Foodtopia Moments

The past few days have been filled with British food. Some was good, like the fish and chips, some was bad, like the Ploughman’s Platter. One of the tastiest things I tried was some streetfood. Meat pies are a decently big thing in Londaon, so I tried a few. My favorite was one I got at a stand at the train station. It was a lamb and mint pie. The mint was the right amount and the meat was tender and juicy. The crust was tasty as well.

For my last night in Italy, I headed back to Taverna dei Quaranta, right up the street from the Coliseum. I had their bucatini amatriciana, which is delicious. Later, I had a gelato. It was my first time trying a place by the entrance to Piazza Navona. I’ve tried several places there, but none have been this good. The place is called Grom, and it has some of the creamiest, silkiest, perfect temperature gelato I’ve ever tasted. Homemade whipped cream is offered, and right behind the server, you can watch them making the small batch ice cream. It’s worth a stop for anyone going to Rome. 

Another One in the Books

Every great time must come to an end, and for me that end is tomorrow. I’m heading back to the States, happy to be heading home to see loved ones and great friends, sad that my time exploring new things is over. The past few days have been kind of a whirlwind.

Saturday morning began with a morning car ride to a bus terminal in Termoli. The Campomarino house is all closed down for the offseason, with anything of value heading inside until next summer. Thank you to my neighbor Fernando for the ride into Termoli. It was much appreciated. Flash forward five hours, and I was getting on a shuttle outside of Roma Fiumicino Airport heading to the Marriott. It was my birthday, and the Marriott desk agent recognized it was my birthday, so she upgraded my room, and had a fancy dessert sent to my room. I went out on the town for dinner, but headed back because I had a 3:15 wake up time to get to the Roma Ciampino airport the next morning.

Sunday started off early. I had a few hours of sleep, and was able to sleep on the plane. So when I got to London, I hit the ground running. I had prepared a list of places and things I wanted to do each day, and day one I completed the list. I ended the night trying different gins at The Shakespeare Pub.

Monday was a much easier, later wakeup time I got a nice night of sleep, and was able to have an English breakfast of Eggs Benedict before heading to Harrod’s Department Store, The British Museum, the London Eye, and even went to see a musical, “Bat Out of Hell,” which is based off of Meat Loaf songs. It was really good, and I got to see it pre-Broadway. The drawback to seeing the show is that I had to be up at 2 am to catch a coach bus out to the Stansted Airport, which was about an hour and a half from my hotel. I made the 3 am bus, slept most of the way, and waited for the gate announcement. Stansted has a large waiting area, and about 40 minutes before the flight, they announce the gate. Basically they announce the gate just before they are ready to board. It was surprisingly organized.

Today, I spent the day in Rome. Wanting to keep with the theme of doing something new, I headed to Piazza Navona Underground. It is an excavated section of the old stadium that sat where Piazza Navona, my favorite Roman square, now sits. It’s ancient ruins, but it was still neat to see. The site opened to the public four years ago, but I haven’t been spending too many days there over the past few years, as we were flying to Milan for the cost savings. This year, Rome was cheaper so I had the time in Rome to see the site. I also saw the Spanish Steps, the Coliseum, the Arch of Constantine, the Forum, St. Peters Square, and the Bridge of Angels.

This summer had some very relaxing times on the beach, and I accomplished my goal of writing two scripts. Coupled with the two and a half books I’ve read, it was pretty productive way to recharge the batteries. Tomorrow morning I head back to New Jersey, with a layover in Atlanta on the way. 

Foodtopia Moments

For my last night in town, where else would I go but Ristorante Netti. Zia and I headed downtown tonight, and for the first time this summer, I ordered my favorite pizza, the Scorpion. It has salsiccia piccante (similar to pepperoni), mozzarella, caciacavallo (sharp provolone), and pepperoncino (hot pepper infused olive oil). It was delicious as usual. I started off with an insalata di polpo (octopus salad), and had a portion of their homemade tiramisu, which was out of this world.

