Yesterday we went to L’Umbricello del Coccio for lunch with friends who are visiting for the weekend. We went specifically to get the Cacio e Pepe umbricello that they make in the traditional way. Here is a movie showing the whole show!
Photo credit Ric Mosley
Another guest post from The Wine Guy.
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Day 2
Leaving our hotel on a gorgeous early fall morning, we head south on the A1/E80 following the old Roman road to Rome, crossing the flatlands around the provincial capital of Grosetto, and entering the rolling hill country of the Monti dell’Uccelina. From there we branch inland into the rugged wine region around the mountain town of Scansano.
The region around Scansano takes its name from a varietal of the Sangiovese called Morellino. One of the more romantic theories around the name is that it comes from “morello”, which literally means “brown”, the color of the region’s horses. More down to earth observers suspect it derives from the morello cherry, a dark red cherry known for its acidity and tartness. In any case, the local Sangovese has been granted the highly prized DOCG status since 2007 as Morellino di Scansano. A Morellino di Scansano must consist of at least 85% local Morellino, with up to 15% coming from a list of other permitted varietals maintained by the Tuscan wine authorities. This makes it essentially a local version of the wines of Chianti. Morellino can come in two subtypes, the Morellino di Scansano, which does not require any oak aging and is primarily a light, crisp everyday drinking wine, and the Morellino di Scansano Riserva, which must be held for two years after the harvest, with at least one of these years in oak, a much heavier wine with considerable aging potential.
Our first goal in the region is Col di Bacche, just outside Montiano in the high hills around Montiano. This relatively new property of 13.5 hectares rises above the surrounding hills and offers a splendid view of the bright blue Mediterrenean in the distance. It was first planted in 1998 with the first release appearing in 2004. It has rapidly advanced, becoming one of the premiere wineries in the area. We are greeted by Cosimo Carnasciale, son of the founder. Before trying the wines, we talked a bit about the intense heat and drought and its probable effect on the vintage. Cosimo was very upbeat, explaining to us that the area around Scansano is considered the hottest part of Tuscany, and that the weather there had been hot, but not drastically so by local standards. He’s expecting lower yields, but the quality is high and there has been no signs of diseases, which seem to worry Tuscan winemakers considerably more than the weather.
We began with the Vermentino, which was an interesting contrast to the Narà which we had tried the day before. Here, the nose was decidely fruity and florid, with very pleasant acidity that did not overpower but promised a good pairing with fish, antipasti and milder salamis.
We followed this with the 2015 Morellino di Scansano, the lighter of the two Morellinos produced here. It’s a ruby red wine meant for relatively early drinking, although it has some aging potential with 40% seeing five months in old French oak while the majority undergoes clarification is stainless steel tanks. This yields a well-structured fruity wine with soft tannins and notes of vanilla and strawberries. It’s lovely now.
We next turned our attention to the Morellino di Scansano Riserva Rovente Riserva 2013. The flagship. This wine is made from a hand selection of the best grapes with a maceration 18 to 21 days to express the full potential of the harvest and aging in new French oak for 12 months. “Rovente” is Italian for “fiery” or “passionate”, and the wine expresses these sentiments well, with a warm, round nose, mouth-filling, spicy body and a full finish. This wine is built to go the distance, and should reward 10 years or so of aging. It is considered one of the best Morellino di Scansano by many of Italy’s leading wine journals.
Factoid: Cosimo remarked that in the future, the wine will be labelled solely Morellino di Scansano Riserva, dropping the word “rovente”, which can also mean “sizzling” or “scorching”. He says the winery has decided this is a bit over the top now that the vineyard has found its place among the top producers.
As his final offering, Cosimo brought out his pièce de résistance, the 2014 Poggio alle Viole (Hill of Violets), his version of a Brunello di Montalcino. It is 100% hand selected Sangiovese, as is Brunello from what he considers his best parcel and sees 15 months of aging in small oak barrels. (Brunello actually requires 36 months) Oddly enough, he is not allowed to put the DOCG of Morellino di Scansano on the label: although the DOCG requirements mandate that the wine should be mostly (85%) Sangiovese, it cannot be 100% Sangiovese. It’s an Italian thing–Go figure.
In any case, the wine is lovely, but a bit young. Dark ruby red with a gingery nose with some peppery hints. Lot’s of body in the mouth and a deep finish. The tannins, not overpowering, but clearly present, hint at a wine that could improve for many years. Cosimo thinks it could go 20 years. This is clearly the masterpiece of the house and Nancy, who usually trusts that I will buy everything in the house, took no chances on this one, insisting we had to have some. This is high praise indeed.
Leaving Col di Bacche heading south, we pass lovely hill town of Manciano in Toscana with its magnificent walls and medieval Fattoria della Campiglio, its stronghold. It’s a lovely day and we’d love to visit, but we want to get to Scansano for lunch and it looks like a bit of a drive. And so it is. The SS323 linking Scansano and Manciano winds it way up 500 meters through brush and pine forests with wonderful views towards the coast and into the mountainous region separating the Maremma from central Tuscany. The top is down and the weather is perfect. A lovely drive.
