Dream comes true for New York travel agent on green trip

FAM trip shows the whole green tourism Romagna story – to amazed agents

The power of green tourism was exposed to two New York travel agents recently and they were simply amazed at what a potent offer it would provide for their clients.

Not only that but during the trip it was possible to make a travel agent’s dream come true.

Eva and Joseph Ferrari of EVA Travel, a Virtuoso-linked agency, investigated the green tourism potential in Romagna recently. They ate amazing fresh 0km food, drank superb 0km wines, stayed in locally-owned and managed typical establishments, visited a zero-carbon biodynamic vineyard, experienced a natural thermal spa, took in truly local, unique museums castles and art galleries – and were astounded at the superb quality and authenticity of it all. They even learnt to make, cook and eat delicious gluten-free pasta.

But the cherry on the cake was Eva’s visit to the happy holiday-spot of her youth. Long before she got to New York and in the travel industry and married, Eva was a schoolgirl in Austria and year after year her school went to Milano Marittima on the Italian Adriatic Riviera for their holiday. Imagine the memories that surfaced when Eva visited the lovely resort again after decades!

Details of FAM trips here: Harvest-time FAM trips to Italy’s Romagna unveiled: new green initiative launch

The FAM trip was created to highlight the deep green qualities of the Best of Romagna and Green Tourism initiatives to US travel agents. So the Ferraris got to see not only the environmental benefits of green tourism but also its impact on local culture, society and economy – and its ability to benefit visitors and local communities alike. At the end of the trip, they said they’d rarely tasted food or wine so good, welcomes so wholehearted, accommodation so delightful or experiences so fascinating. Their word for the trip "Truly Authentic!" And Eva was blown away.

At the Relais Villa Roncuzzi, they marveled at the superb food and wine sourced from the local fields and vineyards and enjoyed the modern Italian art everywhere (the owner-manager, Patrizia Poggi is a noted local gallery proprietor and art-scene doyenne).

They explored Ravenna’s and Classe’s massive but little-known treasure-trove of 1500-year-old mosaics and basilicas with top local eco-guide Cinzia Fabbri who told them the stories about Ravenna’s rise to global fame and riches and its place as the Western capital of the Roman Empire, closely linked to Byzantium and the East.

The pair learnt more about the fresh local food and cooking at "Italy’s Best Cookery School" Casa Artusi – the Pellegrino Artusi Foundation where they were taught to make pasta with gluten-free grains – afterwards they cooked it (delicious!) and ate a splendid lunch of the pasta and a variety of local specialities including Squacquerone cheese, caramelized figs, prosciutto made from slow-growing rare-breed pigs ("Mora Romagnola") and perfect Piadina flatbreads.

Bertinoro is the local hilltop wine-centre, famous for its hospitality festival and its amazing castle – now a hospitality and conference centre for Bologna University. Naturally the travel agents enjoyed the fantastic view from Bertinoro’s balcony over the plain and the sea, naturally, they enjoyed tasting half a dozen superb wines at the amazing and historic Fattoria Paradiso,  where Romagna’s delicious wines were brought to their full global potential by the owning Pezzi family.

Staying in Longiano at the family-owned and run Allogio San Girolamo,  the pair enjoyed superb and stylish accommodations, kindly hospitality from son Filippo and his assistants and tasted delicious local breakfasts of home-made items. They reveled in perfect sensational views over the surrounding valleys and hills clothed in vineyards, olive groves and fruit farms. They then set off to taste the products growing in this extra-fertile terrain.

First a visit was made to the local olive grove where the Turchi family have been farming for the last 500 years (the original Turchi came from Turkey, converted and stayed to found the family fortune). 17 generations later Michele Turchi briefed on the benefits of organic oils and the delicious liquids were tasted and visits made to both their fabulous specialist local restaurant, the olive mill and the superb, stylish guest rooms.

On the other side of the valley, on a historic vineyard site, new growth is taking place. Mauro Giardini, a Romagnolo man from nearby Bagnacavallo, trained  and practiced as a Sommelier in top local restaurants and now is in the process of creating something very very special. Mauro’s passion for extraordinary good wine has led him to create a zero carbon, organic – soon to be biodynamic – vineyard which truly reflects the superb nature of the terrain in which it is set. A tasting here at Villa Venti is a really memorable experience with truly great wines including a superb Longiano Sangiovese and a delicious Serenaro.

