April was an exciting month (and it is always a personal favorite) because I had some very special visitors. The whole family (and Antonio) made it out for 2 weeks of amazing-ness! It was great having everyone here, even if at times I didn’t think we’d survive with 4 people in our little apartment with one bathroom. Daniela and Anthony stayed next to Picchi house at “Casa Pucci”.
Some highlights of their visit:
*A trip to Carrara in the northern part of Tuscany to visit a white marble cava (quarry). We had a great tour guide who showed us the ins and outs of his small family run quarry. It was really incredible. With only three people (him, his father and his uncle) working, they had quite an impressive amount of marble to show. He showed us how they worked the marble in the past and it was quite an interesting story. We learned about how Michelangelo got his marble, where it came from, etc, etc. After the tour, we went up the hills a little more to a tiny tiny town called Colonnata (maybe, I’m not positive!). The area of Carrara is famous for two things – marble and lardo. So, having explored the marble quarry, we headed to lunch in search of some lardo. And yes, we found it! Lunch consisted of antipasti (thinly cut meats including proscuitto, salami and of course lardo! All of our meals were amazing – homemade tordelli, fresh fettuccine ai funghi, and risotto with lardo and some veggies that was a bit spicy. It was all delicious.
Lunch in Colonnata - Risotto con zucchine e lardo (above) and fettucine with mushrooms (below)
White Marble - Carrara
*The following weekend, I had organized a visit to a small vineyard in Chianti that I had visited with mom, dad, Gail and Derek, the summer after I studied abroad. I stayed in contact with the owner, Fernando, and we had been emailing back and forth to organize a big lunch/wine tasting on the Saturday before Easter. I was worried that it might rain that weekend, but we were lucky with a really perfect day. The tiny picturesque town of Montefioralle is in Greve in Chianti, South of Firenze. It is a tiny town set atop a hill with old stone buildings and a wonderful church. The hill is surrounded by vineyards, one of which, is owned by Fernando and his family. So, everyone met at the Picchi house, 24 family and friends, and caravanned to Montefioralle. After a quick stroll around town, we made our way to Fernando’s vineyard where he had prepared a beautiful table outside with an amazing view of the town, vineyards and sweeping Tuscan hillside. We sampled 5 different red wines that wine along with our antipasti misti, homemade lasagna, and a tasty bbq (prepared in his wood oven outside) complete with chicken, ribs, potatoes and of course salad and bread. The meal was finished with a sampling of his own Vin Santo (Gaily’s favorite) and dessert. It was a really beautiful day complete with friends, family, good food, great wine and a gorgeous backdrop. I couldn’t ask for anything more.
*Eduardo, Daniela and Anthony left on birthday (sad, but true), which landed on Pasquetta this year, or the day after Easter. It is a holiday in Italy, so I happily spent my day off with my parents! My friend Tucker was also visiting that weekend. For my birthday dinner, we went to Eugenio’s (my dad’s best friend from growing up and my adopted Uncle) house. He owns a small farm complete with veggies and some grapes for his homemade red wine. He also is the proud owner of pioppini, a type of local mushroom which he prepared into a delish pasta for our primo. He had just gone fishing recently and was excited to prepare some anguille fritte. Anguilla is a type of eel, I have no idea what the name is in English, but they are really small when fried and extremely tasty. So, his friend took up a giant pan and started deep-frying away! It was a great birthday dinner!
