very different from the Sardinian landscape we had just left behind. The first thing you see when you go through the gate is the nice swimming pool with a view over the valley below. Then you walk into the breakfast room, and since it just happened to be breakfast time we admired their spread before we continued on to the rest of the building. The rooms are all very large, most with separate rooms for lounging and sleeping. There are a couple upstairs that have lofts with extra beds for the kids, and they were pretty darn cool. The house was in very nice shape and each of the beds featured a hand painted head and baseboard with a different I Cerretelli design. I regret that we didn’t get to stay here, but the next time we are in the area I will certainly call them again.
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana isn’t too far away, and it is home to our last stop before heading to Milan. We were also supposed to stay at the agriturismo La Palazzina www.agriturismolapalazzina.com but our last week’s schedule has become a little discombobulated. We new from pictures, and email with them that it was a great place and we still wanted to share it with you. Stefano is an absolutely wonderful host. He knows a lot about the area, and is all about promoting tourism while keeping Garfagnana the way it is, instead of completely commercializing it. He also knows a lot about the history of the grounds that he has turned into La Palazzina. For instance the private forest that is planted with trees from all over the world that the original silk merchant owners brought back from their travels. Or the picture of the chimney stack that was blown off by allied bombing when Germans took the property over. The agriturismo features very very large apartments where the whole family, or a few friends can spread out and relax. The bathrooms are huge! They all have their own kitchen and dining area. There is also a communal area with a big stereo, TV, and a WASHING MACHINE with a ton of drying racks. Oh how we would have loved that a few weeks ago. Stefano knew we were short on time, but insisted that we had to go with him into town to see a couple of the sights and taste some of the local products. Castelnuovo seems like a really great little town, and I’m sorry that we didn’t have time to explore it more. But I am very glad that Stefano took us into to eat! We stopped off at “Timbocco” and met up with GabrieleBertucci. Everything they make is typical/traditional to this area and it is only made with local ingredients. I would say we got a sampler platter, but it was more like a sampler table. We started with a couple of different Pecorino cheeses, then a few sausages types (one of which was wild boar). Trout from this area is supposed to be the healthiest anywhere because their river is the only one in Europe that doesn’t contain some sort of fish disease that isn’t really good for you. I don’t really know much about all of that, but the taste was damn fine. We sampled, and by that I mean a nibble, of “trippa” which is cow stomach, and man was it good! NOT! Don’t think I’ll do that one again. The most important part of the meal was Faro, which is the oldest type of grain in recorded history, but rather unknown in modern society. The Faro from this region is the best in the world, they make flour out of it, and eat it whole almost as a pasta substitute. We had it mixed with tomatoes, basil, S&P, and olive oil, it was delicious. Gabriele’s lasagna is different than anything I’ve ever tasted, I couldn’t begin to tell you what all he did differently, but the faro flour had something to do with it. There were a few other things in there that my brain won’t recall at the moment, and it was all very good. Then for desert we had a pie that was made from “chestnut flour” (another typical local thing, that wins awards all over the place) ricotta cheese, and chocolate chips. Rich doesn’t even begin to describe it, and man was it good. I was going to buy some chestnut flour and steal the recipe, but they didn’t have any on hand as the new batch of chestnuts were still in the drying stage. It was an incredible meal, and I highly suggest you stop in if you are ever in town. The address is 5A Via Farini, Castelnuovo di Garfagana. Or if you stay with Stefano and he can tell you exactly how to get there.
The road we took to get to Milan lead us right through the Carrara marble country, and it was wonderful. The leaves have all turned, and every once in a while you would zoom past a truck loaded down with humongous blocks of white marble. You can just imagine what sorts of wonderful things will be carved out of them. I hope not a bunch of cheap tourist trinkets! It was a ride I would liked to take a little slower and enjoy it a little more, but it wasn’t to be. We had a deadline, and we barely made it.
It was a sad sad day for The Vespa Diaries, because as soon as we handed the keys over to Piaggio we were no longer actually with Vespa, and it was back to being a normal trip. But for the 7 weeks that we had the bike it was truly enjoyable, and I am already thinking about the next time that I can hop back on a Vespa and see the country again. I know we’ve thanked them before, but we really can’t thank them enough. The Public Bus diaries just doesn’t have the same ring to it, and without Piaggio’s participation that is exactly what it would have been. So “Mille Grazie” to all those people at Piaggio that helped us along the way!
And while we are doling out our thanks, let me send another huge Thank You to Michele at Napapijri. Their clothing is great, and we felt like real Italians walking around in it. This was something that he didn’t have to do, and we really appreciate that he did it. So do me a favor and support them, you’ll look good doing it, and you can go out knowing you are wearing something that you aren’t going to see on the guy next to you.
And a final Thanks to every Agriturismo/B&B/Restaurant/Cooking School/Hot Air Balloon owner that helped us out along the way. We really and truly couldn’t have done it without you. We discovered a ton of new places along the way, and we hope that you have kept track of them. I give me personal seal of approval to every one of them , and guarantee that you won’t be disappointed when you stay there.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home