Una Gustosa Avventura con Savour the Sannio

Click here for English version

Il Sannio è noto per il suo miele di qualità: le api trovano ancora in questa regione ampie campagne e paesaggi arricchiti da colline, montagne, orti e frutteti. Non sorprende che questo ricco ambiente regali un prodotto ottimo e vario.

La vita come la conosciamo sulla Terra dipende molto dall’ape: è uno dei nostri più utili ed instancabili concittadini, conosciuta fin dall’antichità come proverbiale simbolo di grande lavoratrice. Oggi apprezziamo anche il ruolo di questi insetti nella indispensabile impollinazione di molti raccolti di frutta e verdure.
Si dice che se l’ape dovesse scomparire dal pianeta l’Uomo non sopravviverebbe a lungo.

Alcuni dati poco noti sulle api:
Sono dotate di 5 occhi e  volano ad oltre 35 km/h con le loro due paia di ali; un alveare in estate può ospitare in media 50.000 individui; la regina è l’unica a deporre uova, oltre 1500 al giorno, pari al peso del suo corpo; un’ape muore se perde il pungiglione; il polline viene trasportato sulle zampe posteriori; per produrre 1 etto di miele le operaie bottinatrici devono visitare mezzo milione di fiori; quindi nella sua breve vita un’operaia ne  produce mezzo cucchiaino.

C’è di che farsi ronzare le orecchie! Quindi approfittate dell’occasione per conoscere da vicino queste grandi piccole creature, e godere una giornata all’aperto in compagnia della famiglia Razzano, nella loro Azienda biologica. Sarà una magnifica scampagnata per famiglie, bambini ed amici. Ed un barattolo di miele è sempre un dolce regalo.

PROGRAMMA
10:00 -11:00 – Visite guidate alle arnie. Indosseremo le protezioni per vedere da vicino come le api vivono e sono curate nelle loro case di cera.
11:00 – 12:00 – Dimostrazione della raccolta del miele
12:00 – 13:00 – Preparazione delle marmellate. Gli ospiti potranno vedere e partecipare alle tradizionali confetture della prima frutta di stagione.
13:30 – Pranzo di 4 portate ed ottimo vino della casa
Relax dopo pranzo nei giardini, i piccoli troveranno giochi ed animali da avvicinare; oppure passeggiata in S. Agata.

“Il miele, ancor più del vino, rispecchia un luogo. Se dal grappolo al bicchiere è un cammino di alchimia, allora dal fiore al vaso è uno di riflessione. Il nettare raccolto dall’ape è spirito ed essenza della pianta, il suo succo più dolce. Il miele è il fiore trasmutato, il suo profumo e bellezza cambiati in aroma e gusto.” -Stephanie Rosenbaum.

“Le api lavorano per l’uomo, eppure mai rovinano
Il fiore del padron; ma volate, lo lasciano,
Bello e sano come sempre;
Così insieme vive il fiore e scorre il miele.” - George Herbert

Ed infine, ma da non trascurare, meglio evitare di mettere profumo, quando si sta vicino alle api!

DIREZIONI PER S. AGATA DEI GOTI DA ROMA
1. Prendere l’Autostrada del Sole AI verso Napoli e uscire a CAIANELLO (125km dal casello di Roma Sud).
2. Prendere la SS 372 Telesina (prima destra) verso Benevento.
3. Dopo 35 km prendere l’uscita per S. Agata dei Goti e Napoli.
4. Siete sul Fondo Valle dell’Isclero  (Chiamateci a questo punto.  Mancano circa 15 minuti di strada)

5. Prendere l’uscita per Sant’Agata dei Goti.  Seguire questa strada fino all’ultima uscita, girare a sinistra e poi a destra.  Questa stradina vi porterà al bivio per l’Ape Regina (sulla destra) dopo circa un kilometro.

Rispettando tutti i limiti di velocità il tempo di percorrenza non supera 3 ore e mezza.

