Holidays in Nature to Be Reborn: A Trip to Roccaverano

For Bramante, the famous Renaissance architect and painter, the year 1509 was rather problematic. Work on St Peter's Basilica in Rome had begun three years earlier, but it was proceeding slowly. The demolition of the apse and transept of the old basilica, foreseen by Bramante's design, had aroused a sea of controversy, so much so that a few years later the famous artist was mocked in a satirical dialogue entitled Simia, that is Monkey. It was in this turbulent period that, incredibly, Bramante found the time and enthusiasm to carry out the design of the facade of the church of Santa Maria Annunziata in Roccaverano, the highest village in the Asti area, at a good 800 metres above sea level. The credit for having persuaded the elderly genius to take care of the church of a small village, moreover far from Rome, went to Enrico Bruno, a bishop born in Roccaverano and a friend of Bramante.

The chronicles do not tell us how he did it, but we can consider it plausible that at the negotiating table, besides a series of reasonable arguments, the good bishop had also offered Bramante some local robiola cheese, having tasted which the architect could not say no to the proposal. In the documents there is news of the famous cheese made with raw goat's milk, from goats raised on the terraced hills surrounding Roccaverano since the year 1000, but in reality the origins of this delicacy go back to the period of the settlement of the Ligurian Celts. We arrive in Roccaverano following in the footsteps of these ancient peoples, skirting a breathtaking landscape of soft sandstone calanchi, a reminder of the time when the sea was here. To show us the way, besides the signs, is the mammoth circular tower, the symbol of the village.

A good 30 metres high, the evocative construction was part of the ancient castle, of which today a single scenic facade remains, from whose windows a fantastic view opens over the square and the church of Santa Maria Annunziata, the very one designed by Bramante and consecrated in 1516. After admiring one of the most harmonious squares in Piedmont, we move on to the cemetery church of San Giovanni, the ancient parish church that preserves the most complete cycle of Gothic frescoes in the Asti area. The wonderful Langhe landscape with the endless rows of its vineyards, its medieval villages embraced by greenery and flowers, is the ideal place to get away from the stress of big cities.

Not only that: immersed among these hills of breathtaking beauty there is a place where, besides relaxing, it is possible to find oneself again and also discover a new, healthy and positive life thanks to the teachings of Reiki. This is Cascina Rosso, a well-known organic farm stay surrounded by twelve hectares of greenery among vegetable gardens, orchards, meadows and trekking paths. It is the ideal location for learning and practising meditation, especially Mindful Meditation, and it is a place where we can restore the balance between body and soul also thanks to the courses in Usui Reiki, Karuna Reiki and EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) held by the masters Adriano Rosso and his wife Judith Rivera Rosso, the owners of the property. After arriving we settle into our comfortable apartments, spacious and equipped with all the comforts needed for a regenerating holiday.

Among these, we very much appreciate the presence of the kitchen, which we will use to prepare simple and tasty dishes based on the farm's organic products, a true Eldorado also for vegetarians and vegans. The tranquillity of our sleep will be guaranteed by the absence of noise and light pollution — at most the "traffic" of the Milky Way, which we can observe both by leaning out of the window and by going out into the courtyard, might keep us awake — but pollution is absent in every possible form, including the chemical substances that are not only banned in the crops, but even the sheets are washed with natural detergents. "Today we are bombarded by an absurd amount of information and mostly useless and harmful stimuli that distract us from the true essence of life. We are here to show people that an alternative exists.

There is no need to wait to fall ill to take your life in hand and improve it, making it positive and harmonious," Adriano and Judith explain to us, two exquisite and authoritative people who speak from lived experience and with absolute knowledge of the subject. "The human being is born to grow and with the methods we teach, everyone can learn to manage stress and their own problems. We have also seen many cases in which people have managed to overcome various discomforts and physical disorders. It is possible to learn to live with joy; it is a matter of having a different approach to life.

The people who come to spend a little time with us not only go home regenerated and tanned, but with something much more lasting and important: the awareness of having an alternative, the certainty of being able to create your own life and to live it without stress and in harmony," the owners continue with contagious enthusiasm. The courses, which are optional, take place in a large bright room of the old farmhouse restored in 2006, from whose windows an enchanting panorama opens over the greenery. After the courses we join our friends who have chosen to devote themselves to anti-stress rest by taking walks along the paths that start from the farm and wind through the surrounding hills and trips to the nearby historic villages, including Monastero Bormida and Canelli, or art cities such as Acqui Terme and Asti.

We also relax by going around typical restaurants and tasting the zero-kilometre products of the Cascina, while for the kids it will remain an unforgettable experience to have discovered so many secrets of the organic vegetable garden. A couple of our friends, on the other hand, are enthusiastic about the Life Coaching suggestions they received to reorganise their life and their work activity.

When our holiday ends, we take home the sublime scent and the incomparable taste of the fresh, uncontaminated fruit and vegetables just picked, the beauty of nature, the charm of our rooms with exposed beams and the thick walls of the ancient structure that seems to have a soul, the cheerfulness of the cats and the little dog of the farm, the chirping of the birds, the emotion of having glimpsed roe deer on the woodland paths and above all a deep sense of wellbeing that we have learned to grasp and cultivate in ourselves thanks to Adriano and Judith, people who convince you of the validity of the methods they practise simply with their example. During this holiday we not only regenerated, but learned to treat ourselves well and to live with joy. In the title of his book, Adriano says: "Your Life Is a Vegetable Garden - Cultivate It!". We have started to follow his suggestion.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Cascina Rosso – Agriturismo biologico Reg. Caramello Piandonne, 26 Roccaverano (AT) Tel.: 0144/93100