Italy: The Final Chapter

I have been meaning to do a last post about our trip to Italy, but the longer I’ve waited, the harder it’s become to remember all the details. Luckily I kept a travel journal to remind myself where I’d gone and what I’d done, so I will tell you a little about the Cilento Coast and the day I spent alone in Salerno. In case you need a refresher, I wrote two other posts about our vacation, which you can read here and here.

Having two weeks for the vacation really gave us a chance to see things at a leisurely pace. If Sonny had his way, we would have been at the beach each and every day. BIL and SIL were more about hiking and getting outdoors in nature. If you’re that type, you will love the Cilento Coast. There are tons of hiking possibilities and numerous grottos you can visit, if you’re into dank, dark places and bats. I’m not. Bedstemor wanted to see archaeological ruins and she enjoyed Paestum and Pompeii. I preferred visiting towns and cities to see what they had to offer. I even ventured alone around Salerno while the rest of the group went to Pompeii.

Paestum is the site of an ancient Greek temple. I thought this was a funny picture taken by SIL of BIL debating with his imaginary friends.

Pompeii. The picture was taken by SIL.

Notice the kid's wearing sandals? Bad idea if you are going to be walking in dust. By the time he got home, his feet were caked and black.

This kid is a hoot! He's vogue-ing! In Pompeii!

If you plan on sight seeing along the coast, you will need two things: a car and a good supply of Dramamine. Buses will get you to Paestum and Pompeii and the cities along the coast, but it’s just easier to have a car at your disposal. You’ll get to see more in less time and you won’t have to worry about deciphering bus schedules, late buses and the occasional crazy Italy dude (more on this later). Be warned that driving amongst the Italians can be a little nerve wracking, but BIL said that after a couple of days, he figured out there was some method to their madness.

The Cilento Coast highway is not as jaw clenching as the Amalfi Coast, but if you are prone to carsickness, you’ll want to have a barf bag handy. Even the Dramamine wasn't enough at times. The upside is the scenery. It’s gorgeous. You’ll want to pull over and snap photos every half mile. The only thing to keep in mind is that the national “nap time” is generally between 1 to 5 PM, which happens to be prime touristing time. Luckily the outdoors are so gorgeous you could just pack a lunch and explore outside while the locals are "napping".

As I mentioned, I spent a day by myself venturing around Salerno and a little ways up the Amalfi Coast while the others went to Pompeii. Hubby’s parents dropped me off near a post office in Salerno with their cell phone on their way north, and the plan was to pick me up a few hours later on the way home. Did I mention I didn’t have a city map? Or a GPS unit or even a compass? I just decided to follow the signs toward the stazione, which I believed would be a train or bus station. My plan was to squeeze in a bus trip to Amalfi since Rick Steeves said it was worth a visit. I got a little lost, and after a little aimless wandering and some gelato to help me get my barings, I found the station. The ticket to Amalfi only cost 6 Euros, which was a good bargain.

Salerno

The next bit that follows is what Rick Steeves would call turning a travel mishap into a magic travel memory. Or something like that.

