Summer Dreams III: Toscana and Carezze d’Italia!

After a couple weeks of intense urban trekking, art-museum gawking, tapas-style dining, and verdejo wine imbibing in Madrid and Barcelona, what could be better than a relaxing first visit to the charms of the rolling hills of Tuscany? Si, perfetto! And what better way to immerse ourselves than finally completing our connection with Susanna Gianfermo and her husband, Giorgio, for a week of Carezze d’Italia—Caresses of Italy—at their Poderi in Chianti. Podere means, simply, a farm, and Susanna and Giorgio’s historic buildings had been peasant homes in the 1600’s that they lovingly restored to contemporary comfort while maintaining the pastoral simplicity of those times. As in, no air conditioning but delightful indoor coolness from the heavy stone walls kissed by cross-breezes through wide open screenless windows. Oh, yes!

We had made a serendipitous discovery of Carezze d’Italia—and Susanna and Giorgio—back in 2016 when we planned a trip based on a potential grant for teachers to immerse oneself in expanding their horizons and specifically not in the subject they teach. But Sarah was offered her current position at AISC in Chennai, so we of course had to change our 2017 summer plans and head to India instead!

At any rate, we had already connected with Susanna back then and even made a deposit which she graciously returned, saying “Forse in futuro . . . ?” Little did we expect to be able to live up to that promise so soon, until we decided to add a special dessert of the Tuscan countryside to our feast of the Iberian Peninsula this summer. It was wonderful to reconnect with Susanna and Giorgio and we couldn’t wait to hop into his zippy new Fiat 500L at the tiny Firenze airport and enjoy the winding country roads as we left the city behind.

Since we arrived in early afternoon, Susanna kept it simple as she served us a fresh pasta with grated parmigiano in our cozy apartment (the Ginestra) above their own, where, in times past, the livestock enjoyed the comforts of home. Of course, she encouraged us to open one of the dozen or so bottles of their own Poderi in Chianti . . . Chianti, what else? Conveniently racked in our living room, and a mere €6 a bottle, why not? Wow, and very, very good, too! Most evenings, though, we dined either on the terrace overlooking that header photo view, alone or with other guests, or in the lovely dining room of Susanna and Giorgio’s gracious flat.

As part of the Carezze experience, Sarah and I both got to learn the fine art of Tuscan cooking with Susanna for four different meals. She taught us—okay, Sarah actually learned while I took photos and tried not to look like I had ten thumbs—to make fresh pastas and how to differentiate the various shapes for specific textures of sauces and ingredients plus capturing the perfect al dente; how to use a mezzaluna without drawing blood; and the perfect dance of spices—usually a light step—to bring out the best in these simple yet tantalizing foods.

Of course, all was not relaxation, cooking, and wine tasting on the terrazzo, since we had Florence and the Ufizzi and the Tuscan hill towns to explore! Giorgio guided us on our first road trip to the many-towered medieval village of San Gimignano. Along the way, we stopped off to tour a pair of very different wineries—nearly all of them cultivate olive trees as well so they take pride in both products—where the commitment to tradition and progress seemed to go hand in hand. First stop was the newer Podere Erica, a biodynamic and organic farm where the vines were still relatively young and a bit cheeky. We got to check out the growth and pick up a few pointers from Marco Giordano, their Enologo, on judging the ripening process, then we toured the cellars and of course sipped a few of their offerings, mostly Sangiovese based and quite a delight.

Next, we visited a larger, more established winery, Fattoria Corzano e Paterno, where we toured the grounds and enjoyed a bit more of a tasting, including lovely cheeses as well as their oils and wines, taking in the early afternoon sun on another lovely terrazzo overlooking more of the ever charming countryside. Not a bad way to pass a midday in Tuscany, right? Sigh . . .

Comfortably relaxed after our mandatory tests of Chianti, we backtracked along the delightfully winding roads and I must admit I was jealous of Giorgio’s clear pleasure at guiding his road-hugging Fiat around all those curves! We headed south to San Gimignano where we explored the cobbled streets and crossed paths with historical characters and savored an al fresco pranzo (and another piccolo vino) on the Piazza del Cisterno followed by the “world’s best gelato.” Well, so far . . . Anyway, known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its competing tower houses, which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls, form an unforgettable skyline.

