Halloween has hit Italy hard. I’ve never seen so many preparations for it. Even the pasticceria/gelateria in Aulla has made room for special Halloween cakes in its freezer section, pushing out half the gelato flavors they usually have. That’s serious stuff.

Maybe it’s the economy. Why else—besides drowning your economic sorrows—would you get all dolled up to go out to eat Ali di pipistrello?

That’d be bat wings. It’s an antipasto. Or at least it is at the Agriturismo Spino Fiorito tonight. The Spino is my favorite place to eat in the Lunigiana.

We were just there yesterday. We had the standard €10 lunch; a primo, secondo, dessert and coffee with a bottle of good wine and water of your choice. Fantastic stuff. You’d be hard pressed to find a better food value in Italy these days.

In any case, on our way out after paying, we saw the Halloween party menu.

Six antipasti, two choices of primi and two secondi. You can have dragon tail for a main course or la scrigno della strega which my dictionary insists is a jewel box belonging to a witch. Hard on the teeth methinks. Makes you hungry, doesn’t it?

If you want to go, call the Spino Fiorito at 0585-949167 pronto. They’re at loc. Padula Casola in Lunigiana. Here’s a review

(I’m suspecting that bat wings just might be some diabolical incarnation of quail wings. Honest. They sell packages of them at the Ipercoop. Cute little things. Not a whole lotta meat. Don’t you just love the word “pipistrello”?)

For those of you who prefer to travel in the sultry dog days of summer, there are times I feel sorry for you. You miss Orte arising from the fog:

Or the promise of a warm morning:

(Click to see them a decent size)

The second picture was taken on our way to the Art Monastery in Calvi. Here’s a project I’m excited about. Artists take over an old monastery; making it into a very inexpensive B&B where they hold classes in art and create local performance art. Each room has a small kitchen, but there are also visiting chefs who can feed you. You can also learn skills relating to the land. These coming weeks are devoted to olive harvest weekends. Check them out. Fantastic group.