Day 3 Friday June 6th 2008

I got up at 6:00 and let Brit sleep in. We were going to meet back around 11:30 to leave for the Italian coast. I knew Brit wouldn’t want to appease my curiosities today. He wanted to relax. Today, I was on the hunt for seeds for my garden and thought the best place to start would be the flower market. After asking a street vendor who sells flowers where I could get “sementi” he said at the flower market. Another useful thing about the GPS is that it has a translating feature. So you can type in any word and it will even say it in Italian.

Although the Mercato Dei Fiori, flower market, is for wholesalers only, I figured if I arrived there before 6:30 am, they for sure wouldn’t think I was a tourist. I walked straight in; this is done with confidence, pretending that you know what you are doing even it you don’t. I figure the only thing they can do is kick me out. No loss. I’ve never seen a market that large for flowers only. They were beautiful. The sunflowers were taller than me. Tons of fresh lavendar, huge lilies, and incredibly delicate lilly of the valley. The florists had these huge carts that they filled with flowers and then ended up wheeling them down the street. The palate of colors of gerber daisies was impressive. There were colors I had never seen before. They had these small sunflowers that were like daisies but so cute. The roses were like 4 feet tall. They also had amaryllis bulbs that were about 3 feet long. I couldn’t believe they were that tall. The stephanotis smelled so beautiful. I want to grow that. I wonder if it would work in Utah?

The bottom floor of the market was all green plants. They had lemon trees, orange trees, kumquats, tomato plants, and lots of herbs and other vegetables all potted. The fun thing was while I was waiting to get a taxi back to the city, watching everyone try to fit these huge flowers in their tiny cars. They either had a something they pulled by hand, or a little truck. They filled their cars chock full of flowers. Wow!

I wish I had had my good camera that day, but then a visible camera blows your cover. I couldn’t find or get a taxi, so I decided to walk to the metro. On the way I passed a neighborhood market. I bought some yummy fruit for breakfast. The porcini mushrooms were larger than my hand. The figs looked large and so delicious. I love to see the leaves still on the fruit. The cherries were so sweet. The peppers where so huge here., almost as big as my forearm. There were so many artichokes everywhere, they must have been in season. While the vendors are waiting for people they are always working on something. The are shelling beans, cleaning lettuce, making fresh ingredients for zuppa that you can by pre-made.

I love the designs found in the roads and pathways all over Europe. I saw another drinking fountain, with someone actually drinking but I couldn’t get my camera out fast enough. I will get a picture of that before I leave. I think we are so boring here in the US, but then I guess most of us don’t walk anywhere. At the flower market there was a guy selling seeds and in my broken Italian, I got a name of a man who supposedly has a huge selection of seeds. What a treasure hunt. The place is kind of far away, glad Brit didn’t come, so I got on the metro and hoped for the best.

When I got there the map he had drawn for me didn’t really make sense, so I asked a few different stores where it was. They didn’t know. Then I saw someone walking a dog, always a good person to ask because they know the area. I showed him the paper and he said “Yes Yes Yes”, and spoke some broken English to me. He asked me how long I was staying her and if I was alone…kind of getting scary. But I knew I could outrun him…

I found the store. I was sad because the rolling garage door was shut. It took me like 45 minutes to get there and it should have been open by now. I checked the hours and the days and it should be open. So I went around back to see if there was a back door or something that I was missing. I didn’t want to go all the way back to Rome without at least trying everything. So around the back gate I came upon someone sitting in his car. I figured I could at least ask him if he knew when or if they would open today.

He read the name on my paper and then acted like he was a good friend. He could tell someone had referred me. He said, in Italian, “It’s me, It’s me.” I was thinking… great, could you stop napping with your newspaper on your belly and get out of your car and open your store. I don’t have all day you know! After about 15 minutes he had the lights turned on and all the stuff out of the walkway so you could actually walk in. I should have brought gloves, the place hadn’t been dusted for centuries.