The next day, Susanna had arranged for us to do a walking tour of the heart of Florence with Gemma, a neighbor and dedicated guide who drove us into the city where we entered the Porta Romana and parked in the Oltrarno district on the north side of the Arno River. As we hoofed it toward the river, we stopped along the way to briefly admire the Boboli Gardens from a rooftop terrace and we took in a wide view of the famous Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiori and the Torre di Arnolfo that marks the Palazzo Vecchio in the heart of the Piazza della Signoria. We trekked on down to the Ponte Vecchio where we were swept in a rather mad rush through the guantlet of high-end jewel and exquisite leather and home-mortgage timepiece boutiques where you have no clue you’re actually on a bridge.

We crossed through the courtyard of the Uffizi Gallery to the Piazza della Signoria where so much history and so many famous sculptures stand ready for selfies. We did tour the Uffizi a few days later, and were immersed in not only the vast collection of Italian Renaissance art, but even more so the fascinating history of Florence and the Medici. After the ruling house of Medici died out, their art collections were gifted to the city of Florence under the famous Patto di famiglia. The gallery had been open to visitors by request since the sixteenth century, and in 1765 it was officially opened to the public.

But on this first visit to Florence, we covered the essential landmarks and were excited when Gemma shared with us a little known cafe, La Prosciutteria, where we actually found a table and thoroughly loved the sandwiches (see the photo below!) and of course some vino . . . Oh, and Venchi Gelato, truly, in our opinion, the best we’d had . . . at least that day.

After lunch we circled the beautiful Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, famous for its lofty duomo, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, as well as the intriguing bronze doors created by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Work started on the dome in 1420 and was completed in 1436. It was the first octagonal dome in history to be built without a temporary wooden supporting frame, and was one of the most impressive projects of the Renaissance.

The return to the Uffizi later in the week completed our repast of art museums, starting with the Louvre Abu Dhabi and enthralling us at Madrid’s golden triangle of the Prado, the Reina, and the Thyssen, then finishing with both the Picasso and Dali museums in Barca and Figueras. Fortunate we are, indeed.

As the week progressed, we loved the winning balance of assimilating unaccustomed sights and tantalizing flavors with the relaxation of Susanna and Giorgio’s podere in the quiet countryside. One of the week’s highlights proved to be an evening when they invited us to join them for a recital in the refectory at the ancient Benedictine Abbey at Badia a Passignano, about a half hour’s gentle drive from Noce. What a delight to meet some of their friends—virtually no one spoke much English so it was a wonderful bit of smiling and nodding on our part—and to listen to performances of Liszt, Brahms, and Debussy, by Shanghai born pianist Jin Ju, against the backdrop of a last supper fresco by Ghirlandaio painted in the 15th Century. It rather puts one in their place, doesn’t it?

The final outing to complete our Tuscan sojourn was a another road trip with Gemma, our guide, to Siena after a brief stop at another hill town, Monteriggioni. The morning light was perfect and we explored the tiny, nearly empty Monteriggioni village where the sunlight was the star of the show, then we moved on to one of the largest of the hill towns. We worked our way through Siena’s crowds and savored a relaxing pranzo at a cafe on the Piazza del Campo before trekking onward to the Duomo and other sights.

We were both taken by surprise at the vastness of Siena’s Piazza del Campo, as even Florence’s Piazza del Signoria was maybe a quarter of the size and was studded with iconic statuary. Here, the space was designed to hold thousands of spectators for the pair of annual Palio horse races, and it also sloped dramatically for drainage purposes, something most photos can’t communicate fully. We were also awed by the Duomo di Siena and the Campanile with its unique exterior pattern of light and dark marble that echoed the older church interior.

So, an ideal week for Sarah and me in the Tuscan sun, with country walks and historic discoveries and delicious fresh tastes and exquisite artwork, served up perfectly by our gracious hosts, Susanna and Giorgio, with their Carezze d’Italia. Summer, 2019, with Madrid, Barcelona, and then, Tuscany, e perfetto. But wait, we haven’t gotten to Amsterdam yet, right? Ma questa e un’altro storia . . .