Foodtopia Moments

During our walk around Portland, we made our way over to Big Ass Sandwiches, a place featured on the Food Network and Travel Channel. The sandwich was big and good, but the thing that set it apart from basic French-fry filled beasts was the ciabatta bread. Their rolls make their sandwiches go from “been there, done that,” to “wow, that’s different.”

68 Days of Summer – Day 67 – A Day in Portland

After arriving in Portland last night at almost 2 in the morning, we were bushed. The people at the front desk, who I had alerted as to our late arrival, greeted us with the news that our room we had reserved was no longer available. Instead, they gave us a hospitality suite with a sofa bed and a rollaway. The room was huge, and they comped us breakfast and valet parking so we ended up on top.

Steve and I explored Portland today. It was a Sunday, so I am guessing it is much like Cincinnati in that it is busier during the work week. We made our way by the waterfront, across the Burnside Bridge, into the more local side of Portland, and back through a street market. The market is called The Saturday Market, but the sign says “Now Sundays Too.” It was full of craft clothing and articles for the home, as well as foods from places across the globe like Baghdad, Horn of Africa, Beirut, Poland, Greece, and all over Asia. We passed Voodoo Doughnuts, which was on my list of places to visit, but the line was 30 people deep, so I skipped it. Too touristy now. 

Tonight we are awaiting our red-eye flight back to New Jersey at the Portland airport. 

Foodtopia Moments

Eugene’s Hot Mama’s Wings was our dinner stop. Burgers were good, but the appetizer was great. I ordered country fried back, and it came with maple syrup to dip. It was an explosion of flavor.  

68 Days of Summer – Day 66 – Go Ducks!

Day 66 of my summer was filled with driving. We woke up in Seattle and got a late start after an IHOP breakfast. Little did we know what the day had in store for us. The four hour ride from Seattle to Eugene took more than six hours due to major traffic delays. Between the two cities, there is nothing but Tacoma and Portland, yet traffic was everywhere. We passed no accidents, and no construction, but there were just congestion delays due to the holiday weekend.

When we got to Eugene, we met up with Steve’s older brother for dinner before heading over to the Oregon Ducks football home opener. The famous Autzen Stadium, home of the ducks and pretty much the house that Chip Kelly (now the Eagles head coach) built, is an amazing place to see a game. When you first arrive, and begin the ascent on the walkway around the stadium, the views of the landscape are breathtaking. The evergreens lining the rolling hills are just breathtaking. As the game rolls along and night falls, all you see is darkness around the stadium, giving off the impression that this place, the stadium, is the only place in the universe.

After the game ended, at 11, we had to hop on a shuttle back to the center of Eugene, and hoof it back to Steve’s brothers place. Thankfully we could park our car there so we had easy access to I-5. We finally got on the road about midnight heading for Portland’s waterfront.  After 2 hours, we were finally in Portland, our last stop on this trip. We pick up a red-eye flight tonight. 

Foodtopia Moments

Seattle has some great food. At Pike’s Place Market, I visited a couple of stands that had skewers of orange chicken, and pot stickers. They also had a bed of Japanese rice topped with Spam and wrapped in a piece of seaweed. There was a little teriyaki sauce under the spam. It seemed a little odd, but was one of the best things I tasted this summer. We also had maple and bacon glazed doughnuts. They were the perfect combination of sweet and salty. Before the Rutgers game on Thursday, we stopped at a bar with the world’s largest bourbon collection, and I had a dungeonous crab cocktail. The crab was very fresh and melted in mouth.  Today for lunch, I grabbed a quick food cart snack. It was a Chinese street food inspired crepe wrap with various spices and sauces, egg, and crispy wonton inside. Yum.

 

68 Days of Summer – Days 63 – 65 – Sightseeing in Seattle

The past few days have been a blur as my friends and I have toured around Seattle. We drove up from Eugene on Wednesday morning, and have been going non-stop since.

We toured CenturyLink Field, home of the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, on Wednesday afternoon. Then we saw the Rutgers University football team beat Washington State University at the stadium on Thursday.

Steve and I toured Pike’s Place Public Market. It was pretty much as pictured. It’s kind of like a very nice Berlin Mart in there, but I noticed that they lack pretzels. It was surprising that not one pretzel place existed in there. We saw the first Starbucks, the first Nordstroms, and watched the fish market guys throw around some of their fresh catch.

