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favorite places Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Itch.world

A three-minute escape to Italy.

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July 4, 2021 In Best Of, Chow, Roam By Nancy

The Venice I love

When we first moved to Italy several years ago we lived in Venice for six weeks in August and ended up loving it more than ever. Several of you have asked for Venice advice so I thought it warranted a story. We love Venice, and feel protective of it, and want friends to experience the things that make it so special for us.

John rigged up a camera obscura in our rental apartment in Venice which projected our small view of the Grand Canal on our wall.

No umbrellas:

Groups of tourists following umbrella-equipped guides has to be a feature of the inner circle of Hell. One of the keys to enjoying Venice is never to be where these groups are. That means sticking to neighborhoods during the day and exploring anywhere near the Piazza San Marco only at night. Once you leave the Stazione-Rialto Bridge-Piazza San Marco superstrada of humanity you can get into neighborhoods and experience a whole different Venice. Piazza San Marco is ravishing at night, and it’s even worth it to splurge on the most expensive coffee you will ever have and sit at Caffè Florian at least once. The only time I’d recommend breaking the Piazza San Marco only-at-night rule is for the Secret Itineraries Tour at the Doge’s Palace, where you go into some special places in the Palace—including where Casanova was held prisoner, and inside the Bridge of Sighs. (If you book through the museum it’s half the price of doing it through a private tour, but places fill up fast.)

Our hood:

We love the Dorsoduro area near the Accademia museum. With quiet streets, interesting stores, and cafes and restaurants that have more locals it was an easy place for us to feel at home and we’ve returned many times. We lived near Campo San Barnabas and Campo Santa Margherita, both of which are lovely places to linger. There’s a university right by Campo Santa Margherita so it has a nice student vibe in addition to the local families with kids playing soccer.

Campo Santa Margherita:

—Caffè Rosso (photo above) on Campo Santa Margherita—no formal name, just a red painted facade with white “Caffe” painted over the door. It’s my favorite place to have a Spritz (the classic Venetian cocktail with Aperol, soda water, and prosecco) in the afternoon.

—As you face Caffe Rosso, several doors to the left, there is a place with a floor lamp placed outside, and a little white dog, called Osteria alla Bifora. The space is beautiful with ancient beams and it has a nice selection of simple things to eat. The tagliere (literally “cutting board”) of prosciutto, salumi, and cheese was our dinner many a night.

—Pizza Volo is great, and take out only, if you are in the mood to get a slice and sit in the piazza.

Campo San Barnaba:

— In Campo San Barnaba, there’s a little street that leads off the square called Calle Lunga San Barnaba which has several of our favorite restaurants. A famous one, 4 Feri just went out of business due to Covid and a rent dispute, but fortunately the next door restaurant, La Bitta, another of our favorites, is still going strong. A dessert that we make often—an amazing spice cake with hints of pepper, red wine, paprika, and cumin—is from this restaurant and the owner gave us the recipe.

— Ai Casin dei Nobili is good for pizza. They have a retractable roof over one of their dining rooms that is lovely on a hot evening. There’s also a branch on the Zattere.

— GROM ice cream on Campo Santa Barnaba is a chain, but really, really good.

—Between Campo Santa Margherita and Campo San Barnaba you pass over a canal on the Ponte dei Pugni, or ”Bridge of Fists.” They used to have fist fights between the youths of the two islands, outlawed in 1705, because of the injuries and fatalities.

—Here’s an extra credit, super great spot, if you can find it. If you cross the bridge slightly down from the entrance to Ai Casin dei Nobili, find the Calle dei Cherieri, and take it all the way to the end you’ll be on a dock on the Grand Canal, right at water level. I think it’s the most intimate view of the Grand Canal in Venice and a great place for a picnic.

Accademia:

—As you head back toward Accademia you need to find Ponte San Trovaso and Cantinone Gia Schiavi. It is one of the most famous places for bacari, also known as cicchetti, which are small, seasonal, freshly-made bar snacks and a large selection of wines by the glass, and grappa. Go around dusk when everybody gets a drink and cicchetti and hangs around outside. Alessandra, the mom, runs the place with her four sons. (This place just headlined a recent New York Times article. The other suggestions for cicchetti in the article look promising to investigate on my next trip.) There’s a boat yard opposite which is one of the last remaining gondola repair yards in Venice, which will be the topic of a future Itch.

