I had been a little worried about our next leg Bologna - Firenze (Florence) to be done early this summer. I somehow didn't seem to be able to find any good information. But then I mentioned our project to my optometrist. And he of all people told me he had done just that the year before, and there's a very nice trail called Sentiero delle degli... there's even a field guide, and he sent me a mail with the order data.
So I can buy that and set on to plan this year's stages. Apparently, it takes only about 7 days to walk the trail, so we'll be able to spend a few days in Florence, too, and discover that quintessentially renaissance town.
Mittwoch, 22. Februar 2012
Dienstag, 16. August 2011
Things to take back: recipes
The whole point of doing a pilgrimage - or, for that matter, of going on holiday - is to bring back something with you into your daily life. A new outlook on life, distance to everyday turmoil, is probably the main goal. So we have our little escapes. Some of them are culinary. Not every day has enough time to cook something special, but we try to on most weekends. We try to recapture tastes we liked. Some will be forever unattainable, like a tirami su we were served in a small, probably old, roadside trattoria not too far from Bologna. First we had tagliatelle bolognese (no, the original is not with spaghetti), then dessert, zuppa inglese and the said tirami su. I vowed not to eat any other until I couldn't remember this one clearly any more. It was that good.
But further north, still in the mountains, we were served polenta with different types of goulash. I tried to re-create these a few times, and last Sunday, I was successful. Here's the recipe:
Meat Stew "Monte Peller"
(serves 3-4)
Ingredients:
1 Tbs butterfat
1 pound stew beef, not too lean
5 spareribs
1 medium sized onion, finely diced
4 carrots, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
fresh herbs (I used lovage and thyme)
pepper and allspice, freshly ground
pinch of salt
1/2 cup water, more if needed
for the roux:
3 Tbs Butterfat
3 Tbs flour
1/2 cup rosé wine
water as needed
Preparation:
Heat the butterfat in a large pot. Brown the spareribs, take them out, then brown the beef in two portions to get a crisp crust. Take the meat out, then brown the onions. Put all meat back in, then the carrots and the herbs. Season and toss, then add the water. Cover and let simmer over low heat for an hour, then add the bell pepper and let simmer for another half hour. Make sure there's always some liquid left.
Drain into a coarse sieve, collect the fluid. To make the sauce, you can boil the fluid to make it thicken, but that might give very little in the end and takes a lot of time. Or you can make a roux:
Melt the butterfat in a skillet over medium heat. Add the flour and stir well. It should make a ball that leaves a sticky residue as it is moved about in the skillet. Add the fluid from the stew, a little at a time, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add the wine in like manner. Cold liquids must be added more slowly than warm ones to avoid lumps. Add water do make a thickly sauce. Normally, no additional seasoning is needed.
Put the meat and vegetables back into the sauce and serve the stew with polenta.
Monte Peller is a peak in the Brenta Dolomites, where we tasted this type of dish for the first time.
Thanks to Mary and Jason for their help in setting the recipe up.
But further north, still in the mountains, we were served polenta with different types of goulash. I tried to re-create these a few times, and last Sunday, I was successful. Here's the recipe:
Meat Stew "Monte Peller"
(serves 3-4)
Ingredients:
1 Tbs butterfat
1 pound stew beef, not too lean
5 spareribs
1 medium sized onion, finely diced
4 carrots, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
fresh herbs (I used lovage and thyme)
pepper and allspice, freshly ground
pinch of salt
1/2 cup water, more if needed
for the roux:
3 Tbs Butterfat
3 Tbs flour
1/2 cup rosé wine
water as needed
Preparation:
Heat the butterfat in a large pot. Brown the spareribs, take them out, then brown the beef in two portions to get a crisp crust. Take the meat out, then brown the onions. Put all meat back in, then the carrots and the herbs. Season and toss, then add the water. Cover and let simmer over low heat for an hour, then add the bell pepper and let simmer for another half hour. Make sure there's always some liquid left.