When I got onto the bus at the terminal, it was already over half full, but I was lucky enough to snag a window seat. At the next stop a guy with a big bag sat down sat next to me and his mom sat in the seat in front of us. He set his bag down between his legs so he had to spread his legs as far open as they’d go. Compared to what Americans are used to, the circle of personal space is a bit smaller in Italy, but he was really pushing the limit. I suppose I could have given up my seat so he could sit next to his mother, but I wanted the window seat. Almost immediately the dude introduces himself as Marco and begins to rattle off in Italian. He asked me my name, but I tried to politely indicate that I didn’t understand what he was saying (although I did understand he was asking my name and where I was from). His mom kept turning around and rolling her eyes at him, like she knew he was annoying. Did I mention he was like 35 years old? Once he realized I wasn’t able to socialize, he put on his earphones and serenaded the entire bus. And he was no Eros Rammazotti. Occasionally he’d reach over me and point his Razor phone at the window and snap a picture. I can only imagine what they looked like, pictures taken with a camera phone from a moving bus. I wanted to move, but there weren’t any seats left and I would have definitely barfed if I had to stand for that bus ride, despite taking a dose and a half of Dramamine. I thought I could get off at one of the bigger stops and wait for the next bus, but once we got to driving on the cliffs, the stops were in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t want to get out to wait half an hour by the side of the road. I ended up sitting next to Marco for a good 45 minutes (he sang most of that time and used my side as an elbow rest), until we reached Maiori, a small town about 5 km of Amalfi. I walked around Maiori a bit to shake off the Marco experience. Snapped some pictures. Ate gelato...again. Got back to my vacation happy place. I never did make it all the way to Amalfi, because the next bus was very late. I decided to head back to Salerno and have a look around. It turns out I didn’t get to see much of Salerno either. By the time I got there and got myself another gelato (that's number 3, if you were counting), Hubby’s parents were on their way to pick me up. The day definitely did not turn out the way I planned, but it was certainly quite memorable.


Snapped this picture when the bus stopped along the route. You can't really see it, but there is a road cut into the side of that cliff!

Maiori

The beach at Maiori was nice and calm, and as you can see sparsely popluated. But I heard it can get really crowded during peak season.

Our trip to Agropoli was completely the opposite of my Salerno trip. Agropoli is probably the largest city on the Cilento Coast yet it doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention. Maybe because it doesn’t look very welcoming from the highway. The only notable thing we saw all the times we drove by was the gi-normous, dreary looking hospital. But once we got to the city proper, it was so pretty. The pedestrian shopping street was very charming and lead up to the old town. It was very similar to Castellabate in that the streets were narrow alleyways and steps. The view from the top of the old town was just as beautiful as the view from Castellabate. We saw the harbor, waterfront homes, and the sea.

Entering the original portion of Agropoli. The next picture shows the view of newer Agropoli from these steps.

Looking down from old Agropoli towards the newer portion of town.

Looking north from old Agropoli.

We were also fortunate enough to happen upon a large outdoor market a little ways from the town center. It turned out to be larger than it looked and I scored the most awesome souvenir of the trip. It was an extra long (19.5 inches / 50cm) wooden spoon I use for stir-frying or making a big vat of tomato sauce. Some of you are probably rolling your eyes, but I honestly haven’t been able to find a tool long and heavy duty enough to withstand high heat cooking. Sonny scored some clothes (the Transformer pajamas were his favorite) and sweets. Agropoli was my favorite of our ventures and to think we almost didn’t make it!

In addition to plants, clothing and foodstuffs, one could buy chickens.

Nuts and dried fruits.

Who knew there were so many types of beans?

I hoped you enjoyed this final bit about our trip!

Italy, part II

When Italians go out to eat, they go all out. There’s the antipasti, primi (pastas or risotto), and secondi (meats or fish) with a couple bottles of wine. If you’re feeling really ambitious you can add on dessert with your coffee and grappa or limocello. That’s a lot of eating. That’s the kind of eating we normally reserve for anniversary dinners or when other people are paying.

Even with the ridiculously weak dollar we didn’t feel prices were completely unreasonable. We were there before the start of the busy season so the prices were not as inflated as they may be in the summer. On the other hand, Castellabate and Santa Maria are a little pricier than the towns that are more inland. For 6 adults to have a 3-course meal with 2 to 3 bottles of wine we usually didn’t pay more than 200 Euros. Hubby and I had a private dinner one night with a bottle of wine that cost 100 Euros. Pizzas were generally between 5 to 9 Euros, and while it seems most people order their own individual pizzas, they are large enough for two people to share. Almost every restaurant charged a sitting fee, which was normally 2 Euros per person. Some places added an extra percentage (we saw 10% at one place) on top of that. To save a little on food costs, we generally reserved 3-course meals for dinner and had more modest fare for lunch. We found a good and less expensive option was to pick up something savory at the local bakery or at take-out bars that featured foccacia or calzones.

Sonny showing us his favorite gelato shop.