I found the mother load of seeds. He had ever seed you could imagine. I asked him a few questions but he couldn’t understand them. He ended up calling a friend that spoke English to come and translate. I bought a ton about $80 euros worth. I hope I can bring them back into the country. At the end I asked him about the “agretti” I saw yesterday at the market. He said he had some and went downstairs to get some. He brought up a big bag filled with it and told me to plant it in the fall and harvest it in Feb or March. He said to scatter seed it, although I couldn’t understand him I knew what he meant when he did the hand motion. Hopefully I can try it at a restaurant while I’m here, since I have no idea what I am buying.

After getting everything, I started back to the hotel and realized I was really close to a place I wanted to go to La Tradition, a specialty food store. I had read that it was the most authentic store in Rome, and they were right. They had true Italian items and no tourist stuff. I had never seen real fresh smoked mozzarella before so I had to try some. It tasted like it had been roasted in a campfire. I think I’ll try that next time I go.

Just looking through the window made you hungry. The Sicilian stuffed vegetables looked so good. I have never seen Roast Beef cooked so perfectly. The pasta salad was so beautiful to look at. They plate things so delicately. Their peppers stuffed with tuna looked yummy. Too bad peppers don’t agree with me. The black olives with oranges looked good too. They had so many legs of proscuitto on the counter. I never knew there were so many different kinds. They had so many types of sausages and cheese. They also had freshly made pasta, which I hadn’t see much either.

I was going by Alice’s Pizza so I decided to stop and get Brit & I some pizza again. I figured we could eat it in the car. They didn’t have my favorite patate con lardo so I had to get different ones. But the lady remembered me and made me one while I waited. She was so nice. I got the shrimp pizza which had lettuce and a little mayonnaise. It was tasty. The other potato one that has cubed potatoes, mozzarella, parsley, and crushed red pepper looked good so I got some of that too. They weigh the pizza and that is how you pay for it. I got some of the tuna one too. It was like the best tuna sandwich you’ve ever tasted. I got a sandwich type one too this time, mortadella with pistachios.

After getting lunch I headed home to share with Brit and head for our next town. Passing on the bus I ran across Blanc D’Ivorie which I wanted to go to. I guess another day, I don’t want to keep Brit waiting too long. The good thing is that he does have internet on the computer so we will at least be able to catch up on all his sport scores. On the bus looking out the window, I realized I loved the fact the windows all had shutters on them that glide on a track. It is a great way to do that if you want window boxes. I’ll have to make a note of that for my house.

Brit was ready and we checked out and then went to get our rental car. Brit hates this part, getting out of big cities, in never fails that we get lost or in a predicament. This time though we have the GPS, so we programmed in our city. It took forever to get the car, it had a dent in the back from someone else, good thing we checked it. When we finally got it, we headed for Lucca.

Went we went to Italy a couple of years ago, we had stayed with Monica & Christian’s family in Lucca. We had the best pizza there and since we were driving really close we decided to stop there to break up the trip. We loved the pizza last time. It was just cheese pizza but it was so good. It’s one of those things you remember in your taste buds.

We found it easily, although we had gotten it delivered to the home we stayed at last time, I remember them pointing it out as we passed and saying that it was some Hindu people who owned it. Funny, being in Italy. It is called Pizzeria Shalomi. Today I marked it on the GPS which I just learned how to do, very cool. When we walked in knew this was the place, a Hindu man and his wife. The special looked good, but I just wanted a piece of the cheese pizza. That is what I craved. So we decided to get half cheese half porcini mushroom, since it was the special. The gills on the mushrooms were seriously green. They were so fresh. And he must have good knife skills because they were chopped so perfectly thin and he did it right then.

There was no place to eat, it was really a takeout place only, so we sat on the steps and partook. It was just as I remember, except the bite of blue cheese. Brit decided he wanted the four cheese pizza so I didn’t get the full pleasure of remembrance, but I was willing to sacrifice.

We parked in an alley by the place and I was looking at the window with the pots in it. I love how every window has that. Why don’t we do that? Anyway, as I was walking to the car, I went by the apartment doorbells and saw the Marcheschi name. I was pointing it out to Brit and telling him that I bet they are related to M&C. As I was pointing, an older guy came up and started speaking in Italian and obviously wanted to help me and pushed the button. He said they were home, but I didn’t want to talk to them, I don’t speak Italian, and don’t even know if they are related. Anyway, he realized I didn’t speak Italian and then told the lady I was confused. It was pretty funny.

