Tuscan Traveler is looking forward to another year in Florence and Tuscany, writing about the less traveled paths, the hidden courtyards, as well as the objects or places seen every day, but for which the stories have been lost.

Florence Duomo seen from Via dello Studio

In 2011, Florentine food will be a focus and so will Tuscany for tots (or just for those very young at heart). Italian politics is too difficult for Tuscan Traveler to translate, but 2011 promises to be a year of great change (hopefully), therefore the best alternative web sites for current events will be brought to focus (of course, most likely under the theme Burnt To a Crisp).

2011 is the Year to Visit Tuscany with Friend In Florence

Tuscan Traveler and Friend In Florence expect to welcome friends back to Florence and Tuscany, as well as meet visitors new to the history, art, food and wine of this fascinating city and a diverse region of beaches and mountains, vineyards and olive groves, hill towns, markets, and so, so much more.

Tuscany in the summer in a Sunflower Year

Friend in Florence offers you a virtual friend, who has both the experience of a native Florentine and the imagination and curiosity of a visitor, who after 12 years still looks at Florence and Tuscany with the eyes of a foreigner. Offering custom walking tours of Florence and chauffeured expeditions throughout Tuscany, Friend In Florence provides minute by minute information and experiences to create memories that will last for years.

For those who want to explore on their own, Friend in Florence offers self-guided itineraries of Florence and/or Tuscany with information about special events, introductions to friends of Tuscan Traveler and Friend in Florence, directions to workshops of craftsmen and small select wineries, and reservations at the best Florentine restaurants or countryside trattorias.

Montefioralle - one of the small hill towns of Tuscany

In the New Year, experience the Joy of a Florentine Kitchen!

Tuscan Traveler will post descriptions of the best places to eat in Florence and Tuscany, but if you have a desire to experience the joy and simplicity of cooking the Florentine way, ask Friend in Florence to arrange a class in your apartment kitchen in Florence or at your villa in Tuscany. If you don’t want to cook, but also want the comfort and privacy of eating at your home away from home, request a catered lunch or dinner from Friend in Florence.

Tuscan vegetables with zucchini flowers cooked up by a Florentine chef

TuscanTraveler.com (email: tuscantrav@gmail.com)

FriendInFlorence.com (email: friendinflorence@gmail.com)

Dario greets the Mille Miglia

Just as Dario blew two long welcoming notes, three antique racing cars crested the hill, tooted to Dario and raced off into the valley to Greve. I got a glass of Dario’s wine and a small plate of bread, lardo and salami from Dario’s butcher shop and joined the crowd of spectators in Panzano’s main piazza.

The Mille Miglia had come to town.

This year it will run from May 13 to 17.

Anyone living in or visiting Italy next week has the chance to be part of the pageantry of this annual road rally of vintage sport and touring cars. The 27th Mille Miglia, a historic replay of one the world’s most famous motor races (the original race ran between 1927 and 1957), is a three-day rally that starts in Brescia, Lombardia, travels to Rome, winding through the countryside of the Veneto, Marche and Umbria, and returning through Tuscany (Pienza, Buonconvento, Siena, Val d’Elsa, Monteriggioni, Poggibonsi, Barberino, Tavernelle and San Casciano) and Florence. Over three hundred antique racing and tourist-class cars will pause for a break in Siena and Florence in mid-afternoon on May 16.

Mille Miglia takes to the back roads

Mille Miglia fever still infects international vintage automobile enthusiasts so that every year hundreds of entry applications from dozens of countries are sent to the organizing committee, which has to choose the final 375 competitors admitted to the 2009 competition.

Possession of a veteran car does not mean that the automobile has all the necessary qualifications for admission. Only cars built during the period of the classic Mille Miglia, 1927 -1957, are allowed to come to the starting line in Brescia. Preference is given to cars that have a particular racing history or which have actually participated in a previous Mille Miglia.

Each car must carry two qualified drivers, one of whom usually acts as navigator. Taking part in the Mille Miglia has always been considered an achievement in itself, but managing to finish the arduous course takes the experience to another level.

The Mille Miglia highlights ancient villages, city centers, countryside and mountains. From the Lombardia and Veneto plains to the countryside of the Marche and of Umbria, Lazio, Tuscany and Emilia, from the Romagna sea to the steep snowy slopes of Mount Terminillo and, on the way back, up again across the Futa and Raticosa passes. The rally also visits almost unknown tiny villages of medieval origin and the famous city squares, including the Campo in Siena and Piazza Strozzi in Florence.

Winner of Mille Miglia 2008 - 1928 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Super Sport

Among the cars in this year’s Mille Miglia is the Mercedes 3300 SLR, the BMW 328 Coupe, both the Ferrari 340A and 212 Spider Vignale, the Alfa Romeo 1750 GS and the Alfa 1500 SS Spider, both the OM 665 TT and the 665 S, the Bugatti T35A and T40GS, the Jaguar C-Type and D-Type, the Maserati A6 GCS and Maserati Monofaro, the Aston Martin DB3 Spider, the Fiat 1100 S, the 1954 Autobleu 750 MM, and the egg-shaped Isetta. Among the most rare cars are the Gilco Panhard 1100 Sport of 1952 and the Chrysler 1951 Saratoga.