Markets:

—I hate the crowds right by the Rialto bridge, but the outdoor market is invaluable for cooking in an apartment kitchen or provisioning a picnic. There are some high-end food stores in the area. Also, the produce boat parked at Ponte dei Pugni has a great selection.

I loved this lunch straight from the Rialto market.

Other parts of Venice, and islands:

—To go far off the tourist path take a vaporetto (line 12) to Torcello, the first of the inhabited islands of the Venetian lagoon. (Founded in 452—after Attila the Hun razed mainland villages. Most people left for other islands in the 1300s after malaria got too bad on Torcello.) There’s an inn and restaurant called Locanda Cipriani that is a fabulous destination for lunch. It was started by the founder of Harry’s Bar in 1935 and has been run by the family ever since. Ernest Hemingway lived there for a season while he wrote Across the River and Into the Trees. It’s a haunting, gorgeous, nearly deserted island with a beautiful “cathedral” from 639 with some lovely mosaics.

—The Jewish ghetto is interesting and there’s a famous Jewish restaurant Gam Gam. You can even get a table outside and eat right on the Canal Cannaregio. The streets in back of it are a quiet and haunting place to get lost.

— The Lido. Late one summer afternoon we decided to go for a swim and headed to the Lido. Very Italian scene—the beach is totally occupied by beach clubs with small bathing huts and chairs. Groups of families rent the same cabanas year after year, share the cost, and invite dozens of relatives and friends, so the beach was so crowded with towels, chairs, and people that we could hardly make our way to the water. We started swimming and by the time we turned around an hour later we were shocked to discover that the beach was empty. It was after 6pm and there is obviously an unspoken rule not to be on the beach after 6. That’s where we also started to notice that Italians love to do things in packs. Why go anywhere alone when you can go with a crowd?

—The Libreria Acqua Alta bookstore has ended up on a lot of “most beautiful bookstores in the world” lists on social media, but it is worth seeing in person if you love books. Plus, when we were there one of its fabulous cats was standing guard over an honest-to-GodREAD MORE

November 15, 2020 In Best Of, Roam By Nancy

Ten things the Romans didn’t want you to know about the Etruscans

The Etruscans get a bad rap. When the Greeks and Romans wrote the history of their time they intentionally left the Etruscans out. In the case of Rome, the victors get to write history. The result is that even my daughter, Donella, has a disdain for the Etruscans after spending five years in the Italian school system.

We live on an Etruscan road (the little lane above) and it’s made me curious to know more, as does living with the Tuscans and noting how different they are from the people of other regions—where did this difference come from? I’ve been investigating and here are ten reasons that I’m intrigued by this ancient civilization. (The Etruscans lived from 900 BCE to 89 BCE in present day Tuscany (and far beyond), and gave the region their name.)

1. Women were equals. Woman were literate and some were noteworthy scholars, they participated freely in the public sphere, became judges, dressed in any way they chose, and participated in banquets as equals to men and could drink, dance, and lounge on couches. The contemporary Greeks and Romans thought these women’s rights were scandalous. They kept their own names when marrying and people buried in Etruscan tombs were identified by their mother and father’s lineage. Women in art were represented with their heads on the same level as men, and as having the same torso size, which is clearly a physical exaggeration, but conveyed equality. When the Romans dominated the Etruscan culture women lost all these rights.

I visited the tombs at the Necropolis in Tarquinia (and took a private 2.5 hour tour) and in the Tomb of the Leopards (480-450 BCE) three couples are shown at a banquet. The pair on the right especially grabbed my attention. I think it is one of the most beautiful images I’ve ever seen of a couple’s relationship. There is such energy, enjoyment, and engagement in their body language.