Last Day in Campomarino

Every year, the final day in town is filled with highs and lows. The lows are saying goodbye to friends and family, as well as getting the last of things, like the last pizza, the last cornetti (croissant), or the last souvenir. It was also my last time to hit the beach. After three days of rain, seeing the sun today was like welcoming back an old friend. The people who were sitting near me for the past month were all gone, my guess is they had a half month that ended on the big, rained-out holiday Ferragosto on Wednesday. Many people left last night after the earthquakes, which is still what everyone is talking about today. Leaving the beach was sad as usual. It’s been nice and relaxing the past month, reading, swimming, catching up on YouTube videos during the middle of the day when everyone leaves. During part of my morning walk I went to do my weekly weigh in and lost four pounds this week. In total I’ve lost 10 pounds since I got here, and I’ve eaten well. Not as many desserts as normal, gelato only four times so far this summer, but bread and pizza and pasta was on tap almost every day.

As tomorrow is my birthday, I wanted to give myself a gift. So I’m heading to Rome tomorrow, then I‘m hopping on a plane Sunday bound for London. I have two days there, then back to Rome for a night, then back to New Jersey (by way of Atlanta) on Wednesday. The time really flew by this summer, but I got a lot done here. 

Earthquakes and Family

After writing my post earlier tonight, the rains stopped and life began to return to normal around here. People went out on their bikes, others went for walks, and people lit up their barbecues. I was happily surprised with a visit from my cousin Vincenzo, his wife Mariella (yes, the third Mariella that I’ve referenced this week), and his youngest daughter Mila. It was a great visit, and I got to see photos of their new dogs. Along with Zia we talked for more than an hour.

Shortly after we said our goodbyes, Zia and I were talking while out on the patio. Suddenly the ground started wavering like it was rolling. I took Zia to the doorway, which was tough to get to with all of the wavering, and we stood there through the rumbles for a solid minute. It was our second earthquake in three days. The first was overnight on Tuesday. That night my bed was shaking really hard, but in my sleep state I thought it was the wind. I found out in the morning it was an earthquake or as the Italians call it, terremoto. Tonight, the people here are spooked. Many are still out in the streets almost two hours later. I walked downtown shortly after, and the streets were filled with people, but the stores were empty. Everyone was talking about the earthquake. It must’ve really scared some people because for the first hour and a half after the quake the ambulance sirens were wailing non-stop. UPDATE: Just as I was about to post this we had another tremor that lasted about 10 seconds.

If anyone is wondering, I’m nowhere near the awful tragedy in Genoa, Italy. 

Foodtopia Moments

For Ferragosto, the big Italian holiday on August 15, I made a gran sugo (gravy). I started with pomodorini (little tomatoes), cipolla (onion), carote (carrot), basilico (basil), brood classico (bullion), sale marino (sea salt), and olio di olive (olive oil). After cooking for about an hour, I turned it off and strained the mixture, removing seeds and skins. After returning the passed tomatoes to the pot, I added brasciole di pollo (chicken brasciole), and polpette di pollo (chicken meatballs). The results were outstanding. Full of flavor, meat was tender, and the baked chicken and veggies on the side were also delicious. Plus, spending time with Zia, Mariella and Nik was great too. For pranzo (lunch) today, I had the leftover pasta and meat. I added them to a fry pan with a little olive oil and reheated. To fill it out a little, I added a piece of sliced bread that I chopped apart. The pieces of bread soaked up lots of flavor.

Blame it on the Rain

The past few days have been filled with clouds, rain, and thunderstorms. It’s actually thundering outside as I write this. On Tuesday, I went out to get the food that I was cooking for yesterday’s Ferragosto feast. When I got back to the house, I heated up some leftovers, and got ready to head to the beach. I walked outside and saw my neighbors putting away things that can’t get wet and within minutes it was pouring.

Ferragosto, the big Italian summer holiday every August 15, was yesterday. Zia, Mariella and Nick came over to celebrate. Chicken is a traditional food of the day, so I made some gravy with chicken brasciole and chicken meatballs. Plus I roasted some chicken with an apple wood rub and honey. The rain held off for the time we spent together, but alas it returned overnight and all day today.

Because the rain limits what I can really do around here, I have started my closing ceremonies for the condo this year. I leave on Saturday morning, so I took down the fan blades for the outdoor ceiling fan, and secured one of the windows for the offseason and brought in trash cans and a table. I’ve packed my bags, and researched the IEPs of my students for this coming school year. If the weather was better, I’d have hit the beach for three days. Instead, I’ve been steadily completing things on my to-do list. I’ve completed two feature length scripts this summer, and I’m halfway done my third novel in less than a month.