Spectators enjoy the pageantry of the Mille Miglia whether they understand the detailed lineage of the vintage automobiles or not. Along the route residents and spectators hold outdoor parties, wave flags, blow horns, ring bells and cheer the racers onward. Car enthusiasts will have the chance in Siena and Florence to examine the cars and talk with the drivers.

Mille Miglia 2009 Route

For more information in English (not much) and Italian, review the official web site at 1000milglia.com .  A trailer for the 2009 Mille Miglia and another video of the history of the race make good viewing.

American Cemetery in the Tuscan Hills

Don’t merely stop at the base of the hillside monument in the fragrant rose gardens.  Climb or drive to the very summit to the high stele (pillar) topped by the carving of a woman clutching olive branches while flying on the back of an eagle – a symbol of peace that seems ready to soar over the gravesites. There is a Memorial Center with a multi-denominational chapel with a star-filled ceiling to one side and a map created in stone (pietra dura), showing the progress of the allied troops on the other. In between is the wall of the Missing – those brave pilots and seamen whose final resting place was never found.

A Short History of the Allied Italian Campaign

Following the capture of Rome on 4 June 1944, the Allies pursued the enemy northward toward the Po River and the Alps. On July 23, they entered Pisa. Florence fell to the U.S. Fifth Army on 4 August 1944. But some of the worst fighting was left to come.  The Gothic Line, north of Florence, was the final German defensive effort in Italy.

Map of Allied Troop Movements in Northern Italy

In October 1944, a final bid to capture Bologna brought the U.S. Fifth Army to within nine miles of that city. Forced by harsh weather conditions and shortages of personnel and supplies, the advance stalled for the winter, but fighting continued on in the mountains north of Lucca. The segregated African-American troops, known as the Buffalo soldiers, fought valiantly over Christmas 1944 to protect the small hill towns of Sommocolonia and Barga. A fictionalized version of these battles was the subject of the James McBride book and a Spike Lee movie in 2008.

Preceded by massive air and artillery bombardment, the offensive proceeded northward on 9 April 1945. Although the offensive met stiff opposition, Bologna fell to the U.S. Fifth Army on 21 April 1945. With the establishment of a bridgehead across the PoRiver on 23 April 1945, the fleeing forces were pursued rapidly northward. The final week of the war saw wide advances throughout northern Italy. On 2 May 1945, the enemy troops in northern Italy surrendered.

View of the Memorial at the Summit of the Cemetery

The Florence American Cemetery and Memorial

The Florence American Cemetery is one of fourteen permanent American World War II military cemetery memorials erected on foreign soil by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

The countryside and small towns around the cemetery were liberated on 3 August 1944 by the South African Sixth Armored Division, and later became part of the zone of the U.S. Fifth Army. The seven-acre site, a gift of the city of Florence, is located astride the Greve River, and is framed by wooded hills.

4,402 servicemen and women are interred in the cemetery. Most died in the fighting which occurred after the capture of Rome in June 1944. Included among them are casualties of the heavy fighting in the Apennines, shortly before the war’s end.

Pure White Marble Gravestones

In the memorial are many maps of the progress of German occupation of Europe, as well as two maps of the Italian Allied Campaign. The larger of the maps depicts Northern Italy and portrays military operations to the end of the war from the vicinity of the cemetery northward. The military operations as well as the general topography of the area are depicted in a mosaic of colored marbles, known as intarsia, an art form for which Florence is famous. The map is embellished in its upper left-hand corner by twelve shields, each bearing the shoulder insignia of American ground and air units that participated in the fighting in Northern Italy.

The smaller map illustrates the broad outline of military operations that took place in Sicily and then, throughout Italy, beginning in July 1943. The map was executed in scagliola by Emilio Martelli of Florence, a process consisting of drawings in colored artificial compositions that are inlaid in marble and glazed.

The Wall of the Missing behind the Monument to Peace

The Tablets of the Missing, which connect the north and south atria of the memorial, inscribed with the names and particulars of 1,409 Missing in Action in the region or lost or buried at sea, are constructed of travertine stone. Running the full length of the Tablets of the Missing above the names is the following inscription: HERE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF AMERICANS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY AND WHO SLEEP IN UNKNOWN GRAVES.

Within the graves area, the pure white marble (quarried north of Lake Como) headstones radiate in soft arcs, curving inward, following the shape of the gently sloping hills. Two rows of tall plane trees border a walkway that divides the cemetery.

The 69-foot pillar at the top of the walkway is inscribed in English and Italian:

1941-1945
IN PROUD MEMORY OF HER SONS AND
IN HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO THEIR SACRIFICES
THIS MEMORIAL HAS BEEN ERECTED BY
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Travertine Symbol of Peace

The Florence American Cemetery and Memorial is situated approximately 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) south of Florence, Italy, on the west side of the Via Cassia, the main highway between Florence and Siena. The SITA bus from Florence to San Casciano stops at Falciani for visitors to the cemetery.

