Jimi-Town and Bugs

My sister and bother-in-law just left for Rome. I am very sad to see them go. It was wonderful to spend time with them and show them the Italy that Bill and I have grown to love. Those who know Bec and Terry understand how much they enjoy traveling and learning about different cultures and foods and lifestyles, so we had fun experiencing things together. I know they will have fun in Rome.

Our plan yesterday was to take it pretty easy in preparation for their drive today to Rome, and the energy of that city. TR had been wanting to see the big supermercado in Poggibonsi, so in the morning, we drove to the big Coop. It was a madhouse because everyone was shopping in preparation for all stores being closed on Sunday. However, despite the number of shoppers, it was fun to see the huge displays of fish, meat, olive oils, pastas and wine.

As hard as he tries, Terry really has difficulty remembering the pronunciations of Italian words, especially the names of towns. San Gimignano is particularly difficult for him. He reminds me of the television fathers-in-law who can’t remember the names of their sons-in-law and calls them something different each time. That was TR and San Gimignano. We finally told him to just call it Jimi-Town. We drove to Jimi-Town for lunch. We sat on the Piazza della Cisterna, which is the town’s main piazza, and ate our pasta and drank our wine.

Afterwards, I know you all will be shocked to read that we had gelato. The gelateria we chose has won an award for best gelato, and we all concluded it was justly earned. Bec loved her nutella and pistachio flavors. Pistachio is one of the flavors that every gelateria will have, along with stratiatella (chocolate chip), cioccolata (chocolate), crema (vanilla), melone (melon), and fragola (strawberry). Then, each will have some interesting unique flavors, such as riso (rice), banana, limetta (lime), and nutella. (Nutella, for those of you who don’t know, is Italy’s answer to peanut butter, which you can’t find in Italy. Nutella is a mixture of hazelnuts and chocolate.) As for me, I always choose stratiatella and something, and Bill always chooses cioccolata and something. TR chose something different each time, and this time he chose pompelmo (grapefruit) and ciliegia (cherry).

Following our afternoon rest, we drove into Certaldo. This weekend is the medieval festival in Certaldo Alto, and in conjunction with that, the town of Certaldo was having a big market in the church square. As we walked from where we had parked to the church, we were surprised at the number of people who were out and about. We went to Mass, after which we walked a bit around the market to look at the wares, and then drove to Restorante Latini to have dinner.

Bec and TR told us earlier this week that they wanted to buy us dinner one night, and we chose the restaurant that is near the Priest’s House. We had eaten lunch there one time when we first did our surveillance trip to Certaldo, but hadn’t been back. We got there around 7:30, and they showed us to a table in the garden.

A traditional Italian meal consists of a number of courses. You will have your antipasta course, which is your appetizer. That is followed by the primi piatto (literally, first plate), which is pasta, risotto, or soup. Following your pasta course is the secondi piatto, or main course, often stewed or grilled meat or fish. Potatoes or vegetables might accompany the meat or fish. I simply can’t eat that much food, so Bill and I have generally each gotten a pasta dish and then split a main course. We were all discussing what we were going to eat when the waiter brought over a plate of what he called fried bread. The little pieces of fried dough were liberally sprinkled with salt, and it was delicious.

We were just finishing our surprise appetizer, when the waiter brought over another little appetizer he called bread salad. It looked to me like they took what was probably leftover bread, placed it in the bottom of a dish, liberally poured over good olive oil, then covered the bread with garlic, tomatoes, and onions. It was delicious also. We were all laughing because we were getting full and we hadn’t yet ordered anything!

But we finally ordered our dinner. Bill and I split a pasta dish of homemade spaghetti with sausage and kale. Bec and TR split asparagus risotto. For our main courses, Bill had a filet mignon with fried zucchini flowers (literally the flowers from which the zucchini come, breaded and deep fried). TR had a sirloin steak marinated in rosemary-infused olive oil. Bec and I each had a grilled veal chop. Everything was absolutely delicious.

But this is when the bug problem started. First it was just one or two, but within minutes, as it began to get dark and the lights came on, we (and everyone else in the garden) started being bombarded with these awful-looking flying insects. It actually was quite comical. It got to the point that we were hoping the bats would come out so that they would eat the insects. We probably should have moved inside, which some people did, but the garden area was so pretty. After a bit, the bugs seemed to sort of dwindle, and we were able to enjoy our meal.

After dinner, as we were discussing whether we wanted dessert, the waiter brought us each a plate with two cheeses – fontina and parmagiano reggiano. It was wonderful with the rest of our vino rosso. Unfortunately, about that same time, we began to get bombarded with new, smaller insects. At this point, we gave up and went inside.

As we awaited the check, the waiter brought over a dish of homemade biscotti and little glasses of vin santo (which is a sweet Tuscan wine in which you dip your biscotti). All in all, it was an interesting evening. The dichotomy between the amazing food and the annoying insects is so typical of Italy.

I’m looking ahead to a quiet week of packing in preparation for our final week in France.