The most popular day trip from Barcelona is the ascent of craggy Montserrat, topped with a vast monastery and dotted with hermit’s caves. First a short train ride from Plaça Espanya, as we watch the serrated pinnacles piercing the clouds ahead then the Cremallera de Montserrat, a cog railway that zigzags up, up, up through the clouds to the holy mount.

Shrouded in mystery and rife with millenias- old legends (Saint Peter brought an image of the Virgin here?) the jagged mount is the site of a Benedictine monastery tucked into the crags. The pure voices of the Escolania boys choir, Europe’s oldest choral school, soar to the vaulted ceiling of the Renaissance- era basilica daily at 1 pm.

A pilgrimage site second only to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain, Montserrat is laced with walking trains to caves, chapels, and photo-worthy vistas. Funiculars can take you even further up the pinnacles.

Our trip down, via the Aerie, goes much faster than the zig zag ascent, which took about twenty minutes. We swoop down through the clouds and in about five minutes we see our destination and gently swing into the station, and soon we’re on the train back to Barcelona. In just a short time, we’ve experienced a unique part of Catalonia, not to be missed!

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The The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe.
Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the south of France. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.
While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over thirty years of teaching experience, and a travel and food writer specializing in France and Italy.

Wednesday is market day in Vias, when we load up our market basket with all sorts of goodies – an assortment of green and black olives from big wooden tubs, tapenade, nuts, cheese from the Pyrenees, a roast chicken from our friend Matie, who’s always happy to see us and tries out her English to welcome us, some sweet onions from the nearby town of Lezignan, pale green spring artichokes, plump purple eggplant, so shiny you can almost see your smile in them.

We duck into the church, whose side door, usually closed, is open for shoppers to stop in for a quick prayer of thank you for the bounty of the season. The vivid stained glass windows toss their colors across the floor as we

quietly walk through.

Returning home, we greet Alain, our neighbor, who shows off his garden-fresh produce and gives us a bag full of fava beans that he’s just picked.

A spot of house-cleaning, getting the place ready for incoming renters, and then time for lunch.

And what a feast we reward ourselves with! First course – Alain’s beans, pulled from the pod and dipped in sea salt – drizzled with a bit of olive oil.

The table’s groaning with our market haul – roasted eggplant, red pepper, and onions, steamed artichokes, roast chicken, and a chilled bottle of rosé from the Faugeres area, an excellent wine producing region of the Languedoc, our province of France.

We’re sure thankful for the beauty and bounty of Vias!

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The winter months are prime time for the “black diamonds”of Provence. The hunting begins in late fall in time for the holiday demand, when prices skyrocket. January seems to be the peak month, when the truffle markets and hunts thrive. Last year we joined a hunt near L’Isle sur la Sorgue, when on a Saturday late in January our friends Xavier and Gloria picked us up here in Aix for the hour plus drive north to meet our guide, Geo of Truffles of the Luberon, and other treasure seekers. We rendezvous at a roadside picnic area, meet and greet, and get back in our cars to follow Geo down a backroad out into the country. There are about ten of us, all French except for Kirk, Gloria, and me.
Geo tells us about the fragrant black truffles of the area, prized by restauranteurs and foodies, and his two dogs, one an Australian shepherd, and the other, who’s just starting to learn the skills of the hunt, a Corsican hound.

The dogs bound off to sniff below the scrub oaks, and soon are scratching at the ground. Geo hurries over as Beirut begins scratching in earnest, and pulls the dog away as he carefully explores the area with his pick. Bingo! It’s a big one! And the reward? Lots of affirmation and cuddles for Beirut…but he does want something more concrete, and sniffs Geo’s pockets. He knows what’s in there! And soon gets his treat.

Geo passes the truffle around – aah – imagine it generously grated over pasta, or risotto, or tucked under the skin of a roasting chicken. I’m getting hungry…

What fun it is to tramp around the countryside, enjoying the views and the fresh air. Across the valley is the pretty village of Saumanes, tucked up against the cliffs. One of the ladies, who knows the area well, tells us it’s worth a visit, with a charming square and church. There are so many beautiful places to explore in France – we could never run out of discoveries!