The Cemetery and Memorial are open daily to the public from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm except December 25 and January 1. A staff member is on duty in the Visitors’ Building to answer questions and escort relatives and groups to grave and memorial sites.

Dario greeting guests at Mac Dario

Until our order for Veloce e Toscano (Fast and Tuscan) arrived just minutes after we sat down, the only thought I had was: “Does Dario ever sleep?”

Kim in the Macellaria Cecchini

After the 2006 opening of Solociccia (”It is not a restaurant. It is the home of a butcher.” See Instructions for Use) and the 2007 debut of the Officina della Bistecca (”The Officina is not recommended to those of little appetite.” See the small print.), it’s easy to wonder why Dario wanted to dive into the world of fast Slow Food. Remember, he’s also spent the last 33 years building the Macelleria Cecchini into one of the best-known butcher shops in the world. (See links below for more about Dario, Solociccia and the Macelleria Cecchini.)

The answer was very clear by the time we finished the most fabulous burgers and perfect roast potatoes served in Italy. Dario is surrounded by incredible people, each of whom add their best to a dining experience – any of the varied dining experiences – from that at home, savoring the fennel pollen-coated pork chop Dario sells in the butcher shop, to Maria Teresa welcoming you in to eat “only meat” (not exactly) at Solociccia to Simonetta’s torta all’olio di oliva, served at all three venues, to Riccardo’s half pound Medaglione (a burger of the best beef) to the grill masters, Carlo and Angelo, to Dante…

Modern day Dante manages Mac Dario

Dante was a find. Legend (probably not all true) has it he wandered into sunny Tuscany from the cold north (Udine). He meets a butcher known for reciting reams of poetry from another Dante (Alighieri) and the rest is history. Dante now coordinates the fast-paced Mac Dario and the leisurely Officina della Bistecca.

But back to the food. Mac Dario offers two fixed menus – Veloce e Toscano and Accoglienza (loosely translated: Welcome).

Fast and Tuscan costs 10 euro and fills you up with the Medaglione, a huge rounded patty of pure ground beef, lightly dusted with fine breadcrumbs. It is flanked by slivered sweet red onions, fresh tomato slices and crispy yellow potatoes. For those who want the bun experience, a basket of crusty buns, wood oven-baked Tuscan bread and focaccia is offered.

The meat is not seasoned. On the table is Dante’s own Chianti Catsup (fresh tomato salsa with a red pepper kick) and Profumo del Chianti (herbed salt), Kim’s sweet and spicy mustard and Judy’s hot and sweet pepper jelly (Mostarda Mediterranea). Just tasting the condiments reminds us of the collaboration that goes into the experience at Mac Dario. (Kim, alone, is credited with tasting dozens of versions of Veloce e Toscano before Dario settled on the final styling.)

Veloce e Toscano

The crispy potatoes with soft yellow centers are pure comfort food. Harvested near Prato, the spuds are peeled, chopped, parboiled, and finally, roasted in the oven with sage and extra virgin olive oil. A sprinkling of salt finishes them off.

Riccardo cooks up the burgers

For newbies to the Macelleria, the second menu at Mac Dario may be the best way to go.  The Welcome meal costs 20 euro and offers a bit of everything from the butcher shop, including Sushi del Chianti (beef tartare with parsely, garlic, ground red pepper, lemon juice, salt and pepper), Tonno del Chianti (pork boiled in white wine, then marinated in olive oil with sage and bay leaves), Arista in Porchetta (slow, fire-roasted pork loin), Cosimino in Salsa Ardente (fine-ground veal meatloaf garnished with Judy’s pepper jelly), raw carrot and celery sticks and Tuscan bread.

Extras include red or white wine, fruit juice, coffee and Simonetta’s scrumptious torta (rich with bit a lemon and a crunchy sugar dusting), and digestivi dell’Esercito Italiano (liqueurs made for the Italian Army). You may bring your own bottle of wine – there is no corkage fee.

Famed for the clean trendy design of Solociccia, Dario repeated the feat at Mac Dario with the long black slate rock picnic tables, flanked by surprisingly comfortable red iron geometric chairs, under large umbrellas, located outside the Officina della Bistecca, upstairs from the butcher shop. The view is pure Tuscan – the valley of Greve and the ridge to Lamole.

Dining outside at Mac Dario

Dario, Kim, Simonetta, Maria Teresa, Riccardo, Carlo, Angelo and Dante are only a few of those you may have the pleasure to meet in Panzano while tasting a bit of Tuscany. A couple of dozen more of those who are helping Dario sleep at night, but are unnamed here, will make your visit one to remember.

Want to know more?  See the following links:

Solociccia Web Site

DivinaCucina on Solociccia

Boots in the Oven on Solociccia

LA Times on Solociccia

Dario’s Blog

Bill Bufford in The New Yorker on Dario

Maine Today on Dario

LA Times on Dario’s visit to Los Angeles

Bene Magazine on Dario