Boneless Rabbit Travels

All About the Food

2010-05-25T22:00:00.003-04:00

I’m a Foodie.

I’m not a gourmet with refined tastes or a professional in the food industry who wants to eat only the best food. Foodies are amateurs. We simply love everything about food. We like to eat it (and drink with it :) But we also love to study it, talk about it, prepare it, and hear about it – both the best and the ordinary – oh and about the science, industry, personalities, everything, absolutely everything surrounding food.

For this reason, foodies are sometimes viewed as obsessively interested in all things culinary. Oh yes, I’m a foodie in France! A country that’s obsessed with food. So when I was preparing for our trip I researched for hours about restaurants, on food blogs, message boards, etc. For this dinner, I picked the best I could find (and afford) in Arles – the heart of Provence. And so we came to Le Cilantro…

Three of our new friends – also Foodie’s themselves – accompanied Ted and I on this gastronomic event – Bob, Marolyn, and Betsy. We were able to get reservations with the help of our kind French-speaking hotel clerk and arrived for the early seating. Are you ready? Here comes the food…

They started us off with an amuse-bouche which literally translates to "mouth amuser". These are different from appetizers in that you don’t order them from a menu. When served, they are done so according to the chef's selection alone. My foodie sense kicked in to high alert. They brought us a platter of Tapenade – a quintessential Provençal dish consisting of puréed olives, capers, anchovies, and olive oil. This was accompanied by home-made veggie and potato chips and toasted slices of French bread.

We all ordered from the Prix Fixe menu so that we each received a complete meal of several courses, each with several options, offered at a fixed price. It was a much better deal than ordering à la carte. I went for the full deal to include the cheese course (huh, hello? Foodie, remember?). Ok so first up was the entrée (appetizer to us heathens). Several of my friends enjoyed Gambas à la pancha & asperges au gingembre confit (shrimp and asparagus in a pickled ginger flavored sauce)

And Betsy got this vegetable delight - Petits farcis de ma Provence, jus tomates rôties (stuffed veggies of Provence with roasted tomato juice). She was delighted with a surprise inside every bite.

And for me...I lapped up every morsel of Morilles de printemps au foie chaud, parfum réglisse (spring morels with pan seared liquorice flavoured foie gras). Oh yes I did.

For the main course several got the Aiguillette de quasi de veau, gratin de macaronis & blettes (roasted veal, macaroni gratin and swiss chard). It was the best looking, and tasting, macaroni and cheese with succulent slices of veal anyone has ever tried.

And of course, I got the lamb (JP, you are not surprised I’m sure…) In short, this is Selle d'agneau tomato crispy, quelques légumes braisés, jus aux olives coquillos (tomato with crispy saddle of lamb, braised veggies, and coquillos olives juice). It was perfect.

I think they brought my cheese course next (although it could have been after the desserts, I can’t really remember) which included several types of fromage de chèvre – my new absolute favorite kind of cheese – with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of cracked black pepper. I’ve never had it that way before but it was fantastic as the olive oil was fresh and flowery, complimenting the cheese perfectly.

And finally, we come to dessert. That course in a full meal at which the French excel. Some of my table-mates got this lovely concoction of Sablé breton "pépit-choc" une crème vanille & framboise, sorbet yaourt (Britain biscuit "pépit-choc" raspberry & vanilla creme, yogurt sorbet).

And I was so happy to try this delight... Fraises & framboises sur un biscuit Basque, émulsion fruit de la passion à l'huile d'olive (red berries on Basque biscuit with olive oil flavoured passion fruit emulsion). What a combination! Who would think to put olive oil with berries? It totally worked.

Then to top off the evening, the chef sent out trays with a little finale for each of us – a serving of delicate chocolate mousse, a piece of hazelnut fudge, and a little puff of something strawberry. At this point, the Foodie in me was crying uncontrollably from sheer joy.

It was a perfect meal with wonderful new friends … and … Ted’s WOW moment of the tour … our table sat under this picture – The Matador avec Package!

On the way out we got a peak into the kitchen – and the chef signed a menu for me – too cool.

How am I going to top this birthday ever?

One happy Foodie,
Caroline

Joyeux Anniversaire

2010-05-25T12:00:00.002-04:00

After the excitement of the Trébuchet, we headed down out of the medieval castle ruins into the second part of our visit to Les Baux de Provence – shopping and eating – two of my favorite things. The cobblestoned streets and alleyways echo hundreds of years of history as they lead from shop to restaurant to more shops. We found the classic touristy boutique like this one where we got matching “I heart Provence” t-shirts and post-cards describing how to take a castle with a battering ram (always fun to send to the family back home).

And enticing shops filled with goodies like this one. Cookies, Candy, Chocolate – the Three C’s. I did not, and I repeat, DID NOT cross the threshold of this place. Stop the madness.

But then we came upon the pottery, linens, olive oil, scarves, and French condiments. Oh, no. You can never have too many condiments. My head was whipping around like a cobra.

I indulged greatly and was trying to figure out how to get more bubble wrap to get my treasures home when it was finally time to eat. So we dashed to La Reine Jeanne restaurant in the heart of the village for a group lunch. With the warm weather, we made the most of the beautiful terrace shaded by large mulberry trees.

Here we had one of my favorite meals of the trip – the classic Salade Niçoise – which I will spend my life trying to replicate just like this one. It had fresh greens with light vinaigrette, tuna, tomatoes, boiled eggs, potatoes, olives, sardines…and a wedge of vegetable tart of some kind that was so very delicious. I’m thinking tomato or something like that (mostly because it was red) but not sure. I tried to get the waitress to explain what it was or get the recipe but my French was as bad as her English. Oh well. I’ll figure it out somehow.

Our table-mates, Marolyn and Bob

And Kathleen and Betsy…

And the rest of the gang…

As if the salad wasn’t good enough, they surprised me with an ambrosial dessert that I think was a Napoleon-type construction of ricotta cheese swimming in a heavenly berry sauce. It was accompanied by flaming sparklers. Cool way to celebrate your birthday, huh? Provence, good friends, great food, and sparklers. They even gave me a La Reine Jeanne polo shirt of my very own (hope that doesn’t mean I have to do dishes!)

Ok everyone, back on the bus. Next up – touring around Arles.

Once back in Arles, we met up with a lively character (don’t remember her name, sorry) who gave us a heart-felt tour of her home town.

We started with a view of the quay on the east side of the Rhone, looking into the bend of the river towards the western shore. Coming from the North, the Rhone turns to the right at this point to surround the rocks on which Arles is built. This town has a deep connection with the Dutch post-Impressionist painter, Vincent van Gogh, who moved here in 1888. It was here, in the south of France, that van Gogh came to love the strong sunlight and vibrant colors that would influence his art. Here in Arles his work grew into the unique and highly recognizable style that heavily influence 20th century art.

One of my favorite van Gogh paintings was made right here where we were standing. He painted this bend in the river at night – the sky and effects of the gas lights on the river – into the magnificent Starry Night Over the Rhone.

Our tour continued into the center of town – only a few minutes’ walk from the quay to the Place du Forum.

Here was the yellow house that van Gogh rented. It’s now a café named for the famous artist which our guide was not too keen on. Take your picture, eat elsewhere was the recommendation…But still, it was pretty cool to stand there and think about van Gogh’s Café Terrace at Night.

I love the architecture, windows, doors, flower boxes of Europe and especially Provence. It’s so beautiful.

My mom had a little dream she would tell me and my sisters about. I can’t exactly remember when she started cutting advertisements out of the travel section of the Post, but it was probably just after my dad passed away.

She would show us these little clippings of villas, apartments, homes that you could rent in Provence. “Let’s rent a house in Provence and stay for a month” she would say. “I’ll paint and we can sit in cafés and drink chilled wine.” It sounded wonderful. We never got to do that with her, which I regret. So throughout this day as I’ve wandered along the paths she so wanted to take I’ve thought of her often, raised a glass of rosé, and thanked my mom for bringing me into the world oh so many years ago today.

Joyeux anniversaire à moi,
Caroline

Rocks, Ruins, et Trébuchet

2010-05-25T00:00:00.036-04:00

Today we awoke in Arles, our home base for exploring the Provence region. I began the day feeling a little older. Sigh... But then I gazed out the window of our hotel and beheld a Roman Arena. Gladiators fought wild animals right down there over 2,000 years ago and here it still stands. That's old...I'm not old, I'm just getting started...:)

We headed off pretty early for the town of Les Baux which sits on a peak of the Alpilles Mountains. I love hilltop towns - we saw some cool ones in Italy and this one was pretty spectacular too.

It's really two visits in one...you have a medieval town with narrow streets to meander through. These are packed with shops, cafés, and tourist traps. I focused on the shopping part of "shops" a little later. Then floating on the mountain peak is the castle ruins made sun-bleached walls - a city carved out of rock. The group headed there straight away.

First up - grap an audio guide and get oriented...I did this with my new friend Betsy and my old friend Boneless Rabbit.

I think Jane just wanted to go right to drinking wine

and shooting something with a Trebuchet...:)

It has spectacular views from what's left of the castle walls. Long, long, ago (in the time of yore) fierce warriors ruled the land all around from this fortress.

These warriors were not very nice guys - making prisoners jump from the walls when their family wouldn't pay the ransom (which often happened to some nephews...not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Nearly 600 years ago, Les Baux was "annexed" by France which I don't think the fierce warriors were too thrilled about. They picked a fight with the King and he responded by pretty much annihilating the fortress. They rebuilt and came back some with the help of the Protestants. But a couple of hundred years later the Catholics said "ain't having none of that", brought down the final blow, and smashed the castle to bits. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, King Louis with a bunch of Roman letters got real uppity and billed the town for his demolition expenses. Gotta love royalty, huh? They play by different rules.

Boneless Rabbit sunning on the ruins...

Ted - before the trouble started

Ted - after the trouble ended...

Finally getting down to business, we got to shoot the Trebuchet. The guys who did the demonstration were total hams, cracked me up. My buddy Kathleen was one of the group of brave women who volunteered to pull the trigger. Get out of the WAY!

Kathleen - far right position - looks ready to RocknRoll!

Let her rip ladies!

Ok, enough funny business and old rocks.

I'm thirsty and hungry.

Next up, Salade Niçoise!

Later,

Caroline

La Grandeur de Rome

2010-05-24T12:00:00.006-04:00

Pumped up on Provencal wine and heading into Arles, we stopped by the perfectly preserved Roman aqueduct – Pont du Gard. Apparently it was built about 20 years before dates went from BC to AD (whose idea was that?), and get this…it was part of a 30-mile canal that dropped only 1 inch for every 350 feet and supplied about 100 gallons of water a second to the big city of Nimes.

Most of this aqueduct was at ground level or below, but here it spans a bridge that crosses over the Gardon River. Think of all the floods it’s withstood. No mortar is used between the 4-6 ton stones which were quarried upriver and floated down on barges. Too cool those Romans. Plus they wore togas.

Boneless Rabbit Leaps Tall Aqueducts!

