by Krista | Jan 22, 2010 | Spring
After posting about the lovely
Villa Trotta this week, I had a request for more photos of the
villa and surroundings from my photographer friend
Justin. It’s a place of such tranquil beauty and happy memories that I was delighted. I hope you enjoy them. 🙂
A grape vine found one of the lanterns
Lovely wooden chair on the tiled balcony overlooking the valley
Retaining wall at the villa
Shuttered window on the ground floor
Sun-warmed stone bench
Sunset view from large terrace
Where we dried our laundry. 🙂
Steps leading up from the lower terrace
Steps leading up from the olive grove
The olive grove below the villa
The view from my bedroom window
Perhaps next week I’ll share more photos from the surrounding area. 🙂
I wish you all a wonderful weekend! 🙂
by Krista | Feb 8, 2012 | Compatriot Wednesday
I grinned when Margo at The Travel Belles asked us this months Across the Cafe Table question: “How do you pick a hotel?”
I grinned because until my late twenties, I’d NEVER picked a hotel!
Although my childhood was very happy, we were dirt poor. Our vacations were spent camping in tents or, if we were feeling especially flush, Motel 6. I loved our little vacationing adventures, but admit I grew up thinking that only rich people stayed in hotels, that they were something reserved for Hollywood elite or posh businessmen. The thought of staying in a fancy hotel with room service was relegated to the glowing rooms of fantasy.
Since then I have been able to stay in “real” hotels, and it still gives me a thrill every time: the weird paintings on the walls, pristine bed linen, fluffy white towels, unlimited air conditioning and wi-fi. It doesn’t bother me if the bathroom is so teensy I can barely turn around (Paris) or if my environs are invaded by friendly lizards (Fiji). I don’t mind being shoe-horned in with my family for a night (Rome) or hauling my luggage up three flights of stairs (Venice). It doesn’t seem to matter what catastrophes arise, it’s always such an adventure and I feel that I’m being spoiled rotten. 🙂
When choosing a hotel I look for cheap, clean, and close to wherever I want to go exploring. Since my job requires access to internet, I also look for free Wi-Fi.
But to be perfectly honest, I’d rather stay almost anywhere than a hotel these days. They do their job well – providing a safe, clean place to sleep and shower – but they’re not overly interesting. And I’m rather fond of interesting.
For short stays I love bed and breakfasts. They’re quirky and unique and you never know what you’re going to get. The owners are usually cheery and helpful, providing invaluable information about local transportation, food, and culture. Bed and breakfasts generally take you off the tourist/hotel strip and into a real neighborhood, allowing you to see how the locals live, shop and eat. I love this.
My friend Betsy took me to my first bed and breakfast on a fabulous Girls Road Trip we took to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Beaconsfield Inn is located in gorgeous Victoria and had everything I could ever hope for in a lovely place to stay:
- sherry in the library upon arrival
- delicious breakfast in a plant-filled sunroom
- enormous rooms with fluffy feather beds, a fireplace, hot tub, and cute little bottles of champagne to go with your chocolates.
above photos from http://www.beaconsfieldinn.com/
While secluded enough to be peaceful and quiet, it was within walking distance to downtown Victoria and just around the corner from a splendid little theater that was hosting the Victoria Shakespeare Festival. For a girl used to sleeping in a small tent with three rowdy brothers, it was heaven.
It did not fit my usual requirement of cheap, but oh, it was marvelous, definitely worth a splurge for one night.
If I’m staying in a place longer than a few days, I will always look for a house or villa to rent.
My love affair with such accommodation started in Italy when four friends and I stayed at the idyllic Villa Trotta near Perdifumo, Italy. I’ve already waxed long and prolifically about this wonderful place in previous posts, but I couldn’t possibly describe how I choose a place to stay without bringing it up again.
