A Gelato a Day!

Where to start? So much to let you know about, I just don’t know where to begin! But gelato seems like a good place. In Italy, the gelato is so good, we sometimes had it twice a day!There is no such thing as too much gelato, is there?

Gelato cart in Manarolo

In September, we traveled to northern Italy, where I’ve never been before. As part of the pre-trip, we spent four days in the Cinque Terre, Italy’s five beautiful hill towns perched (some rather precariously) on the sides of mountains. But for the massive crowds that poured out of the trains every hour (and this was the off-season), these towns are just gorgeous. Set along the water, they are famous for their fresh seafood, delicately fried. Lead by our trusty guide, Giuseppe, we traversed these towns via train, boat, and 4x4 jeeps. In Monterosso, we found a gelato shop so good, we stopped there every night. But as good as it was, it did not compare with the gelato from a vendor dispensing her wares from an adorable little cart in the town of Manarola, where I had the most delectable pistachio gelato. It is the standard by which now all pistachio gelato is compared!

Milan's Duomo at night

On to Milano! The city was still buzzing from Fashion Week which just ended the day before we arrived. Many fashionistas were spotted near the high-end Galleria Vittorio Emanuele shopping mall, hunting their prey at Prada, Gucci, Armani, Vuitton, etc. The highlight, though, for us was visiting Milan’s beautiful Duomo (cathedral), where work began in 1386. It is the largest gothic building in Italy. With only one full day in the city, we were unable to visit the famed La Scala opera house, but we did manage to find Milano’s best gelato at Cioccolat Italiani, where the line snaked down the block. We persevered.

Pizzoccheri

The main part of our trip took us on an almost three week journey (with our new guide, Alice) through the region’s beautiful vineyards, apple orchards, and olive groves. Along the way, we learned how to make feather-light gnocchi at Trattoria del Gallo a charming restaurant in Rovato; we visited the small village of Teglio where a dedicated group of volunteers is keeping alive the tradition of growing and harvesting buckwheat with age-old techniques, and then making pasta from the ground flour. They combine the pasta with cabbage, onions, potatoes, butter (LOTS of butter), and a local cheese to make a hearty dish called pizzoccheri (pitz-sock-kari) - it’s absolutely delicious!

The city of Verona, made famous by Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, was next on our itinerary. Verona was a bit too touristy for me, but a visit to the Juliet Club made even the cynics in our group melt just a bit. Juliet’s “secretaries” have been reading and responding to letters from the lovelorn since the 1930s (they handle over 50,000 letters per year). 

The magnificent Dolomites!

There’s no way I can condense three weeks down to a single blog post, but I must tell you about my favorite town: Bressanone/Brixen. Positioned near the Italian/Austrian border, for hundreds of years locals in these towns have spoken both Italian and German, and all signage is in both languages. This town had it all: lovely architecture, wonderful butchers and bakeries on every corner, charming restaurants/cafes, terrific wine shops (more on that later), and within a couple of hours drive to the breathtaking Dolomites. The Dolomites are a spectacular mountain range in northeastern Italy, and on a crystal-clear, picture-perfect, bright and sunny day, we spent a few hours hiking with a terrific guide. Every few minutes, as I stopped to admire the view, all I could say was, “omg - this is incredible!” Our guide has lived in that area his whole life, and speaks the local language known as Ladino (the Ladin people have lived in these mountains since the Bronze Age). Take a look at the photo above of these gorgeous mountains.

Ricotta Dumplings with Plums

Spaghetti con Olives, Pesto, and Burrata

A perfect day, topped off with a real find back in town. Not really hungry for dinner, but needing a nosh, we stopped in to a small enoteca for a glass of wine and a cheese/salumi plate. The wine and snack were superb - the owner obviously knew his stuff. As we chatted, he mentioned that on certain nights, they offered a limited dinner menu. And as luck would have it, on our last night in Bressanone, he had one table left, which we immediately reserved. With the unassuming name of “Vinus, Peter’s Wein Bistro,” you might not expect much in the way of food, but as we later found out, this man was more than just a guy who owned a wine shop, he was formerly the owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant in Germany. Jackpot! We arrived the next night to enjoy an outstanding meal. Peter’s wife is the chef and she put out a delicious dinner. I sopped up every morsel of the fresh spaghetti with perfectly-ripe olives, pesto, and burrata. Peter paired wines for everyone’s dinner, along with a lovely dessert wine to go with the sweet ricotta dumplings with fresh plums (another “omg” moment). Peter’s Wine Shop is the kind of place I could go to every week (who am I kidding, probably 2-3 times a week!) Must. Go. Back.

