October 9, 2018
The Cashew's European Adventure Continues

Hopefully the rather long winded 6 day posting yesterday did not fully incapacitate you as there is more uninteresting drivel still to come, like right now.  Sit down, have a cup of Joe and try to stay awake.

Today's blog will capture the exciting activities from yesterday, Tuesday 10/8.  And off we go.
The day started early.  I slept til about 8:15 with Chiara rising about an hour and 1/2 later.  Such early birds.  I guess it helps to stay up to midnight watching the one or two English speaking movies on TV.  We, or at least I have been sleeping later since arriving.  Usually I am up by 6 to 6:30.  It is surprising that I am sleeping this late.  Anyway, after what passed for breakfast (a cup of tea) and after my shower, Chiara wanted to go to the beach.  Where Rosaria lives, the beach is about 2 miles away.  We drove down and found the place completely deserted,  Of course it is October, and it was a Monday so you would expect a sparser crowd.  But to Italians, the beach is a major goal in how you spend your leisure time.  Regardless of the month, the beaches are crowded on weekends.  That is where you go.  It is colder and possibly more windy, but they love it year round.  And Chiara is no different.

She would like to go to the beach every trip we make, even if it is for just 30 minutes.  As you see she will go into the water if only to get her feet wet.  After her dip, we sat in the shore.  The sun was surprisingly hot, giving you a bit of a burn, even though it was about 70 degrees.  We had the whole beach to ourselves.  It was a clear day so you could see the islands that are close to the mainland.  We are going to try to get over to one of them in the next few days, but we have to see is there are any boats running.  During the summer months people go over daily.  Once the summer ends, things change and the boats are much less frequent.  If we manage to get over there, I will be better able to elaborate on this point.  But back to our exciting day's activity.

After the beach it was my lunch time.  Well, actually it was past my lunch time.  Lunch time here, as you might remember from past complaints of mine, is like 2 PM or later.  Lunch to me is noon.  But I digress.  Coming back from the beach we stop at the local supermarket.  We are picking up a few things.  Chiara sees chestnuts and fennel along with a couple other items.  She bags them up and continues.  I see mortadella, salami and mozzarella cheese.  That is what I want, along with iced tea, some sweet wine and potato chips.  For future reference, I note they also carry prepared chicken wings.  I just might have to indulge myself in the next week or so.  We finish our shopping and head back to her sisters.  Now it is about 1:15.  They eat at 2 or so, and their lunches can be pasta filled  and quite heave for a meal.  Sorry, that is not going to cut it.  I open the loaf of bread they have on the table and prepare my ultimate sandwich, lots of the two meats and the cheese.  I open the chips for all to share and pour my iced tea.  What more could one want out of life?  Chiara waits for the family and helps clean up as the women folk were making cookies for a future gathering.  I should point out that earlier, Chiara's cousin, Louisa, came over to help Rosaria with making cookies.  Apparently, Rosaria made them the other day, but they did not come out good and she threw them away.  Her cousin come over to help and to see Chiara.  After their lunch, the three of them chatted for the rest of the after noon, while they made the cookies.  This went on until 5:30.  I should note that we are scheduled to go to Louisa's Thursday for dinner so they will have more time to kibitz.

They stopped at 5:30 as we were invited to Angela's house for dinner and I was directed to prepare to leave.  So they cleaned up and we headed out.  We got to Angela's a little after 6.  I figure dinner will be maybe 7 or so.  But how wrong I was.  First it was not just Angela and Pietro,  No!  There was also to be Onofrio, Silvanna, Angela's two sons and their girl friends.  A total of ten people.  Now I have no problem with the numbers.  It does get a bit cramped in the kitchen (there is no dinning room) and the table is packed with the food and everyone's plate.  The issue (for me only) was that Pietro was working until 8:30.  So that is when dinner would start.  As you all know, this is an issue for me.  Italians like to eat late.  They eat and after a short while, they can just go to bed.  Me on the other hand, cannot begin to sleep on a full stomach.  That and possible bouts with acid reflux can create problems for me.  But what could I do.  Angela was making pizza, a total of 4 pies, 3 of them large.  She was making me a special one of meatballs and sausage. I could not say no.  It would be insulting.  She also made large meatballs, had mortadella and salami along with very large Mozzarella balls, both regular and smoked.  And lets not forget about the bread.  I was very good and only had the pizza, which she put on my plate or should I say it hung over my plate, and a couple of slices of the mortadella.  Another note: they always have mortadella now because I mistakenly let then know I like it.  I was so full from it that I could not go to bed until midnight but I could not get comfortable with my full stomach.  Needless to say it was a restless night.  These are the crosses I must bear to keep the little woman happy.  It is a messy job, but someone has to do it.  We left around 9:50 in the evening as we had to get back to Rosaria's before their bedtime since the properly is gated and we don't have any means to get it.  Over all, it was a typical day in Italian paradise.  Plenty of food, much conversation (in Italian) and large gatherings in small places. 


Now most people would like these cookies, but I have not been able to appreciate Italian pastries and deserts.  They are just not my thing.