Arrivederci, again

I'm heading back home tomorrow, but the process of buying the apartment will continue, or so we hope.

We celebrated my last day of this trip by binging on light fixtures, drying racks, and similar indulgences during yet another trip to Ikea. Pam and Romano once again served as our drivers, sounding boards, and sherpas. By the time we staggered out of checkout we were ready for a serious Sunday lunch. Luckily, Romano knew just the place.

Trattoria Gambarato is a country restaurant outside of Parma, and Sunday is a big day for eating out. When we arrived the dining room was full of large families at long tables and one group that looked like they might be a gang of defrocked nuns.

For primi, we had some delicious spinach-and-ricotta tortelli in butter, accompanied by another Malvasia prosecco.

Pam and Romano enjoyed the tortelli, too

Guinea hen and roast veal were on the menu as secondi, but most of our party opted for the bollito misto, a collection of different meats--beef, pork ribs, cotechino sausage, tongue, and pork skin--simmered for hours and served with various relishes.

The meats were brought around on a big cart so that everyone could choose which ones they wanted. (The yellow lump is a polenta, cheese, and bread dumpling that cooks with the meats, or perhaps inside one of them...I'm not sure. In any case, it's heavenly.)


We, of course, opted for a little of everything from the bollito. Those cherries on the left side of the plate are one of the relishes. Although more sweet than pickled, they were a tasty complement to the rich meats.

We also got a bowl of capelli--little pasta pockets stuffed with the same polenta-cheese mixture--served in the brodo from the bollito. They were a bit stodgy compared to the tortelli.

By the time we were done with the bollito, the room was beginning to clear out. Then the dessert cart rolled our way, with three homemade cakes.










Of course we had to try all three: from the right, a plum jam crostata, a kind of soft pound cake, and a millegusti (thousand-taste) tart with a filling of almonds, amaretti cookie crumbs, jam, and chocolate. That one was my favorite.









It's probably a good thing that I am leaving Italy for a while.

This segment of the blog is ending with more of a whimper than a bang, I'm afraid, because although the apartment has essentially been purchased, we don't have the final documents, and the electricity and so forth that go with it. Danny will be working on that while he stays on a few more weeks. I'll try to get him to do some guest posting about what he manages to accomplish while he's here on his own. He is determined not to fill the apartment with too much stuff, which will be a first for us if we manage it. We shall see.

I'm not sure when I'll be back here...sometime in the spring? I hope I'll not only have a place to live once I return, but that I'll also be able to get my final citizenship documents. In the meantime, I am going to really apply myself to achieving a better grasp of the language, and I'm going to study up on Italian politics. Taking a break from writing these blog posts will free up plenty of time for that, I expect. I'll pick the blog up again when there's something to report.

In the meantime, a big grazie to Pam, Romano, and Franca for bearing with us and helping us every step of the way, and thanks to all of you who have been following along on our adventures and misadventures. A kiss on both cheeks to you all, and I hope to see you here in Fidenza some day.