sassi di miglia- senza foto

Occasionally we realize we have reached milestones in our trip, and this week I noticed a new one. Maddy and Gus were both home sick from school. It's a sure sign that when they start to get better the bickering and squabbling resumes (are we the only ones?). This time they were fighting about the rules of Uno, but what made it different is that they were doing so in Italian. It almost made it charming...

palermo, città di contradizzioni

this is a back-blog...
Palermo was a stunning mix of seemingly contradictory components- all the energy and road rage of Manhattan, all the history and grandeur of Paris, in places the squalor and poverty of Calcutta* and all in a climate and natural environment that closely resembles that of Miami. At a certain point, I switched to taking pictures in black & white because it reflected the subject better- buildings with businesses on the street level, but two floors of abandoned apartments above in buildings that were naturally beautiful and old enough to be on any European historical register, great public statues with broken fences, sidewalks crumbled to the point of danger, trash on the street all over- and yet warm, kind people and the best food we've had yet (and that's really saying something!) You may recognize the Teatro Massimo from pictures 2, 3 &4- where the final scene of the Godfather was filmed.

*OK, I've never been to Calcutta, and I really have no right... but Mother Teresa did establish a mission in the very same neighborhood we spent most of our time, and not very many years ago, so the comparison is not too far off.

katy sta con noi!

The 5 of us were finally reunited for 12 short days. Highlights of Katy’s stay included: hearing all about new friends and classes at Beloit, a snowstorm that left our car (and both of our neighbors’) stranded at the bottom of the hill, walks on the top of the hills to soak in the glorious view, a couple of trips into Bologna (one to see the sights, one to shop the mercato and saldi (January sales)), plenty of time in the shower (mostly to get a wireless signal), celebrating la befana (when a which comes in the night between January 5th and 6th and brings candy to the bambini buoni (good kids) and coal to the bambini cattivi (bad ones)- when our kids tasted their coal, they discovered it was black licorice-flavored candy, good news! You can see la befana on a cake in the photos), a trip to Florence with sunny weather and relative warmth (and wait of only about 15 min to get into the Uffizi, unheard-of!), and finally pizzas at our favorite local pizzeria.
Photos:

1. katy arrives safely
2. on the way up the Tower in Bologna, cold noses and toes
3. katy maddy gus on top of the tower (only 500-some steps)
4. view of Bologna from tower
5. la befana on cake in window at Gamberini (best bakery in BO)
6. katy finds best wifi signal in shower
7. katy decked-out in mercato purchases
8. view of our winter wonderland from neighboring hill
9. katy maddy gus at the mercato La Borsa at the porcelino in Firenze
10. maddy orders everyone's gelato in Firenze
11. katy's gelato
12. the arno, taken from behind the Uffizi
    
13. all of us at Capriccio
    

il blog di gus- treno di notte

hi, we went on a “treno di notte” a night train and it was FUN! at first it was scary because it seemed like if the train stopped really suddenly, then we’d fall off the top bunk, but then I realized it wasn’t a problem because there were straps from the ceiling to the bed and it was FUN! The beds were comfortable, they folded down and the bottom bunks turned into seats for sitting, there were four beds, one for each of us in the car, and yet there were six seats. When we woke up we went on a boat and the train went with us- they put the train on the boat in thirds so it would actually fit. It was surprising that the boat could still float with the train inside. We went up to the third deck on the boat for lunch and I could see that the second deck had a bunch of cars in it.

pandoro e vin santo

for dessert on Christmas we enjoyed two traditional treats- pandoro; buttery, spongy, very tall, covered in powdered sugar (closely related to panetone, minus the chestnuts, etc) and cantuccini with vin santo

il blog di Gibbs- zampone

Christmas dinner was a traditional regional dish from Modena called Zampone. This is the Italian word for paw, and the pictures show why it’s called that. A zampone is a sausage made of pork (meat, fat, and skin) that uses the foreleg of a pig as the casing. The bones are all removed from the foreleg and the sausage is stuffed in, then the thing is sewn shut and set to age for a few months. Actually not all of the bones are removed, the knuckles are left in (you need something to hold onto the toenails – which are also left attached). This is not a sausage that you grill (or fry or bake). In order to make the casing tender enough to eat, you have to soak the zampone for twelve hours the night before cooking. The next day you wrap it in oven paper or parchment and boil it for 3 – 5 hours. When it’s all done you slice it, serve it with mashed potatoes and vegetables (preferably something light - like a slaw). Despite the appearance (and the fact that it’s a pig leg) it’s really very tasty, even the skin. Granted this sounds gross and we wouldn’t normally eat a plate of boiled pig skin, but we wouldn’t normally eat a plate of boiled pig intestines either.

cantuccini

this photo is proof that I am not only baking American treats- my friend Lucia gave me this recipe (naturally dairy-free!) for cantuccini. Biscotti are cookies, usually for breakfast, but not the term for these. According to Lucia, Cantuccini are a Tuscan specialty from a town not too far from Firenze called Prato and they should be enjoyed only after pranzo (a big lunch) or cena (dinner) with a glass of vin santo (not so different from sherry). My first try at the recipe was a flop, I didn’t make the logs you eventually cut thin enough and they turned into what I’ve dubbed cantuccioni (big, fat cantucci). Pictured is my second try, it’s going much better now.