La mia Italia: Vernazza & Monterosso

My mother-in-law told me this morning about how there had been horrible flooding and mudslides in Cinque Terre (specifically Vernazza and Monterosso). So I quickly went online and googled Vernazza flood 2011 and this is what I found:

VIDEO

Unbelievable. This actually happened on October 25th. I can't believe this is the first I had heard of it. This was a gorgeous spot in the beautiful Italian Riviera. We were there in 2007 and just loved it. We actually had stayed in Riomaggiore, but Vernazza was every one's favorite of the 5 hillside towns. Here is what it looked like on our trip.

Sarah being a pouty baby sitting water's edge.

You can go HERE (SAVE VERNAZZA) to help with the clean-up and rebuilding effort.

La Mia Italia: Castello Di Montegufoni

I recently blogged about Tuscany and the little town Montespertoli that we visit every time we go. I mentioned in that post a castle that we stay at: Castello di Montegufoni

We first stayed here in May 2003 while attending a wedding. It was actually the location of the wedding and all the guests stayed here. It is a charming location that has several great amenities. It is very clean and comfortable, but yet has a rustic charm about it. You typically would stay here if you are planning to stay 5-7 days or more. I believe their policy is for an extended stay and not just a couple of nights. All the rooms are like suites/apartments. Most have kitchens in them and they all have private bedrooms. It does not have a hotel feel at all. There is one restaurant that is open for dinner only and one that is open for lighter meals throughout the day. The type of place you go to get some breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and a couple of pizzas for dinner. The other restaurant is more fine dining and since it is not big, a reservation is typically made. Not so much because the place is that crowded, just so the chefs have a little notice as to how many to plan for. A lot of what they make they buy locally and that day. There is a grocery in the town and we usually go by there and get breakfast breads, meat, cheeses, fruit, and wine to have in our rooms.

The castle also has a nice little pool, which the kids like.

To me...I feel like I am living in times of Romeo and Juliet when we stay there. It is so positively Italian. It is gorgeous with breathtaking vistas. You can see the town of Montespertoli from there, as well as, the Ugolini vineyard. In fact, the Ugolini vineyard has a white villa on top of the hill and we often would look out at it and say how nice it would be if that was our villa. We often wondered who lived there. The next time we visited the region on 2007 we found out who lives there and are now friends with them. We took my oldest daughter in 2007 and she loved Castello di Montegufoni so much that she cried when we left and kept pointing out the window..."my castle, my castle". She was 3 at the time.

La Fattoressa
This is the apartment we stayed in last time. It accommodated me, my husband, my father, and my daughter. The 2nd picture is of the little bed my daughter slept on. She had her one little room!

La Cupola
This was the apartment we stayed in back in 2003. It has 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, and a huge living area.

Il Cardinale
This is the apartment Charlie's parents have stayed in twice. They love it. It has a kitchen and huge family room. 3 bedrooms..so people always stay with them.

Here we are in 2007. Yes, I was about 5 1/2 months pregnant with Lauren.

Me with my dad!

Dinner al fresco on the terrace. This was pretty much our entire group we traveled with.

Castello di Montegufoni and the countryside!

"My castle, my castle"!!

La Mia Italia: Chianti Wine Festival - Montespertoli

We happened upon this charming little festival back in 2003 when we were attending a wedding in Tuscany. We were staying at an old castle called Castello di Montegufoni and our view out our room was of the quaint little hill town of Montespertoli. We went to explore one evening for dinner and much to our surprise there was a little festival going on. The prefect little activity just waiting for us every evening. It takes place every year the last weekend in May and into June. This year it is May 29-June 6. Click HERE to read more about it. (Watch the video..it is in Italian, but you get the idea) All the local vineyards set up booths and let you "taste" all their wine, olive oils, and balsamic vinegar. I put taste in quotations because every "taste" is about a half a glass of wine. When you pay for the festival they give you a wine glass and glass holder you wear around your neck. It is so fun to go around to all the booths. You really get to meet the people who run the vineyards and you get to talk with them about their product. It was at this festival back in 2007 (our 2nd time around and the 50th anniversary festival) that we met our good friend Mauro. His wife's family owns a vineyard just across the hill from Montegufoni and he now runs it. It is the Ugolini Vineyard. They have great wine, but the olive oil is what we love the best! Charlie's parents have started to sell it in their shop: Le Petit Hameau. The first shipment they got around the holidays sold out very fast. The new shipment will be in very soon. The wine he gives us we save for special occasions. I will do a separate feature on Mauro at some point. It is not the worst thing in the world to have an Italian friend. All of us McDonald women love to just sit an listen to Mauro talk.....in Italian.

At night at the festival there are local musicians that play. The local restaurants are all open and usually packed. There is, of course, a wonderful little gelateria there for a sweet treat, too! It is so nice to sit under the stars in the middle of Tuscany sipping local wine, hanging out with the locals and just experiencing la dolce vita. One thing that makes it so nice is that it is not overrun with tourists. I know blogging about it isn't exactly keeping it a secret and I am potentially going to drawn attention to our quaint find, but you guys are my friends and I love sharing travel tips with my friends in hope you would do the same for me. So make your plans to travel to Tuscany, visit the wine festival, even stay at Montegufoni. I will do a separate post about it at some point, too.