I once heard that pizza was not as popular in Italy as it is in America. I can assure you that’s not true, at least in Naples and the Campania region. They don’t eat the types of pizzas most Americans are familiar with though. Their pizzas are thin crust with no more than 2 or 3 toppings and a moderate dusting of cheese. Sometimes the toppings aren’t baked with the pizza but added on top after the pizza is taken from the oven. I much prefer the Italian pizza to the American-style pizzas that are drowned in sauce and topped with 10 tasteless toppings and 1 whole pound of cheese.

Funny thing about pizza, almost every restaurant had a pizza menu, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will serve you pizza. From what we could figure, pizzas were only available on days that contain the letter S. Or if someone in your group was named Vincento. Or some other insane criterion. I don’t think we ever figured out the system, and it was probably sheer luck we ate pizza at all.

My favorite restaurant in Castellabate was one called Divino. Wonderful food and atmosphere. We all liked it so much, we ate there twice. It’s run by an enthusiastic Italian who lived in England (and thus speaks English). We could order off the menu a la carte, but they made it easy by offering a couple of prix fix menus (25 Euros for 3 courses, not including drinks). The menu mare had fish in every course and it was wonderful. I highly recommend it. If you’re not a fish eater, then you can get the menu terra. Delicious as well, but if I had to choose again, it would be the fish. The owner (oh, I wish I could remember his name!) was also very helpful with recommendations for local wines. At the end of the meal, he put a bottle of grappa and a bottle of limoncino (from what I can tell, it’s the same as limoncello) on the table and told us to take as much as we wanted. We didn’t want to seem like neanderthals, so we only took a couple of servings each.

Divino's outdoor seating is on a small piazza in Castellbate. When you're done with dinner, you can go to the bar just a few steps away. Quite convenient, really.

Paccheri with fresh tomato sauce at Divino. So delicious!

Ristorante Divino by day.

There were a couple of other restaurants I’d recommend too. Cantina Belvedere has a beautiful view and very nice atmosphere. Hubby and I had a nice romantic dinner that lasted 2 hours, which is so rare now that we have the munchkin (not that I’m complaining; it just makes it all the more special). Consider sharing the second or third course because the portions are super generous. When they brought out my spaghetti, there must have been enough for 3 servings! Again, I’m not complaining because it was good. Hubby had a delicious gorgonzola and raddichio risotto. We both had fish for the last course: Hubby had herb-crusted tuna and I had a fish mixed grill. Both were delicious.

Another good restaurant is Il Calesse, which used to be a horse stable back in the day. After learning that, I always referred to it as the horse restaurant. But don’t let the nickname give you the wrong idea. The food was also good. I had a spaghetti with tomatoes, basil and prawns and it was the best pasta I’ve ever had. I’ll always remember that pasta. And their foccacia bread, which was more like flatbread sprinkled with spices. Delish. Thing is, they only take cash and I thought we were going to have to do dishes to pay the bill.

As I mentioned before, we spent a lot of time shopping for supplies or at the beach in Santa Marie, so we often ate lunch there. There were a couple of restaurants near the beach and pedestrian shopping street that were open during “nap time”, as Sonny called it. Il Cantuccio is a nice establishment with covered, outdoor seating on a piazza, so we could people watch while we ate or Sonny could run around if he was feeling antsy. We ate there a couple of times. Once I ordered marinated anchovies and it was delicious. It was nothing like what most Americans think of anchovies. They resembled sardines in appearance, marinated in olive oil and white wine vinegar and served with arugula and sweet cherry tomatoes. I thought it was wonderful, but no one believed me. Their loss. The second time I had pizza. I can remember it being good, but I can’t remember what was on it.

Marinated anchovies in white wine vinegar and olive oil.

He doesn't look like the brightest kid on the block, does he? This cannon kept him entertained while we ate our lunch at Il Cantuccio in Santa Marie.

