Italy Soon: Let’s Plan!

November 7, 2020November 7, 2020 / Mimi's Travel File / 8 Comments

As soon as it’s safe, let’s go to Italy.

I’m not talking Rome, Venice, Florence. I’m talking back roads, hilltop towns, ancient sites, and small, intriguing places without tour buses.

(photo by Zoom Team/Shutterstock.com)

La Foce (photo courtesy of La Foce)

Brolio Castle (photo courtesy of Brolio Castle)

I’m talking “slow travel,” the safe travel trend where you dig into one lovely region. You are based in a small, great hotel and fan out from there. Seeing the sites without the hordes.

Dream Now

Let’s dream up our trip to Italy now. Have the fun of planning it out, like taking a trip vicariously. Then, when Covid fades — and it will — we will be ready to hop on the next plane!

(photo courtesy of Shaiith/Shutterstock.com)

Where shall we go?

We’re in LUCK because I know someone who goes to Italy every year to scout out the best of the best.

Italy Expert with Great Taste

Meet Mary Ervolina! Mary knows more about upscale, authentic travel in Italy than anyone I know. She heads a travel advisory company called OnlyItaly Custom Italian Travel. Let’s use my interview with her to plan our trip.

Mimi’s Travel File: When you dream of your first post-Covid trip to Italy, where do you long to go?

Plan Now

Mary Ervolina: Chianti. I dream of its rolling hills, vineyards, fields of sunflowers and ancient hilltop towns. This article in TraveLife captures Chianti’s charm.

(photo by Maria Uspenskaya/Shutterstock.com)

Greve, Chianti (photo by Stefano Cellai/Shutterstock.com)

the 9th century village of Villa a Sesta (photo courtesy of Villa a Sesta website)

Travel without Fear, Post-Covid

Mimi’s Travel File: How will you see Chianti’s sights and still safeguard your health?

Mary Ervolina: I will stay at a wonderful, small, hotel with high standards for everything, including cleanliness. And I will rent a car or car w/guide and fan out from my hotel on day trips. No mass transportation. No big cities, teaming with people.

Great Hotel

Mimi’s Travel File: Which hotel would you choose?

Mary Ervolina: Borgo San Felice! It is an 8th century Tuscan village that was in ruins before the hotel company renovated the entire village in 1992. Now, the whole village is a five-star Relais & Chateaux hotel.

chapel at Borgo San Felice (photo courtesy of Borgo San Felice)

Mimi’s Travel File: What do you like best about Borgo San Felice?

Mary Ervolina: Location and luxury. Many of the upscale hotels in the Italian countryside are pretty isolated but this hotel has a couple of little towns nearby and a Michelin-starred restaurant only seven minutes away.

Mimi’s Travel File: And if I’d rather not drive to dinner after a long day of touring?

Mary Ervolina: No problem! Just walk down Borgo San Felice’s cobbled lanes to its two, excellent restaurants. Have an aperitif on the hotel’s patio or bring the bottle that you bought in a winery that day and they will serve it to you.

Cin-cin! (photo courtesy of Borgo San Felice)

Mary Ervolina: Be sure to get an olive oil massage in BSF’s spa located in the ancient village’s olive press. Not many hotels can boast this!

(photo courtesy of Borgo San Felice)

Mary Ervolina: BSF’s 40 rooms are spread out around the village, giving it the feel of a smaller hotel. There are even two villas that you can rent for a family group or bunch of friends.

(photo courtesy of Borgo San Felice)

Slow Travel’s the New Trend: Why?

Mimi’s Travel File: You mentioned “slow travel” earlier. What is it?

Mary Ervolina: It’s when you base yourself in one place and spend a chunk of time there, maybe a week, maybe more, and really get to know it, its people and their stories. You take the time to see the many less-visited-but-intriguing sights that most travelers don’t discover because they’re too busy moving from hotel to hotel.

Chianti’s Sights

Mimi’s Travel File: Is there enough to see in Chianti to justify a week’s stay? Given its location between Florence and Siena, I imagine it’s rich in history and art.

Mary Ervolina: Yes. The beauty of Chianti is that there are many wonderful things in a small geographical area, including history (it was first inhabited over 2,000 years ago), art and archaeology.

