Last weekend was gleefully spent with a couple of Australian friends and one of the places we visited was Colonnata.
This is the birth place of that famous statue of (petite) David. Well, the beautiful white marble he is made from is from the quarries in the Apuan Alps which tower over Colonnata. It is the only place in the world white marble is found according to 'Giorgipedia'.
The history of Colonnata dates back to 40BC as it was originally built to house the slaves that worked in the marble quarry.
From a distance the mountains appear to be covered in snow but in fact it is white marble glistening in the spring sunshine. The town oozes marble underfoot, and incorporated into the buildings in every way possible but this carving depicting the history of the quarries was my favorite. It prompted me to marvel at how incredibly difficult quarrying must have been in the days before modern machinery. Getting the huge chunks of heavy marble down the mountain must have been dangerous work. I wondered how many slaves would have died over the years as they toiled here.
Colonnata's church dating back to the 12th century oozes brilliant white marble every way you look. This beautiful carved artwork caught my eye.
The town felt imposing sandwiched in a valley between the mountains. We wandered the narrow streets with our eyes always returning to that spectacular gleaming white mountainous backdrop.
Every town in Italy is has a particular food it is famous for, a food that it boasts about, claiming that it was the first and best producer of the food. Colonnata's food is lard!! Not the icky pan drippings my mother called lard. It is a thick layer of fat sliced off a pig and cured in marble with assorted spices. In his usual style Giorgio knew the perfect place to sample the best typical Colonnata food and we tried lard in two incredibly contrasting and simple dishes. Bread and thinly sliced lard with strongly flavoured chestnut honey and a thin crisp bread with lard with salty sardines. Both were delicious but as I ate it I was imagining my hips getting wider with each swallow. Men labouring for long hours in the marble quarry would easily burn all those calories but I ate it sparingly and then enjoyed a pasta dish followed by a slice of amazing chocolate tart (oops). Fortunately I have walked up and down a few mountains this week to make up for it.
Here is the proof...
The trees are still naked but the forest floor is a delightful violet carpet of crocus flowers in some areas.
Several months ago I met Felicity, an Italian/English woman who invited me to join their weekly walking group. Immersing myself in women talk, even if I can't understand it all, has helped banish home sickness. Bras, chicken fillets (the slicone sort), sex education, breast cancer, the challenges of parenting teens, toddlers and dogs have all been discussed as we slog up and down mountains.
Enis, Alessandra, Laura, Jen, Felicity
and Julia is behind the camera
The mountain we walked on had several historical stone burraria built into the hillsides in the second half of the 18th century for making butter. They were always built where there is a spring or small stream as fresh water was vital to the production process. These slopes were once pastures with cattle grazing.
If you are interested to know more about Colonnata's lard this link will be a wealth of info (thanks Lee-Anne).
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