Ancona

For the weekend, three of my friends and I decided to head to the Adriatic coast, even though it had been raining for days, and the weather report gave a 90% chance of rain for the weekend. We figured we'd chance it and find something else to do if the inclement weather prevented sunbathing. We rented a car and departed Orvieto early Saturday morning.

When we saw this view, we decided it was time to stop for lunch. This is in the state of Marche, which is entirely beautiful. Lunch was terrible, but we stumbled upon something cool as we were leaving the restaurant...

We were by a national park, one that happened to be home to the largest cave in Europe. We forked over 13,50 euro for the tickets, and took the bus up the mountain.

After a long walk down a man made tunnel, we entered another world, of glittering calcite,

marvelous, alien forms...

and sheer beauty. We weren't supposed to take pictures, but only so they could charge you 9 euro at the exit for one picture of you standing in front of a stalagmite. We decided to turn our flashes off and play "hide from the tour guides". All the other people (mostly Dutch and English) in our tour group were doing the exact same thing, it was pretty funny.

The cave was really beautiful, it absolutely took my breath away, several times. One of the Dutch tourists told me it was his third time there. And it just sits, off a lonesome winding highway, in the middle of Italy. Perfection.

We got to Ancona and found a hotel, the rate was really reasonable because of the weather. The guy at the desk set us up a wine tasting at a local gourmet store, which was full of wonderful delicious local products, then the owner of the store recommended a restaurant for dinner. The beach... was still rainy. But it was dinner time, so there were more important things to worry about.

Ahem, zucchini fritti, stuffed razor clams, stuffed mussels, fried sardines, seppie (cuttlefish) salad, salmon, shrimp with spicy mayo, marinated sardines and grilled langoustine.

Oh yeah, and steamed clams in olive oil, white wine, and herbs, mussels in tomato-basil broth...

And spaghetti with mixed shellfish. Everything was impeccably fresh and simple, but perfectly cooked. When the Italians do seafood, they really do it right. With a few liters of the house wine, you really cannot go wrong!

We went back to our hotel and had a few more bottles of wine, then slept in late, and woke up to the 10% chance of partial sun. Awesome! We walked down the beach, collected pretty rocks and shells, then found another little spot for lunch. (Yes, food is the center of our lives. Yes, we are perfectly fine with that.)

Fried mozzarella, caprese salad, couple liters of beer. I promise it was at least after 12pm this time.

Spigola (small sea bass) in cartoccio (steamed in foil) with tomatoes, oregano, and black olives. Moist, fresh, amazing.

We drove up to the top of this hill, then took a walk down to the beach to chill on the rocks and watch the waves for a while.

Fun weekend, great seafood, good company, awesome cave. Can't ask for much more than that.

Tomorrow, I am finally going to Vatican city. But for now, sleep!

Ciao, ragazzi!

Truffles and wine. Sigh...

Sorry for the delay in posting, Friday was a really long day, and then I didn't have internet access over the weekend, so here goes.

We crawled out of our beds quite early Friday morning, to join Giovanni and his dogs in the woods.

Giovanni is a retired policeman who now devotes his efforts to finding these little black lumps growing on tree roots underground. Yup, truffles! His dogs sniff them out, then make a "wuffle-grunt" noise when they find the shrooms. Sometimes they dig them up and run to Giovanni with their finds, other times he uses his metal-tipped walking stick to unearth the truffles.

Sometimes the dogs also eat the truffles, which is not good (for us). Wild boars also like truffles, and they had dug up the woods in search of them the night before. Probably another reason the Umbrian people like to eat boars so much.

We had... some pretty awesome success though. The dog got a handful of treats for bringing him this one, good doggie!

We had a pretty good haul for only an hour in the woods!

After truffle hunting, we went trout fishing. I caught one! We had a quick (three course) lunch, then headed out for...

Another winery for tastings. This place had some pretty nice wines, and beautiful vineyards. Their most renowned bottle was a 92 point merlot. Yum!

Then we went to dinner. The many wine glasses at my setting were an omen to warn me that there were quite a few courses coming, so I made it one of those "a few bites a plate" kind of dinners, so I wouldn't get painfully full.

Primi: assorted cured meats, a grugere (cheese puff) filled with chicken liver pate, foccacia, pecorino cheese, and procuitto.

Braesola (cured beef) with juniper berries and an asparagus sformato (custard), so good!

Yummy herbed risotto.

Tortelloni filled with ground pork and liver, with cherry tomatoes.

Tagliati (grilled, sliced steak) with grilled veggies. YUM!

A mousse cake, with a chocolate decoration and a small mixed fruit salad. This was nice and light, but really satisfying to end our meal with. Everything we had for dinner, and the wine, was amazing. This was our last organized group field trip, and it was pretty awesome!

Firenze... paradiso!

Oh this guy? Yeah, I met him. He's pretty cool, in that "mesmerizingly-beautiful-mind-bogglingly-overwhelming" kind of way.

In all seriousness, he's incredible. He looks as though any moment he will take a slow, cautious step off his marble base, draw the sling from his shoulder, and trepidatiously but bravely stride forward to defeat his mighty foe. Michaelangelo didn't just create art, he discovered an essential element of humanity we never knew we had before, and preserved it for the milennia to gaze in awe. He reached into the depths of the stone and pulled forth the essence of mankind.

