A delicious love feast at our Altopascio church helps us make connections

We had to good fortune to be in Montecarlo during the time our church here, La Chiesa Evangelica di Altopascio, decided to have an agape—which could be translated as a love feast (mentioned in Jude 1:12), or more simply, a church potluck lunch.

I found it mildly amusing when l’agape was announced from the pulpit two weeks ago by Pastor Giuseppe. He explained that everyone should bring food enough for their families and share it with others. His description could have been summed up with one word, potluck, but apparently there is not an equivalent term in Italian. In fact, I used Google translate, and potluck in English translates to potluck in Italian, with a suggestion that “pasto alla buona” might also work.

Anyway, we were happy to join in, because a major reason we come to Italy is to make connections with the locals, to learn Italian, to experience the culture. We love our Italian church for many reasons, but it’s difficult for us to make deep connections because we’re not fluent in Italian, and we’re only here for about three months a year. A potluck would help us become closer to the church community and allow us to practice out Italian.

Because we’re dependent for transportation on our e-bikes, Lucy decided to make two kinds of cookies (chocolate chip and magic cookie bars), because they’d be easier to carry than a pasta dish or casserole. We had a little more than an hour to kill between the end of the church service and the start of the agape, so we walked into the centro to get an espresso and dolce, while others drove home to heat up their meals.

We sat near Michele and his wife Giuseppina, and Aurelio—very kind people about our age who in past years have made an effort to talk to us. We spoke of our children and grandchildren, our occupations, our church experiences and our travel experiences and plans. Nothing particularly deep, but much better than the usual exchange of short greetings that usually take place at the end of the church service.

The food, as could be expected, was eccezionale, squisito, delizioso. The gastronomy organization TasteAtlas ranks Italian cuisine the best in the world, and I’m not about to pick an argument with these experts.

If only we could do this more often, we’d make some big steps in our integration into Italian society. However, it’s a choice we’ve made, dividing our lives between two paradises on earth, Montecarlo, Toscana, and Gig Harbor, Washington. There are some drawbacks to this split lifestyle, but the rewards outweigh these small first world problems. Piano, piano, we are making progress.

A pranzo di lavoro is one of Italy’s most enjoyable midday bargains

Lucy enjoying her penne al ragu' at La Pieve.

Why did it take us so many years to learn about one of the most delicious, pleasant and economical deals in all of Italy? I’m talking about a pranzo di lavoro, which one can sometimes see advertised on signs outside restaurants. We’ve been coming to Italy regularly for 25 years and have seen the signs, but it wasn’t until the last five years or so that we’ve learned to appreciate these special lunches.

What, exactly, is a pranzo di lavoro, and why it is special? The most literal translation would be a worker’s lunch, though some translate it as a business lunch. The amazing aspect is a combination of factors: terrific food, completeness, speed of service and great price.

The pasta dishes at our favorite restaurants
are generously sized, to say the least.

Permit me to elaborate on each of these aspects. First, a restaurant in Italy simply must serve terrific food to survive. Italians are the ultimate foodies, with men loving to cook and talk about food as much as women do. Ingredients here are always fresh and flavorful. Meat, fruit and vegetables are often locally sourced and organic, so unless one is dining in a heavily touristed city where the restaurants are not worried about repeat customers, the food is pretty much guaranteed to be good.

Delicious chicken filets grilled to perfection,
with contorni of ceci (chickpeas) and spinach.
Squeeze on some lemon and drizzle some
extra virgin olive oil for added flavor.

A pranzo di lavoro is a complete lunch. It will normally include bread, water and a carafe or small pitcher of vino, either red or white. Then there will be a primo piatto of pasta, soup or gnocchi, followed by a secondo, a plate with meat, which could be chicken, pork, beef or turkey. Included with the meat plate will be the contorno, often fried potatoes or a vegetable such as spinach, beans or carrots. A quality olive oil and some grated parmigiano reggiano are normally available to complement the flavor. At the end of the meal, a small cup of espresso is usually offered as a digestivo. New Ground Magazine says, “Coffee aids digestion by stimulating more frequent muscular contraction within the gut.” Whether that’s true of not, most Italians swear by it.

A group of hard-working men gather for a pranzo di lavoro.

As for speed, most restaurants offering a pranzo di lavoro give their customers three choices of primo, secondo and contorno, which indicates that they have stocked up on those choices, have already prepared the pasta sauces and probably have already cooked the vegetables. Thus the lunch can be brought relatively quickly so the customers have time to recuperate before going back to work—or even go home for a short siesta.