This past Sunday we decided to visit Trevi, a hill town between Foligno and Spoleto. I had passed this pretty town perched way up on its hill many times but had never stopped. The occasion was their annual Sedano Nero festival. This means black celery. It is grown only between Borgo di Trevi and the Clitunno river on a small strip of land. It is not black but dark green and does not go through any processing, like whitening. It is planted and grown by strict traditions. The seeds are planted during a waning moon on the day before Easter. It has to be carefully supported as it grows. Most of the work is done by hand. It is one of the six Umbrian Slow Food specialties.
Trevi from above.
Trevi is also known as the Capital of Oil
This is the very beginning of the olive harvest. I bought some of the new olive oil. See how cloudy it is. And incredibly green. It is unfiltered.
The sedano nero was stacked like firewood everywhere!
It is a beautiful green. They say it is stringless. Not sure I’m buying that. So I bought some to bring home. I am here to say, it does have strings but less that normal celery has.
Also on offer were lots of specialties. We tried lots of cured meats. Many specialties were, of course, celery based. For instance, celery jam and celery cream.
This stand had many types of cured meats and sausage.
A discerning nun.
It was a very warm day so I felt for this man who was cooking up the sausages.
We decided to have lunch in Taverna del Sette. We sat in a pretty courtyard at the end of the short street. The sky was mesmerizingly blue.
Luther went for the celery soup.
And he tried the stuffed celery. It sure looks good.
I tried the cinghale ragu. Wild boar.
After lunch we decided to make a short stop in Bevagna since our friend Jennifer had not ever been there. It was Sunday and there was a small flea market going on. But for me, the best thing was coming upon a group of men just finishing up lunch outside a restaurant. They performed an impromptu a capello melody. It was hauntingly beautiful, the voices blended seamlessly. I wished I had a way to record them.
Scenes in Bevagna. Such a beautiful town.
The old guys. Every town has its own cadre of old men. They sit together companionably on benches, or they gather to play Briscola, the national Italian card game.
The Sedano Nero festival was one of the better ones I’ve visited. Not too crowded but plenty lively. And Trevi is a beautiful town that few tourists visit. Too bad, their loss. It was a lovely outing made super by the dazzling day.
Well, it’s official. It is suddenly Fall. Temperatures still rise to low 70s in the afternoon but as soon as the sun sets it is decidedly chilly. This is the time of year I have a hard time deciding what to wear. Inside the house is colder than outside so I tend to overdress. This is not a problem for Italians who dress to the calendar, not the temperature. So already they are wearing puffy winter coats and scarves. And I’m in a T-shirt.
And it is time to wrap up the corn saga. As you may recall, I planted corn in containers on my terrazzo and also in a friends garden. We had the hottest summer on record and consequently only a little of the corn plumped up and was edible. I believe I harvested 11 ears. And they were wonderful. The container corn was not a success at all. It tassled and had small ears that never matured. So here is our final goodbye to the 2017 corn project. Next year!
And the foods in our markets are changing rapidly. Gone are the tomatoes…sniff. And the melons. But we still have mounds of just ripe peppers to include the picante types. And we still have zucchini. The sweet, tiny ripe grapes from the fields nearby have just come in. And the pumpkins and winter squash have arrived as well.
Recently I did an interview with a writer for International Living. She’s writing an article about retiring and the differences in prices people can expect between Umbria and the US. I was happy to oblige. One misconception is that we have to pay more to eat local and in season here. I remember visiting the farmers markets in Virginia and paying top dollar for the products. Not so here. If you buy seasonally, when the vegetables and fruits are at their peak and bountiful, you pay the least because there IS such bounty. And I am definitely a person who cooks and cares to eat good tasting food which is in season. I spend around 8€ ($9) for a big grocery bag of fresh produce.
Winter squash is so seasonal.
Almost too pretty to eat. Looks like sculpture!
The citrus has arrived. It will get better as we go through the winter.
Last of the Borlotti beans and eggplant. The eggplant is scrawny.
And the pears are plentiful and luscious.
The Wednesday market is very different than the Saturday one. The Wednesday market is mostly the big vendors who go from market to market in the different towns each day (for instance Città di Castello is Thursday, Gubbio is Tuesday). Their produce is not necessarily local. I believe they DO buy local when they have the chance but most of the food comes from the south of Italy and Sicily. Still local to this country but… And you can get things from them earlier than when they are coming into season here. You can also get tomatoes all year, from Sicily, but I don’t care for them. There are one or two locals who come to both Wednesday and Saturday markets. Now, the Saturday market is only very local products from nearby farms. Thus you really do eat only what is in in season nearby. Winter can be pretty sparse in this one.
Greens are what is growing around here.
And cauliflower…
And Cabbage…
And I thought I would plant some fall things this year. I got a few lettuce plants and four petunias. I think the petunias may last the winter. And we shall see how the lettuce does.
It was Sunday and we had plans to visit a fest devoted solely to first plates, or antipasti – appetizers in English. It is the only festival of its kind in Italy. The weather was not so good. Spitting rain. But not too bad and we had been wanting to go to this since we came. So, not letting the weather stop us, we set off to Foligno. This town lies 25 miles south of Perugia and north of Spoleto. As we looked around I thought to myself maybe it should have been on my list when we thought about Umbria. It is flat, has a nice big Centro Storico, and is on the main train line from Rome to Ancona on the Adriatic. Very walkable.