2. They chose equal city-states over centralized power. The civilization was a federation of twelve equally-powerful cities. Key to Etruscan success was the idea that it was better to specialize, cooperate, and trade rather than fight amongst themselves for power. This made them very successful and wealthy. Cities specialized in different things, like mining and metal work, ceramics, food production, or cloth production. This specialization let technology surge ahead, which increased food production, which let more people specialize. A virtuous cycle.

3. The fashion was amazing. For several centuries when the Romans wanted to say someone was really stylish they’d say someone dressed like an Etruscan. In the painting above the women are wearing three different patterns of cloth: stripes, polka dots, and stars. And check out the center musician from the same tomb as he walks through a field of olives with two other band members. His clothes are amazing, billowing backwards as he walks forward. And his shoes are marvelous. The Italian gift for designing clothes and shoes started early.

Etruscan jewelry is also beautiful. I love the things that started with the Etruscans and endure today. The town of Arezzo remains one of the top places in the world for gold processing and design, and its Etruscan predecessor was famous for metal work, including jewelry. Look at these Etruscan bracelets.

4. Italy with no olive oil or wine? The Etruscans brought the cultivation of grapes for wine and olives for oil to Italy from their contacts with the Greeks at the end of the third century BCE.

5. Romans would not have been the Romans without them. The Etruscans predated the Romans and then were subsumed by the Roman Empire in 89 BCE when the Romans stamped out their rights, culture, and language. The Etruscans got the alphabet and numbers from the Phoenicians and passed them on to Rome. The Etruscans also taught the Romans hydraulic engineering, city planning with streets in a grid, fashion (including the toga), architecture (temple design and the Etruscan adaptation of Doric columns) and more. Two of the last Roman kings were Etruscan. The most famous statue of Romulus and Remus and the she-wolf—the symbol of Rome—was created by an Etruscan.

6. They were the creators of the red-checkered table cloth. Some Italian traditions run deep. Check out what the lounging couples are sitting on in the painted scene above.

7. These guys got around. I am always amazed when I learn the extent of trade relationships that existed thousands of years ago. The Etruscans were one of the major players. They traded with Greece, Turkey, Egypt, the Phoenicians, and even the Celts.

8. Social mobility was celebrated. Although they did have slaves, apparently freedmen and women had many opportunities to cross occupations and social classes. One third of the paintings in the Tomb of the Leopards is about this topic. The same figure is repeated four times, starting on on the left as a naked slave and ending up on the right as a well-dressed member of society coming to the banquet.

9. They had great taste. More revered Greek attic vases, or kraters, have been found in Etruscan tombs than anywhere else, including one of the most infamous pieces of art the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has ever had, the Sarpedon Krater. This piece of pottery was looted from an Etruscan grave in 1971 and the Met illegally bought it a year later for the most they’d ever paid for a piece of art. The Krater was repatriated to Italy and moved from its centerpiece position in a Tiffany-designed case to a more humble Italian museum very near where it had been found.

The Etruscans also made Kraters that have been found in Greek tombs.

10. Precocious artists. The fresco is badly damaged, but look at the nuanced leg muscles on the guy on the right (and the shoes!). Predates the rediscovery of perspective and portrayal of anatomy in the Renaissance by 1400 years. And the door to the underworld actually has plaster relief working with the painting to amplify a 3-D effect.

If you are still with me in my rabbit hole I applaud you. If you want more I found this, this, and this helpful as good overviews of the Etruscan civilization.

October 1, 2020 In Best Of, Roam By Nancy

Cheese made in heaven

Since I had such a memorable adventure on the Chamonix side of Mont Blanc I felt it was only fair to give the Italian side a chance so on the return trip to Italy we stopped in Courmayeur for the night. We had work to do. Largely involving cheese.

Before this trip I’d asked Edward Behr for advice about food in the Val D’Aosta. (Edward edits and publishes The Art of Eating, which is one of my favorite publications on food and wine.) One of his recommendations was that we track down a Fontina maker in the mountains. Challenge accepted.

