Ca' del Chicco

Last weekend we went with the Pazzi to their vacation house in the mountains. It's near the border of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna in a "town" called Ca' del Chicco. You won't find this on Google Maps, but it's near Sambuca Pistoiese. 

To give you an idea of its size, here is the whole town (seen through the chestnut forest).

This is the fountain where the drinking water comes from. It's a short hike from the town. Until the '70s there was no running water in the houses. The inhabitants collaborated to dig some kind of aqueduct, and late one summer night they finally succeeded in bringing the water to the town. Now the "Festa dell'Acqua" is celebrated every summer to commemorate the occasion. From what we hear it involves lots of homemade ravioli and water-fights.

The forest up there is filled with the remains of stone buildings in various stages of decrepitude. This one is in the middle of the woods. According to local tradition, it used to be a meeting point for people living in the little towns of the area, who would gather there on weekends to dance.

Gian Paolo also took us on a hike to see this site, which he claims is the remains of a medieval tower. 

Most of the trees up in the mountains seem to be chestnuts. The chestnuts (which were the staple food of the people who originally lived in these little towns) are getting ripe now. While we were there the neighbors were making necci, a kind of chestnut-flour crepe (often served with ricotta) which they layered between chestnut leaves. The Pazzi house was once used as a kind of work building for drying the chestnuts. When they began renovating a few years ago, the plaster walls were black with years of smoke from the fire used in this operation. 

Here's the bedroom we stayed in, formerly the chestnut-processing area. I love the ceiling beam, which is pretty much still a tree.