If All Meat Was This Pretty . . .

I’d still probably be a vegetarian, but it’d be a lot harder. Just look at that lovely meat (both sliced and spread). I expect meat-eating pals will be drooling now:

PS: This plate was delivered (if I remember correctly) to pal Shane Farmer at a restaurant in Arezzo called Le Tastevin.

*See all Italian restaurants

*Note: We were on pre-tirement, and now we’re back. Want the full story? Start the pre-tirement journey here. Want to go backwards? Read the last pre-tired post here and scroll back. Or, just keep coming back for pretty Italy pictures.

Five* More Pictures of Florence

Earlier, I posted five pictures of Florence, and talked some about wandering around this city that Nat and I are both really fond of, both for its art treasures, its food, and its streets and atmosphere. Since then, Nat’s been once more, but I hadn’t until we stopped in a few weeks ago to give our pal Shane (who you may be sick of hearing about—then again, how could you be?) a one day Florence overview before he headed back solo, and to meet up with Angela and Bobby, some pals of our pal Jeremy Holt who just were lucky enough to move to Florence. Before meeting up with them for lunch though, we walked Shane around a bit, starting with the Duomo and strolling down Via dei Calzaiuoli to the Piazza della Signoria, one of the main piazza’s in the city, where the Palazzo Vecchio sits, as well as where the horses who buggy folks around Florence stop for snacks:

Also, in the same piazza corner as the Palazzo Vecchio and on one edge of the Uffizi (which is just off the piazza) is the Loggia della Signoria. The Loggia is a sort-of covered porch, where at one point city officials would sit when ceremonies and demonstrations and jugglers were in the piazza, but which now houses an incredible outdoor sculpture museum (the art’s been there since about the 18th century). There aren’t a ton of sculptures there, but the quality is out-of-hand, and the collection includes two favorites of mine, Cellini’s (who features prominently in the title poem in Want, by the by) Perseus and Giambologna’s last work, the spiraling, forceful, Rape of the Sabines:

Florence, naturally, is famous for a number of things: art and culture, leather goods, the Negroni, Dante and the lack of Dante, and much more, but also for fashion. With the latter in mind, and as we often end up walking by the Ferragamo palace (usually on our way to Procacci), Nat and Shane and Bobby and Angela (we met up with them at lunch) decided to stop by the Ferragamo shoe museum. I skipped it and up the street, but Nat was kind enough to take some awesome pictures and I wanted to put one here, because fashion has played its part in Florence history, and because I think this picture of shoe forms (which Ferragamo was famous for) is awesome:

From there, we wandered over to the Oltrarno, or east of the Arno river, side of Florence. The Oltrarno is a charming place to walk through, with bigger sites (Pitti Palace, for example), but also with winding streets with small shops where artisans and craftspeople work, tasty restaurants tucked away in corners, and more. I also love the view over the river, either looking at one of Florence’s bridges, or just at the apartments, hotels, and homes (while dreaming of living there myself of course):

But maybe when considering all of Florence’s beauties, both smaller and larger and gigantic, nothing is as enjoyable as sitting down with a glass or two of wine with friends old and new. Luckily, though we saw a good part of the town this trip, we still had time for this very undertaking--sitting down in a cozy bar in the Oltrarno neighborhood with Angela and Bobby (they were nice enough to introduce us to the bar):

Another fabulous day in Florence—hopefully not our last before the pre-tirement ends.

*Okay, okay, there are really six pictures here. But through the magic of computroning, I combined two into one. Which makes six five. Right?

