Volare! Oh Oh!

Buongiorno..... from the Wandering Berkmans!

We were broiling in the hot New Mexico sun and now enjoying the gentle temps of the Pacific Northwest in Seattle but thoughts of our Italy jaunt in May are not far from our minds.  

But before we head to Italy, how could we forget our terrific cooking class in Zaragoza,  Spain, given to Don by his family for his big birthday?? Tomato salad,  asparagus (just ok-- I'm not a white asparagus fan), seafood paella and for dessert, torrijas (very much like french toast).  And we had a great time yuking it up with this mother/daughter duo from England.  Thanks, fam,  for a great experience!

And now back to Italy... specifically Venice!  We were there before the wedding debacle this month, but with the crowds we saw, yes in May, you would have thought the wedding guests had already descended on the fair hamlet.  In the most "iconic" areas the crowds were elbow to elbow.  

We preferred our northern section of the city where, yes, there were some tourists but nothing like the throngs by St. Marks.  Our Airbnb was charming with nice outdoor space but maybe because of the time of year and the proximity to the canals (down our street), we had a bit of an issue with little gnats that amassed in our bathroom.  There only 3 nights,  we sucked it up but a longer stay would have meant demanding serious intervention by the host.  Not Ten Commandments/plague numbers but there were soooo many it was disconcerting!

Instead of a pic of the bugs, here's Don enjoying a caffè macchiato (latte is just a glass of milk here!) by another quiet corner of the canals.  Not too shabby.  

We were so happy to be joined in Venice by our wonderful friends the Outhwaites, Eva and Richard.  Richard also celebrated the big 29 this year so we chose Italy as the place to fête our gallant gents.  

Our foursome spent 4 days in the area, with a day trip to Murano and the colorful Burano as well. 

Grabbing a car rental at the airport we learned the hard way that yes, that AAA International Drivers license, while seemingly a scam,  is actually necessary when renting a car in Europe.  We paid the crazy penalty, licked our wounds and our foursome headed off to Lake Como where we stayed in a little bnb in Bellagio. 

 Touring the cities off the lake, like Varenna below, gave us one beautiful view after another.   

The view of the lake from our bnb on the hill made for a great spot to picnic after exploring the delectable offerings of our local grocery store. 

From Lake Como we drove to Milan for an overnight.   Thank you, Richard, for suggesting a visit to La Scala-- the museum was impressive and the concert space inspired me to sing "La donna è mobile.." for the rest of the day, much to my travel companions' dismay.  

We took in  Parco Sempione on the grounds of the imposing Castello Sforza on this picture- perfect afternoon for a visit with the turtles and my first Aperol Spritz on the trip (how did it take so long??).

More garden than building, the Bosco Verticale apartment complex in the Porta Nuova district of Milan caught our eye.

We bid ciao to our dear Outhwaites and kept on driving on to Cinque Terre.  First stop along the way was a little town outside of Turin called Moncucco Torinese where we stayed in a bnb that is a  farmhouse from the late 1700's.  The hosts were amazing, the breakfasts delicious and the view from the top terrace, while tricky to get to, was worth it.  

On a cooler morning we had breakfast in this stunning main dining room.  

In Turin we explored the university where we caught a protest... 

... and saw a  surprisingly interesting exhibit in the  Museo Nazionale del Cinema of the art of James Cameron of Titanic fame.  As one who has been trying my hand in the sketch world with fair to middling success I was drawn in, all pun intended.  

Next stop-- the port city of Genova, where we stayed one night outside the old part of the city in the home of a family who has lived there for generations.  We had our own space, bathroom and rooftop terrace but no kitchen - as a matter of fact our "apartment" was just off their kitchen, separated by a door and we could hear their comings and goings.   It was the first time we stayed in a setup like this and it was fine for one night.  The terrace was terrific for morning yoga and breakfast so it made it all worth it.  

We traipsed through the old town and past all the incredible palazzi, many with impressive trompe l'oeil like this one mimicking porticos and railings. 

 A short bus ride (did we mention our public transport experiences in Europe have been almost exclusively phenomenal?  They know how to do it!)  took us to this little fishing village on the coast where we seemed to be surrounded by more locals than tourists-- perfect.  

