July 14th, 2016
I find there are two ways I travel….
One way,
I just fall into a place
~
and sometimes that falling is deep.
Which sometimes leads me to the second way I travel
– which is to find out about the place until I am satisfied I know enough
Take for instance
~ Paris~
I fell deep
&
I still don’t know her enough
even after my many visits
she is multifaceted and I think it will take a lifetime
…which I am willing to do
bien sûr
or, say
…3 months
of going in and out of museums, and up and down streets, into shops, sitting in parks
until it’s time to leave,
ok, yeah maybe that will do it
…let me try is my deep desire
Always dreaming
of Paris
~…
But, back to this adventure~
On my first visit to Montalcino in 2013
I went by feel
In that short time I felt this place-
A real
like- at-first-sight
feeling
A place where the past was still present;
a present which I did not get to fully unwrap on that first visit.
Which is probably why Montalcino
always stayed in the recess of my mind as someplace to go back to.
And as luck would have it,
it was the first stop on the Dare to Dream tour.
When we set foot back in the town from our walk
there was no doubt,
I was headed straight to Café Fashetteria
for my first
walk- done
celebratory drink
~
~
Café Fashetteria, is on Piazzo del Popolo
-the social center of town-
across from a wonderful pharmacy
where in talking to the Signora
I learned that the pharmacy has been in her husband’s family for years
…since 1905
Farmacia Salvioni is old world beautiful,
with one room of the pharmacy devoted to lotins and potions,
which,
truly unbelievable to me,
I resisted
&
instead bought a
soft as butter purple paisley leather bag
to put them in
***
That first time at Café Flashetteria
I sat outside in the morning sun under the open umbrellas.
This time
finds me inside
***
…
sitting on their red velvet banquette
at a yellow marble table
Living in the moment and feeling this day,
I am thrilled to be surrounded by the
Italian Art Nouveau charm of this Café,
thrilled at the 1st walk I just experienced
&
thrilled to be back here
where I am enveloped in the
turn of the century style that was Italy
…
~
Sitting under the Venetian glass chandelier which lights up the room,
I see the curve of the chairs,
the glass case with gold trim which holds the apple pie that has my name on it
~
Sitting taking it all in
~I am in bliss~
I spy the dark wood shelves which hold the bottles of vino
lining the wall above the large shinny espresso machine
all pleasing to my eye
and I know,
no matter which I choose,
wine or caffeine…
~
~
it will hit the spot
This place is charming
~ it’s no wonder it is still here~
After this second visit, I needed to know more
~
Café Flashetteria
was founded in 1888 by the inventor of
Brunello Wine di Montalcino,
Signore Ferruccio Biondi Santi-
Which leads me to wonder,
how does one invent a wine?
–another story for another day
In that Italian winemaking tradition,
his vineyard and his café have passed on to his son
and luckily for us continues on in the family today
~
Totally satiated after our celebratory snack
&
our walk
we leave to wander back to the hotel
only to run smack into
another century
~a celebration of the thrush~
stay tuned…
I still have the perfume bought during that 2013 adventure, it’s called La Lei from the Profumeria Italiana – Salvioni Montalcino.
I cherish it and every time I smell I go back to the day we were there!