Sunday, October 30, 2011

Italian visit – part 3 – ‘with friends & relatives’

I had scheduled a round of visits in the old village of my youth, while being hosted by one branch of cousins, who own food related industries in this area.
[my cousins' home]

[being restructred into a spa, friends' villa with a huge garden behind, where we played as kids]

My cousins' beautiful apartment is on the first floor of their huge building, while the 2nd floor contains a studio, and at least 3 bedrooms and related bathrooms facilities for guests.
They own a big German shepherd by the name of Ulisse, terribly protective of its lady owner; a powerful and fierce dog, who, eventually, accepted my presence in the household.
Its big eyes were constantly following my movements when I was doing something, especially in the kitchen, and ultimately would park himself on my side waiting for some goodie to be offered to him, as he is used to.
On Saturday night my cousins drove me to another town, where they planned to have dinner also with some other friends, with whom they play lots of golf together. I already knew one of the couples since I had hosted their daughter in NY years ago. The restaurant, owned by a Sicilian that moved north 20 years ago, is known for excellent fish dishes which we enjoyed thoroughly, followed by an exquisite dessert of meringue puffs covered with melted dark chocolate, and washed down by ‘ratafia`’, a sweet, but strong cherry liqueur!
One of my old school friends in Ghemme that had solicited my visit to Italy, annually plans a luncheon with the village people born in the same year, as per a tradition dating back to WWI. Wanting to include me this year, she planned it to take place on the Sunday that I was in town.

By 10:30am we gathered at the church to attend mass, during which time our presence was acknowledged and addressed by the officiating priest.
It was followed by a visit to the cemetery to remember those who passed away during the year, and in the past.

By 1pm our above group reached a nearby town where the luncheon was organized in a local restaurant, known for good food. There, we were joined by other natives that now live elsewhere, but return to the village for events such as this. The menu was extensive, beautifully served and the whole affair lasted 5 hours!
[sorbet served mid-meal before the grilled meats]

All sorts of goodies were enjoyed by everyone together with lots of conversation, catching up with family news and happenings, and ending up with old songs that one member that has a gorgeous voice usually delivers at the end of the gathering, supported by a cheering chorus!
At day's end, my friend and I drove home one of the attendees, who owns a big farm (known as a 'cascina' in Italian) in the outskirts of our village. Here, while sipping another espresso, we learned a few things about this farm's history and had an interesting visit of the grounds. Now they no longer have the big cows' stable of the past that produced milk and cheese, but rent some of their fields to a shepherd that brings his flock of sheep and goats down from from the mountains during the fall and winter seasons.

Italian visit - part 2 - 'the old village'

The small community of Ghemme (current population: 4100) where I grew up during WWII, is famous since the 1300’s for his excellent red wine, which was served even to a few Popes. It’s a quiet little village located, in Italy’s north-west region of Piedmont, along the hills that are at the foot of the Italian Alps, on the other side of which is Switzerland.
[on main street, these buildings belonged to my ancestors]

Among its natives are my Mother and most of my maternal ancestors. A few of them were notable people, such a high level clergyman, a prominent medical doctor (my great-grandfather), and an English woman of noble descent (my grandmother’s aunt), who was ‘lady in waiting’ to Queen Victoria in London, and owner of the Isle of Caprera.

Ghemme is also the birthplace of a renowned architect: Alessandro Antonelli, who in the mid 1800’s planned the famous large cupola of the city of Turin, a landmark known as “La Mole Antonelliana”.
[the commemorative inscription at his birthplace]

[Turin's 'Mole']

He also designed the steeple of the main church in Ghemme, the size of which is equivalent to the one of a cathedral.
It’s a beautiful house of worship that dates back to the 1600’s, to which a crypt was added in memory of a teenager "Beata Panacea" that lived in the 1300’s. She was a pious shepherdess who was killed by her jealous stepmother, and was beatified for her miracles.
The traditional excellent wine of Ghemme is produced in the wine cellars ('cantine') located in the ancient, historical quarters of the village, dating back to medieval times. Here, each local wine producer (like it was my maternal grandfather) owns his own‘cantina’ where his product is stored.
This area, during harvest and production time is engulfed by the strong smell of crushed grapes, and the cantinas are open to visitors that can taste the varieties of wines, and enjoy some local cheese and breads for which Ghemme is also known, in addition to its production of honey.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Italian visit – part 1 - 'country travel'

Flew BelleAir from Tirana to Milano, in early afternoon, leaving behind a splendid climate. Descended at Malpensa, one and a half hour later, through black clouds and found a cold and wintery scene in northern Italy. It was my first experience with this airline, one of dozen others servicing Albania, but, when at Rinas airport (now named Mother Teresa International),I noticed quite a few changes. All airport’s facilities are being expanded, a couple more hotels are being built in its vicinity, all flights from Tirana now use larger planes, which are always fully booked, and, as the friends that gave me a lift also pointed out, due to increased traffic of passengers and business with Italy, most Italian cities are now connected with Tirana on a daily basis.

Retrieving your luggage in Italy is an exercise of patience, and this time was no exception. It took one hour, but soon afterwards I was whisked away by one of my Italian cousins and traveled northwest toward the city of Biella, where I was able to do the purchases I had planned, in a brand new, huge shopping center.