The Seattle Center area was pretty neat. Home to the Seattle Space Needle, and just a monorail ride from the center of the shopping district, was initially created for the 1962 World’s Fair, which featured many technological inventions we use regularly today. Just like Pike’s Place, we visited the area twice. The first time, we went to the top of the Space Needle and out onto the observation deck to see a 360 degree view of the city. Today, we went back to the area and had a quick bite in the Seattle Armory and walked around the grounds of the Key Arena as they were setting up for Bumbershoot, and three day outdoor concert that starts tomorrow.

Tonight we went to the Safeco Field for a Mariners game against the Washington (DC) Nationals. Seattle lost, but after the game we were treated to fireworks. Seeing these fireworks, which were set to the music of Seattle over the past few decades, was a fitting way to usher in my last weekend of the summer. Tomorrow it’s back to Oregon University and eventually Portland.

Foodtopia Moments

While in Eugene, Oregon, today we went to a local brewery and restaurant called Falling Skies, for dinner. They had some great beers, and the food was awesome. I had a grilled cheese, with four cheeses, caramelized onions, and a beer honey mustard. It was delicious. I got them with BBQ pork cheese fries. Completely the opposite of anything I have had all summer. I did have a salad with lemon vinaigrette (not pictured).

68 Days of Summer – Days 57 – 62 – (Pacific North)Westward Bound

When I made my last blog entry, I was sitting in a beautiful room at the Sheraton Hotel in Milan, Italy. Currently, I am writing from the Valley River Inn in Eugene, Oregon. The contrasts are immense, but both have their own beauties.

Since I returned home from Italy, I have worked on dealing with the time change. For some reason, maybe it was the late arrival at home, but I have had the toughest time dealing with jet lag this year. It is a problem I’ve never experienced in the past. Perhaps it’s just the doldrums of returning to work affecting me.

I’m currently in the Pacific Northwest for two different sporting events. First we are going to see Rutgers vs Washington State play football in Seattle. Then my friends and I are going to the Mariners game on Friday night. And on Saturday, we are coming back to Oregon to see the Ducks host South Dakota. It should be a fun time. Today we toured the Oregon campus with Steve’s brother who is doing a doctoral fellowship here. It is a place of wonder for a person who loves nature. We made sure to see the legendary Hayward Field, where Prefontaine ran, and Nike shoes were sort of invented.

Foodtopia Moments

Tonight we were looking to head to the hotel restaurant, which has a good menu, for our last meal in Italy. When we got to the restaurant, the convention manager had set up a guests and staff party, and the restaurant was buffet style with drinks included. There was a DJ, party hats, glow sticks, and Italian party dancing, which was exactly the same tunes played at the Lido Ritz beach club. We even had little desserts, tiramisu and chocolate mousse.  

68 Days of Summer – Day 56– Mountains to Milano

As the summer draws to a close, I used today as a day of travel. Linda had a train to catch at 6:50 in the morning, and I had put in more than 4000 steps before 7 a.m. Mom and I were on the road before 8:30 for our almost four hour ride from Florence to Milan. Our ride was very neat as we snaked through the mountains. At time we would be at the top of a mountain pass, swimming through the clouds, and then we would enter a tunnel, only to emerge into sunlight with only a few clouds. It was an interesting ride to say the least.

When we got to Milan, we checked into our room at the Sheraton Hotel at Malpensa Airport. It is a wonderful hotel, with probably the nicest room I’ve stayed in while traveling in Europe. High ceilings, comfortable beds, oodles of room and a great bathroom are just some of the in-room features. The Hotel is also aesthetically pleasing, as you can see if you Google it.

Other than the traveling, we just hung out at the airport and the hotel. We found out where we each need to go tomorrow in order to check in, and as suspected, they have segregated the American carriers to a separate, more secure section of the airport. Still, it is easily accessible for my mother.

Tomorrow we fly home. Mom leaves around 10 a.m. headed for Newark, and I’m leaving around 4 p.m. heading to JFK. I hope I can stay awake once I land, because I have a lot of train travel to follow. 

Foodtopia Moments

Tonight we were looking to eat a little closer to the hotel. We looked in Piazza Santa Maria Novella, but there was too much sun at that point. So we went down a side street, and discovered a great Florentine restaurant, Trattoria Trebbiano. I had a plate of fusili con ragu di coniglia (fusili pasta with rabbit sauce). Then I followed that up with a nice, juicy, tender steak. After the past two nights, I can skip red meat for a month.  

68 Days of Summer – Day 55– Leaning, Swaying and Wish I was Staying

Every time I come to Florence, I am thrilled with my experience and wish I could stay longer. The city and its surrounding sites are never a miss. Today was no exception.

