Foodtopia Moments

 For my last meal in town, I ate at the hotel restaurant. Eating alone is usually somewhat odd, but in this restaurant, a third of the tables were solo travelers. I started off the meal with a Caprese salad. It's the last good buffalo mozzarella I'll have till next summer. I will really miss the stuff. The little black pearls on top are actually little balls of balsamic vinegar.

I finished my meal with a pizza Roma. It was a white pizza, with thinly sliced potatoes, porchetta (roasted seasoned pork), a little bit of mozzarella, and plenty of pecorino romano cheese on top. It was delicious. Each bite had so much flavor. 

All Good Things

 The end of any trip is always bittersweet. This summer trip to Italy is no exception. I'm currently writing this from the Hilton Rome Airport where I'm spending the night before my flight home tomorrow. 

Along with my cousins Maryanne and Victoria, I've spent the past few days walking around, dining, and shopping in Florence and Pisa. It was a whirlwind, visiting the Academia to see Michelangelo's masterpiece "David," and tramping through the Boboli Gardens in 105 degree heat. Florence was its usual mix, filled with art and energy, however, after spending time in a sleepy beach town it seems extra busy right now. I've also never seen Pisa as packed as it was yesterday.

When we returned from Pisa to Florence last night we visited one of the city's wine walls where you order your wine or drink through a tiny window in the wall. Once you have your drinks, you stand near the window to drink and are literally introduced to fellow beverage enthusiasts from all over the world, and you just conversate. I spoke to several people from Australia and people from the US. 

Today we made our way south to Rome, but I pretty much just stayed at the airport and hotel, resting and getting ready for my flight. Tomorrow I return to the States, with an appointment to have my tooth extracted on Wednesday. 

Foodtopia Moments

 On our last night in Campomarino, we actually left town to head to Pizzeria Borgo Antico in neighboring San Martino in Pensilis. It was the night of their pampanella festival. Pampanella is pork belly, roasted with lots of paprika, salt, and red pepper. It's minorly spicy for us, but it's presented as piccante. We learned of the restaurant the week before at a family party, and wanted to return to try the wood fired pizza. It was delicious. I got the Mortadella pizza. It had buffalo mozzarella, mortadella, pistachio, and burrata. No lie, it was one of the best pizzas I've ever had. 

We've made it to Firenze

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty jam packed with the beach by day, and prepping the house for the winter as we left. On Wednesday night, Maryanne and I went out with our friend Monia to the Lungomare for a drink at the beach club Lido Aurora. The drinks were good, but the company and conversation were even better. 

Yesterday we were busy with packing our bags and doing some of the bigger things for closing down the condo. But, we did manage to get some beach time, and went out for a delicious dinner at Pizzeria Borgo Antico in San Martino in Pensilis.

This morning, we pushed off a little before 7 am for our trek to Firenze (Florence). We stopped in Ancona, spending a couple of hours with our cousin Greta and Zia Carmelita at her rehab facility. It was great seeing her again, and she was in much better shape than the last time we had seen her. 

We continued on our way after the visit. The drive was easy, as we stopped for lunch on the autostrada and avoided any traffic delays. We mainly walked around some of the city of Florence tonight, hitting up a rooftop terrace for an Aperol Spritz before grabbing a steak dinner. Tomorrow we'll start really visiting the sites. 

Foodtopia Moments

On Monday night, we visited Termoli for a meal sotto le stelle (under the stars). We went to Mari e Monti, which features dishes highlighting the area's vicinity to the sea and the land. My first course was an insalata di mare (seafood salad) with calamari and polipo (otopus). 

My primi piatti (first plate) was a gnocchi with a fish ragu. It was so rich in flavor, I thought I was eating meat event though it was fish. 

I followed that up with a plate of cozze (mussels). 

Then we went to Yo-Go Gelateria for some of the best gelato I've ever had. the owner of the place has won many awards and puts care into his craft. I had a mix of zuppa inglese, fior di latte, and pistachio flavors. 

Nights on the Town

 The past couple of nights have been pretty busy. We've been mainly beaching it by day at Lido Ritz. The sun has been shining down brightly and the water has been very clear and calm. But by night, we've been making our way out. 