On the way out of Lucca we stopped at Conad’s to get some water and go to the bathroom. Walking in they had some more different seeds so I go those. It was fun to go to a big grocery store and see what they sold to everyday people. I was surprised to find so much prepared, canned, and frozen food. I also saw McDonalds is branding their ketchup and mustard. I thought that was interesting…when will that make it to the USA?

No, all the cashiers aren’t dwarfs. It was interesting that all the checkers sit as they check. And you have to pay for your bags. I think they do that to encourage recycling. We made our way to La Speiga. A port area on the western coast, right next to Cinque Terra a world heritage sight which no one should miss. There were beautiful flowers growing up many of the buildings and the town was very colorful and scenic.

We had our other Hotel make a reservation for us at The Hotel Belvedre. When we walked in the guy was watching TV and seemed he was bothered we were there. It seemed like it was an art deco style hotel. It was old in style but clean and nice. They had put a dumb waiter large enough for humans to fit in it and we took it up to our room with our luggage because there were lots of stairs. The only problem is we couldn’t get out once we got to our floor. It was funky because you had to hold the button the whole time. The guy had to come up and open and he just opened it like you would a door and he thought we were the dumbest people in the world. You just know what you are used to, elevator doors open up from the center.

Our room was really old looking like 70’s era. We had to take care of the parking because there were meters everywhere. What a racket! Parking was 12 Euros and you had to charge it to your room. Then they gave you a slip you put in your windshield.

The sun was just changing color so we decided to walk along the water. It was so peaceful. You could tell the tourists hadn’t arrived yet. It was still pretty quiet and a lot of shops and restaurants were closed. The marina was pretty, but it made me long for our boat. I can’t wait to go when we get back. I love being on the water.

There was an old fort city with a church on the end of the pier so we went exploring. I love the picture with the colorful houses. It was a lot like Portofino, but just not as chic chic. There was a cool restaurant right at the end of the pier called “Le Bocche” that looked very nice, but we had got a recommendation from someone we trusted to go to Trattoria da Iseo’s for dinner, so we passed it up.

We climbed up to the fort and it was worth every step. The views were incredible and the sound of the ocean so pleasant. What the water has done to the rocks over time and how they slid there in the first place was interesting to analyze. The church was built so high up. The arched windows framed a spectacular sunset.

Brit wanted to go out on the ledge but I told him it was too dangerous. He didn’t listen so I had to lock him up. He really is funny to travel with. We have a good time together, especially now that we have Gabby, our GPS. We had to give her a name because she was such an integral part of our trip. She was worth every penny. She has saved us from so many fights about how to read a map. We just follow here and there is no arguing.

The streets were so tiny and everything was so old. We walked around town and took in the fresh air and the antiquity of the city. We were looking for a little pesto shop that we heard sold the best pesto on Via Capellini #70. The name of the place was La Bottega del Pesto. They were closed too. We wonder when everything will be open for the season. But we didn’t mind, we’ll sacrifice a little pesto for peace and quiet.

We decided to eat a little later than normal because we were enjoying the view and we had had the pizza in Lucca just a few hours earlier. We found the restaurant. It was a recommendation that Caputo’s gave us. They said it was the best seafood they ever had. The setting was marvelous and the restaurant interior was old and very charming.

We ordered the Trenette al Pesto which is basically linguine with potatoes, beans and pesto sauce. Seriously I don’t think I have had a better pesto sauce. It was so creamy. The potatoes were thin, but not too thin, and there were some green beans but not too many. It was a perfect dish.

The waiter said the Spaghetti alla Giuseppe was excellent so we ordered that as well. It was good, but not as good as the pesto one. Brit got the Branzino al Ferr which was a grilled sea bass. It was mushy and not so good. I got the Scampi in Pinzimonio which ended up not being small little shrimp, but really big ones with the heads on. Yeah, I guess I’m going to have to work for my food tonight. I thought the Gamberoni were the big ones. I’m going to have to look that up when I get back. Mine was okay. I think they need to get their taste buds checked if this is the best fish they ever had. Brit got the Panna cotta for dessert, now that was divine! Not sure yet what we are doing tomorrow. I'll read the guide books tonight and see where they take us.