Mimi’s Travel File: While our readers can click here to view the main museums of Chianti, which do you recommend?

Mary Ervolina: Most clients visit Tuscany as part of a larger trip, and they are over-saturated with museums at this point, and want to just relax, eat and drink. The history of the Barolo winery, the Sculpture Park or the Museum of Vino in Greve are cool places, with a bit of a different twist, not the traditional art galleries.

Mimi’s Travel File: You mentioned getting to know the locals and their stories.

Mary Ervolina: Yes, I love the stories attached to these pockets of sophistication.

Mimi’s Travel File: For example?

Michelin-Starred Restaurant & Love Story

Mary Ervolina: For example, La Bottega del Trenta a tiny Michelin-star restaurant surrounded by vineyards and olive groves.

La Bottega del Trenta (photo courtesy of Michelin)

Theirs is a love story…It’s website tells it best: “Franco, wine and countryside lover, Elena, his Parisian wife, who fell in love with the Villa a Sesta and its food, decided together to open the restaurant in 1987.”

Elena and Franco (photo courtesy of La Bottega del Trenta)

Mimi’s Travel File: So romantic!

Mary Ervolina: When Elena and Franco married and opened the restaurant, neither knew how to cook…BUT the women of the village taught Elena how to make their very best recipes. What a gift!

(photo courtesy of Francesco Giorni/La Bottega del Trenta)

(photo courtesy of Dario Garofalo/La Bottega del Trenta)

Mary Ervolina: Ten years later, in 1997, Michelin awarded their restaurant a star. While Franco has since departed this earth, Elena continues to cook like an angel. Michelin has awarded her a star every year for the past 20 years. VERY hard to do!

Mimi’s Travel File: That’s quite a story!

Birthplace of Chianti Wine

Mary Ervolina: Castel Brolio, where Chianti wine was first made, is nearby. Theirs is a story of love and jealousy!

“The ancestral estate of the aristocratic Ricasoli family dates from the 11th century and is the oldest winery in Italy. The castle had largely been abandoned when Bettino Ricasoli decided to move into it in the late 1800’s after becoming jealous at a winter ball in Florence when his young bride danced too closely to a young admirer. To remove her from temptation, he rebuilt the castle, replanted the vineyards and came up with the recipe that forms the basis of what is known today as Chianti Classico.” (from Castel Brolio’s website)

(photo courtesy of Castel Brolio)

You can explore Castel Brolio’s vineyards, beautiful garden, family chapel, and small museum. And its restaurant is excellent!

Osteria di Brolio (photo courtesy of Castel Brolio)

Osteria di Brolio’s chef shared his recipe for Tuscan ragu with us. Cook it tonight to get in the mood for our trip to Chianti!

Tagliatelle with the Tuscan ragù: Try preparing it yourself and then come compare it to the original! (photo courtesy of Osteria di Brolio)

A Garden with a Past

Mary Ervolina: There’s a lovely garden in Chianti called La Foce, near our hotel…

(photo courtesy of La Foce)

A centuries-old estate that had long ago fallen into disrepair, until 1924, when this woman and her husband bought it, revived it and created a stunning garden open to the public. She was also a best-selling author! Her name was Iris Origo, coincidentally.

Iris Origo (photo courtesy of La Foce)

(photo courtesy of La Foce)

Wine and Olive Oil

Mary Ervolina: I like to get to know the local small producers who make superlative products in charming, out-of-the-way locations. The tiny towns that dot the Chianti Classico countryside are full of them. For example:

Olive oil producer, Frantoio Montecucco di Caglieri Sara: While its website isn’t impressive, its olive oil is wonderful!

(photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com)

(photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com)

Fattoria La Lama is perhaps the smallest vineyard I have ever visited. Nestled in the hills of the tiny hamlet of San Gusme, La Lama is a true “Mom and Pop” winery, tended by members of the Campani family for the past 50 years.