A Pleasant Morning in Citta Della Pieve

Earlier, I detailed how Shane (who has, sadly for us and Italy, returned to the Pacific Northwest of the United States—happily for those living there) and I went all street style in Citta Della Pieve, while standing in one of its leaner streets. But if I stopped at only detailing that particular road it’d be giving short shrift to a particularly nice, mid-sized Umbrian hill town. We (Nat, Shane, and I) had headed to Citta Della Pieve originally looking for a restaurant owned and run by pals of our pal Gaetano (he of Da Cesari fame). Unfortunately, the restaurant wasn’t open (and honestly, we couldn’t find it anyway, as it is a ways out of city limits, and though the day was pleasant and blue-skied, a little much for our walking minds). Fortunately, Citta Della Pieve itself is charming, and very welcoming to visitors, with easy-to-follow signs, detailing where artistic, historic, and culinary stops are and in what direction, as well as where small attractive alleys were located. In addition, the town is the home of Perugino, who many consider the most famous, and best, Umbrian artist in the 1500s. It's somewhat of a surprise we hadn't yet stopped there (not to mention that pal Veronica told me that a famous Italian soap opera is set there).

We stopped first at the town’s cathedral, with its tall tower and red brick walls (the red brick being everywhere in Citta Della Pieve, due to it not having a large amount of local building stones):

The Duomo was a quiet and lovely spot, with two later paintings by Perugino, loads of interesting marble, and a calm, contented, comfortable feel that many larger churches miss (no pics inside naturally). From there we skipped across the road to the Palazzo Della Corgna, a large place which was for many years the home of the town’s leading family and which is now the Biblioteca Communale (and which also has handy communal bathrooms). It’s possible to walk up a series of stairs almost to the top of the palazzo (once you pass an Etruscan sundial from the six century—B.C. that is), with each staircase, and some walls, decorated by birds, faces, more traditional portraits, and babies riding dragons:

At the stop before the top floor, you can get a fantastic over-view of the town, seeing the traditional red rooftops flecked with green moss, a small grape grove, and rolling hills and larger houses in the distance:

Back outside of the palace though, we quickly founds ourselves just wandering the very streets we looked down on (after sadly missing entrance into the Oratorio di Santa Maria dei Bianchi, where another famous Perugino resides, by about five minutes since they close for lunch at 12:30 and we showed up at 12:35). I love wandering Umbrian hill town streets. The closeness, the colors, the sunshine—or rain—trickling down, and a slight weight in the air from the history contained (if not always recorded) in every step:

A pleasant morning indeed.

Nestor’s Fridays: On Monday!

In the hopes of making your Monday’s tastier (and because I don’t want to get too far behind) here’s a look at our last visit into Nestor’s (one of the finest pizzerias in the land--and by land, I mean the whole gosh darn earth). At this visit, it was not only Nat and I but Mr. Shane (of the rabbit kidnapping and rabbit revenge), which means meat pizza! He had the aptly-named Crazy Boards (both apt in its combination, and cause he’s, well, crazy, and dances the boards), which had prosciutto, sausage, and cream:

He also had a salad (don’t faint), but it was pretty much all meat. Nat went old school and picked out one of our favorites from the first stop in to Nestor’s many years ago, the impossible-to-pronounce Rubasuocere. It has tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, béchamel sauce, porcini mushrooms, and walnuts, and is a lovely flavorful confusion:

I went a little simpler, with the Stracchino, a new favorite. It has (this first one I’ll be you expected) Stracchino cheese, mozzarella cheese, and roket (or radicchio):

The Stracchino cheese gets deliciously gooey, almost like a gourmet Velveeta, balanced out by the bittery roket. Yummy. And now get to work.

*See more Italian restaurants: Capponi, Nestor's,Nonna Gelsa, Le Capannine di Sommavilla, Calagrana, Trattoria Il Saraceno, L Enoteca Wine Club, Mastro Dante, Bar Fizz, Da Cesari, Calagrana Lunch, al Frantoio, La Balestra, Lo Strattoio, Mencuccio, Fiorintino

