Beautiful Ruins Book Review

I ran across this book at the library.  It was on a special shelf labeled "Bucket List Books."  I was wary.  But the cover was absolutely stunning.  I also pick my wine by the label.  I googled it on Kirkus and it had a starred review.  So I gave it a shot.  

Go ahead and read it.

It is a lush story of old Liguria mixed with vintage and new Hollywood.  You may laugh out loud as I did when you read the Scientology jokes.

It's a great mix of old, new, exotic and, if you live in Southern California, local.  It's sweet and heartbreaking and I bet you can relate to at least one character. 

And if you don't like it, the cover alone -- stunning Manarola in the Cinque Terre -- will be lovely to look at on your night stand.

Summer Bounty

This picture, while not so appetizing, shows our first summer bounty of pesto from the prolific basil plants that love our sun and lack of rain.  I've found freezing in ice cube trays and transferring to zip lock bags for the freezer retains freshness.  And, it's so messy to make in the blender that I'd rather do it in a huge batch and only clean once!  

The most beautiful villages in Italy

You, too, may have stumbled across this article on buzzfeed recommending 15 must-see Italian villages.  It must have been hard to whittle it down to 15.

The Italian government has taken a much more in-depth stab at this list.  The Il Borghi piu d'Italia web site is slow to load (maybe a reminder to slow down?) but it's worth the wait.

The recommended villages are broken out into an interactive map - the north, centre and south, including Sicily.

There's also a hard copy book but it's in Italian. Even more reason to slow down and brush up on your language skills. At the bottom of the web site you can sign up for the newsletter, too. 

Even for devout Italophiles, there's bound to be some new towns for you to visit.

Vernazza, rebuilt after the 2011 mudslide, made the cut on both lists

Looks Like Liguria in Here!

Today the kids and I harvested the basil and made pesto in the blender using the simple recipe from Twelve.  Although it reduced quite a bit in the blender, there was still a ton of it.  We decided to try freezing it in ice trays to save for future meals.  Here is a pic of the gloppy goop. 

My Top 10 Italy Climbs

Torre del Mangia staircase, Siena

What is is about climbing something?  A good view from the top?  Getting a workout in?  Pretending that you are the first to do it?

There isn't a vertical tower in Italy that I don't want to conquer.  Here are a few of my favorite tower or hill climbs focusing on Tuscany and nearby:

1. Duomo, Florence (read Ross King's Brunelleschi's Dome before you do it...or after!)
2. Walk to Piazza Michelangelo and San Miniato Al Monte
3. Patrol path tour, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence 
4. Hiking the Ligurian coast (especially the cliff-hugging sanctuaries)
5. Torre del Mangia, Siena
6. Torre Guinigi, Lucca
7. St. Patrick's well, Orvieto
8. Leaning tower, Pisa (you've got to do it once)
9. The entire town of Montepulciano
10. Ramparts of Monteriggioni

Floods in Liguria

Vernazza flooding (Photo credit Laspezia.menticale.it)

The floods in Liguria, and more specifically, the Cinque Terre, are not getting the press that Turkey's earthquake or Bangkok's floods are receiving, but they have devastated the region.  The towns worst hit are the lovely Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare.  To help the people rebuild in Vernazza and Monterosso, here is a bank account set up for relief donations. 

And, here is a link to give via credit card through the Italian Red Cross.  You can choose "Tuscany and Liguria Emergency."

Limoncino or Limoncello?

We brought a bottle of the lemon liquor back from Liguria this trip.  I had been calling it Limoncello but today I noticed the bottle said Limoncino.  After half-hearted googling, it seems in the north they call it Limoncino, particularly around the Cinque Terre, and in the south Limoncello.  Yet another reason to get to the Amalfi Coast someday!  Then I ran across a producer in Ventura County.

Basil Advice

Info on this Ligurian staple with a bit a history.  We have yet to use our Volterran mortar and pestle, but maybe this article will get us in gear.