San Gusme (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

La Lama’s tasting room: Wish I could go now! (photo courtesy of Michele Bindi Fotografo)

dinner at La Lama: Looks like heaven to me! (photo courtesy of La Lama)

Ciao, Ciao

Mary Ervolina: Between now and your actual trip to Chianti, have fun planning it, order great food from Italy (link to our previous post), and dream by watching the best movies set in Italy.

💋💋

(photo courtesy of Sensa a Sesta)

Seattle to San Diego Road Trip: California (part 3/4)

November 12, 2017July 4, 2020 / Mimi's Travel File / 2 Comments

(photo courtesy of Redwood National Park)

The sun came out the second we drove across the boarder from Oregon into California. No wonder they call it “sunny California!” Washington and Oregon are gloriously green because it rains a lot but, I have to admit, California’s sunshine was a relief.

Gold Beach, OR to Eureka, CA (136 miles)

Redwood National Park starts at the Oregon/California boarder and is 50 miles long. RNP looks exactly like the travel photos you have seen in magazines: picture perfect, awe-inspiring and peaceful.

RNP has it all: beach, mountains, woods & lakes. (photo courtesy of Redwoods National Park)

Drive the Avenue of the Giants in Humbolt Redwoods State Park, a 31-mile country road that parallels and intersects Highway 101 with 51,222 acres of mighty redwood groves!

Be sure to chat with your hiking partner as you walk these trails because bears like them, too, and they don’t like to be surprised! Needless to say, I chatted up a storm. (photo courtesy of Redwoods National Park)

Our first overnight stop in CA was in Eureka at the Carter House Inns. Eureka is a Greek word and a mining term meaning, “I found it!” (you needed to know that). The town is unattractive except for a few short blocks, where the Carter House Inns are located.

Eureka to Healdsburg (202 miles)

Departing Eureka, we continued our drive down the stunning California coast through Mendocino (Did you know that “Murder, She Wrote” was filmed here?). Mendocino is a beautiful, small (pop. 900) town, perched on a rocky cliff. Visit the Mendocino Headlands State Park and the lovely Point Cabrillo Light, built in 1909.

(photo by Alison de Grassi, courtesy of Mendocino County Tourism Commission)

(photo by Alison de Grassi, courtesy of Mendocino County Tourism Commission)

We tore ourselves away from beauty queen Mendocino to drive inland two hours to Healdsburg in Sonoma County. As we drove, the scenery changed rapidly from craggy beaches to rolling hill-after-hill of vineyards, similar to Burgundy, France.

near Healdsburg (photo courtesy of the Wine Road)

Three million TONS of wine grapes are grown in CA each year! Sonoma County is all vineyards and conveniently located just one hour north of San Francisco.

Stayed at the Hotel Healdsburg. It’s fun, nice and well-located.

Hotel Healdsburg’s pool with main building in the background. Beam me up!

Ride bikes along the pretty, rolling hills of Dry Creek Valley near the hotel. Then, spend the day wandering around Healdsburg, tasting wines (including sparkling 🙂 and exploring the little boutiques. Healdsburg is the only town I have ever been to that has multiple blocks of small tasting room/stores, each representing a different vineyard.

near Healdsburg (photo courtesy of the Wine Road)

Drive the Wine Road, which includes six of Sonoma County’s 14 wine growing regions: Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley (very attractive, well-tended vineyards and wineries, with fancy signs and gardens at their entrances), Green Valley, Chalk Hill and Rockpile. Taste the wines, eat oysters and loose yourself in the views of the vineyard-covered countryside.

Healdsburg to Pt. Reyes (67 miles)

Next stop south along Highway 101 to Highway 1: Point Reyes National Seashore, 71,000 acres of nature reserve on a peninsula sticking out into the Pacific Ocean.

Chimney_Rock_Trail_Point_Reyes_December_2016_panorama

Chimney Rock Trail at Pt. Reyes National Seashore Park (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Point Reyes is made up of low, sand-colored mountains surrounded by water. Soft, pretty light at dusk. Very undeveloped with enough small towns to give it interest. PR is only an hour by car from San Francisco. We spent a day driving around the peninsula, with big views of scrub-covered low mountains dotted with cows and occasional ranches. Had a fun lunch on Tomales Bay, sitting outside by the water while imbibing just-plucked-from-the-water oysters at Marshall Store Oyster Bar & Smokehouse. Delish clam chowder and simple, wonderful ambience!

