here are some photos, and Craig will try to fix his Domaine Tempier post so the pictures come back...
Italy...
http://picasaweb.google.com/craigt55/CraigAndAmyInItalyAndDomaineTempier#
France...
http://picasaweb.google.com/craigt55/DomaineTempier#
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Un Sejour a Domaine Tempier
Back in the 1990s, Domaine Tempier was an annual pilgrimage during our trips to France. I became good friends with winemaker Jean-Marie Peyraud and his wife, Catherine. But it's been 14 years since my last visit. It is funny that when you go back to visit friends after so long, it feels like you really haven't been away a long time at all.
Jean-Marie and Catherine are fantastic hosts. They live in a place called Cancebeu, some land on top of a knoll that Catherine's family bought back in the 1960s. From here you have a 180 degree view of the Mediterranean, from Sanary sur Mer over to La Ciotat. Around their house are Mediterranean pine trees, oaks and olive trees that they have planted. It is an amazing place.
Jean Marie met us at the train station at Toulon after a very long ride up from the Cinque Terre. After showing us around and having a short rest, Catherine cooked us a lovely meal of moussaka and a vegetable casserole. This was washed down with their delicious 2008 rose (Domaine Tempier makes one of the best anywhere) and a 2007 Cuvee Classique red. According to Jean Marie, 2007 is a great year, one of the best in a long time. And to top the meal off, in the French tradition, we had a plateau de fromage. This consisted of many different cheeses...cow, goat and sheep.
The next morning we went to a local market in Sanary sur Mer. These French markets are wonderful; farmers from all over the region sell their produce here. Just the colors are enough to satisfy, but along with that were the smells, the tastes, the sounds and of course the sight, right on the port of this lovely little sea village.
For lunch, we started out with a plate of oysters from the Ile de Re that Catherine got at the market. This was washed down with the Domaine Tempier 2008 white, a wine they make in small quantities and I don't think it is imported here. Following this was a wonderful tuna...tuna steaks cooked in the oven with onions and spices. With this dish we drank a bottle of the 2006 Tempier Classique and a bottle of 2004 Gros Nore Bandol. Wow! And of course more cheese.
In the late afternoon Amy learned how to play petanque. This is is the game you see played all over France, but especially here in the Midi. It is played with metal balls and is similiar to the Italian game of bacci. During our little game, Jean Marie and Catherine's daughter, Valerie, showed up with her husband, Olivier, and their three kids. The last time I saw Valerie and Olivier was for a party right before their wedding and now they have three very nice children. So of course everyone stayed for dinner and the food was great and the wine went down easily.
On Sunday, Jean Marie and Catherine had some things they had to do, wo Amy and I took the short train ride over to the seaside village of Cassis. I had stayed here a few times in the past and had always love it. It is one of those picture postcard little towns with fishing boats and cafes on the port. But since it was Sunday, half the town of Marseille was here!!! Wow, what a crowd! So Amy and I walked over to Port Mieux, a kilometer or so west of town. Here you have the 'calanques' which are deep gorges that form narrow bays. Back in Cassis for lunch, we had a very nice meal...soup do poissons, moules a la provencale (stuffed, grilled mussels), grilled dorade fish, pintade (kind of a guinea hen), a cheese plate and a mousse au chocolate.
So lets just say that we ate and drank very well over the couple of days that we were with the Peyrauds. On Monday, Jean Marie took us to the Domaine to taste the wines that are still in the barrels, the very new 2009s and the 2008s. Domaine Tempier is in the small town of Le Plan de Castellet. It was started in the 1800s but became a great winery in the last 50 years or so thanks to the dedication of Mr. Lucien Peyraud, who took it from a winery producing table wine to one of the world's great wineries. Lucien passed the work of the winery onto his sons, Jean Marie and Francois in the 1970s and now the wine maker is Daniel Ravier. About 40% of the production is exported to the USA by Kermit Lynch, in Berkeley.
Anyway, Jean Marie took us to the cellar and we tasted many of the different cuvees right out of the barrel. Here, the barrels are called foudres and they are giant oak casks, some new, some old. The red wine ages in these for about 20 months before being bottled in four different cuvees...Cuvee Classique, La Tourtine, La Migoua and Le Cabasseau. The last three are distinct vinyards that are around the area.
After tasting these wines we had a nice drink with Jean Marie's mom, Lulu Peyraud. Lulu is really a great lady. She is one of the people who inspired Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and is therefor partly responsible for a lot of the good food we eat today. It was great seeing Lulu again and talking with her after so many years. She is 92 now, but is so full of energy and vitality you would never know it.
When we got back to Cancebeu for lunch, Catherine had made us one of the most amazing lamb dishes I ever had. Pretty simple...lamb shoulder covered with herbs and olive oil roasted in the oven. Roasted with the lamb were new potatoes, cut in half and the cut half put on the pan, so the olive oil cooked right in. Wow. With this we had a 2001 La Migoua. After coffee, Jean Marie got out the Marc de Provence, which is similear to a grappa and is quite strong.
So thanks to Jean Marie and Catherine, we ended our Italian/French journey on a really high note. We are home now after the very, very long plane ride back and have many wonderful memories that will last forever. Thanks to all the folks that we met along the way who made this such a great trip.
