La Baia e La Spiaggia

2After lunch we went for a little walk. The girls were being a bit naughty doing monkey see monkey do, they decided they wanted a shoulder ride and stole their daddy's glasses.

This is the port area

The girls played in the sand at the beach.

Speaking of monkeys...

That evening we went to a fabulous restaurant where they serve la Florentina (a large juicy cut of steak, but don't ask me what part of the cow, all I know is that it is the best part). That big grey thing on the plate is a heated stone. The Florentina is just seared, but it still moos in the middle and then served sliced. If you want it heated up you put it on the stone. Cool huh?

La Baia

The reason for going to Gambettola is that my friend Geraldine and her family live there. For the last 5 years I've been saying that we will come and visit. Being the procrastinator that I am, we had yet to go. Max had 2 days off in a row and so I called up Deen and we made a last minute invasion on the VegaraMarchis. They took us to a fab restaurant La BaiaI hope this is just a phase, Sophia always has to make a funny face when having her foto taken.

Geraldine and Vivienne.

Carolina

Me and Viv
(Mom bought us a car seat that snaps into our hardly used old stroller we got for Sophia,
and but we hardly ever use it. Just like her big sister, Vivienne lives in the BabyBjorn)

Nicola and Geraldine.

Booty washin and more REAL food

I forgot what it's like to wash little booties in our sink!

Max washes Vivs booty for the first time (Sophia brought the teddy so she wouldnt cry).

We went out to Cento Barolo to celebrate Viv's hospital release.

It's a little wine bar near our house and the food was excellent.

We each got a set menu. Starters was a plate of cold meats and
giardiniera (the pickled veggies)with tigelle (the flat bread).

Trattoria dei Cacciatori

When we tell people that we're moving to Brugherio, they always say "Oh, near Trattoria dei Cacciatori?" Ever since we found out, we've been dying to try it. It's Italian homestyle cooking. It's a set lunch menu, so there are very few choices. Mostly workers in the area go there. And for the amount and quality of food you get, the price is very cheap. First (pasta or rice), second (meats or cheeses) and coffee is only 11 Euro. Our new house is right next door, I think we will be going there a lot. And...they say if a really heavy meal can be a catalyst for starting labor.This is the back room, it looks like it's been recently done and must be nice to sit in with all the windows opened during nice weather.

Max and I had saffron risotto with sausage and porcini mushrooms.

Max is totally satisfied with his choice.

Mom and I digging in.
(Must remember to tilt head downward, I look like Grimace)
I forgot to take pictures of the second plates because we were soooo into eating by then! Next time I will try and remember.

BTW - I was extremely uncomfortably full, I was totally hating it for a few hours, but no labor pains.

Lunch at la Luna e i Falò

The Parisi's came out by train and we went out to lunch at this place Max found. I don't even have words for how good the food was-it ROCKED!

Nonno and Sophia (not looking at the camera again).

Max seated near all the wines! Good thing they had locks!

The Grandmothers.

Grandma gnawing on the cotoletta.

Marghera 37

Lily and Salvo are in town. Went out to dinner with the gang.

Make a slide show, scrapbook or ecard

Yum Yum Dim Sum

Went to get my first fix of Dim Sum. My good little Asian baby - she likes plain white sticky rice more than risottos and hot tea in a small cup without sugar! In fact she is even more Asian than me, she is soooo into chicken feet! ack, even I cant handle that!

;op

Ugh...woke up feeling like crap and with no voice. the allergies have turned into a cold. Couldnt meet mom at Cimetero Monumentale, so we just met them for dinner instead. Drowning myself in airborne, vivin C and allegra so i can try and enjoy everyone's visit.
Went to really nice place on the corner of Via Muratori, called Casa Tua. We asked what used to be there, since i used to work just down the street and didnt remember what was there before. They told us they combined to stores, one was the old sartoria, and i remember that. The food was pretty good, its the same owner of Giulio, pane olio thats just down the street. I dont think their food as good at Giulio's. It's supposed to be romano, but i found it just to be garlic-y. Casa Tua is tuscan, and you know max and his tuscan roots, he's picky about other's so called tuscan cuisine. But it was good. They serve panzanella (a salad with bread and tomatoes and raw purple onions with olive oil) and some salami and pecorino. the best thing on the menu was the pistachio pesto (altho i dont think thats typical tuscan). The service was excellent and they were really kind and friendly to sophia, which is unusual for restaurants here. they arent usually kid friendly.
Mom is off to Stresa at Lago Maggiore tomorrow, so this is the last we will see her until we go back home.