How much should one expect to pay for such a complete and satisfying meal? At a normal restaurant, a primo might cost from 10-12 euro, a secondo from 12-20, a contorno about 3. A glass of wine about 4 euro, water perhaps 1, and an espresso probably 2. Then there is the coperto, the cover charge, which would be 2-3 euro. Add all that up, and the cheapest lunch would cost you 34 euro.

So what is the price of a pranzo di lavoro at our two favorite restaurants? Drum roll, please! We get scrumptious full meals not for 34 euro, not for 24, not even for 16. We pay only 12 euro! We've also found another nearby restaurant that charges only 8 euro, but wine is not included, and we have to chose either a primo and secondo, not both.

One might think the restaurants sacrifice quantity to save some money, but that’s not the case. If fact, the pasta dish itself would be a full meal. If we ate the entire primo piatto, we’d be so stuffed that we couldn’t continue, so Lucy and I have learned to bring little plastic boxes to take home about half of the primo and maybe a quarter of the secondo, which means we’re essentially getting another half a meal for free. Knowing it’s not customary to bring food home from a restaurant in Italy, we do it as discretely as possible to avoid making la brutta figura.

Our two go-to restaurants are I Tre Angeli in Pescia, right next to the Esselunga, and La Pieve in Castelvecchio, one of the castle cities in the Valleriana. I Tre Angeli is always packed at lunch, and we’ve learned that it’s a good idea to make reservations, though we’ve never been turned away without them. La Pieve, being more remote, is usually not full. However, the last time we were there, the owner said we should call ahead if we wanted the pranzo di lavoro. This meal is designed for the regular customers, not tourists, so she would like to know if we are coming ahead of time so she can plan accordingly.

We rode our bikes to this restaurant,
but we were disappointed to find
that they only open at lunch if
enough people make reservations.

This brings up another point. I believe that not every restaurant will serve a pranzo di lavoro to tourists. I suspect that some restaurants offer this meal to their local residents and workers but publicize it only by word of mouth. We’ve seen tourists coming to both of our favorite restaurants, and they were simply given the regular menu. While I Tre Angeli does not have a pranzo di lavoro sign posted, it seems that this is what 90 percent of the customers, who are quite obviously locals, were having. Apparently, word of mouth is quite an effective advertising method.

I believe that if a restaurant puts up a pranzo di lavoro sign, they will probably provide it to anyone who asks. However, most tourists are not aware of this bargain meal, so they usually end up ordering off the menu and paying much more, while those in the know around them are dining at the special rate. While we don’t dine out often, we now know to keep our eyes open for those special signs. We wouldn’t mind having three or four favorite restaurants.

We find a new and much better entrance to the Lago di Sibolla

The main entrance,
closed as usual.

In the last two days, we’ve gone on three bike rides, once to church, once to the cinema in Altopascio (to watch A Haunting in Venice) and once to the Lago (Lake) di Sibolla Riserva Naturale. The weather in Tuscany is just about perfect in September. The days are in the low to mid 80s, and the nights in the mid 60s (around 18-28 degrees Celsius).

The Lago di Sibolla is more of a park for wild animals than a park for people to go for picnics or play. It’s not that people are forbidden to enter, but the main entrance is locked about 99 percent of the time. About 10 years ago, using Google maps, I noticed a sort of secret entrance to the lake property. Lucy and I would use this little-known side entrance every so often to walk on poorly maintained trails over some scrubby land east of the lake, and last year we took our friends Wendy and Dave for a walk to this special wilderness preserve. However, we could barely see the lake because of the heavy undergrowth and marshes that surround it. The water in the shallow marshes wasn’t deep enough to sustain much visible wildlife, so there wasn’t much to see other than the occasional rabbit. We did see a lot of herons and egrets fly by to land on or near the lake, but it was always from a distance.

Well, that changed on Saturday, as I discovered another unmarked entrance, one that is 10 times better than the first one, on a road branching off from Via Ponti ai Pini. This one led to a wooded trail that winds about one kilometer from the east side of the lake along the southern end and comes out on the west side—leading to a footbridge through the marshlands that ends on a small platform right on the edge of the lake. Even better, the platform has a viewing shack with peepholes in it, so one can observe the birds on the lake without them being aware of or frightened by our presence.