Tourists...There goes the neighborhood.

Next, back on the bus and we napped, snored, drooled all the way to Arles – home of a Roman Arena that sits outside my hotel room window. Beat that.

That evening we had a lovely dinner together at a local restaurant. We all made a toast to my dad who passed away 10 years ago today. I miss him.

Later,
Caroline

And Now a Message From Our Sponsors

2010-05-24T00:00:00.004-04:00

We only stayed in Carcassone for one night so today we were on our way to Arles in the heart of Provence. Cool. First up, a visit to a local winery, Château des Hospitaliers. Now, I’m always happy to taste the local wines (hello?) and this family estate was beautiful. The lovely owners were very kind and warmly welcomed us with the obligatory winery tour.

Those of you who know me understand that if I see another wine vat or barrel room in my life it will be too soon. Can’t we just go straight to the tasting? Apparently not.

These are grape vines.

Wow, Grape Vines...

Can we slip away to the tasting room while they continue to talk about...grape vines?

Oh cool...vats.

What's inside the vat?

But we were polite and did not throw stones at the people who asked “and what kind of wood are these barrels made of?” It’s France people, what do you think they are making them out of…American Pine? Help us!

There was one unique thing on the tour that was a treat and I had never seen before. The owners created an awesome building which included this courtyard with plants growing on the walls (something about “green” which apparently does not include burning Styrofoam). It looks like he had put fabric on the walls with holes or little cups to insert plants and it had a drip irrigation – some sort of wall hydroponic system. Where can I get one of those?

Their beautiful vineyard included lots of cats to play with and a pond with frogs on Lilly pads. Happiness.

So after stuffing ourselves with homemade tasties, sampling local wine, and purchasing 3 bottles plus 10 liters of box wine…

we decided the best thing to do was wander around in the hot sun. Great idea. And we’re off next to see ancient Roman ruins.

Restez à l'écoute,
Caroline

The Pinnacle

2010-05-23T00:00:00.002-04:00

Left Sarlat and headed for Carcassone today. But first, we stopped along the way to have our picnic lunch on a barge while meandering on the Canal du Midi.

All Aboard

The couple who ran the barge were great characters – he was German, she was from the Netherlands. He was a lot like Captain Ron and accepted many glasses of wine from Ted.

We ate mega-sandwich that we made yesterday and generally had a great time meandering down the canal. Beautiful trip...

Our Hot Bus Driver - Olivier. All the ladies want to take him home, oh yes.

Opening the canal lock

France is beautiful.

Ted, our Cruise Director, keeping the wine flowing as usual.

Boneless Rabbit got a little sea sick on the barge cruise and had to be carried off by Ted.

Back on bus and we headed into Medieval Carcassone – a really cool 13th century walled fortress which is unfortunately wall-to-wall tourists and the tacky tourist traps to match. This is where they filmed Robin Hood Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner. I looked but didn't find him. Drat.

The group took a walk, more like ran the gauntlet, of the inner old city. Personnaly, I felt the need to make lots of Monty Python references and Boneless Rabbit played the part of the Killer Bunny of Caerbannog. She should get an oscar. If only we'd had some fake blood.

Bring out your dead!

Cool Basilica St. Nazaire - I love gargoyles. Wonder if we can get some on our house...

We split up and scouted out a restaurant for dinner. I had done some prep-work to find some good eats and made my case for Auberge des Lices, a little place hidden down a quiet lane. It was away from the tourist traps and had that awesome Basilica as a backdrop to the peaceful courtyard.

That evening Marolyn, Bob, Betsy, Ted, and I had a fantastic classical Languedoc (this region) French meal. Entrees included this fresh asparagus mousse which all the others had and I tasted. I shouldn’t have been so afraid of asparagus which I usually hate – because the flavor was nothing like I’ve ever tasted before. I had a salad that was ok but nothing like theirs.

For the main course we all ordered classic Cassoulet de Languedoc. It was thick and rich, with complex meaty flavors, lots of beans and delicious fat. I pushed aside the big hunks of pork fat but mopped up every other morsel with fresh rolls. Ah…

I added an extra cheese course of fresh goat cheese with honey. This is a treat not to be missed. Such a great combination of flavors. Have I told you how much I love fromage de chèvre? I have to figure out how to bring some home.

Finally for dessert we got different things – several of us had a strawberry construction – fresh framboise on top of a flaky crown of phyllo surrounded by a heavenly strawberry syrup concoction and accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I wanted to roll in it, absorb it, lick the plate. Ted and Bob had chocolate cappuccino with sponge cake and ice cream. All this was accompanied by some local Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.

The whole meal – an over 3 hour affair – for all 5 of us including extra tip and taxes came to 150€. What a great deal.

We missed the evening tour with the group but were very happy with our meal so we just meandered out through the old city and back to the hotel and bed.

Bonne nuit.

Caroline

Going Native

2010-05-22T12:27:00.000-04:00

I'm way behind on my posts, so much has happened. I'll get to the days I've missed but I just had to share this with you. We are back in Paris right now and Ted and I are on our own, and we've gone native. Ted in a French Scarf!

I'm having a blast.

Fraises Magnifiques

2010-05-22T00:00:00.002-04:00

This was our rest day – no tour things to do. It was market day in Sarlat which is renowned as one of the best in France. It started right outside our hotel, just below our balcony, with chickens roasting on a rotisserie and meandered through the narrow medieval streets all the way through town. So much food – cured meats, fresh veggies, cheese, wine, fois gras, olives, nuts, you name it…they had it. I wished we were staying there for a week and had a kitchen to use as I would have been cooking up a storm. I wandered through the market eating the strawberries as I went. They were so sweet and just magnificent.

Pickled things

Fresh Produce

Sausages...Sausages...and more Sausages...

Marinated olives, lots and lots of olives

The French love flowers...florists and flower stands are everywhere.

Fresh and Aged Cheese - I'm in love with fromage de chèvre

I'm going to have to go into detox or some kind of bread-enders program because it has been so, so good here...I can't get enough of it.

6 Euros for Half a Kilo of Paella...Ted made moaning noises and ate the whole thing.

As if my bread and cheese habit isn't bad enough, there's the macarons. I have to have 1-2 per day. The absolute best is Strawberry but Pistachio is my #2 favorite.

Do you recognize the guy selling Rotisserie Chickens?

As it was, we had all planned to gather supplies for a group picnic that evening and to pack a lunch for a barge cruise the next day. So it did give us an excuse to shop, which we did, a lot. We decided to make a a big sandwich to share on the barge cruise.

Take one rotisserie chicken...

Carve out one mammoth loaf of bread...

Add tomatoes, cornichons, pickled onions...

Top with one jar of caramelized onions in balsamic vinegar

And we have...

MEGA-SANDWICH!

This was saved in the hotel's fridge until tomorrow so it had time to become one with itself.

That night in the park was great fun – lots of laughter and stories. Ted kept the wine pouring and our impromptu beggar’s banquet was superb.

I leave you with this one question...why does Ted have a piece of cured meat taped to his arm?

Mon Dieu!

Caroline

Down the Dordogne

2010-05-21T00:00:00.001-04:00

Woke up in Sarlat...Breakfast then off to the Grotte de Rouffignac – some caves with prehistoric drawings. Once inside, we all loaded onto a rickety train moving through the caves at 1.2 meters per hour to see the ancient art. The local tour guide’s English was really bad. I understood about 1 word in 20 so it gave me a headache to try to figure out what he was saying. Drawings were so-so – Ted has made better – could have skipped that whole experience.

Then off to lunch in the small town of La Roque Gageac “The Rock” – set in the side of a cliff. There was a small market so we had a quick picnic lunch with Bob and Marolyn, which included succulent marinated olives and sundried tomatoes plus salad, wine, and bread. Oh, and maybe a pastry or two. Really cool town.

Next up… canoeing down the Dorgogne River, the highlight of the day for sure. Everyone in our group participated, even the energetic 80 year old Carol. There were multiple incidents of canoe-ramming and screams of “TED!!!”. It was a really, really cool experience and we had a lot of fun. Ted really wished he could have worn a wet suit top just like Burt Reynolds in Deliverance (queue the banjo music). We finished first, not that it was a competition…:)

Gathering the group...

Just like it was at Dunkirk...man your canoes.

Our Fearless Leader - Boneless Rabbit

The Dordogne Lounge Lizards

Our Buddies - Kathee and Betsy

Ramming Speed!

The Rock (from Lunch) as seen from the River.

What a view...

The landing sight.

Carol and Maureen coming in for a landing. Yea!

We were then treated to a demonstration of gavage – force feeding ducks and geese to fatten-up their livers to make Fois Gras. Ok, I’m on the fence about that whole process but that didn’t stop me from buying about 5 cans of Fois Gras. For those of you that are a member of my inner circle, if it doesn’t bother you either I MIGHT share some with you. If you have a problem with it…too bad for you!

Kind of reminds Ted of the first year of his life and his first year of college...

Ok, that was special. Next up...Fois Gras. Oops...

Then back to hotel. Quick nap, shower, happy hour, group dinner. Had pate de fois gras (oh yea I did) for entrée which was really tasty, perch with orange sauce for main course which was forgettable, and a delectable chocolate thing in crème anglaise (sign me up).

The pate served with Fig Jam. Oh...

Dessert...that's what I'm talking about.

Betsy is the Best!

Boneless Rabbit had a little too much to drink...

Off to bed – we were really tired. It had nothing to do with the amount of French wine consumed today, or the last 5 days. You believe me don't you? Ha...

Bonne nuit.
Caroline

French Ketchup

2010-05-20T12:30:00.000-04:00

There are lots of words in the French language that are exactly the same in English. Like toilette...you know what that is, right? What about rotisserie, train, minute, depart, arrivee, accident, and ketchup? All these are French words and you can get the meaning easily. Well, it's time for some French Ketchup (or catch-up)...here goes...

5-20 Thursday – Chinon to Sarlat

Woke up in Chinon. Returned to our mobile home and took over the back of the bus again.

Road trip to Sarlat paused midday for a big picnic in the small town of Montmart. Great spread provided by Chris – bread, cheese, olives, cornichon, cured meats, potted meats in duck fat (yum), fruit, and surprisingly…wine. We fed jambon to the Bengal-looking wild kitty.

Boneless Rabbit - waiting for lunch to be served

Chris - our wonderful guide - introducing the banquet...

An excellent munch-out!

The high of the picnic was kind of squashed when we went off to Orador sur Glane. This French village was utterly destroyed by the Nazis in one day, 10 June 1944. They killed over 600 people. No one really knows why. The French decided not to rebuild the town, to keep it as a reminder of what happened. It’s a town of striking, beautiful ruins.

Back on the bus for pretty long ride to Sarlat. Ted and I lucked out with a nice room with a patio overlooking the street where the big market will be on Friday. That's the rail on our balcony right above the sign for the hotel.

Blogging and Wining on the patio.

Had a little happy hour then down for dinner in the hotel. Walked around town with group after dinner.

