Pane e Formaggio

“I don’t need a therapist,  just a good travel agent”  – Girlgi.com

We return to Agriturismo Saverno in central Tuscany for our ninth visit in ten years.

Above Vaggio, an anonymous rural hamlet, we wind our way to hilltop vineyards and sleeping orchards. We return once again to discover the simple pleasures of rural Italy, and have access to Renaissance jewels of Siena, Florence, and panoramic, terraced hills of Chianti.

We are the first guests of the season for the Panoni family, who warmly welcome us into their daily tempos and spirited emotions.

We have watched the lives of this family unfold over ten years. David and Eva relentlessly building a home-based business that is welcoming to all: their children, Cosimo and Catarina , growing into supportive young adults (Cosimo is now attending medical school), and both sets of grandparents who participate in the functioning of the enterprise while they enjoy the fruits of their maturing years.

Our daily pleasure is walking the estate alive with the gifts of their loving curation: grapes for the casa Chianti, olives yielding vibrant peppery olio, birds of exotic song and stripe that delight the senses and produce fresh morning eggs, hogs and cows to fatten, ponies to pamper, fruits and flowers to sweeten each day.

Mornings begin with a cheerful buongiorno, and a breakfast of a scrambled egg snatched from bickering hens, toasted bread, cheese, fruit, and a taste of Granma’s fruited cakes. Italian TV informs of today’s weather, national dramas, and ever-present reruns of Law and Order in Italian!

Dinner, beside a roaring fire, is where Eva commands the stage. Pasta (with pesto, oil and cheese, or pureed vegetables) is always primo. The course of meats (farm-raised chicken, beef, or fish) with a simple vegetable and salad is secondo. Dolce is often fruit and cantucci (twice-baked cookies), accompanied by the evening’s last sips of David’s wonderful estate Chianti.

Simple, fresh, enduring. What grows together, goes together!

Every member of the family seems intimately sensitive to the source of their sustenance. They know the lean years, the fat years – on the farm, and in tourist trade. Their character and humility is refined in the relationships and rewards that this existence offers.

After our morning passeggiata (walk in the hills) we are off to find adventure in every direction from our base at Savernano.

Siena’s narrow streets and splendid piazzas offer a noble view of artesian life. The community has a scholarly feel and is as vibrant today as in historic times. The striped cathedral atop the hill-town speaks for itself with astonishing beauty. Oh, and the gelato!

Florence teams with crafts, commerce, and delicious cooking. On two different mornings, we commute by train with the locals to the center of this elegant city. We never tire of its charms, its elegance, its art and accessories. Ramone, our street vendor of wonderous scarves, greets us with cheek kisses and new silk creations! We spot celebrity chef Mario Batali eating near us at a trendy mozzarella bar, complete with his signature shorts, ponytail, and orange crocs!

On a couple of cloudy days, we drive backroads getting lost in villages that don’t show up in travel guides: Castlefranco di Sopra; Loro Ciuffenna, Reggello. What we discover in neighborhood cafes, dark modest churches, and quiet grey squares are the people of the region — deeply rooted to values that seem to endure.

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All photos captured on iPhone 7+

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