Assisi

I had never been to Assisi, so we decided to take a day trip and visit. Assisi is a walled in city, and you can see many parts of the wall from Roca Maggiore.  Within the walls Assisi is very hilly.

We climbed lots of stairs to get around.

Here is a panoramic shot from Rocca Maggiore. We didn't go inside or climb to the top of the tower.  The views were good enough from the hill.

This church is in the center of town.  The facade was originally a temple to Minerva. The inside is a stark contrast to the outside. Ross was particularly intrigued that there was no Christ or crucifix inside. That is pretty odd for a Roman Catholic church.

We didn't visit all the churches in town.  I decided I wanted to see St. Peter's church.  It was a very humble church and only one other person was there. Ross and I liked the kind of bee hive looking dome. The church also has some catacombs or something, but unfortunately they were closed when we were there.

This is one of the portas into the city.

This is a view of the Basilica of St. Francis from Rocca Maggiore. It is enormous.

I didn't take any photos inside the Basilica. Pictures aren't allowed--more on that later. The Basilica and its frescoes were damaged by a major earthquake in 1997.  You can see gaps where the frescoes just broke apart and fell to the ground. The Basilica was beautiful. We saw both levels of the church. We also saw the art collection and a special exhibit of watercolors. Below the church is St. Francis's tomb and an area showing some of his things.

Visiting the Basilica was free, which surprised me. We had to pay ,60 € for the toilets though. The men had an awesome view (huge window) from their toilets. The women had a tiny little slit in the wall.

The bus system in Assisi is confusing, even for Italians, but we managed to make it back to the train station. Pope Francis had visited the week before we did. I met someone who was there during the Pope's visit.  He said it was amazing--40,000 people crammed into the town and the air was electrified with excitement. I'm so glad I missed it.  I don't deal well with crowds.

Florence Museums: Pitti Palace and The Borgello

Our second day in Florence it rained all day--so we hung out in museums.  I wanted to see Pitti Palace because I don't think I'd ever seen it before, and they were having a special exhibit showing impressionist paintings.  I only have a few photos.  We weren't allowed to take photos in most areas.

Pitti Palace was a fancy shmancy palace place.  Lots of things are covered with gold.  We saw luxurious apartments and Napoleon's bathroom. The tables were all inlaid wood or marble. I can't imagine what it would be like to live in a palace like that.

Pitti Palace also had many paintings on display.  It seemed there were a lot of paintings showing the temptation of St. Anthony.  The impressionist exhibit was small, but we both saw paintings we liked.

We get burned out in museums after a few hours, so we didn't look at the costume wing.  I wanted to see the attached Boboli gardens, but because of the rain we skipped them.

Ross in the courtyard of Pitti Palace.

Ganymede and the Eagle.

Florence Triumphs over Pisa.

Florence: Piazzale Michelangelo

We really didn't sleep much on the way to Italy. By the time we got going in Florence it was after noon and it was a real struggle to drag ourselves up to Piazzale Michelangelo for the views.  It was a nice day out and we walked through some gardens on the way up and down.

 Views from Piazzale Michelangelo.

 One of the prettiest roses in the garden.

It's me---all jetlagged, still wearing the clothes I wore on the plane.

One of the strange peppers in the garden.

Pizzoccheri

I had pizzoccheri when we were in Bellagio on Lake Como and completely fell in love. It was basically buckwheat pasta with local veggies and cheeses--whatever they had around. I think I've tried to make it once since. I can't even remember. Anyway, on Sunday night I made up a batch of buckwheat pasta and assembled a crazy pizzoccheri.

Pasta
250g buckwheat flour
150g brown rice flour
enough water to form a smooth dough

The recipe I found in one of my books said to use fine wheat flour, but I decided to try something different. You know me. I can't follow a recipe. Using the rice flour makes it gluten free in case you're into that.

Other ingredients
swiss chard--boiled, drained, and chopped
fontina cheese
goat cheese
turkey bacon--cooked till crispy and finely sliced
olive oil
whatever other veggies you want to throw in

1. Combine the flours with water until a smooth dough forms. Knead gently for a couple of minutes.

This is what my dough ball looked like.