Mom had never been to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, so I took her over there today. It is only about an hour and half long ride, but if you’ve never seen the site, it is worth it. I was surprised to find that the tower was no longer held up by wires, and also was open for visitors to climb. The last time I was there, in 1995, both were the case. Mom didn’t want to climb it, but she did want to get as close as possible. At one point, while sitting under the leaning side, she said, “Look, it’s swaying.” Then she realized it was a cloud moving overhead. Good three minutes of laughter followed.

After taking the obligatory “Mom holding up the Leaning Tower” photo, we headed back to Florence. With her wheelchair, we were able to skip the lines and payment for the Duomo, Galleria della Academia, and Galleria dell’Uffizi. We saw Brunelleschi’s dome from the inside, Michelangelo’s “David” and “Prigioni” sculptures, and his painting the “Holy Family”. It was a nice surprise to see we could now take photos of “David” and other works of art. In 2005, my last visit, that was not allowed.

So as I say goodbye to Florence once more, I again leave with lasting, fond memories. The last thing I bought was a new school bag, which has wheels. I talked the guy down from 38 to 30 Euros, which was no easy feat. 

Foodtopia Moments

For my birthday dinner tonight we went to Tratorria 13 Gobbi  (13 hunchbacks). It is a Florentine steakhouse that we loved on our first visit back in 2005, and loved again tonight. The steak was superb. I had a Florentine style (thick cut, bone in, rare) steak, with a side of potatoes.  Mom had a veal steak with potatoes. Linda had sliced steak with wild porcini mushrooms. My first course was fatto in casa (made in house) tagliatelle pasta with wild porcini mushrooms in olio di olive (olive oil) con menta (with mint).  It was delicious.  

68 Days of Summer – Days 53 & 54– Oh Happy (Birth)Day

Siena

The past couple of days have been sort of a whirlwind. We left Campomarino on Sunday morning with Firenze (Florence) as our final destination. It was a great day to drive as the roads were empty.

Ponte Vecchio

On our way to Florence, we made an afternoon stop in Siena. We visited the Piazza del Campo, site of the Il Palio horse race (look it up on Google/Youtube) one day after a victor was crowned. The dirt from the race, along with the thrill of Civetta’s victory, still filled the square.  

After a light lunch, we headed to Florence, and our albergo (hotel) Hotel Leonardo Da Vinci. Last night we took it easy, then went out for a walk through Piazza Santa Maria Novella on our way to dinner in Piazza Della Republica.

When I awoke today, my birthday, I knew we had a lot on our plate. Mom, Linda, and I headed out into the city after breakfast and went to the leather market, Piazza Della Signoria, the Ponte Vecchio, and to the Boboli Gardens, where we had amazing views of Brunelleschi’s Duomo in the distance.  Mom got my birthday gift for me on the Ponte Vecchio, a medallion of San Michele for my chain. We also found out that disabled visitors and their guests get into museums and galleries for free without waiting. Just go right up to get a ticket, and then go in. Not worth the trade, but still a nice perk.

68 Days of Summer – Day 52 – Another One Bites the Dust

Another summer here in Campomarino is in the books. Tomorrow morning we push off early headed for Siena and Firenze (Florence). It has been a fun summer, but all good things must come to an end. The housework is virtually finished and tomorrow I just have about 15 minutes of loose ends to complete before we leave, plus packing the car, which is like putting 10 pounds of sausage in a five pound sack.

Our place is on the bottom right corner
of the condo pictured

As we prepare to leave, some things prepare to arrive. The circus is in town, and along with it comes a selection of African animals including camels, a giraffe, and a zebra. Oddly, these are very close to their names in Italian; camelli, giraffe, and zebra. The crowds are also in town, creating a parking nightmare. Luckily we did not take our car anywhere yesterday and today, or we might not have a spot. Sadly, the clouds have rolled in too. It did not rain, but was not a good day for the beach as the clouds came with wind and lower temperatures. 

68 Days of Summer – Days 51 – Auguri

Buon Ferragosto! Today is the big summer holiday here in Italy, and it was a beautiful day for it. The sun was shining, and there was a breeze to keep it tolerable outside. I spent most of the day working on either cooking, gardening, sweeping, or prepping the house for our Sunday departure for Florence.

For the holiday, I made a sauce from scratch. I cooked up the tomatoes, carrots and onions yesterday and passed them to take out the seeds. Today, I heated the sauce up, and added the polpette (meatballs), pollo (chicken), and brasciola. I was going to also get a chicken from Ristorante Netti, but after waiting almost an hour and seeing only four people get served, I decided to walk away and head home. They’re truly an Italian business, allergic to money.