We all head back to our cars and drive to Geo’s home, where he empties his pockets of today’s “catch” and weighs the truffles. It’s rather a slim haul today, as it has been this season, due to an extremely dry summer. For truffles to grow, there has to be enough rain from June to September, and this year there was almost none. Guess that just makes the prize more valuable and precious!

Neither of our two couples buy any – it’s enough for us to experience the hunt. We’ve smelled the truffles, and have tasted them in several restaurants previously… and now we’ve seen in person where they come from.

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The The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe.
Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the south of France. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.
While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over thirty years of teaching experience, and a travel and food writer specializing in France and Italy.

We’ve only been here a few hours, but have already been astounded by the history and sights within a few feet of our hotel in the old Sultanahmet district. We walk out the door, and there’s an ancient bazaar, full of tempting treasures, with the majestic Blue Mosque towering behind. A few steps further and there’s the Haghia Sophia (left) , the former center of Orthodox Christianity dating from 537 A.D.
We’re welcomed to the Hotel Seraglio with Turkish coffee and Turkish delight – both delicious. We’re both surprised by what Turkish delight actually is – we expected something overly sweet, more candy-like. But this is rather like a chewy marshmallow, not sugary, rolled in shredded coconut. Yum! We’re looking forward to trying more flavors.

Through the years, we’ve learned that Rick Steve’s travel books are just right for a first-time visit to a city. Kirk is leading us on the historic core walk from Steve’s Istanbul tourbook.
We gawk at the mosques, then go under- ground…. and into a forest of columns, reminding us of the Cathedral in Cordoba, Spain. Is this another center of worship? No, it’s an underground cistern, built by the Emperor Justinian at the same time as Haghia Sophia to provide water for the city.

It’s an astounding engineering feat, with its 336 columns supporting brick vaults high above. There are just a few inches of water in the cistern now, but it used to be 6 feet deep.Back above ground, we enter the Haghia Sophia, ascending a stone ramp to the upper gallery. Emperor Justinian demanded the biggest dome in the world way back in the 6th century, and that’s what he got.A beautiful pattern of lights,  suspended from the dome far above., adds to the beauty of the space.
They were added in the 1800′s by Ottoman rulers – candlelight at that time. Must have been magical! It is as bright as daylight when you stand beneath the lights on the ground floor.
Covered with plaster or whitewash during the Ottoman regime, exquisite Byzantine mosaics have been carefully exposed now that the space is a museum rather than a mosque.

We’ve seen photo after photo of the glittering Deesis mosaic, Christ responding to his mother Mary and John the Baptist, but the gaze of those eyes, in person, is soulfully shiver- inducing.
To make such a realistic face with tiny pieces of stone – amazing!
As we walk from Haghia Sophia towards the Blue Mosque, the  call to prayer trembles in the air above…. wafting from first one mosque, then another, then another.
We are charmed with this city, an exotic taste of the far East on the edge of Europe.

You can enjoy more of our journey with a simple click or two:

Night and Day in Byzantium

Lunch on Another Continent

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The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe.
Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the south of France. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.
While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over thirty years of teaching experience, and a travel and food writer specializing in France and Italy.

It all begins with an innocent glance. Those villas and elegant apartments in the Immobilier (Real Estate office) window look so enticing. From a glance, a pause evolves. Taking our morning coffee on that sunny terrace becomes imaginable. Entertaining friends beside that ancient 18^th century fireplace mantle just seems right.

Then we pick up the brochure advertising properties for sale; thumbing through it refines our preferences, separating what we don’t like from what we do.

Then we start to dream….of a place of our own right here in this magical city.