Main Piazza with Duomo.
Foligno is host to two big jousting tournaments held in June, called 1st challenge, and September, (called counter-challenge) . The contest is called Giostra della Quintana and is named after the Roman 5th road where the soldiers were trained in jousting. Believe it or not they have had this festival since 1448 (!) It has been held uninterrupted since then. The contest is between the ten “neighborhoods” of the city. Each neighborhood is represented by a Knight. They gallop on horseback trying to catch three rings, each smaller than the previous one. I must go see it sometime.
Note the flags on either side of the street. These are two of the Neighborhoods.
Another Neighborhood with pink flags.
Anyway, back to the Primi Piatti. The fest is four days long. Their were 14 booths all over town, each specializing in an area of Italy, or a type of food, like pasta. Some were kind of like restaurants where you paid 3 to 8 Euro for tastes. We walked all over town. In the main Piazza they had cooking demonstrations. There were random bands and lots of music. We visited the Sicily tent. It was very crowded we could barely make any progress. Then went to the Jewish food one. It was really just a restaurant with tastes and we didn’t want to do that. Next we went to the Pasta piazza with people selling all shapes and kinds of pasta. Then we visited the Street Food one which had Hamburgers, hot dogs, fried Olives, mozzarella balls and beer. Lots of beer. Finally we visited the area dedicated to local Umbrian foods. Cheeses, wines, olive oils, honey, confitures. It was a fun time. Next time we’ll go earlier and have lunch.
Marching band.
People enjoying the food.
The Booths
First booth was billed as Sicilian. A lot of the things in there were not from Sicily. This first cheese is a lovely oozing Gorgonzola which I had a taste of.
This is Mortadella, from Emilia-Romagna.
Big booth of alllll sweets!
Next up were what they were billing as “Street Foods”.
This one was too funny not to take a picture of!
And all the beers on tap in this pub, called Beer on the Road, were American micro-brews.
Next up was the Pasta Booth. This packet seemed to have many different shapes all together. I’d never seen that before.
And I couldn’t resist these beautiful pomegranates. They grow everywhere here.
Last booth we visited was dedicated to Umbrian specialties, like these cheeses…
Famous onions of Cannara!
Local Montefalco Sagrantino.
Norcia meats and sausages. This is from the area hard hit by the earthquakes last year. Norcia was heavily damaged.
And finally I started fixating on the very inappropriate, in my opinion, shoes some women wear who will be walking uneven streets for hours.
Here is my idea of appropriate footwear! Not…these guys clacked along loudly with wooden sandals.
Hope you enjoyed the Festa pictures!
We went for a quick two day getaway to the Maremma which lies on the southwest Mediterranean coastal region of Tuscany. It is a beautiful area. Our agriturismo (Tenuta del Fontino) where we stayed, was made up of thousands of acres. Horses, an entire lake and a person could jog and never leave the property. The house is the main manor and they refurbished an old barn into rooms where our room was situated.
Enormous rosemary bushes!
Pretty grounds of the hotel.
That’s the normal part. Now for the weird part. We went to dinner the first night at 7:30 in the hotel dining room. It was on the upper floor of the manor. When we were seated they ask me “Was möchten sie zu trinken?” Huh? Was I transported to die Heimat? Deutschland? Germany? Turns out this hotel caters to, and is full of Germans. We had noticed everything was in Italian and German but it hadn’t occurred to us this could be the reason. The whole room was full of Germans! And German was the default language.
So, we settled in at a table set for three which they said was ours. After we were there a bit a single woman came in – and she was Italian – who joined us. We proceeded with the five course meal. Now I should say, when I read TripAdvisor the people raved about the food. One of the reasons I went here. So, first we saw the hoards of Germans falling on the salad bar…What? salad bar? Where am I? We’ve lived in Germany and I saw it was a typical German style salad except for the cannelloni beans. These would figure often into the rest of the meal. Tuscans are known as “the bean eaters”. Next course was a large piece of toasted bread with cannelloni beans. They had a bit of rosemary in them but overall a very bland dish. Next we had a pasta which was shaped like very short macaroni. Served in a broth that I swear was cannelloni purée with….potatoes!!! Ugh. Again, super bland. Finally we got a very thin slice of roast beef in a bit of gravy. It was obviously a cut meant for long roasting and it had been. It was tender to the point of falling apart. Five boiled potatoes (more potatoes!) accompanied it. The roast was strongly reminiscent of Sauerbraten, a German dish. We opted out of the chocolate mousse, also typically German. It was maybe the worst meal I’ve ever had in Tuscany, which is known for good food.
Our single woman table mate told us she was on a two day getaway from her husband and family and their business. They own a restaurant and hotel in the Livorno area. I thought that was cute. She was very out front that she needed some ME time. So, seeing as she was a cook we asked her about the food and she assured us it was an authentic Tuscan meal. I am still in a state of shock. As an addendum, after we got home I described the dinner to my Italian teacher and she, too, said it was pretty typical Tuscan food. Funny, I’ve been there a lot of times but never disliked the food before. Maybe, since I’ve always eaten in decent restaurants I would not get typical food Tuscans eat at home which was probably what the set, five course meal was more like.
