Fosdinovo

On Saturday, we decided to brave the weather and check out some local castles. The one here is Massa is not still in use, according to my co-worker Roberto, so it does not present as much to see. But we headed up there anyhow, to see the view of the city. It was Joyce's last day with us, so we were all a bit sad. The castle was in fact closed, but we were able to see Massa from above, and get a few pictures before the rain started up.



We then headed to the northwest, out of Massa, up into the mountains. Roberto recommended the castle at Fosdinovo as a good stop. It's a very small, medieval walled city with a castle at the highest point. We wound around the hills and mountains, higher and higher, and narrow curving roads. Go minivan go! Light mist and heavy cloud cover didn't deter us, but we did end up being quite a bit cold later in the day. Finally, around another bend and the little hilltop city was in view. We had to pull over for photos because the view was so magnificent. It is sad that our little cameras just don't do it justice.

Fosdinovo dates back to at least the 1200s. Stories of ghosts and poisoned kings add to the intrigue. The famous Malespina family still owns this and many other castles, and visits this one in the summertime. It was probably only 40 or 45 degrees in the city, and we were underdressed!


We found a little Ristorante, and since we were hungry and needed to find a bathroom, we headed in. The waitress seemed put out that we'd arrive so late for lunch. (It was 2:40, and lunch is typically 1-3.) Nonetheless she gave us a table in the otherwise empty back room. There were paintings of little bats on the wall, which the girls loved. I told the waitress that I was sorry and that I didn't speak Italiano ("Mi dispiace, non parlo italiano", but she continued to speak to us in Italian much of the time.) We quickly realized that she probably hated her job, and was not too keen about us, so we tried to keep our best manners.

There was no menu. We ordered pasta- pasta with olio, pasta with ragu, pasta with pesto, and pasta with cinghaule (wild boar). The adults loved the noodles- home made and nice and hot. But the girls, well, Cami and Hailey, were not big fans. So they ate bread. Ellie and Maisie chowed down. The warm food helped warm us up as well! The waitress seemed bothered that I would ask for more bread.



The ultimate was when she and another girl came into the back room and started playing video slots. I commented, "This is probably her only hope of getting out of this little city!"


After lunch, Jess decided to take Maisie back to the car, because they were cold. So Joyce and the other girls went with me up to the castle itself. It was fabulous! We walked into the little room where the tour started, and they had nothing written in English- and nobody working there could help us. But we met Gastone and Alessandra, a nice older couple up from Roma for the weekend. They were so sweet, and the spoke enough English to help us get us onto the tour which was about to start, and Alessandra even helped me negotiate a discount because of the language barrier! I snuck a few (illegal) photos on the tour, and we enjoyed walking up and down little staircases, and out onto parapets and castle walls, and through old kitchens, a dungeon, and a throne room. The girls really enjoyed themselves, as did Joyce and I. Gastone would tell us the salient points about each room, after the guide was done speaking. The guide told the men on the tour that tradition said they would become "prosperous" if they rubbed the carved wooden pomegranate on the big bed's headboard. The guide turned to me, and made a joke in reference to all my children, which Gastone translated, "You don't need to rub the pomegranate!, she says' "




The girls enjoyed the big dirty bathtub, out in the courtyard. So what if it was marble and from Roman times!


The special part of the castello tour for me was realizing that virtually no Americans make it to this tour. Massa-Carrara is already way off the beaten path, Gastone said. Let alone up into the hills to this little town. "Most English tourists will only go to the Cinque Terra, if they come up this way at all", said Alessandra. We walked back down from the castle with our new friends, and learned a bit more about them and their mini-vacation. Then we parted ways near the little ristorante (the evil waitress glared at me for asking if the girls could use the bano again!), and headed to our car.

Jess fixed an incredible dinner of insalata caprese, grilled zucchini, and steamed broccoli. Joyce bought flowers for Jess to celebrate the news of bambino/bambina cinque. We capped off the great day with three flavors of gelato.


Joyce and I got up at 3:45am to get her back to Peretola airport in Firenze. The drive over was fine, and Joyce and I shared great conversation about our two weeks altogether. She was a huge help for our family, playing with the girls and taking them for walks and otherwise just helping us get adjusted- so we are all very sad to see her head home.

The drive home was hard! The rain poured down, so I slowed to 70km/hour at times, and I missed my turn to Massa. But the road down to Pisa, before rejoining the A12 to the north, was actually much straighter, and dawn broke and the rain stopped before I got home. Today has been a cleaning day, though we might go for a walk up to the town square in a few minutes.