There has been talk about the McDonald's making another trip to Montespertoli next year. We will see...our girls are of Disney age, so the rest of the extended family may be taking the trip without us. Here are some photos from our past visits to the Festa di vini!

Town of Montespertoli

Charlie doing a little wine tasting. Note the wine bag around his neck and our friend Mauro in the green shirt!

Note: When searching for a good Chianti...look for the Gallo Nero "Black Rooster" seal. It is the official seal of the Chianti Classico region. If you see it, you know you are getting an authentic bottle of Chianti from this region!

La mia Italia: Carnival

It is that magical time of year in Venice! I was so lucky enough to get to go 4 years ago when Charlie had finished working at the Torino Olympics. We took an additional week or so vacation all across Northern Italy, and Venice was the main stop. We had a great time. Although it was FREEZING cold, I sort of think it made it that much more romantic. Venice has a mysteriousness (if that is a word) about it. There is something about all the canals, back alleys, beautiful costumes, beautiful architecture, and the history of it all that makes Venice so special.

It is even more special during Carnival. Every where you turn you see the gorgeous ornate costumes. People scurrying off to parties and galas. All the restaurants and coffee shops are packed with people enjoying life and trying to stay warm. It is truly a magical place and one of the best experiences of my life. I get tears in my eyes every time we take that taxi up the Grand Canal. I have been there now 3 times. Each was very special. First time was on my honeymoon in July of 1999. The second was carnival in February 2006, and the more recent was a day trip with my dad in June of 2007. All of them have been great experiences, but Carnival was captivating! Here are some of my photos: Enjoy!

I will write another post on where to stay in Venice soon! We have stayed at 2 magnificent places!

La Mia Italia: Indian Food

Yes, that's right....Indian food. It has been awhile since I have posted under the La Mia Italia label, but last night's dinner inspired me to write about one of my favorite places to eat in Italy. Last night I went out with my brother and sister-in-law in Dallas to go eat Indian food and it was fantastic. Almost as fantastic as Rangoli in Milan.


My husband and I happened upon Rangoli in the theater district in Milan when we were in Italy in 2006 for the Olympics. We had been all over Northern Italy for two weeks and he had already been there a month prior to my arrival, so on our last night in Milan, we were tired of Italian food to say the least. Charlie asked me if I had ever had Indian food before and I had not. He had had it a handful of times and encouraged me to give it a try. I will say I was a bit timid and nervous about it and had no idea what to order on the menu at all. Luckily, Rangoli had a chef's menu that had a little of everything so we went with that. Top that off with some great Indian white wine and cheese naan (which you can't find many places) and it was one of the best meals I have ever had. Period. In fact it was so good, I would fly to Milan right now just to eat there if I could.

Now skip forward to the summer of 2007. We were vacationing in Cinque Terra and I was about 5-6 months pregnant and we found ourselves in the most steep hillside city of the group. Needless to say, that Cinque Terra is not the best local for a very pregnant woman to tour. I was tired of walking up and down the steep hills and felt like we had seen all there was to see a day earlier than we were scheduled to leave. So Charlie suggests, well since our next stop is Lake Como, then why don't we just leave tomorrow and spend a night in Milan and go have Indian food. SO it took me all of a second to agree to that plan and the next thing I knew we were sitting back in Rangoli and I was so excited. This time around we had our 3 year-old daughter with us, so we picked up a Happy Meal on the way, so she would have something to eat.




It was FABULOUS once again. We were a little nervous it might not be as good the second time around, but was it ever. I would only say my one disappointment was that they no longer had Indian wine. In fact, it is really hard to find Indian wine, but it was so good. So in summation...If you are ever in Milan, eat at Rangoli. Even if you are within the vicinity of Milan, make a special trip in to go eat here!

In case you are wondering, last night we ate at the India Palace in Dallas over on Preston and 635. Yummo! Highly recommend this place, as well. Last night we feasted (and I mean feasted...we had sooo much food) on lamb and veggie samosas, lamb and chicken tikka masala, chicken curry, chicken vindaloo, and malai kofta kashmiri, and garlic naan. Note: The chicken vindaloo will light your fire. Extremely hot. It was all so good and I had the left overs for lunch today!

La mia Italia: Venice Regatta

Tomorrow afternoon (the 1st Sunday in September), this will be taking place in Venice:

It is the historic Regatta. It dates back to 1315 and it was a way in which the Venetians honored foreign dignitaries and celebrated military feats. Today they still do the historic boat parade and then it is followed by a rowing competition.



I have not yet attended this festival, but I plan to someday. I thought I was going to see it back in February of 2006. My husband and I were in Venice for Carnivale and I had my guidebook with this picture of the beautiful boat parade. Since I am drawn more to pictures than words, I never really read the paragraphs regarding the photo. I just assumed it was something that happened during Carnivale. So I promptly went up to the front desk of our hotel and showed the man my picture and asked him what day that was going to take place. He said.... September! First of all, I was mortified. Although I don't know everything about Italy, I try to at least come across as if I do, so I felt pretty stupid. Second, I was pretty bummed. Evidently there are no boat parades during Carnivale. There is lots more pomp and circumstance, though. That will be another posting in the future when I share with you all my notes on attending Carnivale.

Here is a teaser....