Monday, October 5, 2009
the strongest wines
today reeling from a little taste of 2001 La Migoua f/b a Marc which is a domaine tempier reinforced aquavit style .... after roast lamb roast potato lunch after signature salad... after visiting the Domaine and having a little taste of wine with Lulu who is fascinating and charis,atiaue::::
Saturday, October 3, 2009
from italie to france
today is saturday I think and I can barely type as this is quite a different keyboard and I just drank Domaine Tempier 2008 white followed by a non Domaine Tempier but very tasty Bandol red wine with a very delightful lunch in the company of Craigs old friends from 1985 to 1995, last visit, Catherine and JeanMarie Peyraud and Catherines mother who is about 96 but does not miss a beat. They are retired from helping to run their family vineyard Domaine Tempier with their father and brother, nowadays spending more time on a great hilltop above Bandol France overlooking a lot of the coast.
I would like to write just a little more about the Cinque Terre because our 3rd day there was very special. For our daily hike we started by going by train back to RioMaggiore which was very very appealing early in the day, we sat on the breakwater watching fishermen load lines and early morning vegetable shopping, then quickly strolled along the coast to Manarola which is our favorite town to eat in. From there we took a shuttle bus up to a little town very untouristified and pleasant with 4 foot wide lanes and pleasant locals. Trail 6d goes north from there on a long traverse climbing slightly up the grape terraces. The terraces are so steep the ocean glimmers so far below it is magical not too scary. We passed a man pruning his vines way below us, with his red swiss pruning shears just like mine. The first third of the trail was all very high vineyards, the trail usually about half meter wide on the edge of a very old sandstone shale dry wall usually dropping off about a meter and a half. finally we skirted some old stone farmhouses stuccoed red and yellow and rose into some chestnut and pine wood canyons; still our destination town was far far below us. last the trail came down a steep but stone paved trail through old olive groves. Getting safely to town in Corniglia we had some red wine with pesto and Im no longer sure what; I know later that day at La Torre restaurant way above vernazza we had pesto lasagne, mussels in a seafood pasta and anchovies cooked with tomatoes and potatoes.
Anyway that night we said goodbye to nona Elia and the other delightful residents of Vernazza and most of the tourists because after that day thursday we have hardly seen any non europeans. from early morning friday til late afternoon we hopped from one italian train to another up to the border Vermiglia where we all had to make a run for the waiting French train. Quelle difference; immediately life became smoother, the trains had snack carts, everyone spoke soothing french and no longer interrupted each other; we did see one young kid get caught by the french train police for having incorrect train ticket stamps which was kinda interesting but he looked pretty sheepish not ruffianlike. The coastline immediately became entrancing as soon as we crossed from the gray sand italian riviera; the french riviera has handsome rocks, bays, coves, white sand and stunning mountains and hills behind
the place we are staying now is way high on the crest of a hill, a home that is designed somewhat star shaped in a really nice synthesis of provence farmhouse plus modern floor to ceiling windows; cool tile floors, really nice travel mementoes to enjoy on the walls but the real pleasure besides our hosts is the views; on 3 sides the hillside drops down to show not too distant bays and hills and some very special white stone topped peaks and some of the large white headlands above the calanque bays to the west of here towards Marseille. Today we went to the fish and vegetable market in the town just east of bandol before toulon; now after seeing the very lovely displays of the fresh lettuces tomatoes crownshaped artichokes endives and green beans qnd other vegetables; the carefully coiled sausages and other charcuterie and the sparkling array of fish I kindof understand what propelled the californians who studied provencal cooking to start our farmers markets up, Our hosts bought an enormous fresh caught tuna portion and oysters driven overnight from Isle de Re; and we had oysters homemqde bread a zingy salad and tuna with sweet onions and herbs: the tuna has distinctly different belly and steak tastes: the wine and then coffee was perfect: time to nap
but not till I recall for dinner last night the moussaka and the chard stems sauteed with herbs with domaine te,pier 2008 rosee and 2007 classique red just bottled this summer........
I would like to write just a little more about the Cinque Terre because our 3rd day there was very special. For our daily hike we started by going by train back to RioMaggiore which was very very appealing early in the day, we sat on the breakwater watching fishermen load lines and early morning vegetable shopping, then quickly strolled along the coast to Manarola which is our favorite town to eat in. From there we took a shuttle bus up to a little town very untouristified and pleasant with 4 foot wide lanes and pleasant locals. Trail 6d goes north from there on a long traverse climbing slightly up the grape terraces. The terraces are so steep the ocean glimmers so far below it is magical not too scary. We passed a man pruning his vines way below us, with his red swiss pruning shears just like mine. The first third of the trail was all very high vineyards, the trail usually about half meter wide on the edge of a very old sandstone shale dry wall usually dropping off about a meter and a half. finally we skirted some old stone farmhouses stuccoed red and yellow and rose into some chestnut and pine wood canyons; still our destination town was far far below us. last the trail came down a steep but stone paved trail through old olive groves. Getting safely to town in Corniglia we had some red wine with pesto and Im no longer sure what; I know later that day at La Torre restaurant way above vernazza we had pesto lasagne, mussels in a seafood pasta and anchovies cooked with tomatoes and potatoes.
