Foodtopia Moments

For pranzo (lunch) today, I decided to stop at a sidewalk café right in the middle of one of the most ritzy streets in Italy. Surrounded by stores like Montblanc, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany & Co, I had a delicious plate of spaghetti alla carbonara, which is spaghetti with egg yolk, bacon, cheese, and pepper. It was cooked perfectly. After pranzo, I went out to a gelato place that was recommended by my tour guide. I had eaten gelato in Florence and at Milan’s train station at a fancy chain. Neither of those was very good. This place today, however, was the best I’ve had outside of my favorite places in the Molise region.

My last supper in Italy (for 2021)

It’s only taken me about six visits to the city of Milan to finally see the most magnificent sight there is to see. I woke up early this morning to hop on board a train to the center of Milan. A few weeks ago, I had booked a tour for today, so I was eager to actually go on the tour. The guide, Barbara, was wonderful. She wasn’t pushy, she had lots of information, and seemed to know more than just what was on the tour as she answered questions that people asked.

First up was the tour of the Duomo. I had been inside once, but didn’t spend too much time really researching anything. This time, Barbara fully explained the stained glass widows, and the history of the church. It took about 600 years to build and had different styles as the years passed. Outside stayed gothic, but inside there are medieval, baroque, and renaissance influences. While most of Milan was bombed out in 1943 while they were still working with the Nazis, the Duomo suffered only collateral damage and wasn’t directly attacked at the request of the Pope. I also learned that the Duomo is the third largest Catholic church (I’m guessing Barbara meant in Italy). She also said the stained glass windows near the Altar were the largest in the world, and they are massive. One statue that caught my eye was of St. Bartholomew. He was one of Jesus’s disciples, and when he got to Rome to spread the word of Christianity, he was arrested. Christianity was illegal to talk about or practice then (hence the Romans killing Jesus), so Bartholomew was sentenced to death. His death was much more horrid, as his skin was ripped from his body, while he was alive. The sculpture, created by one of Leonardo Da Vinci’s students, shows all of the anatomy inside the human body, like veins and muscles, with what looks like a sash wrapped around him. When you examine the sash, you can see hands, feet, and a head. The sash is actually supposed to be Bartholomew’s skin. The detail was so perfect.

We then left the Duomo and headed out on a walk of the city, stopping at the Sforza Castle. This was a fort built in the 1300s, and added to over the years. By the time the Sforzas came to power, it was much bigger than when the Visconti family first started building. Eventually, Da Vinci would move into the area and serve as an advisor to the family, designing some of the courtyards for the Sforza family.

Finally, Barbara led us to the Santa Maria Delle Grazia church. It’s a smaller church, but it was the Sforzas church, and home to an order of Monks that had a lot of influence in Rome with the Pope. At that time, the church had as much power as local Kings and Dukes. The monks spent three meals a day eating in the mess hall of the church’s rectory. When Da Vinci moved to town, he was commissioned to decorate that mess hall. The dining hall is now home to what many consider Da Vinci’s greatest work of art, “The Last Supper.” It’s a very big and magnificent work of art, and it has been studied, praised and scrutinized for centuries. But its influence on techniques in the art world and the symbolism in the painting are undeniable. It was the second major work of Da Vinci’s that I’ve seen, and by far the more impressive of the two. The other was the “Mona Lisa.”

After heading back to the hotel to pack, I took a quick trip to the Sheraton, a neighboring hotel, and had my last supper in Italy for 2021. I had a salad, some penne Bolognese, and a pizza, which I saved half of for the morning. I’ve bought all of my souvenirs, packed my bags, and checked into my flight. I walked another 20,000 steps today, but I’m not nearly as tired, probably because I didn’t spend six hours or more on trains. Tomorrow, I have to be at the airport early to drop my bag and make it through security. I asked a check in agent, and she said I should get there at least three hours early. No TSA Pre check here, so I won’t be skipping any security lines.

Foodtopia Moments

It doesn’t get much more Foodtopia than a succulent bistecca alla Fiorentina (Florentine Steak). Grilled just a little, leaving the center of the steak rare, it arrives almost mooing on the plate. There is no steak sauce, and none is needed. I did add some lemon, but that’s just a personal choice. It wasn’t necessary, but made the meat even more flavorful.

The long trek home

The past couple of days have been pretty busy. I’ve walked over 43,000 steps, yet I’ve spent 13 hours traveling on trains and still managed those steps. I started yesterday morning with getting my Covid test (negative, thank you), then I closed up the condo and said goodbye to Campomarino Lido for 2021. I took a cab to Termoli, but got there way early. I thought I’d have an hour or so to walk around the city and grab a couple of small sandwiches for lunch. Trenitalia had other plans. I ended up having more than two hours thanks to delays.