Closer to the beach was another restaurant called Arlecchino with an outdoor eating area. They also served pizza throughout the day. The good thing about this place was you could get pizza to go and bring it to the beach for a picnic. It was here I had my favorite pizza: anchovies, capers and buffalo mozzarella. I love anchovies on pizza, but it never occurred to me to add capers. I don’t think I can do without either topping ever again.

I was going to include some stuff about the day trips we took in this post, but I think I’ll wait with that. Think you can handle the suspense? But I don’t want to leave you without a recipe since I haven’t posted one in a while.

One of the things I loved about the food in Italy was the use of the freshest ingredients. The tomatoes were ripe and sweet with a wonderful tomato flavor. The fish was fresh, like caught-in-the-morning fresh. They may have been liberal with the olive oil, but the food never felt greasy. Like that spaghetti I had at Il Calesse. After I finished the pasta and scampi, there was a little pool of oil on the plate, but I don't remember being put off by it. I liked that pasta so much, I have tried to recreate it several times myself. Once I used fresh bay scallops in place of shrimp and it was nice. The juice from the scallops gave the sauce a creamier texture. Another time I left out the shellfish altogether, and it was still tasty.

This pasta is so simple, yet so easy to miss the mark if you don’t use the right ingredients. For this recipe, I urge you to use fresh sweet tomatoes, such as cherry or some other type of small-ish sweet tomato. There’s something about the combination of sweet, slightly acidic tomatoes with the salty, briny anchovies and smooth flavor of a good olive oil. Those tasteless beefsteak type tomatoes just don’t have the sweet acidity to stand up to the flavor of the olive oil and anchovies. Don’t substitute with canned tomatoes either, even good quality ones. And most importantly, DON’T LEAVE OUT THE ANCHOVIES!

Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Feed 3 to 4

• 1 generous pound small-ish, sweet tomatoes, cut in half
• 3 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 handful fresh, sweet basil, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup good quality olive oil
• Dash of dried chilli flakes
• 10 to 12 oz dry long pasta (spaghetti, linguine, etc)
• 1 pound scallops or shrimp (optional)
• Grated parmesan for topping

It seems silly to give directions on how to cook pasta, so I’ll call it tips rather than directions. Making a good pasta dish requires timing. The pasta should be done when the sauce is ready, and not sitting around waiting for the sauce. I generally like to cook pasta a minute or two less than stated in the directions. The noodles always get a little more heat when I turn them in the sauce, so if they start out overcooked, they will be really overcooked by the time they reach the table. Don’t forget to salt the water. I’m not talking 1 tsp kosher salt, I’m talking about a generous tablespoon or two, at least.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil. When it’s hot (sufficiently hot enough to sautee, not stir-fry!), add the anchovies and garlic. Fry for about 20 to 30 seconds. The anchovies should start to break up, but make sure the garlic does not brown. Add the tomatoes, chilli and basil. Stir it every now and then. You want the tomatoes to break down and release their juices and the skin will separate from the pulp. This will probably take about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size and firmness of the tomatoes. Then turn down the heat to low and let is simmer away until the spaghetti is done. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you want to use scallops or shrimp, I recommend sautéing them separately from the sauce. Start heating up your pan when you put the pasta on so that everything can be done at the same time. Do it in a little olive oil over high heat until they are just cooked through. I found with the scallops, they released a lot of their milky juice, but that’s okay. You could drain it away or add some to the sauce, which is what I did.

To put it all together, drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the sautéed seafood, if using, and the sauce. Give it a few quick stirs (over some heat) to distribute everything, then you’re done! Serve immediately. Top with copious amounts of fresh parmesan and more fresh black pepper. YUM!

We're Home and Italy Will Never be the Same

I know you’re all just dying to know the details of the trip, but before I get to it, I have to thank my in-laws, Bedstemor and Bedstefar. They made this trip possible in every way. They did all the legwork choosing the location, finding the rental house, and reserving the rental cars. They even brought the decorations for the birthday celebrations! The only thing we had to do was reserve our tickets, pack our bags and get ourselves to the airport on time. When we landed in Naples, worn out and tired, they were there waiting to drive us to the villa, which was about 2 hours south. Imagine going on a perfectly planned family vacation without have to do any planning. And did I mention this is like the third time they’ve done this? We really can’t thank them enough.

