gondola ride in traffic

 These 5 fotos were taken within minutes of each other, late June.  If you are considering a quiet, relaxing or romantic ride in a gondola, choose your  time and place for getting into the gondola carefully. This looked like peak hour.  How skilled the gondoliers are, never touching each other's gondola, passing and waiting for one to turn into the canal.

Even the motor boats have a little difficulty passing each other in some of the narrow canals.

Think carefully too before you take a ride in a gondola  on the Grand Canal.  Can often be very busy: other gondolas are not the problem... think of the ferries!

Gagini Restaurant Palermo Sicily

A new restaurant for us in Palermo.... tons of atmosphere, fabulous food and good service.

Capri, a swim away

The beautiful island of Capri seems so close from the mainland around Sorrento and Massa Lubrense.  This is a view from our window at breakfast.

Il Fienile restaurant

We found this great , fairly new,family run  restaurant for our Sunday lunch.  And what a find! Typical traditional food, produced locally, much of the ingredients grown by the owners.  It's hidden away in the hills in a tiny town by the name of Torca, in Massa Lubrense, not far from Napoli.  Well worth a visit.  It's where the locals go, which makes it even more perfect!

Paestum

The archaeological park at Paestum in southern Italy is the best - preserved archaeological Greek site in the Mediterranean , and only 2 hours drive from the bay of Naples. Amongst the ancient marvels are three very large intact temples, the largest and most impressive being the temple of Neptune/Apollo/Hera from 465BC.

ciaobellatours.com.au.

The Bull in the Arcade: the Living Room of Milano

In the 4 storey galleria/arcade built in 1861 (to 1877) in Milano, and  named for the first King of the Kingdom of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, there is a BULL. 
It's a particular bull, made of ceramics, with the power to bring women happiness in their emotional and love relationships.  Or good luck to anyone, who knows the secret .

Near Louis Vuitton there's a Torino Coat of Arms, and inside it  is the bull:

Gently place your right heel on the bull's genitals, and spin 3 times: this is sure to bring good luck!!





It's not encouraged overly  by the local ufficials as it causes damage to the mosaics.

Tripe tripe tripe: yum yum yum

 A popular lunch time treat in Firenze/Florence is a panino filled with tripa and your choice of sauces and condiments.  A busy tripe cart can be found most days opposite the ancient San Ambrogio church, not far from the San Ambrogio market, outside the famous upmarket Cibreo restaurant in Firenze. 
And who said Italians don't queue?

Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy

In October six of us on Ciao Bella Tours' "Food for Thought: Wrapping Emilia Romagna" tour dined at the best restaurant in Italy.   Or, more accurately, nominated as the best restaurant in Italy according to the 2013 Michelin Guide, the Espresso Guide, and the Pelligrino Guide.  And the 3rd best in the world. Chef: Massimo Bottura
What an experience!
We all chose the degustazione menu with paired wines (although it started with a beer!) .

This was the menu:

Memory of a mortadella sandwich

Prosciutto from Parma by F.lli Galloni Langhirano

Massimo Spigaroli Culatello aged 42 months DOP

Tagliatelle with ragù

Traditional Modenese Tortellini served with
cream of “Bianca Modenese” Parmigiano Reggiano

Mora romagnola ribs lacquered with Traditional Balsamic Vinegar from Modena

Warm and cold “zuppa inglese”

And the wines:

Beltaine beer smoked chestnut and juniper

Timorasso Farewell 2011 Massa GLOCAL

Ribolla gialla 2008 Damijan Podversic

Friulano 2010 Marco Sara

Croatina Stagioni 2008 Massa GLOCAL

Moscato d’Asti Lumine 2012 "Ca’d’Gal"

Italian travels 2010

This is our newest blog.... getting ready to fly off to Italy this week.

First stop will be Rome, then the next day, a short flight of only about one hour, to Alghero, a small town in the north of one of Italy's 2 big islands of Sardinia/Sardegna.

Come join us on this 6 week journey!

Ciao, Mardie