On Monday, we visited Termoli for another round of dinner, shopping and sightseeing. It's always so beautiful to walk around. Though very close to Campomarino (6 miles), it's like another world there when it comes to offerings at night. Live music, plenty of bars and restaurants, tons of shopping, the best gelato I've ever had, and some of the best people watching can all be found in Termoli.

Last night, we traveled a little farther to Torremaggiore, my father's hometown. We first stopped by the cemetery to visit with family member of the past. Then we met up with my cousin Vincenzo and his wife Mariella for a tour of the town. We went into some of the most beautiful churches. We toured a middle ages castle that was built on top of a Roman Empire era castle. They are now excavating the area and finding plates, cups, pitchers, and tools from up to 200 years BC. We also passed the home of Nicola Sacco, of the tragic Sacco and Vanzetti fame.  History buffs will know about it, but look it up if you don't know. After taking the passagiatta (walk) and having an Aperol Spritz at a local bar, we went to my cousin's house for a delicious cena (dinner) on their rooftop terrace. It was a beautiful night.

Foodtopia Moments

Just about every meal I've had here has been great. Long gone are the potato days of Dublin and Liverpool that I graciously endured last month. Now come the pasta and pizza days. Last week, when we visited the town of Alberobello, we had pranzo (lunch) at Trullo d'Oro Ristorante. The food was spectacular. I didn't  get a photo of the antipasti appetizer, but my primi piatti (first plate, usually reserved for pasta) was a cavatellini con ragu di polipo (octopus gravy). It was wonderful. The octopus wasn't chewy at all, melted in my mouth.

For my second course, I had a tuna steak over gazpacho. I am not the biggest gazpacho fan, but it worked perfectly as an accent. The gazpacho had a little bit of mint that really put it over the top. I did order some roasted potatoes since my tooth was killing me, and I thought at the very least I could eat that, but the whole meal was great from stat to finish. 

Beautiful Sites Nearby

 It's been a week. Last week I visited a local who scheduled a tooth extraction for this morning. I hemmed and hawed about the decision to have a procedure done while I was in Italy. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to wait til I returned home. Not because of the actual tooth pull, that I know they can do; my issue was with the recovery. So I switched my flight to return home a week early, and scheduled a dentist appointment for the following morning. 

The end of last week was pretty fun. On Thursday, my cousins Maryanne and Victoria and I set out south to visit the little town of Alberobello. It's home to many trulli, a circular type dwelling with a coned roof. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site that I've visited a few times now. It's always intertesting to walk around and see the village. Every time I go, there seems to be more touristy things there, but it still has it's historical feel. We had a great lunch and continued on our way.

Where we went was the Grotte di Castellana. It's a place I'd only heard of as "the caves near Alberobello." You can only go in at certain times as part of a tour group, for good reason. You descend several stories underground and walk through caves, or grotte, that were created while the land was under the Adriatic Sea 90-100 million years ago. Now it's a dank cave, but what's there is incredible to see. The photos I was able to snap don't do the place justice. 

The following day we spent the morning at Lido Ritz, then headed off to my cousin Arianna's 2nd birthday party. She's my cousin Mario and his wife Cassandra's second daughter. It was in town called San Martino in Pensilis, surrounded by farmland and hillsides. The view was spectacular, the food delicious, and the company amazing. 

Arrived in Campomarino

On Friday, I met up with my cousin Maryanne and her daughter in Rome, picked up our rental car, and began the journey to my place in Campomarino Lido. It's a much shorter visit this year, and much more filled time. Zia found her way to the hospital the week before last, so we spent a day visiting her, her granddaughter Greta and her boyfriend Danilo, and then had a delicious lunch and great visit with my cousin Vincenzo and his wife Mariella.

Sunday we began some time at the beach. I've been going for long walks with my cousin Victoria, picking up food and supplies as we walk back to the house. We went to the beach club Lido Ritz on Sunday and Monday after the walks, coming home for lunch and heading back in the afternoons. We also met up with my father's cousin Gino and his wife Carmella on Sunday night. 

Today I visited Termoli twice. I needed to work on the taxes, so I went to see my banker in the morning. I went to the beach for a little while later on in the afternoon, but I've been hindered this trip by a tooth ache that did not improve with the first round of antibiotics. This evening, I went and saw a dentist. The office was at his home, down a long forgotten road between Campomarino and Termoli, but the house and office were stunningly beautiful, and very clean. Even had a machine that shrink wraps your shoe soles...which my feet were too big for. He put me on another antibiotic, hoping it works better than the last one, and scheduled to pull my achy tooth on Monday. 