DA NAPOLI prendere l’Autostrada del Sole A1 verso nord e uscire a Caserta Sud.  Seguire indicazioni per Marcianise o Benevento.  Circa 1km seguire indicazioni verso destra per Benevento/Maddaloni/Telese.  Dopo 3.5 km uscire a destra per Benevento.  Dopo circa 4km girare a sinistra seguendo indicazioni per Telese/Sant’Agata dei Goti.  Dopo aver passati sotto l’Aquedotto Carolino, dopo circa 9km prendere la seconda uscita che indica Sant’Agata dei Goti. (chiamateci a questo punto.  Mancano circa 5 minuti)  Questa stradina vi porterà al bivio per l’Ape Regina (sulla destra) dopo circa un kilometro.

by Leslie Xavier– 03/17/2009

I was recently invited by some friends to tour the Biblioteca Nazionale located in the Royal Palace.  When I think of old libraries I think Trinity College,  New York City Public Library or Harvard Library;

prodigious centers of learning and scholarly research with huge tomes containing secrets long forgotten.  Bespectacled clerks solemnly stamping endless piles of books in the reverent silence;  dim research

rooms lined with ceiling-high bookshelves lit only by the small lamps with green glass shades in the precise center of each research table.  And finally, the smell – that sweet stuffy smell of old books and old

wood or the carbon matter of brains burning brightly.  Needless to say, I was thrilled to join them.

My tour starts with a “cappuccio” at Gran Café Gambrinus, one of Naples oldest and most venerable cafés.  This is an adventure in itself.  Rumored to have been the hangout of Oscar Wilde, its polished and

often snooty staff now serve pricey coffee and cocktails to an interesting cross-section of humanity.  Don’t get me wrong, the show is worth the cost of admission (have a coffee, but at the bar).  The clientele

vary from local gentry nodding and talking to their favorite waiter, the chic exec impressing a date or clients,  ragazzi gathered in raucous groups or the smitten tourist bedazzled with just being

in Naples.  For those of you who love to people-watch, this is a real treat.

After coffee we headed across the street to the East Branch of the Royal Palace which is on Piazza Trieste e Trento.  We enter through  the lush gardens designed by botanist Denardt and pass the massive Main Entrance to the Royal Apartments.  There’s a sumptuous staircase laden with pink marble from Madragone, Portovenere and Vitulano and crushed stone from Sicily.  It is not difficult to imagine gallant courtiers arriving on mounts and others lingering to enjoy the shade of the garden with its exotic plants.

We step into the library entrance and meet our tour guide, Lucia Marinelli, who is with the American Section.  Yes, I said American Section.  The library maintains an excellent collection of American works.

Lucia is the unoffical English speaking embassador for the library.

We begin in the heart of the library – the research areas.  I’m thrilled to see it just as I had imagined but I would certainly have a difficult time studying here as I would find my time spent studying the art and

architecture over my books. Lucia explains the lovely rooms with its baroque decorations along with stories behind the elegant moldings.  Rumor has it that the queen used certain moldings to spy on courtiers

to insure she was the most elegant woman there before presenting herself to court.

The library’s holdings have an incredible history starting with its inception in 1734 around the Farnese collection from Capodimonte and increasing in size with the addition of new material from monastic libraries after the dissolution of religious orders as well as from donations and acquisitions of private collections.  The library was officially opened in 1804 to the public.  We wound our way through a miriad of book collections and unusual rooms.

We eventually found our way to the Papyri Room. The room contains 1,792 ancient papyri from the city of Herculaneum which was destroyed along with Pompeii in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D.  When the Villa of the Papyri was was excavated in the 18th century, many of the papyri were thought to be merely charred pieces of wood. On display are a few of the carbonized papyri along with a peculiar machine invented by Antonio Piaggio to miraculously unroll them (it took nearly 40 years to unroll the 900 that are visible today). We were actually able to actually see the papyri – its texture like a dried leaf that at the slightest touch would crumble.  Tthe curator Agnese Travaglione explained the efforts being made to photograph, preserve and decipher the ancient texts on these scrolls which are thought to be from the 3rd century to the 1st century AD.  Modern day spectral analysis and computer-enhanced photography done by Brigham Young University have done an incredible job of saving the contents for posterity.  Mrs. Travaglione provided a very informative commentary on the research and significance of these texts, comparing them to other literary works of the time.  All of this translated for us by Lucia in great detail and with great enthusiasm and expertise.

