Tasty European tidbits--5 countries in 13 days: As Poppa always said....."Mangier"

Yes, I know this is a travel blog, but we have not left town yet, so humor me. It's all related to our trip, so stay with me for a couple days and I promise, there will be photos and actual interesting travel stuff to come. For now, it's all about getting familiar with blogging, putting my thoughts down on this Ipad, and a bit of background on who I am, with a small taste of my wacky writing style thrown in for good measure. Kind of a "try before you buy" scenario if you will...although there is no outlay of cash in exchange for the reading of this prose...just a small investment of your very valuable time. Then again, if a travel blog is all you are after, just hop, skip and jump to September 17th, when we actually leave home. Notice I didn't say leave the country...sorry (not any more sorry than me!), that won't happen until the 18th. We've decided to stay in Miami near the airport for our last night, even though we live less than 2 hours away, and our flight is not until 5pm. Our motive behind this frivolous night in a hotel...well, let's just say that the sooner we "get outta Dodge" the happier we will both be. In reality, we have free parking and transportation to the airport through the Miami Sofitel, by way of a work perk. We had planned to take advantage of the hotel's services in that respect only, then further decided to just go down the night before, relax by the pool, have a nice lunch...then after a late check out, head to the airport. That's a good enough reason for me!

For as long as I can remember, I've always been a fan of food. Not surprising really, most human beings have an affinity for it...some more than others if you look at the obesity levels around this country. However, at this stage of my life, I've made my peace with all food related issues and we (my food and I, speaking only for myself on this subject) have come to a mutual understanding of what works for me in this department. Pretty basic really--eat healthy meals all week long, except splurging on Friday morning at breakfast as a way to acknowledge that the weekend is about to begin. Also, reduce intake accordingly on Sat. & Sun. as activity levels decrease and/or increase. After a particularly mentally exhausting week at work (who am I kidding, every week is a little nutty, I am part of a employment litigation team in corporate America--crazy is normal). I've been known to spend an inordinate amount of time being lazy, while reading, in the exact same spot, on the couch, for a 48 hour period. I continually refer to this as my "decompressing & regenerating mode" at weeks end. Not something I am always particularly proud of (I hear my father's words ringing in my ears "Do something productive"--ummm...isn't that what I did ALL week at work????), however, it is what it is. I figure after years of running the roads on the weekends, while raising our children, a bit of "couch potatoing it" (yes that is my own word) is not such bad thing. At least I am not sitting with a beer in one hand, a bag of potato chips in the other, while channel surfing through three sporting events and ignoring my small children all day For anyone who thinks I am referring to Roger, they are sadly mistaken. Most of the time, he prefers DVDs of old reruns of NCIS and a non-alcoholic beverage.

Eating...yes, back to the subject matter of this installment. For anyone who has read my previous travel logs, you are fully aware that I've resorted to taking photos of my meals. I am not alone in this obsession, there are plenty of other folks who fall into a similar picture taking frenzy when presented with a mouth watering plate of food. It is really just a generous sharing of information with like minded food lovers, in a pictorial format. How do you think "Yelp" came to be such popular website--people want to know what tastes and looks good when they are eating out.

The truth of the matter, it's all in my bloodline. My maternal grandparents, Rose and Pasquale (Pat) Grado, emigrated through Ellis Island (both their names are engraved on the memorial stones) from Sicily in the early 1900's and as all good italians know.... mangier, mangier, mangier. Ironically enough, I'm not a big fan of pasta...I find it rather boring. It was served quite often while I was growing up, and the whole red sauce and boiled spaghetti offering was pretty uninspired. Sorry Mom, I know Grandma and Poppa were simple cooks and you were only taught the basics. Also, economically, raising a family of 6 children just didn't go hand in hand with being a gourmet chef. In the long run, you definitely did us all a favor by not cooking up a storm each day. None of us had childhood weight issues, and I firmly believe that bad eating habits start from day one. I have fond memories of my grandparents coming to visit every year from Brooklyn on Thanksgiving with homemade Italian bread and cookies (and a 6-pack of Hershey candy bars--but that's another story). Poppa's baking forever solidified my love of sesame seeds baked onto a hard crusted loaf of bread. Years later, I tried to duplicate his bread recipe but was never able to get the exact flavor. It's a shame I never learned his secrets. I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if we hadn't moved to Connecticut when I was 6 weeks old. I know my relationship with my cousins and grandparents would have been different. Although pasta, may no longer interest me, I love and cant get enough of Italian cheese, bread, crispy thin pizza crust, cookies, olives, meats...you get the idea.

Now, in my 51st year of life, I am finally taking this long awaited voyage (we will be on a ship-so I'm officially allowed to use that term) to the land of my grandparent's birth. It is my plan to more than make up for my lack of eating true Italian fare as we travel from Salerno to Capri, through Venice then Florence and eventually, on to Rome. I keep the memory of my grandparents close in my heart as I experience my first real "taste" of Italy. Ciao