Anyway that night we said goodbye to nona Elia and the other delightful residents of Vernazza and most of the tourists because after that day thursday we have hardly seen any non europeans. from early morning friday til late afternoon we hopped from one italian train to another up to the border Vermiglia where we all had to make a run for the waiting French train. Quelle difference; immediately life became smoother, the trains had snack carts, everyone spoke soothing french and no longer interrupted each other; we did see one young kid get caught by the french train police for having incorrect train ticket stamps which was kinda interesting but he looked pretty sheepish not ruffianlike. The coastline immediately became entrancing as soon as we crossed from the gray sand italian riviera; the french riviera has handsome rocks, bays, coves, white sand and stunning mountains and hills behind
the place we are staying now is way high on the crest of a hill, a home that is designed somewhat star shaped in a really nice synthesis of provence farmhouse plus modern floor to ceiling windows; cool tile floors, really nice travel mementoes to enjoy on the walls but the real pleasure besides our hosts is the views; on 3 sides the hillside drops down to show not too distant bays and hills and some very special white stone topped peaks and some of the large white headlands above the calanque bays to the west of here towards Marseille. Today we went to the fish and vegetable market in the town just east of bandol before toulon; now after seeing the very lovely displays of the fresh lettuces tomatoes crownshaped artichokes endives and green beans qnd other vegetables; the carefully coiled sausages and other charcuterie and the sparkling array of fish I kindof understand what propelled the californians who studied provencal cooking to start our farmers markets up, Our hosts bought an enormous fresh caught tuna portion and oysters driven overnight from Isle de Re; and we had oysters homemqde bread a zingy salad and tuna with sweet onions and herbs: the tuna has distinctly different belly and steak tastes: the wine and then coffee was perfect: time to nap
but not till I recall for dinner last night the moussaka and the chard stems sauteed with herbs with domaine te,pier 2008 rosee and 2007 classique red just bottled this summer........
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
stuffed mussels and tiny bubbles in CinqueTerra
Cinqueterra is so very different from Tuscany. The food is still outrageously good - if you find the right restaurant - but now the highlights are seafood and white wine, thick soft breads and pesto. And the air is so warm and you immediately relax because of that feeling you get in the hot sun, near to the ocean. Different immediately.
Seems like a week ago but it was just day before yesterday, we got up REALLY early and drove from dawn to noon from Pitigliano, then up this old roman route called the Via Cassia, up several river valleys, back to Siena. We really enjoyed it... we stopped for early morning coffee and tasty brioches in a great town called Acquapendente which had a totally comfortable feeling downtown, a nice nontouristy blend of old roman city, old medieval layout so narrowish streets, but a downtown that was more 1800s to modern. It was nice to go in for coffee with a bunch of locals whizzing in and out getting their daily standards SO quick, while we lingered to sample as many different kinds of pastry as we could it seemed like. we have finally after this learned, only one breakfast pastry thing or your stomach will feel like lead for a while. I figured out that the reason this countryside seems more relaxed than further up north in tuscany, is just that, not every hill is crowned with a major villa or farmhouse... some hilltops are actually, just hilltops, not someones estate or agri-tourisme. On our left was this huge volcano that the romans use for skiing these days in the winter. As we got up closer to the Montalcino-Montepulciano area, the fields turned back again into the gray tuscan large clod soil and the farmhouses got more estaty, more visible and more numerous. but it was all good. We stopped again a few times, once to check out an old hot springs that was designed into a large pool by the Medici for the use of pilgrims and travelers between the north of Tuscany and Rome, it was a great hillside place, Bagni di something... then we also stopped at another hilltown. they start to seem really similar. We dropped our car in Siena, went to Florence by speedy bus then changed to train to Lucca. We really like the trains... great people watching and a great look at the rural area... on the freeways, seems like mostly you see the freeway due to the speed. We passed huge nurseries where they grow every ornamental tree in italy and we passed huge greenhouses and we passed pinoccios hilltown in the distance which looks just like the 1930s movie was painted from it and did lots of people watching on the train... lots of teenagers going from school in florence to their homes on the outskirts.
Well we meant to stay 2 nights in Lucca and go up to the local mountains during the day. but honestly we could not take another touristy ville. Lucca was fine but too familiar... big white churches, narrow quaint streets filled with shoe stores scarf stores and tourists.... And Lucca did not seem to have any easy to find excellent food. the one restaurant we finally chose, the menu was full of things Americans would think are italian food-- veal scaloppine, things like that. and everyone who sat near us seemed to be American and what did they order? the veal scaloppine. Enough already. So in the morning we got on the train again and it was great. we went through the coolest semi-mountain area then to the coast to this cutely ugly modern little town called Viareggio and then we went right by the huge mountains made of marble and huge yards of giant white marble cubes... and then around a few hills and marshes, to la Spezia.
At this time we abandoned all formal trains and got on the very relaxed local trains that transit through the cinqueterra. This is a great area where steep dry-ish mountains covered with shale terraces, old olive trees, old overgrown fields, drop into the ocean and there are about five orange-yellow towns that cling to these narrow ravines. They used to hardly be able to reach each other, except by water and even that was not easy. now as everyone knows you can hike from one to the other. so thats what we all do... and come back by the little local trains, which go about five minutes between stops, and are mostly in tunnels, hardly ever out in the open air, due to how steep the hillsides are.
There are lots of tourists here again but they are so manageable... no little tour guides holding flags... lots of interesting languages... english is NOT the dominant language, nothing seems to be... and the locals seem to be very amused in general. they laugh at all our italian struggles and some totally seem to ham up the idea of being a grandiose italian waiter. I swear some are putting on the act. Its fun to watch.
