There are few more beautiful places in the world than the Amalfi Coast. Ancient villages vie with lemon groves for the prime real estate on the cliffs – with views that take you over the rooftops, through the fresh laundry flapping in the breeze, out to the blue sea. Truly gorgeous.
But when you try to walk in those quaint little streets, all you can see over the heads of the tour groups are stores selling t-shirts and limoncello. That’s the trade-off – at least in the big-name towns like Amalfi, Ravello, Positano, and Sorrento – there’s truly beautiful scenery but you’re going to have to share the view with a lot of other people. A lot of other people.
We stayed in Amalfi in a lovely, funky hotel up above the town – The Villa Lara. We ate in town and very well. My favorite was a place called Marocco where I had spaghetti with shrimp and lemon. I’d never tried that combination before and Amalfi is the place for it. The local lemons are famous – and unbelievably large – like the size of your head – and they carry a lot of taste. That’s it, I think: just toss the pasta in oil and lemon (probably juice and a little grated peel) and toss in the shrimp. It was totally satisfying with a glass or two of the local white wine.
Jill was done. For three weeks I'd been force feeding her on a
take-no-prisoners march through the restaurants of Italy. I had all
but nailed her feet to the floor. And then four days in Rome – dio
mio, Roma! If you don’t eat well in Rome, you’re an idiot.
I ate a perfect dish the other day and I was lucky enough to be with friends who were able to document the whole experience.
Normally, one encounter with an old bear would terrify a person. It would probably scare a person out of the wilderness and into solitude
for an unforeseeable amount of time. It would most likely be an
experience worth putting behind and never having to relive. In fact,
the only person I have ever read of, other than circus acts and zoo
trainers, to have ever made his life about becoming friends with old
bears is Mr. Timothy Treadwell, who was deemed Grizzly Man by Mr.
Werner Herzog in a 2005 documentary by the same title. Treadwell was
the victim of one of the old bears he had become friends with during
his life in the wilderness with them.
“You know, I once saw an American TV show where someone was eating a fried Oreo.” This was the phrase that poured out my host in Torino’s mouth as we discussed the difference of food in each culture. I
couldn’t help but laugh. Instantly, an image of Oreos, fries,
chocolate, and dough being deep-fried at a county fair entered my mind.
‘In America, we can fry anything…even cheesesteaks,’ I thought.