Italian vocabulary for today (with apologies to my friends fluent in Italiano!): al fresco = eating outside, alta = high, arrivederci = goodbye, bassa = low, cinghiale = wild boar, con = with, del = of the, di = of, e = and, giorno = day, grazie = thank you, noci = nuts, nuova = new, palazzi = palaces, pappardelle = wide & flat pasta, patate = potatoes, piatti = dishes, podere = farm, pomodoro = tomato, porta = door, ristorante = restaurant (an easy one), spinaci = spinach (another easy one) & via = street
We’re here in Tuscany staying at our friends Steve & Hayley’s fabulous Tuscan home which is part of a former podere in Gambassi Terme & lies about half way between San Gimignano & Volterra, my favorite town in Tuscany. This former podere is situated on a hilltop with marvelous views of the countryside to include Volterra in the distance. Grazie, Steve & Hayley!
For dinner on our first evening we returned to Antico Borgo Ristorante in Iano where we reconnected with friendly owners Mauro & Marisa & Chef Omar. Antico Borgo can be found on Facebook for those of you with a Facebook account. Our favorite dishes, grilled chicken & pappardelle con cinghiale, were as delicious as ever. We met new server Luca, a delightful young man who studied Chinese & English at University & his excellent English was impressive. We Americans really must do better at learning foreign languages as the people here often study several languages & readily converse in them. We had to wait for another day to see Erica, our lovely server from past visits. We’ll be returning to Antico Borgo several more times during our stay here & will write more about Antico Borgo & the wonderful people there including Mauro & Marisa’s daughter Sandra.
Volterra, my favorite town in Tuscany deserves a post of its own so stay tuned for more about the fascinating & historic Volterra.
We spent Saturday exploring Colle di Val d’Elsa, a beautifully preserved medieval town & known for its production of lead crystal. Like most, if not all towns in this region, Colle has an Etruscan history. There is an Archaeological Museum in town which I plan to explore in a few days. Colle is located on a hill nearby the River Elsa & its name means “on the hill above the valley of the River Elsa.”
There is free parking at the base of Colle & you walk up to the massive & impressive Porta Nuova to enter Colle. The narrow street is lined with beautiful palazzi from the 15th century.
The shape of Colle reminds me of a two-humped camel as two of its sections (Colle alta & Colle bassa) are separated by a tiny valley & you have to walk across a stone bridge to reach Colle alta.
The via Francigena, the medieval route used by religious pilgrims traveling from Canterbury to Rome includes Colle on its path. John & I were visiting Colle not for religious purposes but to explore its beautiful streets & buildings & I will confess, for the food so we searched out a place for lunch.
Lucky us for we found Officina della Cucina Popolare & lunched al fresco. Lorenzo, our server, was a very pleasant & professional young man who helped us interpret the menu. We each had a piatti del giorno – gnocchi di patate al muffone e noci for me & John had the gnudi ricotta e spinaci al pomodoro. The food in Tuscany is divine! A good ristorante will only serve what is in season & will use locally sourced ingredients when possible.
A class of young school children was on a tour of Colle & it was enjoyable watching & listening to the teacher as she talked to them about the Cathedral of Saints Alberto & Marziale. She was so animated in her talk & the children seemed to be happy to be out & about in Colle. But then, weren’t we all happy to be on a day trip & not in the classroom, even the teachers?
Okay, so when you subscribed to this blog you didn’t expect homework, did you? There will be no homework nor quizzes but I did think that you might enjoy picking up a few Italian words now & then. Listing the Italian vocabulary for the day also helps me to improve my Italian language skills. Perhaps you can quiz me on the Italian vocabulary when I return home!
Arrivederci for now e grazie for reading my blog.
I enjoyed this so much! Thanks for knowing just how to engage readers in your wonderful journey! And John’s photographs are the perfect accompaniments to your engaging text! Brava! Bravo!