Drain into a coarse sieve, collect the fluid. To make the sauce, you can boil the fluid to make it thicken, but that might give very little in the end and takes a lot of time. Or you can make a roux:
Melt the butterfat in a skillet over medium heat. Add the flour and stir well. It should make a ball that leaves a sticky residue as it is moved about in the skillet. Add the fluid from the stew, a little at a time, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add the wine in like manner. Cold liquids must be added more slowly than warm ones to avoid lumps. Add water do make a thickly sauce. Normally, no additional seasoning is needed.
Put the meat and vegetables back into the sauce and serve the stew with polenta.
Monte Peller is a peak in the Brenta Dolomites, where we tasted this type of dish for the first time.
Thanks to Mary and Jason for their help in setting the recipe up.
Samstag, 13. August 2011
What makes this special II
But what drives us on and on has become something different: it's people's reaction to us, the encounters we live.
People generally have seen backpackers before, but generally, these are young adults. A family hiking long-distance together is much rarer. Not so much on the well-traveled E5/Via Alpina, but almost everywhere else, the four of us are such an unusual sight that people stop and ask us where we come from and where we go.
And of course, nothing feels as good as people being positively interested in what you're doing... So we tell our tale, basking in people's attention and admiration. Quite a lot of people have asked us to pray for them to St. Francis when we arrive in Assisi, and I've noted every one of them. Of some of them, I don't even know the name, so I will pray "for the lady at the tabacchio where we bought the bus tickets into Bologna", for example.
It's not that I believe that praying for them will actually change something in their lives, but I find it important to keep my promises. Doing the pilgrimage changes something in my, in our lives. I feel enriched by the many, many encounters, with people, with landscapes, with cuisine, with history and customs... and perhaps talking to us gives people an idea that some unusual ideas can actually be put into practice. Perhaps we can enrich their lives, too.
People generally have seen backpackers before, but generally, these are young adults. A family hiking long-distance together is much rarer. Not so much on the well-traveled E5/Via Alpina, but almost everywhere else, the four of us are such an unusual sight that people stop and ask us where we come from and where we go.
And of course, nothing feels as good as people being positively interested in what you're doing... So we tell our tale, basking in people's attention and admiration. Quite a lot of people have asked us to pray for them to St. Francis when we arrive in Assisi, and I've noted every one of them. Of some of them, I don't even know the name, so I will pray "for the lady at the tabacchio where we bought the bus tickets into Bologna", for example.
It's not that I believe that praying for them will actually change something in their lives, but I find it important to keep my promises. Doing the pilgrimage changes something in my, in our lives. I feel enriched by the many, many encounters, with people, with landscapes, with cuisine, with history and customs... and perhaps talking to us gives people an idea that some unusual ideas can actually be put into practice. Perhaps we can enrich their lives, too.
Montag, 4. Juli 2011
What makes this special I
You may ask: why take the trouble and do all this on foot? After all, there are, on the one hand, guided pilgrimages whith a lot of qualified information and spiritual guidance. On the other hand, if that's a little too much, why not take the trip by car and stop at all the interesting places? Or take the bicycle, which allows to make some 100 km a day and not just 20-30, depending on the terrain.
Well, it's simply not the same. On foot, everything moves at an almost leisurely pace. Almost, because it can be strenous, especially uphill. It mustn't bee too much, because if you begin too fast, you can't keep that up all day. So there generally is a lot of time to talk about all that you never have time to talk about during the year. Daddy has explained quite a lot of physics to the kids, and Sonny could make up a whole fantasy game world in his mind. OK, some passages are so narrow and difficult you have to walk single file, but every day, there are a few gravel or little-traveled paved roads that make conversation at least in twos possible.
And of course, on foot you can reach beautiful places in the mountains that are inacessible to vehicle travel, such as the Malga Spora in the Dolomitit di Brenta picutred above. Simple accomodation, but a spaghetti bolognese we'll never forget. The only other way to get to many such places is by helicopter, and for the general public, that means you had an accident or a medical emergency and the only direction is down to the nearest hospital... luckily we were spared that.
