Dave and Sara, Author at Dave and Sara’s Excellent 2018 Adventure

Pizza, Pasta, and Gelato

By Dave and Sara on Friday, March 30, 2018

Today is sadly our last day of the Sabbatical. We started the day by heading to the Palzzao Fortuny Museum. The museum was quite cool. It was the personal Palazzo of the Artist Fortuny. They had a few other exhibits but the building itself was really cool. The special exhibit was of Zoran Music. Honestly, (this is Dave), I did not think his art was that impressive. Sara liked it though. The permanent exhibit I thought was really cool. Fortuny designed a few theaters and there were models he developed which I also thought were really cool.

After visiting the museum, we headed to grab some Pizza. We headed over to Birreria La Corte. It was one of the few pizzerias on Venice that are allowed to burn wood. Most are restricted to gas due to fire danger. The pizza was quite delicious.

With the Pizza finished, we headed out to run some errands. Even though our planned destinations were only a few 100 meters away, with poor directions each stop took about 15-20 minutes to get to. One of the important stops was to grab some Gelato. We took this shot of relaxing gondoliers as we ate it.

Tonight we have a massage, followed by heading back to Osteria 4 Feri for some pasta and seafood. Tomorrow morning we take the water taxi back to the airport and fly back to the States. Because it was our last day it was important to us to make sure to eat Pizza, Pasta, and Gelato one last time.

Overall, this has been quite an amazing experience. In numbers we have done:

300+ Miles of Walking
4000+ km of driving
60+ Bottles of Wine (not all betweeen just the two of us)
5 Cases of Wine successfuly shipped home
100+ new words Dave has already forgotten in Italian
3 Countries Visited
6 Ski Resort Slayed
40 Euro lost at gas stations
All of the Pizza, Pasta, and Cheese Consumed
0 days we didn’t talk at length about what Joe and Penny were doing

60 days is a long time to spend on vacation. Luckily, we both agree if we were to do it over again, there is not much we would have changed. The skiing was epic and the road trip was an incredible experience. An interesting perspective is that it is rare for couples to spend 60 days without separation with their partner. Usually you have to wait until retirement for that and even then you likely have some alone time when one runs out. Luckily, Sara and I really enjoyed spending the time with each other. Neither of us felt like we needed time apart or a break which I think is good.

I am very thankful for all of the hard work that Sara put in to earn this Sabbatical. Hopefully we get to do it again sometime in the future. What a long, strange trip it’s been and we can’t for the next one.

Alla prossima, Europe.

Italy Road Trip

Quiet Day

By Dave and Sara on Thursday, March 29, 2018

This morning we woke up a bit earlier than usual to hit the gym. After running for a half hour we headed up for breakfast before hitting the town.

We set out on a walk with no particular destination in mind. We started by crossing the Academia bridge and journeyed around until we crossed the Rialto. The Academia bridge is currently being restored. Our trip took us through the neighborhoods of Dosoduro and Santa Croce.

After walking for about three to four hours we stumbled in to a wine bar, Vino Vero, we found on our last trip. It was one of the highlights of our last trip so we were excited to find it again. They have tons of bruschettas. They also advertise that they don’t have spritz because they love wine. Their selection is quite good both by the glass and bottle which they sell to take away as well. It’s along the Fondamenta Misericordia in Canneregio.

After we finished at Vino Vero we started to make our way leisurely back towards the hotel. We stopped at another bar on the way for more snacks. It’s like tapas in Barcelona where you can eat a little bite and then move on and eat a little more. All delicious bites on toast and a reason to stop for a little while on the walk. In the second bar we met a law student from Israel who lives in Bologna but comes to Venice to buy his supplies for Passover. The ghetto in Venice is still one of the largest Jewish communities in Italy. Nice guy, bought us each a little shooter of wine they drink here called an ‘Ombra.’ (Note: top photo is from google just to show what the ‘Ombra’ looks like)

Our day of laying low had us walking over 20,000 steps. We enjoyed many bars and was able to escape most of the rain. Also tonight we are expecting 1.2 meters of Aqua Alta around 11:30PM so the walkways are up. As we passed through San Marco the water was already bubbling up through the storm grates across the piazza. Gladly we will be back safely at our hotel before the alarm rings. (Anything over 110cm of high tide the alarm rings all over Venice to let people know it’s coming so they can get to where they need to be.) The walkways cover heavily trafficked routes in the the areas that are most prone to flooding.

