A Special Place in Umbria...Brigolante!
It is with great pleasure that I bring to you an interview with someone I have known for many years here in Italy. She has been a constant source of pride in what she has accomplished in her business. I have always recommended her bed and breakfast/apartments to anyone and everyone, with no hesitation. Written up in many travel magazines and guidebooks, it is easy to see why. With love for her area in Umbria, she is always willing to tantalize you with her homemade, fresh, organic foods and wine; to help you make the most of your time in her area; to take home amazing memories; and, of course, to help you sleep like a fully-satiated baby in her fantastic guesthouse.
So, without further ado, I give you Rebecca, of Brigolante Guest Apartments in Assisi...
Thanks
for agreeing to be interviewed -- I've "known" you since way-back-when during our days on Slow Travel and have watched your business grow more and
more popular over the years.
You
come from Chicago, right? I lived there for many years myself, and
it's interesting to see another Chicagoan making their way here. From
what I remember, there is a huge Italian culture there. Did that fact
make it any easier for not only your decision to move, but your
"integration" here?
Yes, I was born and grew
up in and around Chicago (and some days I miss it dearly, despite
having left 20 years ago!); my last place of residence before packing
up for overseas was Evanston, in the northern suburbs, as I graduated
from Northwestern University.
There was (and is)
not only a huge Italian culture there, but huge Polish, Greek,
Mexican, Indian, Pakistan....I could go on and on...cultures there.
So, no, the specific presence of a huge Italian culture didn’t
particularly influence my decision to move, but the contact with a
huge ethnic mix as I was growing up and when I was a student
certainly lies at the base of my curiosity about the world and the
people in it, my love of travel, and my love of food...all of which
made my integration overseas easier and more fun.
When
did you actually make the initial move, and what was your deciding
factor to take such a leap in saying "okie dokie I think I'll go
open a vacation rental in Assisi"?
I made the move just
a few months after graduating from Northwestern in 1993. I had wanted
to study abroad while enrolled, but I went to college on a
scholarship and wouldn’t have been able to finish my course work on
time had I gone abroad. So I finished on time, and then struck out
for adventure before I got caught up in graduate school or a career
and would lose my chance.
I came to Umbria
first, as I had been here as a high school student and still had
friends here (with whom I corresponded by LETTER! There was no
Facebooking back then). Then...I never left! I ended up meeting and
marrying a man from Assisi whose family owned an old farmhouse, so
while I went through law school in Perugia (about 30 minutes from
Assisi) we spent all our spare time renovating the property. When the
farmhouse was finished, I opened up Brigolante (our farm holiday),
had two sons, began travel writing...and the rest is history.
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| (c) Brigolante Guest Apartments |
Can
you describe what your integration was like, in terms of being an
American woman involved in renovation and opening the apartments?
I've always had "mental problems" with the whole "under
the tuscan sun" issue and skipping around a small town
renovating a broken-down villa and being all la-di-da about it.
What's the reality?
The reality was
incredibly, mind-numbingly, bone-crushingly, spirit-deadeningly hard.
It was hard. I would have NEVER done it without having all the local
knowledge and contacts I was fortunate to have through my husband.
Never done it logistically, and never done it financially. But you
deal with things with a lot of zen when you’re 25 and have your
entire life ahead of you if things go south. I was lucky in that I
did have a partner who was both local and in the construction
business, the economy was booming in Italy at that time, and I’m a
tough cookie. (To get an idea of what it’s like to build in Italy,
you can read my oldie but goodie blog post:
http://www.brigolante.com/blog/2004/07/to-dream-the-impossible-dream/)
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| (c) Brigolante Guest Apartments |
Looking back, I have no
regrets. It’s been a wonderful run since we opened in 1997. I have
met so many incredible guests over the years, was able to work from
home when my sons were born, and, at the end of the day, and go to
bed knowing that I have done something to protect the history and
culture of this area I love so much.
I've
always known you to be a strong (and strong-willed!) female
entrepreneur in a land inundated with expats and businesses run by
either expats or a long line of Italian families. To what do you owe
your success and why are you different?
