In 2001, we spent Paul’s first sabbatical in Italy (5 weeks total). Below is the second in a series of three recaps he wrote about our trip.

[Written by Paul, edited by Kathy]

Week Two was mellower than Week One. We took only a few day trips and just relaxed at the villa for a stretch. I did some biking (next post: the Italian Biking Update). Kathy’s parents took a side trip to one of their favorite countries, Slovenia, and returned with good friends Mojca and Alesh, as well as Slovenian cheese, proscuitto and wine. Our friend, Rachel, also stayed for a few days.

The end of Week Two was accompanied by change. We said goodbye to Mojca, Alesh, Rachel, Patti, Paul, Rita, Woody, Florence, and our villa in Malmantile. We said hello to the hills of Lucca, Villa Al Carli, owner Monica Ferrucci, as well as our friends Robin, Ruth, Nicholas, Schuyler and Erna van den Nieuwenhuizen and Brett, Larisa, and Aiden Sheckler. We were happy to have Kathy’s parents to help us move from villa to villa. Our kids and clothes filled one car and supplies filled the other! We took a scenic route to the town of Valgiano, passing through Vinci (where ‘Leonardo da’ called home) and Pescia (where 2/3 of Italy’s flowers are grown).

Al Carli

Perched on a hill overlooking vineyards, olive groves, rolling hills and the valley surrounding Lucca, Al Carli is a villa that was once owned by director David Lean. He died before beginning any restoration work and Monica purchased it a few years ago. Along with her parents, she remodeled it with loving care and a keen eye for interior design. It has three separate sleeping areas united by a central courtyard that is adorned with clay pots overflowing with geraniums, jasmine, petunias, roses and pansies. Each room is uniquely appointed and painted, complete with tasteful antique furniture and hand-stenciled borders. Monica loves animals and tends to two friendly dogs, two cats, three horses, and perhaps 10-20 birds. This beautiful villa is so peaceful and serene, at least for the normal clientele. To those who arrive with five kids under 4 years of age, normal has a broader interpretation. Good days became those days when the kids slept past 7am, did not arrive in “time-out” prior to 9 am, and willingly shared their toys 20% of the time! Great days were those when the kids were in bed by 8pm so the exhausted adults could enjoy the sunset, some adult conversation, Monica’s fabulous cooking and many, many bottles of wine.

While a river gravel pathway from the parking area to the villa entrance is aesthetically pleasing to most people, any male under the age of five views it as an infinite source of stones to be thrown! We originally prohibited the throwing of stones, then progressed to outlawing the dropping and kicking of them. Finally, the movement of any stone with any body part resulted in an immediate “time-out!” Fortunately, there were plenty of toys at the boys’ disposal to distract and diffuse their addiction to and affection for the rocks. We converted the exterior patio overlooking Lucca into a large Gymboree where they could play. This functioned well, but our wayward cherubs did not as easily accomplish sharing their toys. The hot toys were the unique ones, as Murphy’s Law would have it. Fortunately, we had two each of the most popular trucks and fire fighter backpacks. Over the course of two weeks, though, our little ones became quite attached to each another and to baby Schuyler, Robin and Ruthie’s six month old Madonna-with-the-Billy-Idol hair. Dane was particularly interested in entertaining her with a wide but repeating selection of sounds and facial expressions. Aiden and Tate were more interested in each other than the baby, and Nicholas marched to his own drum, able to play independently for hours and shriek like a motion sensor alarm if another child came within three feet of his toys!

Getting Along

Nine adults and five children can provide an interesting dynamic. When we planned two weeks for three families at Al Carli, we knew sharing a house would work but had no idea how. Who would want which room? What about the separate apartments? Would the kids fight? Would anyone sleep from jet lag? What would we do for food and meals?