To do so we needed to add on an additional night in Courmayeur — not a hardship as we’d landed in a nurturing, cozy, and rustic place, Maison la Saxe. The six-bedroom inn was in a rustic farmhouse from the 1700s, one of many houses in a tightly packed cluster literally in the shadow of Mont Blanc. When I say tightly packed I mean the tiny lanes between the houses are about an arm’s width across. I asked the owner, Raphael, a guy in this thirties who was born in Courmayeur, had lived all over the world, and then returned to the village to restore and run the inn, and he said they were built tightly together not for defense but warmth. It’s the kind of place where my stone shower had a window thoughtfully installed with a view of Mont Blanc.

Maison de Saxe Courmayeur

I enlisted the aid of Raphael for our Fontina search. He called a Fontina maker who invited us up the following morning. Up is a description I chose carefully. It took us 40 minutes to go just a couple of kilometers above the town of Aosta on one of the curviest roads I have ever driven. Pretty soon we were at eye level with the highest peaks and surrounded by green meadows. It was the closest to heaven I will probably every get.

Raphael had given us coordinates of where to park which was an unmarked grassy area at the top of the road. We then had to actually find the cows and cheese-makers. We asked at a tiny restaurant and were pointed to a hiking trail leading ten minutes straight up through the pastures to a small barn, the summer home of Azienda Agricola Quendoz.

The cheese maker took us into a small room with a huge copper cauldron to show us how it’s done. The cheese maker was originally from Morocco and had come to this spot, fallen in love with it, and moved here to take care of the cows and make cheese, more than a decade before. I can see the appeal of this life.

Fontina cheese copper cauldron

True Fontina comes only from here. To be recognized as “Fontina” (which has DOP — protected designation of origin — status from the EU) the milk has to come from red-pied Valdostana cows who graze only on these mountain grasses. They are milked twice a day and the cheese is made twice a day as each batch has to be from a single milking. The milk is heated in large copper cauldrons, enzymes and rennet are added to produce curds, the cheese is separated and drained, and pressed into a wheel-shaped molds. It’s brined in salt for two months and then set aside to age for three more months, frequently turned and salted. We tried the just ready Fontina along with a much more aged version and they were complex and interesting, not at all like the boring cheeses marketed as Fontina from other countries. This was nutty and buttery and wonderful.

Then on the way back down we got to meet some of the girls.

I wanted to write this article this not because I thought you needed to become Fontina aware, but more because I wanted to share this place of beauty and peace and a glimpse into a different way of life.

Trip notes:

If you are ever in Aosta but don’t have time to make it up the hill Raphael also pointed us to a small cheese shop downtown with a surprisingly large selection and a big cheese cellar in their basement (photo below) called Erbavoglio Antica Latteria. They put together a delicious tasting for us and looks like I can also order from them. I see more Fontina in my future.

Ed Behr also recommended Salumeria Bertolin in Arnad, just as you enter Valle d’Aosta. I stopped on my way to France and loved it. A wide variety of mountain salumi and delicious tasting board. I was fascinated by one that looked like a salumi but was made from beets. When life gives you beets…

June 28, 2020 In Best Of, Roam By Nancy

Secrets from a yacht

What do people lucky enough to be on a yacht discover about the Italian coast that mere mortals like me can’t get to — what fishing villages (that are actually still fishing villages), deserted coves, and hidden beaches does Italy have to offer to those on a boat?

My son, Sebastian, just found out. He was invited to join a friend and his family for a two-week sail down the coast from Naples, around the Amalfi Coast, and then over to the Aeolian Islands off Sicily. One of his favorite places of all was a tiny fishing village called Corricella on the island of Procida. Luckily, to visit Corricella a yacht is not required. With the help of a car ferry it’s possible to get there from Naples, which is why I wanted to share this hot tip and want to go myself this fall.

The island of Procida is the smaller and less-visited cousin of the touristy Ischia, which is right next door. (Ischia has had quite the boom after the publication of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels.) The port of Procida is busy and overrun but if you can get to the other side of the island to the village of Corricella a different world awaits. It’s an ancient settlement (the name comes from the Greek kora Cale or “nice neighborhood”) — such a nice neighborhood that it was used for the waterfront scenes in the movie Il Postino. This part of the world has been at the crossroads of invasion for millenium so the houses are all constructed with steep stairs leading to the front doors to make it easier to defend. The houses are painted a vivid range of different colors. It’s a working fishing village with a small harbor filled with mostly wooden boats with a few restaurants along a quai. When Sebastian went they ate alongside local fishermen and their families. The maze of tiny streets are steep and accessible only on foot. The few cars that he saw had permanently removed their side mirrors and had huge scrapes along both sides. There’s a sagging ruin of a fortress on a cliff and an old church at the top. I’m all in.