2. Roll out the dough. I took small batches of the dough, pressed them out flat, then ran them through the pasta roller on the thickest setting. Then I laid them on a lightly floured board.

My pasta roller, which hadn't seen the light of day in years.

3. Cut the pasta into thick strips. I think I cut mine a little too wide.

My pastry board with cut pasta.

4. Boil the pasta for about 3 minutes then drain. I did it in about 3 batches because I didn't want them all to stick to each other.

5. Assemble the pizzoccheri. I kind of just layered things. One layer of noodles, a drizzling of olive oil, some chard, some turkey bacon, and lots of cheese. Then I did a couple more layers.

The assembled dish.

6. Bake the dish at 350 for about 10 minutes--just until the cheese starts to melt and everything is hot.  I skipped this step and just heated my serving up in the micro. Ross thought it was warm enough and just ate it.

The leftovers we had last night were awesome, and we will be having more tonight. Traditionally this is made with chard, fontina, and potatoes, but when we had it in Bellagio the man who made it said that you just use whatever you have around. It's almost like hiding leftovers in pasta. Oh, and I forgot--I also put mushrooms and garlic in there. Can't forget the garlic!

I have some high hopes for making gnocchi this coming weekend.

Photo Month: Day 30: Italy: Il Duomo

Photo Month: Day 19: Italy: Basilica di San Marco

Photo Month: Day 16: Italy: Amalfi

Ciambella alla Menta (Mint Cake)

One of the only things Ross wanted for his birthday was a cake. We had some mint in the fridge, so I decided to make this cake. I got this recipe from the Italian cooking magazine I bought the last time we were in Italy. I've made it a few times, and it is super-duper tasty. The Italian cakes I've made don't use leavening (they use whipped egg whites instead) and they aren't overly sweet. Also, they are kind of small. So, I'm going to share the recipe with you, and even translate it for you. I'm even going to do the weight calculations.

Ciambella alla Menta

240g sugar (7/8 c. + 3 Tbl.)

150g butter--softened (10 Tbl.)

3 eggs

one lime

one bunch of mint--leaves sliced into thin strips--reserve some leaves for garnish

confectioners sugar

200g flour (1 3/4 c.)

salt

butter and flour for the pan

1. Beat the butter with 200g (7/8 c. = 1 c. - 2 Tbl.) of sugar until well combined and fluffy.

2. Add mint, some grated lime peel, some lime juice, and 3 egg yolks.

3. Mix until well combined.

4. Add flour and mix well.

5. In a separate bowl beat egg whites with 40g (3 Tbl.) sugar and a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form.

6. Carefully fold egg whites into flour mixture.

7. Transfer batter into buttered and floured bundt pan.

8. Cook at 180 C (355 F) for about 45 minutes.

9. Turn out onto plate and dust with powdered sugar and garnish with mint leaves.

I cooked this yesterday at 325 F for about 55 minutes because I use a heavy, teflon-coated pan. I just noticed that the recipe calls for 3 eggs, but the how to photos show 4 eggs. I think it would turn out a little less dense with 4 eggs.

Pretty Poppies

On our last trip to Italy I bought this great watercolor of poppies for a mere 14 Euro. Now, two years later, I finally got around to framing it. It cost me over 50 dollars, and that was with a 60 percent off coupon! I'm glad that we finally have it framed and hanging, but I am always baffled by how much it costs to get things framed!

Angels and Demons

I borrowed Angels and Demons from Troy and finished reading it this week. It was just okay. I know everyone raves about it, but I thought it was just meh. There were just little things throughout the book that bugged me. The one thing the book did do was make me want to visit Italy again. I haven't been to Vatican City in a long time.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things....

