I Love Lucca

Ingredients:

• 2 400 gram cans of borlotti beans
• 1 400 gram can cannellini beans
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 pepperoncino dried and split
• 1 vegetable bouillon
• dried rosemary a pinch
• 1 liter boiling water
• 200 grams dried or fresh strip maccheroni (cenci)
• 1 400 gram can of chopped tomatoes

Boil water for pasta, add a pinch of salt and then add the maccheroni strips.
In a separate deep pot sauté the pepperoncino and the vegetable bouillon in the olive oil for a minute on medium heat until the bouillon dissolves.
Add the rosemary and the beans in their own liquid. Let bubble.
Reduce heat and insert hand mixer. Mix until mixture is pureed. Add canned tomatoes.
Add the pasta strips and some cooking liquid from the pasta until the mixture thins out enough to be soupy and light.
Serve drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

This recipe has a million variations. One I particularly like is to use is with ceci beans instead of the barlottti and cannellini beans. It comes out a lot creamier. If you use the ceci, only add about half a can of the chopped tomatoes. Also, in the ceci version, I would add one clove at the beginning with a clove of garlic. Make sure to fish the clove out before you are ready to purée.

Tuscan Kale Risotto in a Gorgonzola and walnut sauce

Ingredients:

• 500 grams Tuscan Kale also known as Lacinato Kale
• ½ cup vegetable broth, not too salty
• 1 vegetable bouillon
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 500 grams Arborio rice ( I normally use brown rice to be healthy, but the Arborio tastes better)
• ½ cup low fat cooking cream
• 100 grams gorgonzola cheese (if you like this cheese, use more to make a sharper sauce)
• hand full of walnuts
• salt and pepper to taste

Start by washing the kale and removing the stems. Then, with a scissors, cut it into inch long pieces and put it in a deep pot to boil down with the vegetable broth on low heat, cover.
When the kale is nice and soft, transfer about a third of it to a blender and blend. Then slowly add the rest of the mixture, bit by bit, adding and blending until the entire lot is blended into a puree.
In another pot add the olive oil and the vegetable bouillon to low heat and let the olive oil melt the bouillon.
Add the rice and sauté it for about a minute. Then add hot water slowly, a cup at a time, letting the rice absorb the water little by little, and cook the rice and bouillon mixture.
When there is still a little water left in the rice and the rice is almost cooked through, add the puree of kale to the rice and stir over low heat.
As the mixture gets drier, slowly add in the low fat cooking cream. If you are using the Arborio rice, you may even skip the cream if you like, as long as the rice has a creamy consistency. I add it in when I use the brown rice as it does not get as creamy as the Arborio. You may not need to add the whole half cup. I usually go easy on the cream as I'm going to add the gorgonzola sauce on top and don't want the dish to feel too heavy. Add just enough to make the consistency creamy without feeling heavy.
Once you have that slightly gooey risotto consistency, turn off flame.
In a saucepan over very low heat, add two or three tablespoons of the left over low fat cooking cream and 100 or so grams of gorgonzola cheese. The amount of gorgonzola depends on how sharp you want the sauce to turn out. I normally start out by adding in a slice that is as long and wide as my index finger, then I slowly add more as I taste. Always stir as this can easily get overcooked. To finish chop up the walnuts finely and add to the sauce.
Spoon some risotto in a dish and drizzle it with the gorgonzola sauce.
Season to taste with fresh cracked black pepper and salt.

Note: you can do the same dish in the Spring substituting the kale for fresh nettles (ortica in Italian) and it tastes delicious.

If you are holding your wedding ceremony or reception inside the historic center of Lucca, you have probably already asked yourself about the parking situation. As most know, this part of Lucca is mostly only open to resident traffic, with just a few areas around the periphery that allow non-residents to enter and park. Here are a few hints to help you and your guests navigate the sometimes confusing world of parking in Lucca:

• There is no free non-resident parking inside the walls. Always assume that once in the walls, you must pay at the parking meter usually located within 100 meters of where you've parked. Get a ticket from the meter and place it inside your car, on the dashboard.
• Paid parking is indicated by blue lines. Do not park your car in the yellow lines, these spaces are reserved for residents.
• Lucca is divided up into zone A and B for traffic. Unless you are driving to your hotel to drop-off/ pick-up bags, do not enter either zone with your car. There will be a sign with a red circle and the words “zona pedonale”, when you see this sign, do not enter the street that is beyond it.
• Parking lots with a large capacity inside the walls are: Mazzini, Lorenzini, Cittadella and Piazza Santa Maria.
• To those who have made previous trips to Lucca, the lot in Piazza San Francesco has recently been reduced to just side street parking, so your chances of finding a spot are much lower now.
• If you park outside of the historical center by the walls, make sure you park in a marked space and not on the grass, or you run a good chance of getting a ticket.
• If you are unlucky enough to get a parking ticket, you can go to the post office on the intersection of via Valisisneri and via delle Trombe with the ticket and pay it there. See the letter icon on the map indicating where to find the largest post office inside the city.
• If you are really unlucky and they tow your car away, pretty rare but it can happen, then you'll need to call the municipal police (polizia municipale) at tel. 0583 44 2727. They'll tell you where to find your car or come and unblock it, if that is all that is necessary. You must pay the fine in full and have proof of payment before they will release your car back to you.

As usual the best part was just to wander around town, especially between Piazza Grande and the Walls, and just admire the costumes.

We did buy tickets though, which allowed us to go into the various white tents set up accross the town, so we could spend more money on comics, of course, nearly all in Italian, and a huge array of comics or anime related gadgets. Our son's bounty included a Pokemon T-Shirt, Shadow Sonic and Brock figurines and some Pokemon cards (I'll let you guess what his favourite cartoon is).

The best way to get the tickets while bypassing the enormous lines is to buy then on the previous day, after 5:30pm at the tickets offices in town or near the station. Multi day passes are also available, but you don't save much money with them, and you still have to queue, although not for too long, on the day you are using them in order to activate them.

The weather was beautiful, which was good for some of the most lightly dresses characters (as Edvarg Endel above left, who was wearing only a tiny pareo).

More links, more photos:Flickr Group

For three consecutive weekends from March 14-15 to March 28-29 you can take a shuttle bus from the Centro Culturale Compitese that will bring you to these not so easy to reach villages. There, you will receive a map of the suggested routes to follow that allow you to view the most and best camellias. The villages are closed down to traffic for the event, so you can bring small children without having to worry about traffic. Also, the fact that there are no cars, makes the festival quite pleasant, as there is a kind of precious silence that you don't get to appreciate much theses days.

I don't know much about the flower, but what I've gleaned from previous visits is that there are many different varieties and the actual plant can be several hundred years old if well looked after. The villages of Santa Andrea di Compito and Pieve di Compito, because of the relative shade they receive throughout the year and their fairly damp (for Tuscany) climate, apparently proved to be the perfect place to grow camellias, and as a result, we now find some of the oldest camellia plants in Italy here. They are truly impressive flowers, and even though I've been covered in rain on several of my visits, I never fail to walk away from the festival feeling strangely uplifted.

So, If you are having a wedding in Lucca this month and are looking for something unique to do with your guests, I'd highly recommend checking out this unique festival. In addition to the flower gazing, the municipality of Capannori has arranged for tea ceremony demonstrations of both the Japanese and Chinese tea ceremony, as well as tea tastings of various Japanese, Chinese and European teas. You can taste freshly pressed olive oil at the local mill, participate in a wine tasting, view local crafts and art at small stands that line the route, and enjoy menus featuring local cuisine and products at the village restaurants. A full list of events for the entire festival can be found on: www.camelielucchesia.it or www.comune.capannori.lu.it

As of today, I could find zero information in English about this year's calendar of events, (although I found plenty from previous years) so I've done my best to translate the highlights for you here:

Saturday 14 March
10 am to 6 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Opening of Camellia Exhibition, market and gardens
10 am-6 pm	Villa Orsi, Japanese Tea Room sponsored by the Japan Tea Exporters Association
Sunday 15 March
10 am-6 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Opening of Camellia Exhibition, market and gardens
10 am-6 pm	Villa Orsi, Japanese Tea Room sponsored by the Japan Tea Exporters Association
11 am-6 pm	Old Olive Mill at Capo di Vico, the “Piazzetta del Gusto”, offers a host of local products, including the famous Lucchese Olive Oil, free to taste and enjoy.
3 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Puppet show based on local children's stories
4 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Quartet of Accordions playing a piece entitled, “Ance Libere”
Saturday, 21 March
10 am-6 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Opening of Camellia Exhibition, market and gardens
10 am-6 pm	Villa Orsi, all day free tasting of Japanese, Chinese and Indian teas as well as sale of rare and precious teas.
11:30 am	Villa Orsi, Presentation of Chinese Tea Ceremony (Gongfucha) (also held on the 22, 28th and 29th, same time).
1:30 pm	Antica Chiusa Borrini, Tea planting: a guided visit of the experimental cultivation of tea by G. Cattolica in S. Andrea di Compito
2:30 pm	Villa Orsi, Demonstration of Chinese calligraphy given by master Ip Wing-chigi
3:00 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Demonstration of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana sponsored by "Artikebana".
3:30 pm	Villa Orsi, Presentation of Chinese Tea Ceremony (Gongfucha)
4:30 pm	Villa Orsi, Afternoon tea: Two types of tea accompanied by delicious tea snacks that follow the classic British tradition of tea time ( a reservation and contribution of 4 euro is required to participate. Email: info@camelielucchesia.it
Sunday, 22 March
10 am-6 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Opening of Camellia Exhibition, market and gardens
10 am-6 pm	Villa Orsi, all day free tasting of Japanese, Chinese and Indian teas as well as sale of rare and precious teas.
10:30 am	Conference Room of Centro Culturale Compitiese, The long voyange of Tea. Presentation on the history of tea from its origins to the present day.
11:00 am	Centro Culturale Compitese, Demonstration of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana sponsored by "Artikebana".
11 am-4 pm	"In the Hamlet of the Camellias, a quest to discover local flavors": Tastings of local products brought to you by Slow Food Compitese and Gardens of Lucca. (Please Note, participation in this event requires the purchase of a voucher which is not included in the price of the entrance pass. Please inquire when purchasing your entrance ticket.)
11:30 am	Villa Orsi, Presentation/Demonstration of Chinese Tea Ceremony (Gongfucha)
1:30-3:30 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Creative workshop entitled "Regards from....." with support from the Associazione Culturale Manidoro
1:30 pm	Antica Chiusa Borrini, Tea planting: a guided visit of the experimental cultivation of tea by G. Cattolica in S. Andrea di Compito
2:00 pm	The Fantomatik Orchestra, Playing throughout the hamlet
2:30 pm	Villa Orsi, Demonstration of Chinese calligraphy given by master Ip Wing-chigi
3:30 pm	Villa Orsi, Presentation/Demonstration of Chinese Tea Ceremony (Gongfucha)
3:30 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Concert of a choir with instrumental accompaniment
4:30 pm	Villa Orsi, Afternoon tea: Two types of tea accompanied by delicious tea snacks that follow the classic British tradition of tea time ( a reservation and contribution of 4 euro is required to participate. Email: info@camelielucchesia.it)
Saturday, 28 March
10 am-6 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Opening of Camellia Exhibition, market and gardens
10 am-6 pm	Villa Orsi, all day free tasting of Japanese, Chinese and Indian teas as well as sale of rare and precious teas.
11:30 am	Villa Orsi, Presentation/Demonstration of Chinese Tea Ceremony (Gongfucha)
1:30 pm	Antica Chiusa Borrini, Tea planting: a guided visit of the experimental cultivation of tea by G. Cattolica in S. Andrea di Compito
2:00 pm	Conference Room of the Centro Culturale Compitese, Conference: A thousand colors of tea-presentation on the manufacture of tea and its various types.
3:30 pm	Villa Orsi, Presentation/Demonstration of Chinese Tea Ceremony (Gongfucha)
4:30 pm	Villa Orsi, Afternoon tea: Two types of tea accompanied by delicious tea snacks that follow the classic British tradition of tea time ( a reservation and contribution of 4 euro is required to participate. Email: info@camelielucchesia.it)
Sunday, 29 March
10 am-6 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Opening of Camellia Exhibition, market and gardens
10 am-6 pm	Villa Orsi, all day free tasting of Japanese, Chinese and Indian teas as well as sale of rare and precious teas.
10:30 am	Conference Room of Centro Culturale Compitiese, The long voyange of Tea. Presentation on the history of tea from its origins to the present day.
11 am-6 pm	Old Olive Mill at Capo di Vico, the “Piazzetta del Gusto”, offers a host of local products, including the famous Lucchese Olive Oil, free to taste and enjoy.
11:30 am	Villa Orsi, Presentation/Demonstration of Chinese Tea Ceremony (Gongfucha)
1:00 pm	Alberto Benicchi Jazz Quartet- Concert (location T.B.A.)
1:30 pm	Antica Chiusa Borrini, Tea planting: a guided visit of the experimental cultivation of tea by G. Cattolica in S. Andrea di Compito
2:30 pm	Conference Room of the Centro Culturale Compitese, Conference: A thousand colors of tea-presentation on the manufacture of tea and its various types.
3:00 pm	Centro Culturale Compitese, Children's Theatre Company puts on a play that includes three popular folk tales entitled, “Gosto e Mea,” “La gallina secca, and “Pochettino”.
3:30 pm	Villa Orsi, Presentation/Demonstration of Chinese Tea Ceremony (Gongfucha)
4:30 pm	Villa Orsi, Afternoon tea: Two types of tea accompanied by delicious tea snacks that follow the classic British tradition of tea time ( a reservation and contribution of 4 euro is required to participate. Email: info@camelielucchesia.it)