Aix en Provence, just 20 minutes north of Marseilles, has long been a favorite of ours, and continues to be so, any time of the year. Our very first Music and Markets tour, Music and Markets in Provence, was inspired by the music festivals nearby and the delightful open-air markets of Aix and other Provençal towns, and Aix is our base each summer for the week of music, cuisine, culture and discovery. Aixoise products find their way to our refrigerator and pantry in our home in Virginia and last May we introduced her charms to our daughter, her husband, and our grandchildren. Often, we enjoyed a symphony orchestra, a string quartet, or a piano solo in one of Aix’s several world class performance venues or churches. A few Aixoise – both American expats and people who’ve lived here all their lives – have become fast friends.

For several years we’ve been gathering those Real Estate brochures each time we visit, and becoming more and more attached to the notion that Aix is the place we want to retire some day, dividing our time here with months closer to our children and grandchildren. We’d circle apartments that looked like a good fit for us, dream some more, then toss the brochures in the trash when we got back to the States.

For the past two Januarys we’ve rented an apartment in Aix for the month, using the time to improve our French at International School, and getting a feel for living here, rather than just breezing through like tourists. Those months have just cemented our desire to be here even longer, and those glances in the immobilier windows that became pauses have developed this year into appointments with agents and visits to empty apartments in town. But should we rent long term? Should we buy? A meeting with a friendly banker who was familiar with the real estate market was the final incentive to get us searching in earnest at the end of January. He explained how prices in Aix, typically on the rise, have been flat for some time, and that mortgage rates right now are at an all time low.

There is no multiple listing service in France, so, armed with our banker’s pre-approval, we began by searching out every immobilier we could find in the town, peering with real purpose now in the windows at the photos, learning the abbreviations and acronyms, and jotting down phone numbers of agencies with interesting properties. But what are we looking for? What do we really want?

The apartment we’ve rented this January has a terrace – we’d like that, wonderful views over the roofs to both the Town Hall and cathedral bell towers – we’d like a view, and the delight of hearing the hourly bells chime would be another plus. And this apartment is 58 square meters, around 600 square feet – this is an adequate amount of space to live in for months at a time. But one thing this place lacks that we’d also like is, as the advertisements say, charme de l’ancien – the charm of the ancient – which to us means tomettes (hexagonal terracotta tiles) on the floor, long windows, and high ceilings. We also determined to limit our search to the historic center of town – a pretty small circle compared to the hundreds of available newer apartments around the perimeter. One more thing, many of Aix’s beautiful honey colored stone buildings have handsomely carved wooden doors with ornate carved stone surrounds. We add this typical kind of curb appeal along with an inviting entryway to our agreed upon unwritten list of “nice to haves”.

Kirk has to fly back to the states, but I stay on a couple of days longer, talking with multiple real estate agents, and visiting about ten apartments. The first one is so uninteresting that I don’t even take notes. The second one is spacious and bright (a traverse meaning it has windows on not just one side but two), but needs a lot of work – I’m overwhelmed as the agent starts telling me he’d first knock this wall down to open up the kitchen, then renovate the bathroom bringing it into the 21^st century from the 19^th. “With about 40,000 euros of renovation you could really make this great,” he continued. I’m not too good at imagining the finished product in an in-need-of-work place. And the idea of handling contractors and laborers from thousands of miles away, for months of work, on top of everything else we do each day, is hard to imagine. So this one, we can’t even consider.  For two days I visit one place after another, and start to realize that an apartment with the size that’s right for us, in the historic center, with some of that old-fashioned charm seldom comes along.

I fly home with pages and pages of notes, dozens of photos, and thousands of euros worth of renovation suggestions to share with Kirk.

How soon can we get back – BOTH of us this time? This is not a choice I want to try to make alone. We start making plans for a February visit, a week FULL of apartment visits….

To be continued.

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The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe.
Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the south of France. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.
While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over thirty years of teaching experience, and a travel and food writer specializing in France and Italy.

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The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe.

Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the south of France. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.

While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over thirty years of teaching experience, and a travel and food writer specializing in France and Italy.