Foodtopia Moments

Before the rains came and washed away my plans for the day, including a night out on the town, I managed to put together a "kitchen sink" plate of pasta (As in I used everything but the kitchen sink). I had a pork chop leftover, as well as some potatoes and a mix of roasted veggies. So I made some pasta and combined everything together. I topped it with a mix of grana padana and pecorino romano cheeses. The meat was tender and the veggies fresh. Everything I had as leftovers on one plate, and it was delicious.

Foodtopia Moments

Since my June gallbladder removal, I really haven’t had much if any red meat. I was craving steak the other day so I went to the butcher and had him cut me a nice steak. It was beautiful. I seared it in a fry pan for a minute on each side, then placed on a bed of onions, garlic, and zucchini and roasted in a hot oven. I flipped the steak once and when I plated it, I put the zucchini and onions, which basically steamed in the steak juices, on top of the steak. It was delicious.

Family Reunion

This weekend was a great one for family. My cousin Mariella, her husband Nik, and Zia had lunch together yesterday. It was delicious and one of the few times we’ve all had lunch together this summer, which is the first time we’ve all been in Campomarino since, I think, 2014.

Every family has that time when people don’t speak to each other, or don’t see each other. Our family is no different. In 2016, I was fortunate enough to see my Zio Matteo for the first time in 11 years. Today, Mariella, Nik and I rode out to Zio’s house for a visit. While there, we also got to see our cousin Mariella (yes another Mariella – Zio Matteo’s daughter) and her husband Marco. In 2002, 2003, and 2005, we spent many nights in Italy together. I haven’t seen them since. After a nice visit with Zio, who is 90 years young, we went to my cousin Roberto’s house. We’ve spent plenty of nights together in America and Italy over the years, but haven’t seen each other since 2005. I got to see his wife Anna, and his family too. His little girl Serena is now 18, and he has two boys, Lorenzo (10), and Massimo (6). I had never met the boys. Roberto asked me how my journalism job was and it dawned on me that I’ve changed careers since we last saw each other. It was great spending the day with family.

Foodtopia Moments

While the gardener was busy with the plants and trees, I was busy working on melenzane ripieno (stuffed eggplant). I adjust the tuna stuffing that I had made before. I did not add the parsley, and switched in crumbled bread cubes instead of bread crumbs. Way better, even Zia gave me the thumbs up. I made little videos of how to make it, so when I get back to America I’ll have to put it together and post on YouTube.

Well That Escalated

The past couple of days had been very tranquil. Long walks, beach time, and my cousin Mariella from Holland and her husband Nik arrived in town for basically my last couple of weeks here. It’s been fun catching up with them. They managed to rent a cottage on the beach at the Lido (beach club) just south of the Lido I go to everyday.

While trying to add money to my phone so that my service would continue through the rest of my trip, I dropped my phone on my patio. The screen cracked and I had no control of the phone, and in a small fit of rage I slammed it on the table rendering it a solid black screen with no life. That was last night. I asked my neighbor to drive me to the train station so that I could go to Termoli, but when I arrived at the phone store at 8:45 it was too late. They close at 8:30. That left me with no phone for 24 hours, and some lost contacts.

One contact that I lost was the gardener. While I was in Termoli he stopped by my house because he couldn’t contact me by phone, and told the neighbors he’d be here in the morning. He got here about 8:30 and proceeded to transform the patio garden. After two years of no care, it needed work. He was here for about 8 hours today, earning his pay. I did get his number, and this time I put it in my American phone as a Google contact.

As soon as he left, my neighbor drove me to Termoli so that I could get a working phone. They had a special offer right up my alley; phone with a year of insurance thrown in for free. I’m back up and running. Every year there is something with these phones. 

Foodtopia Moments

The food truck festival in town has come and gone, but before they left I managed to get their twice. The first night I wasn’t excited, but I did notice there was one place that was hopping and looked great. The first night it was packed when I got there and I didn’t feel like waiting 45 minutes for a sandwich. Last night, the line was much shorter when I got there about an hour earlier so I had the Calabrese sausage sandwich. It was delicious, well worth the 15 minute wait. Filled with zucchini, onions, eggplant, roasted peppers, and mushrooms, the sausage sandwich was great Italian street food.

Cooking at home is also going well. For the first time, I made stuffed eggplant. I used a tuna fish stuffing. It was great, but through this trial I know what I would change to make it even better. 