So the objective to our trip was to visit some wineries and purchase some wine. The Wine Guy is in his element doing this. There are five main wine regions in the Maremma and we visited our first one on the way to our hotel. I won’t go into describing our winery visits because I know you will read about it in an upcoming blog.
Wine tasting.
Beautiful vineyards.
We found our lunch which was quite good. Ristorante Rintocco. They brought out two beautiful fish to show us and a big plate of porcini mushrooms, which are in season now. We split an antipasto which consisted of a bowl of Tuscan soup, a plate of marinated zucchini and a bruschetta with fresh tomato. I had the home made tagliatelle with the porcini.
Porcini, (means little pigs in Italian) are the same mushroom called cèpe (in French), and in Germany, Steinpilz (the “stone mushroom”). They are gathered wild in the woods and people make some extra money selling them to vendors and restaurants.
House made pasta with porcini mushrooms
Luther’s fish. We were near the coast so there was a lot of seafood and very fresh.
The one whole day there we went south of Grosetto, the capital of the area. We visited a small winery with a very nice guy letting us taste all his wines. The business was the father, mother and this son. Fun visit.
Off in search of lunch in a small town. Beautiful vista!
Town where the restaurant was…alas, it was closed.
So we drove to the next town called Scansano which was way up on top of a mountain and fairly big. We drove through and found a parking lot and started walking up the hill. We happened upon this restaurant which turned out to be a lucky choice – Osteria Fiaschetteria Rurale. It was a real dump as Luther said. But the couple running it seemed to care about the food and its presentation. For instance, we had an excellent cheese plate with five or six types of goat and sheep. One goat was super strong and I loved it. We each had pici pasta which is a traditionally Tuscan shape like thick spaghetti. Nice and dense and chewy.
My Pici cacio e pepe…yum!
Luther’s pici in cinghale ragu.
Afterward, we decided to purchase another cheese plate to take with us for our evening picnic. It worked out well. We had bought some wine which we enjoyed with the small plate which was of mostly meat. I think the lady misunderstood what we wanted. I thought we’d get another cheese plate but turned out to be meats. Many very fatty. Luther liked them so I didn’t eat much. It was a nice light meal with not too much wine.
The next morning we headed home. We stopped in one more winery which didn’t let us taste but Luther bought six bottles. He was lamenting the fact that there was still space in the car for more!
The weather was beautiful. We put the top down and drove through the Tuscan mountainous center. We passed near San Gimignano. When 1 o’clock came around we began looking for a place for lunch. And we found a cute little place called Ristorante Tre Archi.
First the proprietor brought a little cart with six olive oils to try with the bread. Yum!
Then I had Tuscan onion and potato soup. Toasted bread to put in it. Very like French onion. And tagliatelle house made, with fungi porcini again. Since these big mushrooms are very much in season I took advantage. Luther had Ribolitta, or Tuscan bread soup, and lamb chops. Over cooked. The man, I assume the owner there, was super nice.
We arrived home about five pm. A productive and fun trip.
It is September 2nd. What a long HOT summer we have endured. Yesterday we had our first rain since April – over 100 days with nary a drop! It is so dry. Many trees are already dropping their leaves. The Umbrian grape harvest is predicted to be down 40%. But they do say the vintage will be epic quality. When I got up this morning I heard the sound of gunfire from all around. Then I realized the beginning of the hunting season starts in September. Signs of autumn. It is clear and cool today after our storms.
Thursday marked the begining of our annual Otto Cento festival. It will be our fourth. They moved it up into late August this year. Until now it has been on the third weekend in September. We went out last night for dinner with friends. During the festa all the regular restaurants change over to set menus. Last night we had four courses, water, vino and coffee for 25 Euro a head. There are also around 15 or 20 pop-up restaurants along with numerous stands selling specialty things and drinks. The stilt walkers were back. So ethereal and graceful. There was a puppet show for the kids going on.
After dinner we walked around the town and looked at all the action. There were millions of people out and about. Umbertide has seen a decline in summer activities this year so I think everyone was ready for the party now. Here are some pictures of the festival scenes.
One of the pop up venues. Notice the costumed folks over on the right. There were lots of people in costume this year.
The Rocca – our fortress.
One of the busy street scenes.
Moon over la Rocca. A beautiful evening for the celebration.
As we headed back home we decided to pay a call on our Briganti. They are the bad-boys always up to no good but really the most fun place. Here is a group of the Briganti musicians.
He is my favorite Brigand. He has a great smile.
And of course, the bad boys and girls must have the brothel with the Ladies of the Night.
I will check back on the Briganti during the night Saturday when they take over the town. It is all part of the reenactment of the events in the late 1800s forming the Italian country. Usually the Briganti do something naughty to shock everyone. You can look back at past September posts to see previous years. Hopefully, I can get pictures on Sunday morning of the mayhem wreaked on Saturday night and early Sunday before the authorities remove it.