Below is my new best friend Betsy (in the middle) flanked by my buddy Kathee on the right

and Gloria on the left.

Wine buddies Ed and Jan

Mouth watering duck...

Next up...Sarlat.

Jam Nirvana

2010-05-20T00:00:00.000-04:00

In the wonderful town of Chinon, our base was the Hotel Diderot. The proprieters, including the lively Laurent, make home jam.

Laurent of the Hotel Diderot and our Guide, Chris

Oh yea. More than 10 kinds of jam. We were in heaven for two mornings as we were served hot coffee and several kinds of fresh bread - baguettes, brioche, croissants. Each we slathered with fresh delectible goat cheese, honey, and walnts. But, the best was the jam - framboise, fraises, apricots, you name it.

Just a lttle interlude of Jam Nirvana...

Bon Appetit!

Caroline

Les Jardins du Châteaux

2010-05-19T00:00:00.001-04:00

We awoke this morning in our 18th century manor house hotel on the eastern edge of Chinon. Today we were to visit two more châteaux in the Loire Valley. Oh stop the madness...The first is Château de Villandry which has a castle that is OK, but it’s the gardens that made me weak at the knees.

There are 10 acres of gardens in the Italian Renaissance-style arranged with intricate geometric patterns. Gardeners become dreamy at the mere mention of the Château de Villandry. Situated on the Cher River, the 16th century gardens have been restored to those originally planted in the early 1900’s by a doctor and his American wife. The two terraces are planted in styles that combine the French gardens of monks with old Italian designs. We meandered around a walkway up on the hill above the gardens, here we were able to see what looks like gigantic flowered chessboards – a spectacular sight.

I absolutely loved the ornamental garden depicting symbols of chivalric love ... I wonder if this will fit in my backyard?

Please Keep Off the Grass!

A few flowers...they plant thousands and thousands every year. Merrifield Garden Center has nothing on this place...

Ted was most intrigued with the famous potager (vegetable garden) which stretches on for bed after bed in elaborate designs.

Our second visit was to Château d'Azay-le-Rideau and once again we loved the glamorous exterior much more than the interior due to its picture postcard setting. I’m glad we got to see it, even though chateau fatigue was starting to kick in for us. (How many people get to say that... "If I have to look at one more frakking Renaissance Château, I will..." what? Eat more Fois Gras? Drink more wine? Empty threats...bring them on...;)

Boneless Rabbit insisted on renting the audio guide...

Azay-le-Rideau was also built in the early 1500’s and it is one of the earliest French Renaissance châteaux. Built on an island in the Indre River, its rises straight out of the water. This one has an interesting history. The original builder was the King’s treasurer and began expanding this site which was part of his wife’s dowry or she inherited it or something. Being a treasurer, he apparently got sticky fingers and was accused of embezzlement so he had to run for the hills. The king snatched up the château (which may be why the treasurer was accused in the first place) and gave it as a reward to one of his high-ranking soldiers.

Is this not cool? Cinderella eat your heart out.

After château overload, we stopped in a little town for lunch and we were released on our own. What was quickly becoming our core group of mates – Bob, Marolyn, Betsy, and Kathy – headed out with us to find something good to eat. We passed several touristy-type establishments hoping for an authentic French experience when we happened upon a little creperie. What followed was a glorious meal of omelets and crepes. Betsy was overjoyed with her simple crepe of butter and sugar, just like her mom used to make. Mine was a savory buckwheat crepe filled with potatoes, comté cheese, and jambon (ham). Ted’s omelet had similar fillings. I think we were very lucky to find this place.

Yum!

Soon we were back to Chinon in time to scavenge for picnic supplies and nap. More later...

À bientôt.
Caroline

Food Interlude - Chinon

2010-05-18T12:00:00.002-04:00

Our first night in Chinon we had a group dinner at Restaurant AT'ABLE. This was in the competition for the best meal so far. We had a lovely time getting to know Mike and Margaret who are also from Virginia. We even ordered a local Chinon wine that was 100% Cabernet Franc - and we loved it (that's right, Lisa, we loved it).

Our entree was the most delectible Charlotte de Concombre au Chèvre (goat cheese turrine with cucumber). Everyone in our group raved about it. I'm still mad about it...so good.

The main course was a white fish (Sandre) with a complex wine reduction sauce, which I think was called Sauce Vigneronne. The presentation was artful and fun. I have to show you the before and after shots, and you'll understand how good it was.

Before...

and after...

For dessert Ted had a trio of wine sorbet and I had lovely framboise cake.

After dinner we took a little walk down to the river – saw baby ducks – and ran into Bob, Marolyn, John, and Patty. Great food day.

Maintenant, au lit.
Caroline

Pays de Châteaux

2010-05-18T00:00:00.000-04:00

The day started out crazy as we overslept due to alarm clock ineptitude. Mad packing, scarf down breakfast, then a mad dash to the bus carrying too many bottles of wine. Today is our first trip on the tour bus with our cute French driver, Olivier. We left Paris for our road trip into the Loire Valley – land of 1000 Châteaux.

Up first was a stop for lunch in the small town of Amboise, the quiet little pedestrian-friendly village on the Loire river, overlooked by a hilltop château. It was once the royal residence of the French King François I in the early 1500’s and it’s where Leonardo da Vinci lived at the end of his life.

We decided to forego any touring of those places and opt for drinking it all in from a lovely café. I had researched a few of the restaurants in Amboise so we power-walked to several only to find them closed today or only open for dinner. We ended up at an outside table Chez Bruno right next to the château. We made an excellent choice.

For entrée, we shared some buttery pâté and rillettes – both made of pork and duck. Rillettes is a preparation of meat similar to pâté except that the meat is cubed or chopped, salted heavily, and cooked slowly in fat until it is tender enough to be easily shredded. Then it is cooled with enough of the fat to form a paste.

The pâté...

The rillettes...

Our main courses were a surprise. I wasn’t quite sure what we were ordering. But my eyes closed and guttural sounds came out of me when I got my first taste of the salad consisting of lettuce with a light vinaigrette layered with chunks of andouille pork sausage chunks and thick bacon. Oh yes.

Ted had a moist turkey breast with pasta in a light cream sauce which was actually, really good. This was all accompanied by a nice bottle of local wine.

For dessert we stopped into a pâtisserie for macaroons (my new favorite food). I got 3 – pistachio, orange/chocolate, and strawberry – plus a chocolate almond croissant for Ted. We ate dessert with wine from Ted’s magic pack along the river. Lizard and ducks were sighted.

Back on the bus and shortly we were at Chenonceau – our first French château.

Leading up to the château...

The interior was ok – sort of a check-that-box situation – but the setting and exterior are spectacular. This 16th century great pleasure palace arches over the Cher River. Its nickname is “the château of the ladies” for two women who transformed the original structure into the beauty it is today. Diane de Poitiers was the King’s Mistress in the mid 1500’s and she created the grand arched bridge across the river so that they could access good hunting grounds. Unfortunately, her benefactor King Henry II was killed in a jousting tournament and his pissed-off wife, Catherine de Médicis, kicked Diane’s butt right out of there. Catherine then added the multi-story building on top of Diane’s bridge. Both ladies added beautiful gardens around the château.

Ok, off to Chinon…

Retenez votre souffle.
Caroline

Attaquer le Louvre

2010-05-17T00:00:00.039-04:00

I was worried that our first encounter with the Musée du Louvre would result in sensory overload. For the oldest, biggest, and possibly the most crowded museum in all of Europe you need at least a week to do it justice. So I was happy to have a local guide to take us on a tour of the more famous masterpieces.

First up were the Italian collection of Renaissance paintings in the Grand Gallery. Basically, in this period artists were going for realism as they had come out of the Dark Ages and needed a little pick-me-up. A lot of their stuff has to do with religion – heaven, angels, virgins with children, etc. – but they kept at it and eventually got around to revolution, blood, guts, glory…that kind of thing.

Of course my favorite engineer and master of Italian Renaissance is Leonardo da Vinci. The Louvre has a great collection of his paintings including the beautiful La Vierge à l’Enfant avec Saint Anne (Virgin, Child, and St. Anne).

But then there’s the mysterious Mona Lisa…totally encased in glass, smaller than you’d think, and surrounded by a big crowd of camera toting tourists. I was able to elbow my way to the front and commune with my Lady Lisa. I like her – she’s cool and aloof. We have a funny little family story that in the early 60’s this painting was touring the US and my mom was determined to see it. But unfortunately she went into labor with her 6th child and missed her chance. So that’s why my little sister is called Lisa. I’m glad mom wasn’t so pissed that she called her Mona instead.

We moved into the Romantic collection next and found Le Radeau de la Meduse (the Raft of the Medusa) by Théodore Géricault. I really like this one. It has intense emotion in the desperation of the shipwrecked crew, and artistic motion as it draws your eyes from the dying at the bottom of the raft to the hopeful at the top of the pile as they see a sail in the distance…apparently cannibalism (human pâté) is fine in France.

My next favorite is La Liberté Guidant Le Peuple (Liberty Leading the People) by Eugène Delacroix – probably his best known painting – commemorating the French revolution of 1830 (one of many French revolutions…). She seems to be urging the rabble on – to liberty, equality, and the brotherhood of all. Maybe that was Delacroix’s idea anyway. This painting also reminds me of Cloris Leachman in Mel Brooks History of the World Part I.

Next we entered the Salle Daru and viewed Neoclassical stuff. This room is totally dominated by the over-the-top Coronation of Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David. After conquering all of Europe, Napoleon couldn’t just be crowned king…no, he had to anoint himself Emperor. Set in the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the little guy had the Pope flown in for the ceremony but snatched the crown out of the pontiff’s hands and crowned himself. Everybody and anybody is shown in this huge painting. I even think the guy over on the left (next to the Ladies in Waiting) looks a little like Ted.

As our senses began to numb over we came upon the statue of Les Trois Grâces (the Three Graces – also known as Gail, Jenn, and Brenda) by some unknown artist. Ted really liked this statue.

Finally we came to the beautiful, ancient Greek statue of Venus de Milo – widely renowned for the mystery of her missing arms.

Last that day we came upon a most interesting work of art – seemingly a female nude lying gracefully on a cushioned bed. She is in repose, resting from a hard day of labor.

Walking around the statue to the other side you get a different story. Was the artist confused? Did he covet his neighbors wife or brother or both? Now I know where the term Hermaphrodite came from…right here in the Louvre.

Ok - sensory overload achieved.

After our tour we escaped with Bob and Marolyn for a quick lunch in the Latin Quarter. Food was so-so but fellowship was great and the wine was fine. Ted and I then did a speed march through Ile de la Cité and Ile St. Louis, gathering picnic supplies as we worked our way back to the hotel.

The day ended with a boat ride on the Seine with a group of our new friends. Great view of the Eiffel Tower all lit up. More wine, more stories, good time.

Well, that gets us through Monday.

Voilà.