I think I’m one of the fortunate few who have a good relationship with the in-laws. Good thing too, because 2 weeks could have turned out to be a very, very long time (I’m thinking of the vacations I spent with my own family). For this trip we were 7 people: our little family of 3, Hubby’s brother and his wife (young, energetic couple), and the old fossils, which is what they’ve lovingly been nicknamed. Naturally, each contingent had things they wanted to do and see, but I think our collective appreciation of relaxation, good food, and stiff drinks got us through the two weeks without a hitch.

Okay, now would be the time to take a bathroom break or a cup of coffee because the rest of this post is going to be long. The first part is about general things and the latter half will be about food. So here goes…

Our home base was a town called Castellabate, located on the Cilento Coast (about 2 hours drive south of Naples). Sonny nicknamed our town Casta-la-pasta and I think that’s the name that’s going to stick in our memories for years to come. It’s one of those ancient, romantic towns built atop a hill overlooking the coastal towns of Santa Marie and San Marco. The streets are made of stone and the original tower from 1100-ish AD still stands. Walking around in the town is like being in a maze. It’s all narrow alleyways, steep steps and cool, breezy tunnels. The most amazing thing about the town is the gorgeous, unobstructed view of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the towns below. I could have sat on one of the benches at the edge of town and enjoyed the views and sun all the first day if it wasn’t for my rambunctious 5 year-old munchkin and the seemingly hundreds of lizards sunbathing nearby. (If you aren’t aware, I’ve got an irrational fear of the creepy crawly critters. I was on constant high alert. If you don’t have an intense fear of them, you’ll hardly notice their prevalence throughout southern Italy.)

Southwestern view of Castellabate from the town of San Marco di Castellabate.

View looking NW from the top of the town.

Now looking SW...

Looking inland from the eastern side of Castellabate.

You never know what to expect around each corner, but it's usually something charming and quaint.

Need some exercise? Try running up these stairs a couple hundred times.

The rental we stayed in was situated on the hillside below the town proper and equidistant to the coastal town of Santa Marie di Castellabate. To say the road from Santa Marie to our villa and the town above was winding is a gross understatement. For an American accustomed to wide lanes and orderly traffic flow it’s downright treacherous, made up of steep, narrow switchbacks. If there was oncoming traffic, both cars had to pull over as far to the side as possible while being mindful of not tumbling down the hillside to a fiery death. (Okay, that may be a mild exaggeration, but only mild.) Luckily, I was legally excused from driving and I think I even began to enjoy the drive after a few days.

As far as house rentals go, this one was perfect. It requires a leap of faith to book a rental online without ever seeing the surrounding area. Pictures and descriptions can be misleading, but in this case, my expectations were exceeded. The million-dollar view itself was enough to sell the house. The villa was built in the classic, rustic stone style and the grounds were large and private enough to sunbath in your underwear, if you happen to forget your bathing suit at home. Did I mention the view? The bedrooms were thoughtfully located so that those that are prone to obnoxious snoring could be isolated from the rest of the family. And how about those views? There were two adequate bathrooms with bidets. Sonny asked what the second toilet was for and I told him for cleaning feet. It seemed silly to try to explain what they were really for. The kitchen itself had everything we required to make several delicious meals, taste many a good wine, and mix many a delicious drink. Weather permitting, we dined outside on the terrace. Nothing like dining al fresco with a million-dollar view in the background.

Our villa in Casta-la-pasta.

Great place for taking in the view, if you don't mind lizards crawling on the wall behind you.

Steps from the terrace lead to a grassy garden area. BIL admiring the aparagus or artichoke or agave? Excuse my ignorance, but can anyone tell me what that plant is?

Northerly view of sun rising over Santa Marie di Castellabate from the terrace.

Ever play "knock over the half filled bottles"? It's a game requiring great skill, and I hear it's pretty popular in Norway.

Do you see the dilemma here?