Tomorrow is our last full day of the Sabbatical and we are understandably sad to see it end. Tomorrow we will try to get emotional and “shmoopy” about the trip unless we get too busy. If that happens you all will have to wait.

Italy Road Trip

Harry’s Bar and a Bunch of Islands

By Dave and Sara on Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Last nights dinner was at Al Covo in Castello. The neighborhood (Castello) is pretty cool and much quieter than where our hotel is located next to San Marco. Soft shell crab was the special of the evening so we were pretty stoked on the meal.

Afterwards we went to Harry’s Bar because it’s next to our hotel and when in Rome…or when in Venice more like.

Today we went to the islands of Murano and Mazzorba and were out on the water all day. It was sunny and fairly warm so a good day to visit the islands. Murano is the glass island and there are a lot of tourist traps to sort through. We did a lot of research about where to buy glass online before we went and it was still super confusing. What we found is that the nice stuff seems to be in stores named after someone (I.e. Carlo Moretti) and that there are nice pieces for a reasonable price. Most of it was not really to our taste though so we didn’t buy anything.

Mazzorba is attached to Burano the lace island. We took a very crowded boat there and had an unpectedly nice/expensive lunch at a place called Venissa which is a restaurant, B&B and winery. It’s very cute and sits in the middle of its own vineyard on the island. Unexpected though because Sara meant to book the osteria but mistakenly booked at their restaurant (oops). We did not opt for the wine they make on the property for 500 euro. Oh well, it was a serene afternoon even if albeit more costly than planned.

Tonight we went back to one of our favorite restaurants from the last time we were here called Osteria 4 Feri. They have really great seafood. After dinner tonight, we loved it so much we booked another reservation for Friday night. We did the same thing last time we were here.

Tomorrow we have no plans except to act like we are Venetian. Should be fun!

Italy Road Trip

The Final Frontier

By Dave and Sara on Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Today we left Verona and headed for Venice. Along the way we stopped in Padova for a quick stop over. It was a beautiful day in Padova with everybody out and about. We tried to go to the Scrovegni Chapel, but they were booked for the day. Instead we headed over to the Church of Saint Anthony. After walking around a bit we walked over to the Duomo before stopping at a cafe for a quick bite to eat.

Back on the road, the drive from Padova to Venice was very short. Once we returned the car at the airport we took a water taxi to our hotel. Sara worked really hard to get us into our hotel here, the Hotel Gritti. After all of her travel we were able to use points to book a hotel that is a bit nicer than we deserve. We walked around a bit but did some chores mostly once we got here.

Italy Road Trip

A Day in Modena

By Dave and Sara on Saturday, March 24, 2018

This morning we woke up to make the short drive from Bologna to Modena. It is only about 45 minutes away.

Upon getting here we initially thought it was a ghost town but once we got in to the historic center, it was quite crowded.

in the center of town there is a large flea market with lots of good stuff. Unfortunately we didn’t bring a shipping container with us. There also appeared to be a book fair in the adjacent piazza.

The food market here is quite large as well. It reminded us of the food market on Barcelona but likely a bit smaller. After walking around for a bit we grabbed a quick lunch. We stopped at Sosta Emiliana for a nice salad, eating light today.

This afternoon we ran a couple errands and did some window shopping during the passegiata. Now we are enjoying a Spritz surrounded by all the very chic Modenese. Also, Easter season is in full swing so lots of church bells ringing all over the city.

Sadly, this our last full Saturday in Italy so we plan to make the most of it.

Italy Road Trip

A Run, A Pizza, and Shopping

By Dave and Sara on Friday, March 23, 2018

This morning we started our morning with a four mile run. Our plan was to run around the entire city but on the run we realized it would be closer to a half marathon so we ran half way around then cut through the middle. It was a bit brisk but was still fun to get some fresh air.