Caroline

Cheese Interlude #1 - Livarot

2010-05-16T13:00:00.003-04:00

First cheese we randomly tried was Livarot, an artisinal cheese named after a village in Normandy. It's nickname is The Colonel because it is wrapped with straps of rush or paper like a colonel's stripes. This is a raw cow's milk cheese that has a hevey, moist p We tried it along with some salami, baguette, and (of course) some wine. Alone, it has a very strong taste which we weren't sure about. But with the bread and meat, Livarot's spicy flavors came through and melded nicely.

Great first introduction to French Cheese...

Amis de Quasimoto

2010-05-16T00:00:00.004-04:00

I got up early and ran a couple of miles. After a few laps around the Place des Vosges I moved out onto the main streets around the Marais and pretty much had them to myself. It was a good feeling, kind of like a Nike commercial but without the sound track and Matrix-like special effects. At the very least, it gave me the excuse to eat more croissants :)

First full day of touring together.

After a quick breakfast the group was off on the metro to Ile de la Cité – a sort of banana shaped island in the center of Paris – the heart of the city, its historic core, the dark savage underbelly. This little island defines Paris into the right bank and left bank and cradles the famous Notre-Dame. Quasimoto was expecting us.

But first up for our group was Sainte-Chapelle, a unique Gothic cathedral with massive, detailed stained glass windows. Built in the mid 13th century (so, really, really old) in just 5 years by the French King Louis IX. He built it to house the supposed Crown of Thorns sold to him by Huey Long (ancestor of the inventor of the Post-It notes). Hmmm…

The stained glass was cool enough – lots of religious scenes as one would expect, covering the Christian version of the history of the world from start to cataclysmic end. The Gothic architects did a great job of turning a dark stone building into one of light and color when the sun shines through the 6,500 square feet of glass. Ted and I walked in, bobbed our heads, hummed a little, and escaped since the Crown of Thorns were not in residence just then. Bummer.

The really big highlight of this first stop was the security check point to get into the cathedral. Ted took off his belt to go through the X-ray and the machine ate it. The damned thing never came out again or Ted just walked off and forgot it. Not sure which it was – you decide. But for the rest of the day (this happened first thing in the morning) he had to walk around like a prisoner holding up his pants. Sigh.

Next up – the famous 700 year old Notre-Dame Cathedral filled with history and tourists. Our most excellent guide, Christine, used a trick of the trade to get us into the church quickly. She just moved right to the front of the very long line with her hand raised in the air and a determined “we have a special appointment” look on her face and we followed close behind like monks on a mission. People just moved aside and in we went. Slick.

Set in a typical basilica floor plan – think of a big cross – there is a long central room flanked by huge columns where mass was in full play. We tourists were routed around the ambulatory like medieval pilgrims but with better dental plans and cleaner armpits.

Around the edges are little naves with various statues of saints surrounded by flickering candles. I have a little tradition for when I visit cathedrals and churches in Europe. Having been raised as a fully functioning Catholic (8 years of nuns, every sacrament except last rites, mental scars that will never heal), I am now retired and stay clear of anything requiring burning incense. But when in these ancient monuments to organized religion I light a candle for my Mom, Dad, and grandmother Roro. So I did that for them in the magnificent Notre-Dame in the heart of Pari. I told them I missed them and was thinking of them. Rituals. I think it’s OK to hold on to a few. (Swallow lump in throat and move on…)

Ted and I escaped fairly quickly and headed out. We snagged a fresh baguette and then lucked onto a Wine Cave and purchased a nice bottle from the Cotes de Rhone region. We sat in a little park on the left side of the Seine across from Notre-Dame and had a lovely picnic. A theme that seems to continue on through this journey. It was while sitting there enjoying the moment that I noticed how cool Notre-Dame was from the outside. The flying buttresses give the whole building such a striking look and feel. It was another of those “I’m really in Paris” moments. I don’t know, could have been the wine though.

Time to re-group, so we made a quick stop at a patisserie for a chocolate croissant and some other confection filled with strawberry jam. We ate those while walking to the meeting point, then it was on to the Musée d’Orsay which houses French art mainly from the 1800’s (again, really old stuff). This is the haven of Impressionism – bright colors, sunshine on fields of flowers – think a photograph viewed through a haze of acid. I saw works from some of my favorite artists including Monet, Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Cézanne. For me, the best part was seeing Vincent van Gogh’s self-portrait. For Ted, it was works of art featuring naked women en flagrante as it were… I bet that surprises no one.

As if this day was not chock full of stuff already…a few of our new friends, Bob and Marolyn plus by then we'd captured Kathleen and Betsy, all metro’d with us over to Rue Cler, a nice pedestrian friendly street with plenty of cafés. We snagged a table and got to know each other over a glass of wine. Go figure. BR joined us while catching up on some reading.

Next back to the hotel for a quick nap to re-charge and then gathered for happy hour in the lobby. By then our group within a group grew to include Benny, Tzu-Chen, and Chris our guide. We headed up to Montmartre – Paris’ highest hilltop. By then it was evening and the lights were coming on. All 11 of us had a nice meal at L’ete en Pente Douce restaurant. I finally got my first real food of the day – a creamy quiche with ham - makes you drool, doesn't it. I practically licked the plate clean...;)

We all climbed up/down the massive stairs to the top of Montmartre (more exercise to counteract all that wine – cool) to see the Sacré Coeur basilica above and Paris laid out below, all lit up as the true city of Light.

The Eiffel Tower did it’s light show at the top of the hour. Much walking, crepe filled with Nutella, and a long walk and metro ride home to Hotel Castex. Finally made it to bed around 11:30pm.

À bientôt.

La Tour Eiffel

2010-05-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

Today was a good day. For starters, we found an excellent wine shop just around the corner from our hotel. Very, very close to our hotel – and they speak English. This could be good or this could go down bad.

Today we found irrefutable proof that we were – in fact – in Paris. To me there’s only one way to do that which is get a view of the Eiffel Tower. Our hotel is in the Marais near the Place de la Bastille, so we started walking in that direction, wound down to the Seine, crossed to the left bank over the Pont de Sully and fell upon the vibrant gardens of the Jardin des Plantes.

Along the way I noticed that everyone was bundled up like it was winter. What’s up with that? Yes it’s May and it is cool and overcast, but I didn’t see snow anywhere (certainly not 3 feet of it) so I didn’t really get what everyone was all freaking out about. But all the women had really cool scarves – some of the men too – so…

I’m practically a Parisian, non?

Continuing our meandering through the 5th arrondisement, we strolled the Arènes de Lutèce (remains of a Roman Arena in Paris) and then over to the Place du Panthéon. Pretty Cool.

Along the way we started to gather provisions – things that go with wine.

I just followed that blue pack with the lovely baguette popping out, knowing there was cheese and some lovely salami-type thing keeping that bread company.

Finally, it was time to cut to the chase so we got on the Métro and zipped over to where the Eiffel Tower is supposed to be.

Et Violà! There it was. This fantastic city must really be Paris.

It was there – along with something like 1 Billion tourists waiting in line to go up the tower. Everything I’ve heard is that going up in the tour is a pretty over-rated so we just walked underneath through the crowds

and out onto the Parc du Champ-de-Mars (the park in front of the tour).

Oh and Boneless Rabbit made it too.

Ok, now the fun can truly begin. By that I mean…Picnic Time.

After that we got back on the metro and came back to the hotel for a break. Later we went back out and back down to the Seine where we unknowingly crashed an antique show (didn’t know there was an entrance fee - oops) and wandered around for awhile.

That evening it was finally time to meet our Tour Group. Introductions were made and we picked our Buddies – mine is Kathleen and Ted’s is Betsy – two really cool ladies who are old friends traveling together. They have great potential as Comrades in Trouble and especially Tour Drinking Buddies. An excellent find for sure.

The group went for a little orientation walk into the Marais and including the Place des Vosges. Then we had our first group dinner at Café des Musées not too far from our hotel, which was pretty good food but not that memorable. It might have been that we were a big group and the meal was picked ahead of time. What was memorable from that first meal was the fellowship – we sat with Kathleen and Betsy, plus Carol – an energetic Lady of the First Order - and Gloria who is very nice.

After we all walked back to our hotel – Ted and I made one last trip out to Le Baron Rouge, a Cave (wine bar) that we had read about in the Washington Post. Got there just before they closed and had a nice glass of wine. It was a cool little hole in the wall with an interesting crowd so we have to get back there again before this is over.

Ok – we are definitely in Paris and definitely getting into the groove.

Next up, definitely need to exercise more to counteract large quantities of French Bread and French Wine.

Bonne nuit.
C

Sommes-nous à Paris?

2010-05-14T10:11:00.000-04:00

We made it. I think.

Transatlantic travel in cattle-class, even Air France, is tough. You can't ever get comfortable. It's either too hot or too cold. And at our age, going without sleep for 24+ hours can make you feel a little rough around the edges. Air France does it better than our American airlines, I'll give them that. Real Food Was Served...with Wine. It was good and didn't cost extra. Try to find that on United in the back of the plane. But still, when we arrived we felt, well, scruffy.

All that withstanding, we made it with all our luggage - even Boneless Rabbit. Unpronounable Volcanic Ash cannot keep us from Paris. I think.

It kind of looks like many other European cities. Except for everyone speaking rapid French (or Greek, I'm not sure...just goes to show you that 100s of hours spent with Rosetta Stone did not help me...no one is standing next to a yellow bicycle asking "What is she riding?" Un vélo jaune!). Well, how do we know we are really in Paris?

Not much time to explore when we arrived on Friday. The most important thing to do first was, of course, get provisioned and have our fist French meal. Then we had dinner reservations at a nearby restaurant called Bistrot de l'Oulette. Based on a recommendation from the friendly hotel receptionist, Eskender, and some good reviews found on Chowhound.com, we had a very memoralbe first meal. Are you ready?

We chose the bistro over the restaurant - same chef, lower price, less formal - and selected the fixed price menu for dinner - only 33€ for an entrée (starter), plat (main course), and dessert. Pretty good deal. I did not tell Boneless Rabbit (kept her in my purse) as I ordered Salade d'effiloché de lapin à l'estragon avec croûtons aux oignons rouges which basically translates to succulent shredded rabbit with tarrogon red onions on toasted bread. This had a very clean, fresh taste which the carmelized red onions on the toast went really well.

The other starter was a fantastic brick croustillant au fromage de chèvre avec crevettes et cumin - or to us heathens - crispy pastry filled with goat cheese and shrimp mixed with cumin. Délicieux...Ok, get ready for the main courses...

First up, what everyone on Chowhound raved about...Cassoulet maison aux confits. This was comforting bean stew with duck, pork, and sausages. Every cook who ever secretly called themselves a chef has tried to make Cassoulet - some succeed, many fail. This chef had it just right. Ted and I fought over this one. Warm, deep complex flavor, and good to the last spoonful.

But not to be outdone was the other main... Magret de canard rôti, jus au port. Duck breast with port. Say no more just move over and let me in. Even as good as that was, it was almost outshone by what accompanied it...the smell of the creamy potatoes au gratin was divine. It wafted up from the plate and made me just hum - yum. That dish we had to split evenly or there would have been a fight.

