What is it about river towns that draws me back? I reflected, inspired by the soft-toned facades of medieval buildings lining gentle bends of the river Arno.  Again, I crossed Pisa’s old bridges, marveling at column-edged Renaissance windows while the matter-of-fact daily life of buses and bicycles whizzed past me.  The same magnetic sensation had been at work earlier this summer in the Spanish town of Girona.  There I explored river-side medieval ateliers, shops and studios now restored and still in use by printmakers, sculptors and book-binders. In a glance through their doors and windows, one looks straight out to the river Onyar that flows through the Catalonian town, just as the Arno snakes through Pisa.  I felt a curious sensation of déjà vu.

So, unable to resist the tug to the Arno, we returned again this summer en route to a family gathering near Siena.  A pause, just a couple of days, in this historic university town gave me a deeper appreciation of the treasures of western Tuscany, its flavors and traces of Pisa’s rich past.  As I reported last year, the vegetable market is set in adjoining piazzas right in the center of town.  Basically the same vendors were still there, patiently tending red and green tomatoes, heaps of zucchini blossoms and plump plums.  I was reassured and took more photos, but this time around, I also found fruit and vegetables closer to the leaning tower of Pisa.  What? Fruit on the Campo dei Miracoli?  Well, these garlands of fruit date to about 1602.  Cucumbers on the vine, carved by Giambologna were cast in bronze, along with apples and plums – all to celebrate the Tuscan earth’s abundance.

Vegetation Motifs of Centuries Past
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I delighted in discoveries of the Duomo’s magnificent carvings, on and around its enormous doors. The Duomo, the majestic church itself, was built early in the eleventh century. Giambologna’s doors replace earlier west portals which were destroyed by fire. In the last light of a summer evening, few tourists remained. An air of calm settled over the marble-faced buildings, placed neatly on the Campo dei Miracoli’s (Field of Miracles) verdant platter of manicured grass. We took advantage of the special summer hours, giving visitors access to the Baptistry and Duomo until twilight. This photo session of vegetation and grape vines inspired a good appetite.  We soon found our way toward the Piazza dei Cavallieri – only about ten minutes walk from the Duomo and leaning tower – for dinner at the Osteria dei Cavalieri on via San Frediano.  I knew we were taking a chance without reservations, but the waiter graciously brought us glasses of sparkling wine to sip for a few minutes until a table was free.  The informal atmosphere, prompt service and well balanced Tuscan cuisine keeps this osteria at the top of guide books’ listings.  I understood why as I dug into a plate of gnocchi with flakes of delicate fish: as it melts in your mouth, it lasts in your memory.

Inspired by delicious fish and our proximity to the sea, the following day we hopped on a train to Livorno – less than an hour’s ride through pines and farmland from Pisa.   We took a city bus from Livorno’s station and found our way to the central market hall, which was surrounded by canopied stalls stretching beyond it in all directions.  Heaps of  melons and tomatoes, dangling housewares and platters of aromatic ham -ready to slice – lined each street.  We stepped inside the hall, its center filled with vendors of fish and shellfish, flanked by stalls of bread, pasta and cheese.  But I was determined to see the old harbor, where fishermen sell their catch directly to shoppers.  By the time we found Livorno’s extensive marina, the sun was overhead and most fishing boats were being hosed down; the fishermen were on their way home.  Near the Fortezza Vecchia’s (old fort) slanting brick walls, I spotted a striped canopy over marble slabs, where a few fishermen still sold fish.  Change a few details, I thought, and change a few centuries, but the scene would be the same, and Livorno’s famous fish soup would be simmered for family suppers – whatever the century.

In Pisa: Osteria dei Cavalieri, via San Frediano 16. Tel: 050 580858. Limited seating, reservations suggested. Closed during August; closed Saturday noon and Sunday.

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Along Rethymnon’s Venetian harbor, a strong gust of wind almost caught me off balance – and with this surging spring wind, I caught a heady whiff of grilled meat.  Overhead, holiday lights outlined masks strung across streets in the town’s old quarter.  Music blared as costumed kids paraded in clusters or holding a parent’s hand.  We stepped aside as Smoky Thursday crowds ambled past, young revelers behind masks.  In all parts of Greece, we were told later, high-jinks and heaps of meat on the grill are the tradition on this Thursday before Shrove Tuesday.  Both are days of (over) indulgence  before Lent’s long privation, the forty days leading to Easter when no meat can be eaten.  For devout Greek Orthodox practitioners, no cheese, nor any oil pass their lips during Lent.  The practice is Orthodox, but the carnival atmosphere (dampened by a light rain) in this busy port on Crete’s north coast had a decidedly Venetian air – not surprising after four hundred years of Venetian occupation.  We ducked into one of the snug bars near the harbor for a warming nip of raki and noted locals sipping the same clear alcohol distilled from grape must.  Drummers marched past, masks appeared and vanished in the narrow streets, and a throng of teenage boys in wild, colorful wigs pranced along, (partially) disguised. We walked back to the hotel past the cybercafé, our usual spot to check Email messages.  But now it was filled to overflowing, and under a broad awning’s protection from the rain, I noticed that the pink and blue “wigs” were taking a cyber break.