Fortunately, everyone was amazingly accommodating and we had an awesome time! Perhaps it was the bottle of 16-year old single malt scotch that we found for $20 and Robin poured like red wine the first night we arrived. Or perhaps it was the serenity that came over us as we admired the view from our villa day and night. We don’t know, but the two weeks flew by quickly. The major decisions we had to make involved whether to cook ourselves or have Monica cook, which wine to have before and during dinner, and what dessert to enjoy. As luck would have it, we worked our way through most of Monica’s amazing menu selections, more than one bottle of wine was needed at each meal so everyone’s desires were easily accommodated and we opened both the vanilla wafers and the chocolate-covered cookies since there were nine adults to finish them off. The only real strife we experienced was the post-dinner music selection. The women were stuck on the hits of the 80s, the men wanted to hear B-sides, and Robin only wanted Jimmy Buffett. And we wonder why our kids have trouble sharing? They come by it honestly!

Getting Out

Since the Besser clan had done way too much travelling during the first two weeks, we decided to stay close to home for a couple of days. We hung out by the villa’s pool and managed short trips to Lucca, Collodi, Bagni di Lucca, Carrara, and Abetone. Lucca is a cute little city enclosed by a huge wall that was largely built under the aegis of Napoleon’s sister. Collodi was also only minutes from our villa and contained some beautiful formal gardens and Pinocchio Park (too scary for our kids, go figure). Bagni di Lucca is north of Lucca in the mountains and contains natural mineral springs as well as a very large grotto (cave) that we toured. Dane and Tate both loved the grotto. Tate, perhaps inspired by the quietness, whispered the whole time and Dane, our brave little spelunker, walked the length of the cave on his own. Carrara, northwest of Lucca, is where marble is mined and made into tiles, slabs, and miscellaneous tourist tchotckes such as corkscrews and wine stoppers. It is very much a working tourist town, as evidenced by the multitude of trucks driving through with 12x12x6 blocks of marble on their beds. Paul went to Abetone by bike to see and ride the first major climb of the Giro d’Italia. Abetone is 80 km north of Lucca.. The area was gorgeous, resembling the scenery along the Sierras – mountainous terrain, clear water creeks, and clean, clean air.

As a group of 14 people (in three cars), we visited Colle Val d’Elsa, the playscape in downtown Lucca (multiple times), and Castellina in Chianti. Colle Val d’Elsa is a quiet little town of mostly glass factories located between Siena and San Gimignano. Since it is so small, it does not appear on the radar of most tour groups, which is a good thing. We all succumbed to the effects of the beautiful glasswork and the strong dollar and bought crystal wine decanters, olive oil dispensers, pasta bowls, or liquor bottles. Castellina in Chianti is a small town in the Chianti region. We were attracted by its beautiful countryside, a restaurant written up in Wine Spectator, and the prospect of some mildly serious wine tasting. The restaurant, Albergaccio di Castellina, was outstanding, but cranky children cancelled the wine tasting for us.

The women also got away for a day at a local spa. The brochure looked great but the reality was quite different. Ruthie appropriately renamed it “The Communist Spa” and compared the ambiance to that of a 1950’s psychiatric ward in a geriatric hospital. Kathy noted that they used actual toothbrushes on her face and played loud Eurotrash disco music during her (unrelaxing) facial. Ruthie laughed at the meager selection (three) of nail polish colors available for her manicure, and all of them had a vastly mediocre experience. The men had a good time with the kids, though.

Separately, the van den Nieuwenhuizens and the Shecklers visited San Gimignano, Siena, Pisa, Pistoia, and Firenze. Tracy broke away to Rome and returned with her friend, Amanda. Kathy and Paul busted away ‘senza bambini’ for two nourishing, romantic days. One was spent touring the Chianti region and tasting wines in Greve, Rada, and Castellina. Actually, wine tasting is a misnomer. Most places only taste a single wine, their youngest Chianti. Yum, yum. But we did see the villa where “Much Ado About Nothing” was filmed and (reportedly) Mona Lisa was born. Needless to say, it was a very romantic day. We didn’t realize how much so until dinner, when Kathy ordered three highly suggestive courses (asparagus, mussels and rooster – think about that) for dinner. That day we managed to eat at two highly rated restaurants in Wine Spectator’s Tuscany edition. The first, Albergaccio di Castellina, afforded us the opportunity to share part of our meal with a lovely couple, Mathew and Francesca, who were conviently from the Bay Area. The four of us hit it off immediately and we obtained Mathew’s European cell phone number as a means to get together again during our vacation.

