Autumn leaves and chestnuts

Autumn has finally settled here. Not as cold as it should be for the season but we are enjoying chilly air in the morning at last. Autumn colors are everywhere to find: yellow and reddish leaves outside the window (The falling leaves drift by the window/The autumn leaves of red and gold…), the first acorns are falling on my parked car down in the street, olives are ripening on the trees in the surroundings and… it’s finally time for chestnuts!

Last Sunday our family headed to Sant’Agata Feltria (about one hour and a half from Pesaro) to pick chestnuts at Monte Pincio in the heart of Valmarecchia. You may have heard of the magic of this land so full of history and unforgettable landscapes. I wrote about Valmarecchia and its treasures a few years ago when this land still belonged to our province of Pesaro and Urbino (Amarcord – I remember: the land of Federico Fellini).

It was our first time in a chestnut wood and it was an amazing experience. First of all, in the wood at Monte Pincio you still may come across a few trees dating back to the 16th century (unbelievable, isn’t it?) Secondly it is 20 ha. large. I guess we could have easily got lost there if it weren’t for our little Costanza who always detected us with her binoculars (!).

Have you ever picked chestnuts? Well, I’ve always loved roasted chestnuts but I had never picked them before last Sunday. I hadn’t had so much fun in a while. However, nobody told me to bring gloves with me… Chestnuts spines are extremely sharp indeed (oops!). Anway, there were so many chestnuts outside their shell and as far as the good looking ones still inside… well, I just stepped gently over them until they slipped outside (field tricks!).

We roasted them that very evening and looking at the pictures we took that day as I’m writing this post makes me want to go back and start that day all over again (using gloves this time!)