I then got motivated to start the process of preparing the house for our exit. We leave Sunday for Florence then off to Milan and the US. I locked the car gate, took down the outside fan paddles, and covered the climatizadore (air conditioner). I packed my suitcases as well, and I’m pretty much ready to go. A few odds and ends are left for tomorrow and early Sunday morning, and then we are off. 

Later tonight, we went over to Parco Del Mare ristorante and picked up some calamari. While we waited, we went for a walk through the pine forest behind the place out to the beach at sunset. 

Foodtopia Moments

We went to Ristorante Federico II in Termoli. I’ve been eating there since 2009, and the quality has not waned. Tonight, though, I tried something for the first time. It was crucifi di calamari con balsamico (squid with balsamic glaze) and rucola (arugula). It was a dish of calamari tentacles, fried, over the arugula with a mild balsamic glaze that provided the perfect amount of sweet and salty. This might be my new favorite dish at this restaurant.

68 Days of Summer – Days 49 and 50 – Last Night in the Castle

The past couple of days have been hot, like stifling hot. It is also the first two days that we’ve needed the air conditioner all summer. Tonight, thankfully, the heat has broken. It was nice having the air on while we nursed our sunburns. For some reason, my lips have given me the most problems this year.

We went to Torremaggiore, my dad’s hometown, yesterday to visit the cemetery. I wish we would’ve had more time to visit people in town, but the cemetery was our only stop. Then we worked on stuff in the house and called it a night.

Today, I went out on my morning walk with the goal to pick up some meat for tomorrow. August 15 is Ferragosto, the big summer holiday here. I ordered a chicken, but I wanted to make some brasciola and polpette (meatballs) as well. I stopped at the fruit market first to get tomatoes to make the sauce, then waited more than a half hour at the butcher. I was fourth in line and it took what seemed like forever for the old world Italians to make their selections. Many wanted a fresh chicken, and when they were shown three, they had them weighed and chose the lightest one. The weight ranges were like 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 kg, not huge differences.

When I got back, I chopped the pomodorini (small tomatoes), carote (carrots), cipolle (onions), and basilico (basil), then I cooked them until I had a nice sauce to pass through the mouler.  The sauce was delicious. Tomorrow I will heat the sauce to a nice boil and add the meat for lots more flavor.

Tonight we headed out to Termoli for the last time in 2014. It was a nice night to walk around and see the castle. The lidi (beach clubs), were packed with people and it was after 6 p.m. we found a whole strip of restaurants that we had never seen, as they were hidden in a piazza off of an alley. Next year, we have a whole list of places to eat. At the end of the night, as we strolled back to the car, we stopped to take in a tribute to the invasion of the Turks that was thwarted by Federico II. It was a processional that tonight included a concert and tomorrow will include fireworks.

68 Days of Summer – Day 48 – Clubbing, Beach Style

Today was our last day at the Lido Ritz beach club for the summer of 2014. We might still head to the beach, but it will be an impromptu trip. It has been a fun eight days, but now we must begin the process of closing up shop before heading home. We still have eight days, but we will be traveling for most of those as we are heading to Florence on Sunday.

Lido Ritz has been a relaxing and fun place to visit. We had an umbrella in the first row, which evidently is a prime spot and costs more than the back. Each row has a different price, and my neighbor was very surprised to hear we were in the front row.

When we got to the club today, they still had about 45 minutes (see video) ballo di grupo (group dancing), followed by a limbo contest. Then it was peace and quiet, with lots of sun the rest of the day. Tomorrow we have a plumber coming to the house in the morning, so hopefully it won’t be an all day process. 

Foodtopia Moments

The other day, we ordered lunch at Lido Ritz. It was interesting how they called us over. Tables were reserved with our names on them, and the announcer put out a call over the whole beach that “Tavola Calda” was pronto (ready). Tavola Calda literally means hot table, but that’s what places like Lido Ritz call their hot food table service, as opposed to things like chips and cornetti (croissants) which are self service. I had an order of parmagiana (which here only comes in eggplant). It was good, and the setting, with the beach and Adriatic in the background was gorgeous. I also discovered a beer that I completely enjoy. It’s a shandy style beer put out by Birra Moretti called Radler, made with 100% Limoni Italiano (Italian lemons).

Tonight we went out to Ristorante Netti and I ordered the Pizza Scorpion. It is a margarita pizza with salsiccia piccante (hot sausage), caciacavallo (sharp provolone), and peperoncino (hot pepper oil) added on top. It is absolutely delicious.