In the early 1900s, Antonio Pietrangelo and his wife Maria emigrated to the United States with their two small daughters, Asunta (Sue) and Mary. (Petrangelo family photos here) Once here, they set about creating many more children, including Liz’s dad. So, a visit to the ancient homestead was in order. Roccamorice sits atop a hill in the high lands of Abruzzo. Not much has changed there in hundreds of years, although we’ve seen quite a few changes since we visited 10 years ago. More new construction, and someone has added an “E” to the monument dedicated to all of those who left. It now reads “Al Fratelli Emigranti,” whereas 10 years ago, it read “Al Fratelli Migranti” (meaning To our brother emigrants.) Notice the church where Grandma and Grandpa were married, and where both of the girls were baptized. We visited midday, which is the time when everyone in Italy is at home eating, so the streets are empty. We found a bar with a bathroom, and watched the news in Italian, trying to puzzle out just exactly what had happened to Lehman Brothers. We knew it was something bad, but beyond that….well… After Roccamorice, we toured Chieti, home of the archeology museum, which houses a large collection of Etruscan artifacts. Then, since we were only 25 miles from the Adriatic, we had to go –see Pescara, sniff the sea air, pick up two smooth stones, and walk on the sand. Roccamorice, Italy or
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Just outside Monte San Savino, and near our villa Pia Modere, lies the San Luciano Winery, an artisanal vineyard with 63 hectares of grapes, including Trebbiano, malvasia, grechetto, sangiovese, canaiolo, and montepulciano varieties. Proprietor Stefano Ziantoni graciously explained his processes and helped us sample the wines, which are lovely. Should you go (and you should), the winery is in the hills of Monte San Savino near Arezzo, from the E78 exit at Montegnano towards Alberoro. After a rainy day of touring, we visited the Belvedere Ristorante, recommended by Stefano. Proprietor Massimo Rossi is one of the finest somaliers in the region. You can see him here in his kitchen and his bar as we enjoy dinner on our last night at the villa.
Report #5 — On the recommendation of Rick Steves, we set out for Volterra, a good two million hours away. After a night of heavy eating and many, many mountain switchbacks, carsickness set in for some of our party. Patty navigated, Mike drove, and Liz lurched grimly from side to side. We stopped for lunch (those who could eat!) in Colle di Val d’Elsa and then on to Volterra. Based on the recommendation of Rick Steves, Volterra is no longer a sleepy, undiscovered place. We walked the town streets (beautiful), shopped for a few mementos, and ate gelato — a daily requirement. The Roman ruins were wonderful. Stopped to photograph the big mysterious “O” and then drove the long, long ride home — this time on the AutoStrada, which is much less curvy. Volterra or
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Report #6 — The Villa Podere Miri is the place to be for painting, reading, palm-reading, swimming and resting. But that doesn’t mean we stay. The day brought a visit to San Sepulchro, another Tuscan hill town, and then a return visit to Arezzo since it wasn’t raining. Some light shopping was in order, but we are still looking for the perfect thing. One suspects it’s nowhere in the world! Buy what’s in front of you, already! The weather has cleared up, and we closed the day with a beautiful meal of roasted vegetable salad, hard cheese under a balsamic glaze, and a beautiful pork roast with fresh hericot verts. Molto yummo.
A leisurely start to the day with cold pizza for breakfast. We were the last of our group to leave the villa, then drove to Cortona, being led all the way by our GPS girl. She is very strict, although her Italian pronunciation is very bad. Cortona is a crazy place, with slopes that seem to go straight up. Tough for old coots like us. Thought we were gonna die. You need to be in good shape to be Italian. Strolled the shops, looked at fancy purses, and ate a gelato. Then back to the villa for a rest. Tonight, we’ll go to Monte San Savino and eat at a restaurant recommended by our local vintner.
Report #4 — Eggs for breakfast and then off to explore. A day of pouring rain, so we drove until we arrived at a town — Lucignano — that happened to be between downpours. More Italian doors to photograph. Nothing to eat, though, as everything in Italy is closed between 1 and 5, plus it’s Sunday, when everything is closed all day. A pretty walk in a beautiful walled city, then a ride home in the torrent. Back at the villa, between rain showers, the group foraged in the surrounding grounds for fresh blackberries, figs, pears, and one persimmon. Beautiful fresh fruit grows everywhere. Patty fell in a sinkhole, after having survived being punched in the face by Mike (an accident, or so he says).
Report #3 — Not far from Arezzo is our villa. We arrived at the gate, and found Patty Matas and Linda Harvey waiting, bleary-eyed from an all-night train trip from Salzburg. We waited, fully cooperative with the instructions that we were NOT to arrive early. It was 3:30. Check-in was 4:30. We waited some more. Jane and Jim Grage arrived, and we waited. We called the assigned phone number and left a message in fractured Italian. “Noi siamo arrivano! Noi siamo a portare!” (We have arrived. We are at the gate.” No answer. Nobody came. Finally, Patty, Mike and Liz drove down to the tiny hamlet of Alberero, threw ourselves on the mercy of a woman in the Despar grocery store, and after much gesturing, realized she had called someone, they would be by to pick us up in 20 minutes, and we should wait. An hour and a half later, we gave up. Mike’s cell phone rang. It was our crew, calling from the villa. They were in. We drove back up the hill and joined them for our first night at Podere Miri.
Report #2 — Only a few short hours down the AutoStrada is the charming medieval town of Arezzo. Cobblestone streets, picturesque shops, and many fashionable women in impractical shoes. We arrived in the rain, and sought shelter at the first restaurant we could find. Ravioli with burro e salvia (butter and sage) for Mike and Liz and insalata (salad) for Patty. Our waiter, Marcello, was a great admirer of Mike’s iPhone. The rain let up and we wandered the town, where Mike was able to increase his collection of Italian door photos.
Report number one – Bologna: The flight was long, grueling and cramped but got us here in one (I guess two?) pieces. We took a bus from the airport to the center of the old city, got off at the first stop and ran into Patty on the crowded sidewalk in about three minutes! She had arrived the day before and led us to the hotel (which was great) and we checked in. Spent that day and the next seeing the sights and eating! Food is amazing, as was the fresh market. View the album of 130 photos. or
To view these photos as a slideshow click on the PLAY arrow below.
To make slideshow full screen, click in lower right on box with four arrows pointing out. Press ESC to return to small version, on page.
In the early 1900s, Antonio Pietrangelo and his wife Maria emigrated to the United States with their two small daughters, Asunta (Sue) and Mary. (Petrangelo family photos here) Once here, they set about creating many more children, including Liz’s dad. So, a visit to the ancient homestead was in order. Roccamorice sits atop a hill in the high lands of Abruzzo. Not much has changed there in hundreds of years, although we’ve seen quite a few changes since we visited 10 years ago. More new construction, and someone has added an “E” to the monument dedicated to all of those who left. It now reads “Al Fratelli Emigranti,” whereas 10 years ago, it read “Al Fratelli Migranti” (meaning To our brother emigrants.) Notice the church where Grandma and Grandpa were married, and where both of the girls were baptized. We visited midday, which is the time when everyone in Italy is at home eating, so the streets are empty. We found a bar with a bathroom, and watched the news in Italian, trying to puzzle out just exactly what had happened to Lehman Brothers. We knew it was something bad, but beyond that….well… After Roccamorice, we toured Chieti, home of the archeology museum, which houses a large collection of Etruscan artifacts. Then, since we were only 25 miles from the Adriatic, we had to go –see Pescara, sniff the sea air, pick up two smooth stones, and walk on the sand.