If you get to the two or three smaller villages it is not that hard to find a really good meal. I think Craig is writing about our great food.
oh good I just read his post and he did a great job on the Cinque Terra. I would only mention I do NOT think Vernazza is really that quiet... it is just that it has some great amenities and it is the best laid out of all the towns and a really nice place to be. Also he did not mention our great room and our great discovery of it. At the station this oily-smoooth talking guy started to chat Craig up about his great room that was available, and how it was only 90 euros and he was recommended by Rick steves... what a smooth moover, he is not listed at all and the going rate is not 90 euros its 60 to 70. we went to see his room which was convenient thats for sure... right on the main drag, noisy and not very charming. we told him we'd be back if we could not find something in our budget. Well immediately this incredibly sweet looking 4 foot tall grandmother beckons to us and says in italian with a few english words, she said mare, mare, beautiful room, mare. we followed her up a little street that is all stairs, turned right on antother street that is all stairs, turned into the first doorway and up 3 more flights of stairs... and there was our little room, a little whitewashed room with a little enclosed balcony that has our shower on one end, our bathroom on the other, with a window that opens straight out onto the mare, the ocean. it is adorable. below is a little courtyard, we are not the only ones looking out at the mare, but our room is totally private. the whitewashed wall has a few smushed mosquitos on it and our bed is a little soggy so I was a little worried about bedbugs but after our first 24 hours here I am still in love with our little room and also our little grandmother landlady, Elia. Her place is at Via Mazzini number 1, a place she shares with another B&B, and her phone is 333 495 2967, not that you could ever really talk with her if you were not fluent in italian.but she communicated great. the room was originaly 70 euros but for 3 nights we paid 65 a night. she was a hard bargainer.
Two more things Craigs did not mention. first of all, have you ever seen a tiny caterpillar tractor take 12 large bricks directly up streets that are a flight of stairs? its a hilarious but effective thing. looks like a little robot. we have seen at least 2 of these. Second... I have never seen a town as full of comfortable, overfed, friendly cats. they have little doormats here and there place by locals, they trade off who gets to use them. a few sleep in boats. anyway most of them you can stop and pet. they are tortoise shell types, and calico types and a black manx. and have green eyes.. very nice !
Seems like a week ago but it was just day before yesterday, we got up REALLY early and drove from dawn to noon from Pitigliano, then up this old roman route called the Via Cassia, up several river valleys, back to Siena. We really enjoyed it... we stopped for early morning coffee and tasty brioches in a great town called Acquapendente which had a totally comfortable feeling downtown, a nice nontouristy blend of old roman city, old medieval layout so narrowish streets, but a downtown that was more 1800s to modern. It was nice to go in for coffee with a bunch of locals whizzing in and out getting their daily standards SO quick, while we lingered to sample as many different kinds of pastry as we could it seemed like. we have finally after this learned, only one breakfast pastry thing or your stomach will feel like lead for a while. I figured out that the reason this countryside seems more relaxed than further up north in tuscany, is just that, not every hill is crowned with a major villa or farmhouse... some hilltops are actually, just hilltops, not someones estate or agri-tourisme. On our left was this huge volcano that the romans use for skiing these days in the winter. As we got up closer to the Montalcino-Montepulciano area, the fields turned back again into the gray tuscan large clod soil and the farmhouses got more estaty, more visible and more numerous. but it was all good. We stopped again a few times, once to check out an old hot springs that was designed into a large pool by the Medici for the use of pilgrims and travelers between the north of Tuscany and Rome, it was a great hillside place, Bagni di something... then we also stopped at another hilltown. they start to seem really similar. We dropped our car in Siena, went to Florence by speedy bus then changed to train to Lucca. We really like the trains... great people watching and a great look at the rural area... on the freeways, seems like mostly you see the freeway due to the speed. We passed huge nurseries where they grow every ornamental tree in italy and we passed huge greenhouses and we passed pinoccios hilltown in the distance which looks just like the 1930s movie was painted from it and did lots of people watching on the train... lots of teenagers going from school in florence to their homes on the outskirts.
Well we meant to stay 2 nights in Lucca and go up to the local mountains during the day. but honestly we could not take another touristy ville. Lucca was fine but too familiar... big white churches, narrow quaint streets filled with shoe stores scarf stores and tourists.... And Lucca did not seem to have any easy to find excellent food. the one restaurant we finally chose, the menu was full of things Americans would think are italian food-- veal scaloppine, things like that. and everyone who sat near us seemed to be American and what did they order? the veal scaloppine. Enough already. So in the morning we got on the train again and it was great. we went through the coolest semi-mountain area then to the coast to this cutely ugly modern little town called Viareggio and then we went right by the huge mountains made of marble and huge yards of giant white marble cubes... and then around a few hills and marshes, to la Spezia.
At this time we abandoned all formal trains and got on the very relaxed local trains that transit through the cinqueterra. This is a great area where steep dry-ish mountains covered with shale terraces, old olive trees, old overgrown fields, drop into the ocean and there are about five orange-yellow towns that cling to these narrow ravines. They used to hardly be able to reach each other, except by water and even that was not easy. now as everyone knows you can hike from one to the other. so thats what we all do... and come back by the little local trains, which go about five minutes between stops, and are mostly in tunnels, hardly ever out in the open air, due to how steep the hillsides are.
