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[You can enlarge any picture in
this narrative by
clicking on it - it
will open in a separate window and in many cases, show detail you can't
see in the smaller version. (Click on the back arrow to return to
the text.) Many more pictures can be found here.]
Tuesday September 23   The start of Barb and Malissa's big
adventure was a very long 24 hours of travel! We actually left on
Monday - Malissa's daughter, Hannah, took us to the Cedar Rapids
airport (left). Then we flew from Cedar Rapids to Chicago's
O'Hare (where we dug out the masks because it was very crowded).
Then we flew overnight to Frankfurt, Germany and finally, to Pisa,
Italy arriving, pretty groggy, around 10 AM. Immigration and Customs
went smoothly in Frankfurt and Rita, our hostess/ guide/ teacher for
the week met us and 4 others in Pisa. We got a hint of the
scenery we would see for the next week (right) driving from Pisa to
Mologno (a little over an hour). These are the Apuan Alps, full
of marvelous views.  This is "home" for our week in Italy - Rita owns the
MezzaLuna B&B and also runs the cooking classes and,
between
lessons, takes us sightseeing! The right picture is the view from
the MezzaLuna terrace. We also ate meals out there, weather
permitting. The
peak is Pania Secca, a 5600 foot peak in the Alpi Apuane. The first night we were served a splendid assortment of meats, cheeses, breads and salads. We were all pretty wiped out from travels so after introductions and plans for morning, we went off to our rooms and to sleep! Wednesday September 24   Rita declared this a morning "off" because the weather
was too beautiful to spend in the kitchen! She took us to Barga,
only 4 kilometers
away. It's an old medieval walled town and it's quite interesting
to
see how the old mixes with the new. At the left is a picture of
Malissa, me and Rita at the Porta Macchiaia - the main gate into the "old town." (You'll have to
click to enlarge if you want to see us!) From there we climbed up
to Saint Christopher's Cathedral - probably the highest point in the
area. The picture at the right was taken
about half way up.The picture at the left below is going up the last stairway to the cathedral. There was a wedding there over the past weekend and so some of the decorations were left from that. The center picture is the sanctuary - you can see the two small chapels at each side - and the right one is the view of the mountains out the front door. 
 There is a legend of St.
Christopher - he was originally a huge man named Reprobus who wanted to
serve the "greatest King." He was advised to serve people by
carrying them over a dangerous river. One night a child asked him
for a ride across; of course, he agreed, but the weight of the child
seemed to increase as he crossed the river. On the other side,
the child revealed himself to be Jesus and said that he had just
carried the weight of the world. Jesus renamed him "Christopher"
(the Christ bearer). And of course, St. Christopher is now known as
the patron saint of travellers. This is the story behind
the many paintings and icons we see all over the town (like the one on
the left below that was hanging on a wall of the old town) showing a
huge man carrying a smaller Christ on his shoulder. The photo in
the middle is a window box of a home in the old town and the one on the
right was seen as we were leaving the town - the old phone booth is now
a "little free library" and in the distance you can see a Roman
aquaduct we will visit later in the week.
 
We
had gnocchi for lunch with
different sauces - and we learned about the gnocchi board. You
run the rolled dumpling over the board to make the little grooves that
help the sauce hang onto the gnocchi. Then this evening was pasta
night so this afternoon we rolled pasta and then made some noodles,
ravioli and tortellini. And, oh my, it was all good! On the
left is a group picture after we put on the aprons and before they got
stained! (Left to right Roxanne, Margaret, René, Mia, Malissa,
Julie, Barb, Mark - Julie and Roxanne are from Oregon, Mia and René
from Denmark and Mark is Margaret's son; they are from Northern
England.) In the middle we are working on the fillings
and sauces and at the right, our finished products!
 
 Thursday September 25
  Today
was cloudy and rainy and Rita
decided it was a sightseeing day so we
went off to Pisa this morning. The whole "tourist" area, known as the Piazza Miracoli is in the
picture on the left: it includes the Baptistery, the
Duomo and the Tower in the back. We couldn't go into the tower
(closer picture on the right) because it requires time-stamped tickets
that must be purchased WAY ahead of time due to demand. But we
went through the Baptistery of St. John (begun in 1153) - climbed up to
the upper floor and got a good view of the whole main level (picture on
left below). Then we went across to the Duomo - officially
Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale di Santa Maria Assunta.
