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.