Spring in Crete means more than Carnival antics and the hiss of meat on the grill.  During a weekend at the eastern edge of this long, mountain-ridged island, we spent a day with friends, driving along steeply winding roads into the hills above Agios Nikolaos. Wild almond trees in bloom sponged soft pastel tints across arid, rock-strewn pastureland. We paused as sheep scampered across the road; villages were silent, shuttered. One might wonder if anyone lived there.  Artemis was driving, and she rolled down the window to ask directions of a woman dressed in black. “You lookin’ for greens?” the old woman spoke first, in a local dialect (I was told).  “You know where to find ‘em?”  Their short conversation gave Artemis directions to a taverna, but yielded no secrets about where to find ‘horta’, the wild spring greens so prized to fill flaky pita (pies) as well as to keep for medicinal uses.  We drove on to a smaller village for lunch in a simple taverna with no sign posted outside – one has to know the lay of the land for lunch in these hills.

Settling into our places at a pine table, I asked “What’s for lunch?” The house specialty, I was told: boiled goat.   Not kid, nothing like cabrito (kid, a favorite for Mexican Easter feasts) that I had tasted, just the long-simmered goat.  The cook and his wife seemed to be eagerly awaiting our arrival.  First, a flotilla of plates arrived for us to share and sample: eggplant salad, a dish of dakos (barley buns moistened with olive oil, then spread with crushed tomatoes and crumbled feta cheese), pickled octopus, herbed beans, country bread and succulent black olives.  Then, a bowl of broth before the main course was set before us all: a platter of steaming meat and carrots. The first bite was surprisingly tender, definitely delicious.  A side of macaroni and a dish of greens came around, a light red wine was poured again, and I thought: Ah, spring in Crete, prefect timing for a memorable lunch of boiled goat!

Another year of tasting and traveling is almost behind us.  The packages have been wrapped and sent to our near and dear ones in distant spots around Europe and North America, but I’m still subject to last minute gift ideas – an almond torrone or perhaps a Spanish fig cake might delight a special friend.  Delinostrum to the rescue!  Ordering gifts of food specialties from their web site, www.delinostrum.com takes the hassle out of shopping and shipping. The quality of their products is always high, and the range is very well chosen.  This is my quick-shopper stop for Spanish almonds, with a tantalyzing selection of artisanal torrones (a Spanish almond and honey confection), and packets of Marcona and Llarghetta almonds straight from my favorite foodie nook in Barcelona: Casa Gispert. If I can’t zip south to the Catalan capital, Delinostrum saves the day, just short of the real experience of poking around in the ancient grocery while the aromas of roasting almonds or coffee fill the air. Almonds only begin the list of Delinostrum shipable specialties…their olive oils and vinegars are excellent, too.

For Italian food specialties, I turn to www.gustiamo.com, whose site is a wonderland of products and information. For Sicilian sweets and jams or the lightest, sweet loaves of Panettone, this is an excellent gift source. If not for Christmas, gustiamo’s savory and sweet temptations solve the hostess-gift puzzle.  Beatrice Ughi, whose spirit and savvy shines through in the gustiamo forums, is the manager and contact at gustiamo.  Gifts are dispatched with alacrity from gustiamo’s warehouse in the US.  It is difficult to choose from such a wide range of specialties.  Any (or many!) would be a great introductory taste for friends planning travel to Italy in the upcoming new year. And why not sample a special morsel while toasting the old year and ringing in 2007?

In the markets: Look for olives, olive oil and a selection of tapenades from Domaine de l’Arbre Blanc. Visits to the oil mill by reservation.
Corine Henuset & François Boutroux
Chemin du Pas de l’Arbre Blanc
66700 Argeles sur Mer
Tel/fax: 04 68 95 91 06
Email: arbre.blanc@free.fr

Lunch or dinner bites: Discover a menu of unique flavors in French-Japanese fusion cuisine, all prepared with market-fresh ingredients. This tiny restaurant is on a winding back street in Collioure.
Le 5eme Péché (the Fifth Sin) Restaurant
18 rue de la Fraternité
66190 Collioure
Reserve a table: 04 68 98 09 76
contact@le5peche.com