Architectural Hiking/ Escursioni Architettonico: Part 1

      This cool idea came to mind sometime around Christmas 2013 and me, the master procrastinator, has just now found the inspiration and assembled photos to share in an interesting concept.... Since I love to hike and having lived in Costa Rica for 5 years now, I have seen my share of hikes in jungles, rivers, & mountains. The cruel thing about living in a place so packed with natural terrain and beauty there is a great absence of another great love of mine, ancient historical architecture. So, I figured why not combine the two concepts to exercise the body and mind simultaneously. Here, I offer you a visual presentation of architectural hiking we have experienced here in Italy. I hope you enjoy it!

VOLTERRA!!!

Volterra's Palazzo Priori: four stories of grandeur with grand staircases, trancept ceilings, Prior's quarters and a gorgeous belltower with views of the Tuscan hillsides below.

 ROMA!!!

Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome: The fortress orginally built for Harian's tomb, later a place of santuary for the Popes in times of siege, the pope could run through an adjointing wall connected to the Vatican (which still stands) to safety in this fortress which sits along the Tiber River. It has many interior levels and climbs with spectacular views of the city!

Lover's walk, Via dell'Amore, Cinque Terre-a trail set against the side of the mountain overlooking the Meditterranean Sea. Wonderful views of the 5 Italian rivera towns and the sea all around you.

 VENEZIA!!!

St. Mark's Cathedral, Doge's Palazzo & the belltower of St. Mark's, Venice. The catherdral is mesmorizing with the gold mosaic frescoed ceilings, relics from the crusades and an awkward, uneven climb of stairs to the balcony where you can view the original version of the horse sculptures that set atop of the facade outside and see the mosaics up close. The Doge's palazzo is equally amazing with many marbled sculptures of Roman gods, grand staircases, and Doge's quarters.

PISA!!!

The Leaning tower of Pisa. A climb of fun with lots of stairs and a funhouse feel as you ascend closer to the top, using walls to hold you up.

It's views of the Duomo and Piazza of Miracles and outward toward the Arno river are spectacular!

ROMA!!!

The Spanish steps in Rome afford you the ability to take in sightseers and locals enjoying life!

FIRENZE!!!!

The Duomo, Bell tower and Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze. We first took to the belltower( over 400 stairs), then a short break and then climbed to the top of the duomo up to the roof- such a spellbinding view of the city! Surely a cardio fix!  The Palazzo Vecchio, similar to many other bell towers in Tuscany. This one housed the Medici family. The place where Eleanor of Toledo, Spain hailed as a well-respected mother and Grand Duchess of Tuscany. Lots of stairs and a belltower view of the city as well.

SAN MARINO!!!

San Marino, San Marino!

A city-state that still separates itself from the rest of Italy with it's own government. It is comprised of a pristine city below with three ancient fortress/castles set atop high mountains that give you a view of the Adriantic sea.

One of the many outdoor sculptures in San Marino, this one spoke to me as they are libellulae,(dragonflies) my favorite! 

SAN GIMIGNANO!!!

One of San Gimignano's many towers built as a testament of city dweller's wealth and prominence. Medieval Manhattan is a favorite for many of our friends. To climb inside one takes a great deal of strength if you are fearful of heights. The stairscases lie around the exterior of the towers' walls and offer inerior views of great heights inside. With external views of the countryside, whew, I did it.

 ROMA!!!

About 17 years ago we visited Rome and  the entrances were quite different than today. They were an enter at your own risk, you had to climb the crumbled steps and hope you had two solid ankles at the end. Today, since the milenium celebratory(2000AD) renovations, it is quite an improved site. Still quite a site to know gladiators fought to the death and sea battles were staged below. All for entertainment of the masses! Perhaps, humanity has not changed so much?

And lastly, the first Medieval city that stole my heart! 13 Years ago, Bill took Grant and Liam up these stairs of Torre Mangia, beyond where I climbed these Esher-like stairs of monotony and to the top where the bell hangs. My view from the crinilations: rows of vineyards and olive orchards in the countryside were priceless.

We were so moved by the "Citta" that a year later when our daughter was born we gave her it's namesake:

SIENA!!!!