There are lots of tourists here again but they are so manageable... no little tour guides holding flags... lots of interesting languages... english is NOT the dominant language, nothing seems to be... and the locals seem to be very amused in general. they laugh at all our italian struggles and some totally seem to ham up the idea of being a grandiose italian waiter. I swear some are putting on the act. Its fun to watch.
If you get to the two or three smaller villages it is not that hard to find a really good meal. I think Craig is writing about our great food.
oh good I just read his post and he did a great job on the Cinque Terra. I would only mention I do NOT think Vernazza is really that quiet... it is just that it has some great amenities and it is the best laid out of all the towns and a really nice place to be. Also he did not mention our great room and our great discovery of it. At the station this oily-smoooth talking guy started to chat Craig up about his great room that was available, and how it was only 90 euros and he was recommended by Rick steves... what a smooth moover, he is not listed at all and the going rate is not 90 euros its 60 to 70. we went to see his room which was convenient thats for sure... right on the main drag, noisy and not very charming. we told him we'd be back if we could not find something in our budget. Well immediately this incredibly sweet looking 4 foot tall grandmother beckons to us and says in italian with a few english words, she said mare, mare, beautiful room, mare. we followed her up a little street that is all stairs, turned right on antother street that is all stairs, turned into the first doorway and up 3 more flights of stairs... and there was our little room, a little whitewashed room with a little enclosed balcony that has our shower on one end, our bathroom on the other, with a window that opens straight out onto the mare, the ocean. it is adorable. below is a little courtyard, we are not the only ones looking out at the mare, but our room is totally private. the whitewashed wall has a few smushed mosquitos on it and our bed is a little soggy so I was a little worried about bedbugs but after our first 24 hours here I am still in love with our little room and also our little grandmother landlady, Elia. Her place is at Via Mazzini number 1, a place she shares with another B&B, and her phone is 333 495 2967, not that you could ever really talk with her if you were not fluent in italian.but she communicated great. the room was originaly 70 euros but for 3 nights we paid 65 a night. she was a hard bargainer.
Two more things Craigs did not mention. first of all, have you ever seen a tiny caterpillar tractor take 12 large bricks directly up streets that are a flight of stairs? its a hilarious but effective thing. looks like a little robot. we have seen at least 2 of these. Second... I have never seen a town as full of comfortable, overfed, friendly cats. they have little doormats here and there place by locals, they trade off who gets to use them. a few sleep in boats. anyway most of them you can stop and pet. they are tortoise shell types, and calico types and a black manx. and have green eyes.. very nice !
The Head is the Best Part!
Aaaahhhhh. We are out of Tuscany and on the coast of the Cinque Terre in the lovely small town of Vernazza. The Cinque Terre must be one of the most beautiful coastal spots anywhere. Five tiny villages nestled in valleys and on hilltops, all right on the sea except one. Four out the five are very small with limited places to stay (the largest, Monterosa, is more of a resort and can be missed). The towns are all linked by trails that are easily hiked, about 10 kilometers of trail in all.
We arrived here yesterday morning after 1/2 day in Lucca, which, frankly, was 1/2 day too long. Lucca is pretty, with nice walls and all that, but enough already. We are just ready to be by the sea. So we arrived in the morning and as we were walking down the main street with our suitcases a little nona came up to us and said she had a room for us to look at with a sea view. Climbing not too many stairs we saw a very nice little room which indeed had a sea view and nothing below us, so no possible noise. Only 65 euros, which I think is a pretty good deal here,.
Vernazza is just so darned quaint. Except for the boatloads of tourists who unload here between 10am and 4pm, it is fairly quiet and not over run. For lunch we ate in a restaurant overlooking the town and had a frito misto (mixed fried fish), which included shrimp, squid, sardines and other assorted sea creatures.
Now about eating fried shrimp. All experienced fried shrimp eaters know that the best part is the head. Some people, no names mentioned here, will just not eat the head. But that leaves extra heads for those who are not squeamish about such things.
To get around these villages you can either hike or take the train. The train stops in each of the towns and leaves every half hour or so. So we took the train down to Riomaggiore, the southernmost town. This is a very narrow village that goes from the sea up about 300 feet.
We explored the town, saw some fisherman hanging out at the port, and then had our daily afternoon gelato. The pause that refreshes. From this town it is an easy 20 minute hike to the next town, Manarola. This turned out to be my second favorite town, after Vernazza, and the one with the best restaurant so far. We explored this town for an hour or so and then saw the sunset from the path that goes to the next town.
We had dinner in a restaurant right up from the port. It was across the street from the one that was "Raccomeded" by Rick Steves (according to the sign on the window), which Amy refuses to go to (in truth, everything there is 2 euros more then the one we went to). We had a great mixed seafood, trifie with pesto (pesto is from this region and trifie are these short, narrow noodles), stuffed clams, mixed salad and a walnut cake. This was all washed down with the local white, grown a few hundred meters up the hill. Mmmmmm-mmmmm good. We met some very nice young women from Slovenia who were at the table next to us. I had to admit I had no idea where Slovenia was, but in fact, it is only a five hour drive from here in the former Yugoslavia. They were very nice, but unfortunately for them they were staying in the dreary nearby town of La Spezia. After dinner we waddled to the train station and took the 10 minute ride back to Vernazza. The night was spent listening to the ocean waves banging against the cliff below our window.
