ByAmyBloom
ALLINTHEFAMILY
Author AmyBloom rediscovers her love for Italywith 21 of her closest in-laws
final
words
and theTuscanyewsand theTuscanviews, andeverything
thatmakesItalyaffascinante (enchanting).
Weventuredofftheestate,withthehelpofourseductive
butfirmEnglish-speakingGPS,Ladonnadellemappe, and
intotheChiantiregion.Itwaslikegoingfromtheenchanted
castletothefairytalevillage,ifthatvillagehadanexceptional
artist (SophieRoseofL’Inganno) and several great restau-
rantsdirectlyon thePiazzaMatteotti; green, grass-scented
oliveoilIwantedtobringhomeincasks;andfoodthatmade
the thoughtofa light lunchnotonlyunlikelybutoffensive.
Greve (also known to ourGPS asGreve inChianti) was
barelyahalfhour fromourvilla (22minutes if yourdriver
isanItalian-Americanmanwiththedriving instinctsofhis
Roman forebears). Cinghiale (wildboar), nothing I’d ever
thoughtIwantedtoeat,waseverywhereanddelicious:chewy,
buttery, ripe. L’AnticaMacelleriaFalorni (AncientFalorni
Butchers, founded in 1729, “ancient”added in 1840, a little
redundantly)hadthecoldcuts(sbriciolona),cheese,oilsand
bread foreveryperfectpicnicyoucouldeverhope tohave,
including theonewehadat another enchantingplace, the
medievalcastleofMontefioralle.
Welazed.Weate.Wegotreacquainted.Auntsstrolledthe
groundswithnephews.Sistersgiggled likechildren,andthe
childrenplayedhide-and-seek in the scented gardens.We
ventured intoFlorence and theUffizi and, bedazzled and
exhausted, camehome toourvilla torecover.
Wehadourfinal familydinnerattheexceptional,nearly
hiddenIlBattibecco,underafloweryarbor.Everyonemade
toasts to Italy, to Impruneta, toYvonne (somewithwhite
peach soda, somewithamemorableChianti). Yvonne, our
leader,our lastword, liftsherglasstousandtoItaly:“We’re
not here for a long time,my dears, we’re here for a good
time.”Salud!
i
talyismyfirstandmostlastinglove,among
countries. Ithasalwaysbeen— inheartbreak, in
grief, inhard times of all sorts— come il cacio
suimaccheroni, which is, literally, like cheese
onmacaronibut is,morecharmingly (andwhat
isnotmorecharming in Italian?), justwhat the
doctorordered.
Not surprisingly, I married an Italian-
American,theoldestsonofsix,andmarried into
hisclose-knit family, runwithwarmth,easeand
thetraditionalvelvetglovebymymother-in-law.
OneLaborDayshesaid,withtheairofsomeone
casuallymusing,thatshe’dalwayswantedtorent
avilla in Italyandhave thewhole familygather
there.
Shewas as casual asPattonatBastogne.Withinweeks,
she’dspokenatlengthwithKarenThornhillofValerieWilson
Travel.(Ididn’tthinkYvonnewouldgotheAirbnbroute,and
shedidn’t. She turned to a sophisticated travel agentwho
hadvettedeveryvillasherecommendedandunderstoodnot
onlyItalybutgrandchildren,privacyandwhopaysforwhose
groceries.)Shebookedaplacefortwoweeks inthesummer.
Wewereabigbunch, 22 inall, ranging inage from6 to75,
andourvilla inImpruneta—and theentirevacation—was
likeour family: charming, sprawling,flawedandabsolutely
perfect in itsownway.
Thehousekeeping staff—bywhich Imean a sensible,
middle-agedwoman andher equallyno-nonsensedaugh-
ter—wereprepared tostopbydaily, cookand tidyup. Ifwe
wished, theywouldmakeafewdinnersforus(wedidwish),
and if thoseofuswithmoreambition thansensewished to
makedinner for22, theywerehappy to let us. Therewere
charmingbedrooms in themainhouse, loggiaseverywhere
(for private conversation, for cocktail hour and even for a
ping-pong tournament), agrottoapartment, apool. There
werepathstonowhere, linedwith lavenderandrosebushes
w
ELAZED.
WEATE.
WEGOT
RE-
ACQUAINTED.
NEWYORKTIMES
BEST-SELLERAMYBLOOM ISTHEAUTHOROFTHREE
NOVELS. SHE ISTHEONLYONE INHERFAMILYWHOSPEAKS ITALIAN.
PETEROUMANSKI
CELEBRATED LIVING • SPRING 2015
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