Hello and Happy Monday! Today's post is, like promised, a catch-up on what we did this past weekend. After a week of rainy days, the famed Italian sun finally decided to make an appearance so we spent every sunshine-filled hour outside. It was that little sneak peek of summer, arguably THE best time of year in Italy and everyone was out and about. It was the perfect weekend to get started on the vegetable garden. In Italy, contrary to intuition, the vegetable patch is actually the equivalent of a North American Man-Cave. It is property of the male counterparts in Massi's family and honestly, who am I to change tradition? So I supervised. By supervised this means I prepared their morning espresso, then their aperitivo, then lunch- a radicchio lasagna that I will provide the recipe for sometime soon! So Saturday in a nut shell was all about tilling the ground and planting the first seeds. It took almost the entire day because our garden is massive- we could probably sell fruits and vegetables out of our backyard. The middle photo below is Massi's pride and joy- the first sprouts of garlic.
Saturday night was spent at La Briciola in Milan, a rather romantic ristorante probably better known for the Italian celebrities that have dined there rather than the food itself. I had a wonderful dish of strozzapreti (priest stranglers) with a truffle cream sauce that was so satisfying, I would certainly return to Milan on a day trip with the sole purpose of getting it in my belly again. Massi will tell you I'm a sucker for anything truffle-related. As soon as I see the word tartufo, I have to have it. I never even bother looking at the rest of the menu. However, Massi was less than impressed with his bistecca alla fiorentina which came already cut into bite-size pieces and so commenced his affirmations that we have to drive to Firenze one of these days and have the real thing.
Photo credit: La Briciola Milano
The problem with going to Milan is that it takes 30 minutes to get into the city, another 30 minutes to get to the place that you're meeting someone, and yet another 30 minutes to look for parking (non-existent) until you finally decide to park on the sidewalk and walk ten blocks in your highest heels across grates and cobblestone without breaking a sweat. Basically it's a fiasco and we never stay too late because we know we have the drive back to Bergamo ahead of us. Saturday night we hopped into bed at the early hour of 3am. Oh and we lost an hour as well due to Daylight Savings. Naturally we slept in on Sunday, headed over to Massi's parents for the non-negotiable Sunday lunch, and then took the motorcycle out for a spin. We were basically in our "backyard" and I still have to pinch myself because it is just so beautiful.
I can't even describe how Italy makes you feel, although so many writers have tried. You could have zero savings in the bank and a rumbling stomach, but if you just look around Italy, for that moment you are the richest, fullest person in the world.
I can't even describe how Italy makes you feel, although so many writers have tried. You could have zero savings in the bank and a rumbling stomach, but if you just look around Italy, for that moment you are the richest, fullest person in the world.
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