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Eataly

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

I can’t take credit or blame for that cute title. It’s actually the name of a sort of gourmet-mall-supermarket in Turin. We’ve been searching for a cooking class (there are tons of them advertised, but most are week long, luxury vacations with a little cooking thrown in) and someone referred us to Eataly. It didn’t actually have any classes available while we were there, but it’s a paradise for foodies to visit anyway. There are huge sections devoted to just pasta or mushrooms. There is a walk-in, temperature controlled aging cellar for cheeses, and another just for hams. While we were there, we tried a local concoction called Becirin. It’s a shot of espresso, with dark chocolate syrup and whipped cream. It’s unbelievably rich and more potent than Red Bull at keeping me wired for hours afterward.

This store got us thinking and talking about the food and wine here in Italy. There’s no other way to say it – it’s simply excellent. By that expression, I mean two things. It’s actually very simple food. The ingredients are basic – tomatoes, basil, pasta, bread, salami, cheese. No fancy sauces, but just olive oil and vinegar. However, each one seems to be the best it can be and stands on it’s own. In other words, each is excellent. Combined, they create some of the best dishes we’ve had on the trip.

We’re staying in the Piedmont area now, which is best known for wine. It’s the region that produces the great Barbaresco, Barolo, and Moscato vintages. We’ve visited a few of the local Enoteca Regionales where you can taste and buy wines, and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed them so far. However, this area also has great culinary tradition as well. We checked in to our apartment in a village of about 600 people and they gave us a list of local restaurants. There are 6 Michelin starred restaurants within 16kms. I can’t wait…

The vineyards along the road to our village:

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Freedom

Sunday, May 24th, 2009

After weeks of ferries, buses, trains, and just good old walking, we are back in our own set of wheels again.  Maybe it’s just the SoCal in me, but I’m sick of public transportation.  Waiting for buses that don’t come and sitting on trains that don’t go has stretched the limits of my new-found travelers’s patience.  I know buses are necessary and good for the environment (and cheap), but I don’t have to like them.

After yet another bus ride, three more trains, and a final agonizingly slow bus that stopped at every block, we arrived in Nice and picked up our new car.  There is a special buy-back lease program in France for non-EU citizens, so we are now the proud owners of a Peugot 207 SW, at least for the next 2 1/2 months.  It’s more fun to drive than I expected and much easier than the NZ campervan which had the shifter on the “wrong” side. It’s 90 HP, diesel, and has a cool GPS (a computerized version of me navigating who seems to do a better job of it).

Getting a car is allowing us a lot more flexibillity in where we can stay.  We no longer have to look for hotels that are in walking distance of a station, and are hoping to head for some smaller towns off the tourist trail.  On our first night with the new car we headed back into Italy to Cuneo and we’re off to the wine regions next.  Here’s a few pictures of our mobility.

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Check out the odometer… only 4kms when we got it!  And that new car smell too! 

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Vai Levi! Vai Lance!

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

We’ve become cycling fans over the last few years, so the chance to see one of the big classic races while in Europe was on our “To Do” list. It just so happened that our path crossed the Giro d’Italia in the Cinque Terre region in northern Italy.

For those who have never heard of it, the Giro is a 3 week race around Italy (like their version of the Tour de France).  However, the fans in Italy are more intense and the Italian riders always seem to pull out incredible victories every time. We spent a sunny day near the finish line of a stage in beautiful Riomaggiore. It was a time trial stage which meant we got to seem each rider go by individually. All of our favorite big names in cycling were there – Basso, Sastre, Menchov, DiLuca (in the Maglia Rosa!),  Leipheimer, Cavendish, and of course, Lance Armstrong, back from retirement. Here he is heading to the uphill finish:

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More from Rome

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

We finally got an internet connection that works.  It’s been a while, but here are a few views from our time in Rome.  This one is from the Vatican.  The museum there is pretty incredible as well.  Everyone goes to see it because of the Sistine Chapel, but there is quite a lot more and you can easily spend at least half a day.

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We also caught up with one of our friends from college who lives in Rome now.  It was great to see him again after all these years.  While reminisching with him seemed like ancient history to us, here’s a bit of the real thing.   “Are you not entertained??”

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Do as they do

Monday, May 18th, 2009

My last post was cut short by the boarding announcement for the flight to Rome (there is free wifi at the Athens airport!), and unfortunately this one won’t have any pictures since I haven’t had time to upload from my camera lately.  I’ll just have to promise to improve the quality of the blogs next week.

We’ve been pretty busy the last few days doing some heavy duty sightseeing in Roma.  We saw the Vatican museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Colosseum, the Palatine, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon among other things.  I’m not used to this pace and am pretty exhausted.  At least there is great gelato to refresh us!

I feel like we have been following history in the last month, starting with the ancient Egyptians, moving on to Greeks in both Turkey and Greece, and finally arriving in Rome.  It’s been a nice journey and I’m finally starting to put together all those names, dates, and events into a continuous timeline.  History 101 was never this much fun.

Pictures coming soon.