David feels alive. Your mind plays little tricks on you, for a moment you think his leg may have twitched. Did he raise an eyebrow? But he stands unmoving, immortal, in brilliant marble.

Bellissimo.

I only went to Firenze this morning to see him. Luckily, it rained, and the line to get the ticket was only about 25 minutes when I arrived in the morning. After, reeling from beholding something so... there's no word for it, any way; I found a place for lunch, and had food that tasted like pure and brilliant art. Above, a selection of rustic Tuscan salumi and some Procuitto di Parma.

Roasted rabbit (coniglio arrosto) stuffed with rosemary, and some contorni (sidedish) of beans (fragole) with tomatoes. The best rabbit, ever. I could eat it every day. The flesh lept of the bones into my mouth and hopped around with juicy goodness. I just drooled a little thinking about it. With ample house wine, of course.

Then they treated me to some VinSanto with biscotti. Contrary to popular belief, biscotti are for dipping into your VinSanto, not your coffee. Also, I love this combination. Could definitely eat every day. Gah, I loved that damn restaurant. I need to go back to Firenze again to see some more art, and to eat more of their delicious, perfect food. As if I needed an excuse...

But tomorrow, homework. Annoio. (That means bored)

Ciao! Dolce Sonia, ragazzi!

Venezia

Venezia. The city that inspires art of all persuasions, a city that is art in and of itself. Romantic, stoic, stately, dying slowly and gracefully, returning to the water and the mystery from which it emerged.

Gondoliers guide their elaborate boats down lapping canals, their voices echoing off of lacy facades.

The aromas of her back alleys, the steady buzz of visitors from around the planet giving her a heartbeat, the water smoothly flowing in place of her stradas giving life to her sanguine presence.

Unabashed grandeur. Ridiculous wealth drips from her every piazza, unashamed.

Her voice beacons, whispers that if only you turn the next corner, wander the next alley, she'll reveal another secret.

You get a faint glimpse, a hint of her inner beauty, then it steals you down the next backstreet, lures you deeper into her dark crevices where you beg to be lost.

Quickly, you fall for her. You yearn to caress her beauty with with hoping eyes, and a curious heart.

Her beguiling charms make you heartsick knowing you have to leave.

She doesn't care how passionately you love her, how quickly you've submitted to her wiles. She shrugs you off like a schoolyard crush, ignores your pleas to converse with her. She flexes her mighty scenes, languishes in the aria, tears your soul asunder, a million times.

The smell of her, the taste of her, the flavor of water, land, labor, love, pain, air, and burning, fiery passion. Her ambiance evades your pleading all the while tempting you with more, more.

The water continues to lap softly under the din of modernity, telling you she will never change. In your heart, in her own eternal soul, she is unique. She has captured an essence of beautiful humanity that is hers alone, and she guards it until her last, sepulchre breath.

Her sweet, saccharine memory.

The way she makes that which was born of poverty, of desperation, grand, lends her own unique version of splendor that can never be replicated. She glitters with glass, reverberates with art, sparkles with all the spectacular wealth of the world, both new and old.

The way she makes you feel small, like nothing you could ever do could impress her, could compare to the worlds she's witnessed.

You watch her fade in the distance, see the people arriving anew into her bosom, and you feel a twinge of jealousy at them. How could they ever love her the same way you do? How dare they attempt a look around her velvet curtains, to catch a glimpse of her unclothed beauty. Can they ever feel her true heart, will they get to see more, will they perchance know her? Can anyone?

Leaving, being away from her, she haunts you, haunts our collective memory. Nothing like her has ever been, and after her it never shall be. She is disarmingly beautiful, absurdly stubborn, and irreparably etched into your mind. It hurts, and she revels in the pain she inflicts, she knows what she is to the world, she knows who she is.

And yet, no one else ever will.

Bellisimo.

Tuscia and Montefiascone

Today's first stop was at another cheesemaker's, this time pecorino-romano.

We met these gals (pecoro) and got to do a tasting of the fine cheese made from their tasty milk.

Believe it or not, in this picture I'm doing something that would be illegal in the United States: drinking raw (unpasteurized) milk, sheep milk, to be specific. THE FORBIDDEN MILK!!

Some cheese wheels curing, and the cheesiest smile I could muster.

We had lunch in Tuscia, a beautiful city on a hill. Quite a walk to get up there... but incredible views once you reach the summit. That's roomie Janene photo-bombing me in the background.

The view from Tuscia. Worth any walk.

After Tuscia, we went to a fancy pants lake for some gelato and a castle visit. There were crashing waves... exciting!

This church lies on a site where a "miracle" occurred, the same "miracle" that initiated the building of Orvieto's duomo...

They have catacombs. They're pretty neat, my first catacombs! Wasn't supposed to take pictures, but... eh. Someday it will be okay.

And then the castle, me, at the top, affected by the wind.

Also worth it for the magnificent view. For dinner, we went back to the farmstead trattoria I mentioned in an earlier blog to be showered with home-made goodness. It was another awesome day.

I know this posting is a little abrupt, but tomorrow morning, I leave for Venice, so I need some rest (ha!). After the weekend, I'm sure to have some good pics and stories (hopefully), then the plan is to hit Firenze again on Tuesday with some friends, but we'll see!

Ciao! Buena notte!