Lenten Sacrifices/ Sacrifici Quaresimali

       I sit here giggling and smiling because I am still here. It is the Lenten season in Toscana and I am sitting on a terrace overlooking a Medieval garden. It has been quite a while since I last tuned in and what I am saying sounds much like words used when visiting your priest for confession: "bless me father for I have sinned...." I think my Roman Catholicism is showing! But, what I am about to tell you may be the cruelest joke of all jokes, the ultimate of sacrifices in the breadbasket of the world. While I was away from the writer's chair, It seems life and circumstances caught up with me. I, Lynore Soffer, the biggest proponent of not being a "cry baby" or complainer, has developed a gluten allergy. Insert frown face emoticon here. It seems I overdid it!
     It was late January and I discovered that my limbs started to hurt. Yes, all four. but not a sore limb thing from exercising or lifting heavy objects from moving house, no, no. The kind of pain that became progressively worse as time went on. It eventually lead to sleepless nights, worrisome days and a lot of time laying in bed as I felt best when I could rest. I finally could not take it anymore and with the aid of my supportive husband, we walked down to the hospital Emergency room. After a 30 minute wait, (socialized medicine at it's best) we were brought in for me to have my vitals taken: normal blood pressure, normal heart rate, coagulation tests passing, so what was going on? My legs were like lead rocks being dragged along. The emergency room and local medical examiner referred me for more blood test in Pisa (90 minutes away). In the meantime, I began research of my own, speaking to friends about their illness experiences to see if I was on the trail of something scary. I thought I was dying!
    My sweet friend, Anna Gutkina, a breast cancer survivor, suggested I try WEB MD for a symptom review...everything pointed to a vitamin D deficiency - muscular aches and strong pains etc. Then, another friend, Jude Gladstone Cade ( ironically another cancer survivor), sent a general message on facebook the 5 hidden symptoms of a gluten allergy. I discovered, I had 4 of the five...the 4th being a rash of raised bumps on my hands, arms and legs. So, even before my blood tests in Pisa,  I stopped all gluten ingestion, I did a quick internet look up of naturally occurring gluten in many foods and straight up eliminated them. Within 3 days my pain and rashes were gone!!! I also paid a visit to the local pharmacy and loaded up on other minerals,vitamins and supplements which I knew I needed: A multivitamin, an adrenaline modifier, Magnesium and Iron.  The day prior to my blood tests, We visited Viareggio, the beach side town here in Tuscany known for it's Carnevale celebrations. We all as a family, danced and sang in the streets. I ironically had  a new destiny of a pasta and bread-filled diet to relinguish on the eve of the Catholic season of  sacrifice. A diet change, a lifestyle change. All for the will to live pain free and more healthy. I was grateful for the new lease on life and the chance to keep myself whole for my family. It helped me to recognize what is important for living: being present in each day's unfolding wonders and listening to the messages my body and the world around me are there to communicate. A huge gift! And now, to continue my writing, a love of mine lost in the shuffle of regaining health and balance. Felice Primavera!

Tuscan Familiarity/ La Familiarità Toscana - a visit to Chianti for wine tasting!

The seasons are turning and the time has come for peonies to begin opening their buds, Magnolia trees pouting with color and various cherry trees announcing their joy with cute pom-poms of white. The Tuscan rolling hills are green once again and Spring, the season called Primavera is poised to explode with the richness and bounty of produce we have come to savor and love. 

So, here we are braving chilly, rainy, spring-like weather in the town of Volterra, the longest continuously occupied city in all of Tuscany, dated to time-frame prior to the Etruscans, about 1500 B.C. Bill, my husband, runs to school to pick up our daughter, Siena, at 1pm (dismissal time) only to come home with the news that our first local friends here were inviting us along on a visit to two wineries to taste some of their new vintages as now is the time when they are introduced to the sommeliers for the new season...all near a town named Greve in Chianti. I was overjoyed as we came to know these friends 

by watching youtube prior to arriving in Italy.  Surely, it sounds like stalking but we did not see it that way. We consider ourselves friendly and after watching an abbreviated version of a local Volterran city tour, it became obvious that this  presentation was conducted by a professional couple who had a great deal of knowledge and respect for antiquity. We were jazzed.  This special couple is Annie Adair & Francesco Gronchi. She, the US-born, licensed tour guide of Volterra and he the native-born Volterran, a graduate level historian-turned sommelier. Together, they own a business called Tuscan Tour. They plan weddings, special events, winery tours & tastings, cooking classes, plus special events. All this we discovered after we were so forward as to contact them and find a way to meet up and talk. Our meeting turned into lunch at their family home and learning the unfiltered ways of navigating the town. We are ever grateful to know them.

So, where is Greve in Chianti? About an hour and 15 minute drive from Volterra and it is located north central of this famous wine region.  We made our first stop at a lovely, organic family farm (podere) named Terre di Melazzano which sells direct to the public. It is a winery which prides itself on its practices of conservation and self-sustainability. They have solar energy panels in use and produce some wines which are "senza" (approx. 99% without) sulfides.

