Castagne: Chestnuts!

When I think of chestnuts or castagne as they are called in Italian I always think of winter. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose…  But here in Italy chestnuts mean fall and if you a lucky enough a chestnut hunt.  On M’s family land we gathered our friends for an afternoon of hunt chestnuts! This was my first official hunt and I was thrilled. We all spent the better part of the afternoon hunched over in search of the perfect chestnuts for roasting. Some had their own versions of a divining stick; while others,like me, just kept their heads down and hoped for the best. As a novice I was picking up chestnuts that were too small but I eventually got the hang of it and did pretty well for myself. After a couple of hours running around in the woods we came to the  best part of the day. After the hunt when we roast the chestnuts drink wine and hang out. I can’t imagine a better way to spend a fall afternoon.

Wonderful fall day.

 

 

Still in the trees.

 

They fall and...

 

 

pick them up!

 

 

Ready to roast.

 

 

Getting the fire going.

 

M and R doing the roasting.

 

Gathered and waiting for the roasted nuts.

My favorite part: eating and drinking!

 

End of a lovely day.

 

The sun setting through the chestnuts trees.

Trentino Alps: Mercatini a go-go!

In December M his parents and I went on a two night three day wirlwind trip of the Mercatini’s in the Trentino Alps region of Italy which is known for skiing and its Christmas markets called Mercatini’s. From Bergamo its about three hours . Click here for a map of the area and the towns that we visited.  If you clicked on the map you will see that we were very close to Germany and Austria, I think that Innsbruck was only another hour away. In this area of Italy people speak both German and Italian. All the signs are in both languages and  you hear people speaking  both on the streets. It was a really interesting experience. It felt like we had left Italy.

Our first stop was Caldaro where the  Strada del Vino -wine road starts. There are a lot of wineries in this area that make really amazing wines like gewurztraminer. If any of you know M  and I you know that we had to stop a few wineries other wise this trip would be incomplete. But first food.

I was a Monday so its very difficult to find places that are open for lunch. But thankfully we found this amazing place in Caldaro called Kalterehof.  Our server  who was speaking in German to the table next recommended  the special. It was a plate of sausages, sauerkraut and spatzele- which is a typical pasta from the area.  Well, we were amazed when this big silver plate appeared.  All of it was amazing. There were these amazing dumplings that were basically bread with speck and cheese rolled into a ball. The yellow stuff that looks like corn is the spatzele which is made with flour, water, milk and speck. I may be forgetting something but you get the idea. We left will full and happy bellies.

Lunch at Kaltererhof

A little bit of everything.

After lunch it we got on the Strada Del Vino and off to the first winery. The drive over was incredible vineyards on both sides of the road as far as you can see with the mountains in the background. Really something.

Strada Del Vino

Could this be heaven?

So our first stop was Tenuta Kornell.

Wine glorious wine!

Stairs leading out of the cantina.

Next was Cantina di Terlano.

Very old bottles of wine.

Wood carved barrel.

We toured both wineries, sampled some wines and bought a few bottles.Each winery has some elements that are the same but each his unique in its own way. I don’t think that I will ever get tired of visiting wineries. I mean can you say free wine?

Next stop Merano. We arrived after dark checked into to the B & B  Gastehaus Rieder and walked down to the Christmas market.

Christmas market in Merano

The lights in the market.

Us in Merano

The next day we toured Merano and then we were off to Vipiteno.  They also have a Christmas market. Not as big as the one in Merano but just a nice.

Us in Vipiteno.

Christmas Market Vipiteno.

After a quick tour we were off to Brunico to tour the Christmas market. We arrived just after dark. Just in time to see the lights go on and have a hot cup of mulled wine!

Brunico Market

The next day we went to Abbazi di Novacella which is a large complex of mideval buildings including a convent, church and cantina dating from the 1100′s.

Us in front of the Abby

Covered bridge to the Abby

Then after that we were off to Bressanone and another Christmas Market.  That is four in three days if you are counting.

Us in Bressanone

M's parents.

Christmas market Bressanone

We picked up some sausages and discovered my new favorite beer.

Forst- my new favorite beer!

After three days of touring we headed back to Bergamo a little tired but happy to have  seen so much. I am looking forward to going next year. I think we might shave it down to two mercatini’s.

Change

Today marks an important day in the history of all Americans.  Its the beginning of change and it is the rebirth of hope.  Today a stanch republican friend of mine today did something that I never thought he would do. He spoke in support of our new president. A democrat.  I only hope that he is one of many. Only when we all come together even with our differences will we ever achieve change.

 

Day in the mountains: Foppolo

M has been dying to go skiing but we have not had the change to go. We planned on going on Monday but M’s brother wanting to surprise M took his skis in to be tuned up and having not skied in 15 years, I don’t have anything for skiing. So no skiing for us. But we decided to go to the mountains anyway. It was a beautiful sunny day so why not.

 

Foppolo

We did a little hiking with the dog. Matisse loves the snow. He’s like a little snow bunny. 

 

M and Matisse

After it was great to sit and enjoy the sun while watching the skiers go by. The sun was so warm that we took of our coats. It seems strange to be sitting outside with out coats on in the winter. I actually got a little color?  The other bonus to sitting outside in the mountains is that your beer never gets warm!

 

Enjoying a beer while hanging out in the sun.

 

Enjoying the sun.

 

I was really excited to see that the bar had on the menu one of my favorite dishes; Pizzocheri – which in my opinion a gift from Italian cuisine and God.  The ingredient list is as follows. Pasta- flat and ribbon like made with buckwheat flour, potatoes that are cooked with the pasta, cheese, greens, butter and sage. Yes, you read correctly, potatoes and pasta in the same dish!  I couldn’t believe it the first time either.  It is the perfect dish. 

 

Proof that God loves us.

The view from on top

This is a photo from a drive that M and I took in the mountains close to our house.  On the horizon is the Italian Alps and the lights are Bergamo. Sometimes I can’t believe that I live here and that views like this are only 20 minutes away. I didn’t grow up with mountains but now I don’t think that I can live with out them.