WHY ITALY? PERCHE NO! ( Part I, March& April 2015)

It is late December and the first snow has created a landscape of white out my window. The winter has been kind so far, but we still have January and February in front of us to trudge through.

Memories of Italy fill my head and heart as I hear from friends and go back through photos from our spring months spent in that beautiful place, Italy.

So, if you don't mind I am going to share some of the riches of our time in Panicale, Florence , Rome and places that fall between....oh yes, and  friends too.

Our "home" when we are in Italy is Panicale (Umbria), a medieval hill town that looks over Lake Trasimeno.

Looking down from Panicale to the white road 'strata bianca' that cuts its way  through crops of wheat, across the plain. This is what early spring looks like, a welcome carpet of green.

Up and out early, here we are ready for a day out, but first cappuccino Bar Gallo....always!
"Ciao Daniela"!  "Buon giorno Aldo!"

Bar Gallo 

DESTINATION: DERUTA

Deruta Workshop

Handmade. James watching  as a craftsman in this workshop carries on a tradition in ceramics

I love driving down this road under the pines back to Panicale.

Aldo makes a killer Aperol Spritz!

OFF TO FLORENCE TO MEET FRIENDS

Ponte Vecchio on a clear and still spring evening.

Alberti's stunning facade on Santa Maria Novella, which contains numerous masterpieces,one of which is Masaccio's groundbreaking Crucifixion.

Ghirlandaio's masterful fresco with this  procession of women.

a detail from the Spanish Chapel

time for refreshment!

Le Volpi e l'Uva

A favorite enoteca in the Oltrarno and  we  always know ( at least hope)  if we hang out here long 

enough the doors of Santa Felicita will open and a wonderful Pontormo painting will be there for us to see.  But while we wait.....

 SHARING ITALY with FRIENDS

Here are the friends James and I are meeting.....Mark, Andi and Giuletta!

Knowing we would not have time for dinner in a ristorante  before a concert we were all attending that evening, someone suggested room service. Perfect and luxurious. Ah , so it was burgers.

The evenings entertainment was very American....James Taylor in Florence !

Getting a taxi home afterwards was a bit of an ordeal, but with Mark's phone and James' Italian , we all made it back to our hotels!

Meantime, back in Panicale....

a foggy morning walk

and the artichokes are in season!

That is late March and April in Umbria and Tuscany.

Are you seeing any common elements running through these memories. It is becoming clear it has something to do with, art, people, food, wine and a beautiful landscape.

May  2015 will be next, we  will see if that trend continues!

BIAGIOTTI [Pienza}

"What! You have never stopped at that place!" Stew says in disbelief. Stew is at the wheel as we  drive past this "must see place" when suddenly he sees a place on this winding Tuscan road to pull off and make a U-turn. We go back.

The place we return to in tow with Stew leading the pack is called Biagiotti.www.biagiottipienza.com
James and I have driven by on our way to Pienza too many times to count. We were curious, yet never stopped.


THE SHOWROOM

This place is a find! The showroom is filled floor to ceiling with objects hand crafted in wright iron.
James and I both wanted to take this floor lamp home with us, or maybe we could just buy a house in Umbria for it!

This is the plainer cousin to the more dressed up lamp we fell for. It has a graceful twist to the floor with embellished feet. We both like this one as well.
Here you can find candelabras, andirons ( with and without dragons), scones, chandeliers, furniture for indoors and out, beds, mirrors...........there is so much to look at as we are shown around by Alfredo.


THE FORGE

Then we are all invited into the forge, the workshop, or Ferro Battuto Biagiotti, as they call it.

 Stew, who has been here many times tells us that Biagiotti is a family owned and run business that was started by Alfredo's grandfather in the early 20th Century. There is  Mario, the father of three sons; Alfredo and his twin brother Alberto, and brother, Samuel.

This was a rare treat to  be invited behind the scenes to watch as pieces of iron are transformed by means of heat, anvil and hammer.

Alfredo tells us that they design lamps, candelabras and such to specification and can create just about anything here, at least anything made of iron.
James liked the dragon andirons! Maybe someday!!!

 Before we departed, Giovanni  ( a nephew of Mario) took a short break so I could snap a quick photo of him.

BEFORE LEAVING.....

Before we left we returned to the showroom to take another look at a chandelier that James and I both thought was perfect for our rather dimly lit foyer.
The price was right, and yes, they could ship and more importantly they were happy to wire it to U.S. electrical standards.

(now, hanging in our foyer)



We also liked these sconces. We figured  that we would get these another time. Alfredo informed us that....if we were to buy them with the other that the shipping charge would be the same as for just the chandelier.  Great salesman!
We bought them and now they are all installed in our home.
A lovely reminder of that day with the screeching brakes  and another unique stop in Tuscany.

( in our living room)

We finally do depart after our purchases are made, shipping information is written down and Stew chats with Alfredo  for awhile and departs with a customary Italian hug.
Now, back on the winding Tuscan road as we head back to Panicale. I think we need to stop at Aldo's for a procecco!

Tuscany in spring.