Dessert we both agreed and ordered the same thing based on online reviews - Croustade aux pomme carmélisées, granité à l'Armagnac. Ok, right there from the French name you know anything with semi-frozen alcohol must be good. It was. We savored each bite.

Even after all that great food, I still wasn't sure we were in Paris. I need to see the Eiffel Tour in person. Then I'll know.

But, sleep happens to weary, well fed, semi-tipsy travelers, so that must wait until Saturday.

Bonne nuit.

Un voyage en France

2010-05-01T16:09:00.003-04:00

In just a few short weeks, we are off again. This time it's Paris and Southern France in late May and into early June. We had such a great time in Italy in 2008 that at first we thought we'd go back there again. Spain was also in the running as well as Turkey and Greece. Then came the movie Julie and Julia and we read Julia Child's book My Life in France. That closed the deal. She loved food as much as we do and so after falling for Paris through her experiences we knew we had to go. That and the Provence region has always held a soft spot in my heart (more on that later...)

Once again you are invited to follow the Boneless Rabbit on her adventures. So stay tuned, mark this spot, and get ready to follow the Rabbit Trail for 3 weeks through the beauty of France. There may be some food and wine involved. Not sure, but there's always that possibility given our past experiences. Just check out the Italy blog posts ;)

Pompeii Found

2008-12-20T22:31:00.029-05:00

Life crept back in fast. Here it is almost 2 months since we got back from Italy and I'm just now getting a chance to add Pompeii and Naples, the last two cities on our magnificent trip - let alone Andre Bocelli! Don't worry, I found the time... and here is Pompeii.

On Thursday, Oct 23rd, we packed up from Sorrento and got back on the bus for just about our last trip with Mauritzio. Arriving at the entrance to Pompeii - the city made famous by its centuries long preservation in the ash of Mt. Vesuvius - we were a little early for our appointment with our tour guide, so first a little late morning pick-me-up... .

Donato got this wine from the lady who runs the public toilets (I think he actually called it Toilet Wine). It was... interesting, as was the restroom itself. Another public toilet experience to remember. We were all very curious as to the circumstances that caused this particular sign.

Well of course it is!!

We also had time to get to know some of the locals selling interesting trinkets. These guys posed for Ted (no comments please)! A little Caribinari Cheesecake...

Then we met our guide Gaetano... looks good, no? Gaetano did a fantastic job guiding us through the streets of Pompeii - turning ruins into homes, fast food joints, and brothels. He helped us see the city through the eyes of the people who lived there before Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius spanning two days in 79 AD. This is the forum with Mt. Vesuvius looming in the distance.

The theory is that these columns were still being repaired from an earlier quake in 62 AD.

I loved it... The pack...

The line up...

Running the gauntlet...

Special commentary from Tom!

This is a fresco depicting fertility-imagery, really! Get your mind out of the gutter...

Ah the famous Brothel... advertising is everything. We saw much more of this the next day in the Naples museum.

Can you believe all this was hidden under ash and pumice - lost for nearly 1700 years? It was only accidentally rediscovered by an architect who was digging a new course for the river Sarno. But it took more than 150 years before a serious effort was started to unearth both Pompeii and Herculaneum, its sister city. The place is huge! Only about two-thirds of the city has been excavated but what we saw was impressive.

Roman baths anyone?

Ok, so after the tour we were tired and dusty (and now we understood the sign in the public restroom!!). Luckily, there was a lovely store selling ice-cold Limoncello. (They also sold Murano glass so I was very happy.) Ted picked up a bottle for the gang...very refreshing!

So at this point we had to say goodbye to our good friend Mauritzio, our bus driver. For Ted and I, it was especially sad as he had been our driver the whole trip - through both tours.

We miss him! Mauritzio...our brother!

And our home away from home...his bus...

Ok, very good day. We found Pompeii. Very cool. On to Naples!!

Chow for now!

Carolina and Boneless Rabbit!

Going Down Just Leads to Going Back Up!

2008-10-27T15:38:00.018-04:00

On Wednesday, after our glorious hike up and down Vesuvius it was off to Sorrento. Here we landed in our first true pit of a hotel - the lovely Hotel Desireè. I guess after all the great hotels we were due. Look at this lovely view... isn't Sorrento picturesque? Note the view is down. Our hotel was up on the side of the hill (mountain) just outside of town, an "easy" 15 minute walk all down hill to the town. I was getting a little tired plus with the pit-hotel I wasn't really appreciating the view too much. Going down...remember, you have to go back up to crawl into the pit hotel. So we headed off for a little orientation walk around town... Which just led to more places to go down... But we kept kept trucking... this is Susan, me, and Jen cruising behind the group. That evening we all met for a last drink with our driver Mauritzio at an actual English Pub, then dinner at a restaurant all the way down at the bottom of the hill/mountain at the pier. It was good, I'm sure, but at that point I was so tired I didn't take any pictures. Plus whatever happiness I felt at the great food and wine was plundered by the trek back up the hill/mountain to our pit-hotel. Help! Luckily, Thursday was a free day so we made plans for dolcè far nientè...the sweetness of doing nothing... starting with sleeping in, leisurely breakfast, and some blogging which I did from the nicest spot in the pit-hotel, on the roof-top patio. The Italians do love their patios (thank the Gods).

Pretty good view from the patio...

But of course, being a roof-top patio you have to climb the twisty stairs to get to it. Recognize the shirt?

Ted and I did one lap around the town. Found an awesome internet cafe/bar where I hung out for awhile. Ted got picnic supplies and we had a nice time by the water's edge eating and drinking. Then we applied ourselves to some serious gelato eating. I mean there's nothing like gelato to rejuvenate you.

Just after finishing the gelato, we ran into Tom, Susan, and Mr. Lion who were headed to the same gelato shop we just left. There was nothing to do but join them (of course) so we all went back to the shop and dug into a trough of gelato... can you believe it? We have no self respect

at all!

Ok, feeling better.

Chow,

Carolina!

No Repeat of 79 AD

2008-10-22T09:40:00.014-04:00

We made it up Vesuvius and back down with no eruptions. Feeling luckier than Pompeii!! Yesterday we hiked up our 2nd volcano in 3 weeks. How many people can say that? The weather was a little iffy - cloud cover - but there were some gases venting so you never know. I mean this volcano has erupted A LOT in the last 100 years but nothing since 1944, so it's probably due. The picture above was taken at the top near the big crater. We were up in the clouds. The big crater - well, one side of it! Did I say it was a climb up? I earned my gelato that day, I can tell you! I think I'll just roll back down hill. He ran ahead - what a show off. Carroll and Ken, the photographers of the group. A pensive Ted...showing off Roro's ankles of course. Hike up a volcano, have a party at the top. Ted brought the wine! A happy Jen! Nancy and Chuck, enjoying the view. Gail, showing off a new look. I'm roughing it, can you tell? Heading down... Ok. Nap time. Off to Sorento next. Chow! Carolina

Amalfi Attitude

2008-10-22T09:23:00.007-04:00

What are you going to do on a free Monday in Positano? You can wander around and shop, browse with the beautiful people, or you can take a trip down the coast to Amalfi. Surrounded by dramatic cliffs and scenery, famous for its Limoncello and the burial place of Saint Andrew, Amalfi has been the "beach scene" for Roman emperors and movie stars alike. And they still let us in. We took the bus from Positano for the full affect, along the twisty road (something like Rt.1 on the CA coast or Skyline Drive in VA), and came back by boat so we could get a good view of the coastline. It was pretty touristy and you could get your fill in a couple of hours but it was a great way to spend the morning. Our first view of Amalfi as we got off the bus... Ted and Tom couldn't resist... it's like this fountain was built for kids in grown-up suits... St. Andrew's Cathedral... they let us in and there were no lightning bolts, even though we did not behave ourselves. Ok, I know this is wrong on so many levels, but BR and Lion wanted to pay there respects to St. Andrew, so...

What a view... this is the Amalfi Coast of Italy!! Having a blast!

Chow!

Carolina...

Positano Living

2008-10-22T06:37:00.012-04:00

We hit the Hotel Jackpot again in Positano. Ted and I got a deluxe room with a bathroom bigger than some of the bedrooms we've had. It was so posh, we got spoiled.

Check out the views...

This is actually the town from a boat ride when we came back from Amalfi (I'll tell you about that later)...our hotel is about 2/3 of the way up!

This is looking down from our hotel balcony into the street. Lot's of shopping, twisty streets, and limoncelo!!

We got in kind of late and had to immediately head to our dinner at a restaurant up the street. Another food fest, oh darn! It was all served family style with platters and platters coming out of the kitchen to applause by the group.

New friends John & Linda dishing out the pasta course.

Some kind of ravioli with sauce and cheese. It's all becoming a blur. I know I scarfed it down no problemo!

Fresh thick pasta noodles with all kinds of little clams and mussels. Yum. Then a platter of eggplant parmigiana that I just wanted to dive in to...

When the desserts started coming I started to cry... not sure if it was for joy or the madness taking hold. What are you going to do with a platter like this? Nothing to do but give in.

Really good Tiramasu. And I didn't even get a picture of the platter of canolis as I was busy stuffing myself.

My buddy Jen...

More friends Linda and Bob.

Yup, it's going down bad.

We're not coming back. As long as the euros keep popping out of the little bancomat, we're just going to keep going!! Ha!

Chow!

Eat Your Heart Out - Buffalo Style!

2008-10-22T06:16:00.009-04:00

After Paestum, we were given a tour and lunch at none other than an authentic, organic, water-buffalo farm where they make buffalo mozzarella and ricotta cheeses. (JP - I thought of you... it was the best I've ever eaten and I'm ruined for life. The Best!)

Making the cheese...

Ok, so then we were treated to the most incredible cheese fest, glorious animal butter-fat binge we've ever experienced in our lives. The meal started with fresh bread warm from the oven. This bread had olives in it and it was crusty and delicious...

The first course were cheese blintzes with ricotta and spinach that were just so delicate.

Then each person got a plate of little mozzarella balls, ricotta, and salad to go with...is this not the most appetizing plate you've ever seen?

The ricotta was like nothing I've ever had in my life and the texture of the mozz balls have ruined me for any other I will ever be able to get in the states. Once I ate this plate and thought I was going to burst, this little Italian woman came around with extra!! I couldn't resist... I said just a little more "piccolo"... yea that didn't work. I got another plateful!! Oh my, it's going down bad.

Then dessert was this creamy, tangy yogurt in little jars. Ted was going around and collecting all he could from others who weren't eating it. The taste was so unique and I loved it.

As if that wasn't enough, the gave us gelato made with buffalo milk. I actually had to step away from the table at this point but Ted went the whole nine yards. Help!! We're trapped in food nirvana!!