Once on the train, I had my own two seats, a table, a power outlet, and free WiFi. It was a great train ride, just a little long. When we got in an hour late, I missed the train I planned on taking from the center of Milan to the airport where my hotel is. All in all, I was out of the house by 7 am, and checked into the hotel at 9 pm. I walked a lot in Termoli, and in the Milan train station to get my steps up.

Today, I took a quick train ride south to Florence. I love Florence, and the city didn’t disappoint. It seems that it is impossible to take a bad photo in Florence. I walked around the Duomo area, and then past the Academia, which is home to Michelangelo’s David. The line was crazy long, and I’ve seen it enough that I decided not to wait. I then went back past the Piazza Della Republica, and the Uffizi Gallery, the leather market, then to the Ponte Vecchio. I continued on and decided to walk around the Boboli Gardens. It’s truly a beautiful place to visit. Amazing views of the city and beautifully landscaped grounds welcome visitors from all over the world.

After walking the gardens, I started heading back and doing some souvenir shopping, and grabbed an early dinner. I made my way back across the Ponte Vecchio, through the leather mart, and to a restaurant in the Piazza Della Republica. My goal was to have a Florentine steak, which is a T-bone (really the way they describe it, it is a Porterhouse), and it is cooked rare to medium rare. This one arrived at the table cut off the bone, and it was delicious. Tender, flavorful, succulent, and abundant, the meat was the star of the menu. I even left with a doggie bag, since I wasn’t able to finish it.

Tomorrow I have a tour of Milan scheduled, and then hopefully an early bed time. My knees, ankles and feet are not happy with me right now.

Foodtopia Moments

This week I made a plate of pasta that I could've eaten twice as much of. Luckily, I only made enough for one plate. I used leftover zucchini that I had fried up last week with the slightest bit of egg batter, and chopped up some leftover sausage from the holiday gravy from Sunday. I then mixed in some penne pasta. The combination of the pasta, zucchini and sausage, topped with some grated Grana Padano cheese, was amazing. I will definitely make this at home some time.

A birthday and bad internet

The past few days have been fun at times and frustrating other times. It’s been a mixed bag of going to the beach, walking, reading, writing, visiting with friends, celebrating, cleaning, and just relaxing. The closing up of the condo starts tomorrow night, after a day at the beach of course.

Tuesday was a beautiful day. The Adriatic Sea was really calm, and the water was warm. It was also a sunny day with plenty of rays to help with my tan. After spending the whole day at the beach, I welcomed friends to the condo. Antonio Monaco and his wife Anna and their daughter Doris came by for a visit. We went for a passiagiata (the Italian word for an evening stroll) into town, and then came back to the condo. It was great catching up with such good people. Looking forward to the next time I get to see them. Doris was so cute as she is learning English phrases. She was the first person to officially wish me a happy birthday this year, just a little after midnight.

Wednesday was the big 44. I spent most of the day at the beach after going for a long walk in the morning. In the early evening, Zia and I headed into Termoli. We took a passiagiatta through a flea market, down the main strand of stores, and in and around the castello of Federico II, who ruled the area like 600 years ago. We went out for pizza, then I got some gelato at YoGo, the best gelateria that I’ve ever been to.

The frustrating part I mentioned earlier was starting on Tuesday evening, I noticed that the data on my phone was giving me issues when in Campomarino Lido. The wifi hotspot I use has been troublesome all month long, in fact, I started writing this on the 18th, and haven’t been able to post. I thought it was just my things, however I had a lovely conversation with my neighbors and they complained about it too. They said they’ve had trouble since they got here at the end of June. Other people I’ve spoken to have had trouble as well. Parts of the wildfires were around a cell tower, so I wonder if it is damaged.

Foodtopia Moments

There were a couple of great meals in the past two days. I made a ragu (gravy) yesterday for the big summer holiday, Ferragosto. I am glad there are leftovers, which I had today (in the form of a meatball sandwich) and will have again, happily, tomorrow. Tonight, Zia and I had pizza from a new place in town called Rock Patt Pizza. They opened up at the old skating rink and the pizza is delicious. It was Zia’s first time trying their food and she was definitely happy with it. The pizza’s are made fresh to order, and are a thicker, Roman-style pizza. They’re more thick and oval as opposed to the Napolitano style of thin and round.