Sometimes it’s not the food – it’s where you are and the person you’re eating with that makes a meal special and memorable. My hiking buddy and I had our last hike together for many months on Sunday. We returned to the Goldfield Mountains to search for an elusive trail that will now have to wait til November to meet my boots. In lieu of the missing trail we opted to scramble up several rocky hills. Lest you think these were gentle little mounds, here is the view of our car from our picnic spot:
Can you even see that little dot down there?
In any event, after our exertions we had a fancier than usual mountaintop meal. HB (hiking buddy) brought smoked salmon, caviar and those wafer thin crackers that want to be Wasa bread but aren’t rough and tough enough. I brought smoked gouda cheese (which come to think of it was a gift from HB), grapes and salted pecans. Accustomed as we are to wolfing down sandwiches, this was a meal fit for royalty, and we enjoyed every bite.
The company was superlative, the views in all directions were breath-taking and the day was warm without being hot. There is no accompanying recipe to this post; here’s what you do: buy some great smoked salmon and a little jar of caviar, pack that with some crackers, fruit and nuts in your pack, remember to take plenty of water, and don’t forget a lemon (HB didn’t), find a high place, climb to the top with a good friend, and eat. Buon Appetito!
An Ex-Expatriate 
Thank you for the birthday wishes and compliments, very kind!
You must be absolutely restless to return to Liguria. 😀
As to food, Italian food is difficult to forget… and generally, I have a photographic memory when it comes to good food and great clothes… I can tell my partner what we were wearing and what we ate on any given past trip… but ask me the specific calender date of said occasion, and I’m hopelessly lost! We each have different strengths for these sort of things I suppose… but not a very good line for trying to explain your way out of trouble when you have forgotten the date of a special anniversary of some sort!
Oh, and you asked me about London the last time! You are right about the corwds, especially since we live only a couple of streets away from Oxford Streests – and our doorstep is overun with tourists, especially in the summer. Our summers are pretty damn good (except that last two, which were literally a wash out!). Have you visited at that time of year? An average London summer can reach up 36° centigrade. A few weeks ago, we had a few days which put us warmer and dryer than Athens, very nice! Honestly, as much as I love Italy, I love Britain so very much (although it is not my motherland), for totally different reasons. It’s nice to have 3 countries to vie for your affections, in any case. :-p
Warm regards for you and your loved ones. I am very pleased your home was not affected by the disaster. What a shock that was!
Hi. I’m 28 years old. I have lived in London, England for the past 21 years. My partner of 3 years is Italian – originally from Padua, then later raised in Milan.
I stumbled across your blog whilst searching for traveler’s comments about visiting Italy – I wanted to know if others had been struck as though by a thunderbolt, as I had been. 😀 And it seems they were… of course they were, I just wanted to read how others verbalised their feelings. Yours is the best I have come across so far. Thank you. 🙂
I have visited several parts of Italy now (Aosta, Venice, Padua), and have fallen wildly in Love. I eventually hope to live there within the next ten years or so (London is an addictive place to disengage yourself from).
Italy however, is my spiritual home (in a non Vatican sense :-p). I have never been so delighted with a place in my live. I think I must have been an Italian in a previous life… that would explain why I had an immediate affinity with the place, it’s people, and their general magnificent approach to enjoying life.
I am just in the middle of Bella Tuscany, which is what brought the similarity of your style to mind… I have really enjoyed your blog, especially the comments and photos about moped drivers – really made me laugh out loud, with pleasure.
Keep writing about Italy, the little things and the big things. I want to know them all.
I wish you a glorious spring.
Hey, when it comes to writing you’re no slouch yourself. You’ve visited some lovely parts of Italy, and you’ve got lots more to look forward to. Rome is my favorite Italian city. Yes, it’s full of tourists, but it’s a living city, with modern life trotting along right beside ancient ruins. Gorgeous. I can’t think of a place that gives a better visual precis of history’s sweep. Have you been there yet? Did you visit Mantova (Palazzo Ducale – great wedding chamber by Mantagna) when you went to Padova? And speaking of Padova, did you see the incredible Scrovegni Chapel (Giotto)? We first saw it years ago when one could just walk in and spend all day there. I couldn’t believe my eyes. And I love the Riviera too. I but came to my love of Italy very reluctantly. I was not Italian in a former life! London is great too, but it has changed so much, don’t you think? So crowded now (unlike Italy? har.) And the weather… bah! But a clear crisp day in London can’t be beat. But oh! you have so much to look forward to. Yippee! Thanks for reading my blog and saying such kind things; we’re going home next week and we can’t wait!