 Beautiful pastoral views beyond the winery...

A variety of different methods used in wine storage and fermentation: stainless steel, glazed concrete & oak wood barrels.

We had the opportunity to meet the wine owner, Chiara Falciani, who discussed their wine processes and methodologies. We had a few tastings later and selected three of their wines to take home, one of which is of a low-sulfide content. Cannot wait to try it!

Next, we were off to another specialized winery called La Cinciole Podere. A high-quality winery which takes great time and care to hand mix their grape skins and sediment within the barrel so as to produce the rich color of their chianti classico, Le Cinciole  & their reserve, Petresco.

  We had the pleasure of meeting the owners: Luca & Valeria Orsini. Valeria was gracious in showing us the methodologies in making a top notch chianti classic & reserve.

 

 while on the way to Le Cinciole, Francesco explained that the rock, Shale (roccia scistosa), was responsible for the growing pattern of the grapes roots and partly responsible for it's unique flavor in their Sangiovese wines.

 

            Once our visit was complete, Annie & Francesco suggested an extraordinary place to go eat lunch, just down the lane in Panzano! The restaurant was called Antica Macellaria Cecchini ! From beginning to end it was a great experience. Huge, almost Texas-style portions of various meats from a world renowned butcher or Macellaria: Dario Cecchini... straight from his butcher shop below to the open-fire griddle in the dining room, added touches from the back kitchen and BOOM!! to your table with extraordinary presentation and flavor! Dario had his own brand of big in introducing himself to the dining room: a duel-belled horn blowing with his arms open wide while saying  "Benvenuti!!!" We felt happy and excited to be there! We'll be back with the kids!

  

A HUGE announcement of  the fired-cooked, thick, specialty, Florentine steaks!!!

My lunch- the MAC Dario- a cornmeal encrusted filet with rosemary and sage fries... don't forget the sauces.., no ordinary ketchup and mayo...a surprise is inside those ordinary bottles.  Scrumptious!

 Bill's Lunch: a variety of tastes...filet tar-tar with lemon, & pork three ways...pork loaf with spiced, orange chutney, Tuscan "tuna"... a pulled pork with capers, and roasted pork infused with thee flavors of sage and rosemary. let's not forget the cannelloni beans at the center in a seasoned extra-virgin olive oil with sage. SO glad I got to taste each sampling, thanks Bill!

 In all, we had a terrific time and we are proud to say we know and have met some pretty fabulous Tuscans...above all, we are grateful for the opportunity to learn, eat, & grow in the company of friendly, fun-loving people!

Should you desire to visit Tuscany, especially Chianti & Volterra... please contact our new sweet friends Francesco Gronchi & Annie Adair- they are top notch! Visit their site!

www.tuscantour.com

Gratitude/Gratitudine

      We woke up this morning to one of the strangest things. It had been raining heavily all night, a continuation of the steady rains we had been experiencing for the past 4 days. Our daughter, Siena, readied herself for school in her normal happy way; dancing and singing. We stumbled around in our usual way being as sleep deprived as life permits. We rushed our daughter off, arriving just inside the ancient, over-sized school doors as the church bells chimed to recognize the 8am hour. Bill, my husband, reached for his phone on his way home after receiving a text message from a friend. She was contacting us to notify us that her son would not need to come to our house after school like we had planned because school was cancelled for the day. You see, part of the medieval wall that eventually connects to Porta dell'Arco, a treasured Estrucan doorway,  FELL. Thus, leaving 12 families without homes and a few businesses without clients to enter into and exit from safely. The earth softened and loosened beneath a road that had existed for ages. It was a landslide. The wall tumbled below to a depth of more than 30 feet. The miracle of it all is that it occurred in the night and no one was harmed. The buildings still stand like they are glued at a cliff's edge. If you were inside and opened your door to exit, you would plunge into treetops which stand above once beautiful pathways and shaded stairways. Below that, is the main thoroughfare. The road was closed and huge ancient stones, rock and rubble lined the path and pushed into the road. They surely would have killed someone had this happened during daylight hours.
      As the day went on, I ventured out in the misty rains to buy some much needed items for an upcoming dinner I was planning. I asked shop keepers how they felt about the landslide and tried to discuss how much of a sad event it was. And most, if not all of them, shrugged their shoulders. None of them expressed shock or despair over their treasured wall that had held their ancestors in... especially in those extraordinary 5 years when they were continuously held under siege by the Florentines/Medicis.  I am a visitor and had enough shock for all of them. Perhaps, since no one was hurt, they were taking a healthy attitude. So long that everyone was safe then, the wall can someday be rebuilt. Hmmm. Then it hit me. These were Volterrans I was speaking to. They are survivors, It is in their blood. Descendants of Etruscans and Romans. They already know destruction by lay of the land that their city sits upon. Volterra, or it's original spelling; Velathri which means flying land. The city, when the fog rolls in, is covered at it's base, the deep valleys below. Causing the city to look as though it is floating in the air, a very mystical sight to see. Thinking about it now, Volterra has been active for over 3000 years and experienced many landslides and sinking land formations called Balze. This morning was nothing different. The emergency crews rolled in to assess damage,  repelled down the remaining walls to determine the next steps. I suppose this is the exact same feeling Costa Ricans feel when an earthquake rolls in, just another day in the life.

