Archive for the ‘travel’ Tag
Hiking in Italy’s Piedmont region got off to a mucky start. We spent a rainy day stomping and sliding along trails surrounded by grape-heavy vineyards. Still, the vistas were breathtaking with rolling hills terraced with rows upon rows of grapevines. We were soaked to the bone with so much mud on our boots it felt like walking in high heels on uneven surfaces.
After arriving at our first night’s stay in the hamlet of Vergne, we’d clocked about 10 miles. Arrangements had been made for our bags to be delivered to Ca’ San Ponzio where we had a room for the night. Despite fatigue and a desperate desire/need for a hot shower, this 12-room agriturismo immediately charmed us.
This was the home of owners Luciano and Maurizio’s grandparents; as children they often visited. The brothers renovated the L-shaped building while maintaining its traditional architectural features.
Our warm, spacious room was only part of the charm. A large stone fireplace was the focal point of the inviting living room (lobby doesn’t do it justice). The large dining area – with an impressive breakfast buffet was available in the morning — was another common room for relaxing available, but it was the wine cellar that captivated most guests.
Along with an impressive number and varieties of wine, were bottles, glasses, corkscrews and a stack of Post-it notes. Guests were to help themselves, but needed to jot down their room number and what they’d taken: glass or bottle. This was an honor system everyone happily followed. (With payment for what was drunk made at checkout.)
Bonus: the weather was in our favor the next day.
Ca’ San Ponzio
Five Glasses of wine (this is the rating, not what we drank)
Via Rittane 7, Frazione Vergne, 12060 Barolo, Italy
Home | Cà San Ponzio
I knew a couple who, after becoming empty nesters, announced they now live in “Naked City.” I appreciated this for its literal and figurative meanings. Not only could bodies be bare, so could parental responsibilities (of course, these never fully disappear, only their dominance over daily life). For many couples the milestone raises the question: what next?
Kim Brown Seely addresses this in Uncharted: A Couple’s Epic Empty-Nest Adventure Sailing from One Life to Another. I learned about it from a friend’s podcast, nuWriters. The hosts discussed the book one week and interviewed Seely the next. Both episodes intrigued me. Seely shares the emotions associated with a new phase of life with honesty and humor, she also provides vivid descriptions of the journey she and her husband, Jeff, undertook aboard a 54-foot sailboat through the Salish Sea and Inside Passage to the Great Bear Rainforest.
The Seelys are successful professionals, married for nearly 30 years when their two sons are both soon to be in college; their youngest as a freshman. As if launching him isn’t enough of a new experience, they magnify it by embarking on a sailing expedition, which serves multiple purposes including to reconnect as a couple and to seek the elusive white bear (known as the spirit bear).
Although her husband had some sailing experience, Seely did not. This doesn’t deter them, and the two learn to, literally, navigate together. It’s not always easy, but even as their relationship is stretched, so does it become stronger.
Unchartered: A Couple’s Epic Empty-Net Adventure Sailing from One Life to Another
Four Bookmarks
Sasquatch Books, 2019
275 pages
Always Home by Fanny Singer is a beautifully-written homage to her childhood as the daughter of renowned chef and food activist, Alice Waters. The inspired black and white photos and recipes are a bonus.
Singer was born after Chez Panisse opened its doors. The Berkeley restaurant, at the forefront of using locally-grown, organic ingredients, is where California cuisine and Waters garnered international attention. The book reveals as much about Waters as the author; it creates a sense of envy at their lifestyle. Not only because of the food prepared and eaten, but their travel experiences. Summers in the south of France, vacations in Italy and Mexico are vividly rendered through descriptions of the landscapes, along with meals and those with whom they were shared.
Yes, Singer is close to her mother but Waters isn’t the only influence on this accomplished writer. A host of honorary aunts, uncles, grandparents and those with direct connections to the restaurant, considered “La Famille Panisse,” fill the pages in much the same way they contribute to Singer’s life.
Each chapter is filled with humor – some self-deprecating. While this might be considered a memoir, it flows more organically, as if Singer is having a conversation with the reader. Her memories are recounted in no specific, chronological order as vignettes: a Christmas here or school trip there. The result is an engaging and fun read.
Brigitte Lacombe’s photographs enhance the pages. Consequently, a coffee table seems a better place than a bookshelf for showing off this work.
Always Home
Four Bookmarks
Alfred A. Knopf, 2020
317 pages
Living Out Answers – Twelve Trips of a Lifetime by Dave Jackson, is one of two indie books I recently read for pleasure (others I read for one of my few paid writing gigs). In the interest of full disclosure: I almost know the author. We’ve never met, but Jackson’s the father of a good friend who gave me the book as a gift.
This is a memoir based on trips, yup 12 of them, that he began taking when he turned 50 in 1979. He kept journals of the adventures which are the book’s foundation supplemented by recent afterthoughts. The trips include finding a way to spend time on the Mississippi River, to working for a circus, to learning about coal mines in West Virginia, along with nine others. He hitchhiked, hopped trains, hiked, rode in the cabs of big rigs and developed sea legs on boats.
Nearly as interesting is how the book evolved: Jackson’s granddaughter was prompted by a photo which led to discussions about the travels. Others entered the picture offering advice and encouragement. Although the book became a family endeavor of sorts, the stories are Jackson’s.
Jackson embraced the new opportunities and experiences no matter how exciting, frustrating or unpleasant, but there was always the safety net of a comfortable lifestyle awaiting him after each exploit. What’s most impressive is that Jackson made these journeys at a point in his life where many think self-reflection is either unnecessary or inconvenient. He demonstrates neither is the case.
Living Out Answers – Twelve Trips of a Lifetime
Three and a half bookmarks
Brokey’s, 2012
281 pages
The Blue Page Special 