We stopped by to see my friend Angelo who owns the Alimentari downstairs from us. He was is a great mood. He had transformed his shop for the festival.
And, of course, we paid a brief visit to Bar Mary to find Mary manning the bar. They also serve snacks during the festival.
A final observation. I have NEVER met an Italian who did not love to have his or her picture taken. They are cute.
Another trip report so skip if you are not interested!
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We had booked a eight night cruise aboard the Windstar, a small, four masted ship. The sails are computer operated. It holds 148 passengers and can visit places the bigger cruise ships cannot get to. It is also billed as a luxury cruise with a ratio of one crew to each two passengers. We’ll see what it’s like. It is our first cruise.
Sunday – Venice Italy
Arrived Venezia on the 2:20 Frecciarossa train. Hottern’ blue blazes. Got the number 2 vaporetto packed with tourists. Made it to the San Basilio dock where the Windstar was moored. But wringing wet with perspiration.
The security process was a little like an airport. They did have cold lemon water, iced tea and cookies which maybe TSA could look into. We went through the metal detector and then walked to the ship and up the stairs and were met with a big tray full of cold damp towels. Heaven. We were checked in and went to our cabin. I had opted for a room on the bow on the port side. It is a spacious room with plenty of room to put our clothes etc.
We went out exploring to get the lay of the ship. There was a mandatory safety session where we all met up with our muster groups and learned how to use the life jackets and were instructed how to evacuate the ship. The ship has two decks of staterooms, decks 1 and 2. Deck three is the main reception area with doors to go onto the tender, a small boat that takes us to and from the towns when we can’t dock. There is also a lounge where there is music in the evenings and announcements about shore excursions in the daytime, and the main restaurant called Amphora. Also on this level is a library, computer room, small casino, spa, and shop. The next deck up is deck four with the bar, small swimming pool…really small. And then there are all the deck chairs and some tables and umbrellas. The other part of this deck is the Veranda where you eat breakfast and lunch. And the front is the bridge. Above the pool is one more place to sit with great views of everything. The four tall masts march back from there.
After a shower we went up on deck to watch the “signature Windstar sailaway”. Each day when you leave the port they play beautiful stirring music. I found out it is 1492 Conquest of Paradise by Vangelis, click to listen on YouTube. Big thunderstorms were threatening. It was too windy to use the sails. The big Venice tugboats towed and turned us around then towed us out of the harbor. We blasted a loud farewell to Venice and sailed away. It was cool. We were in the upper deck bar area as were nearly everyone onboard.
We went to the dining room for dinner and it was pretty good. We had opted for the “wine package”. It gives you the choice of any wine on the list and unlimited consumption anywhere on the ship to include your room. I figured if anyone could get their money’s worth it would be us! But I noticed you ordered with dinner and then it was slow in coming. I wanted to set expectations with the wine steward so pretty much told him, when I order wine I expect it to arrive promptly. After that he was much more attentive.
I had a corn poblano soup, can’t get that in Italia! And the grilled salmon with veggies. Luther had a minestrone soup and the rib eye steak. Hadn’t seen that cut since the US. He pronounced it good. Then we went to the deck lounge where we enjoyed a spectacular sunset. The storms had wetted all the deck and furniture but there is a small under cover area. Turns out cigars are welcome so Luther enjoyed one and we had some wine and met another couple from the Bay Area who we chatted with. The four of us were the only people up there.
Windstar sailed all night. Overnight she navigated high seas and I could feel her rocking but it was rather like being rocked in my sleep. The sound of the waves as we move along is also lulling.
Four masts.
Our tugboat towing us out of the harbor.
Saying bye to Venezia until our return.
Beautiful sunset after the storms.
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Monday – Opatija Croatia
The next morning we had breakfast and then moored outside of Opatija at noon. It is the oldest seaside resort on the Dalmatian coast with a 7.5 mile long promenade. We did not have a tour booked.
We had a pretty exciting transfer into Opatija. The seas were very rough so the tenders transferring us to shore were bucking up and down wildly. There were two men at the entrance into the boat who watched the oncoming waves and signaled each of us to dash aboard. All got safely on and then we road a bronco across the water to the dock. Pretty exciting.
We went out of the port and just on the edge was a restaurant with a nice outdoor space called Casa Tua. We decided to go and have lunch there. Most other passengers partook of lunch onboard but we wanted to check out the local cuisine. I had a very tasty spaghetti fruiti di mare. Sweet clams, mussels, shrimp. Luther had calamari stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella. Nice Croatian Sauvignon Blanc and a Pinot noir. Really good.
Then we walked through the beautiful park along a piece of the 7.5 mile long promenade along the shore. Beautiful villas along the way. Remnants of the Hapsburg empire. Pretty flowers and palms. Many folks on the rocky, narrow beaches. Water was a brilliant aqua marine, deep blue. We strolled into town next then headed back to the boat. Took the tender back. Not quite as choppy this time. Showered and resting before the captains reception this evening. Interestingly, we have a woman captain, Belinda Bennett.
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Well, the reception was a hoot. Captain Belinda could be a comedian. Great sense of timing. She’s a large dark skinned woman from St. Helena island in the south Atlantic. All the serving staff is from the Philippines. The housekeeping staff is Indonesian. And the executive staff is from all over, France, Poland, US, Ukraine, Canada are a few I remember.
