Verona - The Food

I didn't have any of these but don't they look AMAZING??!!

Baci means kisses, so 'kisses of Juliet & Romeo'

This was the window of the tiny local shop opposite our flat. It was just a general store kinda place

I LOVE these - they're candied chestnuts and they were YUM!

We had one of these for lunch one day. They were the equivalent of £2 each

These are kind of ice cream bombs on sticks

I ate 2 of these for quality control purposes and they passed rigorous testing

I had the coffee one (bottom right) they're like semifreddo mousses and they were gorgeous

Little tiny pastries that they charge by the weight for. I had around 7 I think!

Colourful and at least one of your '5 a day' I reckon

These are like pick n mix. The reason Woolworths went under in my opinion

Little bites of scrummy. I like the piggy faces

Brown paper bags stuffed full of truffles

Truffles can be stacked too!

Fair Verona

I got back from Verona last Friday and thought you might like to see some pictures. I only went for four days but I have a loads of photos so I'm going to do a general post now and another one on food later! The food in Italy is absolutely lovely and their pastries make ours look like dog shit in comparison frankly. 

View away from Verona from Castel San Pietro

It was my 42nd birthday while I was away. I always go away for my birthday which takes the edge off getting older - something I'm not keen on even though it's inevitable of course. I highly recommend it. We went for a really great meal in the evening and had a table overlooking the Ponte Pietra and Adige river. The wine list was PAGES long and went right up to 350 euros a bottle! We didn't have one of those.

The weather was really good. It rained the first day but every other day was sunny and warm with dusky, hazy sunshine which made sitting outside café's on the piazza's really pleasant. We did quite a bit of that and had some lush coffees too which often came with free biscuits and wine which came with a bowl of complimentary salted crisps!

The highlight for me was the Arena. I do like an Amphitheatre and this is the third largest one in Italy. They host opera performances earlier in the year which look incredible. It was the one thing I really wanted to see and it was free to get in with the 'Verona Pass'. The pass costs 10 euros for a day or 15 euros for two days and got you into loads of places for free or provided a discount for some others. Most sights were six euros so it was definitely worth buying.

 I decided two things whilst I was away: 

1) This was the third time I've noticed that four days is a day too long when visiting a European city. So I should now start to act on this and stop going away for four days when three is enough! Three full days seems to be enough time to take in the main attractions and sights and to also chill out and just get a feel for a place by people watching and wandering.

2) I think I'm going to travel alone a lot more from now on. My friend was fine but, perhaps because she's 10 years younger than me, she's very preoccupied with her appearance, men and calories which I find quite dull. On the last day we were going to get the train to Venice and I decided I just fancied a day by myself so we did out own thing. And I loved that day! 

Being alone gave me a real one-to-one personal experience which 'cemented' Verona for me. I had woken up feeling a bit narky but as soon as we decided to spend the day apart, I felt fine. So I think from now on I may just travel by myself. You don't have the whole 'are you hungry, shall we eat now?', 'what do you want to do today?', 'shall we eat here or somewhere else?', 'are you ready to go now?' type of questions when you're by yourself - you can just do whatever takes your fancy and I like doing that more than I like having company.

Three days is definitely long enough to see Verona. It wasn't as picturesque as other Italian cities I've visited but it was still absolutely lovely and other Italian places spoil you with their attractiveness I think! My friend hadn't ever been to Italy and she thought it was beautiful. It's also very centralised and really easy to get your bearings, so after a day you kinda knew where things were and what direction to head in.

We went up the Torre Dei Lombardi which is a massive tower in the centre. There are 289 steps up to the top and I felt every one. There is a lift but we though we'd walk off our morning croissant with Nutella (Nutella is BIG in Italy!). The view was well worth the pain as you can see. 

Verona is of course famous for Romeo and Juliet and they do milk it somewhat. Funnily enough it was the only disappointing part of the trip - tourists go to Juliet's house (even though she wasn't real) and people (mainly men) queue up to cop a grope of the left boob of her statue "for luck" it's a tradition apparently. The house was just full of Romeo & Juliet images in literature and film but I was more interested in the origins of the 13th century house they'd acquired for the purpose. Neither me or my friend took one photo inside the house actually.

