What : Sagra Delle Frugiate
Where : Vellano, Pesca
When : 17 October 2010
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| Vellano sits on a mountain top. |
As it is autumn and the season for chestnuts, I wanted to go to a festival where the chestnut wasn't just another autumnal food on sale but one where it only celebrated the chestnut, village style. This was how I ended up in Vellano, a small village 600m above sea level with only about 300-400 people living there.
The only way up there was with a taxi and the driver was a bit shocked when I told him where I was going. I guess he didn't expect anyone outside of the area to go to it, much less to have travelled from Florence for it. It was expensive getting there and back but seeing the village, the sagra, the roasting chestnuts, the live band, all the dessert I could eat made it completely worthwhile.
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| The walkways are steep. I thought I'd at least walk around the village before settling down for lunch and a glass of wine. It turned out to be hard work for an empty stomach. |
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| Tiny walkways between houses. |
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| Where the sagra took place. This is part of the local school. |
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| No charge for the chestnuts, but donate generously. |
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| The roasting crew. |
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| The biggest pan of roasting chestnuts I have seen. |
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| Exploding chestnuts. |
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| My bag which I ate too quickly. |
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Everything else made specially for the sagra.
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| Neccio with ricotta and nutella. |
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| All these being prepared in the local school ground. |
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| Castagnaccio. Traditional chestnut cake made with chestnut flour, olive oil, pine nuts and rosemary. |
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| With my 1€ glass of wine. |
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| Villagers and visitors drifting in. |