Next, the Fondo Aosta Room, a collection of memorabilia from the French duchess Elena d’Aosta, wife of Emanuel Filiberto, Duke of Aosta.  This has to be one of the most eccentric exhibits I’ve seen in

Italy.  The exhibit contains two rooms of trophy animals and some 9,000 pictures documenting the life and times of the woman who won the hearts and imagination of the Neapolitans.   Imagine the head and

pelt of a huge giraffe mounted on the wall across from a now extinct triple-horned black rhino.  Don’t trip on the Zebra head that is part of a rug.  Black and white photos tell the story of an intrepid

adventuress as well as a decorated nurse and explorer.  I felt a bit chagrined though as Lucia explained that the exhibit was important as many of the animals displayed there are now extinct.  Hmmmm, maybe

we took one too many trophies?  Regardless, you cannot help but feel the exhilaration of her personality still there among her belongings.  This exhibit is open to the public only upon special request.

Finally we ended our tour with the “Manuscripts and Rare Items Section” which is one of the most important archives of its type in Europe. The curator,  Maria Rosaria Grizzuti, was waiting for our group and filled us with enthusiasm for her work and that of the library.  How could she not be excited with the delicious assortment of manuscripts: from examples of the 11th century “Scriptura Beneventana” to a manuscript of the “Gerusalemme Conquistata” by Tasso.  In all, I believe the library’s archies hold over 32,000 manuscripts; the ones display were used as teaching tools and her explanations of the history of the illuminated texts were wonderful.  I came away with a much broader understanding of manuscripts in general.

What a fabulous tour and the cost?????  Zero, nada, niente – that’s right nothing!  This is a service offered to the public free of charge.  How do you get into the library and see these wonderful sights?  The

Room of the Papyri is open each day and you are free to visit.  Check out this link to the library’s site in English -  http://www.bnnonline.it/traduzio/eng/info.htm .  Here you can get the hours for your visit as

well as a map and directions to the library.  The manuscript room and the Fondo Aosta Room require a guide.  You can reserve an English speaking guide.  I will be scheduling a small tour like this one in

April in conjunction with our April tour.  I will post information on this later so stay tuned and check out the site http://www.iasnaples.org/index2.htm.

APRIL 17th, 24th and MAY 1st, 2010

(versione italiana)

Fresh, hot bread.  A rush of old memories.   Who can resist the smell of it, or the temptation to rush into the baker’s and buy a slab of hot pizza bianca?

My grandfather had a clever saying on how to remember where the sun rises and sets.  “It’s like bread”, he’d say in his thick yiddish accent. “It rises in the yeast and it sets behind the vest.”

Although small bakeries are getting harder to find in the big cities, we are fortunate to live in a part of Italy where people still make home-made bread that stays fresh for days, baked in their outdoor wooden-burning ovens.

And that’s an experience we’d like to share with you: a hands-on experience; kneading the dough, baking the pizzas and brushing off the loaves of casareccio - mixed with laughter, friendship and fine food.

With the collaboration the Mustilli family, famous for their exceptional Falanghina and Aglianico, Savour the Sannio invites you to spend a weekend in the region where, in addition to learning a few local recipes you will also taste the region’s superb wines.

My grandmother used to say, “If you can bake bread, you can make a living”. Come and learn from locals.

Calling all vegetarians! This is the perfect outing for you!

PROGRAM-Day One (Saturday)

-Arrival in Sant’Agata dei Goti and check-in at the Agriturismo Mustilli

-Welcome aperitivo in the gardens of the Mustilli home for a tasting of their latest wine: Spumante di Falanghina.

-Lunch and wine-tasting at Palazzo Rainone. Owner and enologist Leonardo Mustilli will explain the process of making wine today and guide us through a tasting of his renowned Falanghina and Aglianico.

-Visit to the 16th century wine cellars hewn into the tufa rock.

- Preparing the bread and kneading the dough.
- Cooking lesson: Pancotto.  A traditional recipe made with dried bread, vegetables and extravirgin olive oil.
-Preparation of the wood-burning oven and baking of the bread.
-Dinner with at the Mustilli wine bar

PROGRAM-Day Two (Sunday)
-Breakfast
-Visit to the outdoor market
-Guided tour of the city.

PRICE
Adults: 185,00 euro per person with double room occupancy
Children ages 0-3: Free  (you pay only for their meals)
Children ages 3-6: Half price.

Price includes:

- double room occupancy with breakfast
-Welcome aperitivo
- Three course lunch with bottled wine
- wine-tasting
- bread-baking and cooking lessons
- Visit to the Mustilli winery and wine museum
- Dinner with music
- personal guide and interpreter
- Guided tour of S. Agata dei Goti

Click here to read about last year’s tour.

