Ugly travel purse

I caved. After 45 minutes of agonizing at Wide World Books, I bought the ugly, black ripstop nylon travel purse, made by Eagle Creek. Why? My current travel bag, which is supposed to telegraph that I am a stylish urban woman, at ease in the world, is a roomy, black leather bucket, made by Hobo. It's not elegant, I can never find anything in it, and it's bulky and heavy enough to easily knock items off displays in a crowded market. It seemed like a good compromise between fashion and practicality, but it hasn't proved to be enough of either. So I bought the supremely practical black travel bag. I will have really easy access to my camera. I will buy a fabulous purse in Florence.

TMI

It's time to stop reading guidebooks. I have pored over city maps and closely examined the route from Bologna to Piobbico, the last named settlement before one arrives at the agriturismo. I have scrolled through Chowhound, copied and pasted discussion strings about restaurants in Rome and Florence, and perused restaurant websites, crossing them off the list if there is a menu in English. Connie and her family stayed at our Rome hotel last week, and kindly brought me the map that can actually guide us to the hotel. That, too, was earnestly studied. Twenty years of therapy tells me that any further research is about my anxiety, not about a better informed trip.



Follow up to the last post. Almond Roca is indeed a local delicacy, made in Tacoma, warehoused in Fife.



I've been testing the children to see how they'll fare in Italy. Unfortunately, at least one of them has failed 2 of the clever tests I've devised.

The first: last Saturday, hot and sunny, both sons were offered the opportunity to walk 3 blocks to get a small cup of soft ice cream - one declined.

The second: this evening, hot and sunny, both sons were offered the opportunity to walk 3 blocks to get pizza - one declined.

The third: at dinner tonight, while eating the abovementioned pizza, I say, in a friendly, casual tone, "Pizza and ice cream. isn't it great we're going to the place where they're supposed to be the best in the world?" The reply was prompt, neither hostile nor irritated, "uh huh." Definitely a pass.

There's hope for us.

un buon ristorante

Today's travel preparation included:

• Purchasing a house present for the owners of the agriturismo. A set of silk-screened tea towels and a microplane grater/zester thing. Daniela suggested throwing in some Almond Roca or boxed smoked salmon, which have been a hit at previous visits.


• Purchasing Rick Steves' Italian Phrase Book and Dictionary and Eating and Drinking in Italy, Italian Menu Translator & Restaurant Guide, by Andy Herbach, a slim volume which already has a sticky spot of balsamic vinegar on the first page.


• Dinner at Spinasse with Bill and Steve. We brough along the Italian menu translator, thus the balsamic vinegar. It was part Italy preparation and part cheering me up since Charlie and the boys are backpacking. The food at Spinasse is Piedmontese, an area far from where we're going, so I'm not sure it counts as actual trip preparation, but it was outstanding. I had been anticipating a meal at Spinasse for months, and was not disappointed. It's a gorgeous little space, although the floor and windows are unchanged from when it was The Globe restaurant, enough to remind me that my last bowl of grits at the Globe contained some hair.

Dinner details:

An amuse-bouche of toasts with rabbit pate, nicely crunchy, fatty and salty.

The staff was kind enough to serve us a generous plate of fava beans sauteed in a little olive oil and garlic, even though it wasn't on the menu.

Paper-thin sliced roast pork with house-made mayonnaise. (This would make an excellent bag lunch for the kids, served on rye bread.)

Ravioli with Jerusalem artichoke filling, with fried sage and pine nuts.

Some little chewy rolled pasta with peas and squash blossoms.

"Random wide cuts of pasta" with a ragu of tripe and pork belly. (The diva.)

I had a glass of Langhe Nebbiolo to start, and we had a bottle of Barolo with dinner. Research tells me that Barolo is made from the Nebbiolo grape, but I don't know what makes a Barolo a big wine, and the plain Nebbiolo a lighter wine. I seem to have had them in the right order.

We finished at the unfortunately named "Old School Frozen Custard" at 1316 E. Pike St. It's great frozen custard, although if it was "old school" it would be cheap (it is not) and one would have the option of a wafer cone (I saw only waffle cones). But the ice cream is super, and it made me really happy to see an ice cream store with a line almost out the door on a Sunday night in Seattle.

Flemings in Italy, budgies in Bryant

YoYo and TzipTzip will visit the Kimball household during the Fleming's fortnight in Italy. I am indescribably relieved to have found them temporary board, and delighted they will be in the care of three highly capable children.

No netbook

Well, no netbook for now. I would love to have a nifty 3 pound device with which to blog, skype, email and get information instantly, while traveling in Italy. I'm not going to do it. If we do, the boys will spend the trip skyping, emailing, checking sports scores, and never, ever, ever getting around to actually blogging. Charlie convinced me. It felt a little like a spiritual redemption. As if I might sell my romantic, adventurous soul, for a quick peek at my email. I've been saved.

Starting over

Having had success with wordpress a few years ago, I set up a blog a few days ago. It wasn't satisfying. All the good blogs, (Tamara's, tipsybaker), are Google blogs, so I've started over with Google. We'll see how this goes. I'm feeling better about it already.

The men in the household are getting fed up with my renewed fascination with technology. When I discovered the Handspring PDA about 8 years ago, it provided some primitive game apps that were sufficient for Saul and Ira at the time. It didn't bother anyone. Now, my new webcam electronic eye stares at us from atop the monitor. I'm the first girl in the neighborhood to Skype with Tamara. And I want a netbook.