It was started in 1063 so it's not surprising that it is almost always
being repaired and restored. The center picture is the main
sanctuary and the one on the right is the pulpit (that is there because
there is a cast of it in London that we saw the following week - so
hold that thought!) There are many more pictures of the inside of
the cathedral in the photos
section.
    Next stop was Lucca, another walled city that retains
much of its old character. The picture to the left is the Porta
San Donato, one of the gates into the city. Very few vehicles are
permitted in the city - you park outside the wall in one of many lots, then
most Lucca streets are pedestrian only. We had lunch there at a
pizzeria that Rita was familiar with - we ordered about 3 pizzas plus some salads,
shared them around and had plenty to eat. The rain started in
earnest while we were eating and at least sprinkled all the rest of the
afternoon. I really wanted to go climb one of the towers but most
of the group were more interested in shopping so that's what we
did. I bought a gnocchi board at a little shop called Tutto per
la Casa (Everything for the Home) that did, indeed, have a bit of
everything. We also stopped during one downpour for some gelato
so we could sit down inside and stay dry! There were numerous
leather goods shops, clothing stores and cheese specialty shops in
addition to the typical touristy gift shops. On the right is a
street in Lucca's shopping district decorated with children's art work
in preparation for an Art Show beginning next week.   To
the left here is the
Chiesa di San Michele in Foro
(dedicated
to Archangel Michael) that was first mentioned in writing in
795. The existing church was built beginning in 1070. The
facade is from the 13th century, notable for numerous statues and
inlays, many of which have been rebuilt or restored over the
years. You can see
in the picture that the tower is undergoing reconstruction
now. On the right is another of the main churches, the
Basilica de San
Frediano. Frediano was an Irish Bishop of Lucca in the 6th
century. He originally built a church here dedicated to Saint
Vincent; after his death it became known as Chiesa di Ss. Frediano and
Vincenzo. The current church was built in the early 1100's which
is when it was rededicated as the Basilica de San Frediano; and the
striking mosaic (portraying the ascension of Christ) was added in the
13th century. (I love the tiny Smart Car in front of the
church! There are many of those in old towns in Europe, partly
because the roads are so narrow.) By the time we got back to
MezzaLuna it was supper time and we were treated to a staff-prepared
"mixed grill" that was delightful. Friday September 26   This morning we got word that the plentiful rains of
yesterday caused landslides that closed up most of the major roads
going in and out of the mountain towns. Maybe this happens
frequently and that's why we did our sightseeing yesterday! In
any case, we were stuck "at home" today so did a lot of cooking.
We started by making our pizza dough so that it could rise during the
day. Then we created a risotto that we enjoyed for lunch
and Rita started the wood-fired pizza oven so it would be hot and ready
for supper. After a rest time, we made biscotti (aka cantucci)
pictured at left, both chocolate and almond. While they were
baking we worked magic with the pizza dough. First we cut small
squares and fried them to make "pasta fritta" (photo on the right) -
sprinkled with salt, or sugar or sugar/cinnamon, they are great
snacks. We made a couple of white pizzas with potatoes and zucchini for all to share (shown at left and center below), then we each made individual pizzas, selecting from a variety of toppings (on the right below). It was amazing how fast they cooked in that very hot oven! Rita put them in and turned them once, then we each had to, carefully, remove our own! The second row of pictures below are Rita turning a pizza in the oven and Barb's pizza after it was done. The right hand picture is from "sing along" night - Alex (Rita's ex, but they are still friends) sang for us then he selected some songs in English and we all joined in.         This morning we went back to Barga for exploring - this
time the "new" part of Barga. Rita dropped us off, told us about
a few places, then came back to get us at noon. We first stopped
at an ATM and got some Euros to spend! Then hit the grocery store
for chocolate and I bought some Chestnut Honey to bring home for
John. We hit a lot of the flea markets - some are full time,
others are just Saturdays - and Malissa bought several shirts, a scarf
and a small wheel of cheese. Finally, we had more time so walked
down to the aquaduct which oversees a large public park, the Kennedy
Brothers park (pictured at left) that was created in the former moat.