To reserve your place contact Barbara Goldfield at barbaragoldfield@savourthesannio.com or call 0823.953663 or 347.1416866

This exclusive event is limited to no more than 8 people per date.  The B&B requires two weeks advance notice so please sign up immediately to reserve your place.
We must reach a minimum of 6 people to hold this event.

DIRECTIONS BY CAR TO S. AGATA DEI GOTI FROM ROME
1. take the AI motorway south towards Naples and exit at CAIANELLO (125km from the Roma Sud tollgate).
2. take the SS 372 Telesina (first right) towards Benevento.
3. after 35 km take the exit for S. Agata dei Goti and Naples.
4. you will now be on the Fondo Valle dell’Isclero  (call us at this point.  You are about 15 minutes away)
5. Take exit for Sant’Agata dei Goti.  Follow this road to its natural end, then take a left and then a right.  This winding road will take you to the central square of Sant’Agata where we will be waiting for you.

By respecting all the speed limits the trip should take no more that 3 1/2 hours.

FROM NAPLES take the A1 Motorway north and exit at Caserta Sud.  Follow the signs for Benevento and Telese. After passing the Carolino Aqueduct, take the second exit marked Sant’Agata dei Goti. (call us at this point.  You are about 5 minutes away)  Follow this road for 5 km, then turn left, cross the bridge to central square of Sant’Agata where we will be waiting for you.

Click here to see published Italian Notebook article

S. Pasquale is the patron saint of fertility, wealth and abundance.  The citizens of Airola are particularly devoted to him as he is considered the protector of  women and animals!   

Born in Spain in 1540 the saint’s surname, Baylon, means a person who likes dancing and is derived from the Spanish word bailar.  The story narrates that a childless couple met a man who told them to take part in the dance rituals of Obando, Bulacan. When the husband and wife arrived at the church, they were stunned to find that the face of the man they had met was identical to the church’s image of St. Paschal.

The procession of Airola lasts three days. A group of seven collatori (from the verb accollare: to saddle or take upon one’s shoulders) carry the 18th century wooden statue of the saint on their shoulders.  They are preceded by the town’s marching band and followed by barefoot men and women chanting hymns to S. Pasquale. They cover the entire town and its outskirts on foot, stopping in front of every household.  Outside, a table is set with the finest hand-embroidered tablecloths.  (Apartment dwellers hang their most beautiful crocheted and hand-made cloths from their balconies)  The statue then is lowered so that the saint is almost at eye level.  (In the past, this was done so that the worshippers could pin money to the statue, a practice now considered ‘pagan’ and prohibited by the Church)  Then the collatori, with a single movement, launch the statue (weighing 130kg) above their heads and bring it back to rest on to their shoulders.  This movement is repeated hundreds of times each day.  

Back at the church of S. Pasquale, packages of  incense and blessed bread are handed out to the farmers who will feed it to their animals and to the townfolk who will give it to their unwed daughters as a help in their search for a husband. At around 10,00 pm the statue is returned to the church where it is anxiously awaited by the townspeople and lavished with golden confetti before being put to rest for the night. 

Two thousand three hundred years age, the Via Appia (or Appian Way)  was built to connect Rome with the city of Capua - now S. Maria Capua Vetere - (’vetere’= vecchio=old). The road started at Porta Capena, one of the rare cases where the gate bears the name of the place it was headed to - an indication of Capua’s wealth and strategic importance to the Roman Republic.

Due to its wealth Capua was also home to one of the most important gladiator schools, made famous by Spartacus, who excercised and fought here and from which he organized the slave rebellion of 73 B.C.  The current arena, second biggest after the Colosseum in Rome, was built in the 2nd century A.D. by the Emperor Hadrian.

Stairways and ramps run throughout what remains of the original tiers, similar to the Colosseum, while below the arena floor ie vast subterranean passages with vaulted ceilings and a network of tunnels 170 meters long and 140 meters wide. Here the scenery and props, gladiators and animals waited to be lifted by elevators into the arena… (literally “sand” in Latin, as in the sand which covered the floor of the fighting area).

The amphitheater is both spectacular and evocative, not only for its beauty and magnificence, but because there are so few visitors.  One can’t help but feel like an 18th century traveller, rediscovering long forgotten ruins under a warm, clear blue sky. Nowadays you can wander here for hours without seeing more than 4 or 5 people, a far cry from the 50,000 spectators that would regularly fill the amphitheater 2000 years ago.