68 Days of Summer – Day 23 – Friday Market is Back

Friday Flea Market

Judging by the amount of inventory at our local alimentari (convenience store), and by the fact that at least two other markets closed in the past year, I was happy to see that the Friday flea market was back, and as busy as ever. There were still deals to be made, and people can purchase anything from batteries to dishes to bathing suits to stockings. If you want it, you can generally find it there.

The olive guys

Along with the flea market also comes the expanded farmer’s market. Once a week, the farmer’s market transforms from seven farmers selling their raccolta (harvested food), to a bustling center of edible commerce. Mobile supermarkets open up, as does a salumeria (lunch meat vendor) on wheels. The various cheese and olive makers also come out to the obvious delight of the townspeople who flock there each week hoping for fresh mozzarella di bufala (buffalo milk mozzarella) and green olives. Today, I got both, and the olive guys invited me to head to their hometown in August for a party at the town’s castle with free food and wine. Then, they asked me to help introduce get their products introduced to American markets. They actually mentioned Whole Foods.

Foodtopia Moments

While in Termoli this morning, I stopped at a sidewalk cafe for a cornetti (small breakfast pastry) and a bitter. The pastry was filled with apples and apple jelly and melted in your mouth. Crodino, the bitter, is an orange drink that is like a soda that no child in the world would like. Italians love bitter drinks, and Crodino is my favorite.

68 Days of Summer –Day 22 – Who needs to work?

I had my alarm set for 7:30 this morning with plans to get up, drop off the rental car, get back and have the inside of the condo all cleaned and clothes put away before pranzo (lunch) with Zia. Well, my new ZTE brand phone does not have a setting that limits snoozing, so I slept for an extra hour (only seven hours total). I finally got to the Hertz office, which would’ve been easy if I’d have had my GPS with me because they moved, and then went to the train station. No trains for two and a half hours. My chances of cleaning before lunch were done.

“Stuck” in Termoli, Italy, I made the most of my morning. I visited some local shops, picked up a slice of pizza with melanzane (eggplant), and went walking toward the ancient part of the city. It was a beautiful day with plenty of sun and plenty of wind to keep me cool. I meandered into the castle town, and stopped along the wall overlooking the Adriatic and its beaches to eat my colazione (breakfast) pizza. It was a beautiful scene, very peaceful.

Ancient Termoli in the morning is very different than it is at night. In the evenings, the area is alive with street vendors, filled sidewalk cafes, and people out for a passegiatta (nightly stroll) with a creamy gelato in one hand and talking with the other. In the mornings, however, it is a sleepy part of town with most locals emerging from their seaside homes, sweeping their entrances, pruning their micro-gardens, greeting their neighbors, and of course heading to the Duomo (church) in honor of the town’s patron saint, San Basso. The people are warm and welcoming, and almost everyone said “buon giorno” (good day/hello).

I then sat along the port side of the castle town and watched the fishermen come and go. The tourist boats were already long gone for their Isole Tremiti run, but the port was still busy with activity. Slowly I made my way back to the train station, stopping for a small cornetti (small breakfast pastry) and a Crodino (a bitter Italian orange drink that I love). After people watching for a half hour, it was time to go home. I had managed to put in 10,000 steps before lunch, and would go on to spend my early evening cleaning after a mid-day, post-pranzo repose (nap).  

Foodtopia Moments

During my drive, I stopped for a sandwich at an Autogrill. This was a brand new rest stop with a pasta place, and Autogrill snack bar, and a McDonald’s (which was oddly the most packed). The rest stop also offered free wifi and had a mini Carrefour supermarket. I picked up a sandwich called “saporito” (which loosely means full of flavor) and had it heated up. I wish I’d have eaten it immediately, but I wanted to wait so I didn’t stop again. The sandwich was on great Italian bread with tomato with dried basil, mozzarella, and proscuito. The flavor is unique, and has just the right amount of salt from the meat and moisture from the tomatoes. If you are every traveling on the autostrada, make a stop at an Autogrill; you can’t go wrong.

