le déjeuner sur l'herbe. April, Saturday 13th

blue sky and shining, warm sun. this is how spring should be! i've been waiting weeks for this, but it has finally come.

to enjoy the wonderful morning, we packed a towel and some apricot jam made by grandma, and  stopped by the bakery to get some fresh bread, then we drove toward Susegana.
there, we went to Borgoluce's farm shop, for some buffalo yogurt and panna cotta. 
Borgoluce is located inside the beautiful Collalto estate, that includes two castles. the first one is the castello di San Salvatore, and the other one is Collalto Castle, in ruins. between these two, there is a dirt road called strada di Collalto, that winds through the hill across woods and vineyards. a perfect countryside road, beautiful for a walk or a ride. (there were bicycles and horses, too)
green, yellow, and blue all around. 

we decided to stop in a vineyard, although i'd have loved to find and set under a cherry tree in bloom to have a sort of hanami  {the japanese tradition of sitting under blooming trees -especially cherry- to contemplate them or have a picnic}. but there were flowers anyway. the bright yellow dandelions.

despite the quick preparation, we were very pleased with our breakfast picnic. it was delicious: handmade jam, freshly baked bread, yogurt and panna cotta made in that very estate, with buffalo milk.

i took two readings i had carefully saved for a moment like this. my kinfolk spring issue, and a literaly magazine called nuovi argomenti.
our dear friend ginevra, blogger, anectodes queen and talented writer, published a short story inside this nuovi argomenti issue, and we are sooooo proud! her written words are always a flawless mixture of laugh and melancholic irony.


besides the stunning pictures, i particularly love two essays on this kinfolk issue. the *spring traditions* described by danica van de velde and illustrated by sarah burwash {among others: early morning breakfast dates, impromptu bicycle rides, afternoon tea, picnics in the park...} encounter the concept of perfect spring i have on my mind. 

then, i was impressed by a fictional story of austin sailsbury, who describes a journey in italy with inspiring, warm words. 
here, in this blog, i'm trying to talk about the place i live in, or the places i visit, and i write in english cause i don't want to exclude anyone for this conversation. but sometimes i don't know how to calibrate my descriptions of things which are so peculiarly italian, not knowing how much foreigners know about them. so, essays like the sailsbury's one really help me write better. 
i want to mention the words that he uses to describe the italian concept of agriturismo:

"an agriturismo, in very general terms, is a working farm that takes in travelers as guests. no two are the same. each has its own charming idiosyncrasies: rustic architecture, livestock roaming freely about, and always the smell of something fresh being baked. mix in the uncertinty that your hosts will speak english, treacherous mountain roads to get there, and the relative lack of other tourists in sight, and an agriturismo becomes about as real of an italian experience as a traveler could hope for"

i could not said it better myself. 

happy sunday, happy spring, happy readings.