One of many turtles we saw.

Lucy and I enjoyed the viewing area for about 20 minutes, watching herons fly by and a dozen or so turtles swimming around with just their heads peeking out of the water. We saw many fish jumping and also found a large white spider who had made his home in the shack. This will be a great place to come next spring, when the herons and egrets return to their nests for the mating season. We had heard the great racket they make during the spring previously, but we couldn’t really get close enough to see them clearly.

The trail also led to the main entrance on the far west side of the preserve, which, as usual, was locked. Near the entrance is a good-sized building which is probably used for nature talks on the rare occasions when the preserve is open. Unfortunately, there are no picnic tables, but there is a large flat area among the trees, covered with pine needles. We sat down, opened our backpacks and enjoyed the snacks we had brought. We had the place all to ourselves, though at one point a car pulled up to the locked gate and watched us briefly through the chain link fence—probably wondering how we were able to get inside.

See the heron?

Even though it was a Saturday, we saw only two other families during our time on the trails, so we know that few of the locals are aware of the unmarked entrance we had discovered. We look forward to returning here for further communion with nature. Our only regret is that we didn’t bring insect repellent, because there are a few tiny buzzing species of lake wildlife that we don’t appreciate.

It’s time to slow down and experience "la dolce vita" again in Montecarlo

Lunch at Ristorante Pizzeria La Pieve, Castlevecchio.

We’ve been back in Montecarlo for a week, and I haven’t written much because we’ve been quite busy. That will change now that I’ve returned our rental car. The cost of renting a car has more than tripled since the Covid era, so we’re trying to get by with just our e-bikes as much as possible. However, we rented a car for the first six days so we could stock up on groceries and other items needed for the house, get my Italian phone re-activated, drive to Chiesina for massages and Lucca to get Lucy’s permesso di soggiorno. Having a car also allowed us to take a pleasure drive into the Valleriana above Pescia to walk through one of the castle cities and have a pranzo di lavoro in Castlevecchio at one of our favorite restaurants, La Pieve. And we went to a movie in Pontedera, Io Capitano.

Now it’s time for some lazy and quiet days. We will read some books, take some long bike rides, and maybe do some hiking. I’ll do a little writing. Lucy will make a quilt. We’ll practice our Italian. We’ll hopefully see some friends.

Our bathroom really stank of rancid water when we first walked in the door. This could be because the water in the p-traps evaporates during our absence, allowing odors from the sewer to rise through the pipes. I immediately ran water into the sink, bidet and shower, but the odor persisted. Then I put a cleaning tablet inside our front-loading washer and ran a hot water cycle. Of course, we also left the window open. Thankfully, the odor is gone now.

On the other side of the house, we have a much different odor, the mouth-watering smell of bistecca fiorentina. That’s because where the bank used to be is now a fine restaurant, InCucina—just across from our living room.

Other than the smells, the house is in great shape, with little maintenance needed, so we should be able to just relax. It’s dolce vita time!

 

Walking on the walls of Montecarlo—an experience that should be shared

Me on the wall. Photo by Lucy.

Montecarlo is surrounded by medieval walls made in the14th century of stone and brick, and Lucy and I have the privilege of looking out from our terrazza over a private grassy courtyard, and beyond that, part of the western city wall. We can clearly see that the wall has a footpath and railing, but until today I could only dream about walking upon it.

Looking north from my view on the wall, one can see the large unoccupied villa.

The courtyard and wall are part of a villa with a huge unoccupied house that starts about 10 meters away from us to the north.

The southwest bastion

About seven years ago, the owners put a new roof on the home and cleaned up the courtyard, but since then we’ve seen little to no activity there. Although we overlook the courtyard, we have no entrance on the west side of our house, so we have no way to enter the courtyard or access the wall, though we can clearly see that there is a stairway from the ground to the walkway on the wall.

Olive trees just outside the wall.

This morning, though, I saw some workers down below and thought this could be my chance. I went down on the street level and walked over to one of the courtyard entrances, which was blocked by a flatbed truck. Not to be denied, I climbed over the truck bed and asked the workers, who were on a break, if I could go in and take some photos of the west side of my house. Permission granted.

A southwestern view, toward the plain of Lucca.