At the second gourmet restaurant of the day, Osteria di Rendola, Francesco Bernardinelli, the chef who graces the cover of the May 2000 Wine Spectator Tuscany issue, personally prepared a 3.5 hour, 7-course meal that was one of the best of our lives and then visited our table and autographed our copy of the magazine! For more detail, see Kathy’s eating section below because my descriptions will pale in comparison to hers.

On our second adults-only day out, we started the day at the spa in Montecatini Terme. The Terme means “thermal waters, baby” and when translated literally means “shagadellic”. The healing waters here are famous and the town is postcard perfect. Being a more modern town, this charmer has wider streets, lots of trees, and cute, (very) expensive little shops. Initially, I gave the place two thumbs up. The spa had a nice atmosphere and the masseuse had the friendliest hands ever! But later I changed my review after my first and only pedicure went sour.

That night we tried another Francesco Bernardinelli restaurant in downtown Florence – Beccofino. It was fantastic as well, featuring Italian-fusion cuisine such as tempura-battered vegetables over basil and asparagus risotto. Unfortunately for me, we arrived a little early for dinner giving Kathy ample time to find and purchase some expensive glassware at the shop next door.

Getting Our Booty

Erna found an Etruscan necklace, bracelet, ring and earring set; Larisa found a watch and crystal; Ruthie, Tracy and Kathy bought tons of jewelry, glassware and shoes; Paul and Brett both bought custom Daccordi Aluminum frames with carbon-fiber suspensions; Robin got an alabaster chess set, and we all continually searched for Brunellos, olive oil and parmigiano regiano to take home. Everyone bought keepsakes in Italy. It was hard not to. The dollar got stronger every day, daring us to catch our customs limit. It was a great time to visit Europe, in the middle of rate cuts by the EU and merger talks between Alcatel and Lucent.

Kathy’s Journal [finally writing on my own blog!!!]

Everyone laughed at me when I started recording the meals we enjoyed in Italy. But they were so fantastic (and our memories rapidly grew hazy) that I wanted to keep track of them. A few of the meals prepared by Monica at Al Carli are as follows:

May 19th: Bruschetta with garden-fresh tomatoes and garlic, zuppa di farro (an old fashion wheat grain similar to barley), grilled filet of beef with a Roquefort cheese sauce.

May 22nd: Panzanella, risotto verdure (w/vegetables), conoglio all Etrusca (Rabbit, Etruscan style).

May 25th: Ravoli w/butter and sage, Tuscan chicken (we called these wonderful lemon-rosemary medallions of olive-oil fried chicken, “Tuscan McNuggets”!).

June 2nd: Bruschetta with garden-fresh tomatoes and garlic, ravoli w/butter and sage plus tagliatelli with zucchini pesto and fried zucchini flowers, Tuscan fried chicken (again!).

Some of the other terrific restaurants we visited included Trattoria Cammilo (2 times) and Pandemonio (2 times) in Florence, Tenuta San Vito (3 times!) and Poggio Antico where we purchased a magnum of a particularly nice Brunello di Montalcino (we’ll save it for a great big wine party someday!).