After our run, we showered up and headed out to get some lunch. We walked around town for about an hour and a half before we stoped at Ristorante Nino for some Pizza.

After lunch, we headed over to the market to get our fixings for dinner. After shopping around we decided on getting clams for tageltelli with clam sauce. We also got some cheese, artichokes and capers for our home aperitivo.

When we finished our shopping, we had some laundry to get finished before we leave our last place with a washing machine. Turns out we may have to do some shopping to end up with enough clean clothes to end the trip.

Tomorrow we leave for Modena.

Italy Road Trip

Back to School

By Dave and Sara on Thursday, March 22, 2018

Today, we set out on learning to make pasta. We hired Maribel of Taste of Italy to spend the day showing us the markets and teaching the finer things about cooking Italian pasta. We started the morning bright and early at 9am to walk around the market to see what was fresh and decide the menu for the day.

Based on the vegetables we decided on artichokes, fava beans and peas, and roasted butternut squash. After making our purchases we headed back to Maribel’s apartment to get started on lunch. First step is making the pasta. What was nice about the course is Sara and I basically did everything so we could really learn. While making the pasta was probably the hardest part, it wasn’t really that bad. Based on our dishes we decided to make three eggs worth of pasta. Sara made one egg while I made two. Mixing the egg with the flour we got to kneading. First by fork, then by scraper and finally by hand. The key is that your hands are warm so you want to wait as long as possible to use them. Once we were done kneading, the dough needed some rest.

‘While the dough rested, we got to pealing the fava beans and peas. With three of us it didn’t take much time. Then we got to rolling out the pasta. This was by far the hardest part. Getting the dough to paper thin without tearing or making holes. Once it got to be so big, the only way to rotate it was to role it on the the pin. Because I had two eggs I had to use the meter wide rolling pin. This got to be quite large and I was very nervous I would mess it up. Luckily I didn’t.

With our dough rolled out, it was time to pasta. The first pasta we made was tortelloni with roasted butternut squash, Parmesan and nutmeg. Look how good they look! Next we made bow tie pasta for our fava beans and pea pasta. Finally we made tagelotelli for our sautéed artichokes.

After getting everything all prepared we feasted. It was all so good!

Italy Road Trip

Real italy

By Dave and Sara on Wednesday, March 21, 2018

It is surprising to me that it took nearly a month and a half to feel something real but it is true. Today we started out our day with a wine tasting at Passeti. When we arrived we felt like we made a mistake because the lobby was basically a gas station for wine. Note: that is our type of gas station.

It turns out that we were in the right place. Laura, the owner, met us and took us around the winery. While it is tucked in the middle of a super industrial area, the winery is typical of what you would expect. Lots of tanks and wine production equipment. After touring the winery, that is when everything changed. Laura was welcoming us to her home. She had prepared many home cooked items for us to enjoy with our tasting. We unfortunately had just eaten breakfast but we had to suck it down.

It was easy though because everything was so delicious including the wine. At some point her daughter also joined us. This wine tasting ended up taking about 4.5 hours and includes tasting four wines and finishing the bottle of Montepulciano d’abruzzo. Honestly with a wine tasting at 10:30 we were worried about what to do between our appointments with our next one at 15:30. Turns out we would barely have enough time to make our next one because we spent so much time with Laura.

Our next appointment was not nearly as homey but still quite fun. We headed to San Lorenzo which is more up in the hills. They again had a gas station of wine. We tasted about five wines here. While the Montepulciano is what is famous, they also do a nice job on whites and rose. Again here we were hosted by Gianluca, the winery owner, and one of his associates that manages their wholesaling. The tasting including sitting by the fireplace with them watching the rain and chatting about everything from overly tanned politicians to the industrial agricultural complex. Oh, also Gianluca also gave us a ride up to his family’s castle in the hilltop village above the winery where the Montepulciano is stored for aging for a visit in the middle of the tasting.

After finishing up our tasting around 19:00, we started the drive back towards the hotel and to our dinner at Villa Maiella, a Michelin started restaurant. The food was delicious.