Off to Cinque Terre and specifically the fishing village of  Vernazza .  Beautiful, charming, clogged with tourists.  We know it's good for the economy there but we imagine the locals (the few we suppose still live in the town proper) must tire of all the impassible streets and souvenir shop after souvenir shop.  Yes, we were part of the problem, we get that, but it's still a bit sad to see it overrun.  

We stayed in a  small hotel up on the mountains with the incredible view below. On the way we stopped at the Cafè Bistrot PZ with this similar view and chatted it up with the server there.  Call us gobsmacked when hours later, when we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by... the same young person!  Not only does she work at the cafe, her family owns the hotel as well.  We were waiting for her to tell us she was the Mayor of Vernazza too!

    

Nothing for miles once we headed up the mountain (hiking?? uh no thank you)  to the hotel so we were glad to have thought ahead and brought some pizza (yes, it's everywhere and eaten often!) for our meager dinner.  Fortunate still, we met up with the only other guests at the hotel and cobbled together what ended up being a tasty dinner when they added their cheese, olives, bread etc.  They told us that the night before they arrived with no food and had to make do with rationing between them the melba toast and nutella offered in the room oh boy. 

Next stop and for (thankfully) a longer stay-- Bologna.  Because Don loves baloney.  Imagine our surprise to find that the cherish fried baloney and ketchup sandwiches of his youth are not, in fact, a staple of this Italian city.  His childhood was a sham.

According to our tour guide, Bologna has the oldest university in the Western world.  It's  known as the "red city" because of the brick and terracotta roofs of the buildings (no marble to be had in the area) and for its historically left leaning politics.  

Being the dutiful visitors we are, we sampled the most iconic dish of the area, the hearty pasta bolognese, which ended up being a trip down memory lane for Don of the beloved meat sauce of his youth.   Baloney, shaloney!

The humble tortellini, served here in broth, is also a staple of the area.  But because of the many, many students there, the local cuisine is terrifically varied.  And yes, it sounds sacrilegious but after over 2 weeks of Italian food we were looking for some variety!  In our 10 day stay I made sure to have Ethiopian food not just once but twice.  At the  Osteria del Sole, a wine bar established and continuously open since 1465 (!), you bring your own food and stay as long as you want.  

Other than food and the university, Bologna is known for its many, many porticoes. Story has it that in 1288 the government required all new and existing dwellings to include a portico to increase the living space of buildings and provide more housing for the many students in the city.  This one dates back to that time.  

  This glowed-up portico is in the Piazza Cavour.

In the center of the city, Bologna boasts a tower that leans more than the one in Pisa!  Fortunately blocked off and under observance, you still can't miss it.  We gave it a wide berth and were glad we weren't staying nearby!

The Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica is a must see for all you classical musicians out there.  Not only did it house an impressive number of instruments and librettos from the 15 century and on, it also had a composition from one 14 year old Mozart and next to it the evaluation by his teacher.  We're not exceptionally well versed in Italian but we think it reads "Needs improvement.  Consider another line of study." 

A local told us that Bologna is like a large village and based on our experience there we're in agreement.  It has much of what a city has to offer with museums, restaurants, public transport and parks but without all the crowds.  Yes, some tourists but not like many of the cities we visited during out Italian tour.  Our apartment was located about a 20 min walk from the old city, nestled down a dead end street lined with hedges of jasmine-- it was an olfactory pleasure to come back "home" every day.  Don found this apartment on Airbnb but contacted the host directly and booked through him.  Paid cash and saved a bundle.  We took a risk but the reviews were good and Don felt comfortable with the host after communicating back and forth with him. 

Another appeal to this apartment was the proximity to the beautiful Giardini Margherita    where we would take our post-dinner walks and join what seemed to be every student in the city taking in the sunset.  Of the two outdoor cafes there, we were tempted by the unfortunately named Cafe BO (whew!) but found our spot on the lake at the Chalet dei Giardini Margherita  where the decaf was tasty, the view beautiful...

... and they offered this little puppy-- filled with spinach and copious amounts of garlic,  it was the perfect snack.  