Beach Bum

The past few days have been filled with lots of beach time. I have spent more than 5 hours of each day at the beach tanning, sitting under the umbrella reading (or watching YouTube),or in the water. I’ve been planning my last couple of weeks here, only 11 more days in Campomarino Lido until I head back to Rome. It seems odd writing that little amount of time on paper. I’m only a little ways into the next script. I’ll definitely be working on it daily now.

A Day at the Sea

As I was using the Internet on my phone last night, I got a message that I had used up all of my data allowance. It didn’t throttle the speed, it flat out stopped the data connection altogether. This set the tone for my morning. Needing to re-up my data plan, I headed into Termoli, the next town north. After a mile and a half walk, and a train ride, I was in the “big” city. It just so happens that today was the start of the San Basso festival in Termoli. Once I was finished in the Vodafone store, where the lady game me 30 gigs of data for free for the next month, I trekked over to the port to watch the end of the processional at sea. Tomorrow, there will be a band and priests and thousands of people descending on the town as they carry the bones of San Basso throughout the town. Today, the bones were loaded onto a ship and brought out to sea followed by dozens more boats loaded with people celebrating and shooting water at each other. By the time I arrived, the boats were all docking in the port and people were celebrating with Peroni at the port by San Basso’s boat. I had time in the city before my train, so I actually went down and hung out in the party for a little while.

After returning to Campomarino, Zia and I had lunch then I went to the beach. Using the free WiFi at Lido Ritz, I’ve been able to keep up with some YouTube channels I like. Not to mention, I’m midway through my second book of the summer. It started slow and elementary, but “Beneath a Scarlet Sky” is getting better. It’s inspired by true events in the Life of an Italian during Nazi occupation during World War II without being a true story.

Tomorrow looks to be a total beach day, and maybe start my next script. I’ve been busy developing the characters since my last draft was finished last weekend.

Foodtopia Moments

Today was an interesting food day for me. I had two nice meals without cooking anything, which is rare around here. For pranzo (lunch), Zia had suggested getting food from Ristorante Netti. On my walk back from the train station this afternoon, I stopped by and picked up portions of lasagna and parmagiana. It touristy parts of Italy, you can find multiple types of parmagianas. Here in rural, non-touristy Italy, there is only one type, melanzane (eggplant). Netti uses a bolognese meat sauce with theirs, and it is savory and delicious.

For cena (dinner), I was super excited to head to the food truck festival in town for the weekend. I’m hoping tomorrow has more options. There were some trucks serving burgers and pork sandwiches. I had one of the port sandwiches and it wasn’t the best I’ve had. The bread wasn’t very good. Other places had arrosticini (meat sticks), arancini di riso (rice balls), Panini di salsiccia (sausage sandwiches), and pastries. 

Foodtopia Moments

Eating at Eattico in Termoli’s borgo antica (Old City) again, I made sure to try something different. I ordered a small fried achiuge (anchovies), and had their bacala sandwich. It had a pesto made from capers and black olives, pepperoni arrosto (roasted peppers), and steamed bacala. The mix of flavors was outstanding.

A Morning of Business

Having a car at my disposal is much more comfortable than just using trains and my feet. Yesterday, I rented a car so that I can handle some business at city hall, my Italian bank, and at the water service office. Wow, business runs at a snail’s pace, and they are constantly adding unnecessary middle men. If you want to pay a bill, you can’t pay in the office. If you want to change address, that’s a different office. Just to deposit some money into my account to the guy, and this is no exaggeration, 45 minutes. I was dumbfounded. It took more than four hours to complete all of the work we need to complete, but we did it. The places we went were all within a ten minute walk if you did a circle. No travel was involved except the drive up to the center of the main part of town.

Being done at 1 in the afternoon, Zia and I picked up some food from Ristorante Netti and ate together on my patio. There was a light breeze and the sky was blue and clear. This gave me time for an afternoon at the beach. I was able to catch up on videos on Youtube, and take a few dips in the Adriatic Sea.

Tonight, I decided to use the car and head into Termoli. I had dinner at Eattico, the paninoteca (sandwich shop). I’ve been raving to people how good it is, but they all think the price is too high. Luckily, the place has lots of customers.Then I watched a beautiful sunset, before heading back. Sadly, the car has to go back tomorrow morning. Then it’s feet and trains (sometimes buses) the rest of the time here. 

