Portovenere: Beauty Along the Italian Coast

About this time in February every year, I begin to tire of winter’s darkness and start to long for days with many more hours of sunlight – preferably Mediterranean sunlight. I think of the coastline along western Italy, of the small towns where houses perch on cliffsides along the Amalfi Coast in the south of Italy or the Italian Riviera in the north.

Portovenere in Liguria, Italy

Lately, I have been picturing Portovenere, which sits just south of the more tourist-attracting Cinque Terre villages of Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Portovenere draws visitors but not nearly as many as those five towns that dot the rugged Ligurian coast.

Spectacular views are to be had from Portovenere.

Like its more popular neighbors, Portovenere is home to bright buildings that mimic the colors of the area: bright yellows like the sun, dark oranges like the land. Its promontory kisses the Ligurian Sea, which flows into the Bay of Poets. Portovenere is one of three communities in the bay and which, along with the Cinque Terre villages, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Lord Byron was one of the poets who loved this area and, as the dedication indicates, swam in the sea here.

Portovenere was originally known as Portus Veneris because of an ancient temple dedicated to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility. It’s an apt name as Portovenere is charming, beautiful and romantic. The views it offers of the sea are expansive. On a visit last year, the rays of the warm Mediterranean sun sparkled like diamonds on the bright blue water. The atmosphere was one of pure relaxation.

Yet there are also historic sites to see in Portovenere, quaint shops to peruse and restaurants to visit for delicious dishes. The colorful narrow buildings that house apartments and businesses are part of the architectural wonder of the town: They essentially form a protective barrier between the harborfront and the rest of the village. The ruins of Doria Castle offer some of the most stunning vistas of the sea of any place along the Ligurian coast. The castle was built in 1161 for the prominent Doria family. It is an imposing structure even today.

The Doria Castle

Portovenere is an easy day trip from the Cinque Terre villages or from Lucca in Tuscany. On my most recent trip I rented a car and, along with my companions, drove from Lucca to Portovenere for a lovely lunch, an afternoon stroll, a visit to the castle, a gelato and a bit of shopping. Staying for a long weekend would be a perfect way to shake off winter and welcome spring.

-post by JG

Insalata - Salad, Italian Style

Panzanella Salad, Osteria Cantine Bernardini, Lucca

Salads in Italy come in many varieties, including simple insalata verde (green salad, just a big bowl of lettuce), insalata mista (mixed salad of lettuce, carrots, tomato, perhaps some fennel), and meal-size insalatone (big salads filled with cheeses, meats, seafood, fruits, nuts). There are also delicious specialty salads such as caprese (tomato, fresh mozzarella with basil), panzanella (tomato, cucumber, red onion, basil and crumbled bread with olive oil and vinegar), and carciofi (fresh shaved artichokes with Parmesan and olive oil). All are delicious, especially when made with local fresh ingredients and eaten somewhere in Italy!

I enjoy each of these types of salads but, secondo me (in my opinion), the absolute best salad in Italy is an insalata di bresaola. Bresaola is not well known in the U.S. (at least not outside of cities with big Italian communities like Boston, New York, and San Francisco), especially compared to the more familiar Italian salumi (cold cut) products like prosciutto, salami, and mortadella. I first tasted bresaola on a trip to Rome many years ago and it's always one of the first things I want to eat when I return to Italy. And, because it is low-fat and low-carb, it is one Italian food that I never feel guilty about eating. 

Thinly sliced bresaola, with just a hint of marbeling.  

Bresaola is a beef cold cut, made from what we in the U.S. would call the top round cut. It is a specialty of the Valtellina, an alpine valley in northern Italy. Like prosciutto, bresaola is produced through a process of salting and drying. But, unlike prosciutto, the beef is trimmed of all visible fat before being rubbed with a salt and spice mixture. Also, the aging process is shorter, usually two to three months. The final product is deep red in color, soft (never leathery), delicate in texture, and fragrant. It's served very thinly sliced and is so very delicious. 

Bresaola is typically served as an antipasto, often as a salad with peppery arugula (but also good on crisp lettuce). It is topped with shaved Parmesan and dressed with olive oil and lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. I can easily make a  meal out of this salad, especially if I have some focaccia on the side. 

