Mi Amore at Cafe Ranuccio!
Lisa, the bride, just another bike rider in Piacenza!
Lisa the bride and I at Castell 'Arquato, Friday night.
The view from Rocco D' Olgisio
Josh making the wisest sandwich decision ever.
Italy A Go Go!
Obviously, I haven't updated the old blogaroo since my trip to Austin, which was right before we headed to Piacenza, Italy, for Lisa and Andy's wedding. Even though our trip was short, it was just the right amount of time to spend in Piacenza.
After what felt like a 20 hour day of traveling (8 hours to London Heathrow, 3 hour stop over, 3 hours to Milan, then a cab from the airport to the train station, then an hour train to Piacenza from Milan, then a cab to our lodging, The Hotel Ovest), we were surprisingly energized. Americans complain a lot about European hotels, but The Hotel Ovest was awesome! Our room felt small, (it was actually a medium sized room according to their website), but we had a large bathroom with a falling rain shower head, and the design was very hip, very modern. The bed was close to the ground, and very comfortable, almost cocoon-y. The room had all of the conveniences one could need, and the hotel didn't charge outrageous prices for using the mini bar. Considering we were there during Italy's first heatwave in 15 years, I was happy to pay the $1.50 for bottled water. In the states, it easily would have been $5 in a four star hotel.
So, We met up with our friend Lisa, and her groom-to-be, and some of their family and friends at a local pizzeria. There are two Bella Napolis, and after walking to the wrong one, we finally found them at the right one! The food was sensational, all fresh, and though I thought I would be starving (even though I seemed to always be eating on the plane), a slice and a half of really good prosciutto and basil pizza, salad, and water, went a very long way. We walked back to our hotel with Andy and Lisa, and a bunch of their very funny London and/or UK pals. We might have been strangers in a strange place, but we were in good company.
Josh and I had the day to ourselves on Friday, until the rehearsal dinner. We went into Piacenza's town square, which was quaint and very walkable and bicycle friendly! In fact, biking seemed to be the preferred travel option for the locals and some of the visitors as well. Walking on cobble stone, surrounded by churches and brick builders and farms, I felt like I was not just in another town and country, but in another time. It's hard to find places like this in the United States, mostly because we are such a baby of a country. Italy treats it's architecture like it's ancestry, with respect and passion. There was a main street with lots of side streets that hosted little shops - some were local, like the Salumeria, which Josh and I decided might actually be heaven if heaven was filled with salami, and some were international franchises, like Benetton. After walking the more commercial streets, Josh and I found the Friday farmer's market, with a few vendors that were about to close for lunchtime break, or close for the day. Josh had the grand idea of buying us melted slabs of parm and mozzarella on crunchy bread from one wonderful lady. They were the most creamy, buttery, crunch delights I had ever had in my life, and they were so large, we split one for lunch, and saved the other for a midnight snack. I didn't even think we would really eat the other sandwich, but I was crazy. Of course we ate it. (For those of you keeping count of my food stories, just so you know we did work out 2-3 times while we were there. So, ha ha.)
As I mentioned earlier, there was a heat wave, and on Friday it was about 95 degrees. Piacenza is very humid also, which seems strange to me because it's not directly by a body of water. We made it back to the hotel in enough time to shower and clean up for the amazing post rehearsal cocktails and dinner.
The chartered van picked up the guests (including us) and took us to the nearby Castell'Arquato. This was the original castle where Lisa and Andy were going to marry, but since the castle didn't have a backup plan in case the weather was bad (rain storm bad, not heat wave bad), they went with another castle, which was extraordinary. The van stopped short of the top of the Castell 'Arquato, and then the wedding party and friends walked up the castle cobblestones, looking at a strange little art gallery that was tucked into the side of the castle, and arriving at a wine and champagne toast, set to coincide with the Italian sunset. Are you kidding me, you ask? No, I'm not. It was extraordinary. After a couple of drinks, we all boarded the van again, and headed to a nearby restaurant. Andy's family has had a very long relationship with the restaurant, and they treated all of the guests like we were a part of Andy's family. Dish after dish were incredible, so much so, that I can hardly explain them- just one example, what would be a peasant's day old bread pasta dish, that melted in your mouth like the creamiest gnocchi you might have ever tasted. A white bean dish that tasted like warm butter. The most satisfying selection of prosciutto and salami. And enough wine and prosecco that made everyone warm and happy and not really drunk at all. I promise. :)
Lisa's sweet mom made a toast, and then her dad spoke, and after dinner was done, we headed back to the hotel, with a plan to meet the other friends and visitors at the nearby bar, Jackie O's. You may realize that I say nearby a lot. That's because most places were really close to the hotel.