The most unusual thing that happened on Sebastian’s trip was off a remote island in the Aeolians. They were moored, having lunch, when an unusual man approached them in a rowboat and asked to speak to the captain. He was dressed in torn up, old clothes, had unkempt hair, and spoke in the strongest of dialects. The captain talked with him for a moment, went below to get a bottle of very nice champagne, hopped into the rowboat, and they headed off. He returned a couple of hours later. Turns out this guy has lived in a cave, year round, on a deserted island for over twenty years. He knew the previous captain who had told his replacement to be on the lookout for him. (He’s apparently well-known by many captains.) The captain was taken into a cave which was covered by the man’s writings on the walls and ceiling. The captain had a bit of a struggle following his stories in dialect but it was clear that he referred to other people as “you humans.” And he drank almost the whole bottle of champagne.

Sebastian’s amazing experience is not just available to friends of the family. The family’s yacht is available for charter, and two other spectacular properties, one in the Tyrol, and the other are the Pope’s apartments wrapping the Sant’Agnese in Agone church overlooking Piazza Navona in Rome are available to rent. More details at San Lorenzo Lodges.

In case you need six seconds of dolphins playing in the wake here you go:

January 27, 2020 In Best Of, Roam By Nancy

Paris discoveries

I deeply love Paris and know it pretty well. On my way back to California I stopped for a few days and found a few new (to me) treasures I have to share.

Best place to have tea in a tub: Le Pavillon des Canaux

A friend insisted we go to a cafe in an old canal master’s house overlooking the canals and locks of the Bassin de la Villette.

In addition to deciding what artisanal coffee, tea, pastry or soup you want you also have to figure out whether you want to take your snack to a bathtub, bedroom, kitchen, or living room. In addition to being a cafe they also show films and host community events.

The cafe, called Le Pavillon des Canaux, is an important stop to know about when exploring the Parisian canal system and visiting the bassin, which is the largest lake in Paris. Boats are rentable in the summer, and in August the quai turns into one of the beaches for Paris plages.

But even on a cold winter day the place was charming. The only downside was the number of people working on computers but according to their website they also have times that are declared sans laptops. It’s in the 19th arrondissement.

Julia Child’s favorite Paris restaurant: Chez Georges

After my haircut (more below) I met John at Chez Georges, a classic French bistro where Julia Child had the legendary sole meunière that set her on her path. We went for lunch, which I’d highly suggest, as we were the only Americans in the restaurant (sounds like at dinner there are more tourists, although one article I read mentioned seeing Wes Anderson and Tilda Swinton dining together which wouldn’t bum me out too much even if they aren’t Parisians.) I would have given a lot to know identities of the occupants of the next table by the window. For at least 20 minutes before they arrived the waiters were busy preparing — opening a bottle of wine to breathe, setting out plates of charcuterie and radishes, and just the right bottled water. The patrons finally arrived, were seated, and were the only ones in the very busy place the maître d‘ wished a bon dejeuner tableside.

The people watching was hours of fun. Food was traditional but excellent. It’s a right near Place des Victoires.

Hero hairdresser: David Mallett

I’ve now had my haircut by David Mallet twice and I’m sooo happy. He has a salon near Palais Royale, one in the hotel George V, and one in New York. He’s Australian by birth, raised in Naples, has lived in Paris for years, is a vegan, and has a salon filled with taxidermy. What else could you wish for? Anthony, the colorist is great too.

Handmade porcelain lampshades: Alix D. Reynis

On one of my favorite streets, rue Jacob, Alix D. Reynis makes beautiful porcelain lampshades, jewelry, and white bowls and dishes. After a couple of years on the hunt we found our lights for over the dining room table. Welcome home little ones.

