10th June 2009

mercoledi deici giugno
What a superb day. The weather is great, perhaps just a little warm, but not unbearable. Started with breakfast downstairs in the breakfast room. This is such a nice place, and it is all so tastefully decorated. My breakfast this morning was corn flakes with a kiwi fruit (locally grown and I remember reading a few years back about some local Tauranga people going to Italy to plant kiwi fruit and I remember wondering why some New Zealanders would want to introduce the fruit to the other side of the world to be in season when ours are, but there doesn't appear to be an abundance of them in the shops, and the one I had today was certainly very tasty.) I followed this with a croissant. These come packaged and aren't buttery and flakey like the ones we get at home. They are much more bread-like and the one I had today again was filled with apricot jam. A jug of coffee was brought to my table, I heard Alice making it on the coffee machine, but then it comes to the table in a jug. So I got just over two cups of black coffee – not too strong I've read through my notebook from Headwater to see what they say about coffee and it is all quite different from home. It is an absolute definite that you don't drink cappuccino after lunch or dinner – it is considered too heavy on the stomach. I learnt that the coffee I had yesterday – a Latte Macchiato – is a cup of hot milk with a dash of espresso, as opposed to a cafe latte which is a cup of hot milk with an espresso.
Today was my rest day at Galzignano. There were a number of choices, but I took the easiest options. I didn't fancy riding all the way back up that hill I mistakenly took yesterday – a 20km round trip to Arqua Petrarca. I opted for the easy option, a gentle ride back to Valsanzibio to the garden and it was certainly worth the trip.

Because I am staying at albergo Belvedere I got a E1 discount on the entry fee and spent over two hours wandering around the gardens. Not a lot of flowers, but lots of trees and fountains and statues. On my way to the gardens I passed an old lady selling cherries on the side of the road so I stopped and bought a box (I think 1kg) for E4.00. They are so sweet and yummy so I had a picnic of cherries and an Almond Magnum icecream at the gardens.
I am finding that I am spending very little, because my accommodation and dinner and breakfast is all paid for so that's good. I don't have to scrimp on the luxuries, and can go into things like the garden at E7.50 which normally I might think twice about going into.
After my “picnic lunch” I cycled back to Albergo Belvedere, planning on stopping and window shopping through the villagio, but it was after 1pm and everything was closed, so I headed right on back to Belvedere. Cycling through il villagio I came across two policemen who had pulled over a driver in a BMW who had sped past me a couple of kms down the road. He was taking documents out of his wallet,, while they stood menacingly on each side of his door with their hands on their guns – one of them had a pistol, the other a much larger automatic looking machine gun. Oh scary, I just kept me head down and kept cycling and was pleased to arrive at the hotel without incident where I sat and relaxed on the terrace with an orange juice before going upstairs for a twenty minute Nana Nap. That wasn't a sight I expected to see out here in the country. Got used to seeing policemen with pistols on their hips in Venice.
Later, closer to 4pm I walked up to the church, whose bells I hear ringing all the time. The church is no longer used, apart from the bells, and alongside is a cemetery. Now I'm not normally one to go fossicking through old graveyards, but this one was so beautiful. Every grave was well looked after, even though some of them had been there since 1940 something. All had fresh flowers on them and almost every grave had a photo of the person on it. It was perched up on top of the hill so I took some great photos of the view from up there. I worried momentarily about my plan to walk to “il villagio” and then remembered I didn't have to walk all the way up here again on the way home. So I headed down to the village, but unfortunately a lot of the places were closed, it is Wednesday and this is the day they close in the afternoon. Different towns have different opening times, and closing days. . Open from 8-1 and then again from 3-4 or some 4-5pm, Some close Monday, some Tuesday and this one closed today. Wow that it is confusing, just as well I didn,t need to buy anything.