Driving in from Austin last night I leaned it towards the air vent as we passed the Miller plant. Oh, one of my favorite things. When I drive past the Miller plant and the Mrs. Baird plant (which are right next to each other) the wonderful smell of fresh baked bread fills the car and I know I'm almost home. For some reason I can only smell it at night. I work in Crowley on Wednesday mornings and never smell bread on my way home.
This morning I woke up at 445. I couldn't sleep. My mind was racing. I tried to think of my favorite place. Il Duomo. The top. In winter. The moment I step outside. I laid in bed and imagined the feel of the 441 stone steps under my feet. The wind whipping in through one of the tiny windows on the way up. I remembered the familiar feel of the stone center column in my right hand as I push myself toward the top. I could feel the heat building up. I closed my eyes to imagine the paintings on the ceiling. In my mind I could see the steps that lie between the layers of Il Duomo. I went up the tiny ladder-like steps and burst outside into the cold. The wind cuts through my clothes and my sweat is suddenly cold. I'm on top of the world. Nothing can touch me here. I'm happy.

I Love You Honey

In Italy last year I bought a small, 40g jar of chestnut honey for 1 euro. Oh, it is so scrumptious. Yesterday I had some on challah for break the fast. The little sample size jar is almost empty, so today I started looking online for some chestnut honey. I found a few varieties and then tonight we went to Central Market. I found one I wanted (Italian), but the jars were all expired. I ended up buying a French chestnut honey (the one pictured). I will try it out tomorrow with butter on some challah.

I have also recently become interested in bee keeping. I happened to see a bee keeper on the show of the woman whose name shall not be spoken. The beekeeper showed how the honey is extracted from the honeycomb. It was fascinating. I definitely want a bee hive some day. It costs a bit to get started, so I don't think I'll be doing it any time soon. I'm not sure what kind of honey I'd get, but it sure would be cool to have my own bees and honey supply. In the meantime I think I'll be sampling different kinds of honey from CM.

Italy 2007

Where do I start? Our flight over was totally full. I was uncomfortable, but managed to sleep while Ross watched the Mr. Bean movie. Ha! The Frankfurt airport is F-ed up. We had to go through passport control and then through security again even though we had a connecting flight.....confusing and strange. And along the way (the whole trip) we met some very unfriendly and rude Germans. We got to Florence just fine and wandered around a while looking for the hotel. Ross was so good about navigating last time. This time his instincts were all wrong, and I had to continually check the map. Our fancy hotel: Well, the first three nights we stayed in a 4 star hotel. Now, here is where I'm going to bitch. The room we were in goes for like 330 euro a night! We were there on a package deal that included a free night (which we didn't use), a welcome drink, and 2 free tickets to a museum in town (we had four choices). First of all, we didn't get our welcome drink. Second, while walking down the hall ross opened a window--it smelled like a sewer. Luckily when we opened the window in our room it didn't smell bad, but later on it smelled like sewer in the hallways without opening the window. Third complaint, the shower door seal was ripped and created a lake on the bathroom floor. Its not like they didn't know that there was a problem--they cleaned it up. Fourth complaint--although we chose a museum and told them when we wanted to go they did not get us tickets (as they said they would). They told us to just go and that they would reimburse us. The whole point of a concierge is so that you don't have to stand in line. When we walked to the museum there were two huge lines...one for the tickets and the other to get in. I said screw it. I wasn't going to stand in line for hours in the shade. Fifth complaint--the bathroom was very nice, but it took a whole hour to fill the tub. And we didn't really fill it up. A whole hour! Basically there was no water pressure. Lastly, the towel warmer didn't work! At least the breakfast there was really good. I got to have yoghurt every day--without the added sugar or HFCS. It was my kind of breakfast food...pastries and jam and cheese.