Dinner at Osteria di Rendola: The meal started wonderfully with complimentary glasses of champagne and a small palate teaser of roasted guinea fowl laid on matchstick-size apple slices drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette and garnished with fresh thyme. This set the tone for the entire evening as balsamic vinegar found its way into most dishes in surprising and delightful ways. Paul chose to go with the evening’s tasting menu and his courses were as follows: first] asparagus tips wrapped in a delicate white fish on a bed of pesto garnished with a beautifully drawn ring of balsamic vinegar and scattered fresh mint and baby greens; second] a warm porcini mushroom salad garnished with thinly sliced cheese (possibly asiago) and a creamy balsamic vinaigrette drizzled artfully around the plate; third] a potato and ricotta soup with shrimp – this soup had a slightly lemony flavor and was decorated with a single dill sprig; fourth] eggplant tortelli with a four-cheese sauce garnished with paper-thin slices of tomato and zucchini; fifth] thinly sliced rare roast beef atop a pile of roasted potatoes that was finished with a balsamic reduction; sixth] a square slice of mixed raspberry and vanilla gelato – we were almost too full to even eat dessert at this point! I ordered off the regular menu and had the following courses: first] asparagus tips with shaved pecorino cheese and white truffles; second] potato and leek tortelli in a warm broth filled with steamed mussels and garnished with delicious homemade potato chips; third] roasted breast of rooster (yes, rooster!) with cippoline (tiny spring onions) and a black olive paste. Whew! I forgot to mention that we ordered a 1997 Fontodi Case Via Syrah to accompany the meal. In short, we were completely blown away by the food, wine and impeccable service and, of course, the evening was made when the chef came out and autographed our copy of Wine Spectator that had his picture on the cover (it is now framed and graces one of our kitchen walls).

Getting Fat

In case you have not guessed from the previous sections and from Kathy’s journal, the food in Italy was fantastic! We only had one medium meal the entire trip (aside from London) and that was in Venice at a place we knew in advance would be bad. But our kids needed to eat pronto and the restaurant we had traversed the canals of Venice to eat at (Al Covo) was unfortunately closed that day. All other meals were awesome!

Since 0-4 year-old children do not have the patience for a long sit-down meal, we chose to eat out sometimes but cook ourselves more often. Breakfast was the most entertaining meal of the day for some reason. We sat outside, trying to wake up and keep our kids out of “time out”. Erna would prepare a plate of cheese and salami. Sometimes I would whip up an omelet with Italian ham and cheese but I chose Muselix with yogurt far more often. The kids initially turned to cereal. However, once we all discovered the wonders of Nutella, a different breakfast ritual evolved. Notoriously a picky eater, Nicolas would CHOW DOWN on bread smeared with Nutella! Ruthie quickly adapted and layered peanut butter below the Nutella so that Nicolas would get NUTRITION in addition to lots of calories!

Hot dogs, burgers, pasta al’Olio, pasta with peas, ham and cream, and pretzels sticks were popular with the boys. We would feed them early and then prepare our own dinner while they watched the sole “Thomas the Tank Engine” DVD on Brett’s computer. While the rest of us sampled Pinot Grigios, Barbarescos and Sangiovese wines, the women would prepare some absolutely fantastic pastas, including one made from ground beef, sweet onions and olive oil, and one made with a sweet sausage and roma tomatos. Ruthie found a shop in Lucca that sold huge penne pasta shells which she filled with sausage, olives, vegetables and tomato sauce. Of course, we enjoyed the side dishes as well: insalata caprese, cannelini beans with olive oil and fresh pepper, and proscuitto and melone.

If we were particularly lazy, we would call on Monica to prepare our feast. We loved her cooking and it was so convenient. Her Tuscan fried chicken was particularly flavorful as was the homemade pasta with zucchini and fried zucchini flowers.

An Italian food update would not be complete without some mention of dessert. While Monica specialized in Tiramisu, the Gelato is what we craved. All of us found a favorite flavor. I loved the dark chocolate and mint chocolate (and most other flavors). Tate and Kathy both loved chocolate – dark chocolate that is. Tate got it all over his face, shirt, hands, and any other extremity. He would eat his cone, then point to Mommy’s and say. “I hold yours, Mommy!”- and proceed to eat hers as well. Dane preferred Limone. Always. PopPop (Kathy’s dad) accepted the challenge of more adventurous flavors, like strawberry cheesecake and passionfruit, and Mimi (Kathy’s mom) loved Melon. Tracy discovered a deadly addictive mixture of mint and chocolate at a gelateria on the Piazza de la Signoria! While most gelato was good gelato and better than normal ice cream in the USA, certain gelaterias were better than others. We soon learned which shops made their own and slowly became Gelato Connoisseurs.