Biagiotti
via 1 maggio, n
Pienza, (Tuscany) Italy

On the Road From Pienza to Montepulciano

Our Italian wandering continues from where we left off.....in Pienza . After touring the Palazzo Piccolomini and the garden a break for lunch is called for. In and around Pienza there are several places to eat, the problem is to choose just one. We decided to try one that we had not tried before. We remembered one.... Latte di Luna it has been on our list of places to try and we pretty much stumbled upon it walking through town.

We were seated outside under the shade of an umbrella on an ever so gorgeous Tuscan afternoon . Latte di Luna is known for grilled and roasted meats as well as house made pastas. Arugula salads began this meal. So, with our vegetable requirement accounted for it was on to pasta. Since we were having porchetta for dinner we opted to not have meat for lunch. Looking back we should have ordered one grilled meat dish to share. We had order envy each time we saw one of those meat dishes get delivered to a nearby table!

Oh well...next time.... Being that Pienza is the center of pecorino cheese I had to have the pici pasta ( another regional gem) with pecorino and pepper. A perfect bowl of pasta.

And since it was spring and artichoke season James, without hesitation, ordered Artichoke Lasagne.

The artichoke lasagne was unbelievably flavorful and lighter than you would expect since it is made with only three thin layers of pasta with a puree of artichoke between the layers with a grating of pecorino cheese.

We will be making this in our kitchen!

Before leaving Pienza we generally stop at the Consorzio Agrario to pick up a few items. The Agrario is a co-op market that features local foods and wines. The dried porcini mushrooms they sell here are the best we have found.

Back on the road we stopped for a look back to view Pienza perched up on the hill that overlooks this beautiful place known as the Val d'orcia. It has magic, this brilliant city on the hill along the ancient pilgrims route.

Next stop is caseificio Cugesi for pecorino.

You would think after our pecorino centic lunch and being immersed in the wafting aroma of pecorino that fills the streets of Pienza, we would have had our fill of cheese for the day. Nope.

We followed the sign.

The "white road" bianca strada is narrow and opens up to this more than spectacular view across the valley of farms, olives groves, tracts of winter wheat, grasslands and sheep. The sheep that provide the Tuscan pecorino that we were seeking at the end of this dirt road.

There are several kinds of pecorino cheese, young or fresco, stagionato is more aged, the award winning gran riserva, and so on. This image from a tee-shirt is a good primer for pecorinos! Buy a shirt and then try all the different kinds available, or at least choose a few to try.

Oh, so many wheels of pecorino. My favorite is a semi -stagionata. On the day we were there they had this beautiful fresh ricotta.

We were shown this ricotta and of course we had to buy some. This ricotta has nothing to do with the ricotta that is sold in plastic tubs in grocery stores. This ricotta is simply exquisite.

There are several picnic tables outside the Cugesi shop. This is grand because you can bring bread, salads, and then go inside and buy fresh cheese , especially if ravaggiolo ( the first curd) is available ....and eat right here.

This will be your view as you picnic al fresco with a Val D'Orcia view over to Montepulciano, with the Catherdral of San Biagio sitting boldly below the city.

Our purchases of ricotta and pecorino made, it was then time to get back into the car , drive up the white road to the main road and continue on towards Montepulciano. Being that this road is rather winding and narrow and we thought better than to try to stop for a photo of San Biagio so I took this picture of San Biagio from our car as we passed by.

The first time James and I saw this church was a number of years ago when we were having lunch at La Chiusa in Montefollonico. After we finished one of the finest lunches we had ever experienced, the owner took us for a walk of the grounds where he pointed out a church in the distance, the "White Church" Chiesa bianca. The church he pointed out was San Biagio. Although it hardly needed to be brought to our attention because it's white travertine was radiant in the late afternoon sun drawing our full attention immediately to it.

San Biagio was designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. The construction began in 1518 on the site of a former palaeochristian site. It is an excellent example of High Renaissance architecture.

Sangallo designed this church based on the central plan of the Greek cross. It is of grand scale, I might say immense. Sangallo was looking to a design with a perfection in geometry with circles and squares.

The high relief rosette details of the arches take the eye up to the monumental dome where sun light comes through to light the interior space.

At the time the construction of San Biagio was a huge project, the only other project that was larger was St. Peter's in Rome.

The avenue that leads in and out of San Biagio is cypress lined. I love these tree lined roads of Tuscany and Umbria and this one is spectacular in scale. Before we left Montepulciano we needed to make one more stop. The last stop was for some wine, Vino Nobile was what we were after.

OK. with that done it was time to return "home" to Panicale.

Most of the time our rental car ends up being the alright but average variety the likes of a small Ford Focus or VW, and one time a real albatross, an Opal Astra.

For some reason this time, perhaps it was the luck of the draw, we were handed the keys to this sweet Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

We were always ready for a road trip in this!

Back in Panicale "our" Alfa parked for the night we walked to the villa known locally as The Pink Palace , dropped off our purchases and made our way over to Aldo and Daniella's

Bar Gallo for prosecco.

Then it was time to return to our kitchen to prepare dinner.

A great day!

Quick reference:

Trattoria Latte di Luna

Via San Carlo, 2-4

Pienza, (Tuscany) Italy

open for lunch & dinner ( closed Tues.)