January 12, 2020 In Best Of, Roam By Nancy

Genoa: from prostitutes to palaces

Genoa, or Genova to the Italians, was once a big deal city although it is a bit of an afterthought today. Italy’s sixth-largest city, and a major EU port, Genova has been all about the sea since its founding in the sixth-century B.C. by Phoenician and Etruscan sailors. It was an important Roman port, and a crucial supplier of goods and transport for the crusades during the 12th century, making it one of the wealthiest and most powerful cities in the world. The striped Cathedral of San Lorenzo is a testament to Genova’s past glory.

Always vying for dominance with Venice and Pisa, it also was under the control of the French and the Austrians at various points. It feels a bit dark, looming, and watching for danger, which is probably partially due to its geography. It’s wedged in a narrow band of flat land between the sea and the Apennine mountains 19 miles long. Even coming from San Francisco the vertical nature of the town is intimidating. It’s partially built on hills that are disorientingly steep. In some buildings you enter on street level, climb up four stories of high-ceilinged palazzo splendor, and exit the backside of the same building, again on street level.

The port is highly industrial and the part that isn’t has been refurbished by native son Renzo Piano into what, to me, is a less interesting version of Pier 39. But across the busy road paralleling the port is one of the most memorable and evocative maze of pedestrian streets I’ve seen since the back alleys of Fez and Marrakech.

Because the topography offered little land to build on it is medieval high-density living. Even with Google Maps it’s easy to get lost in the narrow alleys which are framed by six and seven story medieval buildings casting the ground level in constant nighttime. A half block away from some of the trendiest boutiques prostitutes abound—it is, and always has been, a seaport after all. Because of the narrow streets the prostitution is a bit more up close and personal than what I’m used to seeing occasionally. I literally had to squeeze past a woman leading her client by the hand into a building when I walking by in the other direction.

Slightly above the medieval warren is a grand pedestrian street, Via Garibaldi, lined by huge palaces. Created in the 16th century it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. These palazzos are now mostly museums with a few nice pieces including Paganini’s famous “Il Cannone” violin—and surprisingly, two of his guitars.

One of the things I liked about the city is that there are a lot of 20 and 30-somethings due to the spillover of economic growth from Milan. It has a youth energy that’s often missing in Italian cities.

We found a neighborhood wine bar in the historic section notable not for its wine or food but because it’s a warm gathering place. The wine is actually all pretty fresh off the vine and not yet in a bottle but in huge vats. One local, when asked by the bartender which wine she wanted replied “The 1€ one.”

They don’t serve any food until after six when a woman arrives with freshly-baked focaccia from a local bakery. Everyone applauded when she arrived. They serve the fresh focaccia with simple salumi and cheese and it was delicious.

We sat next to a charming, nearly toothless, ancient, bedraggled guy who was clearly a regular. He couldn’t stop petting Lola and told us at length about his dog. The rest of the crowd were 20-somethings and young families (with some awesome dogs) all of whom knew each other. Best of all was the bill. Complete dinner with two glasses of wine each, 16.50€. We then splurged and bought two unmarked bottles to take home for 3€. This charmer is called Mescite and I’d run back in a heartbeat.

Nearby on the Via Garibaldi there is a designer homeware store on the second floor of one of the palaces called Via Garibaldi 12. The architecture of the store itself is stunning, but in additional they have an eclectic and very fancy mix of furniture, tableware, and home accessories. When we were in with Lola their small dog was running around playing with her, along with a young grandson, and the owners didn’t seem the least bit concerned, even when everyone was running around the large, leather, one-of-a-kind sofa designed by Zaha Hadid (price upon request…) or the wall of hand blown glass vases—you can see both below.

We stayed at a central, but tired hotel, Hotel Bristol Palace. Room was huge and the hotel has a great central staircase, but it didn’t charm me. Next time I will stay at a hotel we found on our wanderings in the medieval sector, Palazzo Grillo.

It looks wonderful and it’s next to an enchanting church, Chiesa Santa Maria delle Vigne (the monks grew grapes in the cloister during the middle ages). When we passed the cloisters had been paved over and were being used as a soccer area for kids.