The aquaduct was originally commissioned in 1476 but not
operational until 1654. This pedestrian bridge was apparently one of the few original bridges that survived WWII.  We made "spaghetti alle vongole" (spaghetti with clams)
for lunch; then, after some rest time, Rita had a special booking that
evening so Alex took us to Montecarlo (the Italian one - at
the left) which has the appropriate soil to be a very rich wine
area. This time we visited the Buonamico Vineyard for a
tour of their winemaking facility, a wine tasting and light
supper. Part of our tour is shown at the right.Sunday September 28  This morning we visited Sommocolonia, a
small mountain town population
21, where Rita's mother grew up and her grandmother lived most of her
life. It was pretty scary going up the steep, twisty turns
(honking at each hairpin curve) but the views are spectacular once you
get there! One of those views is at the left - you can see Barga
nestled in the valley. The "Omo Morto" ("Dead Man") is seen in
the ridges of Pania della Croce. Just to the left of center is a tiny
hole (you may have to click and enlarge to see it) that's the eye;
moving to the right is the chin, then a low swell of the stomach and
the high points represent his knees.Below are some more Sommocolonia pictures. First, the very steep road - yes, that's really a road (for small vehicles)! Then the lovely flower boxes along the wall - the whole town is full of flowers and kept up beautifully. To the right is a display of crocheted doilies on the side of the church. For festivals, or other special events, that whole unit lifts up and is attached to the 3 poles on the other side of the road, creating a canopy. 
  The next row includes a WWII
memorial next to the 12th Century bell tower. See the incline
going up to the right behind the tower? (You probably have to click to enlarge.) That was our next
destination! I'm posing on a little terrace as tall as the tower and
then the last picture is looking down on the church.
   After returning, we had soup,
sausages and polenta for lunch then a bit of free time. Malissa
and I used that time to walk through the small town of Mologna.
At the left is just a typical street - that looks much more like a US
suburban neighborhood than the very old mountain towns we've been
visiting. In the center is a train - there is a regular,
well-used route that comes through daily. Finally, a local church
that is very near the train station.
   Tonight was seafood night - and
those of you who know me will be astonished to hear that I tried
everything! It was not my favorite night but I was surprised at
how "okay" it was. Left to right - preparing some of the
ingredients (fish, octopus, mussels), prawns flaming in brandy, and the
final collection including crostini, fish soup, two types of pulpo
salad (one hot, one cold), prawns in brandy sauce and more.
  Monday September 29
  For our last day we started at Ponte della
Maddalena aka Ponte del
Diavolo (the Devil's Bridge) near Borgo a Mozzano over the Serchio
River. It dates to the 11th century and, of course, comes with a
story. It seems that the contractor wasn't going to finish it by
his deadline (some things never change...) so he made a deal with the
Devil. If the Devil finished the bridge overnight, he would get
the first soul to cross over it. The tricky contractor sent
across a pig (in some versions a dog); the Devil, realizing he was
outsmarted, disappeared in a rage. To the right is a lock just
down the river from the bridge.  After that brief stop, we went
to Tenuto Adama, the first (yes, first) vineyard of the day, shown at
left. That was received so well that Rita called a "friend" (she
has many) to see if we could go have lunch at another nearby vineyard,
so we then moved on to Fattorio al Dotto. That was a pretty
elaborate place and served a full meal with our tastings so we spent
quite a while there! I managed to get a picture of the whole
group (well, except me since I was taking the picture) during our
lunch: Julie, Roxanne, Malissa, Mia, René, Rita, Margaret, Mark.  Rita, being the driver, abstained entirely; I had only
tiny sips of the white options and Malissa was pretty cautious as
well. By the time we got back to MezzaLuna we three were the only
ones in any shape to cook supper! So we created the meal
ourselves - a couple of vegetable pies (sformato), an eggplant
parmesano and fried polento. Sformato is traditionally a potato
dish but we also made a second pie using zucchini. On the left
are our eggplant slices, having been salted then pressed and rinsed to
remove as much liquid as possible, then dredged in flour, ready to fry
lightly before being put in the casserole. The right shows our final
shared meal at the end of a fantastic week! The next morning Alex shuttled us to the Pisa airport where we had the longest lines we have encountered so far. (Rita is off to Rome to celebrate her birthday with her daughter.) Fortunately we had two quick flights - to Frankfurt then to London Heathrow - so we arrived around 2 PM. Malissa and I spent the next few days exhausting ourselves seeing as much of London as we could! That trip report is found here, if you want to continue the adventure with us!
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