Emboldened by my success, I then asked if I could go on the wall for just a few minutes. Stai attento was all they said, and I quickly mounted the stairs, just in case they might change their minds. What a cool view! I could see the private olive grove just below the wall (also part of the same estate). Unlike the view from our terrazza, which is partially blocked by trees and the neighboring homes, from the wall I could see almost the entire plain of Lucca. I walked down to the southwest corner of the city, where there is a small bastion, and from there I enjoyed a southern view.

Montecarlo has various feste, sagre and fairs throughout the year to bring in tourists and stimulate the local economy. While the walkways atop the city walls are all privately owned, I’ve often thought that a great idea for an attraction would be to have a “weekend on the walls,” where one time a year, tourists could enjoy seeing the plains below from the same perspective that must have been available to the soldiers guarding the city throughout the centuries. Perhaps the various families who own portions of the wall could be persuaded, for the benefit of everyone, to allow visitors for one or two days per year. I’d certainly pay for the chance.

A rare view of the western side of our house, taken from my walk on the wall.
We only own the top floor of the pale yellow house.

After drinking in the beauty of the Tuscan countryside, I looked east towards our house, a view rarely seen, and also towards the unoccupied house, which is almost never seen from the west side. Making the experience even more pleasant, there was a stunning blonde bombshell with a camera in hand, waving to me from our terrazza. Not wanting to overstay my welcome on the wall, I thanked the workers and went back home, where I was warmly welcomed by that blonde beauty!

Score one for Lucy; she has a new (and improved) permesso di soggiorno!

The game of people versus the Italian bureaucracy is an interesting matchup, and we entered a new round of the competition last April, when we applied to renew Lucy’s permesso di soggiorno (PDS) at the Questura in Lucca. We scored a partial victory when they accepted our documents and said they would process her application and renew her PDS for five years. Click here if you want to read part 1 of this adventure.

We had hoped for a 10-year renewal, but we weren’t able to provide the proper documentation for our reddito, or income. We were told that without adequate proof of income, they would still give her a permesso good for five years. We learned that there was a website we could check by using our case number. However, we had to leave Italy in mid-May, and the PDS was still not ready.

We returned to Montecarlo a few days ago and went to the Questura right away, on a Friday. The website showed that the PDS was ready, but we couldn’t get inside the Questura. We joined a small crowd outside around 10:30 a.m., but the doors were locked. Occasionally, an officer would come out and call some names of people who must have somehow made appointments. By working my way close to the door, I was able to tell him we had just come to pick up a permesso di soggiorno. Come tomorrow, on Saturday, he said. I asked if I would need an appointment, and he said no, just come between 9:00 and 13:00.

The next day, we decided to come around 11, when the lines would hopefully be shorter, and we only had to wait about 15 minutes. During that time, we had a nice conversation with two men who lived in the Garafagnana valley and were waiting just behind us. They were also there to pick up a PDS for one of them. Lucy mentioned that years ago, we had made six trips to the Questura in Padova while trying unsuccessfully to get a PDS.

“Oh, that’s nothing,” one of them said. “Usually it takes a lot more trips.” We weren’t sure if he was joking, but it seemed he wasn’t. Out of curiosity, I asked if they had made an appointment when they started the process. Yes, he said, you have to go to the post office to get a packet of instructions and make an appointment. We had somehow bypassed this step back in April and obtained an appointment directly at the Questura.

Later we recalled that this actually was our sixth trip to the Questura in Lucca. Furthermore, to get the documents needed, we had to go to the municipal buildings of Pescia and then Montecarlo, and then to the post office and tabaccaio to pay the fees, followed by a visit to a copisteria for copies of our documents—11 separate outings.

When our turn at the sportello came, it took only about five minutes. We had to turn in Lucy’s old permesso, and she had to put her index fingers on the little pad for positive identification. The clerk looked in the filing box and pulled out a card, made a few entries in her computer, and then handed over the card.

We made our way out the door and paused to snap a celebratory photo. At that moment, the two guys who were behind us came out as well.  Sadly, the man did not receive his PDS. They had neglected to bring his expired document, and they would have to drive home almost an hour to get it. By that time, the Questura would be closed, so they would have to come again in another week.

On our way back to Montecarlo, we found we had actually hit the ball out of the park! They had renewed Lucy’s PDS for 10 years instead of five. We can only guess why this happened, but it called for further celebration. We stopped at the pasticceria in Marginone, and we each ordered a cappuccino and our favorite pastry, a chocolate beignet—and occasionally one of us would look at the other and say, “10 YEARS!”