The pesto we had was wonderful, but with a distinctly different flavor and texture than pesto I’ve had elsewhere. It’s so emulsified that it’s creamier and less dark. To get the right texture you will clearly need one of these: A Pestobene. You gotta see this baby in action.

There’s a nice covered market, the Mercato Orientale. I’ve never been to a farmer’s market that sells white truffles before. Not to mention the stand specializing in tripe.

One of our favorite things was a walk along the sea to the small fishing village of Boccadasse (more in an earlier Itch article).

Don’t miss Il Profumo for gelato, which is not to be confused with the new official “logo fragrance” of Genova made by Euthalia and containing a mixture of basil, marjoram, thyme, bergamot, rosemary, coriander, and lavender. It was dispensed throughout the city in diffusers from Sept. 12 through the 13th of October of last year. Back to the gelato, Profumo was named the best gelato in Italy, according to the Italian food authorities at Gambero Rosso, and the owner/maker is a delight.

December 8, 2019 In Best Of, Roam By Nancy

Gift inspirations: potions and lotions from monks

Last week I made the trek up into the mountains to the Monastery of Camaldoli to buy gifts at the Antica Farmacia dei Monaci Camaldolesi, or the Ancient Pharmacy of the Monks. Usually “ancient” can be a bit of an exaggeration but I think its use is justified in this case as they have been making healing medicine at this place since May 1048. A couple of monks, Guido and Pietro, rented some land (in perpetuity) located right outside the monastery to raise herbs for healing treatments for the newly established pilgrim hospital. The monks have been at it ever since. And they have quite the collections of books of botany and herbal recipes from over the years.

This place feels like it is on another planet. I visited once before for Itch (and wrote about the funny coincidence of this monastery having satellites in Big Sur and Berkeley) and both times I have visited it has been very misty and mysterious.

The monastery and the hermitage, which is a few miles further up the hill and deeper into the woods, are located in the Casentino Forest, one of the largest forested tracks in Europe famous for deer, wild boar, and wolves. The sounds of rushing water are everywhere and the smell of pine and clean air wonderful.

The products I’ve tried have been really good — from the kinda-life-changing foot cream to the teas to the soaps — and I love what they make because of the history, but also because I am becoming more and more aware of the thin thread by which so much of Italian “maker” heritage hangs. The artisans and small businesses creating so much of what Italy is known for are finding it harder to thrive, or to exist at all, in the face of global competition and the relentless drive towards lower prices (and quality). I love supporting this kind of enterprise, where things are still made locally, and not in a huge factory overseas and then a label slapped on.

The Farmacia ships worldwide, and has a 10% discount available on checkout. I found their US shipping prices a bit high so also found another site with lower shipping rates to the US, but not as full a range of Camaldoli products.

A couple of products I have that would make lovely presents or stocking stuffers:

— The Foot Cream. Visitors to the house roll their eyes when I insist that they try this before bed. And then they steal mine. Get your own.

— Herbal Tisane Tea. I am sipping on #3 at the moment, which is a delicious mix of chamomile, lemon balm, and other mysterious things. It’s soothing but not boring.

— Shampoos. I’ve tried a variety of these and liked them all.

They offer a range of other products I want to try from toothpaste to arnica gel to honey to colognes, an increasing amount organic. I love the packaging and labels as well.

December 1, 2019 In Best Of, Roam By Nancy

Genoa sneak peek: Boccadasse

It’s always a bit of a challenge to figure out the appropriate thing to do for Thanksgiving when living outside the US. Since it is kind of a non-event for everyone around us (and clients are otherwise occupied) John and I decided to a road trip and explore Genoa (Genova) for a couple of days. Complicated, surprising, unexpected place and a fuller report coming soon to Itch.

I wanted to give you a sneak peek from a morning walk we did along the Corso Italia which leads from central Genoa along the coast. After about an hour of walking we passed by a small fishing village called Boccadasse where we had coffee and focaccia and watched the surprisingly large waves crash right next to us. Wanted to share the moment.