Foodtopia Moments

Italy is known universally for its pizza and pasta, but in Italy the fish reigns supreme. Being a narrow peninsula, fish is a part of the culture. No matter where you are, a sea or large body of water is at most an hour away from much of the country (Northern Italy may have some more distant towns). Around here, lots of fish restaurants make an insalata di mare. Yesterday at Ristorante Netti, I tried theirs. It is mostly made up of tender calamari and succulent polipo (octopus), and is seasoned well, using plenty of delicious olive oil and natural spices. I totally recommend people traveling in Italy try this dish when they spot it. 

Campomarino Weekend

This has been a great weekend. I’ve written about 30 pages of a script, nearing the end, gotten plenty of time at the beach where I am starting book number two for the summer, and I got to spend quality time with great family and longtime friends.

The weekends are always busier here, just like in America. This weekend was no exception with the two town festivals taking place just days apart during last week (Santa Cristina on July 24 and Sant’Anna on July 26). Extra vendors have lined the streets, and there was an antique fair in Piazza Aldo Moro (which people have started calling Piazzetta Rosso because of all the red trim around the little square). Saturday night, Zia and I were able to spend time with my cousin Renato and his wife Dorette, along with their son Mario and his wife Cassandra. We went to Ristorante Netti, which was packed, and spent hours catching up and reminiscing. It was a great night.

Today I spent most of my hours at the beach. I realized this weekend that using the free WiFi at the beach would be a great way to catch up on some of my Youtube subscriptions. By today, I had also realized that the free WiFi has its limits and when the beach is packed it will run slow. However, during the 1 to 3:30 p.m. timeframe, when the bulk of people are at home eating lunch and taking siesta, the WiFi works great for videos. The rest of the time I read or chat with people back home. Tonight, the Monacos, longtime family friends, came for a visit. We went back to Ristorante Netti for another awesome night of catching up and talking about the future of the summer. After dinner we went on a short passiagiatta (evening walk) to the antique fair. We’re all looking forward to our next get together.

Foodtopia Moments

Last night I went to Eattico, a new street food restaurant in Termoli. I got a polipo (octopus) sandwich, which has marinated celery and potato along with the polipo, and I ordered a sgombro (mackerel) sandwich, which had a sweet sauce, tomatoes and red onions. It sounds piggish to order two sandwiches, but the plan was (and I stuck to it) only eat half of each, and finish the other halves tonight.

A Little Trip to Termoli

I was a little nervous about not having a car here, but the cost is unnecessary at this point. One thing I was wondering if I’d be able to do is travel to Termoli at night. Sitting on the beach yesterday, I looked up the train times and decided that I could go for a couple of hours and it would only cost me two euros. Years ago, the tobaccheria (smoke shop) stopped selling train tickets. So I used to just head to Termoli for free when we couldn’t buy a ticket. Yesterday’s trip was stunted a bit because unbeknownst to me, a new tobaccheria has started selling tickets. I was at the train station when a substitute bus (instead of train) pulled up. I figured I could just pay the driver. I was wrong. So I had to wait a little over an hour for another train. Thus, last night I needed to get a taxi back home.

While in Termoli, I picked up sandwiches at Eattico, one of my new favorite places in Termoli, and went to sit by the castle and eat. Eattico at 8:45 is much busier than 7:15 when I planned to go, so I couldn’t get a seat. I walked around Termoli, then headed back to the train station. The bathroom at the station had been locked about twenty minutes before it is scheduled to be closed, so I had to run into a kebab restaurant. Italy isn’t good with schedules. Posted times are kind of like suggestions.

I had the taxi drop me off in the center of town. Campomarino Lido, which was celebrating Sant’Anna last night, was filled with people in the center of town. There was a live concert, tons of street vendors selling anything from screwdrivers to sausage sandwiches. Seeing the whole street filled with vendors again was heartfelt, as that was the way it was when we first bought this condo. In 2002, 2003, and 2005, there were tons of street vendors, and open air theater, supermarkets, and a fiera (food, drink, and vendor festival) every two years. The past six years have seen many of those things cease to exist.

 For most of the day, I cooked and cleaned heading to the beach around 12:30. There were no clouds at all until about 6:30, when I was heading home. I definitely picked up some color today.  Hopefully I’ll get more tomorrow as well.