Now that we've tempted you with this delight, may we suggest these additional lovelies:

At the risk of sounding very, very elitist, Don still gives Jersey pizza the nod and the Paul Hollywood handshake over the many, many pizzas he sampled in Italy.  Still, the pizza is tasty and the locals really do eat it often, not just the tourists.  And  De Blasio was right-- most ate it with a fork and knife

At the same pizzeria we saw others order this as an appetizer and we had to give it a try.  Called farinata, it's made with chickpea flour and EEVO.  It was just fine-- it needed some toppings we thinks. 

A deli's offerings in Genoa had all types of tortas in varying levels of eye-catching deliciousness.  

At our local Italian restaurant in Clinton they always had the fish branzino as a  special-- we would laugh, roll our eyes and never order it.  I had to go to Lake Como to finally try it and it was faaaaantastic.

A side trip to Lucca for the day (we spent 3 days there some years ago and we will be back for longer!!) gave Don his "best meal in Italy" of pasta puttanesca and sautéed spinach.   (My meal was admittedly and unexpectedly quirky-- canned anchovies and a hard boiled egg??)

Caffeine has not been my friend lately so I'm always looking for alternatives and while much of Italy has decaf, it can be hit or miss.  An interesting alternative-- caffè d'orzo.  Made with barley, it looks like coffee and has a very coffee-adjacent taste.  It made the cut for the occasional cafe stop but I'm not giving up on Italian coffee anytime soon!

The melon under this prosciutto was other-worldly in flavor.  The rattatuia behind it was fine but paled in comparison.  

We considered ourselves lucky that we found this local bakery near our place in Venice on the 2nd morning because we were there everyday after that for this out of this world olive foccacia.

On a day trip to Modena, home of balsamic vinegar, Lamborghinis and Pavarotti (more on that later) we were introduced to the frizzante Lambrusco , a dry, slightly bubbly red of the region.   

This polenta with baccalà mantecata  should have been as tasty as it looks-- I need to replicate it to give it more umf!

One of our favorite stops was to visit the home of Luciano Pavarotti in the outskirts of Modena.  While neither of us are huge opera fans we got a real kick out of seeing and hearing all about this talented singer.  

Pavarotti commissioned the building of this farmhouse in his later years (and died here in 2007).  Inside it was filled with all sorts of memorabilia of his career, a large part of it of the philanthropic work he did for children with his Pavarotti and Friends concerts.  

His recordings played throughout the home as we strolled through rooms that housed the many costumes he used as well as the scarves he always wore to protect his throat.  The picture of him as a young man (below) just starting out was a treat to see.  

 

As a parting gift from Bologna, I caught what I later found out was Covid while I was getting my haircut (forgot to wear the mask doh!).  I kindly passed it along to Don in NJ so our Jersey plans and the first days in NM were adjusted on the fly.  But we did manage to see five groups of friends/family in 3 days whew!  

Caught the final of the Champions league match with Richard-- we were solitary Milan fans

Great to catch up with Cousin Dan over his first try of soup dumplings

Fun meet up in NYC with cousins David and Krishan over Korean food 

Don's mentees Alisha and Niraj drove out to rural NJ to see us

And of course the usual shenanigans with our Sibs from another mother

Once testing Covid-free, we had a nice, chill time in NM with Don's mom, Pat, hitting a local brewery for music, meals together and even a mall stroll to beat the heat.  

And we had to check in with nephew Cyrus! 

And hit the Pride March on Rt 66

Oh and we had about 15 doctor appointments between the two of us.  We got all the check-ups in because NM is the only place where we have health insurance.  All went well, most importantly my 6 month post-surgery check in.  It was the ultimate "no news is good news" visit-- we are very grateful to be in the position we're in now as it applies to my diagnosis.  

We're looking forward to these 6 weeks in Seattle with Javi ( Zach joins in as well for 9 days!) and then off to the midwest to visit my family before we head back to Portugal after 6 years away.  In the meantime, my Spanish passport should be arriving any day now yay!!  We've already made "Schengen be damned!" plans for next spring.

In this post's SOL-- what happens when you order an Americano in Cinque Terre and your accent is just a little tooooo NY?  Our cheeky server played this tune to make Don feel at home.  

Until next time, we hope all are well and enjoying the (not too broiling) summer days.  Thanks for following along!

Don and Monica