I bought a limone gelato to eat on the way back which was lovely and cooling and refreshing. When I arrived back at the albergo I decided to sit outside on the terrace for a while, just reflecting on what i've seen and done so far, and contemplating whats to come. It's so peaceful, the hills surrounding the albergo, very little traffic going past.
I was pleased today to be able to finally able to connect to the internet and catch up with news from home. I had to come downstairs to be close to the office to connect by wi-fi and you can imagine my shock horror when I opened my blog page to add the last three days to find that the instructions were all in Italian. I thought for a few horrible moments that I wasn't going to be able to work it out, but my trusty phrasebook came to the rescue and I finally got it sorted. Took me a while, but I was pleased also to be able to get into my h.graham@kinect address and get all my emails. How clever the internet is and it made me feel not quite so alone.
And then before I knew it, it is time for la cena. (dinner) They dine late here – la otto meno un quarto (¼ to eight). The owner had spoken with me earlier in the day to discuss tonights menu and so I just sat and was waited on. I felt so important and special, they really go out of their way to look after you here.
Tonight there is a table set for me out on the terrace so I go out there and savour a glass of vino bianco (another product made by the owners) before my meal arrives and although I am quite hungry by now, I resist the temptation to scoff all the bread in the basket so that I have room for the real food.
The first course was spaghetti – flavoured with garlic and pepper, with some slivers of chilli. It was oily but not unpleasantly so, quite spicy but not too spicy and was sprinkled generously with parmesan. Interestingly it was served on a flat plate, not in a bowl like it is served in New Zealand and you only use a fork, not a fork and spoon like at home. I sit quietly for a second or two and watch what the locals do before I start to eat so that I don't make a complete ass of myself.
That good looking man from last night is my silent dining companion again, this time at the table next door. But the tables are placed so that we are looking out at the view and not at each other, so we don't even make eye contact at all. And then he goes and spoils the image by lighting up a smoke after his first course. What a waste of good food to ruin the taste with a cigarette. Fortunately the very light breeze is blowing in the other direction so the smoke drifts away from me and I don't even smell it. Thank goodness, I would hate to ruin the meal with that horrible smell.
Now the second course. On discussion with Alice's mother this afternoon, she explained with the aid of her Italian-English dictionary that she would like to cook me the house special for dinner tonight and needed to check that I ate fish. Now as you know I have this severe allergy to shellfish and other seafood so I tend to steer clear of fish of most kinds, and the description in her dictionary was “sea scorpion.” She assured me it was a fillet of fish, white fleshy fish and so I thought I'd take a chance. I showed her the phrase in my phrasebook sono allergico i frutti di mare, which I have learnt off pat, and she patted my hand and told me okay okay.
So out comes the pan fried sea scorpion. It was thankfully real fish, quite a think chunky fish , very lightly fried, and covered with chopped tomato and onion, again sprinkled quite generously with their olive oil. It is so delicious. And then out comes the salada. Lettuce, thick slices of tomato and grated carrot. Thankfully I knew what to do with the salad – thanks to Bernhard the Swiss gentleman I met when I was learning to speak Italian in NZ. We had gone out to dinner at La Barca at the Mount and he had explained about dining in Italy and how to add the oil and balsamic to your salad and mix at the table. Thank you Bernhard for the lesson.
Again there are no carbs in the main dish, all very healthy so I am feeling good about eating everything. After that first night I was feeling anxious that by the end of my holiday I will have gained tons, but hopefully the last couple of days meals have compensated. I surely don't want to be worrying about it because I want to enjoy the whole experience. Hopefully I am cycling far enough each day to work the calories off.
This is fine dining at it's best. I feel like a VIP being waited on and made to feel so special. The evening is perfect, still warm and balmy, the birds are singing and the sun has gone down behind the hills but it it is still quite light, although they have just turned on the subtle lighting on the deck.
And now Alice offers me dessert – again choices – Tiramasu, crème caramel, or ice cream, or was there something else I would prefer. I go for the tiramasu – I have to have it at least once while I am here in Italy. And what a good choice. It is divine. Nothing like the kiwi tiramasu.i have had. It is so delicately soft and spongy and generously sprinkled with the most heavenly cocoa powder which is smooth and soft, not sweet but not bitter and which just melts in your mouth. In between the sponge is this delicious cream, not sweet, but golden yellow, not sickly rich. Um, it is delicious. She also brought me a bowl of their home grown fresh cherries, floating in water. And they are even sweeter than the ones I bought on the way to the gardens this morning.
And so ends a perfetto day. I go upstairs to pack my panniers for my 36km cycle tomorrow. I am headed to Teolo. And I sure hope I don't get lost tomorrow as I am surrounded by mountains and it will not be pleasant. The hotel at Teolo is on top of a hill and I have the option of calling the Headwater rep in the afternoon and arranging for her to bring the van and take me up there if the thought of the climb is too much. I will see how I go.
There is no internet at the hotel in Teolo so I won't get to post another page until I get to Agriturismo L'Albara on Saturday.
Oh and by the way – A huge thanks to John Eales and Rona who insisted that I buy myself these most unflattering cycle pants. They may look ghastly but they worked a treat that first day. And thanks to Linda for the loan of the gel seat. The Headwater rep said I wouldn't need it as the saddles were very soft, but I put it on anyway. No harm in being comfortable. So the only parts of me that were really hurting that night were my shoulders and arms. The butt was fine, and because I only had a 6 or so km ride today I wore my ordinary slacks, and what a difference. I will stick to the padded ones, even for the short rides. To hell with how I look.
Well that's all for now.
Ciao
p.s. It's now the morning and I am about to set off. So far so good. I think I know which way I'm going today' well at least for the first 5km and then I have the short option or the long option.Here's hoping.