Well, it's simply not the same. On foot, everything moves at an almost leisurely pace. Almost, because it can be strenous, especially uphill. It mustn't bee too much, because if you begin too fast, you can't keep that up all day. So there generally is a lot of time to talk about all that you never have time to talk about during the year. Daddy has explained quite a lot of physics to the kids, and Sonny could make up a whole fantasy game world in his mind. OK, some passages are so narrow and difficult you have to walk single file, but every day, there are a few gravel or little-traveled paved roads that make conversation at least in twos possible.
And of course, on foot you can reach beautiful places in the mountains that are inacessible to vehicle travel, such as the Malga Spora in the Dolomitit di Brenta picutred above. Simple accomodation, but a spaghetti bolognese we'll never forget. The only other way to get to many such places is by helicopter, and for the general public, that means you had an accident or a medical emergency and the only direction is down to the nearest hospital... luckily we were spared that.
Samstag, 4. Juni 2011
Equipment
The most important about equipment is: finding a good supplier. I'm not going to give an internet address, because many things needed cannot be bought online. Oh, they're sold there all right. But for a pair of shoes, a rucksack or rainwear that you keep on daily for two weeks or more, heavily loaded, you need a qualified salesperson. We learned it the hard way, we had to buy a few things twice.
Now we've found a supplier who is a mountaineer himself and who really takes his time to find the right stuff for us. He made Dad try on four rucksacks before he was satisfied, and that choice was absolutely right. Only after that did Mom realize how lucky she had been with her rucksack bought in a sports department store, which fits well, too.
So the most important advice I have is: Test yourself and your equipment on day or weekend trips, preferably so close to home that you can call a friend to pick you up from the roadside if something goes wrong. And don't do it only on fair-weather days, because you are going to encounter foul weather.
One example: I had bought myself a new pair of summer hiking boots, perfectly breathable. They were wonderful, until a thunderstorm drenched us on a day hike. We found shelter in an inn, and I changed my clothes. The next part of the hike went through tigh-high vegetation, so the new pants were soon as wet as the old ones. We were only two hours or so from home, but all the same, I spent the evening in my bed, shivering, feverish, my feet raw from the wet cotton socks.
A few weeks later, with new, watertight shoes and pants, I could walk through an afternoon of downpour with no ill effects.
Now we've found a supplier who is a mountaineer himself and who really takes his time to find the right stuff for us. He made Dad try on four rucksacks before he was satisfied, and that choice was absolutely right. Only after that did Mom realize how lucky she had been with her rucksack bought in a sports department store, which fits well, too.
So the most important advice I have is: Test yourself and your equipment on day or weekend trips, preferably so close to home that you can call a friend to pick you up from the roadside if something goes wrong. And don't do it only on fair-weather days, because you are going to encounter foul weather.
One example: I had bought myself a new pair of summer hiking boots, perfectly breathable. They were wonderful, until a thunderstorm drenched us on a day hike. We found shelter in an inn, and I changed my clothes. The next part of the hike went through tigh-high vegetation, so the new pants were soon as wet as the old ones. We were only two hours or so from home, but all the same, I spent the evening in my bed, shivering, feverish, my feet raw from the wet cotton socks.
A few weeks later, with new, watertight shoes and pants, I could walk through an afternoon of downpour with no ill effects.
Mittwoch, 18. Mai 2011
Places to stay III: Hotels, B&Bs...
Commercial overnight accomodation comes in all shapes and sizes. I guess it's clear to everybody reading this that we didn't use the four-star plus categories of business hotels.
I tried to find smaller places, B&Bs or traditional inns. As described above, I often tried to get the addresses through the internet sites of the respective towns, because they generally list all the existing accomodations. Commercial sites often only list those that pay for it. At some point, I came across a site that wanted me to pay a few Euros by credit card just for giving me internet or e-mail addresses that I could get for free elsewhere. Wether it was just an attempt to rip off or a phishing attempt, I don't know.
Two sites that helped me greatly were: www.visittrentino.it and bed-and-breakfast.it.