Nice pics huh? I know you can see them in my Instagram photo stream in the sidebar, but it's better to see them in their full glory I reckon. My next post will be some scrummy food ones - get ready for the dolci people!

(Sings) Hooray, Hooray, I've Booked My Holiholiday!

Every year in November I go away for a few days over my birthday and this year is no exception. In the past I've been to Jordan, Sorrento, and Rome and this year I'm going to continue my love affair with Italy by going to Verona for five days.

Verona is famous for being at the centre of two of Shakespeare's plays: Romeo and Juliet, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. In fact you can visit 'Juliet's balcony' (obviously not real as it's a work of fiction but very cute) and there was even a film called 'Letters to Juliet' based around the habit of lovestruck women leaving notes for Juliet (or her secretaries) to answer - although quite an odd thing to do as Juliet didn't do too well out of her relationship if I recall. 

I was originally going with the guy I was seeing but because I dumped him for being irritating and boring, one of my friends said she'd like to go instead. I didn't actually mind going away on my own but it will be nice to take the trip with her. She does go on about food and diets a lot and I will be stuffing my face in Italy because I'll be on holiday and the food is better than any other country on the planet. I'm going to tell her that what I eat is not up for comment before I go though. She can eat salads if she likes but I want wine, pasta and cake!

We're staying in a little one-bed flat through Air BnB - the flat we've rented is really near to the centre and only costing £215 between us for four nights. It'll be great to have a private base to go back to rather than a hotel, and it even comes with an espresso machine apparently! 

The flat we've booked

Being part of Europe means that it's really quick and cheap to get from the UK to Italy. Flights to Rome are only around £40 return and the flights to Verona were £70 return which is still pretty good. Verona was founded in the first century BC and it even has an amphitheatre - I love historical places and am particularly partial to an amphitheatre. It's also a World Heritage Site which means they try to preserve it as much as they can.

I have to say that I'm pretty excited about going. I adore Italy and could go at least once a year - in fact I suppose I do! Both my friend and I run our own businesses so I'll be taking my tablet to reply to emails each day and I think she'll be doing the same. Although we're on holiday we do need to keep an eye on our businesses - plus I've taken on some work to help coordinate a big global event and I'll be spending two weeks at the event next year... in Austin, Texas no less!!

What a jet setter.

Blogging Challenge Day 17: A Favourite Photo Of Yourself And Why

Ah, this is a tricky one as I don't want anyone to know who I am on here. However, coincidentally, this actually IS one of my favourite photos of myself and not simply because I have my back to the camera!

This photo was taken in Sorrento at the beginning of November 2007. I'd gone back for the second time with Star Trek Girl (the first was just for a day or 2) and we were having coffee on the swanky terrace of a hotel we weren't staying at. I'm looking out over the bay of Naples and it must have been a day or so before or after my 36th birthday. I see my birthday as the beginning of a new year instead of January 1st so always go on holiday to celebrate and to have a bit of a life audit.

I'm 2 stone lighter in this photo and my hair is now way past my shoulders having been kept short for 20 or so years. But I don't love this photo because I'm thinner, I love it because it's a sunny day, the sky and sea are the colour of sapphires, I'd enjoyed a few gorgeous Italian coffees under the flowering Amalfi vines, I was with a good friend, and we had no place to go and were in no hurry to get there.

Man I adore Italy - I so wish I was there today!

Amalfi Coast Birthday Trip - Pompeii

Pompeii Tavern

As promised here are the Pompeii photos from my November birthday trip to the Amalfi Coast. 

Bodies in the Garden of the Fugitives

I've actually been to Pompeii twice before. I'd wanted to go ever since I was young and read a book on the place. The book had lots of photos of bodies immortalised in cast as they tried to flee the eruption, so I expected the site to be covered in them, but this is not actually how it is when you get there of course.

Beware of the Dog Mosaic

Most of the 'bodies' are actually in museums and they're casts taken from the hollows left by their decayed forms after they were buried under 5 metres of ash. In fact, they made a few casts of some of the people so you can see the same woman at Pompeii exhibitions all over the world. There's around 1044 casts according to Wikipedia. There are some at Pompeii still but you do feel a bit intrusive looking at them.