     Thinking back to the day prior, Our daughter was gathering all the receipts, tickets, pamphlets, guides, and natural mementos from our travels here in Italy so far. It was ironic, she began working on a scrapbook because she wanted to remember all of her experiences. There was so much that we experienced together, some forgotten and here she had her own relics like chronological bread crumbs that lead to where we are right now: protected within the medieval walls. She is expressing gratitude for her experience. Even with the fallen wall, she feels secure and wants to celebrate her acquired language, strong friendships and culture of this ancient town. I remain astonished at how much we've changed thus far and how much more we still need to share. I fill myself with gratitude right this second that we are safe, surrounded by love of family and friends and living out something that we are still not realizing it's impact as yet. As days roll in and out, and as I walk these streets and touch these stone walls while hearing familiar conversation, I keep reminding myself how much we are going to miss living here once we leave. I try to treasure and savor every experience as deeply as I can so that my heart can pour it all out and keep me solid on the day that we head out of town into the sunset for the last time.

Serendipita/ Seredipity

     Wow, time truly flies when you are living out your life in the routine of things. Christmas was just here and New Year's eve is a day away! We have been invited to two New Year's dinners here in town followed by a grand community celebration in Piazza Priori, the city center of Volterra. We have local friends asking us to stay and friends from Costa Rica wondering when we will ever return. We are still totally loving our experience here in Tuscany and were reminded yesterday to hold the present moment in high regard. It is most important!
    Out of whim, we decided to head out to a seaside city named Piombino, just to get out of town. It had been suggested to us many times by a friend who lives nearby the city. When we arrived, we were amazed by so much. It has stone fortress walls and a castle that sit high above a beautiful sea view, majestic! It is a station for ferry boats to islands near and far: Elba and Sardinia. Cool to know as we may embark on a trip to these locations sometime in the near future.

a mosaic in accents of gold above the local Chiesa (church) doors

Piombino' s city walls overlooking the Mediterranean Sea (my photo)

Castle wall crest symbolizing the Piombino Octopus (Polpo) sea serpent

Castello walls

     We arrived into town very hungry, nothing new. We then proceeded to do what most Americans do...expect restaurants to be open after the midday meal time 3:30pm. We knew better, it was the end of Pomeriggio (afternoon). Pranzo (lunch) had been served at all restaurants and kitchens were closing until 7:30pm, the time of cena (dinner). We decided to do the Mary, Joseph and Jesus routine and go from place to place begging for someone to take us in for a meal. The cold weather helped boost the effect of this desperately hungry family. After being rejected by two restaurants, we walked a little while and came across a quaint Osteria named Mangiafoco. It had a presence of comfort when we walked in. The chef was sitting there, dressed in his white, customary clothing joined by friends and family finishing up a meal. We felt like we were intruding but asked anyway. Bill asked, "Sua restaurante Aperto?" as he was asking, I stood behind him in full site of the Chef and his company miming the universal begging motions: hands in prayer position, face falsely sad and needy, mouthing please in English. They all laughed and smiled at us. The Chef, whom seemed very kind looked at us with love. He paused and gave us a discerning gazed for a while (We felt like we were pawns going to the highest bidder somehow)...then, he smiled and asked "Cuanti personi Ci sono?" We looked at each other and said in unison, "quattro!" with excitement. He motioned to his waiter, give them a seat, fresh bread, water and white wine. We were elated and relieved! Hunger would soon be satiated.

The waiter, a young man of 23 years whom we later came to know as Walid (known by his friends as Beppe) spoke English wonderfully and helped to interpret so many things we wanted to express. Walid is from Morroco and is well loved and trusted by the owner/chef. He turned to us and asked us, "what will you have: meat or fish?" we all called out..."fish" in delight of the fresh meal we were about to have without a menu in sight!  The Owner and Chef, a tall, robust man with curly hair and a beard came to our table and told us in his best English; " You are a lucky family!" we smiled and agreed with him having gratitude in our hearts. He then whisked himself off to the kitchen after he said goodbye to his friends.

