You Can't Get There from Here!

As we mentioned in our last blog entry, our final two stops in Italy are Montalcino and Montepulciano, both in Tuscany. The drive from our apartment in Catania, Sicily to Montalcino is 11 hours. That’s a lot of driving for old folks like us. But Nancy came up with a brilliant solution…take the ferry from Sicily to Salerno, stay overnight and then drive the final four hours to Tuscany.

So, it was settled. John went online to the ferry company we used to get from mainland Italy to Sicily back in early November, Caronte & Tourist. But trying to figure out when and where ships sailed in Italian, even with Google Translate was difficult to say the least. Always clever about internet things, John found a British company, Direct Ferries that caters to travelers from English speaking countries. All the information was in English. It turned out that John could book a Caronte & Tourist ferry through Direct Ferries. So, we booked passage on a car ferry leaving from Messina, Sicily at 2:30 PM Sunday, December 18th arriving in Salerno at 11:30 PM, a nine-hour ferry ride. We booked a cabin so we wouldn’t have to sit in the lounge for nine hours. John also booked a Holiday Inn outside of Salerno. As he said, “if I’m going to arrive at a hotel after midnight, I want it to be a well-known hotel that will hold our reservation, be open when we arrive and have parking.” The ferry companies’ instructions said to be sure to be at the dock at least two hours before the ferry was scheduled to leave.

So, we made sure we had enough time to drive from Catania to the dock in Messina…we gave ourselves extra time…just in case. We left Catania about 10 AM and drove to Messina following the directions and address provided in the email.

When we arrived at the address on the instructions, we were in the middle of a main thoroughfare on the opposite side of the port. I’m not sure you’re aware but John’s not good at unexpected situations. He got angry at the stupid people who wrote the directions. He thought that since Direct Ferries was housed in an English-speaking country that the directions would be correct. Wrong.

Nancy, who is the epitome of calm took over. She walked to find out where the actual dock was. After about 20 minutes she came back and told John that the dock/port was on the other side of where we were. So, off we went driving through this city looking for the right port. After several attempts, we came upon a place that looked like it could be the place! Nancy squeezed through the fence and found the gatekeeper…who only spoke Italian. Nancy showed him the email detailing our ferry trip leaving at 2:30 (it was now about 12:15). After several minutes, he told her that there was no 2:30 ferry…the next ferry was scheduled to leave at 11:30 PM…13 hours later.

We weren’t going to sit in the parking lot for 13 hours, so it was decided to take a local ferry from Messina across the channel to mainland and then to drive as far as we could on Sunday. John went online and booked a ferry for anytime Sunday.

We used Google maps to locate the ferry dock to take us to the mainland. We drove there and found that it was a ferry dock but not the one we booked. Who knew there were several ferries. It is only a 20 minute trip…. How many ferries could there be? The first person Nancy asked said we could not take their ferry since they do not sell the tickets there.

As we sat in the car, trying to figure out our next step, the sweetest gentleman came over. He arranged for us to get on their ferry and when we got off, we could pay for the ride on the other side. He called everyone involved and they all agreed to the idea. Such an act of kindness…we hope to continue to pass it on.

By 3 PM we were finally back on mainland Italy. By then, we’d been traveling for five hours, but decided to drive to the Holiday Inn in Salerno, which was about four hours away. We took turns driving the autostrada (Italian toll roads). Since we hadn’t eaten all day, we stopped at one of the many rest stops with small take-out restaurants. These places are a hoot, they have everything from fast food to wine, to children’s games (we saw the kid's game Operation in Italian).

Autogrill is one of many different rest stops with food on the Autostrada - The selection - A porchetta sandwich.

We sat outside and shared a porchetta sandwich before hitting the road again. We finally made it to the Holiday Inn at a little after 7 PM. This Holiday Inn even had a bar and restaurant where, as they put it, “Our Chef of the La Badia restaurant offers a menu every day with dishes created with the products of our sea and our land and cooked according to local traditions.” It turns out the food was excellent. Nancy had a pasta and lobster dish and John had chicken piccata.

The next morning, Monday, December 19th we hit the road and drove 4 ½ hours to the town of Castelnuovo dell’Abate about 20 minutes from the well-known town of Montalcino. Castelnuovo dell’Abate is very small, 200 residents in the winter and 500 in the summer.

Pictures from around the tiny town of Castelnuovo dell’Abate

There were only two restaurants open. We went to a small place that must be crowded in the summer; they even had a Foosball table, but in the late fall we were the only people there when we arrived. Latter, a single man and then a husband and wife arrived. With the two owners we had a warm crowd. This place had traditional Tuscan fall and winter foods. John started with Ribollita, a soup that usually has white beans, cabbage (or spinach), and day-old bread. Does it sound gross? It’s not...it’s a Nonna’s belly warming classic. If you want to make this simple winter soup, go to our Eats page and check out the recipe. BTW, the recipe calls for Tuscan Kale; John substitutes Napa cabbage or spinach for the kale.

He followed that up with Peposo, truly one of the simplest stews you'll ever make. It’s made with beef, garlic, lots of black pepper and a whole bottle of red wine! Nancy wasn’t really that hungry so only had spaghetti with a meat sauce. And finally, wine by the carafe, a simple Tuscan red wine. We finished with sweets and coffee from the restaurant’s separate bakery.

Ribollita - Peposa - Pici pasta with a ragu

Of course, Nancy had to go talk to one of the few customers They appeared to have been together for a long time and looked so happy and content. She wanted to compliment them on the happiness they exuded. Plus the husband gave John two tooth picks! :-)

The Foosball table - the decorated Christmas tree -- The owners and the couple Nancy approached.

On Tuesday we went to a biodynamic winery called Podere Le Ripi. Unless you follow the trends in wine-making, you probably haven’t heard of biodynamic wineries. As Wikipedia defines it, “Biodynamic wine production uses organic farming methods (e.g., employing compost as fertilizer and avoiding most pesticides) while also employing soil supplements and following a planting calendar that depends upon astrological configurations, and treating the earth as "a living and receptive organism." Sounds crazy, but the owner, Francesco Illy (a scion of the Italian coffee company Illy) started this winery in 1998.

We tasted a number of wines including their Brunello di Montalcino, today one of Italy’s best known and most expensive wines.

Next, we drove to the town of Montalcino where we stopped for lunch before going back to Castelnuovo dell’Abate. The next morning it was off to Montepulciano, where we’ll stay until after Christmas.

Montepulciano has a Christmas village in the town center, a castle that has a "Casa de Babbo Natalie" (the House of Father Christmas), and a Christmas Market.

The main piazza at night - Santa comes marching through town - The Christmas Village

Montepulciano is very sunny and clear in the spring, summer, and early fall, but here's a picture Nancy took from a window in our apartment this morning on the second day of winter.

Our next post, and last from Italy, will be all about our “Feast of the Seven Fishes” Tuscan style. We bought all the necessary ingredients today – lots and lots of fish---shrimp, mussels, clams, bacala, calamari, white anchovies, lox, a mixture of sea creatures and octopus arancini! More than enough for the Feast of the Seven Fishes. We’re sure it will be a great feast to celebrate Christmas Eve. Headed to the outdoor Christmas market later tonight to decide what decadent dessert we want to serve.

We hope you all have a wonderful and safe Christmas. And for all you who will be affected by the snow, sleet, and ice storm--- drive safely!

Buon Natalie,

Giovanni and Nannetta

(John and Nancy)