Villa Trotta is a massive stone house in the country, perched right on the edge of a hill that sweeps down through orchards and vineyards to the Adriatic. For just over $1200 a week it was a steal, especially since the cost was divided between five girls. Yes, just over $200 per person for an entire week. We had the whole place to ourselves and spent many hours sunning and reading on the numerous terraces, cooking up splendid meals in the kitchen, and taking day trips to wondrous places like Capri, Naples, and Pompei.
My love for such places continued this fall when I met up with my friends and fellow travel writers Margo, Katy, Kate, and Kathy in Vogogna, Italy. We stayed in a wonderful old home nestled down the narrow cobbled streets of the Old Town. With three-foot-thick stone walls it was a quiet oasis in the midst of town. I loved the clawfoot tub in my bedroom, the wide stone steps that led from one level to another, and the rustic little courtyard out back that provided so much inspiration during our brainstorming sessions. Once again, the price was much, much lower than any nearby hotel, and the ambiance was exquisite.
So, how do I pick a hotel? I rarely do. I choose a villa or a rental house or a bed and breakfast, places with character and charm that don’t break my budget.
How about you, dear ones? What do you look for in a place to stay?
by Krista | Sep 21, 2010 | Gulliver Tuesday
The Villa Trotta in southern Italy is a place of beauty, respite and peace. When my friends and I stayed there last spring, one of my favorite things about it was how quickly it felt like home. A good 15-30 minute drive from the nearest town, it became our own private world.
We did our washing and hung it out to dry like proper Italians.
We washed dishes looking out of this window.
And after fetching pasta, bread, vegetables and wine from the local markets, we cooked in our very own little kitchen.
That was pure bliss to me. My friend Nat and I had such fun steaming purple artichokes, roasting green beans, and stirring pots of simmering tomatoes and garlic into thick, rich sauces.
One night after a long, glorious day exploring the Isle of Capri, we came home wanting simple comfort food. We found it in chilled white wine, chewy bread slathered with Nutella, and fried potatoes with red bell peppers, onion, garlic, and Italian sausage.
We brought our plates out onto the terrace and sipped, nibbled and visited as we watched the sun set over the Adriatic. Bliss.
After you’ve had a long day shopping, hiking or exploring, what is your ideal comfort food?
For more information on Villa Trotta or other reasonably priced vacation villas in Italy, click here.
This post is my contribution to Wanderfood Wednesday at Wanderlust and Lipstick. Click here to find more delicious food from around the world.
by Krista | Aug 5, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
I cried. I laughed. I sighed. And by the time I got to the end of Eat Pray Love wanted to give author Elizabeth Gilbert the biggest, squeeziest hug I could muster.
I love that woman, not because she is perfect or because I hold to all her beliefs and choices, but because she is so beautifully real, honest, and brave. And, most importantly, because her words reached into one of the darkest times of my life and shed a bright, radiant burst of sunlight that gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, I really was going to be OK.
Our backgrounds, lifestyles and worlds could not be more different, yet somehow she felt like a kindred spirit. She truly understood the terror of waking up and realizing you don’t belong in your world anymore, the inevitable fear, self-doubt and insecurity that follow as you try to figure out where you do belong, and the strange, beautiful feeling of discovering what you really love, really want to do, and who you really are.
We shared something else: a passionate love for travel and the incredible mind-expanding, soul-enriching, heart-healing impact it can have on a shattered life.
Strangely enough, I first read Eat Pray Love on a terrace in Italy overlooking vineyards, olive groves, and the Tyrrhenian Sea. I arrived with a broken heart, shaken faith, and a weary spirit, and as I read the book and talked with my dear friends, I was filled with hope and knew I was going to be alright.
Needless to say, when my wonderful Canadian blogger friend Val of More Than Burnt Toast issued an Eat Pray Love Italian Challenge, I was delighted to participate.
I knew exactly what I wanted to make too. No five-course dinner or lavish antipasti spread, I wanted to make a Street Food I had first heard about from Jamie Oliver: Fried Polenta with Rosemary and Salt.