(Please Note, the program of events can be subject to last minute changes due to weather or organizational necessity).

There are a lot more events on offer, but these are the ones I thought might interest non-Italian speakers the most.

Getting there without a car

There are two free shuttles that depart from the Historic Center of Lucca at the Piazzale Verdi Bus Stop and go directly to the festival:
Morning Shuttle: 9:30 am departure from Piazzale Verdi with a 1 pm return departing from "Borgo delle Camelie".
Afternoon Shuttle: 2:30 pm departure from Piazzale Verdi with a 6 pm return departing from "Borgo delle Camelie".

If you don't have a car, but would like to visit the festival, you can arrange for a van or taxi to pick you up, drop you off at the shuttle and then fetch you at the end of the day by contacting Tau Touring( a local taxi and van rental company) www.tautouring.it/english.html Or call the owner's wife, Morena at : 328-58-17110 If you can't get your point across to her, just tell her that Gina "l'Americana di My Tuscan Wedding" sent you and she'll have an English speaker call you back and take down your information for you. If you are willing to meet the van at Piazzale Verdi, then the cost for round-trip transport should be €20.

Getting there with a car

Driving Directions to the ticket sales office and parking lot:

From the highway:
Take A11 (Firenze-Mare) exit at Capannori. Follow directions for Lucca and at the first round about exit for Pontedera and continue straight until you pass S. Leonardo in Treponzo. After this town, the Cultural Center will be on the left, in the town of Pieve di Compito. Park on the side of the road or in the large parking lot and enter the center to purchase your entry tickets and find a shuttle bus that will take you the rest of the way.

From Downtown Lucca:
Follow the SS12 bis in the direction of Pisa until you hit Pontetetto. From Pontetetto, enter on the left the "via di Sottomonte" heading in the direction of "Pontedera". Follow the via di Sottomonte until you reach, on the right the SS439 and exit onto this road following directions for Pontedera until you reach San Leonardo in Treponzo. After this town, the Cultural Center will be on the left, in the town of Pieve di Compito. Park on the side of the road or in the large parking lot and enter the center to purchase your entry tickets and find a shuttle bus that will take you the rest of the way.

There are two places where you can buy tickets and catch the shuttle to the towns if you have a car:

Saturday and Sundays
Pieve di Compito in front of the Mill Social Club of the Compitese. In Italian you'll want to say: "Frantoio Sociale del Compitese"
Sundays Only
San Leonardo in Treponzio, in front of the District 4 head office, in Italian you want to say, "davanti al alla sede della Circoscrizione"

On a side note, I've been to this festival several times now, and I have to say, there is something very Japanese about it. Firstly, the location, two small, green hilly villages almost always covered in a bit of mist at this time of year, reminds me of the small villages where I used to go plum tree viewing in February when I lived in Japan. But then there is the simple act of choosing to spend the day just strolling and admiring the flowers, which I find incredibly Japanese. For anyone who has ever visited Japan in April for the blossoming of the cherry blossoms, you'll know what I mean.

If you happen to be marrying in Lucca this March and you and your guests have an extra day free, I would highly recommend a visit to this most unusual festival that blends a Japanese esthetic with a very Italian approach to enjoying good food and company.