Bresaola filled with ricotta and mint ( Lucca Italian School, Speak and Cook Italian class) 

There are other ways to use bresaola as well. In a cooking class (at Lucca Italian School), I learned to fix it as an antipasto in which round slices were topped with a mixture of fresh ricotta mixed with chopped mint, folded over into half moon shapes, and drizzled with thick balsamic glaze. Heavenly!  Bresaola also goes well with a variety of meats and cheeses on an antipasto platter and makes a great panini (sandwich) on salty focaccia with some tomato and a soft cheese. Or just pick up a slice and eat it in your hand as a quick snack. It's hard for me to find at home, so I always eat plenty of it while I'm in Italy.

-post by JMB

Contacts:  

Lucca Italian School     Via dei Bacchettoni 25, 55100 Lucca, Italy.            Lucca Italian School.com

Santa Cristina Enoteca.  Via XX Settembre 10, 55100 Lucca, Italy   Santacristina.enoteca@gmail.com

Osteria Cantine Bernardini Via del Suffragio 7,  55100. Lucca, Italy.  Cantinebernardini.com

Balcony Views in Verona

Juliet's legendary balcony is far from the only one in fair Verona. The city, perhaps known best for being the setting of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," has balconies around every corner, many dripping with greenery or filled with colorful flowers.

While Juliet's balcony is small (and not even really a Juliet balcony - more on that in a moment), some of Verona's apartment extensions (which is how I view balconies) are rather large. Most, however, are narrow, which is typical in Italy. Below is a gallery of just a few of the lovely balconies seen during a recent visit to Verona. I love how plant life often is the decorative element on the balconies.

A Juliet balcony (but not THE Juliet balcony)

The word balcony appropriately comes from the Italian word balcone. Those that extend from a dwelling are traditionally called Maltese balconies while those that do not project out from a building are called Juliet balconies (picture just a metal railing across a doorway on an upper-level floor of a building and you'll get the image of these balconies).

You can see from the photo below that Verona's popular landmark, Juliet's balcony, is clearly not a true Juliet balcony. It's charming nonetheless and overlooks a small courtyard.

Juliet's balcony (which is actually a Maltese-type balcony) in Verona.

While I would find any balcony in Verona appealing, the most coveted would be one overlooking Piazza delle Erbe, which was Verona's forum during the time of the Roman Empire. This large, historic and lively piazza is beautiful. Fading frescoes and flower-filled balconies adorn the walls of the Mazzanti Houses, which face the piazza on its northeastern side. Across the piazza to the south are more apartments, many with pretty balconies of their own.

The Mazzanti Houses are covered with old (15th or 16th century) frescoes and lined with charming flower filled-balconies.

Imagine being able to gaze at this beautiful piazza everyday from your apartment balcony. Some lucky people get to do just that.

-post by JG

Children in Verona have an enviable view from a small balcony that overlooks Piazza delle Erbe.

The Bridges of Verona

The river Adige in the heart of Verona

The Adige River winds its way through Verona, embracing most of the old city within one of its wide curves. There are numerous bridges over the Adige, connecting the main part of the city,  which lies southwest of the river, with the sections that lie to the northeast. Many of these are modern bridges, rebuilt after heavy bombing of the city during World War II. Two of Verona's most important and characteristic bridges, the Ponte Pietra and the Ponte Scaligero, were destroyed during the war but later faithfully rebuilt using original materials recovered from the riverbed. What foresight this careful reconstruction was - and how fortunate that today we are able to walk across these bridges and appreciate their nearly original form.

Ponte Pietra (file photo) 

The entrance to Ponte Pietra, through an arched tower in Piazza Broilo

The arched Ponte Pietra (pietra means stone in Italian) is the oldest bridge in Verona, built during the years of Roman rule. It has been damaged and rebuilt more than once due to floods and war. Two of its arches (the white stone arches in the photo) are of original Roman material. The brick arches date from a reconstruction during the 1500s.

Today the Ponte Pietra links the old part of Verona, between the Duomo and the church of Sant'Anastasia on the city side with the Roman Theater, Castel San Pietro, and the churches of Santo Stefano and San Georgio on the far bank. The bridge, with its gentle rise and fall, is beautiful and provides views of towers, church domes, and ruins, as well as long views of Verona along the banks of the river.

