Like a medieval vision rising from the surrounding fields and olive groves of the Tuscan foothills of the Appenine Mountains, Rocca di Pierla is a step backwards into the distant past. Only a narrow dirt road lined by crumbling homes circles the ruins of the castle, and strangers are greeted by chickens running free and the occasional friendly dog. My Italian wife asked a stooped and leathery local whose castle it once was. "Beh," he answered, "era cosi tanto tempo fa chi si ricorda (it was so long ago who can remember)?"