After the dentist, Maryanne, Victoria and I went on an evening excursion to Termoli, and the borgo antico (antique center). It was as beautiful as ever with the lights, castle, church, and sea. Termoli never disappoints. 

A Week of Traveling

What a week it's been. I've traveled to Italy, Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, and Wales via planes, trains, taxis, and busses. But non stop travel has its tolls as I'm now on antibiotics for a tooth, gum and ear infection, and fighting off a cold. 

After a one night stop in Rome, I took off for Dublin last Friday morning, getting in just as the world's airline travel was shutting down due to the Crowdstrike upgrade rollout. I met up with my friend Christina at the airport, and after dropping off our bags, we headed straight for the Guiness Beer factory tour. I've been to brewery tours all over the world. This one was more of an homage to Guiness than a tour of a working beer factory, but it was a lot of fun. We played drums in their pub, and had beers overlook the city from their terrace. Also, we got certified in how to pour the perfect Guiness stout. We then went off to the Jameson Distillery experience where we took a cocktail making class. Those drinks were very tasty.

 The next day, we took our first of two bus tours. We went mostly to Northern Ireland, visiting Dunluce Castle on the sea, then passing the unique rock formations known as the Giant's Causeway, before spending the day at the Titanic Museum in Belfast, at the site of where the Titanic was built. The museum was the greatest and most immersive Titanic exhibit I've ever seen. The next day, we pushed off early heading to see the Cliffs of Moher and the little town of Galway. The Cliffs of Moher are just majestic to see. Standing there taking in the beauty, it hits oneself how incredibly moving nature can be. It's not a thrill ride, nor is it singing and dancing, yet it is exhilarating and breathtaking. Galway was a cute little town to spend the afternoon in. We had lunch, visited a few markets, had some ice cream, and just enjoyed walking the streets that were filled with people rooting for either Claire or Cork in the national Hurling championship. That's a nutty sport if you've never looked it up.

The next day we got up early for a flight to Liverpool. After it was delayed, we shifted out plans and set out on our own Beatles Tour in Liverpool. We went to a place that was a favorite of Ringo's while growing up, then over to Penny Lane on our way to Strawberry Field. The museum exhibit there, run by the Salvation Army, is a wonderfully mindful experience. If you give it the time, you will discover some inner peace. That day we also visited the Fab Four statue near the docks, and the statue of Eleanor Rigby. After an Italian dinner (I know, I know, but it was delicious and nothing like the Italian food in Italy), we went out to Matthew Street and into the Cavern Club, basically one of the places in Liverpool where The Beatles got their start. There was live music at every bar on the street, and the city seemed really alive...and it was on a Monday. The following morning we went to The Beatles Story exhibit, which was a must stop for any fan. It is filled with artifacts from all eras of their careers.

We didn't stop there, though. Right after the museum we hopped aboard a train and shuffled off to Wrexham, Wales. If you've seen the show "Welcome to Wrexham" you've heard of the town. It not, you're missing out. A few years ago, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the soccer club in this town, the oldest club in Wales and one of the oldest in professional soccer. The team was in the lowest division at the time, and the town was in a rough place. Since buying the team, and investing in the town, thing have improved greatly. The people all over town were incredibly friendly and welcoming. The guy in the team store gave us a quick little private tour to see the pitch and go over some of the history of this once mining town. It is only an hour away from Liverpool, but felt like a different world. the downtown area was cute and lively, and the stadium is undergoing some improvements. The team has also moved up two levels due to their success. 

Yesterday was a travel day. We had long delays at the airport in Manchester, England, and idn't get to the hotel in Rome until close to 10 pm. Somehow, a little toothache has now spread and become a much more painful toothache, gum irritation, and pain in the ear. I went to a pharmacy in Rome and they put me on antibiotics and told me to take a pain pill that is essentially Aleve. It hurt so bad today that I was getting shaky so I went back to the hotel early to lay down and rest. Tomorrow I scheduled to meet with my cousins and head to Campomarino.