Buckwheat Cake in Teglio

Our visit to northern Italy was delightful. It was the perfect combination of spectacular sights, “real” farm-to-table meals (in real farmhouses!), wonderful farmers and craftspeople, amazing cheese, breads, desserts, and plenty of “omg” moments! 

Ciao!

PS: coming soon, a photo essay of our trip, complete with all the glorious food and scenery that I couldn't fit here!

Serengeti Sunrise

Serengeti Sunrise

You’ve heard the expression “the trip of a lifetime?” It’s used by countless travel magazines, tour companies, and the like to describe a trip so amazing that nothing else could ever top it, or so extravagant you’d need to save up your entire life to be able to afford it. 

I’m not given to hyperbole, but I must tell you about our recent trip to Tanzania that was, in fact, “the trip of a lifetime.”

We’ve done a bit of traveling, especially in the last few years, and all of our trips have been fabulous (Alaska, Sicily, Croatia, the Panama Canal, to name a few) but nothing compares to this Africa trip. What makes a trip so special that it qualifies for entry into that “trip of a lifetime” category? When each day is better than the last; when your interactions with the local population are more than just a quick itinerary “check the box;” when being within 10 feet of a family of elephants and seeing their beauty up close brings you to tears, that makes it a trip of a lifetime.

We spent two weeks in June visiting Tanzania as part of the Overseas Adventure Travel “Safari Serengeti: Tanzania Lodge and Tented Safari” trip, and there is no way I could possibly tell you about ALL of the wonderful experiences in a single blog post but here are the some of the highlights.

After an overnight flight to Amsterdam, and then another eight hour flight to Tanzania, we landed in Arusha, the bustling capital city of 1.5 million people. We landed about 8pm and were met at the airport by our outstanding trip leader, Domi. After going through immigration, and getting our luggage, we had about an hour’s ride to the hotel. Needless to say, we were dead tired!

SWCEA water filter

Our first stop the next day was Safe Water Ceramics of East Africa (SWCEA) to learn about their efforts to provide people with access to clean water. Forty-six percent of Africans suffer from drinking unsafe water. SWCEA produces ceramic water filters to distribute throughout Tanzania (you can read more about the production of the filters here). Through donations (each filter costs only $40) from visitors such as our group, these filters can supply a family of six with clean drinking water for five years. Our little group of 14 travelers purchased five filters that we would distribute during our journey through Tanzania. The next day, enroute to Tarangire National Park, our guide spotted a group of Maasai women and children with their herd of cattle, donkeys, and goats, gathering water from a pond. Our trip leader and drivers slowly and patiently educated Wife #1 and the other Maasai women of a nearby village about how these filters could help them. After a bit of time, they were very happy to accept the filter. One of the many moments of this encounter that was inspiring was the request from Wife #1 for a filter for Wife #2, who was not present. She wasn’t thinking only about herself, but the entire tribe.

Maasai women learning about water filters

We did this a few more times during the trip until all of our filters had been distributed and it was incredibly moving to think that our little donation of $40 could literally change and improve lives. I encourage you to visit the SWCEA site and perhaps make a donation if you are able. In 2018, it is shocking that so many people are without access to clean drinking water.

We spent four days in a tented camp in Serengeti National Park. I was a little apprehensive about the whole “camping” thing (I am not a camping sort of girl), but although rustic, these are definitely not your typical tents. With almost all of the comforts of home (flush toilet, gravity-bucket shower) and wonderful food and service from the camp staff, this is camping I could get used to! The one thing I don’t think I could get used to are the sounds of various wild animals padding around outside our tents during the night. The staff assured us that the animals weren’t interested in us, but it’s hard to fall asleep when you hear wildebeest and hyenas right outside your door!

