Come for the roses, the irises, the hostas! You’ll find over 230 different varieties of plant here – they are Rosanna’s passion. With drowsy shutters, buzzing bees and walls festooned in roses, the house and outbuildings appear to be in a permanent state of siesta. As do the seven cats, basking on warm window sills and shady terraces. There’s a touch of The Secret Garden about the half-hidden doors, enticing steps and riotous plants, and the air is fragrant with lavender, oregano and roses, many from France. The house and farm, on a wooded hillside, have been in Rosanna’s family for nearly 300 years; she gave up a career as an architect to create this paradise 40 minutes from Genoa. Homely, imaginatively decorated, bedrooms have handsome furniture, books, pictures; bathrooms come with baskets of goodies. Everyone eats together at a long table in the conservatory or outside, where lights glow in the trees at night. Rosanna, Domenico, young Vijaya and Samjhana are the most delightful hosts, and the home-grown food is a revelation: agriturismo at its best.
Due to bad weather where we were staying in the French Alps we decided to head south to Italy - a last minute decision - so the first thing I did was to look up Alistair Sawday and see if there were any suitable agriturismi in the direction we were aiming for - namely Alessandra and Parma. I thought La Traversina looked lovely and booked it. The setting is so peaceful, the hosts so charming and welcoming and the food so delicious and home-cooked and home-grown that it is impossible to find anything negative about it. Our room was lovely - interesting paintings and books and beautifully cool.