Andiamo, let’s go, chalo chalen..

I am moving to a new blog as I have almost run out of space in this one. Downside of a free blog and my greed to post SO many pictures! It’s been fun and I thank you all for joining me on the ride! I never wanted or expected to have followers, never mind so many! I hope you will continue the journey at India to Italy via Canada.

Grazie, Thank you, Shukriya!

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Pistachio gelato in TO…

Tags

Food, Gelato, Italian, photography, Toronto, Travel

Another new Italian café has opened in TO and it’s called Sud Forno Queen, on Queen Street W. It is part of the Terroni restaurants. Very nice staff but very confusing service. I had to try their pistachio gelato and I am sorry to say it was no match to THE best pistachio gelato I had in Corniglia, Italy. Sigh, on to the next gelato place… 🙂

Yes, you can eat your way through Italia! Well, Tuscany & Liguria..

Tags

Food, Hiking, Italy, photography

Some food samples – visual ones. For the actual taste you will have to take a trip to Italy!

In Mercato Centrale in “downtown” as in the historic heart of Florence. Eat your heart out St. Lawrence!

Also in the same market, wood fire pizza made while you wait. A couple of minutes only!

After walking for a couple of hours from San Gimignano and helping ourselves to some delicious grapes growing along the way…

We reach this setting…

And eat this food!

  To end that delicious meal –

Another day, another hike and another fruit!!
The BEST fig ever. I don’t believe I even washed it. Never crossed my mind. Sun warmed and delicious.

Pappardelle with cinghiale (wild boar) ragu. It was delicious!

I had been dreaming of eating this dish! Linguine alle vongole! Yummy!

Pecorino cheese – made with sheep’s milk. I think this is my new favourite.

Yup, onion pizza!! Made with these onions.

Italians love to do this – a salad that reflects the colours of their flag!

Aperol spritz! Oh my! My friend and hiking buddy had one of these, and of course seeing the brilliant colour, I had to try one. Just as delicious as it looks pretty!

Same story as before.. another day, another long hike….

Food at Agririfugio Molini, a hard to reach tiny place in San Fruttuoso, Parco di Portofino. Bed & Breakfast/Hostel/Restaurant using their own home grown produce!!

THE BEST PISTACHIO GELATO EVER! No contest! In Corniglia, Cinque Terre.

And then there was this!!! In a nice, fancy but family run restaurant uphill from the town of Moneglia. Every table got one or two of these. The giant shrimp were delicious, once you got past their beady eyes.

Summers in Supino and My Father Came From Italy by Maria Coletta Mclean.

Tags

Beautiful books, Family, Italy, Supino

While searching for books on Italy early last year, I came upon “Summers in Supino” by Maria Coletta Mclean with it’s vibrant red cover and lovely image. Got it from the library and could not put it down once I started reading it. I have read the book a couple of times since and have even bought a copy. 🙂 I know, what can I say, it’s so beautifully written I feel like I am visiting Supino and experiencing the entire story with the author each time I read it.

The book starts off with the most beautifully written first pages I have read in a book, with the author describing how the news of her father’s passing away reaches his village of Supino. Brought a lump in my throat but at the same time the words were healing and beautiful.

The author and her husband buy “a house unseen”, as she describes it, to bring her father from his home in Ontario, Canada back one more time to his beloved village of Supino. The story actually starts with “My Father Came From Italy” and then continues in “Summers in Supino”. I just happened find the second book first, but the story fits perfectly even then. No Italian villa or gorgeous market scenes here but plenty of interesting neighbours who embrace the author (and her husband and daughter) into their lives, local festas, frustrations caused while dealing with the local bureaucracy, differences in cultures – Canadian and Italian, lots of delicious food eaten and the everyday comings and goings in the village.

“My Father Came From Italy” is also beautifully written and had me wanting to check the end of the book to make sure the author was be able to bring her father back for one last visit to his beloved home town, Supino. I found myself cheering for the author and her dad every step of the way, wanting their story to end well. I would buy this book as well but unfortunately it is not print.

Croissants, cornettos..

Tags

Almond, Chocolate, Cornettos, Croissants, Crumble, Nutella, Rome, Toronto

I have doomed myself to unending joy – if that is possible – by falling in love with croissants. In all shapes, not sizes though. I actually bought one last year from a bakery that was the size of small football!! Jeez! And yes, I did consume the entire thing over 4 plus hours. It was an almond croissant, what can I say!

I hope to keep adding other examples of deliciousness to this post as I move through the next few month. With spring coming soon – HA! – there will even more opportunities  for me to ogle, drool, indulge and oh so enjoy many more of these beauties.

The first culprit!!! The very first “cornetto” with Nutella inside! YUM!

Apricot and almond cornetto from Forno Cultura. Made with Olive oil rather than butter.

Chocolate croissant and blueberry danish from Cobs bakery..

Chocolate croissant from The Good Neighbour Espresso Bar..

You can tell a good croissant from the way it crumbles..

