Another Countryside Visit

CAGLI & MT. PETRANO

This weekend I visited Andy at a farm near Cagli. Chris, who runs the farm along with her two sons, Bruno and Ruben (both in their 20's), dropped Andy off in town to meet up with me, late on Saturday afternoon. We spent the evening bumming around the centro, strolling through the park, and drinking beers at a bar cafe. Before dinner, we drove up the hill to Mt. Petrano, on top of which is the most beautiful field of green grass and wildflowers imaginable. It is the most beautiful place I've seen in Italy yet. We got views of the Umbrian Alps on one side and the Marche countryside on the other. After playing a few games of tackle tag, we headed back into Cagli for dinner at a restaurant where Bruno's girlfriend works. We ate an antipasto of cured pork (all Cinte Sinese, a rare traditional breed that I learned about in my last trip to Italy) and raw veggies diipped in olive oil. For primi, we chose pasta al forno- it was like a white lasagna with peas and cheese. For secondi, we ate rabbit and mixed pork. For contorni (veggies) we ate atrichokes and oven roasted onion. Everything was extremely well done, and in my opinion, the best food we've eaten here.

THE FARM

On the morning of my one-and-only full day at the farm, Andy gave me a tour: the vegetable gardens, the ceci (garbanzo) and lentiche (lentils) fields, the shop where Chris keeps here herbal soap projects, the old abandoned house where a family of hawks now nests, and the private lake. While the lake was small and the water somewhat murky, the aura of the place was lovely- so peaceful and sleepy. The frogs were croaking and the fish jumping, while fluffy white seed bundles floated down over the water from the trees above.

PASSO DEL FURLO AND URBINO

We had wanted to go on a big hike, but the impending rain prompted us to choose a drive to a nearby canyon, Passo del Furlo. So after a meditative sit at the lake, we got in the car. It started raining more and more, which seemed like even more of a bummer when we saw how beautiful the canyon was: the huge, steep rock walls were with clinging vegetation. A sleepy green river flowed along the bottom of the canyon. The rain seemed to be letting up, so we decided to drive up a little road that suposedly lead to a trail head. But the rain started to worsen quickly, and before long, we came upon a group of 4 hikers who had lost their way in the rain. They were tow couples, one of which was an English woman who had married an Italian man. They flagged us down and begged for a ride down, so of course, we obliged. They invited us to their home on the coast any time, and promised to open a special bottle of wine if we came. If only we had time..

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The rain was still coming down, so we pulled off the road and perched in a cave to marvel at the great canyon (pic) At this point, we gave up on waiting out the rain and headed to Urbino, and nearby city we had both heard praised. We trekked about the city scape, looking for views and interesting food opportunities. There were steel stairs and narrow passageways with no outlets- a real labyrinth. So it was a good alternative to the nature-adventure we had hoped for.

PIZZERIA 2000

We went to nearby Aqualagna for dinner, where Bruno works at a restaurant called "Pizzeria 2000." I was not really looking forward to it, as Andy had not built up very high expectations... I was picturing a dirty pizza joint where food really isn't the point. Boy, were we in for a surprise! The menu included not only pizza, but primi, secondi, and contorni also. We ordered a pizza with sausage, potatoes, and spinach, and it was very good! After dinner Bruno strolled out of the kitchen carrying a bottle of Limoncello. We shared a toast, and chatted about life- Bruno only speaks Italian, so it was a bit of a challenge. Andy's Italian was also a great source of amusement, and it was hard not to tease him too much- luckily he is such a good sport. It made me so happy to see that he landed another great group of people- I could see how much Bruno enjoyed Andy's company, smiling at almost everything he did. I have rarely met such a genuine person as Bruno. He looks really tough with his facial piercings, but he has a ready smile, and it takes only minutes to realize that he sweet-natured. He insisted on paying for out dinner, and when we sneakily tried to go behind his back and pay for it anyways, he intercepted us, escorting us out the door.
Before we could drive away, Bruno came running out to us. When he got to the car, he handed us two T-shirts with "Pizzeria 2000" stitched on the front. That pretty much made the trip for both of us- we didn't stop laughing and smiling all the way home.