Caseificio Cugusi

Montepulciano, (Tuscany), Italy

the caseificio is off the main road between Pienza and Montepulciano.

Coming from the direction of Montepulciano it is about 3 kms. then a right hand turn.

Watch for the sign.

San Biagio

Via San Biagio

Montepulciano

Bar Gallo

Piazza Umberto Primo

Panicale, (Umbria) Italy

Pienza

Pienza has always been one of our favorite towns to visit. It is quite small and sits on a hill overlooking the Val d'Orcia to the south, and has distant views towards Cortona

and the the Val d' Chiana to the north. Since auto traffic is prohibited within the walls, we enter through one of the gates towards the town center. Immediately the air is saturated with the wonderful aroma of cheese. While the towns of Montelcino and Montepulciano can boast of great wines, Pienza prides itself

on the spectacular sheep cheese known as pecorino ( more on this soon).

Corso Rossellino and the Campanile

Walking towards 'Il Centro' is a delight, the narrow lanes are clean and beautiful. However, it is the town square ( piazza) that has always been kind of a puzzle, for perhaps this is the most famous town square in the world and it is the product of two incredible minds coming together. Two minds that defined the Renaissance as we know it.

SMALL TOWN BOY MAKES GOOD

The first person was Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, often regarded as the first humanist Pope, consecrated Pope Pius II in 1458. He will always be on the 'good guy' list because he forgave the painter Fra Fillipo Lippi's " indesgretion' in getting a nun pregnant resulting in the great painter Fillippino Lippi.

The second is Bernardo Rossellino,a Florentine student of Leon Battista Alberti and the Chief Architect of what was to be the ideal Renaissance city, Pienza.

As you turn onto the Corso Rossellino you see the Campanile ( bell tower), and then you enter the sun filled piazza........it looks so small and feels crowded! What gives?

All great art requires serious observation and thinking to fully understand it's importance. Fortunately, there is a small bar/cafe right next to the Renaissance well and a good place to sit and look at this most marvelous arrangement of buildings.

First, Pope Pius came from this tiny agricultural community, it was originally known as Corsignano. He was schooled in Siena and Florence and travelled extensively. A cosmopolitan scholar. In order to escape the heat of Rome he decided to construct a summer Papal Palace here.

Il Duomo

The first building to command your attention is the church ( Duomo), clad in travertine, white and finely carved with fully articulated columns, three arches (echoing Roman arches), and topped with a huge papal insignia. When you enter the Duomo, you are flooded with light due to the fact that instead of being oriented on an East-West axis ( typical of temples going back to the Egyptians), this is set on a South-North orientation, allowing sun to fill the interior through large windows, more Northern European than Italian.

All the other buildings on the piazza are clad in less expensive sandstone. If you look at the front corner of the Duomo you can observe this transition. Facing the Duomo, on the right is the Pope's palace, Palazzo Piccolomini, mainly sandstone only trimmed in travertine with flat columns and arches above the windows.

Palazzo Piccolomini ( well) ahead, Duomo to the left.

The front entrance of the Palazzo is on the Corso Rossellino and through it you can see the gardens and landscape beyond ( see previous post). Two side doors open, one to the old Cathedral of St. Francis and the other to the Duomo.

Bishop's House

Across the piazza sits the Bishop's House, Pienza was raised to an Episcopal seat. The facade, while still sandstone is much simpler yet is divided into three levels, the arch over the main door mirrors the arch of the Duomo. It is clear there is an order of importance here.

Canon's Residence

If you look to the right of Bishop's palace you see the Canon's Residence, clean and sparse and quite modern in it's lines with an arched doorway asymmetrically placed towards the piazza, a delight.

The Renaissance well with the Artisan's House ( now bar/cafe with red canopy)

Palazzo Communale with Campanile

Facing the Duomo and it's ecclesiastical supporting buildings

is the Town Hall or Palazzo Communale, the seat of secular power. With it's crenellated clock tower ( campanile), this a smaller version of the Palazzo Pubblico in the Campo of Siena. The exterior is etched in sgraffito and has an arcade of classical columns. It becomes an excellent civic counterweight to the Papal Cathedral.

Finally, if you are sitting in the bar, you are in front of the Artisan's House, built to represent the common laborer. Pious was well aware of the Lorenzetti's " Good Government" fresco in Siena and knew that an effective government required the service of all levels of society.

By the way, that beautiful well, the one where tourists pose in front of for pictures, was designed by the architect of all of these buildings, Rossellino.

Bird's Eye View of the Pienza Piazza

There is one more thing that has always been perplexing, the buildings are not squared to the piazza. The piazza itself is more of a trapezoid, wider at the Duomo end, why? Some say it is to let in the fresh breeze from the valley and to open up views. Other say that the buildings are on the ancient 'footprints' of earlier buildings. But, as we sit here looking at the whole, from this point, at the cafe, the buildings appear to arrange themselves in "correct" perspective as they all come together in an ordered logical and symbolic whole, a Renaissance city. Pienza.

all photos and text are copyright 2012 Aponovich & Johansson and cannot be used without permission.