Double almond croissants – they not kidding when they say double! YUM!

Food for the eyes and the tummy in Rome…

Tags

Affogato, Airport, Food, Gelato, Ice cream, Italy, photography, Rome, Travel

Food for the eyes…..

Basilica Santa Prassede.

Inside St Peter’s Basilica

Window dressing along the way.  

And now, food for the tummy!!!!

Standard cafe breakfast!

Pignoli (Pine nuts) tart…

Hot chocolate, ice cream and fresh cream – Italian style… Affogato

Gelato..

Cafe and pasticceria fare….

And then there is are the lunches and dinners….

A sample of the food at the Autogrill outlet at Rome’s Fumicino Airport..

The last meal at Fumicino airport!! The artichokes were SO tender!!

In Firenze (Florence) for a day!!!!

Tags

Beautiful, Bucket list, Duomo, Firenze, How did they build that!, Italy

A trip to Florence(Firenze) was on my must-see places list. Glad I got to go. It is extremely crowded – all the major attractions are located in within 5 to 10 minutes of their main train station – Firenze S.M.N (which stands for Santa Maria Novella). I thought Rome was crowded! I doubt if they have any down time, ever. Have to say they clean the very touristy part of the city very frequently.

The official names of the main sites I visited are  – Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, la Cupola di Brunelleschi, il Battistero di San Giovanni. In my terms – the Cathedral, the Duomo/Cupola and the Baptistery. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to visit the bell tower – campanile.

My ride to Firenze! A worthy splurge..

The scenery along the way, when we didn’t hit a cloud bank and when I didn’t doze off. To be expected at 245 km/hour?

Outside Firenze S.M.N station.

The reason for the visit in the distance!

The entire complex – the Cathedral, the Duomo(Cupola), the Baptistery and the bell tower.

Could they build BIG or what? Inside the Cathedral.

This clock predates our clocks as we know them.

The door of Paradise

Inside the Baptistery.

Nativity scene (presepio) outside the Cathedral.

God is in the details?

Something so simple and yet so beautiful in that grand setting.

The humans, small but never insignificant.

The back door to the Baptistery.

WOW!

A map of the complex.

Looking down from the cupola!

Climbing the cupola!

The view from the top!

Looking down the cupola!

Looking up to the top of the cupola!

Walking around Firenze.

En route to ponte vecchio

The famous ponte vecchio – old bridge!

buon Natale from Roma!

Tags

Christmas, Joy, Lights, photography, Rome, Travel

Street lights for Christmas.

Pinocchio dolls everywhere!

Windows decked out.

A small street near the Pantheon.

At a Christmas stall in Piazza Navona

Babbo Natale – Father Christmas.

befana/ scaccia guai – one who chases away trouble.

Dinner with the gals – Black Skirt Restaurant.

Tags

Food, Friends, Italian, Mozzarella, Olive oil

I found Black Skirt while blog surfing. The gals – all friends from work – and I needed a venue for our evening out and I wanted to try an Italian restaurant. This place was a perfect fit! Delicious food and great service. Here are some pictures from the evening…

Looking towards the entrance from our table..

We shared this dish – Burrata – fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The outside shell is firm mozzarella filled with mozzarella and cream. Served with delicious tomatoes floating in YUMMY olive oil! The bruschetta was served in a wooden mortar & pestle with tons of olive oil, which was a neat way doing things. And then the delicious bread to wipe up the oil! Almost every drop was wiped clean. Almost.. sheer decency, courtesy and the rest stopped me from beating the others to the final drops….

I ordered a veal panino for my main course – breaded veal with sautéed mushrooms and sweet or hot peppers with provolone and tomato sauce.

To finish the meal, a cappuccino and a Sicilian cannoli – filled mini ricotta cannoli with crushed pistachios. A delicious and fun evening out!

Sometimes you get what you ask for….

Tags

Italy, OMG, Surprise, Travel

Should you not listen well to the questions you ask out of nowhere? Only in looking back do you find those crumbs you dropped that marked your way forward.
– Frances Mayes, A Year in the World

These words brought to mind again how things happened in my previous trip to Italy. I had seen a picture of a beautiful church – I know, I seem to have a thing for them – in my colleague’s Italy travel photographs. The image of this “Duomo”, she said it was called, stuck with me for some reason. My colleagues and I had the “Would be nice to visit this place someday” moment and then life went on. Imagine my surprise then when as part of the hiking trip to Amalfi we find this Duomo! No, I had not done any research about the place because we were to be part of this tour the whole time. So, we get to Amalfi, get dropped off our bus outside the piazza where our hotel was, then we lug our suitcases on cobblestone streets to our hotel all along wondering why the bus would not go all the way. It was mini bus too.. It was because the piazza was out side the said Duomo and was a no traffic zone!!! We stayed two days in Amalfi right across from the Duomo di Amalfi..

My room aka camera..

The view from my room!

The piazza at night..

Enough said!