November 3, 2019 In Best Of, Roam By Nancy

Terme di Saturnia

It seems that at least once a week on social media I am seeing a photo of the rather otherworldly Terme di Saturnia. I wanted to see what it was really like and went during the fantastic Itch getaway to Sorano.

Just to get this out of the way, it is truly beautiful. This cascade, the Cascate del Mulino, is part of a large complex of hot springs. Hot, sulphurous water (99.5 degrees) is warmed by the volcano underneath and gushes from the earth at 800 liters per second, coursing down the hill into these perfect little pools. It’s free, unfenced, and always accessible.

The downside is that you do have to come prepared. There’s nowhere to change but in your car, the pools and parking can get really crowded, water shoes are a good idea as the rocks get very slippery, and there are minimal food and facilities available, so it’s all very do it yourself.

We were wimps and came and explored around the pools and then headed further towards the source to the Spa and Golf Resort Terme di Saturnia to “take the waters.” I find the thermal spa culture in Italy fascinating and was eager to compare this to my prior experience at the Terme San Giovanni, among others. People of all ages and body shapes come, very intently going back and forth between linked swimming pools of different temperatures and scooping of handfuls of white sulphur and other minerals from the bottom of the pools to slather all over their bodies. Robes and slippers around the pools are a must. The Terme di Saturnia has just moved to a “Wellness Wears White” slogan (yeah, I know) and new policy dictating that all robes and towels have to be white (which they provide for an extra fee if you don’t bring your own). It’s a very, very Italian crowd and was a fantastic afternoon.

October 27, 2019 In Best Of, Roam By Nancy

Why Sorano is one of my favorite places

I’m always on a quest to find amazing corners of Italy that aren’t widely known. Back when I was starting Itch I asked an Italian friend, one of the most curious and smart-about-Italy people I know, what were some places I had to go. He replied instantly. Pitigliano. So I went and fell in love, especially with the village of Sorano. I have mixed feelings about writing about this area of southern Tuscany, right between Orvieto and the Maremma coast, because it is so wonderful and undiscovered. But it is also too good for friends not to know about. Promise not to share.

I’ve now been twice in two months, which is a first for me. In addition to a cluster of lovely villages this area has one of the most evocative hot springs or terme in Italy, the Terme di Saturnia. It was also a major Etruscan stomping ground and has some mysterious and haunting traces of these lost people. The Etruscans lived in central Italy prior to the Romans in the 10th – 9th centuries BCE (and gave their name to Tuscany). Not much is known about them because they left only a few examples of a complex written language that has only partially been translated.

One thing they did leave behind are a set of roads in this area carved deep into the soft volcanic rock, or tufa. These underground roads have walls that tower up to 20 meters in places, and you can still see a few ancient chisel marks. There are miles of these trails which connect Pitigliano to Sorano and Sovana. Along the way they also lead to ancient necropolises. No one knows why they were built but hiking along them is memorable, especially as they two times I’ve done it I’ve only passed a couple of other people.

Because the area has such soft rock there are caves everywhere. Just outside of Sorano is Vitozza, a lost city that was inhabited from the 1200s to the 1800s. The from parking to the archeological site is along a path beside a river where you pass cave after cave, all fronted by brightly covered doors, a couple with “for sale” signs. These give way to the more ancient settlement with its ruins of two castles and a church, and over 200 caves which were used as both houses and stables for animals. You can still see niches and supports for beds carved into the walls.

Another Etruscan archeological site of the Citta’ Del Tufo complex is just outside of the one-street village of Sovana and has a cluster of large tombs with some very cool statues.

But for me one of the best things is the village of Sorano, which I much preferred to the slightly more known Pitigliano. And we found a fantastic place to stay, the Hotel Della Fortezza, in the Orsini family castle from 1200.

John and I just stayed in the tower. Yep, we had the whole tower over the drawbridge. It’s a bit rough around the edges but the cost was around 120€, including breakfast.

Both times I visited I only spent a night and felt rushed to try to see all the interesting things to do in the area. I’d suggest taking a few days. After all the hiking a visit to the famed Terme di Saturnia was needed — details next week.