I’ve never been to Rome, unfortunately. The right time just never presented itself – I’m sure it will happen soon. I’ve been wanting to visit ever since I saw Roman Holiday as a young girl – the film in which Audrey Hepburn meets Gregory Peck in romantic Rome. *Sigh*
As to my other destinations, I only had a day-trip in Padua, it was an impulsive gift from my partner the summer just before we were about to set up home together permanently in London. Whilst in town, I saw the Basilica di Sant’Antonio, I walked through the Prato della Valle, and noticed the lovely portici – which would be better suited to Britain’s wet weather – I wanted to take them with me!
Mid-morning we stopped at a cute little cafe right in front of the Basilica for a morning aperitivo – a place with the most delicate, softest, thinest, crustless sandwichs I’ve seen anywhere in the world. Apparently called a “tramezzini”. Mine had a filling of tuna capers, eggs and mayonnaise. Those sound like simple enough ingredients, but it must have been the quality, and the delicacy of the bread that set it apart. Washed down with an Aperol spritzer – anyplace where drinking begins at 11am in the morning without raising a single eyebrow is truly decadent and la dolce vita in my book! Suffice to say Italy agress with me in that department. Heh heh.
Lunch was on Prato della vale, at a lovely mostly glass place, where we could feel the the caress of the sun on our faces and warm our bones – we ate like there was no tomorrow! Mostly seafood – tastes so much better than anything else when summer comes.
Venice was Venice, the greatest city in the world, what more can I say? We spent three days and saw almost all there was to see. Even though we went in August, when it was wall to wall with tourists – I was still in seventh heaven, nothing could detract from the wonder of Venice. You really cannot accurately picture what it feels like to dispense with roads until you get there. It felt like I’d landed on another planet! A sophisticated, seductive, aquamarine heaven.
I do love my food – and the highlight in that department were the spuncioni (takes its name from the wooden toothpick small cocktail sticks you use to eat them), we looked around for absolutely ages before we found a place which served a decent selection (I didn’t know any better, but my partner wanted to find a precise deep-fried sort) – in a square behind the Rialto Bridge, tucked away in a little corner, and filled with locals of all ages and sizes speaking only dialect – charming! 😀
As to the sights – the highlight for me was the Palazzo Ducale – stunning. We also managed to pick up tickets for a special temporary exhibition detailing Venice’s long history with the Muslim world – “Venice and Islam” I think it was called – fascinating, the exchange of culture art and even language.
Aosta was also a day trip… we went along to dine with my partner’s brother and wife, to celebrate his birthday – more wine and eating, much richer and heavier food this time – a December visit. It was so cold, my throat felt quite tender for the entire following day!
Perhaps it’s for the best I don’t live in Italy – I’m sure I would be as big as a house by now with all the eating I do when I’m there, as I can’t seem to pass up Italian desserts for anything… Could have something to do with the blandness of British food, a bit like offering a starving man an incredible platter. Heh heh
Speaking of birthday’s, it was mine today, and I had such a lovely time… I hope yours was equally as good if not better!
Warm regards,
Tia
Well Happy Birthday a few days late! And many happy returns of the day. (I’ve been away from a computer for a few days and am only now catching up.) You seem to have a fine appreciation for the finer points of Italian life – especially the food, which is about the finest point there is to life here. I so admire people who have vivid food memories – I have trouble remembering what I ate yesterday, never mind the last time I was in Venice. Complimenti! The food in Aosta would be a lot heavier than Venice – the climate is so different, for starters. It’s a very beautiful part of the country, though, even if a bit cold and snowy in winter. And how great that you still have Rome to look forward to. It’ll knock your socks off!
Tia ~ Thanks. That’s a really nice compliment. Yes, I read her book and saw the movie (which I didn’t care for as much as the book). She spends her time in Tuscany; we are about 3 or 4 hours north in Liguria, a very different place. Do you live in Italy?
Your style of blogging and love of Italy reminds me of the writings of Frances Mayes… Another American Tuscany resident. The author of Under the Tuscan Sun – a beautiful book and now film! Are you familiar with her work?
Your picnic sounds heavenly. I hope the rain lets up soon – it’s been raining for days, hasn’t it? ugh. You must have some beautiful hiking up there…
I swear I am just itching to get out in my hiking boots again. Rain, rain go away, Rowena wants a sunny day!
I’m going to take a hint and put smoked salmon on the list of things to pack when we make that first spring hike. Of course, we can’t forget the prosciutto, formaggio, pane, cioccolato, frutta, etc etc.