AUSTRIA

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I think when most of us picture Italy we envision rolling hills covered in grape vines, centuries old stone villas, quaint cafes where you can linger over cappuccino and cornetto’s for hours and scooting from one hill top village to the next in your rented convertible Fiat to experience local markets, museums, and theater. We dream of hiking the spectacular Cinque Terre trail which meanders high above the sea linking the five picturesque villages of Riomaggorie, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. We long to see the stunning cathedrals – the Duomo in Florence, Milan and Seinna, and the local churches where you can sometimes enjoy an evening of FREE opera (see Lucca) with excellent acoustics. And of course, Rome – the Colosseum and Palatino – it is all pretty spectacular. 

For such a small country it is easy to plan too much, to want to take it all in on one trip and that would be a great mistake. Even though it is small (compared to my home of Canada) there is so much to see in every area and the whole point of exploring and understanding Italian life is to carry with you the motto “la dolce far niente” – literal translation being “the sweetness of doing nothing” but which really refers to the philosophy of finding contentment and beauty in the everyday; seemingly ordinary moments, such as enjoying good food, good company, or simply observing the world around you. Some of my best times in Italy have been sitting at a café or park bench and watching the people walk by, enjoying a small Italian interaction, be it the woman at the market bargaining over a  eggplant like her life depended upon it, the group of nuns with smiling faces turned to the sun, gelato dripping from their cones, the teenage girls in Naples who jumped off their boyfriends mopeds screaming and pulling hair in what instantly became a spectacular cat fight, or that exquisite lone saxophone player who was almost hidden in a corner of the Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples in the glooming twilight one evening. Ill never forget his plaintive rendition of “A Change is Gonna Come.” Still makes me tear up! A slice of Italian life is almost a delicious as their food.  And speaking of food: pizza, pasta, seafood, risottos, when you’re talking comfort food Italy reigns supreme! And as always the food is accompanied by delicious and inexpensive local wines often grown from the vineyard right in front of your table. 

I still have much to explore in this beautiful and vibrant country but following is a small sample of some the places I have been and have loved. Oh, and where DO you get the best Gelato? Pizza? Wine? Tiramisu?  In our three weeks in Italy in 2023 my friend and I decided to make it a quest – where is the best of the best and here is what we decided: 

Gelato: Gelato Mennella in Naples on the Via Alessandro Scarlatti across the street from Pizzeria Errico Porzio was the best, the creamiest and most flavourful. The gelato in Sienna while maybe not the best tasting (as it is whipped and therefore not quite as creamy as the non-whipped) was still delicious and the most beautiful. 

Pizza: The obvious winner is Naples – the home of pizza and you can knock yourself out wandering the little alleyways of the Quartieri Spagnoli for hours trying to decide – they all looked equally good and were mostly full of smiling customers. We ate at la 3 Sorelle and had the pizzaq margarita because in Italy the best is the most basic! But we also enjoyed our pizza at the Pizzeria Errico Porzio in Naples on Via Alessandro Scarlatti and there were many other places that challenged Naples. Essentially, if you are accustomed to North American pizza, all pizza in Italy will be great. One of my all-time best pizza experiences was in Ana Capri – we were running to catch the chairlift to MONTE SOLARO and passed a little take-out window that smelled so good, the brakes just automatically went on. It was a thicker crust than Napoli pizza, with a dusting of corn meal, made in a large rectangular pan and cut into squares with a mingling of juicy, oozing flavours that cannot even be described except to say – if you are ever there- in the Piazza Vittoria in Anacapri and smell a heavenly pizza aroma wafting towards you – I implore you to stop and get a slice. In fact, get 2!

Wine: It was a tie between the crisp Pinot Grigio in Volastra (a small village with a great wine bar and spectacular sunset view right on the Cinque Terre trail between Manarola and Corniglia) and the Vermentino served at our hotel Tenuta Casabianca which I would highly recommend as the ONLY place to stay in the Murlo region of Chanti, Tuscany. It was cheap, beautiful and luxurious!
We enjoyed a 2 bedroom villa with its own pool for less than the price of a normal hotel room. And when you are there – do book the wine tasting. We are also big fans of a rose wine so we loved their Rosato.

Tiramisu: – I love tiramisu – and it was a tough contest as the Italians really know how to rock a tiramisu (probably because they are not stingy with the booze). They should, they invented it. Specifically, it was The Italian pastry chef Roberto Linguanotto (1943–2024) who is credited, along with Alba di Pillo-Campeol, for inventing the dessert at the Le Beccherie restaurant in Treviso, Italy. This was a tough call as we sampled our way through tiramisu in the Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Naples, Florence, Rome and Sienna but I would have to give a nod to the one we picked up while walking down the street in Riomaggiore.

Café Corretto:  – I discovered the best way to drink coffee in Italy when I was there in 2010 when I stumbled upon this delight one night after a fantastic FREE concert in Lucca. I was HOOKED! Corretto literally means “corrected” in Italian – meaning booze has been added to a shot of espresso. That seems much more correct to me! Sometimes the alcohol is on the side but often I found they just splash it in and they are not miserly about it. Our favourite was with Sambuca and hands down the winner of this delightful drink was the woman who ran the small coffee shop, Punto e a Capo in tiny Casiano di Murlo  – which we called mini Murlo ( it is actually a frazione, or comune, - a small village or hamlet outside the main town). She never blinked an eye when we’d roll up before eleven in the morning for our daily Café Corretto and seemed to enjoy upping the boozy splash with each visit! 

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