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.