Florence: We had a good time in Florence. We walked a round A LOT. It was crouded because apparently it was a holiday weekend. The street vendors were everywhere. It was kind of annoying. It was fun to watch them pack up and run when they saw the cops. We generally just wandered around. And of course we ate. We didn't have as much gelato as I thought we would. It was kinda cold. We had a really good meal at some small place the night before we left. The potatoes were divine. We considered ordering another plate. We ate a lot of pizza for lunch. We found a good bakery that had pizza too. It was worth fighting the crowds to get our pizza (12,46 euro/kilo). I got to have pizza with eggplant and mushrooms. We did make a couple of purchases before heading up to the lake. Ross bought an awesome leather sportscoat at the leather school behind Santa Croce. I bought a watercolor painting of poppies from an artist in front of Pitti Palace. It was 14 euro. I practically threw the money at her and ran. It was a good deal. We also went to the Medici chapel (again). It was under renovation, so not as nice as before, but I guess in the future it will be nicer. And as always--relics of Saints are creepy.

Bellagio on Lake Como: We had a little trouble getting train tickets to Como. Apparently it was because it was a holiday weekend. We hussled our asses from the fancy hotel to the train station just to wait and wait and wait. The train to Milan was delayed. I had a little meltdown because we were going to miss our connecting train. I eventually managed to trade in our ticket for another...and we got on our very late train. Because the train was late we missed the last afternoon ferry to Bellagio. I wanted to ride the hydrofoil. We had to wait 4 hours for the next one. It was a holiday, a weekend, and the off season....so we had to wait. So, anyways, we walked around Como for a while. It was dark when we finally got on the ferry. Bellagio was nice, but nearly everything was closed. The town is a lot of steps, but nothing we're not used to. It looked like the gardens at one of the villas were beautiful, but we just had to look from the locked gate. The gardens, along with just about everything else in town, were closed. Dinner the first night was pretty good. I think I had beef stew. Tasty. Lunch the second day was exceptional. The pasta I had was awesome. Fresh buckwheat pasta with local veggies and local cheese. Ross liked the lasagna and also enjoyed his anchovy pizza. That night I had a cheese course instead of dessert. I liked it. It came with honey and some sort of jam...I think it was fig. There was only one cheese I didn't like. Some sort of local soft cheese. It was too strong. I'm getting hungry thinking about all this food! We left Bellagio on the bus and the trip back to Florence was a lot better than the trip there. We had a direct train from Como back to Florence. I did some knitting and some napping.

Our hotel in Bellagio: A small family run hotel. Breakfast was good. No tub, but plenty of water pressure--and the towel warmer worked. Ross had fun playing with the french doors/windows (and me). We also had an electric shade over the window in the ceiling that he liked to play with. We watched some Italian TV. Strange.

Last day in Florence: Well, we got back to Florence at like 2:30 pm. That gave us the rest of the day for shopping and stuff. Well, first we had to check into our hotel. That was a bit of a fiasco. The owner (that we knew) sold the place about a month ago to a bunch of idiots. We finally checked in. We went to the duomo and for at least the 5th time tromped up the stairs to get to the top. It was the least crowded we'd ever seen it, and we were able to take our time going up. The switched the up and down routes and that was a little disorienting. I am used to holding the center pole with my right hand on the way up. This time the center pole was on the left. With very few people going up/down it was quite pleasant. We took a few pictures on the way up and in between the layers of the duomo. Even at the top there were'nt very many folks, and despite the clouds the view was great. We got all of our gift shopping done and walked around a lot more...I did the duomo steps and all that walking in boots! Our hotel room faced the street, so it was really noisy, but we went to bed early so we could get up for the 5:30 am bus.

Trip back: We managed to get to the airport on time. Ross got his tax refund stamped by customs and we checked in. Through security and onto the plane to Frankfurt. I was so tired I passed out while we were delayed on the runway and slept for almost the entire flight. This time in Frankfurt it was downstairs....down a hall...then back up the stairs. F-ed up. The plane started boarding an hour before departure. More rude Germans. Ross bought some gummies in the airport. (Then he ate too many on the plane and got the gollywobs.) The plane wasn't totally booked, and I was a bit more comfortable. I was able to sleep a bit. Man, it was more and more and more food. Snacks, drinks, and meals. We watched 3 episodes of Rome on Ross's archos while I knitted. We got home at a decent hour. Had a short nap, then had some dinner. We went to bed early, and I think we're back on track with the time already.