Gladiator Training Ground

Vesuvius didn't suddenly go BOOM! and explode all over them within minutes however, the eruption took place over 2 days so a lot of people had fled by the time the pyroclastic flow engulfed the city in 79AD but they still think that around 16000 people from Pompeii and Herculaneum died in the eruption. Herculaneum was buried under 23 metres of debris but was better preserved that Pompeii. I went there last time I visited the area but didn't go this time.

Bakery

Pompeii is an absolutely fascinating place and if you ever get the chance to go then you really should. The site is quite large so the first time I went we actually missed out a whole section by accident - plus your feet are killing you after a while! Go out of season if you can as it can get quite hot and there are a lot of tourists as well.

Cart ruts and stepping stones

The ground is very uneven and someone like my Mum wouldn't be able to handle it. The sides of the streets are very high and you kind of clamber around the place - it's not for anyone who is unsteady or slow on their feet.

The city itself was in flux at the time of the eruption like most cities are. They were still rebuilding some of it from damage incurred from an earthquake 17 years before, and elections were taking place so lots of the houses and shops were covered in hand written election posters promoting different candidates. 

Detail on the wall of the public baths

The second time I visited (again with Star Trek Girl - aka La Tarzane) we tried to see the bit that we'd missed the first time only to discover it was closed off as it was being excavated further. She speaks fluent Italian (along with 5 other languages) and tried to explain to one of the excavators that we had flown many miles just to see this part, but to no avail. But as we turned to slowly leave, he called us back. His boss had just left and with hushed tones he said to follow him and he would show us what they were working on.

So we stood in awe as he showed us the underfloor heating system they had just uncovered. Pipes that had lay hidden for 2000 years were seeing the light of day again and we were there to see it. How amazing. We were so lucky to be able to see something like that.

Prostitute room with stray dog crashed out

I don't remember ever seeing any graffiti in Pompeii but they did find a lot and some of it is really bawdy and rude! We went to the brothel of course which you can find because of the hordes of people gathered outside it. It was pretty small and I bet it smelled. There was a toilet right by the prostitute rooms which were tiny stone cells really. Not very nice...

Theatre

I've got a tonne of photos as you can imagine, but these are the ones that I thought summed up Pompeii the most. It's an amazing city - lost and refound after being destroyed 2000 years ago; you can go inside their houses, stand in their amphitheatre (the oldest and most complete one ever found) wander through their bath houses, walk their streets, and even see their faces. It's a wondrous place.

Amalfi Coast Birthday Trip - The Food!

The food in Italy is amazing. They don't like to mess around with lots of ingredients preferring instead to focus on the quality of what they use instead. So everything is quite simple but the flavours are pure.

These bomb-like items above are firm smoked cheeses similar to mozzarella called scamorza affumicata that we found hanging in the local supermarket. We took one to Capri on my birthday for our picnic and it was divine. You think the cheese will be inside a rind, but you kind of just cut it open and eat it. My ex took a couple of these home in his suitcase which was one of the reasons we got stopped coming through customs - the other reason was my corkscrew with a knife on it!

The deli counter in the supermarket

They have tiny little pastries - ricotta-filled Cannoli, flaky chocolate or hazelnut-filled Sfogliatelle (my favourite so thank God they sell them in an Italian cafe here in Brighton!), and Cannoncini. You buy them by the weight rather than individually so they are so cheap it's embarrassing - you can fill your boots and not make a dent in your wallet!  And what do we have...? Greggs and Forfars. It's no wonder we lost the empire.

hot chocolate on a rainy afternoon in Sorrento

Caprese salad - which as I'm sure you know is tomato, mozzarella, and basil with a drizzle of olive oil and some sea salt - originates from Capri because that's where the ingredients are best. We had this with nearly every meal because the ones here in the UK are shite. The tomatoes actually taste of something in Italy and the Mozzarella is so creamy it makes the ones you get here seem like cardboard in comparison.

The remains of my cheese platter. Scuse ex's hand!

The tomatoes were astonishingly cheap as well. A bag of on-the-vine cherry tomatoes that we bought for two of us to have a picnic with came to 0.39 Euros which is cheaper than chips (as we say here) these are the most expensive tomatoes in the UK and would be around £1.80 for the same kind of amount. This is why they eat so well over there - the fruit and veg is actually affordable.

