Cara Italia - A love letter in pictures

In March, which I can barely believe was two months ago already, I was quite the lucky so-and-so and was whisked to Italy for a week to take part in an international improvisation competition.  That's a fairly nuts sentence to be able to write.  Although I was unfeasibly nervous about the whole thing, improvising in Italian and all that, there was one thing that I was looking forward to without any reservations - the food, natch.  Pizza.  Ice cream.  Coffee.  These were the three comestibles that I was determined to have, the three that I could still remember the taste of from when I lived in Padua for a few months back in 2004.  I'm not going to burble very much here, but let the glorious, glorious food speak for itself.

Let's begin.

Getting up at 2.30 am to go the airport, I didn't really fancy brekkie first thing, so a stop for a surprisingly nice veggie fry-up at Frankie & Benny's was first on the agenda:

(Weren't expecting that in a blog about Italy, were you?)

The day got a bit weirder when, upon arriving in Bergamo, we had to wait for another improviser to arrive and so killed some time with our hosts by going round the local shopping mall.  

Ace looking food hall.

I liked the sheer imagined volume of Kinder chocolate in this 'display'.

First Italian coffee - a cappuccino for elevenses.  In the food court. Starting to feel a bit surreal now.

For non-coffee drinkers, Prince of Wales tea - where am I?

First bite of Italian food - good ol' tomato bruschetta for elevenses.  Puts British food courts to shame.

On the three-hour trip to Florence, we stopped off at a service station.  THIS was just part of the service station.  A SERVICE STATION.  

Oops, nearly forgot to photograph the first Italian dinner - pasta al pomodoro (pasta in tomato sauce) at a little deli near our hotel in Florence.  I bought some great coffee from there too.

First actual Italian breakfast - basically cake.  I chickened out of the chocolate spread, I couldn't face it first thing.

Lunch at a trattoria - the only place in the piazza that didn't try to hassle us in by waving English menus in our faces.  AND it was one of the cheapest.

I know, I know, it's just a glass of orange juice - but look!  A spoon!  Sugar!  What for?!

Ah, pizza.  Shouldn't be doing this when I haven't had lunch yet.

When I was last in Italy, in Rome in 2007, the gelaterie (ice-cream shops) arranged their wares in pillowy mounds.  Now it's all about the towers.  Fashion, eh, can't keep track of it.

Coffee, tick.  Pizza, tick.  Ice cream, tick.  Pistachio and nocciola (hazelnut) gelato, my favourite combination, and eaten with one of those lovely little plastic shovels.

On our wanderings, we found this little deli near the Ponte Vecchio.  I don't know if you can tell, but I'm quite happy in this picture.  I've just bought some saba, which is cooked grape must, a bit like balsamic vinegar but sweeter.  I'm crouching so that you can see more of the shop.

Excellent espresso: €1.  Good way to use up your coins.

Dinner in Florence - this was our centrepiece.  Are we supposed to eat it?  In front are some delicious crispbread, very salty and flavoured with rosemary.  Very more-ish.

Starter - meat in various forms.  There's a slice of pink grapefruit as a garnish.  Are we supposed to eat it?

Main course - meat.  Beef that has said hello to a grill, then been sliced, dressed in balsamic and piled on rocket.  Delicious.  There's another slice of pink grapefruit.  Are we supposed to eat it?

Look, grapefruit everywhere!

Lunch the next day - we picked up some stuff from a market, wanted to go in some public gardens, entry cost as much as our lunch had, ate it on some steps instead.  More meat, buffalo mozzarella, bread, tomatoes, strawberries.  Poifect.

After the semi-final, we celebrated a bit.

It's not all incredible.

Katy and I had a date night, deciding to have a sit-down and a bit of a chill.  We ate in our hotel in Brescia, and after ordering, were discussing just how much ham we had eaten on the trip, how maybe it was good that we were having a break from ham.  Then this starter arrived.  I'd accidentally ordered two of them as well.

Pasta course - I genuinely can't remember what's inside, but look at those lovely crispy lardons, sage butter and parmesan.  Yeah, I really need some lunch now.

Yep, can't remember what this is either.  Although I do know that I ordered it for the polenta, a regional speciality - and it was pretty special, definitely the nicest I've had.

One morning at our hotel, there was an organic food market.  How ace is that?  I bought a kilo of honey.  Yep.  A kilo.

Last dinner in Italy, and of course there could be no other choice.  Absolutely huge and absolutely delicious.

Until next time, arriverderci la mia cara Italia...