AGRI-CULT

The writer Robert Musil called it the "the enchanted valley."  There is one reason and it is not casual. This is the Valley of Mòcheni or even of Fersina by the name of the watercourse tributary of Adige that runs it. Twenty kilometers from Trento, this rare piece of balance between man and nature, that manteined itself unchanged since the medieval colonization to the present, is known to be the natural cradle of delicious small fruits Sant'Orsola.

Fairytale landscapes and rich colors and varied products of the earth adorn this language island, where the German origin take the upper hand on the Italian position. Green areas, mountains and terraced hills overspreaded with wooden fences, characteristic pastures and farms, which has a charm of great particularity.

That of 'Casoni' of Caorle lagoon, between Venice and Trieste, is a small limited world but a sign of a great cultural wealth centered on the water. A very ancient history, which dates back to the times of Attila, when have these straw huts were a worthy shelter for caorlotti by barbaric invasions.

At the heart of little islands and green dunes, the typical poor but functional homes of fishermen, fortunately today thoroughly recorder and bounded, are a clear example of an ancestral architecture. The roof made of interlaced reeds is waterproof by chimney smoke that cover the roof of a kind of glue, while the floor is hard. In fact, these 'casoni' represent something more. A unique scenary in the lagoon, where the silence broken by the wind among the reeds, the rhythm of the oars and the shriek of seagulls, kicks memories and nostalgia in the minds of the elderly local fishermen.

Ten years of events to discover in a few days the territory and the province of Prato, in  the center of Tuscany art and landscape. Ten years of the manifestation "Di Vini Profumi", which is renewed again this year to admire, the last weekend of May, the frescoes by Filippo Lippi in the Cappella del Duomo, the Castle of Emperor and villas on the rolling hills of Montalbano but also to taste Carmignano, Pinot Noir and many other products in this extraordinarily rich land. And yet, a walk through the medieval center of town, with the tasting in the ovens of the famous cookies to dip in 'vin santo', a visit to the Museum of fabric, with its ancient and precious fabrics, or the Medici's villa of Poggio in Caiano.

Many years ago as soon as we heard the laughter of Mondine among the marshes we thought immediately of the Pianura Padana. Today, however, that those environments have become the natural habitat of several species of birds, and the loud chatter coming from the country fair, there is always and however the ancient link between rice and water. We are in a land only apparently "flat", in reality, marked by channels and rows of poplar trees that frame the banks of major rivers, where open many rice court yard with their  aie, museums farmers custodians of true rural culture, the streets of wines, the flavors and art set in a sweet and lake.