Girls day out Italian style

Banish hot air, visit exorcist village, ancient Roman literature festival, the source of the Tiber, eat great ice cream and delicious raw beef at km0

High above the city of Cesena – at the Malatesta citadel, Blech de Sabat  Romagnolo music was belting out on one stage whilst poetry was being recited on another – all in the local Romagnolo language by the way!

And because this was a Romagnolo event – food was high on the agenda – in particular the ubiquitous Piadina (a delicious local flatbread stuffed with more local delicacies!) All washed down with wonderful local Sangiovese wine.

The music was great but it was getting too hot so Chiara and I decided to take a day out in search of more refreshing places around the area.

We enjoy travelling so we quickly made our trip plan: taking the scenic E45, driving across the Appennino Tosco- Romagnolo arriving in Sarsina, the itinerary would then take us to Verghereto and up again to the Tiber source.

Our first destination was Sarsina, the city of Plauto.

Sarsina is a little town 35 km far from Cesena (243 m.) well known as Tito Maccio Plauto hometown, the famous Latin playwright, but the main attractions are the archeological museum and the Romanesque Cathedral.

After having a very good home-made ice cream (almond, pistachio and chocolate!) at Draco’s, a café into the main square, we visited the Cathedral: the thousand-year-old church has a longitudinal plan with three naked naves, in perfect Romanesque style and as we entered we had a mystic and timeless sensation.

On the right stands the statue that contains the bones of San Vicinio, the first bishop of Sarsina. He lived in IV century and according to tradition he was a famous miracle worker and performed exorcisms so that nowadays the Cathedral is famous as a redemption and exorcism holy place – where people were exorcised even today. The faithful people make a pilgrimage to wear the holy San Vicinio’s collar,that free the soul from evil spirits or adversities.

The collar is an iron chain that the saint used to wear around his neck to do a penance. We wore the collar too and had a very moving experience.

Then off we went on in the direction of Verghereto and had a quick stop in Alfero (60 km from Cesena), where there are refreshing waterfalls reachable in a 15 minutes walk and well known for Porcini specialty during the autumn.

The air was clearer and colder, far from the city muggy-weather so we drove for other 20 km and arrived to our goal: the source of Tiber.

The Tiber river buds from Monte Fumaiolo and it is considered a "holy place" for the origin of Italic culture because of the history of Rome, but also because little villages grew just along his way.

Before Mussolini this territory was Tuscany: and as he was a strong supporter of the Roman civilization (and a native of Romagna!) he obtained this patch of the Apennines because he really wanted that the most important river of Italy gushed in his mother land.

This is the reason why the source monument has a big eagle statue on its top and why the inhabitants of the place talk in a Tuscan accent.

The air at 1268 m. on the sea level was incredibly light and fresh, the forest that keeps the source safe from the civilization noises let us make a 15 minutes trekking, into a silent atmosphere, where we felt feeling really connected to nature.

After a long and interesting day hunger was setting in.  Where better to eat than in a Kilometer 0 restaurant on top of another stunningly-beautiful hill with amazing views.

Osteria di Montecodruzzo is set right at the top of the hill with views that stretch hundreds of kilometers both to the sea on one side and Tuscany on the other! The restaurant was set up by Massimo Monti to make the most of his family’s local farm. After working for 18 years in various restaurants on the Romagnola coast he took the leap to the top of this hill and restaurant with such beautiful views to create great fresh very local food.

Our simple dinner was a plate of delicious dried meats (including of course Massimo’s Romagnolo beef and the Moro Romagnolo pork – naturally with Piadine!) followed by a wonderful Strozzapreti pasta with hare sauce and a sensational  tartare of the raw beef. Finally an amazing yoghurt created in the kitchen just for us (local milk of course!). All the food is organic and made with care. And the local wine list is superb.

What a fitting end to a wonderful day.

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Daniela Castellucci

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