This morning we woke up early and after a quick breakfast of capuccino and a croissant, were the first ones on the trail to Corneglia, a 2 hour or so hike south to the next village. This hike is a little harder, as it goes up about 700 feet. Amy has had a bum knee for awhile, but it seems to be getting better as she had very little trouble going up or down. The hike has a beautiful view of Vernazza and then goes into some pretty old olive groves.
And the nicest thing was being on the trail early in the morning, mostly in the shade, before the heat of the day sets in and before the hordes hit the trail. By the time we reached Corneglia, we only saw 8 or 10 other hikers. We had a nice little coffee in Corneglia and met a very nice Aussie couple, Richard and Laurie. We started talking politics, as Amy just assumes that everyone outside of the US is going to be an Obama supporter. But it turns out that Richard is more to the right, shall we say, and they had a nice and lively discussion. Richard is a very cool guy, even though he doesnt believe in global warming. They are in the Cinque Terre for 7 days, which gives plenty of time for hiking.
So this afternoon we will probably take a swim here in town and then have a nice fish dinner tonight. Tomorrow we plan on hiking way, way up to a village about 1300 feet up from the coast....Ciao!!!!
We arrived here yesterday morning after 1/2 day in Lucca, which, frankly, was 1/2 day too long. Lucca is pretty, with nice walls and all that, but enough already. We are just ready to be by the sea. So we arrived in the morning and as we were walking down the main street with our suitcases a little nona came up to us and said she had a room for us to look at with a sea view. Climbing not too many stairs we saw a very nice little room which indeed had a sea view and nothing below us, so no possible noise. Only 65 euros, which I think is a pretty good deal here,.
Vernazza is just so darned quaint. Except for the boatloads of tourists who unload here between 10am and 4pm, it is fairly quiet and not over run. For lunch we ate in a restaurant overlooking the town and had a frito misto (mixed fried fish), which included shrimp, squid, sardines and other assorted sea creatures.
Now about eating fried shrimp. All experienced fried shrimp eaters know that the best part is the head. Some people, no names mentioned here, will just not eat the head. But that leaves extra heads for those who are not squeamish about such things.
To get around these villages you can either hike or take the train. The train stops in each of the towns and leaves every half hour or so. So we took the train down to Riomaggiore, the southernmost town. This is a very narrow village that goes from the sea up about 300 feet.
We explored the town, saw some fisherman hanging out at the port, and then had our daily afternoon gelato. The pause that refreshes. From this town it is an easy 20 minute hike to the next town, Manarola. This turned out to be my second favorite town, after Vernazza, and the one with the best restaurant so far. We explored this town for an hour or so and then saw the sunset from the path that goes to the next town.
We had dinner in a restaurant right up from the port. It was across the street from the one that was "Raccomeded" by Rick Steves (according to the sign on the window), which Amy refuses to go to (in truth, everything there is 2 euros more then the one we went to). We had a great mixed seafood, trifie with pesto (pesto is from this region and trifie are these short, narrow noodles), stuffed clams, mixed salad and a walnut cake. This was all washed down with the local white, grown a few hundred meters up the hill. Mmmmmm-mmmmm good. We met some very nice young women from Slovenia who were at the table next to us. I had to admit I had no idea where Slovenia was, but in fact, it is only a five hour drive from here in the former Yugoslavia. They were very nice, but unfortunately for them they were staying in the dreary nearby town of La Spezia. After dinner we waddled to the train station and took the 10 minute ride back to Vernazza. The night was spent listening to the ocean waves banging against the cliff below our window.
This morning we woke up early and after a quick breakfast of capuccino and a croissant, were the first ones on the trail to Corneglia, a 2 hour or so hike south to the next village. This hike is a little harder, as it goes up about 700 feet. Amy has had a bum knee for awhile, but it seems to be getting better as she had very little trouble going up or down. The hike has a beautiful view of Vernazza and then goes into some pretty old olive groves.
And the nicest thing was being on the trail early in the morning, mostly in the shade, before the heat of the day sets in and before the hordes hit the trail. By the time we reached Corneglia, we only saw 8 or 10 other hikers. We had a nice little coffee in Corneglia and met a very nice Aussie couple, Richard and Laurie. We started talking politics, as Amy just assumes that everyone outside of the US is going to be an Obama supporter. But it turns out that Richard is more to the right, shall we say, and they had a nice and lively discussion. Richard is a very cool guy, even though he doesnt believe in global warming. They are in the Cinque Terre for 7 days, which gives plenty of time for hiking.
So this afternoon we will probably take a swim here in town and then have a nice fish dinner tonight. Tomorrow we plan on hiking way, way up to a village about 1300 feet up from the coast....Ciao!!!!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Alicante, at the Inn of the Rabbit
Wow, today was our favorite day in Italy ever. We have been really lucky to have found this area and pretty much by ourselves. from the time we left °Rick Steves favorite hill town° of Citiva di bagnoregio, at 2 pm yesterday, to the time we got back from a long adventurous day at 7 pm, we heard not a word of any word but Italian. then tonight we have maybe heard one word of American (but not sure) and we had some very discrete english couple who barefly muffled an audible word at our next table. We have really enjoyed being inside the community of weekend tourists from Rome, and then today and tonight, lots of locals, just sitting around enjoying the day.
