I Do Love Le Cinque Terre and Thanksgiving

To my dear friends and family, I am writing to you on Thanksgiving. I am sure many of you will likely not read this until after the holiday weekend. Nevertheless, I wish you all the happiest of Thanksgivings. For those of you who participated in the 3rd Annual Michael Edward Bratton II Turkey Trot, I applaud you and am so sad to have missed it this year. I hope to see you all out there next year.

Florence has a smell. It just does. It is a smell that is always there and never really changes. It is a mix of benzina, cigarette smoke, expensive parfume, incense, bread, garlic, sometimes the unfortunate smell of the sewer, and leather. I know it sounds gross, but it is simply Florence and a comforting experience of the city that has always been here on my travels from 1997 until now.

But today, as I walked out this morning into the beautiful, sunny, crisp morning, I swear to you..... I smelled Thanksgiving. The turkey, the yams, the pie, all of it was in the air. The feeling was bittersweet. I am a litte sad to be missing our traditional Thanksgiving at home with the same dishes I have eaten every Thanksgiving since birth. On the other hand, I am so happy to be here in Italy with my family and with Alex.... especially Alex.

Tonight we have so very much to be Thankful for. We are finally all together and getting the opportunity to get to know each other. Tonight we will be going to il Baroccio for dinner. The family has taken quite a liking to the place and Gianni is the only one we trust to provide us with a memorable Thanksgiving dinner. It is also a perfect place for Alex and I to be, as it is the site of our first date.

Which brings me to Le Cinque Terre.................


Cristian, Jenn and Stella decided to go to The Cinque Terre for a couple of nights. For those of you who do not know Le Cinque Terre means The Five Lands. They are five small colorful towns on the north western coast of Italy. It is considered part of the Italian Riviera. It is my favorite place in the entire world. I remember the first time I went when I was in high school and I fell in love instantly. Or hotel had a beautiful terrace out back the afforded a view of the sea and the cliffs of one of the towns: Vernazza. I used to sit out there alone and write in my journal. Every time I have been back since, about 7 times, I have managed to sneak into the hotel and visit my hidden terrace. It is my special place.

Alex, Mom, Dad, and I decided to go to Le Cinque Terre for the day to see the sights and do some hiking. We stared by taking the train to the first of the five towns: Riomaggiore. The day was perfect and the ocean swelled with sunlight and aqua blue colors. We hiked from Riomaggiore to the second town, Manarola. The hike was gorgeous and that particular trail was called Via Del'Amore, which means the Road of Love. Unfortunately, there was a lot of grafiti, but I will say this: at least it was all grafiti about love. We found one rock which someone had inscribed with the words: "Alla luce del sole sara per sempre il nostro amore." "In the light of the sun, our love will always be." I thought it was such a beautiful thing to say.

As we left Manorola on foot to walk to Corniglia, Alex and I stopped not to far into the walk to look back at the beautiful view of Manorola on the ocean. It was perfect. And on this spot, Alex got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I told him I would think about it and that I would only do it for 5 euro. Obviously I was joking and of course I said yes.



As you can imagine, the rest of the day was very nice. We finished our walk with mom and dad and met up with the rest of the family in Vernazza. I was a little tired when we got there, but ready for a great lunch.


We had a delicious meal of soup, and antipasti. Mom and I had the Ligurian favorite, Trofie al Pesto. Vernazza is well known for its FABULOUS homemade pesto! After lunch we enjoyed the sun and let Stella see the high tide coming in. The huge ocean waves began to take over the small town, but not before we took some great photos.



Before leaving town, we snuck up to my secret place to take a look. It was exactly the same as it has always been. Nothing seems to change in Le Cinque Terre. And now, it will never change in my heart and will continue to be somewhere very special to me. I have many memories there in very different stages of my life. I am honored to have this new memory there. As everyone walked up the steps to head to the train station, I satyed behind for a minute, alone and thought about all the time that had passed since I had first been there 11 years ago. So much has happened, but I am exactly where I want to be, and I am very Thankful for that.

Chianti and San Gimignano

Yesterday, we all went on a tour of Chianti and San Gimignano. Alex's friend, Dr. Abas Shabib is a tour guide in Tuscany and Doctor of Art History and Tuscan Tourism (Yes there is such a thing as a Dr. of Tourism here in Italy). Abas has a nice big van that fit us all comfortably and we were off.

Dr. Abas Shabib, Our Guide

We started with a drive on the Chianti Road. We stopped in Verezzano in Chianti and traveled to Castellina in Chianti and Monteriggioni. The drive was amazing and we even got to go to some little street markets in some of the towns.

Monteriggioni

The best part about the trip was lunch. Abas took us to a cool little cantina where they produce and sell wine and other products. They provided a lunch of Pecorino, Salami, Chips, Bread with Olive Oil, and Lasagna with Truffle Olive Oil. We got to taste 8 wines and were sure to buy some treats that are being shipped home, including honey with truffles, truffle oil, and vino vino vino. While we did all of this tasting and eating, Stella watched all the kitties around the place and walked up and down the stairs counting all five in Italian, while wearing her Vino Bambino onesie.



After lunch we went to San Gimignano, where Alex and I spent a beautiful day together when we first met. It was so romantic to go back together and share it with our family. Stella loved every minute of the trip!

Look in the center to see the far off towers of San Gimignano

Same Spot, Two Years later

It May Be A Long Hill, But At Least They Are In It Together

Dinner Family Style

We have had the pleasure of eating out and in alot. With Stella, it gets a little difficult to eat out all of the time. Most of the restaurants are accomodating, but sometimes it is just easier, and a lot more fun to dine in. The other night we all contributed and made a delicious meal. Mom made her famous Chicken Picatta. Alex LOVES Lemon Chicken, so I was sure Mom's picatta would win his heart. It did! We all enjoyed it.

Alex and I contributed his famous roasted potatoes. He peels the potatoes and then cuts them into small cubes and rinses them in cold water, while moving them around several times. The water must be very cold. This reduces the starch so that the potatoes do not stick to the roasting pan. Once the potatoes are cut and rinsed, we put them into a roasting pan with yummy olive oil, salt, and rosemary or parsley. You then roast the potatoes in the oven on 350 Degrees for about 30-40 minutes.

Jenn and Cristian made their delicious Roasted Asparagus. We found the most amazing, big asparigi at the grocery store. All you have to do is put them on a cooking sheet with olive oil and salt. Put them in the oven at 450 Degrees for 3-5 minutes, depending on thickness. Then, take out and shake them up, or roll them over. Put back in the oven and roast for another 3-5 minutes. Asparigi should be aldente.

Finally, Ali and Stella made a homemade crostini with fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and salt. All of these ingredients are diced together and then put over oven toasted bread slices.

Who ever said eating in was boring?