We went up on the top deck for sailaway. We met some people from Houston, Shiva, Gus, Maggie and Bill up there. They know a town called Passignano in Umbria nearby us and were excited to hear we live near there.
Dinner was all Indian for me, lamb harissa soup and a lamb Biryani dish. Luther had carpaccio and cod on a bed of rice and veggies. All good. We headed back up top so Luther could have his cigar.
My pasta at lunch.
Croatian language needs to borrow some vowels.
Windstar at anchor.
Pretty beach.
Part of the 7.5 mile long promenade.
Our first towel friend! Every night, during turn-down, the crew makes a cute little animal out of towels. They also leave a daily program for the following day with info on the destination, activities and shore excursions.
Tuesday – Zadar Croatia
This day we docked at 9 am in Zadar which is an interesting town for walking around. It was quite nice if gawdawful hot. We walked the old town. Did a bit of shopping. Visited the Museum of Illusions and the Glass Museum. We visited several churches and cathedrals and the Roman forum which was extensive. Croatia is Roman Catholic. We had a beer and headed to the ship for lunch. Along the quay there is the Sea Harmonica. Very cool instrument with holes in the stone of the seaside promenade where the waves go in and out and make ethereal music.
Lunch was light. They have buffets and a la Carte. I opted for the Greek salad. Luther got the tuna salad. We rested and joined everyone outside for the sailaway. Still did not unfurl the sails at that time but later they were out…not all the way but three out of four.
We had arranged dinner at Candles. A special venue set up on the deck with an outside kitchen. Mostly grilled. Very good. I had beet and goat cheese salad. Not enough goat cheese, just a schmear on the plate. Then filet mignon. Nice American beef. Luther had the shrimp cocktail and veal chop. The regular restaurant is a blast from the past with old fashioned items like beef Wellington and duck a l’orange (!) Thankfully they have other things as well. The dinner at Candles was very nice. We stayed out on deck in the strong wind after dinner. Still not too cool. Just right.
Church built on the Roman forum ruins.
They have removed the floor and you can see how the huge piers in the church are built on top of Roman wreckage like bits of columns and rocks repurposed. It looked a little unstable but its been there a while so…
A pretty little interior harbor.
The market was blessedly shady but still everyone was sweltering in the heat.
One of the streets in Zadar. It had not rained. This is how shiny the stones are from years of feet polishing them.
Wednesday – Split Croatia
We were off to visit Split this day. Hot hot hot. And very, very crowded. An old town that is ancient, pre-Roman. The ship docked at the main pier where the Ferries arrive from all the islands around here as well as the overnight ones from Ancona, Italy. We headed into the incredibly crowded old city. We skipped the cathedral, too crowded. We just wandered the streets and then the promenade along the sea. Stopped for a beer. Then headed back to the ship for lunch. There have been plenty of places to eat the last two days but just too many tourists.
The sailaway was early, at 5pm. Then later we went to dinner. There were no two-tops left so we shared a table for six and enjoyed talking to the two couples. One was from Tampa, the other Atlanta. Later we sat on the deck and watched the sea pass by. Beautiful evening. Finally it had cooled off.
Part of the church repurposed from the Roman temple.
Pretty street.
Fish market.
Beer to cool off. Pivo means beer.
Promenade along the waterfront.
Thursday – Dubrovnik, Croatia.
We arrived in Dubrovnik at 9am. The Pilot boarded our ship and guided it to anchor. We can see the old town walls from the ship. We had scheduled a tour for this day. A wine tasting and city tour. I looked forward to it except for the heat. It was supposed to be 97. Just too damn hot. Later this evening was the free event for this cruise. It was to take place on a rock 665 feet above the sea. Beverages, canapés then entertainment.
The city tour was interesting, crowded and hot. It was an overview of the history and sights of the town and country of Croatia. The little country of Dalmatia was independent for 500 years but later was ruled by the Venetian and later, the Hapsburg Empire. The time between the two world wars and later, under the rule of Tito were very difficult times. Croatian population voted, by 80%, in 1989 to form their own country. It did not go well. They were attacked by the big dog in the neighborhood, Serbia who were joined by Montenegro. Dubrovnik was under siege and bombardment by the Serbians and Montenegrins for over a year in 1990-91. There was much damage and loss of life. Now they are enjoying a relatively prosperous time. I hope it continues.
Afterward we got a motor coach which took us to a winery. It was a pleasant drive along the coast with AC! All the buildings in the area were destroyed by the Serbians during the 1990 war. Most have been rebuilt.
The winery is a family operation. They let us taste three of the wines made from the local grapes. They also make Merlot and Cabernet. We had a lovely lunch of prosciutto, local cheese, olives and wonderful home baked bread. There were 18 of us from the ship.
We rode back and were dropped off. We walked to the dock and Luther and I decided to walk a bit and ended up in an air conditioned wine bar. The heat was incredible. About 100. I get soaked with sweat. No more July or August vacations for me!
