101 years old and still travelling hopefully....
HAVING a free weekend recently and noticing that Italy was having a bit of difficulty forming a government, I decided to pop over to Milan and see if I could help. I must admit I was not optimistic.
I went to Italy a few years ago and thought they were clearly going through a bit of a bad patch.
I could not find a decent Italian restaurant anywhere (the ones in London seemed to me to be much better) and the cultural scene appeared to me to have taken a bit of a dive since the times of the Ancient Romans, the Renaissance, and Verdi and Puccini.
Indeed, the people I saw on that occasion seemed mostly to be walking up and down the streets aimlessly or revving their motorcycles.
Quite apart from their political problems, I felt that a dose of Beachcomberly wisdom might benefit them on many fronts.
This time however I went to a region that I had scarcely heard of and was delighted with what I found.
Indeed, the trip has restored my faith in Italy.
I had feared that the culture, the cuisine, and the tranquillity of Italy had vanished completely in the period from Mussolini to Berlusconi but now I know that it has just been hiding in seclusion in the Franciacorta region of Lombardy in the north of the country.
I stayed in the Hotel Araba Fenice, right on the edge of the huge Lake Iseo, which is a gloriously peaceful setting.
The name of the hotel is also appropriate: Fenice means “Phoenix”, a mythical bird that is constantly reborn from its own ashes, which I soon came to realise is a good metaphor for my changed view of Italy.
The location was also perfect for visiting some of the fine restaurants in the region, discovering the startlingly good Franciacorta wines and popping in at the Franciacorta Summer Festival to sample more of the culinary and oenological delights they have to offer.
One sip of Franciacorta sparkling wine should be enough to make anyone wonder why the Italians have been fobbing us off with prosecco for all these years.
As a Champagne substitute, prosecco may be a cheap alternative, but Franciacorta is the genuine article: the bubbles come from a secondary fermentation in the bottle, which is the same as the Champagne method.
With prosecco, the second fermentation takes place in a stainless steel tank.
It’s wine and it’s fizzy, but it’s not the real thing. Franciacorta is clean and smooth and a true rival to Champagne, awarded DOC Designation of Origin status in 1967, and deserves to be better known.
With wines of such a high quality, it is hardly surprising that the region has developed food to match, so I spent the weekend very happily appreciating the excellence of the cuisine, quaffing the wine, and generally relaxing without seeing anyone walking up and down pointlessly or hearing anyone revving a motorcycling.
The point of the trip may have been to give the Italians the benefit of my wisdom, but it taught me that they do not need it.
Bravo, Italy! Bravo (or should that be brava?) Franciacorta! More on this topic tomorrow.