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.

invasioni digitali. co-creation of cultural value

i want to talk to you about a super cool project, called digital invasions {invasioni digitali}.
the idea involves the organization of several mini-events (invasions) at museums or art venues outside the mainstream, in italy during the week from 20 to 28 of april.

it's aimed to bloggers, instagramers, photography lovers and anyone active on social media who wants to be ambassador of the local cultural heritage.
the goal is to spread the culture, the local beauty and history, using the power of internet and social media.

i thought it fits me, so i organized a digital invasion, too!
we are going to invade the Tipoteca Museum, a 2,000 square meters space dedicated to letterpress and book art, in a small town called Cornuda (Treviso), near Montello, on april, saturday 27th.

photo source tipoteca.it

Tipoteca houses not only an extraordinary collection of metal and hand-cut wood typefaces, but also maintains an archive, a printing museum, a functioning print studio, and an extensive library—all in one efficiently designed, multipurpose building.

it will be a combination of two kinds of communication, old and new. a contamination between digital culture and local heritage, between the web and the place where we live in.

for one day, this little corner of treviso province will become a place for storytelling, where virtual and real are interwined. 

see you on saturday 27th!

info and registration:

invasioni-digitali-tipoteca.eventbrite.it

http://www.invasionidigitali.it

http://tipoteca.it

 

polaroids from vinitaly. April, Tuesday 9th

do you remember the street food recipe i did for Quota 101? 
they decided print a small cookbook, with it and other 17 recipes invented by very talented food bloggers. the book was presented during Vinitaly, the biggest italian wine fair, held in Verona. 

for the occasion, i visited the fair with Marco, and a polaroid 600 extreme. i thought it would be plenty of professional cameras to properly capture bottles and labels, so why do not bring some instant fun?
it really was fun, my first time with an instant camera. you can see i'm a newbie!

we toasted at the Quota 101 stand, tasting the street food that won the contest: Neroncini by Briciole in Cucina.
then my uncle Paolo (grazie ♥!), who works in wine sector, show us the fair, so we had the chance to visit the stands of some heavenly good wineries.

we started at Cantina Villa, which produces some divine Franciacorta we learned to know through time. we tasted Satèn, Emozione, Solomille, and the sublime Selezione 2004 Brut.
luckily, there were two special cheeses {slow food ark of taste products} to taste with the wines:  a 25 months old Bagòss, and Fatulì, made in Val Camonica with goat milk, smoked with juniper.

Marco fell in love with the Mason Pinot Nero from Manincor, a biodynamic winery in  Alto Adige, a couple of years ago. so, we said hello to them, too, and tasted their Moscato Giallo and Sauvignon. we'd love to have the chance to visit their wonderful organic wine estate, someday.

then, it was the time of Sicilia, another italian region that i particulary love, for some sweet memories. the Destro winery has its vineyards on Mount Etna, an active volcano. their red Sciarakè has a lava flow drawn on the label. the white Nausìca, so rich of scents, and the sweet Anuar were my favourite Destro wines.

from the very south, back to the north: Trentino Alto Adige, again. D'Isera winery's Trentodoc was already a friend of mine, i have a soft spot for its bubbles. i was very happy to visit the D'Isera stand, and to get the chance to try another of their wines: the aromatic Müller Thurgau.

Toscana is the most famous italian wine region, i suppose. we saved a classic for the finale: Chianti! we tasted three of Dievole's red Chianti, a winery near Siena. too bad we didn't have a steak to eat with them.

{polaroid 600 extreme + px 680 color protection}
for more detailed pics of the wines, visit my twitter profile.


all the details about these special wineries:

Villa Franciacorta
25040 Motnicelli Brusati (BS)
www.villafranciacorta.it @cantinavilla

Manincor
39052 Kaltern | Caldaro
St Josef am See 4
www.manincor.com

Destro - Azienda Vitivinicola
Montelaguardia - Randazzo (CT)
www.destrovini.com

D'Isera
via al Ponte, 1 3860 Isera (Trento)
www.cantinaisera.it

Dievole
Loc. Vagliagli
53019 Castelnuovo Berardenga (Siena)
www.dievole.it

Quota 101
via Malterreno 12 Torreglia (PD)
www.quota101.com

time for spring buds. bruscandoli risotto.

 many species of our wild herbs are edible. this is the best season to harvest some spring buds to prepare traditional tasty dishes.
my grandma taught me to recognize, clean and cook some of the most common wild herbs. among them, bruscandoli {or bruscandoi} are my favorites. it's a veneto dialect word , and it identifies the humulus lupulus wild buds {wild hop}.

in northen italy, they grow spontaneously in the countryside: among thorns, under the hedges and along ditches. you have to harvest the last 15 cm, the softest, green-reddish part. 

used to cook a  risotto or an omelette {frittata}, they give their best. 

this time, me and Marco used them for risotto. after cleaning and chopping (not too short), cook over a low heat in a saucepan, with a finely chopped white onion. add the rice after about ten minutes, then cook it like a regular risotto, with broth. 

March, Thursday 21st

lambretta season is officially ON.
as you can see i'm not an illustrator, but i like giving a visual form to my thoughts

happy, happy, happy spring everyone! 

{the ispiration for these scribbles come from this and this beautiful illustrations, thank you!}

campfire. March, Saturday 17th

the air is still chilly, but we're back outdoors.
we went to a place not far from where we had the fall picnic. i used to come here a lot with the Scouts years ago, cause it's a good spot for campfires.

we had a little picnic, and cooked on the firewood. i've missed the smell of the crackling fire's smoke! i've missed breaking the dry wood with the knees, and making the tip to green sticks. 
in the Scouts we called this direct-heating method trapper cooking, which i think is in the name of north americans explorers, but i'm not sure.

sausages give their best, but potatoes, onions and eggs, too are delicious cooked this way!
special thanks to the firewood for keeping us warm while we ate and played cards. 

{olympus om10 + fuji superia 200}

i scream ice cream! March, Monday 11th

i've expressed my love for gelato before, i know.. i'm just so glad that my favourite place to buy it re-opened after months of winter!
























i've been a little bit off-topic lately, but as soon as it gets warmer new tales, places, itineraries, two wheelers point of views are coming!

have a nice week