We had a lovely lazy breakfast Saturday morning at the B&B, sitting in the peregola in our host’s lovely garden – a sumptuous spread that included croissants, bread, butter, several kinds of jelly, ham, cheese, lattes and juice. Then it was time to re pack the cars and head into the centro where the weekly market was taking place. We needed to stock up on basics for the rental house – and since we couldn’t get access until early afternoon, the market was a good way to spend some time (although La Principessa, the almost 5 year old nipote preferred playing in the local park). When Bill and I arrived at the market we went looking for our offspring, and found la figlia and fiancé talking with someone. They waved us over, and said their companion lived in a nearby village, and had stopped them to ask if they were Americans.
“This is Ida”, said la figlia – at which point I did a double take, remembering that Vico Girl spent summers somewhere near Lucca.
“Are you Palma’s Ida?” I asked. Her mouth fell open, and she said yes, she was – and asked if I was part of Slow Travel. It doesn’t matter where you go – Slow Travel has a presence there!
Ida said she was staying at her home in Vico Pancellorum, and we mentioned that the owner of our B&B had recommended a restaurant there – which, as it turns out, is owned and operated by one of Ida’s cousins! She encouraged us to come up for dinner one night during the week, and we agreed we would do so. We talked a while longer, then realized we needed to get to the market before it closed, and parted with a promise to get together later in the week.
It was fun introducing our kids to a typical mercato in Italy. And even more wonderful was shopping and purchasing large quantities of fantastic produce. We bought tiny green beans, little pale green zucchini with the flowers still attached, large deep red tomatoes, and fresh basil, onions, garlic, potatoes, huge dark purple figs, raspberries, strawberries, early peaches, and what I am sure was the world’s largest watermelon! And as the sales woman was totaling our bill, she added a few stalks of celery, a handful of parsley, and a couple of carrots – the foundation of a good sugo! We also bought two lovely rotisserie chickens, cheese and prosciutto, and a fresh loaf of whole wheat bread. We were ready for dinner and Sunday breakfast!
Refreshed by a stop at the local bar for cappucinos (adults) and gelato (kids), we were ready to move into our home for a week – the lovely Casa Rossa di Campigli, a 4 bedoom villa with pool that I had found on the internet. The listing did mention that the road approaching the house was narrow; this proved to be an understatement. And as we tried to find the house (Harriet proving to be totally useless at finding the location on its tiny country lane), we found that there was parking for only one car – with additional parking about ¼ mile down the road, with a gravel path up to the road to the house… so we parked two of the cars in the “auxiliary” lot, loaded ALL the luggage into the third, and we trudged up the path to the house. Yes – moving days are about as much fun as travel days!
Once we got there, however, we were delighted. The house was spacious, immaculately clean. Bill and I had the ground floor bedroom, which actually was a one bedroom apartment with an efficiency kitchen and a private doorway out to a side patio. On the first floor there was a large, well appointed kitchen, a dining room with a long country table that would seat all of us easily, and a large living room with TV, stereo, and shelves of books and games. On the second floor were three more bedrooms, one of which had stairs to a loft with an additional bed and half bath. Most important to the younger set, there was a large swimming pool just outside the door! We were on the edge of the town, surrounded by trees, close enough to the river to hear it, though we could not see it. Bagni is set in a narrow valley nestled between wooded hills, and we were surrounded by green!
The rest of the day was spent settling in, meeting our landlady and her 6 year old son, and enjoying being at home.