Mauritzio, the best bus driver in the world who has been with Ted and I for almost 4 weeks now, joined us for lunch. At this point, he says that Ted is his brother. (He wore a Ted Pagan Tiki Hut t-shirt to the cave party, good guy.)

Ok, back on the bus for a serious nap and on to Positano, the playground of the rich and famous... and us!

Chow!

Ruined for Ruins

2008-10-22T06:04:00.004-04:00

Buon Giornio! As we left Matera (I think it was Sunday) we made a morning stop at Paestum, a Greco-Roman city in the Campania region. The high points are the standing remains of three major temples from about 500 BC. Boy, at this point I'm like, yea... been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Just kidding. These were pretty impressive and we did the quick walk through. To be honest, I was not exactly up to par after the Cave Party (big surprise, huh). BR and Lion, chillin' at the Paestum Ruins. Not a bad view for a morning walk to clear the head. Wandering the site with Susan, Tom, and Lion! Ok, short blog. More food, wine, etc. to come. Chow!

No Expectations

2008-10-19T16:21:00.031-04:00

Welcome to Matera... Last Friday we headed off for Matera. At 3 weeks into this trip each day has become a surprise because I never had time to research where we were going at this stage. So I had absolutely no idea what we were going to find in Matera. Vieste had been so cool, how could we top that...

Back on the bus... we stopped mid morning in ancient Alberobello where we were introduced to cone-shaped trulli houses and partook of a local food and wine tasting from the Basilicata region. It was a family run store and they were very nice - the owner was trained as a Sommelier and spoke pretty good English. We picked up some great snacks like toasted cannelloni beans and pepperocini relish. Plus wine of course. Then we wandered the town and found an enoteca (wine bar) in a cave which we immediately liked.

Trulli in Alberobella...

I'm roughing it, aren't I?

Back on the bus for only a few hours this time and we arrived in Matera. For this town we had a true Rick Steves experience... we were dropped off with our luggage on the side of the road just as we got into town. Then we had to drag our suitcases over cobblestone streets to our hotel. Most of this vacation our luggage has either been taken by taxi to the hotel from the bus or we were dropped off right at the hotel. It didn't used to be this way for RS tours. I guess either Rick or his clientele are aging...

The group makes it to our hotel... aren't they a pretty sight?

I was blown away by my first glimpse of Matera. You can't imagine it. Caves (sassi) homes carved out of rock, built up and expanded. It looked like something out of a movie. Actually, this town had been the setting for several movies including Mel Gibson's recent bloody movie about Christ.

This is Matera, the view from our patio.

It's pretty cool.

Our sassi was posh with a living room, a lower level bedroom including a teeny tiny little bathroom... and a roof top terrace with a breath taking view. Can you tell what's coming next? Oh yes, party time again!!

Our terrace patio...

That night we had a group dinner and gorged ourselves on antipasti of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, little balls of some veggie that I loved, and other delectables. Then there was a noodle soup with garbanzos and the secondi were these roasted meats that were fantastic... The 17th was both Susan's and Linda's birthday so there was much celebrating.

Antipasti...

Primi Piatti...

Secondi...does that not look really good?

Grillin'

Happy Birthday Susan!

The next day we got a tour of the city and we got ready for the big party. This is the one that seems to happen some time on each of our tours, when everyone gets supplies and we do it up big time. A thunderstorm rolled thru that evening so Donato was a great guide and got us a cave in the hotel to party in. I think you just need to see the pictures to know that it was a great time. We consumed about 17 bottles of wine between the pre-function in our room and the big party. I was hurting the next day...it's going down bad!

Cave party!

What a spread!

Ted, Cave Dancer... with glowing halo provided by Donato and Mauritzio!!

More later.

Chow!!

Vieste Vistas

2008-10-18T07:39:00.030-04:00

Just when you thought all was perfect, that this was going to be the best vacation ever... a little turn of the screw with the longest busride ever. Hey, we just have to Buck Up...

On Wednesday, we got on the bus with this group for our first ride together. It is the same bus driver, Mauritzio, that we had in Sicily which is very cool because we are like old friends now (he has a Ted's Pagan Tiki Bar t-shirt and everything). It was a fairly short ride of less than 2 hours to our stop to see an ancient villa of a Roman Emperor. Picture vast ruins that went on and on and on. It was really hard to orient yourself on the site even with a map. But they were very impressive - we tried to picture what it would have been like when in use and it must have been just a incredible place.

Then it was back on the bus for a very, very long ride to Vieste. During the more than 7 hour ride there were several stops at Auto Grilles for "downloading" as Donato put it and "uploading" of drinks and snacks too. Then to pass the time, those of us in the back of the bus started drinking and that helped a lot.

Mauritzio, our driver, taking us for a ride...

Boneless Rabbit was freaking out and tried to get out the window...

and on it went...

the wine pourer... what else are you going to do for nearly 7 hours... catching up on some reading...

Vieste is a little town on a penninsula that jutts in to the sea. We gathered for a group dinner as soon as we arrived as it was already pretty late. Antipasti had some really good frittata and bruschetta...

We had a great fish course that was swimming inn a buttery broth. The dolci was an interesting twist on Tiramasu.

Later, some of us went up to Chuck and Nancy's room for a little party as they had the big suite with the awesome rooftop terrace that overlooked the water.

The next morning we all met early and went for a boat ride around the penninsula. At first, I was a bit dubious... you know a 3 hour cruise. But it turned out to be so very cool. The cliffs are made of limestone and have interesting layered texture. There are dark caves that they took the boat right in to. There were beautiful rock formations... the whole thing experience was so stunning that I was just in awe. We took so so many pictures...here are a few.

Octopus for dinner!! The they stopped the boat on a little beach and we got to jump into the Adriatic Sea which was a new experience - check another one off my list. It was cold at first but really nice.

When we got back from the boat ride we were treated to a pasta making demo from the hotel chef. He made the dough then formed orchetti and spaghetti (using a guitar-like instrument with wires to cut the dough). He also made the little tubular pasta that goes in soup. We had a wonderful lunch with all that pasta.

We had a wonderful lunch with all that pasta. The first was the spaghetti with tomatoes, then the orchetti with EVOO and a little spinach. The first was my favorite of the two. But then came a succulent soup made with cannelini beans and the little pasta tubes. It was heaven! We finished the meal with chilled sweet wine and biscotti.

The afternoon was lazy and the town was completely closed down. I was able to blog some and we were able to get some provisions including some dolci. That evening the group gathered for the continuing party. Everyone contributed food and wine. We started in the hotel parking lot that overlooked the sea. While there, there was a really funny incident with some little girls about 10 years old or around there who were harrasing some wild kitties. Ted went over to "discipline" them and one of them gave it right back to him. She had attitude to spare and harassed Ted mercilessly instead of the cats. Too funny. Later we all headed up to the penthouse patio just like the night before. We drank and ate and talked and had a really good time. Moon was full and it was beautiful.

I leave you for now with a few Viesta vistas...

Chow!

Rome Updated...

2008-10-18T07:36:00.002-04:00

Check out the last Rome post. More pictures have been added...

Sensory Overload, Roman Style

2008-10-16T11:35:00.036-04:00

Hey - things have been crazy. We had internet access in Rome but so much was going on here it is Thursday and I'm finally getting a short chance to add some stuff. Check out what happened at the beginning of our Southern Italy tour - Monday and Tuesday - some pictures are here but I'll have to add the rest later... We finally left Sicily on Monday arriving in Rome in the early afternoon. The trip was not fun but we made it including all our luggage so enough said about that. By the time we arrived we were just able to clean up and gather downstairs to meet the new group and our tour guide Donato. At first glance they seemed like a good mix that we could easily corrupt. Our hotel is in the Trastevere district - a neighborhood across the Tiber river that looks & feels like a medieval village - Rome’s left bank. After our initial gathering, we took a walk around our neighborhood to get the feel of the place including a stop in the Santa Maria church, one of Rome’s oldest churches (it still has the same floor plan at it did in the 4th century but most of it dates from the 12th century.) The granite columns inside are from ancient Roman buildings (they recycle a lot) and it included eye-catching mosaics by Cavallini.

The first group walk - out of the Trastevere district...

...and across the Tiber river.

~He has Roro's ankles, no?

On the right is Donato, our guide for this tour. Who does he remind you of?

Our trek ended in our 1st group dinner at a family Trattoria where mama came out to greet each one of us and to make sure we ate enough. T he place was so much like walking into someone’s home to eat, we even walked through the kitchen to get to our table.

That's Mama telling us to eat, Eat, EAT!

We had a great antipasti that included lentils which were a great surprise for me because they were really good (I think lentils usually taste like dirt) and marinated fresh fennel.

The primi piatti was pasta a la carbonara that was to die for. Very different from what we had in Sicily. It was made with fresh good-sized tube pasta and chunks of pancetta. Makes my mouth water now just writing about it.

The secondi was lamb, pork, fresh home-made-by-mama potato chips, and zucchini.

At dinner the group seemed to gel quickly and the local wine flowed easily. Good first day in Rome.

The next day we all met early and went for a guided tour of the Jewish quarter. This area is where the Jewish population was forced to live between the 16th and 19th centuries. It was a tightly packed ghetto of 4 & 5 story buildings, so close that the sun never shone in between. Most of the original buildings are gone except for some striking ruins that remain.

Our guide thru the Jewish quarter...

Ruins in the Jewish district...

Boneless Rabbit and new friend Lion...

Art comes in many forms.

The Tiber river...

After that it was on to a tour of the Capitoline Museum which is one of the world’s oldest museums - something like 500 years old. There were some really cool statues, sculptures, and paintings. We saw the huge head and foot of Constantine and a magnificent bronze sculpture of Marcus Aurelius. Ted was most impressed with the famous statue of the Etruscan Wolf (from like 500 BC) with the little statues of Romulus and Remus suckling underneath (which were added later).

Check out the frescos which I think are by Caravaggio - They are pretty intense and there is a lot going on in every square meter…

Great views of the forum

One hand is Constantine's... one is Ted's...

The magnificent Marcus Aurelius

At this point we only had an afternoon and evening to see Rome which is just not possible… so we decided we’d just make a trek from the museum up, around, and back down - passing by the Trevi fountain and then the Spanish steps. Navigating the streets while not getting massacred by cars and motorcycles and while trying to figure out where the heck we were… holy crap my brain started to go into overload. At the Trevi fountain we found about 10,000 tourists. Along the way we got some Panini and we had a small stash of our wine in our pack so we sat on the steps of a church opposite the fountain - which you’re not supposed to do - and had a little picnic while the madness swirled around us. Look both ways then run like hell!!

All I did was follow Magellen...

Trevi Fountain madness

Moving on from the Trevi fountain frenzy, we worked our way up through the maze of streets to the Spanish steps where we found about 20,000 tourists! Ugh!! Ok by now my brain is getting so much input per second that I swear my eyes wouldn’t focus on any one thing. We escaped down the main drag away from the throng of tourists, pickpockets, and “beautiful people” and I suddenly found myself in Mecca. Everywhere I looked was Gucci, Prada, Ferrangamo, Jimmy Choo… I started foaming at the mouth. Ted had to drag me onward our there could have been a total meltdown.