Pt. Reyes (NPS photo/Dan Wells)

Tiny Pt. Reyes Station is a boho town near the park and a bit of a foodie destination. We had a sophisticated and mmm, mmm, good dinner at The Olema’s ground floor restaurant called Sir and Star. Located in tiny Olema, two miles from Pt. Reyes Station, The Olema is also an inn and has been so since 1876. Read this NYT article for more. We stayed at Manka’s Inverness Lodge whose rooms were each in converted campers. Stylish idea, charming furnishings but our camper/room was stub-your-toe crowded. Would not recommend it because of management’s “we can do no wrong” attitude. If I went back to Pt. Reyes Peninsula again, I would stay in Nick’s Cove and Cottages, whose rooms are converted fishermen’s shacks on the water. Kitsch appeal!

Next stop: Santa Cruz, three hours south down Highway 1.

Pt. Reyes to Santa Cruz (140 miles)

(photo courtesy of the Dream Inn)

What a glorious drive! On our left, we passed siren-scented Eucalyptus trees, pumpkin patches and lush fields of crops; and on our right, the mighty Pacific Ocean. The farther south we drove, the higher the hills climbed. We drove through few towns and then, suddenly, Santa Cruz (pop. 65,000). Where’s Gidget, I wondered, because SC is a well-polished throw back to the 1960’s.

By now, you may be tired of nature shots so here’s a photo tour of the cheery, ’60’s-chic interiors of our hotel, the Dream Inn…

(photo courtesy of the Dream Inn)

From your balcony, you will see the long 1904-built pier to your left and Cliff Walk to your right. Have a cocktail or two at the old-timey bar on the municipal pier looking onto Monterey Bay, watching the surfers catch waves.

Does this not take you back to 1962?! Get a room overlooking the pool on the top floor. Saunter along Cliff Walk (in the background of this photo) to see its pretty houses. (photo courtesy of Dream Inn)

(photo courtesy of Dream Inn)

Surfing was introduced to the US in 1885 at Santa Cruz when three Hawaiian princes who were attending military school nearby commissioned a woodworker to make three planks (surfboards) out of local Redwood. They spent their school vacation in Santa Cruz surfing. And that was how the craze began!

Hallway at the Dream Inn—love it!!! (photo courtesy of the Dream Inn)

The Dream Inn’s hotel lobby: They are really working the surfing theme. Love it!

Dream Inn’s fire pit overlooking the pier (left), beach, and cliff walk (right): Nightcap, anyone???

Even the Dream Inn’s coffee shop is cute! It’s name is Verve, as in the record label

Santa Cruz’s amusement park was built in the early 1900’s & is in mint condition. Really fun to explore! (photo courtesy of the Dream Inn)

Whew! California is a big state. We are going to have to finish up our CA coastal drive in the next post. Stay tuned!

Seattle to San Diego Road Trip: Oregon (part 2/4)

November 3, 2017July 4, 2020 / Mimi's Travel File / 1 Comment

Sure, you could drive the entire Oregon coast in 10-12 hours, but then you would miss gazing at…

Ecola State Park, part of the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail (photo courtesy of Andrew Harper)

Quinault, WA to Manzanita, OR (157 miles)

Almost as soon as we crossed into Oregon from southern Washington, the towns were more attractive. Our first stop was Manzanita, a relaxed little town (population 600) developed 100 years ago with a charming main street, some nice shops…and a BIG gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean at the end of its main street.

Manzanita’s main street (photo courtesy of Sunset Vacation Rentals)

Suggest you stay at the Inn at Manzanita and request a room with a balcony looking toward the ocean.

Manzanita’s WIDE beach: No wonder this pup is so happy! Few houses dot this beach, despite how it looks in this photo. (photo courtesy of Katie Bell, courtesy of Manzanita Visitors Center)

You can catch Chinook salmon, sturgeon and steelhead trout in this bay, as well as Dungeness crabs and, at low tide, clams. And you know what that means: good seafood available at local restaurants!