I am a strong
believer in karma, even in business. Time and time again I have been
paid back for being honest, kind, generous, and straight with clients
who are honest, kind, generous, and straight to me. The only success
you can have, both in work and in life, is connection with others.
With a different business philosophy I would probably have more money
in the bank right now, but I feel pretty rich as it is.
And
on a personal level?
I’m also strong
believer in knowing your worth and being open to constant growth. I
know what I’m made of and don’t cotton to being treated as less,
and I also know that I still have a lot of growing to do and a bite
of crow every once in awhile never killed a body. You need to know
when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em, and I get it right maybe
50% of the time. But I’m getting better
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| (c) Brigolante Guest Apartments |
La
dolce vita? Yes or no?
Living in Italy is
incredibly difficult...it has all the challenges of living anywhere
overseas, but with the additional complications of an incredibly
disheartening political and economic system which is hobbling the
country, an anacronistic view of women, and a fixation on “bella
figura”which sometimes hinders developing authentic relationships.
If one has the unlimited budget to move here, purchase a home that
needs no repair, and spend their days sipping wine and watching the
sun set over the hills, then the dolce vita can be a reality. For the
rest of us, it’s just fleeting moments during an otherwise hectic
life. But dolce fleeting moments.
Is
it possible for you to pinpoint the one single "best" thing
about your life here, and in the opposite, the one single "worst"?
I live in a
beautiful area, incredibly rich in history and culture. This is,
hands down, the best thing about life here. When my kids kick a ball
around, they do it against a backdrop of a 12th
century Romanesque church facade. It never ceases to awe and amaze me
just how beautiful Umbria is.
I also love food and wine,
and no matter where I travel, I always come back to the food and wine
in Italy. It’s just the best. Sorry, but that’s the truth.
The worst, aside
from being so far from family, is the exhaustion that sometimes come
with expat life. It can wear you down and bring out the worst. I talk
about it here:
Rebecca's Blog -- "Crybaby, the Expat Tantrum"
In
the states (and maybe around the world), there is a tendency to
downplay the realities of Italy, what with the proliferation of
mafia-based games, television shows and movies giving it some
semblance of "quaintness" in this aspect, and the aspect of
"la dolce vita". Coming from an area rich with Italian
heritage, can you describe your feelings or views on this fiction
versus nonfiction?
The “mafia” that
cripples Italy is not so much the drug and prostitution ring-style
gangsters, but the back-room politicking between politicians and
well-placed, powerful businesses which have made it so hard for those
with no connections to make any sort of serious career for themselves
here that the brain drain among Italy’s youth is astounding. Of
course, it’s sexier to depict the crime bosses (and make for more
colorful headlines in the papers), but when most Italians toss about
the word mafia, they mean it with a lower-case “m”, meaning a
closed economic and social system only accessible to those who have
connections, rather than an upper-case “M” referring to criminal
organizations.
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| (c) Brigolante Guest Apartments |
Tell
me about the food and wine in your area.
Umbria was a rural,
farming region until recently and the food and wine here still
reflects the importance of eating and drinking well. Many families
still have plots of vineyard and olive trees to make their own wine
and oil, many still home butcher a pig each winter, and the region is
known for its heirloom legumes, excellent produce, and wild mushrooms
and truffles. I could go on and on about the food, but let me just
say that if you love food and wine, this region should be on your
short list.
There are also a number of
excellent food tours, cooking lessons, and guided winery visits
nearby.
If
you could give one primary piece of advice to a woman wanting to come
here and live "la dolce vita", what would it be?
Don’t come to
Italy to find yourself. Come to Italy because you already know who
you are and what you want. Italy lends itself more to losing yourself
than finding yourself
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As included above, you can find and contact Rebecca at Brigolante Guest Apartments, Assisi, Italy. You will be glad you did.....
Letters in the Wind
Or in the Dust?
Just a little thought as I was reminded recently of a feeling long gone, and of how much I miss it sometimes! In this day and age of technology and instant communication, I think we forget what it used to be like to hand-write a letter to a friend.
Don't get me wrong, instant communication has its place in our world today. Businesses need it, law firms and many others. Without the ability to "know right now", we would be lost.
