Fireflies and holidays

Nowadays valuable tourists want extra added value but only a few can truly deliver it – Holiday adventures in another dimension deliver real not virtual reality

When you’re organising a picnic everything depends on the weather, so you have little time to prepare when you know the weather’s good so with only 12 hours notice on  Best of Romagna  trips we told our clever friends at the Michelin-rated restaurant Dei Cantoni   to prepare something local and seasonal for a picnic. Then it was down to us to scout out a particular place in the valley that had a special seasonal plus.

The cherry blossom was in bloom so Tamara (Best of Romagna’s Operations Manager) and I went to the heart of the ancient cherry valley where we knew there was a lovely spot to check out not too far away for a gentle stroll.

When we got to the tiny little ancient valley church I told Tamara that I had been there a year ago when my friend Roberta Sama organised an enchanting evening with music and poetry and of course food and wine to see the millions of fireflies. Then there was a crowd of 300+ locals. Nobody paid any money but those who could brought delicious home-cooked food and wine. Read about it HERE

At that moment, as if by magic a big 4wd vehicle screamed to a halt – it was Roberta. "Hello, what are you doing here" she said. We told her that we wanted to bring our 12 US tourists to the valley the next day. We wondered if Mr Calandrini would let them wander in his beautiful garden and if Dom Fernando would mind if we used his church. "Of course" said Roberta – ‘And I have the keys!" OK job done, we only had to check out the walking route all would be organised.

Next day dawned bright and scented (the Jasmine and the Limes were getting into their seasonal stride). My job was to collect the picnics and take them to the heart of the valley, by the church. Tamara collected Miss (her gentle horse) and walked her to the starting point for our ramble so she could guide our visitors down into the valley. This takes some time because everybody wants to pass the time of day with Miss!

Plus, we knew that nobody would be punctual today – the afternoon before we’d taken our guests for a wine tasting and they had been enjoying the sensational wines whilst watching the amazing sunset on the Jasmine-scented terrace of Casa Grilli. Marisa, the owner, had joined in the fun and made plates and plates of home-cooked delicacies to enjoy with the wine.

Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the restaurant – the owner/chef Danilo and his daughter Sabrina were hard at work packing and chopping and bagging up the picnics. They had both come in early to prepare something very special.

As I staggered to my car with the big box, Sabrina caught me up – "You’ve forgotten this" – she said. Aha – the menu! They had prepared sandwiches made of breads (baked that morning by Sabrina) of special flour and live yeast. Within the sandwiches – fresh field herb salad, tomatoes, asparagus and roasted rabbit. Sabrina had also baked focaccia bread and filled it with Squacquerone (very fresh local cheese), caramelized figs and  rucola. There was, of course, a dessert – strawberries with fresh pineapple and in another container – a crumble made of Italian flour – to place on top of the dessert. Naturally there were a few bottles of delicious local Sangiovese wine to quaff with the picnic. I felt sure that our guests would be satisfied!

There was another surprise awaiting for me at the little church in the valley when I arrived with the picnic. Roberta and her daughter Nicole were hard at work mowing the church lawn so it would look a beautiful setting. They had already cleaned out the inside of the church so it was sparkling and naturally they had lit candles. Outside they had cleaned the old wooden table and put a tablecloth on it, set it with fresh flowers. For an extra flourish – Roberta had baked an enormous fabulous fruit flan as a gift.

And when our guests arrived, complete with Miss Horse, it soon became the epitome of a country picnic picture. What a luxury they enjoyed – rest and peace in the sun away from all the pressures of life.

They sat and talked, ate some fabulous food, drank some great wine and explored Mr Calandrini’s superb garden. And then they walked back to their lovely Italian country house accommodation at Aloggio San Girolamo  and at Casa Grilli just in time for another glorious sunset, more extraordinary wine – and, of course aperitivo snacks specially prepared by Marisa!

As a result everyone enjoyed a day in another dimension that will be remembered for many years.

You may think that all these specially organized things are very expensive and difficult to organize.

The truth is that they are not. If you deal with someone who is 100% engaged and trusted by the local community it is very, very easy and very, very inexpensive.

That way, local people who have not been jaded by the mass tourism machine really want to truly welcome visitors.

Also everybody gets great value and the four essences of sustainability – cultural, social, environmental and economic are all enhanced for the benefit of the local community and visitors – EVERYBODY gets the feel good factor.

Best of Romagna thinks that travel is all about dimensions – that way you get a real experience that gives you the wellbeing and the fulfillment of some time well spent for all your senses.

A bit about tourism dimensions:

It doesn’t have to be just the superficial DIMENSION1 – sights & travel & accommodation on which most travel is sold at the cheapest price

You can go into DIMENSION2 – enjoy the taste of your destination with seasonal local food and wine.

Take another step into DIMENSION3 – learn something with local people teaching you (like a cookery class at Casa Artusi )

DIMENSION 4 makes it all much more engrossing – having someone help you to understand how and why the place you’re visiting actually works – maybe taking you back a few thousand years with Cinzia!

Ready for DIMENSION5 – the Personal Dimension? Now you’re really starting to talk to local people and making relationships – makes it all worthwhile.

Maybe that’s why Best of Romagna is one of the world’s top 100 sustainable destinations.

Are you a travel agent or group organiser? Find out about: Harvest-time FAM trips to the heart of Italy unveiled

Valere Tjolle @ValereTjolle