We spent quite a lot of time sitting around drinking coffee and having long lunches while reading our books or watching the world go by. I had the Gnocchi Sorrentina quite a few times which is basically just gnocchi (which I've made at home before - it's easy) covered in a rich mozzarella and tomato sauce. I can highly recommend it. The one above was baked and, although it looks a bit of a mess, I can assure you that it was a delicious comfort of a meal.

No lemons in this photo though!

Sorrento is famous for its lemons which make the stunning Limoncello digestif. I still haven't had a go at making this yet but it's on my list of things to make for Christmas presents along with the usual peanut butter fudge, vanilla biscuits, rose and peppermint creams, chocolate truffles, and lemon curd.

The above photo is very dark as it was taken in a dimly-lit restaurant but it was the antipasti platter that the owner bought out for us. Lots of lovely meats and the creamiest mozzarella I had ever tasted. He was a brilliant salesman actually and gave us complimentary prosecco and ice-cold Limoncello afterwards.

Italy is a big place and I so look forward to being able to try more of its food some day. The nearest thing I've found since I returned is the pastries in the Italian deli here and the photos in my new recipe book 'Two Greedy Italians' where Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo take me on a culinary tour of Italy. I think Gnocchi Sorrentina is going to be the first thing I make!

Amalfi Coast Birthday Trip - Sorrento

Finally I'm ready to write a blog post about my recent holiday trip to Sorrento which is on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. I got back a few weeks ago but It's taken me ages to go through the photos and Picmonkey them until I liked how they look! I have quite a lot so I'm going to focus just on Sorrento itself in this post then show you Pompeii, Capri and all the food in separate blog posts. 

Vesuvius across the Bay of Naples From Sorrento

I went to Sorrento (well Sant'Agnello to be precise which is slightly up the road) with my ex as we had already booked it and we didn't hate each other or anything. We decided that if it was weird then we would both go off and do our own thing. But it was fine. I've been to the same place twice before but I loved it there so much that I wanted to go again. It was a very cheap holiday coming in at £280 between us for 5 nights!

Above is the Sorrento Working Men's club. Only men are allowed here and they sit under the ancient emblem of the town outside a 16th century dome playing cards.

One morning we saw the most amazing rainbow over the Bay of Naples which then turned into a stunning double rainbow. Not only that, it was actually IN the bay and was the one and only time that I have ever seen not only one end of a rainbow, but both ends of a rainbow. You never see the ends, so to see both ends curving round almost in a circle straight into the sea was something quite special.

You can just about see that there's 2 rainbows with the ends going into the sea

My ex managed to get this cool photo - I've fiddled with the pic on Picmonkey a bit to make it more saturated.

Later that day we were reading and enjoying a coffee outside a cafe at the Marina Grande and we saw yet another rainbow in the bay. Not a double one this time though. 

Above is another view of Vesuvius which is on the other side of the Bay Of Naples. Naples itself is at the base of the volcano and is a hectic, dirty, chaotic place that I found a bit too much for me personally. I went to Naples and to the top of Vesuvius last time I visited the area but we didn't go this time. 

This is a view of the other direction down the Amalfi Coast. This is the little Marina which is the one the boats use when they go over to the island of Capri (pronounced ca-pree ) which you can see the outline of on the horizon.

The narrow street of Sorrento sell all sorts of tat

Sorrento is famous for its Limoncello digestif which I adore. I recently discovered an online recipe so now I can make some for myself at home - woo hoo! This is also a good idea for Christmas presents so I'm going to have a go at brewing a batch. I'll let you know how that goes of course!

last evening in Sorrento

If you've never been to the Amalfi Coast and can afford it (ie you're not in the US!) then I highly recommend you go for 4 or 5 days. The place is very beautiful and you can use it as a base to see Pompeii, Herculaneum, Naples, Vesuvius, and Capri. Sorrento is a little down at heel now but you can tell it was once a really chic happening place. It reminds me of an ageing once-fabulous European dolly bird - she's still a bit glam but her looks are fading and her best days are now behind her...