The good thing about these long-distance hikes is that even if the place isn't that great, you only have to stay one night. If the place is really, really nice, you can come back another time. This summer, we are going to stay in one place we discovered in our first year, taking along Mom's sister and her family:www.geratser-hof.de. It's just outside the Alps, with a private beach at a lake, many opportunities to hike, bike, do sightseeing and the mountains are close, too... looking forward to it!
I tried to find smaller places, B&Bs or traditional inns. As described above, I often tried to get the addresses through the internet sites of the respective towns, because they generally list all the existing accomodations. Commercial sites often only list those that pay for it. At some point, I came across a site that wanted me to pay a few Euros by credit card just for giving me internet or e-mail addresses that I could get for free elsewhere. Wether it was just an attempt to rip off or a phishing attempt, I don't know.
Two sites that helped me greatly were: www.visittrentino.it and bed-and-breakfast.it.
The good thing about these long-distance hikes is that even if the place isn't that great, you only have to stay one night. If the place is really, really nice, you can come back another time. This summer, we are going to stay in one place we discovered in our first year, taking along Mom's sister and her family:www.geratser-hof.de. It's just outside the Alps, with a private beach at a lake, many opportunities to hike, bike, do sightseeing and the mountains are close, too... looking forward to it!
Mittwoch, 11. Mai 2011
Finding places to stay II: Huts and Hostels
Soon after the beginning of alpinism, enthusiasts built the first huts in which to stay before and after the ascent to the summits. Towns and villages were too far down in the valleys, and the alps were chosen to allow good grazing for the cattle and goats, not to allow good access to the summits. So the alpine clubs raised funds, bought ground and built the huts to provide food and shelter to alpinists.
To this day, many of the huts belong to chapters of the alpine clubs, named for the chapter they belong to. So you find the names of cities far away in the lowlands in the heart of the Alps. The Brunswick Hut, for instance, is a base camp for glacier tours close to Sölden, Tirol. The huts are run by professional gastronomers, with the help of volounteers.
The huts are open to everyone, but alpine club members get a discount on fees and some prices. Since it is the clubs that maintain and mark a large part of the trails, and provide a lot of information, it is advisable to become a member if you plan to spend more than just a few days in the Alps.
Outside the Alps, Youth Hostels are a good place to stay. They were founded a little more than a hundred years ago to provide food and shelter for travellers on foot, especially school groups and scout-like organizations. The goal was to provide a hostel every 30 km / 20 miles or so, but because foot travelling has declined, the network is thinner, depending on demand. Today, they're open to individual travellers and families, too. In most places, there's no age limit, just Bavaria accepts people over 26 only as guardians of minors.
To stay in the Youth hostel, you must be a member of a youth hostelling organization such as DJH (www.djh.de, click on the Union Jack to get the english version). In most cases, you can join directly at the hostel during check-in.
To this day, many of the huts belong to chapters of the alpine clubs, named for the chapter they belong to. So you find the names of cities far away in the lowlands in the heart of the Alps. The Brunswick Hut, for instance, is a base camp for glacier tours close to Sölden, Tirol. The huts are run by professional gastronomers, with the help of volounteers.
The huts are open to everyone, but alpine club members get a discount on fees and some prices. Since it is the clubs that maintain and mark a large part of the trails, and provide a lot of information, it is advisable to become a member if you plan to spend more than just a few days in the Alps.
Outside the Alps, Youth Hostels are a good place to stay. They were founded a little more than a hundred years ago to provide food and shelter for travellers on foot, especially school groups and scout-like organizations. The goal was to provide a hostel every 30 km / 20 miles or so, but because foot travelling has declined, the network is thinner, depending on demand. Today, they're open to individual travellers and families, too. In most places, there's no age limit, just Bavaria accepts people over 26 only as guardians of minors.
To stay in the Youth hostel, you must be a member of a youth hostelling organization such as DJH (www.djh.de, click on the Union Jack to get the english version). In most cases, you can join directly at the hostel during check-in.
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