We have seriously loved our time in Abruzzo, an area that is usually left off the typical tourist itinerary. Unfortunately last year’s appolyptic earthquake/avalanche in the Rocorasso ski resort of Abruzzo has severely impacted what small amount of tourism they do have. So this is our little plug for Abruzzo, come here it’s awesome!

Our next stop is a slight change of plans. With the weather turning a bit worse, we decided to spend a few more days in the city. Therefore, we are headed to Bologna.

Italy Road Trip

Puglia Catchup and Abruzzo

By Dave and Sara on Monday, March 19, 2018

On the road again today headed for Abruzzo, a mountainous area on the eastern side of Italy. We may even see snow again.

We spent the weekend in Locorotondo at a country B&B surrounded by Olive trees and wineries. This is in Puglia.

Our room was in a Trullo which is an adorable little hobbit house that are native to Puglia, especially in the area around Bari.

The resort makes everything themselves and take a lot of pride in it including olive oil, wine, grain and all of the food served in the restaurant. When we arrived they gave us a welcome drink of their propriety white wine and checked us into the room. After that we drove the short drive into the historic center of Locorotondo for lunch at a place called Bina. The B&B arranged a wine tasting for us in the late afternoon about an hour away at a family run winery called Polveranera. Right before leaving for the winery is when we realized the Internet (and also the Sky TV) was out for the weekend. The owner of the B&B, Rosabla was very sweet and lent us her iPad for the weekend even though that didn’t really work either since the Trulli are made of 1 ft thick stone walls.

The wine tasting was interesting. At first the daughter called and tried to canceled because someone hadn’t shown up for work and she was all by herself manning the store and was worried she wouldn’t be able to show us around. Since we were already on the way and it was kind of a ways she agreed to just give us a tasting in the shop which was fine by us. We noticed this in Spain as well that the wineries prefer to show you around, tell the history of the winery and the how the process works and then do a formal sit down tasting at the end. The idea of just coming in to taste at the counter doesn’t seem to be as common here as in Napa. They had a really nice wine tasting dog.

When we got to the winery there was another couple there with their young children. The wife was pretty knowledgeable about wine and since the winery was pretty quiet we ended up getting the whole tour and story and trying a bunch of their wines. We were there for almost 3 hours but at the end didn’t really buy much because we didn’t love the wine that much. Still, it was nice to visit a family run spot that clearly gets a lot of love and support from the locals.

We showed up for dinner back in Locorotondo around 8:45 to a place again recommended by the hotel. This place was a little bit out in the country and when we got to the front door we had to be buzzed in. A first for both of us. The restaurant was dead empty when we got there but by the time we left at 10:45 it was in full swing with every table full and kids running around between the tables. They eat a lot of seafood in Puglia and when you order fish at a restaurant they let you go up to the display case and pick the one you want. Everything is super fresh like it just came out of the water. Dave chose the fish named Eric.

On Sunday morning we drove out to the ocean and a town called Polignano a Mare.

The weather was nice and the town was really lively with families out walking around and having drinks at the outdoor cafes. We grabbed a Spritz where we could enjoy the people watching. For lunch the first place we checked was completely booked so we decided to try the fancy looking seafood restaurant built into a hotel hanging over the water. The place was full of very well off Italian extended families (each table was set for at least 10 people.) Dave again was able to pick his seafood.

After spending the day in the sun, Dinner was somewhat quiet.

Today we we drove to Semivicoli. It was a long drive. The drive was through some rolling hills and ended in the foothills beneath a snow covered mountain. We had a wine tasting at the hotel. Tomorrow we hope to get out and about to try the local wines.

Italy Road Trip

Donkey Chops!!!

By Dave and Sara on Saturday, March 17, 2018

Aww…Donkey Chops! It sounds like something you would say when things aren’t working the way you want them to. We just arrived in Locorotondo and it turns out that they actually eat donkey chops. That being said, unfortunately, the WiFi here is broken. That means we are going to take tonight and tomorrow off from making a post as it is quite difficult without the internet. We will try to remember everything we did here and summarize it once we get back to a connected lifestyle.