Spanish Steps hysteria...

Where are we? I'm lost...

If you check a street map of Rome you’ll see we took a heck of a trek all around. I felt I had earned a libation to restore my sanity. On our last leg we replenished our picnic supplies and much to our surprise and your’s I’m sure, there proceeded to be an impromptu party of the roof of our hotel with our new group!

It looks like we got lucky again and landed with some real party animals. Much wine, cheese, bread, and cured meats later… we went to dinner. Eight drunk Americans traipsing up cobbled streets to the closest restaurant to partake of none other than antipasti (which included stuffed, breaded, & fried squash blossoms - yum), gnocchi with lamb chunks (double yum), and wine. Then our tipsy group made a pilgrimage to the local gelateria where things went down bad. Whoa…stop the madness!!

The party continues with new friends Susan and Tom...

It's a tough life...

Self-portrait by Brenda...

These poor guys put up with a lot from our group...

Chow!

Weekend Update

2008-10-16T11:08:00.025-04:00

The Sicily tour was such a blast that I wasn't really psyched up for the Southern Italy tour. A small tiny part of my brain was saying "time to go home." But I decided I'd just have to Buck Up and deal with it. Are you feeling even the teeniest bit sorry for me? Absolutely not! We found a self-service laundry place and cleaned all our clothes. What a great feeling - clean clothes! That helped to reset my attitude a bunch. On the way back to our hotel we noticed hordes of people walking towards us. Then the crowd parted and a wall of Carbineri in riot gear coming towards us followed by a massive crowd of protesters chanting in Italian. They were students up in arms about something. We quickly took a side street and dodged the wave of people. Throughout the weekend we ran into several people from our tour group who hadn’t left town yet. We had dinner with Harry, Don, Ron, and Roni on Friday. We all got one more dose of Sicilian pizza and gelato. I went for cheese & salami on my pizza and hazelnut and pistachio for my gelato. I know, I’m in a rut…I’ll just have to buck up. On Saturday we got brave and jumped on a local bus down to the Ortico Botanico (botanic gardens) which were a shady respite from the city. It was empty of anyone else except for wild cats and us. Walking back up into the city we ended up at the Archaeological Museum where Boneless Rabbit got some close up culture... Then we wandered down along the water front and looked for a boat called “Noah”. We found some great little bars tucked into alleys that served a plate full of antipasti for 5 Euro... it was great. Blogging Italian style... Even more bravery on Sunday took us out of town to Mondelo with Ron and Roni which is ’the’ beach resort that Palermo escapes to on weekends. We got to walk among the beautiful people, have a great meal at a restaurant along the water - absolutely succulent fried calamari and spaghetti with pesto and fresh shrimp, and dip our toes in the clear waters. The line up - Roni, me, and Ron... Ted & Ron enjoying the view... Guess who took this picture? You got it... The beautiful people... Later we found this great chocolate/espresso bar - what could be better than that? Love this stuff Really good weekend…Palermo was very cool. Ok, we're off to Rome... Chow!

Sicily Endings...

2008-10-11T13:11:00.030-04:00

Ah, Palermo. Big city. After all those sleepy little towns, this is real in your face madness. The air is pretty gross because there are ½ million cars and scooters whizzing by - and that’s just on the street where our hotel is situated. But, with the yuk comes some modern conveniences like internet, English-speaking channels on TV, and a really nice hotel with a toilet seat that doesn’t try to eat you. As we got into town, the group went on a walking tour and visited some really wild churches. One of them in particular was Sicilian Baroque on Acid. Trippin... Ted is sitting in the Bishop's chair and lightning did not strike. What's up with that? What is he doing? This is the shop of a Sicilian Cart maker...

Then Ted and I walked through the markets with Coe, Joan, and Harry. These are some serious freaking markets - you can get anything you can possibly imagine - and then some.

He's a magnificent bastard... Fishmonger (still life - man itching belly) Eggplants the size of toddlers Obligatory lingerie photos Spice nirvana This being the last night of our Sicily tour, we had one more group party in our hotel room (Ted is such a gatherer) and then we all went to our Last Supper together. The food and fellowship were wonderful and we were sad to part with all our new friends. Ex-football player getting busy with Boneless Rabbit Why is he holding his underwear? He's probably a lawyer... Apparently, she had a very good time! Ode to Nina!! Party crowd...

This was the best octopus binge we've ever been on...

Beautiful necklace...wonder where she got it?

That rabbit gets around.

and around...

Food...eat it!

Sicily turned out to be a wonderful surprise. It is much more than we expected - the people are warm and friendly and they enjoy life to its fullest. The island is absolutely breathtaking and beautiful, real and gritty, steeped in history. If you ever get the chance - come here, stay awhile, embrace some dolce far niente (the sweetness of doing nothing).

Next, on to Roma!!

Chow,

Carolina!

The Rock

2008-10-11T10:26:00.019-04:00

Exploring Cefalù was a pleasure. Our hotel was situated just off the main drag of tiny streets lined with shops and hundreds of restaurants. While it was in a good location, our hotel room was definitely a far cry from our Scopello villa. The most challenging part was sitting on the toilet - the seat kept falling off and Ted had nightmares of tearing off important parts… you could brush your teeth, use the toilet, shower, and touch all 4 walls of the bathroom at the same time. Quaint. This is looking down from the roof of our hotel... close streets dodging cars and vespas. La Rocca from the roof of our hotel... One neat part was breakfast. We picked up a voucher at our hotel and wandered up the street to have a breakfast Sicilian style - at a bar having a cappuccino and a roll. (Note that bars in Italy are where you get coffee, really I’m not kidding). The bar was in the piazza sitting in front of the fortress-like Norman cathedral with la Rocca rising behind you. La Rocca literally means “the rock” and it dominates the town of Cefalù. That morning we met up with a group of friends - Coe, Linda, Ed, Roger, and also ran in to Adrian and Rod - and we climbed la Rocca. I made it up more than ¾ of the way to the Temple of Diane but many of the others went all the way to the castle at the top. Great views and a little picnic. Long way back down... Where is BR? The view from the Temple of Diana... We spent a lazy afternoon wandering around town. Ted and I ended up at the beach sitting on the breakwater drinking beer and waiting for the sun to set. Looking back and the town and up at the rock was spectacular. Oh yea, I'm happy... Then the group went to a Pupi show - a traditional Sicilian puppet show that was hard to follow but entertaining. Basically there was a lot of fighting (puppets got their heads chopped off) and some snakes and a woman was involved. We got to tour behind the set and see how it all worked. The puppets are big - they weigh like 30+ pounds - but your perspective got screwed up while watching the show and you started to think they were life size. Then when the puppeteers came out at the end you were like - holy crap they are giants!! The family who put on the show have been doing it for more than 4 generations - pretty cool. The evening ended with a nice dinner with friends, and of course, gelato. ~Chow~

Observations by Ted

2008-10-10T12:01:00.019-04:00

Pictures and thoughts by Ted, in no particular order. And... no offense intended.

Schools of catholic girls swimming by.

Gorgeous women with boots and boobs.

Babies don’t smoke here but everyone else does.

Italians are obsessed with sex, but they only do it in the dark.

Female sculptures are anatomically correct but male sculptures have had their parts hacked off.

“Don‘t let him touch me!” A quote from Nina.

Mattresses from the Middle Ages.

Ice machines have not been invented.

Apparently, not everyone speaks English (even though Mom said they did).

These people are obsessed with food.

Red peppers the size of small toddlers.

Rick should change the name of this tour to “the rabid dog wild wine & food tour” or “the 12 day Sicilian spring break”

What is this?

Whining about Wine

2008-10-10T11:41:00.024-04:00

Ok , so you got the idea that wine was a major theme on Monday in Scopello…I awoke Tuesday feeling like I’d just been through a wine-enders program and was really hoping I could just sleep it off. No luck. Had to get up early and trek on. Luckily for me, Tuesday’s agenda included a visit to a winery (help!)… First stop today was the town of Monreale to visit a cathedral known for it’s golden mosaics heavily influenced by the Arabs. It was pretty cool especially the light pouring through the windows firing up all that gold.

Short drive later and just as I was starting to feel normal again we arrived at the Calatras winery for a tour and tasting. It’s a pretty big operation, very modernized, so I did not get to hear Italian women in black dresses with purple-stained feet singing “stomp the grapes” which was kind of disappointing.

We were forced to try more wine and eat more incredible food. This is torture! The antipasti was one of the best so far - more delicious olives, roasted peppers, little meatballs, and other tasty stuff. The pasta was a creamy risotto that I really loved and there was also a penne dish. That was followed by grilled meats - succulent sausages, lamb kabobs, and thin pork chops. The whole meal came to only 3.5 WW points! Really!! Well, except for the dolce which was more of those little cheese packets wrapped in flaky dough that I cannot get enough of.

Then it was back on the bus. Amazingly, everyone was very quiet and I don’t remember much as I was totally zonked out. Not sure what happened, could have been a group alien abduction (or maybe just full bellies and good wine). I awoke as we wound our way into Cefalù a wonderful little fishing village with great atmosphere in the city center, sandy beaches, and la Rocca - a chunk of rock mountain that dominates the city.

We had a great hotel right in the heart of everything with a room the size of a linen closet. Not a villa like the last town, but the roof of the hotel had a patio and the party continued.

A little note of reality…we are in Palermo and can finally see news in English. It looks like the world is going to crap. Guess we’ll be working the rest of our lives, no retirement for us. I’m glad we got a chance to go on this incredible trip now.

Chow for now...

Trek to the Sea

2008-10-10T07:35:00.023-04:00

And, we're back...

On Monday we ended up in Scopello and Ted and I landed a 3-story villa all to ourselves. This resulted in a major party on the rooftop patio. But first, there was the trek to the sea... Above pic is an old tuna processing plant along the coast just down from where we stayed.

We headed into Zingaro National Park along with friends Richard and Gwen. It was a twisty trail along the coastline (a rocky cliff).

Our buddy Don walked the whole 7 km trail!

This is Gwen and me coming out of cave. That's a painted cart, famous in Sicily.

We only made it part of the way along the trail when the beach called to me. Is this not beautiful? Swimming in the Tyrannian sea is better than a Monday at work...

BR was chillin' with us... and of course, there was wine.

Ted invited the group to a 5 p.m. gathering at our villa. It turned into a great party that pretty much continued through dinner and into the night. Much food and wine was obliterated. This was the view from the patio that night...

Dinner was family style with many courses - bruschetta, olives (yes, I ate them again!!), 3 kinds of pasta, 3 kinds of seafood, fruit, little evil cheese-filled tarts for dolci that were so good I was in love! Sorry no pictures of the food. That's because, there was lots of wine...

Scopello was beautiful...

Chow!