Returned to our room. The shower was the high point of my day. All clean and comfy. We decided to not do the event that evening. Just too hot to go back out, get in the crowded tender, board a bus, for the event which didn’t sound worth it to us. We ordered dinner in our room. You can get anything from the dinner menu, we had two soups and lamb chops. Very tasty. Out on the top deck to watch the boat action. It was still very warm. Sailaway was not until midnight so we missed it.
The walls of Dubrovnik from the tender bringing us in.
These are the 1.5 mile long defensive walls built from 1,100 to 1,300. People walk them. It was way too hot for me! Not to mention there are many steps.
From 1990 – 1991, over a year, Dubrovnik was under siege by Serbia and Montenegro. The citizens were defiant. If you look at this photo you will see the house owner who escaped his burning house raising his fist in anger. Notice the top floor window has flames coming from it. Also take note, he is wearing a cooking pot on his head. Hah! good as a helmet I guess. It was a difficult time.
One of the side streets off the main one. People live up in these streets and leave the main part of town to the tourists.
This is said to be the Walk of Shame banister from Game of Thrones which was shot in Dubrovnik. They have entire tours for this series. I have not watched the show.
Windstar from up on the cliffs.
View of Dubrovnik from above.
Headed back via tender to the ship.
Shot of the city at night.
Friday – Korčula, Croatia
We arrived at our next port at 8am. The last port in Croatia…Korčula. We had scheduled a tour this day. Wine and Croatian delicacies. After breakfast we met up in the lounge with the other tour goers. There were only ten because of limited space which was fine with me. We tendered into shore and met our tour guide. The island and town of Korčula are beautiful. The town is small and built of pretty light tan stone with rounded towers and tiny streets. We headed right over to where our boat picked us up to cross to the mainland. We traveled about 45 minutes by small bus to the first winery.
We taste three wines, one white and two reds. They were all grown from local grapes called Plavec. The two reds were the same grape grown in different terroir. The Croatians are very proud to say Zinfandel is a genetic match for this local grape or the birthplace of Zinfandel. The Italians also claim this as well. I guess the Primitivo grape of southern Italy and the Plavec in Croatia and Zinfandel could all be related. Southern Italy is not that far from Croatia. The winery had pretty gardens outside and something I’d never seen. A kiwi plant. It was like a grape vine and trained on an arbor and you could see the fruits hanging above. They also had peach trees laden with beautiful fruit.
Off we went to the town of Ston. It has the second longest defensive wall in the world after the Great Wall of China. It reminded me very much of that wall as it snaked up and over the mountain. We passed Ston and boarded a pirate ship! It was cute and I’d always thought it would be fun. This boat had tables and benches. We traveled through the beautiful aqua water past hundreds of floats which were the oyster and mussel growing farms. Our objective was to taste these delicacies. The boat pulled next to another boat and they proceeded to pull up ropes with different sized oysters attached to them. They shucked then and we each got three incredibly fresh oysters. In fact, they were so fresh that when you squeezed lemon on them they contracted on the shell since they were still alive and I guess the lemon juice was an irritant. We were served the fresh local wine with the oysters. Several of the group had never eaten oysters and had a bit of trouble getting them down. Others were enthusiastic oyster lovers and we all took pictures of each other toasting with our oysters. Yum! Then they brought out bowls of just cooked mussels in an oniony broth with chewy bread. Also very good and very sweet. A one of a kind experience.
Then we left for the final wine tasting. A super nice wine-maker gave us a talk and we went up into a pretty old room with heavy dark beams and long tables with benches. There were proscuitti hanging to cure and lots of oil paintings. There was a basket of homemade bread. The delicious chewy bread favored here. And a plate with fresh home grown tomatoes and three home made fresh anchovies, very briny and fresh. Fresh anchovies are a world apart from the ones you put on pizza. Not at all salty. They are cleaned and boned (apparently a tedious messy job) and the the filets are soaked in vinegar and sea salt. He said the vinegar should not be too strong so you can add a bit of water. Leave for five hours and then drain. Cover in olive oil and serve. Very good. Then a plate with cheese and prosciutto and a nice bowl of lentil soup from the lentils they raise. The wines, a white and a red were very good paired with the food. The winemakers cousin played guitar and sang folk songs which were fun. It was a nice time for us all.
Back to Korčula in the boat and we were set free to explore the town. It is a beautiful town with a lovely cathedral. One of the interesting things we were told was that it was built on a small hill and the Main Street runs up and down in a straight line. This street is crossed by tiny streets that run up the hill from the water which is on both sides. There was a strong breeze blowing through these little streets which helps cool the town. We had glasses of water and wine on the waterfront and then back to wait for the tender. The wind was very strong and riding the tender was again a bucking bronco.
These are the walls of Korčula.
Beach on the mainland side.
First winery had a kiwi vine. I had never seen them growing.
They don’t trellis the vines. They just let them be bushes. Pretty grapes.
Next stop, the oyster and mussel farm. Here is our pirate boat taking us there!
The great wall of Ston.
Pretty house and beach along the way.
These are the oyster/mussel farms.
These are the oysters. It is different than in Virginia. In the flat box sitting on the rail are the small oysters which need to be protected from the fish. Once they are big enough they are cemented onto ropes and they grow to maturity. The man is holding mature oysters on the rope.