While buying some sweets, which are typical of that town, we were offered by the shop owners a “marocchino” each at their bar. The name derives from a combination of black and white ingredients in a medium size glass cup: a delightful hot, thick espresso that engulfs a fairly good size portion of whipped cream that is then topped by dark chocolate sprinklers! A sinful, but perfect pickup while trekking around town!!

By early evening we finally reached my cousins’ country home, located further north at about 800 meters above sea level, only to drive back to Biella for a scheduled 8PM dinner with a couple, mutual friends of ours.
My cousin’s wife, unfortunately, due to a late medical appointment for a treatment of a very painful condition to her right shoulder that had occurred 24 hrs earlier, could not dine with us. The dinner took place at a local, old, well known establishment, serving delightful food. After assorted hot appetizers, and a special risotto (this place’s specialty), while imbibing an exceptionally good wine, I could only manage dessert!
Thank goodness there were no special plans the next day, so we all lingered around chatting and eating at home breakfast and lunch, followed by a restful afternoon spent outdoors in relatively warm sunshine and a light breeze.
[white grapes still on the vine]

Toward evening additional family members drove in from Milano so that we could dine together at another old restaurant located at a higher elevation (1100 m above sea level) which is part of a huge religious center, called ‘Santuario di Oropa’, famous for his black Madonna. I have been there in the past several times, and its restaurant has been frequented by many foreign dignitaries and even by more than one Pope.
Good, hardy mountain flood is served here, in several large rooms with fully functioning fireplaces…while the temperature outside was 3 degrees Centigrade.
The most typical dish is “polenta concia”, which is a corn meal soup with a load of melted butter and cheeses floating on top.
As a second course I opted not to eat meat, but to fully enjoy a dish of freshly picked ‘porcini’ mushrooms, cooked in 3 different versions. What a treat!!
Again local red wine washed down the food and the desserts were followed by a small glass of ‘limoncello’, known to help digestion…..
[mango sorbet with chocolate sticks]

This was my last evening in this area, and again we ended up in bed in the early hours of the morning. My next destination would be further down the valley, in another area of Piedmont, in the old village where I spent 12 years of my youth during WWII.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

An Albanian Holiday

Tomorrow, October 19th, is a National Holiday in Albania. It's Mother Teresa Day, and her name needs no introduction!

Friday, October 14, 2011

A short hop to Italy

By the middle of next week I'll be in northern Italy, mainly in the north-west region of Piedmont, for a brief visit.

There, in the old village of my maternal origins, I took refuge during WWII, grew up and spent 12 years of my life under my Italian grandparents's roof. There I returned several times over the decades, after emigrating with my Mother to the USA.

It has been a while now since I revisited Italian relatives and friends, or have taken a vacation for that matter; thus, the decision to take a short break from my current work and hop to Milan. The flight from Tirana is only a little over 1 1/2 hour long, and from there will be driven toward the hills and mountain areas where I'll start my visiting.

I know some plans are in the works for grand dining and lots of conversation......! I intend to fully enjoy these few days without cell phone,laptop, or Internet, and I know that I'll be burning the midnight oil, but it's going to be great fun and pleasure!

Sunday, October 09, 2011

By the seaside.....

On my second Sunday in Albania I was driven to the port city of Durres, where some of my friends took me to lunch in a new restaurant, owned and run by a young Italian chef, who married an Albanian pianist, and they are now parents of a beautiful baby boy.

The weather couldn’t have been any better, although the clouds looked ominous early in the morning in Tirana.
After the hot days of last week, during which time another friend of mine went swimming into the sea in Durres, yesterday’s thunderstorm cleared the air. A pretty strong wind, kind of unusual for Tirana, brought in quite a dip in temperature of about 20F degrees within 24 hours: today’s 65F was a really delightful climate, for my taste!

After a short car ride along the new highway we arrived in the center of Durres, and, not too far from its port, we reached the restaurant on the 3rd floor of a new building along the sea coast. The ambience was lovely and it offered great views of the Adriatic on 3 sides of the large floor regardless of where one was seated.
In typical Italian style the owner, who knew my friends, came to our table to discuss everyone’s wish. No need for a menu - all we had to decide was whether to have meat or fish for the main course and which kind of wine. We all opted for meat and white wine, and warned the owner that we didn’t want big portions of any kind. He offered to provide a small assortment of antipasti, a taste of his home made ravioli with truffles, followed by a veal dish as the main entree.
[my hosts]

Each course was a surprise, beautifully presented, and very delicious. The raviolis (3 large ones for each portion) were served in a very delicate buttery-lemony sauce with tiny bits of tomatoes, sprinkled with abundant parmesan cheese, while the grilled, sliced filet of veal topped a fresh arugula salad with cherry tomatoes in balsamic vinegar dressing: every bite melted in the mouth! After a while a luscious dessert also appeared on the table: a ‘millefoglie’ puff pastry topped with extremely light whipped cream and assorted berries. An Italian espresso was a must after such delights!
Nearby many restaurants in Albania there are always some sort of playgrounds for children, and this was no exception.
We took a leisure walk along the sea coast promenade and ended up at a café known for its home made ice cream (‘gelato artigianale’). It was impossible to refuse a small taste of some of their varieties……
[hill top 1930's villa, still property of the royal family today]

[one of many cafes along the boardwalk]

By late afternoon we walked back to the car and rode back to Tirana, as the sun was beginning to set in the west and a full size moon was appearing on the east.
What a treat for me to spend a day in the outdoors, enjoying good company, conversation, food, and soaking in sunshine and a fresh marine breeze!