Spent 9 days touring Italy. This was my first trip to Europe and it was a great experience. The Euro (money) was easy to understand and even ordering from the menus was no problem. Most people spoke enough English to understand.
I was taken back with the graffiti. I always thought it was prevalent in the US but apparently not. It was disheartening to see the damage that it had done to the old buildings. Even Venice had graffiti on the walls.
When I visited the east coast of the US and went to Boston, Washington DC etc., I was surprised at how old some of the preserved buildings were and the contents were still intact. Growing up in California the oldest thing we have are the missions and some Indian ruins. I tried to prepare myself for Italy but it still was overwhelming to see how old everything was and still in daily use.
I found the food very good especially when you get away from the tourist area's. Their cheese is to die for. All the wines I had were good. Some were ordered by the bottle and some were the house wines by the liter. Gelato was so much better than what I have had in the US. Probably because it is prepared in small batches and not mass produced.
A couple of highlights were the dinner we had at Fattoria Il Poggio in Lucca (Tuscany). The boar sausage, pork ribs and chicken were cooked and smoked over Chestnut wood. So good. They did a wine tatsing for us of their Montecarlo wines. Had a singer . People got up and danced. It was a really fun time.
Also had a fabulous sandwich in a town called Rapallo which is where we were catching the boat to Portofino. 4 of us went off the beaten path by several blocks and found a enoteca-wine bar ,Cantine d'Italia, that served sandwiches made with foccacia bread. The lady behind the counter and the owner did not speak English but a local customer in the store at that time did and he helped us order and pick out a bottle of wine. That sandwich was the best sandwich I have ever had. Period. It was so good with pancetta , mozzarella on foccacia with sundried tomatoes , then grilled. They even made us a plate of pasta with fresh made pesto (at no charge) and then they gave us extra sandwiches to take on the boat.
In Florence , John had asked the tour guide for a good place to eat and he recommended Antico Fattore which was several blocks away from the "tourist" area. I had the best Tuscan bread soup I've ever eaten there. Followed by a plate of cheese tortelleni with a pancetta cream sauce. We had a bottle of Antinori Red table wine.
One of the nights that I did not eat dinner at the hotel I went to a place called E'Gusto's. Off the tourist path. Looked like it should be in West LA. No tourists, all locals. I had a smoked fried cheese and then a veal scallopine with mushrooms. The people I was with had ordered dessert so I had a bite of each one. Really good. Their wine by the liter was good also. Very food friendly wine. And I am sure much better than the hotel dinner being served that night.
One evening on Montecatini I dined at a restaurant called "Capersone" so something like that. Didn't get a card so I'm going by memory. 5 of us that night. I ordered the deep fried stuffed olives and a seafood rissotto. Again a really good dinner. The shrimp in the rissotto was so tender. I do not think I have ever had a shrimp that tender before. I have had shrimp caught just hours before serving but never as tender as was. Again wine by the liter and again good.
We had a wine tasting and tour at Castello d"Albolain Chianti, which is one of the few wineries that is open every day for tasting (Like in California). Most wineries are close to the public and you must have a reservation to get in. I thought one of the labels was familar and asked about it. They make 65,000 cases of that wine and Trader Joe's is one of their biggest customers. Their other wines are made in smaller case numbers so it is not exported. The served us 5 wines and a Grappa. Along with meats and cheeses, bread and olive oil. Maybe we were just hungry and thirsty after the long windy road up to the facility but everyting tasted good. There wasn't anything left on the platters or in the baskets.
The only food that I had that to me was not good was at the hotel we were staying at in Montecatini. It was too westernized and was not good. Their soups were good but everything else was so mediorce. What a waste. We had breakfast there every morning (or a sack breakfast). It got to be a running joke of "what kind of canned peaches" are we having today. The same thing every morning . It did not hold a candle to the breakfast we had on my trip to China 2 years ago.
I would like to go back to Italy but the tour was grueling and very hard on my "old" knees, I think it would be great to rent a car and drive yourself. The highways would be very easy to navigate but in the towns it would get a lot more complicated. If I had a tremendous amount of money I could fly first class and hire a car & driver. That would be the ideal why to go. Maybe someday.
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