i+talia a to z :: e - eucharist

i feel it's time for a role call since our chianti caravan (a dodge galaxy, actually) is losing pilgrims every day. i am also more than a couple days overdue here, which is my way. but definitely less is going to be more from here on out or i'll be writing from italia four weeks after i get back state side.

we started in Venezia with mom and dad and me, el and aunt b. dad is (literally) our driving force - all wonder and awe, BUT NOT WHILE HE'S DRIVING(!!!!). that's mom - the keeper of sanity, pilgrim among pilgrims. then there is my great aunt b, who is truly great, and el, our resident phot[eenager]ographer - stunning! her and her shots. we were already quite the crew, old(er) and new.

and we've been eating well too, to speak of eucharist. one of my fav meals in venezia was at da romano, a place on the backside of burano, the venezian island known for lace making. we had risotto di go, which is a risotto made with the juices of a local fish. they served it family style at the table - full flavor, warm presentation.

bellies full, we drove on to chianti. we started cooking for each other then. the rosemary grows in huge bushes here. mom was inspired to roast a scrawny chicken with potatoes.

scrawny for amercians accustomed to roid-wing birds. it was about this time that questions about food ethics started to flavor our fare, from the value of trying new things to dieting trends to slow food practices.

in chianti we met up with the sicilian and the sports fan, the soldier and the storyteller. SO much fun! around and around we went to the hamlets and villages of toscana. we spent one long day in florence (but that's another letter).

[and aside: out guide in firenze, seeing our fatigue, stopped in at one of the oldest gelaterias in the city - Perche no!... 

they have a slow food sticker in the door, and their gelato is just the thing for a summer day chasing pavement.]  

it was at the end of this day (and two hours trying to get out of florence at rush hour) that we wearily wobbled into the osteria in our little village - bottega di lornano. two things: 1) i found the dish that i came to italia hoping to find - a gnocchi with pork and rosemary and fennel; 2) hot chocolate flan (a.k.a. lava cake).

el and aunt b left us the next day, and we went on to cinque terre. the kids, as soldier calls them, were there and more than alright. we thought we might never leave after dad left the headlights on. thanks be the kids showed up with meat and cheese and biscotti (a.k.a. loaves and fishes).

the kids are also justice makers. so our ethics making really heated up after their arrival. one question we've been stewing is the question of dieting, not that any of us are even attempting to diet on this trip. some of the questions that we've been boiling: diet intention - health, appearance, sustainability, species rights? efficacy? fasting? socio economics? slow or fast? commercialization? south beach or atkins or paleo or mediterranean, is that the question?

folks are leaving the party everyday. sicily and sports fan are gone. i leave tomorrow for Malta, and soldier and storyteller soon after. yesterday was my name day, and it was a farewell feast. we ate a little of everything, just the way i like it - tortellini with prosciutto, pizza, ricotta cake, meatballs and asparagus, sausage, lasagna, suckling pig and potatoes, coke light with ice, frizzante, and caffe a. nannini. so much to be grateful for.