Every day in the Serengeti, we were up and out early to see the incredible wildlife that was all around us. One day, we left camp in the dark, (very) early hours to catch the sunrise over a gorgeous lake populated with pink flamingos. It was breathtaking. Then our guides drove the group to a mountaintop where they laid out a lovely picnic breakfast. Not exactly roughing it…

We were lucky to catch part of the Great Migration with sightings of thousands of zebras and wildebeest making the annual journey.  In total, there can be two million animals crossing the plains between Tanzania and Kenya. Of course, no one can predict exactly when the animals will traverse this route, but generally your best chances are between June and August.

Most people plan a trip like this to see the animals and we certainly were not disappointed in the efforts of our guides to fulfill this wish. During our two weeks, we saw every “big five” animal (elephant, black rhino, cape buffalo, lion, leopard) that Africa is known for. Along the way, we came across immensely beautiful birds, hippos lazing about watering holes, hyenas stalking flamingos, pelicans, jackals, two (TWO!) pairs of mating lions, baboons, a dik dik (a small dog-size type of deer), vultures, and of course, the ever graceful giraffes.

But this trip was not just about the animals. Midway through the trip, we had the opportunity to visit Oldupai Gorge, where the famed anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey, discovered fossil fragments which led them to a new understanding of human evolution. It was incredible to visit the museum and learn about the theory that Oldupai Gorge was home to Homo habilis, a race of early humans that would become the ancestors to all present-day humankind.

One of our last stops was the Ngorongoro Crater, where after driving through the fog-laden roads, we descended to the floor of the crater. This “caldera,” which was formed by a major eruption leading to the collapse of the mouth of a volcano, is more than 12 miles across, with walls that rise 2,000 feet. The crater’s rim is 7,500 feet above sea level, and according to our guide, the permanent supply of water and a precise balance of predator and prey, enables most of the wildlife to remain in the crater year-round. This is where we spotted our only glimpse of a black mama rhino and her baby.

I reflected on a few things when we returned home: a) I am lucky to live in a country where we take everyday things like clean water for granted; b) the sheer beauty and vast expanses of the Serengeti are something I will never forget; and c) the “it takes a village” attitude of every local person we met. Our guide explained that they are all one family and they help each other. 

So the travel pundits were right: definitely the trip of a lifetime.

Sunset in the Serengeti

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Quarta Parte: A Day in the Life...

Fresh Ricotta

As part of every OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) trip, they include what is known as “A Day in the Life,” where the group experiences everyday life with the locals. On this trip, it was a visit to a dairy farm in the village of Castelluccio. The family that owns the farm has about 100 acres of land, with views of olive trees that stretch for miles. I absolutely fell in love with the countryside of Sicily. 

Gorgeous Persimmons

Their land is rich with beautiful fruit orchards overflowing with incredibly sweet persimmons and luscious prickly pears. The sun was high and warm as we wandered through the orchards, with the family patriarch plucking pears off the trees and doling out big slices for us to eat out of hand, his two trusty dogs trailing us. 

Prickly Pears for the taking

When I thought the day couldn’t get any better, we went to their cheesemaking hut where we helped his son make fresh ricotta (okay, mostly he made it while we watched), which was still warm when we ate it at lunch. Nirvana! 

Kneading Bread

When we returned to the house, the lovely matriarch of the family invited us to make bread with her. She uses an ancient kneading machine, the kind that has been used in rural villages for decades. We all took a turn at this and believe me, it was not easy. After the dough has been kneaded and has risen, it’s formed and then baked in a wood-fired stove where she’s also added some olive tree branches for flavor.

While the bread was baking, we walked through the olive groves to a spot under the trees where we enjoyed salumi, caciocavallo cheese, and champagne (to celebrate the anniversary of a couple on the trip). It was like a Food and Wine Magazine spread.

For lunch back at the house, they grilled fat pork sausages and tender chicken legs that had been rubbed with lemon, oregano, and olive oil, all washed down with homemade wine in mismatched glasses. Everything we ate had been grown or made on the farm. Whatever they don’t use for themselves, they use to barter with neighbors. This is life in a small, rural Italian village. Hard to believe we were not far from the bustling hill town of Ragusa, that is home to a Michelin starred restaurant. Talk about two extremes. And I loved both equally.

Ciao for now!