Sitting around enjoying the day... if you are older than 50, you seem to be entitled to do just that. you could be chatting with your buds, or just whiling away the hours. we saw a nice old guy today with no obvious teeth, happily enjoying a gelato cone, in a little piazza with about 4 tables of locals, in a little hill town in the Maremma, Montemorano.
This area seems really lovely to us. There are woods, with second growth oak and chestnut and other hardwoods, often in what probably were fields a generation ago. but there are lots of nice fields, freshly ploughed, showing lots of the colors of the earth, everything from rich brown, to a very light grey, to yellow ochre color, orange and even rich red soils. Like paintbrush colors. This area is all volcanic, apparently millenia ago there were huge pyroclastic flows, leaving lots and lots of erodible tufa, so there are high plateaus, high ridges, deep gorges lined with yellow cliffs and lots of caves, and here and there, rolling farmland. lots of areas for agricultural crops which are all freshly ploughed now, and some sheep land and some grapes and some olives and some apple orchards. Really nice. There are a few hill towns, they are a really nice blend of the old and the new and hardly any have been °cutified° the way the more famous hill towns have been. When there are stores they are hardly aimed at hard core tourists, there are a few knickknack stores selling Etruscan pots and finely painted ceramics and linen clothes, but nothing makes you clutch your wallet and run the other way. There have been lots of tourists in 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s and the occasional great big busload but these are all Italian folks, with a mix of generations, so we have had nice times watching small clusters of older ladies having ice cream on one bench while all their menfolk hang out across the street, almost as if they dont know each other.
Tonight also in Pitigliano we got to sit out on one of the many small squares, having Punt e Mes to drink and sitting among all the local folks, of all ages, sitting, greeting each other, hugging so and sos little boy, and eating peanuts and whatever they want to drink. hardly drinking at all in fact just socializing in front of the local bar-cafe, and the local waitress seems not at all perturbed at everyone just hanging out at her place.
So about the title of todays blog. Alicante is a type of grape and we had an awesome wine, a 100% alicante grape Maremma Toscana IGT, made by a winery called Tenute Poggio al Tufo Tommassi, along with a Morellino de Scansano which is a famous °black° wine. both had really rich flavors, sorry I do not know how to explain wine flavors well, but really serene blend of rich flavors on the tonuge. and the Alicante was just a little bit bubbly when first opened. even though it is a red wine. It almost but not quite fizzed, it was not at all unpleasant.
Today Craig did a LOT of driving. in the morning we woke up and looked out our hotel window both ways along the cliffs of our hill town which were nicely lit in the first morning sun, then we went down the severe s shaped road to the base of the cliffs, looked up at the town and also saw all the many many little storage caves hand-hammered into the rock. some are small bodegas others are quite large enough for cars and some are humongous. some of these caves have been here since the ice age neolithic times. others were made and extended and carved by the Etruscans who were here from 900 bc or thereabouts til the Romans creamed them in bc 350, and they were good pals with the greeks so their funerary caves had greek columns and greek style carvings all over. a few are left. they also made these very unusual deep carved highways, like little roads 8 feet wide and lined by 30 foot cliff faces on both sides, hand pecked from the soft tufa rock, no one knows why, either for spiritual reasons or because they just liked being able to walk out of the sun. I am sure until very recently, everyone used donkeys to get around in these trails, but nowadays in Pitigliano, the only donkey you see is a bronze monument they put up to them, to remember how key they were to life here when life was hard and comforts were expensive and there were no motors. now there are lots of motors, in fact one of our favorite events at one hill town, Civita de Bagnoregio, was that although no cars go in and out of this town, and it has a very long staircase up to it, a motorbike can go in, and out, lickety split in a tight curvy stepped runway that I would never think to come up or down on a bike.
Anyway, about Craig and driving... we went from Pitigliano to Sovana, a pretty little town a little touristified,... then down a lot of vaguely labeled country roads, accidentally going up to another hill town we had NO intention of visiting, where about six farmers, taking a day off, enjoyed the sight of us u turning our little car and going back on down the hill.... then through at least two other yellow-orange hills towns on our way north to Scansano, where we went to the wine festival Craig has just been writing about... then back down to Montemoreno, where we saw the gumless old ice cream cone eater and also a very interesting group of 3 women, all about fifty, at least 2 looking like women of a certain profession, one with a very interesting top of the head ponytail which then cascaded down on her breast, of mixed very white and very black hair... and elaborate makeup with eyebrows only she herself could have invented, and a little black and white polkadotty outfit, tight pants and high heels. Then we went to a very famous little town, Saturnia, which has sulfury hot springs that cascade down like something out of Dr Seuss, only jam jam packed with swimmers... then over hills and down plateaus again back to pitigliano, and up to a really neat very ghosty hill town called Sorano which is so high up a cliff above its narrow gorged river, it is almost like being on the edge of the grand canyon.
When I first read about Pitigliano and its neighbor towns I expected something really crumbly and quaint, but its not like that. the towns have truly ancient centers, but they are well restored and laden with cool pots of flowers and herbs and lots of wrought iron. local folks look totally normal, the kids are riding the same bikes and scooters as american middle class kids, people dress fashionably, and the older ladies dont go around in black or anything like that, they wear nice flowered dressed and some elegant jackets and sweaters and it would be nice to talk with some of them, to find out howzit.
