Italy Tidbits

We both enjoyed our adventures in Italy, but the Turk fell in love with Italy. When we got out of the hustle and bustle of Rome and the crazy August tourist influx of the Amalfi coast, we found towns and villages with people who welcomed us as if they had invited us to their home. Food and wine are integral to Italian life, which made me and the Turk quite happy. Mediterranean foods are similar no matter which Med country they come from so the Turk enjoyed his favorite things with an Italian flair: olive oil, tomatoes, olives, beans, fish, lamb and bread.

For me, the beaches were fun to explore and getting to swim in 3 seas was an impromptu and successful objective. The mountain hikes were adventurous and exhilarating.

Here's some things that we noticed, or happened with us in Italy
- Gelato, especially pistachio and hazelnut, was so flavorful you had to eat slowly to absorb all the tastes going on in your mouth.  We suspect the secret to our favorite is to roast the nuts first.

- Apertivo - the Italian happy hour that bridges the afternoon to the 8 or 9pm dinner. The whole festivity around this daily affair, especially in small towns, was fun. I discovered lighter drinks like prosecco with a splash of grapefruit juice which is 'pompelmo' in Italian (fresh of course) and negroni's (i think the secret is a splash of fresh orange juice). The multi-generational gathering at this time was very comforting to see.  And rarely did I see cell phones as the center of attention.

- It seems that Italian men in the cities like to wear their polo shirt collars 'up'. A bit like the 1980's look. Some shirts even had designs on the underside of the collar to show off in this way.

- The Turk bravely maneuvered the new rental car through the streets of Rome to the autostrassa. Ten minutes into our freeway drive, a police car passed us on the left and immediately behind him... a red Ferrari!   of course.

-Driving down a road through some small towns one day, we saw a roundabout just ahead.  But when we got to this location we realized this was just a single road that was built around a WWII bunker!  Later the same day, the road was built around an ancient olive tree.

- In Scafati where we stayed, near Pompeii, the hotel had a beautiful garden beyond the pool.  In the mornings I would practice my yoga in a flat area beside a hedge connecting to the next property. The next door neighbors had a beautiful German Shepard who liked to sit on his side of the hedge and would politely, and quietly, watch me.  When the Turk would show up, the dog would start barking and jumping to make sure the Turk stayed away from me.  This happened every morning!

- Men take care of the children, at least in public. Any time we saw a baby stroller or carriage, the man was pushing it. In restaurants, the men would feed and pay attention to the children. The mothers would look beautiful and enjoy the outing, or the meal. We never saw an exception to this observation!

- There is a cartoon in Italy called Alvin and is based on the Chipmunks, except instead of chipmunks they are little boys. But the stories are just the same.

- In Frosolone the knife museum was closed despite a sign that said the museum would be opening 2 days before then. A gentleman walked by and saw our confusion and said to 'wait'. So we waited about 30 minutes and decided to call the number on the door. I started reading out the phone number to the Turk to dial the phone and a man stuck his head out the window above us saying something in Italian. It seemed like he wanted us to wait.  I looked at the Turk and said - This town is so small, you just SAY the phone number and someone answers!  A few minutes later two women showed up with a key to the museum. When I asked them about the sign that indicated the museum should be open, they said - This is Italy.

- Businesses stay open over lunch, but close from 3-4pm, to open again until 6pm... when you make your way to apertivo.

- No tipping. But we found that restaurants typically added a 2Euro cover charge per person, and would charge for bread. Always a charge for water.

- A popular news program is structured around reading the newspaper headlines. The commentator reads the newspapers to the viewers.

- Driving around Abruzzo to Castel de Monte we passed a house with a sign that seemed to say that cheese was sold there. We stopped and knocked on the door and the woman's adult son showed up and called his mom. After a bit - I think she wanted to get dressed up - she showed up and took us to the back door which opened into a small room with refrigerated counter full of pecorino cheese that she had made.  She indicated her concern that we had no way to refrigerate the cheese. So I showed her our insulated lunch bag and she was happy to sell us some delicious cheese.

- We almost always heard American music in Italian restaurants. In Santo Stefano di Sessanio we found a small 4 table restaurant to get a digestive after dinner at a different restaurant. John Denver was playing in the background.  Our digestive liquors were home made, delicious and soothing. Then the owners started bringing us cookies, small cakes. Small restaurants were often generous with their food and drink.

- Saw Under the Dome on TV one night - dubbed in Italian.

- While we are discovering live edge tables here in the States, they are quite common in Abruzzo.

- Santo Stefano di Sessanio is a medieval village that is also known for their lentils.  We found out that each restaurant grows their own!  and the production is quite low due to the heat and dry conditions - which makes them so tasty.

- Restaurant dishes always had an odd number of items. Bad luck to have even numbers.