Prague’s  elegant Rudolfinum is one of the most beautiful concert venues of Europe…and the May 25th evening performance was like no other we have heard there or elsewhere.
We all were spellbound as Giora Fieldman entered the concert hall from a side door, whispering a haunting tune on his clarinet. He approached the stage, and invited us all to sing/hum a single note. With the foundation of our voices, he began the extraordinary concerto (Concerto for Giora) composed for him by  conductor Peter Breiner, accompanied by the Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra.
We didn’t know the clarinet could be played sooo softly.

Giora Fieldman wept and moaned into his clear plexiglass clarinet; then whispered, growled, squawked and screamed into it and the audience melted.
The melody of this amazing piece stays with us for the following days, and the memory of the joyous conductor/composer, who practically danced his way through the piece. Giora, who has played for decades, is so comfortable with his instrument that he can interact

enthusiastically with the audience, orchestra, and conductor…his love for music and people nearly GLOWS.
An unforgettable evening….

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The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe.

Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the Languedoc in the south of France. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.

While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over thirty years of teaching experience, and a travel and food writer specializing in France and Italy.

No excuse for spending big bucks in Rome!

La dolce vita? Yes, Romans still live it, and if you join them in their haunts, it doesn’t have to break the bank. From pizza to piazzas, fountains to frescoes, markets to monuments, Rome overflows with affordable pleasures, made even more enjoyable since Romans went all out to polish their city for the Year 2000 Jubilee proclaimed by the pope.

After decades of grungy grayness, Vittorio Emmanuele II’s massive tumble of white marble looks more than ever like its nickname – “Wedding Cake”; and the refreshing fountains throughout the city are sparkling oases of crystal-clear water. And the best and thriftiest way to enjoy this easily walkable city is as the Romans do –a piede.

We planned a “fountain tour” to keep us out in the sunshine and on our feet on our first jet-lagged day, and began it by joining the locals in their social center: always-bustling Piazza Navona. With its impressive Baroque architecture and glorious Bernini fountains, it’s been a hub of activity since beginning life as a stadium in the first century. Today we have trouble finding sitting room on a fountain ledge as we enjoy the first gelato of the trip – a mouthwatering chocolate tartufo con panna (truffle gelato with whipped cream) from Tre Scalini.

Trampled lettuce leaves and stray pieces of cardboard are being swept up by city custodians as we copycat a signorina and swish our arms in the tureen-shaped fountains of Campo de Fiore, quieting down in the aprés-market afternoon. We’ll return early one morning to participate in the gratis open-air theater of the popular market, its stalls bursting with colorful blooms and pyramided produce, but today we sip a cooling coconut and pineapple frullati (a Roman specialty of blended fruits and ice) from nearby Jungle Juice and relax by the fountain.

A few blocks away we pass through another free alfresco museum. Graced by twin fountains topped with fleur de lis, the emblem of the Farnese family, elegant Piazza Farnese is anchored by its namesake palazzo. Covered with fleur-de-lis, and with a roof-long cornice designed by Michelangelo, impressive Palazzo Farnese is now quite appropriately the home of the French embassy.

Via del Mascherone, heading towards the Tevere River (Tiber to us) on the left of the palazzo, leads us to a playful wall-mounted ancient stone mask spouting water into a stone tub – we take our turn for a cooling splash so welcome in Rome’s blistering summer heat.

We’re amazed but happy to walk freely into one of the wonders of the ancient world-the Pantheon. Built by Hadrian in AD 128, the immense cupola, open in the center to the heavens, was the largest freestanding dome in the world until as late as 1960. At nearby Casa del Caffé-Taza d’Oro we splurge a bit for a coffee-lovers wonder – granita di caffé, a cold coffee “slushy” topped with whipped cream.

Ready to give our feet a break, we settle in among the commuters on bus 64 for a 50 – cent city tour. The orange bus takes us all the way from St. Peter’s to Termini Station, passing many of the city’s key sights along the way.

The surfeit of wonders, free-for-the-looking, such as the welcoming embrace of St. Peter’s columned piazza and the baroque fantasy of the Trevi Fountain, lets us save our euros for a look at the unforgettable frescoes of the Vatican Museum’s Sistine Chapel, and our favorite – the brilliant jewel-toned works of the Raphael rooms.

