food, glorious food (m)

Imagine serving fruits and vegetables only when in season and perfectly ripened the natural way.  Imagine home-cooked sauces.  Imagine eating outdoors with the sun warming every bone in your body and views of mountains surrounding you on all sides.  Imagine enjoying all that with a cold glass of crisp, white wine without sulfites.  Imagine not being rushed to leave, even in your second hour at the table.

This is why I want to retire to Italy.

Every day, we eat breakfast at the hotel.  Buffet style.  Platters of fresh fruits, homemade breads with lots of grains, eggs done three different ways (scrambled, hard boiled, sunny side up).  Platters of prosciutto and speck (ham) and cheeses.  Even trays of breakfast desserts--chocolate croissants, tartes, ricotta pies.  There are a few cereal options...mostly muesli.  Lots of yogurt.  I had the 0% yogurt and cut up fresh fruit into it.  It is perfect.  Harrison eats the fruit yogurts which he says are better than anything he's ever had at home.

The tea selection is excellent.  I have fennel tea every day which, shall we say, cleaned me out.  The cappuccino is excellent.  Just the right amount of froth.

There is no lunch at the hotel so we go to the local restaurant every day.  I have the white bean soup twice.  It is something my grandmother used to make and tastes exactly like hers.  Brings tears to my eyes.  Harrison gets a tomato and mozzarella salad and a prosciutto and melon salad.  The other days, I get a garden salad with tuna on top and dress it with a little red wine vinegar.  It is perfect.  No breads.  Surprisingly, they don't really push the bread which is great.


Dinners are an elaborate salad buffet.  All the lettuce is locally grown and fresh.  I imagine it did not come out of bags, ostensibly "pre-washed."  Arugula, radicchio, romaine.  More prosciutto.  Fresh cut cheeses.  And lots of peppers, onions, carrots, beets.  Then you order  a meat or chicken dish followed by a pasta course.  Desserts are creme brulees, cannolis or tartes.  Followed by fresh fruit.

One night, I venture out and get the spaghetti carbonara.  Insanely good.  I eat the whole dish.  Hey, if I'm going to die from something, this is a good way to go.  I figure with all the walking all day long and all the stair climbing, it can't make or break my week.

Here's a few pictures of the beautiful presentation of some of the foods.  Even the cappuccino makes you smile.