I chuckled every time I saw this. And yes, people actually throw their trash in the town.

For convenience, we rented two cars to get around. It was necessary, really. The coast is dotted with small towns and it would have been too overwhelming to coordinate day trips using the bus system. Having two cars also allowed us to break up if people wanted to do different things. I’ll write more about the day trips in another post.

For the most part, we spent our days shopping for food (do you know how much food is required to feed 6 adults??), lounging at home or relaxing at a small, kid-friendly beach in Santa Marie. The terrace at the villa was large enough for Sonny to kick a ball around or practice catching and hitting. I rigged the outdoor umbrella stand to be the tee and he used a thick tree branch as the bat. Quite ingenious, if I may say so myself.

See Coach, he really did practice!

For the first few days, the weather was in the high 60’s, but afterwards it stayed consistently around 72 to 75. Sonny, being the rambunctious monkey-fish that he is, wanted to spend every day at the beach and I really didn’t mind. A common sight along some of the coastline was these large concrete blocks used as wave-breaking barricades. At first I felt they distracted from the view, but they worked very well to keep the water calm and safe for kids to swim. We felt very comfortable letting Sonny wade waste deep into the water. Was the water warm? I’d say no, but my Viking relatives would say yes. I was spared from going in because I didn’t bring my bathing suit and I was too cheap to pay for a suit in the town. I ended up wearing a cheesy beach dress over my undies. I know, sounds totally trashy, but really no one was the wiser. Nor would they have cared. One thing I noticed and loved about Italian beach culture was that people go to the beach to relax, play beach games and just have fun without all the snarkiness and oogling you’d see at an American beach. Every woman under the age of 70 wore a bikini no matter the shape of their body. And the bikinis were definitely cut smaller than what you’d see on an American beach. Some men wore the Speedo-type suits, but many also wore regular swim trunks. And then there was Bedstefar, who just pushed up his pants above his knees so he could wade with Sonny. Hey, whatever works, right?

Looking north on the beach in Santa Marie.

Looking south from the same beach.

Calm, cool waters.

Bathing suits are so overrated!

As I’ve said, everyone in our group enjoys good food and trying different things. BIL and I are both particularly very fond of food shopping and cooking, so it was a real treat for us to be able to experience the local specialties with our own hands. I really enjoyed visiting the different green grocers in our area and seeing what was in season. There were shelling peas, fava beans, artichokes, spring garlic, fresh garlic, asparagus, fennel, broccoli rabe, arugula (which they translate as rocket), several different tomato varieties, strawberries and citrus fruits. We tried all of these at home or dining out and they were wonderful. Full of flavor, like fruits and vegetables you’d get at a farmers' market. The one peculiar thing about buying produce, though, was that you’re discouraged from touching the produce with your bare hands. Either you tell the shopkeeper what you want or you put on plastic gloves. Of course I went around ignorantly for the first few days handling all the stuff, putting it up to my nose to smell and probably offending every green grocer in town. What can I say? I’m an obnoxious tourist.

Fava beans can be hard to find in the US, but are abundant in Italy. We used them to make a salad with tomatoes and sauteed spring garlic.

Sweet shelling peas. BIL made an excellent pasta dish using these with olives and cream.

We had a wonderful artichoke appetizer at a restaurant in town. It was served with baby potatoes and turned in herb oil.

Who can travel to the Campania region without trying mozzarella di bufala (buffalo milk mozzarella)? It’s one of the things the region is known for. There seemed to be a lot of shops and producers as we traveled from Naples towards Castellabate yet it wasn’t always available at the local grocers in town. Fortunately, I was able to get my hands on some the last couple days of the trip. It was really delicious; milky sweet, elastic and soft when served at room temperature (which we learned is how it should be served).

Another product in no short supply is the lemon, which is used to make limoncello, among other things. Limoncello can be sipped in small amounts, but I also like to use it in cocktails as well. Of course there was no shortage of olive trees and olive oil either. We were very lucky to find a small grocer located away from the more touristy areas that stocked locally produced, unmarked limoncello and olive oil. I felt a little dubious at first because there were no markings on the bottles, but both tasted fantastic.