The entrance to the Castelvecchio, beyond which lies the Ponte Scaligero

The Ponte Scaligero (also known as the Castelvecchio bridge) is a Medieval structure. It too is an arched bridge, but unlike the more graceful Ponte Pietra, this massive bridge was built as part of castle fortifications and to provide a quick and secure route away from the Castelvecchio - allowing fleeing noblemen to escape across the river. The bridge is entered from within the castle courtyard. It has high brick walls with tall rectangular brick pillars that stand like sentries along the sides of the bridge.

Each pillar is topped with a merlon (an angular brick structure), which gives a sort of winged appearance to the top of the bridge. Between the pillars are open spaces - a climb up on the ledges to look out through these openings provides fantastic views.

Ponte Scaligero, Verona

Verona, as seen from the Ponte Scaligero

Lower in the brick walls of the bridge are rectangular openings that frame stunning views of the city and the river - looking through these was my favorite way to view Verona.

The Ponte Scaligero is an imposing structure, no doubt intended to discourage potential castle invaders. Today it is a peaceful pedestrian walkway and one of the characteristic bridges in the city of Verona.              -post by JB

Mercato Sant'Ambrogio, Florence

Visiting a market in Italy always makes me long for a kitchen, a stove, and a reason to cook. This is particularly true in Florence, especially since I discovered the Mercato Sant'Ambrogio, which according to a local is the "mercato delle mamme" (mamma's market). 

No doubt the Mercato Centrale is larger and better known, especially to tourists. It has shops and food stalls downstairs and restaurants on its upper floor, along with an Eataly market and demonstration kitchen. It was renovated several years ago and now feels upscale; it's a Florentine hot spot. However, I prefer the smaller, lower key, and much less touristy Sant'Ambrogio market in the Santa Croce neighborhood. Serving this neighborhood since 1873, the Mercato Sant'Ambrogio has the look and feel of a classic Italian market, inside and out. Shoppers here are largely Italian speakers, which for me is a big part of the draw as it means I have the chance to shop and practice my Italian. Perfetto!

A vibrant selection of vegetables in the mercato.

An artistic arrangement of peppers.

Outside of the main market building is a covered area with a variety of food vendors  - fruits, vegetables, porcini, flowers, breads, fresh eggs, and local honey fill the bench tops. The displays are artful and everything is colorful and fragrant. This is fresh food at its best.

Fresh porcini at the Sant'Ambrogio market.

Inside the mercato, salami and proscuitto fill the shops of the salumiere. The macellerie (butchers) sell thick Tuscan steaks along with pork, fowl, and beef trimmed and ready to cook, and the pescivendoli (fishmongers) display the day's catch on ice.  

Salumi

There are cheese shops with rounds of gorgonzola dolce, balls of fresh mozzarella and burata, logs of goat cheese, wedges of taleggio, tubs of fresh ricotta, and wedges of hard cheeses like pecorino, Parmigiano, and grana padano. In short, if you love cheese this is bliss!

Perhaps my favorite shop is the one selling pasta fresca. The display is a pasta lover's dream (and a carb-phobic's nightmare). Here you'll find fresh pasta in every size, shape, and color; simple pastas, filled pastas, gnocchi, gnudi. You name it, they have along with sauces to make the dish complete. If only I could find pasta like this closer to home!

 A morning of shopping at the mercato calls for a coffee or lunch break (maybe both). No problem - in the middle of the mercato is a typical bar serving coffee as well as wine and other drinks - make like a local and have yours standing at the bar. There is also a trattoria where you can sit and have a tasty, market fresh lunch.

The Mercato Sant'Ambrogio is a feast for the senses and I easily spend whole mornings here. I confess that on one short stay in Florence I skipped the Duomo and headed for the mercato instead. After a happy morning shopping, and a mid-morning cappuccino, I left with a treasure trove of goodies - cinghiale salami, pecorino cheese, bread, apples, and pears, which made for a tasty picnic for my group of friends as we left Florence the following morning on a train. But the next time I visit, I really want that kitchen!     -post by JB