Italian Design Forte

Ceramic tile and bathroom fixtures - went to huge showroom.

Il Messaggero Headline

Front Page -  Miriam - top dog Saudi female air force pilot, bombing Iraqi ISIS stronghold....didn't find that story in NYT

Lunch at Lago di Bracciano

During lunch hour, you don't have to pay for parking - not out of consideration for the patron - but because the parking attendant wants to lunch too.

Creative menu - Gnocchetti with Vongole, Rucola and Cherry tomatoes, but the classic, peasant cacio & pepe done well

Generous portion of vongole - more like west coast Manila clams

Searching for Olive Oil...at the Source

In the Sabine Hills, just north of Rome

An Italian moment..

We found an idle frantoio, the first crop of 2014 olives to be harvested in November.  But they still had 2013 oil to sell us.

And then...we were hungry - our first fungi porcini of the season - on a scale of 1 to 10 - maybe a 7.

Farm to Table - Nothing New in Italy

At friend Yolandas...sausage from butcher in Tuscany who raises pigs to make his sausage (no fennel seed).

 And his ragu is veal, beef and pork, butter, and his own tomatoes. The fettucine is from old neighborhood pasta-maker in Rome. The wine we bought years ago in bulk from a producer, then bottled and labeled it ourselves.

On the Way - Dublin

Stop in Dublin on way to Italy - Rome and Venice stays. Couldn't resist an Irish Breakfast at 4:30AM.  Mushrooms and Black Pudding (blood sausage, with rice -very nutmeggy, cinnamony) are the best.