Driving in Italy

We took the bus to the airport in Venice to pick up a car and I could imagine what people were thinking as they looked at all the bags we were hauling, "...those Americans...". So much stuff! It was nice to finally have a turtle shell in which to keep all our belongings. Our Fiat Punto was small (as most all cars are in Italy) and zippy and although I was nervous at first, it was great fun to drive. I thought that after we left Venice proper we would encounter coutryside like what we have surrounding Fredericksburg. Instead there is tiny village after tiny village with a medium sized town every now and then. There are few traffic lights, but what are called "roundabouts" (I don't know the word in Italian) where you enter an intersection and head right (ALWAYS right) and merge and continue around the circle until you hit the road you need to take off the intersection. It was a bit disconcerting at first, but I grew comfortable with them and found them fun to drive after a while. Scott commented after I passed a few cars on the impossibly narrow roads, that I was driving like a true Italian!

We found the home of the Laverda's and they welcomed us like long lost friends! They are the most gracious and accomodating hosts! They live in an 18th century estate of Palladia design. It took 20 minutes for Luisa to give me a tour and we didn't see it all. I counted 3 kichens, one with a hearth large enough to roast a whole hog, which Luisa told me her father did often when she was a child. This kitchen, which Luisa called the "summer kitchen", had a long (maybe 8') stone trough where the dishes were once washed. It was now used as storage. The fireplaces were painted tiles inside with marble mantles and surrounds. Our room was on the third floor and was quiet and comfortable with a window over the desk that looked up the hills to the estates further up the mountains. The road was so narrow that as you rounded corners you honked (or in the evenings, flashed your lights) so drivers coming the other way would pull over so you could pass. From our window we could see the road snake up the mountain until the switchbacks disappeared into the deep woods. A heavy fog had moved into the area the day before our arrival and it gave a timeless effect to the view. Our first evening at Luisa & Piero's, they drove us into Vicenza to show us the old city. We walked downtown and Piero kept a running commentary about the architecture. It was fascinating! We saw a cannonball imbedded halfway into a rock wall from a battle of Napoleon's in 1805. The old buildings (most late 17th and 18th century) were turned into shops, restaurants and bars and we went into a cafe/bar for a tapa and an apertif. We had a "spritz", a mixture of wine, water ("frizzante" or bubbly water) and bitters and it was amazingly good.

We headed home to have a classic dinner cooked by Luisa consisting of risotto with porcini mushrooms, fennel au gratin and pork sausages cooked with sage. A word here on the risotto. I have made this dish at home a few times and I have to say I really enjoy it. Creamy rice cooked with broth and wine and whatever else you wish to throw in. But it is a time consuming dish to prepare so I don't make it often. Luisa made it in about 10 minutes in a PRESSURE COOKER!!! And it was as creamy and flavorful as my 45 minute version with no standing and stirring for all that time! It will be a winter staple at our house from now on. She makes polenta the same way! My first Italian cooking lesson! We finished dinner with a yeasted cake made with grappa and finely minced dried fruit. With this Luisa served up tiny cups of dried fruit soaked in prune liquor that she had made before Christmas. It was so good and Scott had seconds and I got the recipe! After 2 bottles of wine with dinner (a white with the risotto and a red with the sausages) and an after dinner liquor we were ready for bed and climbed the 3 flights of stairs VERY carefully.

The next day, Piero had a meeting with a man from Germany who had driven down to buy a motorcycle frame. Thomas was a pleasant getleman who spoke excellent English with no German accent. I commented on this and also the TX sticker on the back of his van and he said he was born and raised in Austin! I told him Scott and I lived not far from Austin in the Hill Country and he asked where. When I told him Fredericksburg, he opened his jacket to show us his t-shirt from a Fredericksburg restaurant! The guys headed out to the shop to play with the bikes and Luisa and I drove up the mountain to go for a walk. We took Belo (sp?), their sweet dog and we parked by an old church. We walked for a few miles into the woods and thank goodness for Luisa's more than competant english as we were able to converse the entire way. I recognized more than a few plants and was surprised how much the land looked like home.

After the walk, I went with the guys into Breganza to visit some of Piero's motorcycle friends. We ate at a small trattoria where I had homemade spaghetti with rabbit. The pasta was astounding...thick and chewy and so flavorful! Scott had pasta shells with tonno (tuna).

We made the rounds of the bike shops, the first being Guiseppe Andregetti's (this may be spelled wrong), a wonderfully happy faced man with a shop floor painted brilliant orange (the color most often associated with Laverda's). Thomas and Scott were in heaven amidst all the Laverda parts that I'm sure they considered almost unobtainable prior to this visit. Thomas told me he felt like a kid in a candy store and he was both glad and sorry he had come with a pocket full of Euros! I know Scott felt no sorrow for the bundle of Euros in his own pocket, only for the lack of room in our suitcases! He envied Thomas' almost empty van! I had a great time watching the guys discover treasure after treasure in the small parts house.

More on the visit with the Laverda's later as Scott wants to go have dinner now. I am still full from lunch (pizza in the park surrounded by pigeons), but Scott eats constantly here! Ciao!