Before we knew it, Walid was returning to the table with a bounty of food. He explained this was a short cut of the menu but we felt like it was more than we could have ever imagined. The first plate was that of Octopus, seared and presented over extra-virgin olive oil. It was seasoned in such a way to taste the sweetness of the sea and the spice of the terrain. Walid explained it was the specialty of the house. The region's famed fruit of the sea. Delicious!

Next came breaded and fried local fish with homemade potato chips with lemon then, bruschetta topped with roasted tomato, octopus, spices and flavors...delectable!

Piombino fish 'n chips

Bruschetta

Then, Walid brought out seasoned,breaded mussels on the halfshell, a sweet and simple but tasty addition to the table.

Once we were devouring everything and enjoying the many tastes of the sea, the Owner/Chef appeared from the kitchen and introduced himself. Daniele! He went on to explain that his family is much like ours by mentioning his wife is African, from Congo. And the very cute children we saw in and out of the restaurant were his children. We became instant friends! He asked where we were from insisting I was Costa Rican, although not an insult, it was not so accurate. He plated one last item to join the table. He called it "Stock fish" served warm with a tomato base almost like a stew cooked together with potatoes, large black olives and seasonings. We were well fed!

Daniele came out to the dining area to join us while snacking on a piece of proscuitto. He explained so much in Italian that we could understand and with what we could not, Walid helped us. He told us his restaurant was young. That he was a chef for 25 years at many other local restaurants and he finally opened Mangiafoco only a year ago. He explained that the "restaurant" was an Osteria: a place where there neighborhood comes and eats in the dining area, the kitchen is behind and the family's home is behind that. The place was a former neighborhood wine shop (cascavino) where locals came to hang out and drink wine, play cards, and socialize. He keeps the memory alive by inviting the remaining locals who always enjoyed visiting the cascavino to continue to come and be comfortable, much like the way ancient church sites come to be in present day: they change the faith over the centuries but the location for meeting never changes, a wonderful compromise of love.

A sweet anecdote: Daniele explained that the namesake of his restaurant was based on the character from Pinocchio: Mangiafoco (fire-eater). Mangiafoco was the evil puppeteer who controlled Pinocchio who had run away from home. Daniele was saying he resembles the character. To emphasize his point more, he described himself as Barbarosso. The legenary, Italian, red-bearded pirate. Come to think of it, he was quite accurate, except for the evil part!

Mangiafoco!

     By dinner's end, Daniele had begun talking about his family recipes and the friends whom were regular visitors. He showed us pictures of his family and friends some living, some whom passed on. He asked Walid to run to the kitchen because he wanted to share some local soft parmesan cheese and a sweet, Sangiovese wine his friend makes just for him. His friend uses Sangiovese grapes but harvests them later in November and brings them to wine without aging. Definitely like a dessert wine but of dark red coloring. The flavor resembling ice wine we've tasted in Canada. As we enjoyed the pairing, Daniele sat down and referenced his favorite music playing in the background on the stereo system. Then, out of nowhere, he breathes deeply and breaks into Operatic song. His voice was without training but naturally beautiful, robust. Daniele blushed a little bit but he wanted to serenade us, make us his friend. We sat in amazement, captivated. We told him he should be an Opera singer but he said " no , no I like Pavarotti,but no, I am a chef, not a singer." We understood his Italian clearly by this time.

    After dinner, he ran to the kitchen this time bringing back in a stainless steel container, a live eel. His friend he named Capitano! He showed us that he could be a sweet soul who did not make every sea animal into dinner. His plan, to release Capitano into the river when the temperature got warmer, until then, he would continue to feed him worms and give him shelter. Very sweet. We left Daniele and Walid with hugs and handshakes and exchanged contact information to meet up again. Daniele gave Siena an old photo: a black and white of Piombino's coastline and he wrote her a message to keep as a souvenir. A definite item to cherish and include in her scrapbook for this year.

Il Capitano the Eel!

The Piombino Coastline and Elba Island in the distance

        

     message reading: for Siena, a friend of Mangiafoco with much good and friendship

Daniele & Bill!

Liam & Walid!

Just goes to show you that with hope, love and awareness of the present moment comes sweet serendipity beyond your wildest dreams! We just made lifelong friends and are very grateful!

Happy New Year, 2014, my friends!