Maps of the Macaronis' valley

Durum Hills, Boiling Springs, Colander Falls, and the great peak of Mount Parmesan.

Pastalia is a rough oval of a valley, about a week's walk rim to rim for a short-legged rigatoni. Its landmarks are the furniture of every Macaroni childhood — including Nonna Rigatoni's.

The Durum Hills

Rolling golden wheat hills in the west, where durum is grown and milled. Farm wagons rattle down to Al Dente every market day, and the hills hide half the valley's best picnic spots — and, some say, the entrance to the First Kneaders' old storehouses.

Mount Parmesan

The snowcapped peak in the north, its ridges scored like a giant cheese grater. Climbers swear the summit snow tastes faintly of parmesan. Nobody has proved it. Everybody believes it.

The Boiling Springs

Natural hot springs in the east where the water comes out of the rock already steaming. The Macaronis bathe here — carefully, and never past al dente.

Colander Falls & the Marinara River

The Marinara runs red-gold out of the hills, over the perforated cliff of Colander Falls, and through Al Dente, where every bridge is a favorite fishing spot for bread-crust anglers.

Al Dente & Little Italy

The capital climbs a hillside in terraces of golden stucco. Little Italy, its oldest quarter, is a maze of trattorias and tenements — the beating heart of Macaroni food culture.