This morning, I had a delicious slice of foccaccia with little tomatoes and basil from my favorite bakery.

68 Days of Summer – Day 21 – The Work Begins

Every year, there’s a bunch of cleaning that has to be done. Just like any beach house in the world, the condo is musty and the textiles left here for the winter all have an odor. I’ve already completed four loads of laundry in just under 24 hours. I picked up eight huge gardening bags filled with weed clippings. And tonight I washed the outside patio, which could be washed again every two days.

I also made it to the fruitivendoli (farmer’s market) and got some supplies for the house. My 8 euro bounty included three heads of garlic, free basil, two pounds of tomatoes, a canary melon, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, onions, potatoes, and red peppers. 

Today was Zia’s 77^th birthday so we celebrated with a semi-freddo cake. Basically, it’s half cake and half whipped cream that you keep frozen until about 45 minutes before eating. I didn’t get my camera on it in time to show a photo.

In case anyone wonders what I was driving yesterday, it was a FIAT Qubo (ku-bo). It handled the road well, had good pickup, and the A/C worked well. 

68 Days of Summer – Day 20 - The Drive

About six and a half hours looked like this

Farmland

Football fans are thinking of one thing, but I strictly mean driving. Yesterday I went from Milan to Campomarino via the Autostrada. Italy’s highway system is well marked and will certainly transport you around the country. However, yesterday was also a day of construction. Three different construction stops and more than eight hours behind the wheel later, I am in my summer home. The neat thing about the ride are what you get to see. After leaving the industrial north, I caught the coastal highway and on one side had beautiful Adriatic coastline, while on the other were hills and fields of working vineyards and farms.

Adriatic coast

As you can also tell by my ability to post, I now have internet and phones working.  

68 Days of Summer - Day 19 - Milan

For the first time in years, I was a little nervous about traveling, primarily because I had no idea about exactly how to get around where I was heading. Milan is probably the biggest Italian city that I had never been to, before today.

My overnight flight from JFK aboard Emirates Airlines was great because I had a whole four-seat row to myself so I was able to lay down and stretch out. Having four little pillows helped too. The Arabic lamb stew was also a tasty dinner. We got into Milan on time, even though we taxied in New York for an hour. Immediately following the meal service, the lights began to dim, for about 30 minutes. They started as a light orange that morphed into pink, then into purple, then into a midnight blue, along with stars lighting up the ceiling of the craft. As we landed, they played the sounds of a running stream with birds chirping.

I immediately went to the hotel and went to sleep, which ended up costing me being able to set up my phones and internet. Well, it was a combination of me sleeping from 2-5 p.m. thus missing the 5:05 shuttle to the airport, and the Italian indifference toward making money. I got the shuttle, a train to near the town center, and a subway to the center of town, and arrived at the phone store 10 minutes before closing. Only the employee had locked the door and wasn't letting anyone else in the door. They were packed and he didn't want to stay longer than they had to, and it was only 7:20 p.m.

Duomo

On the plus side, as I got out of the subway station, I was treated to an inspiring sight, Milan's Duomo. It is a neat church to see, and immediately jolts one from modern metropolis to gothic yesterdays. The cathedral, which is the largest in Italian state history, took nearly six centuries to complete, with construction starting in 1386.

My original plan for the night was to get my phone and wifi situation cleared up and then head to dinner. Neither of those happened as planned. After trying to get to the phone store, the heaven's opened and I was caught in a thunderstorm without an umbrella. I began to walk around the streets of Milan looking for a more "local" restaurant. I finally found that I was back at the station for the return train to the airport, so I grabbed a slice of pizza and hopped on the train back to the hotel. I ended up eating a delicious piece of lasagna Bolognese in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express and it was great and cheap.

After 9 p.m., still daylight

On the train back to the hotel, I also noticed how bright it was for after 9 p.m. I had to do a double take at my watch.

Tomorrow I pick up a rental car and take a 7-hour road trip to our hometown, Campomarino.