Although the majority of our meanders around the city were on our own, it was definitely worth every penny to participate in a very reasonably priced walking tour (with a 10% discount for signing up online) with Through Eternity. Our enthusiastic and knowledgeable young guide led us on an early evening tour of the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and Piazza Navona, ending on Michelangelo’s exquisitely patterned Piazza Campidoglio atop Capitoline Hill. Even without a tour, all these sites are admission-free.

Any ill-prepared tourist can spend a lot of money in Rome – millions have. However, a traveler who’s learned a few lessons in cheapology can enjoy the city’s charms like the Romans do on an unbelievably low budget. And how sweet it is to have a little money left over to begin saving for that next trip.

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The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe.

Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the Languedoc in the south of France. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.

While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over thirty years of teaching experience, and a travel and food writer specializing in France and Italy.

posted by Anne & Kirk Woodyard
Music and Markets Tours

Little by little the mountains of snow are beginning to melt outside my window, and as the winter winds down (no more snow storms, PLEASE!) thoughts of springtime in Prague fill my mind.

Most of the posts on the Slow Travel Tours blog stay in western Europe, but we’ve followed the music further east, to include one of Europe’s oldest and best known music festivals in our Music and Markets tour itinerary. Why did we choose Prague?

Well, in addition to the fact that the Prague Spring Festival, now in its 65^th year (and the granddaddy of the plethora of classical music festivals now in existence) hosts stellar musicians from around the world, performing in supremely beautiful settings such as Prague’s majestic castle, there’s the city itself.

A living, breathing fairy-tale, with its cobbled streets, Gothic spires, fanciful façades, and a magnificent hilltop castle  presiding over it all, Prague survived the World Wars of the previous century with its architectural layers of history intact.

Here are a few of our don’t-miss Prague highlights:

• Yes, it’s touristy, and you’ll be packed in with hundreds of other gawkers from around the world, but you can’t miss the striking of the 15^th century Town Hall clock, with its challenging-to-interpret astrological components and saints marching on the hour
• A stroll around Mala Strana, Little Town, our favorite area of Prague, replete with glorious gardens, quiet corners, majestic churches, and cobblestone lanes virtually unchanged since the 1400’s
• Dinner in a castle  – our guests always enjoy the gracious service, delicious candlelit meals and slightly shabby elegance of Palffy Palac
• A memorable concert (or two or three or…) in one of Prague’s matchless concert halls, such as the Estates Theater, where Mozart conducted the premier of his Don Giovanni in 1787
• Choose a souvenir worth keeping – perhaps a ring or necklace of garnet or amber, both Czech specialties, or a goblet or two of fine Bohemian crystal
• Even though I’m not a beer enthusiast, I have to include world-renowned Czech beer on the list. Quaff a Pilsner Urquell, invented here in 1842, at an authentic hospoda, or pub, such as Baracnicka rychta in Mala Strana
• Check out Cubist architecture – Prague’s the only city in the world where this art form influenced architecture. Seek out the Cubist Lamp Post (on Jungmannovo namesti, just off of Wenceslas Square), and stop for coffee and pastries in the Cubist café at the House at the Black Madonna

These are just a few ideas for your trip to Prague – we’d love to hear of other places to see and things to do in Prague – share your favorites!

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The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe.

Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the Languedoc in the south of France. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.

While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over thirty years of teaching experience, and a travel and food writer specializing in France and Italy.

Our luggage is getting heavier and heavier after each trip, loaded with goodies. Not just terra cotta from Impruneta, leather purses and shoes from Florence, or chic accessories from the Prada outlet, but wonderful tastes of Italy that bring home the delights of our visits with each mouthful.