His version looked delicious, but I wanted to amp mine up a bit so I cooked the polenta with chicken stock, garlic and lavish amounts of ground black pepper, stirred in a mound of grated Parmesan cheese, and set it to chill. When it was cool I tore it into bite-sized pieces, tossed them with cornmeal and fried them until they were nice and crispy. Mmm! They looked so good, but I wasn’t done yet. I added fresh garlic and rosemary to the oil and fried them up until the garlic was beautifully browned, added them to the fried polenta and sprinkled everything with salt. Delicious!! Crispy and salty on the outside, creamy and savory on the inside. Perfect.
Fried Polenta with Crispy Garlic and Rosemary
Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 3/4 cups yellow cornmeal
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup cornmeal
4-5 cloves garlic, sliced
4-5 sprigs fresh rosemary, removed from stem
4-5 cups vegetable oil
Directions:
- Bring chicken stock, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to boil. Gradually stir in cornmeal, lower the heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, stirring often, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in Parmesan Cheese and olive oil.
- Pour into large cookie sheet and chill until cool.
- Tear polenta into bite-sized pieces, toss with cornmeal to coat.
- Heat vegetable oil until polenta sizzles when dropped in. Lower heat if oil begins to smoke.
- Fry in batches until polenta pieces are browned and crispy. Drain on paper towel and dust with sea salt.
- When polenta is done, add garlic and rosemary to oil and cook for 2-4 minutes until garlic is browned. Drain on paper towel and dust with sea salt.
- Combine polenta, garlic and rosemary and serve warm.
by Krista | Jan 19, 2010 | Spring
It was a glorious spring morning at the Villa Trotta, an idyllic escape perched on the side of a mountain outside Perdifumo, Italy. I awoke and pushed open the shutters, delighting in the cool breezes that billowed the lace curtains and sent loose papers scuttling across the tiled floor.
My dear friends – Nat, Trish, Becks and Viss – were still sleeping soundly, so I crept quietly down to the terrace…
…to sip on juice, write in my journal…
…and watch the world wake up.
I’ve thought about the villa so many times these last months, remembering the peace and serenity I felt on those early mornings when everyone else was asleep. I loved sneaking down in my pjs, rummaging quietly in the kitchen for something to nosh on, easing myself into a creaky wrought iron chair and sitting, just sitting and looking, for ages. The peace of that place seeped into my soul, giving me courage to let some not-so-peaceful things bubble up and be faced with honesty and grace. It felt so good to write and write, pouring my heart out onto pages that others will never read, settling my heart and mind, free them from the bondage of false thinking, false guilt, incapacitating fear. How I treasure those sunny mornings of healing and renewal.
When the girls woke up, we donned sundresses and other summery garb…
…jumped in the car and wound our way down the mountain to find a grocery store. It was a gorgeous drive – the hillsides festooned with wildflowers and the sea shimmering a vivid blue.
We managed to find our way around town and emerged from various stores arms laden with flour-dusted loaves of chewy bread, fresh mozzarella, Nutella, tomatoes and massive bell peppers, Greek yogurt and bottles of wine.
Back at the villa we changed clothes then lay like lizards on the hot tiles, soaking up every bit of warmth, snoozing, reading, writing, occasionally propping ourselves up on our elbows for a good chin wag before drifting back to our solitary reveries. Bliss.
That night we made our first dinner: pasta with homemade sauce, green beans roasted with olive oil and sea salt, salad, bread and red wine. Trish made our centerpiece…
…and we dined happily as the sun set.
After dinner we went for a stroll, finding the perfect bluff from which to watch the sun set over the sea.
We celebrated our first full day day in Italy with mismatched mugs of hot tea and an assortment of Italian cookies and pastries, including cannoli, which were every bit as good as Becks told us they would be. 🙂
It was a beautiful day.
Roasted Green Beans
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh green beans, snapped
Olive oil
Sea salt
Directions:
- Toss beans with a generous amount of olive oil and sprinkling of salt.
- Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 10-20 minutes, tossing occasionally for even cooking.
- Beans are done when they’re slightly charred.