Being on a coast means having access to fresh fish. There were no less than 6 fishmongers on our route from home to Santa Marie. Visiting one was a little intimidating at first because there were so many varieties of fish, most of which I’d never seen before. Or rather, I’d never seen as a whole fish since we are used to getting fillets here in the US. Generally, the fish that was laid out was not gutted, but once you pick what you want, they will do it for you. BIL bought 4 whole fish to grill for dinner one night and they were delicious. (Notice the pattern here? Everything was delicious.) He stuffed them with sliced lemons, oranges and capers and served them with a fennel salad. I think the fish were called spagole, but I’ve yet to find a translation for that. Anyhow, the fish kind of looked like trout on the outside, but had a texture more like perch with a little bit of a sweet taste.



If you didn’t already know, I have a deli fetish. It’s no surprise that one of my favorite shops was a deli located on the pedestrian shopping street in Santa Marie. Every time I walked in, I felt giddy, like a kid in a candy store. So many meats, cheeses and antipasti all under one roof! It was impossible to taste it all, but we certainly tried. The supermercato (DESPAR) also had a good selection in their deli. The deli man was very nice and let me try the selections before choosing. Mind you, he spoke only Italian and I only English, but he enthusiastically explained to me the different meats. I just nodded in agreement and shoved whatever he handed me into my mouth. It was great fun.

Say CHEESE!

So many meats, so little time!

Hubby didn't think I could get one of these through customs.

If you’re in the mood for fresh meat, you’ll probably want to go to a butcher. Some supermercati may have fresh meat, but the selection may be very limited. Like with the fishmongers, we had a few options. We choose to buy steaks and sausages from a shop on the pedestrian shopping street. The butcher was very friendly and helpful, even though he didn’t speak English. (Notice another trend? The communication barrier never stopped the Italians from being friendly and helpful.) I think we ended up paying about 15 Euros for about 1.25 kg of tasty ribeye steaks. The sausages were very coarsely ground compared to what we’re used to here in the States, but I didn’t mind. I like to know I’m eating real meat. I would imagine some might be unaccustomed to the texture though.

BIL preparing the ribeyes for grilling.

And lastly we ate a lot of pasta. In the States I usually buy De Cecco brand. The selection of this brand here in the US is a fraction of what can be found in Italy (as you’d expect). Did you know they make spaghetti noodles that are like a yard long? And some long, hollow ones that look like drinking straws. I will post some of the recipes for the different pastas we ate. BIL, who has worked in an Italian kitchen, made a pasta dish with fresh peas, olives and cream. If you told me that combination, I wouldn’t’ have been particularly excited, but it was a surprisingly good combination. Slightly salty from the olives yet sweet from the cream and peas.

The last supper, so to speak. Linguine with eggplant and tomatoes topped with mozzarella. Yum.

Before I end this post, I should mention one of the reasons we had this family vacation was to celebrate the recent family birthdays, especially Bedstefar’s. He came up with the ingenious idea of having a 100-year celebration, which is what the ages of the birthday boys added up to. Since none of us could speak Italian well enough to procure a cake from a bakery, we made our own. We bought ready made cake layers, ice cream, bananas, hazelnut syrup, chocolate and cream at the supermercato. SIL gets all the credit for putting it together.

The infamous birthday cake. It's common to use the Danish flag as a decoration at celebrations.

The birthday boys, also known as the 3 stooges.

He got a Lego set from the old fossils.

Bedstefar loved the present we got him. He loves all things golf and lawn ornaments, so we combined the two.

I guess I should give ya’ll a break to eat and sleep. I still have to gather my thoughts on eating out and throw in something about the day trips so you don’t think all we did was eat and laze around all day. Not that there would be anything wrong with that when you’re on vacation, right? I also need to catch up on the last two episodes of Top Chef and a stack of mail. If there’s anything you’d like to hear about in particular, let me know. Want to keep this somewhat interesting to other people besides myself and the other 6 people on the trip.