This particular weekend was an eventful one. The main reason why it was so eventful was because of Boyfriend’s parents coming to visit us. For the whole weekend. In their camper van.
Now this for me was a strange idea, as I don’t know a single person who owns a camper-van (other than them, obviously) and the idea of driving around in one and then just parking it up in a random car park somewhere… Well, I don’t really get it. But nevertheless, they came to “stay”, and parked up below our apartment in a ‘non-parking, your car will be towed away if we find it here’ area, obviously.
Anyway, his parents are from Padova, Veneto and so coming down to our part of the world, we wanted to show them the best that this region has to offer… Which in other words means, a huge quantity of gnocco fritto, tigelle and Lambrusco.
Anyway, as the ‘rents were now the visitors, Boyfriend and I knew this would mean lots of eating out. So, the first night we went to a place called Embassy, which we had been to already several times before. The idea is to buy a drink, meaning a cocktail be it alcoholic or not, and it costs 8€. Then, you can eat as much food as you wish to from their buffet selection, which has a lot of food from this region. In general, this place is pretty decent but is definitely aimed at a younger clientele. Don’t think Boyfriend’s parents, who are in their 60s, were overly enthralled by the place, and I have to say that evening was (knowing my luck) the worst it had ever been, due to it being a Saturday. There was a massive table of Italian “youths” who basically don’t understand that other humans exist. When in a group, it seems they have a tendency to believe they have right-of-way when it comes to… well everything. Moving furniture, pushing past you, generally not apologising when they almost cause you to impale yourself on a coat rack, that type of thing. The place had also put our name down for the wrong date, which wasn’t as such helpful given the quantity of people, and so we waited around 30mins as they figured out where to place us and move the quantity of furniture necessary. Generally, it’s good if you want something a bit different that’s quick and easy in a lively environment.
The next day (Sunday), we had booked a table at a restaurant recommended to us by our housemate (the one from Calabria, meaning when it comes to food, he knows what he’s talking about) and so off we went to Ustaria Tre Valli, Castelvetro. The restaurant doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside it’s really pretty. It’s got a strange layout, with varying rooms on different floors. The ground floor is the main one, with the kitchen closed off in the centre and the tables are placed around it in a square shape wrapping around the building. The place is very open as it has lots of windows and this particular weekend it had snowed in Castelvetro, so the views were breathtakingly beautiful looking onto a snow-covered vineyard. The wine we ordered was locally sourced, being a Lambrusco from a vineyard called Sorbara. Delicious.
The food, I have to say, was equally as brilliant, however not for small stomachs! I made the mistake of ordering lasagne… And when it came it was basically two massive slabs of lasagna on one plate, all for me… I had already ordered a main, but with it being a Sunday, the kitchen got a bit confused and sent my main to a different table so I ended up without… Which paid off in the end as I had space for dessert. They came to our table with a tray filled with little dessert pots and explained the different desserts they had to offer, which was really useful for me as, although I speak Italian, my food vocabulary is lacking and so the visualisation helped. Especially when one of the desserts is called ‘chocolate salami’ and you start thinking that its actually a chocolate sausage… Turns out its like a chocolate yule log with biscuits inside, and its cut into slices, meaning the inside has the same pattern as a salami would have… Very confusing, but anyhow. I ordered the mascarpone with nutella and I could have eaten at least 10000000 more. Definitely a great place to visit on a Sunday with friends and family.
After this very filling lunch, we went to the close-by town/village type place called Castelvetro. I’d already been here before in the summer but it was beautiful to see it with a dusting of snow. There are stairs leading up to the main square which has the pattern of a chessboard, with a clocktower placed in the centre. The height of this borgo antico (Translation: ancient tiny village hamlet place) allows fantastic panoramic views across the land. Around the centre are a few restaurants and, for those of you reading who studied Italian with me, there was also an albergo diffuso! There is also a place that makes balsamic vinegar called an acetaia and was strangely the exact brand that my Dad buys back in the UK (see photos below).
Overall, a very filling weekend, both food and time-wise. If you’re ever in this area, would definitely recommend Ustaria Tre Valli and an afternoon stroll around Castelvetro.
Living the Italian Lifestyle 