But...do you remember what it was like? The choice of just the right pen, the stationery, getting comfortable and beginning ... Dear friend ... we would use our words to tell of all that had happened recently, describing in great detail the scenes, the people, using our imagination to make them feel they were here with us, a part of our life. Page after page ... sealing the big envelope and putting it in the mail box. Bye...fly off to my friend!
As the receiver, remember the anticipation of checking the mailbox, full of hope ... until one day you see an envelope with a handwritten address? Oh the excitement! You can't wait to get comfortable, maybe a drink or snack beside you, as you open the envelope. There inside, a long handwritten letter ... the feel of the paper in your hands ... it is as if you are holding your friend close to you.
Dear you ... it was so good to hear from you and receive your letter! As you read, you laugh, smile, frown, see changes in the writing as a mood shifts. You are transported, as if reading a good book, to a time when you were together. You can see the smiles, hear the laughter, feel perhaps the sadness.
You put the letter away, maybe in a shoebox and when you want to be transported again, take it out and hold those words close to you again. Turning on the computer, finding an email in the midst of all others and reading typed words on a screen just isn't the same, is it? Time differences give us a small sense of the anticipation of a response, but curling up with a computer or laptop just doesn't feel right. Emoticons can't take the place of words and well-thought-out imaginative descriptions and feelings. The emoticon of arms in a hug just can't evoke the smile of "feel my arms wrapped around you, giving you a huge warm hug..."
I so enjoyed the long email letter I received, but it made me think of how fast paced and hurried our lives have become. Why do we no longer allow ourselves even this one small slice of anticipation ... excitement ... joy ... and a little slice of quiet peace?
But in the meantime, don't stop emailing me ;-)
Merluzzo Saporito!
Vincenzo's been hard at work in the cucina again!
Ingredients for Merluzzo Saporito
Prezzemolo (parsley)
Origano (oregano)
sale (salt)
pepe (pepper)
cipolla (onion)
aglio (garlic)
merluzzo (filetto spinato) (white fish -- cod, haddock, or the like)
capperi (capers)
olive verdi (green olives)
Recommended side dish: carote lesse (carrots boiled/sauteed)
Metti in padella l'olio d'oliva.
Place a little olive oil in a pan
Quando è caldo, aggiungi cipolle (tagliate a rondelle), uno spicchio d'aglio intero, merluzzo, olive e capperi.
When the oil is hot, add the onion slices (circle), a piece of whole garlic, the olives and capers. Add the merluzzo/white fish and cook for 6 minutes (3 minutes per side).
Quando è cotto (3 min da un lato, 3 min dall'altro), condisci con origano, pepe nero, sale e prezzemolo.
When done, serve with oregano, pepper, salt and parsley.
Buon appetito!
Pasta con Zucca e Speck
Romana -- by way of Abruzzo and Toscana -- Loredana loves to create dishes from pure imagination, and would love to have more time to cook and always tries to make special dishes on the weekends when she has more time. Raised among parents who used a wood-fired oven to cook most of their meals, she tells me she would love to be able to do the same. So, without further ado, her first recipe contribution (she assures me there will be many more, and she will even start to give her wine pairing recommendations, learned from many a tasting and class!). Because these come straight from the contributors, I like to leave them as written...
Ingredients for 2 people:
300 gr. pumpkin
150/200 gr. speck
1 egg
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
pepper
Parmesan or pecorino cheese (optional)
200 gr. casarecce (I prefer Garofalo's pasta)
How to....
Heat the olive oil in a pan with the cut onion and then fry until it is gold and cooked, then add the speck and continue cooking for 5 minutes (more or less) and then stop.
Beat the egg with some pepper.
Boil the pasta according to pack instructions, and according to your taste, I like pasta al dente, drain the pasta, put it in the pan together with the beaten egg and mix all together while the stove is on, only for a couple of minutes just to let the egg to cook or not to cook too much according to your personal taste. When ready, if you like, you can put some parmesan on it and....buon appetito!!!
Secret: when mixing everything in the pan, if the pasta is too dry, you can add some boiled water that you have kept apart before draining the pasta.
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