in italiano 
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The truffle: A jewel of the soil
The truffle: A jewel of the soil
November perhaps isn't the best month to visit Italy because fog and rain
could spoil your travel, but many people choose this season to take a look
at the wonderful colours of Tuscan Fall.
Fortunately the air is still almost warm, the lows are about 5°C (41°F) and
higs about 15°C (59°F).
What about "tartufo", truffle in english? Some may not know about this
special mushroom, and others will never like it because of its strong smell
and taste (do you know, in Italy it's forbidden to bring it on the train
without a thick wrapping).
Truffles are a particular mushroom that grow underground, on the roots of
some trees like oaks; its very intense smell makes it very popular in
italian cooking, as a spice for some kinds of pasta and meat. Different
kinds of truffles exist, from the summer truffle, more common but less
tasty, to the white truffle, rare and very perfumed. To find a truffle
isn't easy, we need the help of a friend with a very sensitive nose. Until
some time ago people used pigs which, like wild boars, are usually seeking
truffles to eat it, but the best truffle finder is the dog, trained for
that. A long training of a dog is a good investment, I remind you the price
of a truffle can be over some thousands of dollars; that's really the black
gold of Italy!
For more about truffles see www.truffle.com (in Italian, maybe the
English version will be available soon).
Tuscany offers a lot of occasions to enjoy the truffle flavour, for example:
This month I want to tell you about the Massacuccoli Lake; this coastal lake of Versilia (Lucca) is part of the natural park of Migliarino-San Rossore and is one of more preserved lacustrine environment in Italy, site of stop for many kind of birds.
The clean water of the lake and the colours of the woods surrounding it invites people to do a trip by rowing-boat, which you can rent in Torre del Lago or calling teh 0586 350424.
Torre del Lago is famous also because was the residence of the musician Giacomo Puccini, the author of Turandot and Madama Butterfly; you'll find here his home-museum. For further information about Puccini see www.puccini.it and about the park of Massaciuccoli lake www.parks.it/parco.migliarino.san.rossore/Eindex.html
For visitors interested in farm holidays, this month the Toscana Agriturismo site has a new entry, the Farm Cicalino, near Massa Marittima and very close to the sea; see at www.toscana.agriturismo.net/grosseto/cicalino/
Lodging.it has some new apartments in Florence and a new section dedicated to the apartments in Venice and Rome; let find it using the internal search engine at www.lodging.it/lodging.htm
I advise you to take a look at www.cosci.it, a new web shop of leather goods handmade in Italy, according to the Florentin tradition.
Good November!
· Accommodation in Tuscany: :
Il Guelfo apartment Weekly Price: Min. € 1.250,00 Max. € 1.550,00 Number of Beds: 4   |
Sovicille 749 Weekly Price: Min. € 460,00 Max. € 1.100,00 Number of Beds: 26 |
Pomarance 1271 Weekly Price: Min. € 540,00 Max. € 750,00 Number of Beds: 18 |
Pratovecchio 614 Weekly Price: Min. € 812,00 Max. € 1.022,00 Number of Beds: 16 |
