Post by Kim on Dec 22, 2003 13:23:40 GMT -5
The terrific weather returned as promised this morning...and the rain made puddles! My favorite picture taking opportunity. I spent the better part of the day in this museum or that, hit two churches as well....and hopefully got some great pictures along the way.
Nothing vital to report....except dinner last night! Okay Kim, last night I had veal scallopini with mushrooms, 4 different kinds of mushrooms in a wonderfully savory sauce. (Who knows what is the variety that it rather golden colored when cooked, VERY fleshy\meaty with a slightly more pungent taste?) Along with that oven roasted potatoes done to perfection, followed by a huge caprese salad with tomatos that tasted like they had been picked just moments before, still warm from the sun and the most glorious fresh mozzarella cheese. Followed by a cream custard with fresh raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and a tiny round red one I did not recognize...rather tart. Along with a bottle of (I paid attention this time!) Chianti Classico Clement VII (2000)that was divine! (One of the half bottles by the way ;D) Then I simply rolled myself on down the road to the hotel!
Forget to say yesterday that I was quite surprised to find so much of the Uffizi 'out' for restoration....4 rooms shut entirely and every room had at least one, several had 4 or more, paintings gone. Went to Santa Croce today, another revisit, and am surely glad I had seen it before. Entire altar area covered with scaffolding and all the chapels on the left side closed. Nearly impossible to see the stunning frescoes for which it is so renown. Such is Italy, things are forever under restoration, but it would be dissapointing indeed to find so many at once out of commission so to speak had I not seen them before. Also, Palazzo Vecchio is likewise a mass of scaffolding these days....good news is that only on the back side of the Duomo still has any and the Baptistry is done as well.
Final thought for this evening.....meant to post this in Venice but it is true here as well although not nearly to the extent .....the Italian women have either not heard (unlikely) or simply don't care (probably) about the political correctness of wearing fur! I have never in my life anywhere seen so many women decked out in fur coats!! From to the ground length and short jackets, every fur one could imagine on women from the old to the young. They surely seem to love them and wear them everywhere. Almost funny to see all these women in these gorgeous fur coats haggling like fisherwomen in the markets over the price of produce. ;D
Tonight, I am feasting in my room with fresh bread, raw ham, salami, provolone picquant, tangerines and a nice bottle of wine. Salute!
ging
(note to everyone so you understand - I told Ging I wanted a play by play of everything she was eating so I could drool over it! -Kim )
Nothing vital to report....except dinner last night! Okay Kim, last night I had veal scallopini with mushrooms, 4 different kinds of mushrooms in a wonderfully savory sauce. (Who knows what is the variety that it rather golden colored when cooked, VERY fleshy\meaty with a slightly more pungent taste?) Along with that oven roasted potatoes done to perfection, followed by a huge caprese salad with tomatos that tasted like they had been picked just moments before, still warm from the sun and the most glorious fresh mozzarella cheese. Followed by a cream custard with fresh raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and a tiny round red one I did not recognize...rather tart. Along with a bottle of (I paid attention this time!) Chianti Classico Clement VII (2000)that was divine! (One of the half bottles by the way ;D) Then I simply rolled myself on down the road to the hotel!
Forget to say yesterday that I was quite surprised to find so much of the Uffizi 'out' for restoration....4 rooms shut entirely and every room had at least one, several had 4 or more, paintings gone. Went to Santa Croce today, another revisit, and am surely glad I had seen it before. Entire altar area covered with scaffolding and all the chapels on the left side closed. Nearly impossible to see the stunning frescoes for which it is so renown. Such is Italy, things are forever under restoration, but it would be dissapointing indeed to find so many at once out of commission so to speak had I not seen them before. Also, Palazzo Vecchio is likewise a mass of scaffolding these days....good news is that only on the back side of the Duomo still has any and the Baptistry is done as well.
Final thought for this evening.....meant to post this in Venice but it is true here as well although not nearly to the extent .....the Italian women have either not heard (unlikely) or simply don't care (probably) about the political correctness of wearing fur! I have never in my life anywhere seen so many women decked out in fur coats!! From to the ground length and short jackets, every fur one could imagine on women from the old to the young. They surely seem to love them and wear them everywhere. Almost funny to see all these women in these gorgeous fur coats haggling like fisherwomen in the markets over the price of produce. ;D
Tonight, I am feasting in my room with fresh bread, raw ham, salami, provolone picquant, tangerines and a nice bottle of wine. Salute!
ging
(note to everyone so you understand - I told Ging I wanted a play by play of everything she was eating so I could drool over it! -Kim )