An embarrassing number of our Italian discoveries and enjoyments happen to be food-related! Perhaps a visit to a nearby olive oil frantoio (mill), to watch the final product develop from its initial stage as a tub of olives, leaves and all, is dumped onto an old conveyor belt heading for the press. Minutes later, in a pressing room brimming with fragrant olive essence, the liquid green-gold flows into a vat, from which the owner draws a bottle of oil just for us. What a memory to enjoy as we drizzle the oil over a salad or pasta at home! Each area insists that their oil is absolutely the best – from the fruity mild oil of Lucca, to the piquant gold of Sicily, to our favorite, the peppery fresh spring-green of Chianti.

The wineries of Italy are eager as well to share their bounty with interested travelers. Tucked into Chianti’s rolling hills lined with regiments of vineyards, rambling stone palazzos are home to the world-famous wines of Montepulciano (whose Vino Nobile was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson) Montalcino (for Brunello), and Chianti, the “big three” traditional wines of Tuscany.

Local winemakers often proudly offer a tasting of their favored vintage, with opportunity to buy a case, or a few bottles to tuck in your luggage. We like geography with our wine, and love picturing the very hills and vines that nurtured a favored bottle.

2004 Brunello, released in the fall of 2009, is a stellar vintage, and we recently picked up a few bottles to save for a special occasion. A good wine shop, or enoteca is a valuable find in Italy, worth returning to for friendly education and good buys. In Siena, we always look forward to stopping at Enoteca Palazzo Piccolomini on Via Rinaldini, a side street radiating from the lovely central piazza, the Campo. A few weeks ago, armed with Financial Times wine writer Jancis Robinson’s article recommending a few classic Brunellos, we enjoyed an enlightening chat with the knowledgeable and helpful owner, leaving with some well-priced bottles, and anticipating our next visit.

For some of us, visiting food markets is an important part of any itinerary, right up there with museums, palaces, and churches. Market touring, as we brush and bump our way through the sea of color and sounds, is one of the few ways a stranger can see real life in action and join the “regulars” as they select their dinner ingredients.

The sights, sounds and smells of markets provide an entrée to local culture, and nourishment for all the senses as well. The gold of rough-hewn rocks of Parmigiano, hams, salamis, and smooth mortadella swinging above, vast and beautiful still lifes of sensuous purple figs and gray-green artichokes, pyramids of sunny oranges, glistening fish snuggled in beds of ice, plump ravioli flecked with garden herbs… I much prefer seeing it all in person – fragrance, and often a taste, included – to an oil painting in a museum.

Surrounded by outdoor stalls stuffed with leather goods, Florentine papers, and David aprons, Florence’s temple to the tastebud, the majestic Mercato Centrale, holds a treasure house of goodies. The nineteenth century cast-iron building is one of the largest covered markets in Europe. Each time we’re in Florence, we stop by welcoming Giovanni Benevieri’s stall, near the back entry to the Mercato, to stock up on nutty golden Parmigiano Reggiano.  He vacuum-packs chunks for us, and we bring them home and savor the flavor ‘til our next trip.

Another don’t-miss stop in the Mercato is the Conti family’s stall, glistening with an array of jewel-like candied fruits, marmalades, vats, and jars. Judy Witt, of Divina Cucina in Florence, introduced us to their truffled salt during a marvelous day-long cooking class last winter. The salt, infused with truffle flakes (just open the jar and be blown away!), carries a more authentic and lasting flavor than the often-artificially-flavored truffle oils on the market.

If we aren’t able to stop at an olive oil mill, this is the place we load up with olive oil as well. They offer tastings of both olive oil and balsamic vinegar – the best way to determine exactly which vintage of vinegar or locality of oil you prefer.

A final stop at Alessandro Nannini on Borgo Lorenzo for a fierce espresso and a bag or two of deep roasted beans, and we’re ready to pack.

The bottles and jars are wrapped in socks, bubble wrap, or t-shirts, then cuddled into individual or three-pack boxes and wrapped some more to make it safely home. Now that we can’t carry on our hoard of bottles, we wrap well, so that our suitcase of wine, balsamic, and olive oil doesn’t end up as a stellar salad dressing!

Buon Appetito!

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The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe.

Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the Languedoc in the south of France. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.

While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over thirty years of teaching experience, and a travel and food writer specializing in France and Italy.