*See all Italian restaurants

Lunch at Fiorintino and Shane’s Rabbit Revenge

A couple days ago, before we started crying cause Shane was leaving (and laughing cause my mom was arriving—we’re really quite up and down lately), he and I and Natalie stopped in Sansepulcro for lunch at Ristorante Fiorintino. I detailed both the town and the ristorante here, but it’s good enough that I thought a few more pics wouldn’t cause any grief (even if they do cause a little salivating). It’s also a mystery post, as it lets you know how Shane’s rabbit kidnapping (detailed here) turns out. But first, Nat and I’s starter, and one reason we returned to Fiorintino, the Tortino di Riso Nero con Fonduta e Tartufo:

The black rice is delicious, chewy and with a hint of the forest, topped with the cheesy parmesan fondue and shaved black truffles, all the flavors playing off each other. Amazing, really. I want one now. My second course was also pretty darn fine, even with the simple name of Zuppa Cipolla, or onion soup. It was almost more of a caramelized onion gratin in a way, not brothy but onions and bread married with cheese:

Nat went for the second course I had on our first visit, the Ravioli di Castagna con Fonduta di Ricotta, or chestnut ravioli topped with ricotta, which is slightly sweet and completely tasty:

Shane started with a typical big plate of thin sliced pork products and crostini, which I forgot to take a picture of, due to me being so enthralled by Shane’s stores of shopping (turns out, Shane likes to shop about as much as Natalie, which was nice cause then I got to sit in the bar, which I like). For his second and main meaty course, Shane had this:

If you can’t tell, it’s rabbit roasted with apples. See, he broke out of the rabbit kidnapping, and then brought the rabbit along for roasting. He’s a vengeful man, that Shane. But not so much that it makes him skip pudding (or dessert, in American English). None of us did, as he had the panna cotta with fruit, I had a fruit tart, and Nat had a little cake they cut to look like a heart:

Pretty, aren’t they?

*See more Italian restaurants: Capponi, Nestor's,Nonna Gelsa, Le Capannine di Sommavilla, Calagrana, Trattoria Il Saraceno, L Enoteca Wine Club, Mastro Dante, Bar Fizz, Da Cesari, Calagrana Lunch, al Frantoio, La Balestra, Lo Strattoio, Mencuccio

*See all Italian restaurants

Pulling Shapes in Citta della Pieve

Stopped by Citta della Pieve the other day, to visit the birthplace of Perugino (the most famous 15th century painter in Umbria, unless I miss my guess) and wander another lovely hilltown, not realizing that beyond the art and buildings (which I’ll put some photos up of soon) the town is known for its tiny alleyways and side-streets, including the (supposedly) tiniest one in Italy, the Baciadonna (just as large as a woman’s kiss). In my mind, the perfect place for some odd shots and pulling shapes (hah). Not sure Shane agrees at first:

But, as we soon realized, that’s only because he wanted to show off his ninja technique:

Dangerous.

The Meat’s Revenge

Looks like at least one animal couldn’t take the Shane carnage (detailed below) anymore, as this rabbit jumped out and kidnapped him recently:

An Italian all-points bulletin is out, but no word yet. Luckily, we have a little wine left to drown our sorrows.

The Meat Is On: Or, Shane Farmer is Here

Pal Shane came in to town a couple days ago (hence the lack of posting—we’ve been touring the countryside with said Shane, as well as eating a ton and drinking half the wine in the Upper Tiber) and has been eating up the animals of Umbria ever since. Since we don’t tend to have lots of meat photos here on the Six Month blog (Nat and I being vegetarians in Umbria after all), I thought I’d give the meat-eating readers a taste of Shane’s first few meals—all of which were grigliata mista, or mixed grill. He started with a double dose of pork combined with a side of cow at the Bar Fizz:

Then headed to a triple dose of pork (liver, sausage, chop) at the Grotta Azzura in Norcia (a post about Norcia soon, promise), which I photographed a little blurrily, due to having to aim over my risotto:

To round out his trio of mixed grills, he had a multi-mix of pork and beef with too many cuts to name at Mencuccio:

It’s a wonder the creatures haven’t tracked him down to stop his meat rampage.