Being Lazy means Great Food

I love to cook - I'm not an expert, but if I know what's in the pantry and frig, I'll improvise. Our first evening in Florence, we chose to indulge at an osteria down the street. I found it mentioned in all 3 of our guide books. Real Naples pizza with muzzerella. The host/owner reminds me of an Italian pirate, just give him a parrot and an eye patch (see him in the background?) We picked bruschetta, pizza, and fusilli with ricotta and pomodoro sauce. Oh my! The whole meal was better than we encountered in Rome (which was fabulous!). The fusilli pasta was long strands of corkscrews and creamy with the ricotta. The wood fired pizza had puffed crust with thin center, covered in sausage and muzzerella. We went back our second week. Our pizza choice was Diavola - prosciutto, olives, and peperoni (peppers). Heaven. Though some BBQ chicken pizza sounds good, too. Like most stores and restaurants in Italy, it closes for August, so we'll try to visit several more times before then.

Nerbone in Central Market serves delicious cheap food up to workers, shoppers, and exhausted tourist. We wandered around the central market and decided their pasta looked scrumptious. Mom had rigatoni with boar meat sauce and I went for the parsley pesto farfalle. Both were superb.

Mm Mm Good!

Chef Wehlacz Presents!

Grilled eggplant and veggies with hot pepper, parmigiana-reggiana, olives



Chilled farfalle in pesto with tomatoes, picante salami, olives, and parmigiana-reggiana
(this dish traveled with us to the Chianti region)

Orrechietta in a Pomodoro Sauce
with Zucchine and Peperoni (peppers) topped with fresh Mozzarella



Pasta with Peppers, Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Olives in Tomato Sauce with Parmigiana-Reggiana




Caprese Salad: Fresh Tomatoes, Basil, Mozzarella, and Olives with Prosciutto and Melon




Spaghetti with Fresh Tomatoes, Basil, Garlic, Olive Oil, Hot Pepper Flakes, and Parmagiana-Reggiana

An Evening in Roma

Heat. I remember my first trip to Italy and how hot it was and how we were drenched in sweat. And I remember the weekend in Rome was hotter than everywhere else I traveled. Hotter than Hell would describe it perfecto! The money might have changed but the weather hasn't.

One of my mother's best qualities is she can befriend almost anyone, anywhere immediately. When I was younger, it embarrassed me and now I wish I could be that bold. The young Italian woman on the express train to Rome from the airport said that it was usually breezy in Rome, and it confused her why there wasn't one today.

In the train station, I followed the crowd to the uscita (exit), alas it was the wrong one and so we had to wind around to get to our hotel. Mom complained about the filth, but I reminded her this was typical in Italy. They run ads on the metro to remind people to throw trash away, but between the millions of tourists and complacent natives...Hotel Milazzo was cheap for Rome 280 euros for 4 nights (in $ that's ~420). OUCH!

Our first night out, we strolled around looking for a reasonable priced eatery...A girl persuaded us to check out her restaurant. It was very modern decorated with pink lighting and black furniture and had good food! We ordered Pizza con Funghi and Insalate Mista. The salad had tons of fresh tomatoes and corn on bitter greens.

On the walk back through the train station, a crazy scary gypsy lady made eyes for mom's purse, so we bolted around her. The noise and din from the streets and station and no air conditioning made sleeping interesting.