The Greeks

2008-10-08T06:34:00.024-04:00

Sicily has been invaded by so many other groups, but I'm so glad the Greeks were here. On Sunday, we headed to the Valley of the Temples which are said to be some of the best temples outside of Greece. I loved them... it's hard to imagine how old they are and yet are still here for us to admire. The above picture is a temple at Segesta which we were lucky enough to get to see just before the sun set and the park closed.

It's times like this that I'm wishing I spent more time at the office. Maybe I could have brought an RFP with me to read while sitting on the steps of an ancient Greek temple, contemplating if I can get away with using 6 point font on a table of numbers. Oh yea, that's what is going through my mind right about now...

My little friend has become quite the sophisticated tourist.

Ok, so at this point it's been a few hours since our last meal so it was time for more pasta. We went to a lovely little restaurant in Agrigento. The owner was very proud of his food and made sure we had a memorable meal. This pasta is hand formed into little curls that hold the sauce - made with eggplant and fresh cheese. Yum!

You might notice that I don't have pictures of every course - each meal starts with an antipasti, then pasta, then meat with some contorni (side dishes), then fruit, then dolci (dessert), then espresso... sometimes I'm well into finishing off a dish before I remember to take a picture. But... I did snap a picture of the dolci that afternoon. Mauritsio, our wonderful bus driver, stopped at this patisseria and ordered these HUGE canoli for us. These things are like 12 inches long!! Are you drooling yet? So good...

This is Nina, our beautiful and talented guide. She has patiently put up with Ted for nearly 2 weeks now. In fact...

She has been indoctrinated into the Pagan Tiki world... the doctors think she may make a full recovery with plenty of quiet rest. (She's going to be so pissed that I posted this picture...;>)

The fun continues...

Holy Cow! That only brings you up to Monday morning. I'm feeling parched and must now get a little cafè before I can continue.

Thanks to all of you who have left comments. I love getting them. Thanks and Chow!

Where have they been?

2008-10-08T05:50:00.034-04:00

Ok - it's been awhile, I know. We were in the center of the island where the Internet has not actually taken over yet.

Last Friday we headed out of Ortega and stopped in a little town called Noto that had some fantastic Sicilian style Baroque architecture. Just one main street with these awesome buildings. That's Ted standing on the steps of a gov't building.

This is the view we had when we stopped to have a little panini lunch... with gelato, of course. Then it was on to the Agriturismo outside of the town of Piazza Armerina where we stayed for the next 2 days. That first night they fed us very well including this succulent antipasti. Do you see those olives on that plate? I ate them (yes, me, I ate olives) and I loved them. Worlds collide. I'll never be the same... Just so you can drool some more, the pasta course was penne with fresh tomato sauce that was sweet and delicious. On Saturday, we visited the Villa Casale to see the mosaics. This place is crumbling but they are working to restore it. They theorize it might have been a hunting lodge but maybe not. There are rooms after rooms with wild mosaics all over the floors. Check it out... Even our little traveling companion was there, although BR was not thrilled to see mosaics of rabbits being hunted... Then we trekked through the non-tourist town of Piazza Armerina. The group decided we would all buy picnic supplies and party next to the pool back at the Agriturismo. The little grocery store was overrun by all 26 of us ... but before the party we earned our vino by climbing the hill (small mountain) to reach a duomo. We were sure that we had gotten enough food to feed an army. We went though kilos of cheese, meat, bread, olives, tomatoes, and (of course) many bottles of wine. Not much was left in the end. It was a hell of a party! After a much needed siesta... we got together that night to eat and drink more. This is a continuing pattern it seems. And the end shot for this post... do you like Ted's new t-shirt? Chow! More soon...

A Picture is worth... a bunch!

2008-10-03T03:28:00.015-04:00

Check it out...yes, it's Patton in lava rock (with sparkles)!!

Pasta, pasta, pasta!!!

Are these not works of art? Marzipan, incredible!!

Oh yea, eat your heart out...

Ted takes a lot of these pictures...

Picnic food...

Chow!

From Volcano to the Sea

2008-10-02T13:08:00.012-04:00

If this is Thursday, it must be Syracusa! Holy cow, I'm losing track of the days already. But first, there was Etna...

Yesterday we left Taormina and took a tour of the Silvestri crater, one of the many thousand on Mount Etna. We were up about 7,000 feet but it was foggy and we couldn't see the peak up at almost 11,000 feet. althought the night before we could see the wicked lava flow. The black rock and crater were impressive .

Amazing to think this active volcano has wiped out Catania and Syracusa a few times.

What a contrast, huh?

Then it was on to Siracusa and the little island next to it where we are actually staying called Ortigia. It's beautiful, picturesque, seems not real - lots of Greco-Roman ruins. Last night we bonded with some of our tour mates at a great dinner (penne with eggplant, garlic, and tomato sauce - fantastic). This morning we toured Archaelogical Park of the Neapolis with a huge Greek theater, one of the largest in the world, carved out of the side of a mountain.

But today's highlight was an impromptu picnic with 4 others from our group - great Ted sandwiches, olives (I tried, really, but those are still yucky), and of course lots of red wine. It sprinkled, then rained, then poured on and off and we just continued our little party. Remember, a rainy day in Ortigia by the sea with new friends and good food and wine is better than a sunny day at work!

We are heading into the center of Sicily tomorrow so you might not hear from me for awhile. Catch you in a few days. I'll add more pictures soon.

Drop Dead Gorgeous

2008-09-30T16:00:00.001-04:00

On Monday we traveled north to Taormina to start the tour. What a difference from Catania... this is where the beautiful people have been coming for hundreds of years. And here we are (yes, they let us in...it's a mystery). Anyway, so much too remember about the past 24 hours so I thought I'd just go with random thoughts we've had and some more pictures... All the women here are super models - right down to the cashiers and hotel clerks. And they're nice too! Not fair, makes it worse. Needless to say, Ted's been taking lots and lots of pictures. There will be a whole scrapbook of his pictures of advertisements. Obviously, we didn't bring enough black clothes. Guess what Ted found? They use black lava stone in everything - jewelry, nick knacks (like a bust of General Patton), street pavers, buildings, everything. It's very cool. This is Gelato Nirvana! Today we swam in the Ionian Sea. No sand, only marble pebbles. Water so clear I could see my toes 5 feet down, and so saline I could float head\shoulders above the water without trying. Mount Etna at my back. Mazzaro beach, Taormina. Just so you know, I was swimming about the same time as my usual weekly staff meeting was going on. I am so LOL! Greco Roman Amphitheatre The city... Taormina is absolutely beautiful. Boneless Rabbit, chilling my the sea.

Beautiful and Gritty

2008-09-29T05:44:00.009-04:00

This past weekend we acclimated to Italy by spending it in Catania - walking a lot - immersing ourselves in the culture. By day, Catania is not a beautiful city. It's industrial with few cultural attractions. You could easily dismiss it without the right attitude. The local market was pretty famous so we explored it early one morning, watching the vendors set up and call out to each other. Each display of produce or meat or fish was artfully crafted. It was a little scary to watch the old guys with cigarette hanging out of their mouths hacking up big slabs of beef (or whatever) and refrigeration seemed like an after thought. Ted tried roasted chestnuts for the first time. And for the record, I ate marinated artichoke hearts and loved them. (Yes it's me - must be the air here or something cause normally those would not have passed my lips!) We found a little hole in the wall trattoria that was recommended for dinner. Of course we were early - 7:30 p.m. when most Italians are just getting ready to go out for their evening walk before even thinking about dinner. But the chef and Ted had developed a relationship (lots of hand gestures) so they opened early for us. We had the restaurant to ourselves and the chef catered to us exclusively. We had rollini which was very very thin bread (kind of like pizza crust only really thin) with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella & EVOO etc, rolled up and baked. They were very good. Then the last night we went to another restaurant - a little more upscale - absolutely no english spoken and nothing written in english. I used my little Italy restaurant translator and ordered our entire meal in Italian. I was very proud. We had the most creamy fresh buffalo mozzarella with proscuitto, agnolotti (filled pasta) covered in a pistachio cream sauce (OMG), and fritto misto (fresh shrimp and calamari lightly battered and fried). It was all delicious. Then of course, gelato on the walk back to the hotel. In Catania we looked for the beauty and what we found was that the people are friendly and open, the food is great, and by night the city is transformed. The architecture is ornate and mixed - a roman column here a greek stature there. The streets are paved in lava stone (too cool). When the sun goes down and the shadows deepen the buildings take on a character and presence that is dramatic, a little gritty but beautiful in it's own way. We are glad we visited. P.S. The pistachio pesto is fantastic and we are bringing some home. Can't get enough!

Base Station Established

2008-09-27T12:02:00.008-04:00

18 hours and many miles... Catania, via Vienna. We survived the trip, although I have to say that the international airlines put the american airlines to shame. I mean wine with every meal - free - even breakfast. Now that's civilized! It didn't really sink in right away that we were here. Didn't get that feeling of "Were not in Kansas anymore, Toto". Until... we found our first Gelateria. Una pallina of Bacio and we were in Italy! The Great Gelato Experiment has begun. Started with my favorite. The presentation was incredible, like works of art.

Wandering around and getting our bearings, visited a market for some fruit, got caught in a rain storm and had to seek shelter in a Trattoria (a couple of Moretti Beers and we did not mind being all wet.) Also, Day 1 and Ted has called in his first Gatto (cat), it's a gift.

Off to find as many wine bars as we can between the internet cafe and our hotel as we can. Ciao!

The Great Gelato Experiment

2008-09-18T06:00:00.001-04:00

Allora, Gelato... For me it is the pure, concentrated essence of Italian desserts. Whenever I visit Italy I must have it, daily, without reservation or guilt. Just una pallina (one scoop)... well, maybe due palline! My favorite flavor is nocciola (hazelnut) with cioccolato (chocolate) as a close second. Ted likes frutti di bosco literally fruits of the forest (blueberries, blackberries, etc.) but technically that's sorbetto if it doesn't contain milk. He doesn't seem to care. As we embark on this new trip, I think an experiment is in order - let's see if we can try 30 flavors! Each day we will seek out the best Gelateria and try a new flavor. I will have to sneak some bacio in there too (think Nutella flavored ice cream - yum!) but we'll see what we can come up with. Buono!

Follow the Rabbit

2008-09-17T21:13:00.004-04:00

Have you ever followed a Rabbit Trail? Say you started something only to be distracted by something else, then some other thing, etc, until you notice hours have gone by and you never finished what you had started in the first place. I know it sounds like attention-deficit (or even senility) but it happens to all of us. So what if you had a month to explore Italy? There is so much to see (and eat and drink...) you gotta have a plan. Here's ours... We picked Sicily this time around and because the airfair was significant we decided why not get 2 trips for the price of one air ticket and added Southern Italy. We explored Northern Italy 2 years ago and fell in love with the culture, the scenery, the people, and of course the food and wine. As you can imagine, this is going to be a trip of a lifetime. With the 2 Rick Steves tours we have some structure - they get us to the good spots, the "must see" places in each area plus we get plenty of time to follow our own Rabbit Trail.