October 17, 2018
Big Cashew's European Travels


The days are winding down and we are left with the final two.  Today is a travel day, as we will be headed to Rome, or should I say the Rome airport in Fumicino, to prepare for our flight tomorrow.  We still have packing to complete, as we have bottles of wine, candies, cookies and a few other odds and ends to stuff into the suitcases.  We hope to leave before noon, hopefully by 11, but that will remain to be seen.  Once we get to our hotel, we will park the car, drop off our luggage and try to get a shuttle to the airport where we will then take the train into central Rome, hope on the subway and go visit a few sights before we head back to the hotel.  The flight tomorrow is at 11:15.  Still holding out hope we can get the upgrade to first, but that is for another day. Its time to tell the tale of yesterday.

As usual, the day was off to a slow start.  Up at 7:30 , making my tea and then catching up on the news of the day.  Chiara is always a little later in rising but that is to be expected.  We do get our sh#t together and head out around 10 or so.  We are going to the supermarket to look for the cookies and candies to bring back, along with wine as that is where it is sold.  Supermarkets here come in all shapes and sizes.  Some are like large 7/11's with the main staples only while others have all the bells and whistles.  They have large produce areas, although  there seems more veggies than fruits.  There are bakery sections, a butcher shop, plenty of seafood and fish, both fresh and frozen, eggs, milks and creams, along with cereals, candies, pastries, snacks and such.  They also sell wines and some liquors.  Jameson seems to be the one whiskey most carry.  Well, anyway, we go in and pick up a few things, and look for the wines.  This time around. most of the wine will be sweet.  I am the main drinker so I get what I want.  Besides, almost everyone likes a little sweet wine after a meal.

So we finish up and head back to the house.  Chiara starts arranging things for packing while also chatting with Rosaria.  This is really just sorting things out for the main effort today.  We have to do some laundry so Rosaria gets that taken care of and once completed, we put it on the line to dry.  No dryers here, or at least, very few.  The rest of the morning and early afternoon is really just hanging around, having a lite lunch and passing the time until about 2:30.  That is when we head to Angela's to start our goodbyes.  Angela and Pietro have done some shopping to present us with stuff to take back.  They also give us wine and cookies.  They were giving us 3 bottles of wine, but we would not have the room so we picked one that we know we can drink.  We are there for about an hour.  Then we say more goodbyes and head to Bacoli.  Chiara is meeting her old school mates again, this time at a coffee shop/bar in the center of town just up from my favorite gelato place.  I drop her off and head right to it.  My last gelato goes down really smooth and sweet.  It is a difficult parting, but I have to move on.  I find a spot near the water and park for the next 2 1/2 hours and just watch the ships go by while listening to my book on tape.

This is my third one on the trip and I might finish it before we get back, but I cant be sure.  It is entertaining though.

Chiara calls me near 7 to pick her up.  I wait a few minutes and then head off back to the gelato place.  We then head to Genaro's for dinner.

 It is another glorious meal.  We are there with Genaro, Salatina, Rosaria, Lello and Danny.  There is a large party coming in around 9 or so, so we have a slightly early dinner time.  The first course is brochette, which is better than we make at home.  Then we get lobster and pasta in an olive oil, tomato and spices sauce.

 I can't believe how great this tastes.  Now I am pretty much full, having 2 pieces of brochette and two pieces of bread along with the lobster, but that is never enough for these people.  We are then served a hugh plate of various fried fishes, calamari, octopus and conch.  Now I am over stuffed.  But don't forget dessert.  Someone made homemade donuts so I have to have that also.  It is a wonderful meal and a great time.  As usual, they are so giving with everything.  It is always a great experience.

We always try to talk the family into coming to the States.  We are hoping that Pietro and Angela will return, perhaps in February or March, they say.  They travel a lot with their friends so we cant be sure.  During our stay, Adriena and Gigi also say they want to come over.  The same for Rosaria and Louisa, their cousin.  I say we have room for everyone and we will make it so.  But I also say I will believe it when I see it.  Rosaria doesn't fly (nor does Lello) and Gigi is not in the best of health.  I don't see Adriena going without him so that's a big question mark.  However, they do travel together, as I noted, so you never know.  I just wish they could so we could start to repay everyone for their generosity, treating us like family all the time.  I could show them a couple of my fancy dinners, although it might be prudent to hire the Big Dog and fly him in, to cook up a couple of his specialties.  Plus he would be great for crowd control in case these Italian try to take over the kitchen!

So, anther two plus weeks have come and gone.  It has been a bit tough at times for Chiara but I hope this has lightened her heart just a little and that she could forget, for a few minutes, the other issues in our lives.  There will be one more installment for the Blog once we get back.  Catch you on the return.