The agents enjoyed a very special lunch after their winetasting. A few minutes down the valley a local agriturismo-style restaurant cum delicatessen (part of the Villa Venti’s trading network) farms ostriches. So it’s possible to eat 0km local low-cholesterol ostrich steaks combined with truly great local rare breed pork and a range of delicious local cheeses, breads, vegetables, fruits and salads. Bottega della Struzzo delivered a very special experience in the sun.

A very local cultural experience was on the cards for the afternoon. First a visit to Longiano’s picture-book-perfect 17^th century miniature theatre – the Teatro Petrelli   where naturally the Ferraris performed on stage! And after a visit to the Italian Museum of Cast Iron  in a delightful and ancient church which houses a collection of 19^th century street furniture made by local factory Neri and exported to the world’s capitals. Another view of Neri’s work was enjoyed at the local theatre mask museum (all made of cast-iron, naturally).

Another Longiano attraction that the guests enjoyed was the soaring hilltop castle, now the Tito Balestra Foundation, relying heavily on sustainable forms of tourism, it promotes the culture of the area through the picture and writing collection of local poet Balestra including works by Goya, Oskar Kokoschka, Chagall and a vast collection of important Italian artists. The foundation holds frequent local cultural events.

And after a day of excitement – they chilled out in one of Romagna’s famous hot thermal baths – the Fratta Terme . Joseph got himself a little extra, a nice massage to enhance the thermal water experience and the essential oils showers.

A superb final Longiano dinner was taken at the Michelin-listed Dei Cantoni Restaurant  which made use of the cornucopia of good local meat, vegetables and wine.

The Hotel Anastasi in Cervia by the sea is a small three star family owned and run establishment that caters very well for families’ summer holidays. But it is not only beautiful, stylish and extraordinarily welcoming – it is also a true showcase of the family Anastasi in its renovations (by father Anastasi – personally, perfectly with his own hands with local woods and other materials) in its award-winning cuisine (by son-in-law Andrea who creates superb meals) and in its extraordinarily warm welcome (by manager Giorgia – who has a smile to melt icebergs!). And the Anastasi is Green Tourism Silver awarded – on the higher branches of the cultural, social, economic and environmental sustainable tourism tree.

So naturally, the Ferraris stayed at the Anastasi and naturally they enjoyed the warm welcome and beautiful accommodation. And naturally they enjoyed a special meal created by Andrea taking consideration of their dietary requirements – gluten and dairy-free – no nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, tomato, peppers, eggplant, potatoes) nor legumes (no beans, no peanuts).

Andrea created a sensational meal which included Calamari salad with lettuce, oranges and almonds, Risotto with clams and pumpkin, Fish with mayonnaise carrots, sweet and sour red onion and ‘Lemon Air’  and finally a panna cotta created with soya topped with a saffron and strawberry sauce.

All which set the stage for the Ferrari’s final day – inspection visits to a few of the Green Tourism Silver awarded hotels including the Krone by the seaside Classe Pinewoods Natural Park and the upmarket, very stylish Hotel Luxor  in the very stylish Milano Marittima resort.

After a deep exposure to classic art in Romagna, Eva and Joseph were totally surprised when they visited the Mutoid’s cooperative in Sant’Arcangelo di Romagna. The Mutoid Waste Company’s "headquarters" – Mutonia is in a site which hosts hundreds of sculptures made out of scrap metal – some of them are little pets, others are enormous arches made of worn out cars and trucks.

Mutoid art has travelled (from the 80’s on) from London to Berlin, to settle down finally in Romagna. Did they stop crossing borders? Not  in the slightest, their sculptures are displayed in the historical centre of San Marino until the 31st of May.

The pair’s final experience – a guided walk in the UNESCO listed world heritage mountaintop republic of San Marino which is making strides itself in the green tourism issues – in particular as a promoter of accessible tourism – and naturally they took the opportunity to meet more Mutoids.

And after their Romagna green tourism experience, like many, many satisfied, fulfilled green tourism fans – the Ferraris want to come back for more – with their demanding clients!

Valere Tjolle

Photographs by Valentina Rattay

@ValereTjolle [email protected]

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