Shopping for our dinner

Day 13

My thoughts on our dining experiences in Italy. - We eat our breakfast in the apartment which consists of yogurt, fresh fruit & for Chris peanut butter on toast & our morning tea & coffee. We fit lunch in between visiting different sites. This can range from a quick panni from a food cart or a sit down restaurant. We keep trying to find that perfect restaurant that everyone raves about. So far very expensive & poor quality.

When Chris & I arrive back at the apartment in the late afternoon we are tired & the thought of going out to find a restaurant is too much bother. So I have decided to be the Chef! I visit the little shops around the neighborhood. I cross the street to the little green grocer to buy my fresh vegetables such as assortment of mushrooms that have just arrived, a mixture of chopped vegetables to put in a tomato sauce & assortment of fruit. Around the block is the pastry shop were we pick up small éclairs, fruit tarts, puff pastry stuffed with custard or little cakes covered in chocolate. Down the street at the local grocery store I buy wine for 1.75 Euros, beer 50 cents, a package of pasta for 95 cents, basic tomato sauce 95 cents, meat is 3 – 4 Euros & we can eat that for 2 nights. We eat like royalty for under 10 Euros a night for both of us, and we can wear our slippers to the table.
The neighborhood has a covered market place where you can buy fresh veg., meat, cheeses, bread & underwear. There are many little shops that provide the locals everything they need. I enter the shops with buongiorno, wave my arms & point saying si, si. So far it has been working, they are starting to recognize. The shop owners are happy to let us taste & sample & will make recommendations. We get into wonderful conversations with people. In Florence we met a girl from Singapore who came to Italy to learn how to make pecarino cheese & she could speak fluent English & Italian. She translated for us while the merchant made recommendations. We are enjoying our culinary bliss in our kitchen & look forward to our food adventures.