Jackie O's turned out to be the most decent watering hole for the Americans, Brits, French, and Italians who came together for the wedding weekend. Everybody knows what happens at bars during wedding weekends, so I'll just leave it to your imagination- and know we went there almost every night after all of the activities.
Saturday was Andy and Lisa's big day! It was also almost 105 degrees out, which sucked for the ladies in dresses and heels, but sucked even more for all of the male guests in their 3 piece suits. By the way, one of the wedding guests, rode his bike three hours uphill to get to the wedding, then jumped in the castle pond, then took a shower there. Wow, that's determination.
The wedding was held at the castle Rocca D'Olgisio. It was so hot, that the little vans that were driving us uphill for about an hour started smoking and all of us were worried that we would be walking our way to the wedding. We managed to get as close to the wedding locale as the vans were allowed, and then there was still walking to do. No wonder the bride kept warning the girls to bring flip-flops! We made it to the castle, then to the top of the castle, then we looked at the most breathtaking views of northern and central Italy. Lisa and Andy's wedding went off without a hitch, and then we ate, drank, and danced on the castle grounds until almost midnight.
Sunday, we didn't wake with hangovers, and made it to brunch, which was a feat in and of itself. By the way, The Hotel Ovest makes a mean cappuccino, as it should, and the breakfast is truly plentiful. Every time Josh and I had our coffees or cappuccinos or double espressos (Josh's favorite), we sighed and said, Oh, that's what they are supposed to taste like. Goodness. We spent the day back in town with the remaining wedding party, searching for lunch. Piacenza pretty much shuts down on Sunday, church day, and only a few restaurants and gelaterias were open. We sat at the open-air Ranuccio, Gran Caffe Ristorante, at P.zza dei Cavalli, where we took what the sour pussed waitress would give us: risotto, pork, more wine. About 10 of us could sit there and just sweat, which was pretty much what we all needed to do. Three or four hours later, we found gelato and after hour of sitting, everybody was ready to go back to the hotel and stop sweating. The heatwave had won. A few of us decided to walk back to the hotel, after the others had left via car or bike, and we realized that none of us really knew how to get back. Luckily Josh had his Iphone, which saved our asses. We followed the directions, and arrived at the hotel within an hour or so. After showers, we went back to Bella Napoli for dinner with Lisa's family, who treated Josh and I to white pizza and salads. I'm not a white pizza fan, but this was a winner.
I think Jackie O's happened that night too, but to be honest, I can't remember. Jackie O's happened a lot.
Monday, Josh and I slept until 3pm. Some people would think this is a waste of time in Italy, and they may very well be right. But Josh and I needed to sleep in the dark, cold hotel room and it was awesome. We went into town, again fighting the heat wave, about 4pm and walked until we were lost, finally eating dinner at 7:30, back at Ranuccio. We treated ourselves to a five course meal, and though we should have been in pain from eating so much, it just didn't feel that way. Maybe it was the portion sizes, or maybe it was the ingredients, but the food was just better, and just filled us in a way that didn't make us feel stuffed. It was the great last meal to our super fun, super hot visit.
We stayed up the entire night and left the Hotel Ovest, by cab, for Milan's Linate airport, at 4am. We were back in Los Angeles by 3pm the same day. I was happy that LA was having one of it's softer, grayer, cooler days, because I wasn't sure how much more heatwave I could really tolerate (this coming from a Texas girl), but I was already missing Italy. I liked living in Italy time. I liked the slower pace, the better food, the beautiful women, and the dark men. I liked stumbling over the words, trying to communicate in their rolling, romantic language. I liked, no, loved, the gelato. I liked the nonchalant pigeons, and the little independent doggies, and the bicycle riders who were never going anywhere fast. I liked the high schoolers who hung out on their school stoops and smoked cigarettes and looked bummed out that they lived in Piacenza.
There are other towns and cities I want to see the next time we go to Italy, but I don't think I could return without a stop in Piacenza. I think I would be homesick.
Apu Tarde, Piacenza! See you soon!
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