Our three beautiful oysters.
We clinked oysters in a toast and slurped them down. Very good.
Mussels in an oniony broth.
The last winery.
Home made pickled anchovies, fresh tomatoes, home grown and made lentil soup – This tour was truly a moveable feast!!
The town of Korčula is built on a small hill with streets in a grid. The prevailing wind blows up these small streets and is natural air conditioning.
A break on the seaside.
Beautiful, clear, inviting water.
The tender ready to take us back.
There was a BBQ this evening and it was something! The main dining room was closed. They had moved all the tables from the Veranda restaurant on the same deck as the aft deck and set them all with linen, china and glassware. All very festive looking. The servers and barmen all wore Hawaiian shirts. We chose a corner table with great views of the town and the surrounding water and mountains. The sun had not yet set and we had some sun and some shade. They had set up the outdoor kitchen and an enormous appetizer table. The chef with two assistants were hard at work searing sizzling flank steaks, lobster tails, and chicken. There were accompanying sauces. There was a whole suckling pig and the biggest paella pan I’ve ever seen. A sumptuous feast! I wish I had three stomachs so I could go back for more!
After dinner they did last call for food so they could quickly dismantle and move all the food and grills and tables to make a dance floor. Pavlo, our tour director and all round announcer and MC got the show started. The first line dance to My Achy Breaky Heart began with mostly just crew to include our fun Captain Belinda. The crew obviously did this a lot and were great. After a few songs and a few more of the guests trying to dance they played YMCA. Pavlo was dressed in a white cat suit with sailor collar and hat! The other three crew were dressed as a motorcycle tough and a construction worker with hard hat and wife beater shirt and a fireman. We stayed and watched. I couldn’t have danced with my knee but it was fun. After the ship left anchor we headed to bed. The sea rocked us to sleep all night. We would sail all night, all the next day and all the next night to get back to Slovenia.
The last tender from Korčula.
Sunset.
BBQ! Suckling pig!
The biggest paella I’ve ever seen!
Our executive chef on the right and his crew manning the grill. Flank steak, lobster tails, chicken and ribs. Yum.
Waiting to raid the food line.
Luther too.
Afterward they cleared out the grills and food to make room for the line dancing. The crew started us out. The large woman on the left in front is Captain Belinda.
Another towel friend greeted us.
Saturday – Day at sea.
The day dawned partly cloudy. It is very windy.
We had breakfast and went on the aft deck in a corner away from the strong wind to read and relax. There were a few events planned for this day. A cooking class, a towel folding demo, trivia contest, etc. It was a day of enforced relaxation. Just what I needed!
We dined with some new friends Brian and Pam from California who are interested in buying a home in Italy for maybe half year living. They are nice. Then after dinner we went to the lounge where the crew had an entertainment show for us. It was cute.
Sunday – Piran, Slovenia
Piran Slovenia. We arrived at 8am on schedule. Our tour this day was Slovenian wine and a farmers market. We did a walking tour of Isola, a small town. It was nothing to write home about. Then through the countryside and to an outdoor market. Problem was we were just 15 people and the folks who sell stuff don’t want to come out for such a small group. But we did have some. A lace lady. A lavender lady. A wine and spirits maker. Another wine guy with prosciutto bread and cheese bread. A potter. I bought some things to help the local economy. Then back to Piran where we had lunch. I had grilled sardines.
Piran harbor
Piran from the cliffs.
Those are the alps in the distance. The far coast is Italy, the town of Trieste.
Piran street.
I liked this window.
Waiting for the tender. The weather was much cooler!
Windstar at anchor.
Our last towel friend.
Back on Windstar we had the farewell address from Captain Belinda and all the crew and support staff came for a bow. They are a super group. They all remembered our names! Then Pavlo, our tour director told us about upcoming cruises and about disembarking tomorrow. We had dinner and sat up on the top deck to see the sailaway. It was lovely as always and they played Time to say goodbye. Sad but true. All done. All in all we both really enjoyed this cruise. A couple of things I would change but mostly pretty great.
Oh my god…we have harvested our first corn. It was AMAZING. After four corn-less years it was heaven on earth. I am so happy we got some corn this year from our shared garden with Angela.
We have a guest so we went together to check the corn and I deemed it ready to harvest. We picked 5 ears for our test run.
Shucking.
All ready for the pot. within three hours of picking will ensure a mighty sweet ear.
um um good. Buttered and salted and peppered. Soooo good!
Alas, all gone. Going back tomorrow for more. 🙂
My unfortunate timing means we are gone on our Croatia cruise next week so I will not enjoy it as much as I would have liked. We will see what is left when we return.
Well folks. I am the proud grower of my first ear of corn on the terrace!!! Whohoo!!
It’s just a baby but my mouth is watering!
My two pots are producing radically different size plants. One, tall and thin, on the right, the other short and sturdy. They get the same sun, food and water. The only difference is the soil I guess. Our experiment continues.
And a report from my “corn partner” Angela. She reports the first few rows on the left have about 20 ears!!! The plants on the right have not tasseled. I did get a fast and a slow maturation mix so I imagine that’s the reason.