: Manzanita’s beach is seven miles long. Note the lovely river in upper left. This is a photo from the Manzanita Visitors Center, so I am not sure who these girls are! (photo by Melissa Perry)

And speaking of hiking, once you have explored Manzanita, go up, up, up to the trail along the ridge of Neahkahnie Mountain, which overlooks the town and beach. That’s what the girls in photo above are doing. You will walk through meadows and woods of tall pines that border the trail along the ridge of the mountain, all the while looking at the great arc of the ocean below. What a view!

The trail was treacherously steep and on the edge of a sheer cliff, in some parts.

The trail along Neahkahnie Mountain leads to this beach, where we had a windy picnic.

While staying in Manzanita, drive 15 miles north along the coast to the grand and glorious Cannon Beach. Here’s why…

sea stacks on Cannon Beach

In his Oregon coast itinerary, Andrew Harper recommends staying at the Stephanie Inn at Cannon Beach, but we prefer Manzanita to Cannon Beach because the town is smaller with more charm. We also prefer the Inn at Manzanita. While probably not the most glamorous place you have ever stayed and not on the beach (though we could see the ocean from our balcony), the Inn at M is simple and nice, versus The Stephanie Inn, which felt a bit impersonal and slightly blue-hair.

Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach

A Bit of History from the Ecola State Park timeline: “1806 – On hearing news of a beached whale, a party from the Lewis and Clark expedition that was encamped at Fort Clatsop
near present day Astoria, visited what is now Cannon Beach in hopes of acquiring blubber and oil. The expedition party, including Captain William Clark and Sacagawea, crossed over Tillamook Head and found the whale near the mouth of a creek Clark named Ecola, the native term for whale. Clark’s journals and interaction with the native inhabitants provide the earliest documentation of the Tillamook people that inhabited the region.”

Manzanita to Gold Beach, OR (272 miles)

Depart lovely Manzanita and drive south along Oregon’s SPECTACULAR coast. After six gorgeous hours, you will arrive at TuTu’Tun Lodge, a very nice fishing lodge on the Rogue River, which is eight miles inland from the Pacific coast. “The Tututni (Tu Tu’ Tunne) Native Americans of the Rogue were the first inhabitants to settle the area. The name of the lodge was inspired by ‘the people of the place by the river’ – a rough translation of the Tututni encampment where the lodge now stands,” per TuTu’Tun’s website.

TuTu’Tun Lodge

The architectural style of the lodge is Frank Lloyd Wright meets Mission style with a touch of Asian. “The wonderful Northwest textures are everywhere in the cedar beams, fir wainscoting, slate hearths and river rock fireplaces. Even the grass cloth walls evoke a modern take on the plant weavings of the Tututni.” (per TTTL’s website)

TuTuT’un Lodge’s pool overlooks the peaceful Rogue River.

At dusk, guests gather on the main lodge’s terrace overlooking the winding Rogue River. WONDERFUL hors d’oeuvres are passed as you sip your cocktail, before proceeding into the lodge for dinner. While dining with a table of strangers is not my fav, we had a good time and the meal was as outstanding. The hotel managed to create the feel of a convivial dinner party.

inside the main lodge at TuTu’Tun, where the meals were DELICIOUS

TuTu’Tun is a fishing lodge. We don’t fish…and yet, we had a great time. Why? Because the lodge is upscale (these photos do not do it justice) with lovely flower arrangements sprinkled throughout and nice architecture, as well as beautiful grounds, a big, lush dahlia garden, set on a bucolic winding river. Plus, there are lots of fun things to do: fishing (steelhead salmon, Chinook salmon, silver salmon and Coho), spa-ing, jet boating (really fun!), kayaking, paddle boarding, pool lounging, and hiking. Being fabulously sporty at all times 😉 we of course partook in all of these activities, except the fishing, kayaking and paddle boarding.

Rogue River as seen from TuTuT’un Lodge

After exploring the Rogue River via jet boat, hiking its surrounding trails, and lounging by its pool, continue down Oregon’s wild and lovely coast towards your next stop: California!

IMG_1506 (1) Be watching your inbox for the third and fourth installments of our road trip down the west coast of the US!!