Sitting around enjoying the day... if you are older than 50, you seem to be entitled to do just that. you could be chatting with your buds, or just whiling away the hours. we saw a nice old guy today with no obvious teeth, happily enjoying a gelato cone, in a little piazza with about 4 tables of locals, in a little hill town in the Maremma, Montemorano.
This area seems really lovely to us. There are woods, with second growth oak and chestnut and other hardwoods, often in what probably were fields a generation ago. but there are lots of nice fields, freshly ploughed, showing lots of the colors of the earth, everything from rich brown, to a very light grey, to yellow ochre color, orange and even rich red soils. Like paintbrush colors. This area is all volcanic, apparently millenia ago there were huge pyroclastic flows, leaving lots and lots of erodible tufa, so there are high plateaus, high ridges, deep gorges lined with yellow cliffs and lots of caves, and here and there, rolling farmland. lots of areas for agricultural crops which are all freshly ploughed now, and some sheep land and some grapes and some olives and some apple orchards. Really nice. There are a few hill towns, they are a really nice blend of the old and the new and hardly any have been °cutified° the way the more famous hill towns have been. When there are stores they are hardly aimed at hard core tourists, there are a few knickknack stores selling Etruscan pots and finely painted ceramics and linen clothes, but nothing makes you clutch your wallet and run the other way. There have been lots of tourists in 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s and the occasional great big busload but these are all Italian folks, with a mix of generations, so we have had nice times watching small clusters of older ladies having ice cream on one bench while all their menfolk hang out across the street, almost as if they dont know each other.
Tonight also in Pitigliano we got to sit out on one of the many small squares, having Punt e Mes to drink and sitting among all the local folks, of all ages, sitting, greeting each other, hugging so and sos little boy, and eating peanuts and whatever they want to drink. hardly drinking at all in fact just socializing in front of the local bar-cafe, and the local waitress seems not at all perturbed at everyone just hanging out at her place.
So about the title of todays blog. Alicante is a type of grape and we had an awesome wine, a 100% alicante grape Maremma Toscana IGT, made by a winery called Tenute Poggio al Tufo Tommassi, along with a Morellino de Scansano which is a famous °black° wine. both had really rich flavors, sorry I do not know how to explain wine flavors well, but really serene blend of rich flavors on the tonuge. and the Alicante was just a little bit bubbly when first opened. even though it is a red wine. It almost but not quite fizzed, it was not at all unpleasant.
Today Craig did a LOT of driving. in the morning we woke up and looked out our hotel window both ways along the cliffs of our hill town which were nicely lit in the first morning sun, then we went down the severe s shaped road to the base of the cliffs, looked up at the town and also saw all the many many little storage caves hand-hammered into the rock. some are small bodegas others are quite large enough for cars and some are humongous. some of these caves have been here since the ice age neolithic times. others were made and extended and carved by the Etruscans who were here from 900 bc or thereabouts til the Romans creamed them in bc 350, and they were good pals with the greeks so their funerary caves had greek columns and greek style carvings all over. a few are left. they also made these very unusual deep carved highways, like little roads 8 feet wide and lined by 30 foot cliff faces on both sides, hand pecked from the soft tufa rock, no one knows why, either for spiritual reasons or because they just liked being able to walk out of the sun. I am sure until very recently, everyone used donkeys to get around in these trails, but nowadays in Pitigliano, the only donkey you see is a bronze monument they put up to them, to remember how key they were to life here when life was hard and comforts were expensive and there were no motors. now there are lots of motors, in fact one of our favorite events at one hill town, Civita de Bagnoregio, was that although no cars go in and out of this town, and it has a very long staircase up to it, a motorbike can go in, and out, lickety split in a tight curvy stepped runway that I would never think to come up or down on a bike.
Anyway, about Craig and driving... we went from Pitigliano to Sovana, a pretty little town a little touristified,... then down a lot of vaguely labeled country roads, accidentally going up to another hill town we had NO intention of visiting, where about six farmers, taking a day off, enjoyed the sight of us u turning our little car and going back on down the hill.... then through at least two other yellow-orange hills towns on our way north to Scansano, where we went to the wine festival Craig has just been writing about... then back down to Montemoreno, where we saw the gumless old ice cream cone eater and also a very interesting group of 3 women, all about fifty, at least 2 looking like women of a certain profession, one with a very interesting top of the head ponytail which then cascaded down on her breast, of mixed very white and very black hair... and elaborate makeup with eyebrows only she herself could have invented, and a little black and white polkadotty outfit, tight pants and high heels. Then we went to a very famous little town, Saturnia, which has sulfury hot springs that cascade down like something out of Dr Seuss, only jam jam packed with swimmers... then over hills and down plateaus again back to pitigliano, and up to a really neat very ghosty hill town called Sorano which is so high up a cliff above its narrow gorged river, it is almost like being on the edge of the grand canyon.
When I first read about Pitigliano and its neighbor towns I expected something really crumbly and quaint, but its not like that. the towns have truly ancient centers, but they are well restored and laden with cool pots of flowers and herbs and lots of wrought iron. local folks look totally normal, the kids are riding the same bikes and scooters as american middle class kids, people dress fashionably, and the older ladies dont go around in black or anything like that, they wear nice flowered dressed and some elegant jackets and sweaters and it would be nice to talk with some of them, to find out howzit.
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