Sunday, June 6, 2010

May in Italy (Sunday)

It's Sunday afternoon and I've just caught the Autobus 36 back to Firenze from Galluzzo.

After a 10 minute ride through the countryside the driver has pulled over and shut down the engine, to take a break. I am the only passenger on-board.

While the driver made his phone calls, I jumped out to take pictures. I was on this same bus in November when the driver took his break. This time, I'm not a bit worried. When the engine starts up, I'll hop back on.

I disturbed two great blue herons out of the little stream, which flows to the right of the road. There is not another car or person in sight.



Galluzzo is only a 20 minute bus ride from the Arno River. I believe I was the only non-Italian walking around the Flea Market today, which is setup in the piazza every Sunday.

I found a real Luis Vuitton purse here last November. This morning my luck held and I found a larger bag, with a shoulder cross strap. I am sure, this is the same woman who sold me the other Luis Vuitton. I love my new purse!



For lunch I tried, for the first time, a trippa alla fiorintino panino. I watched the vendor as he prepared these delicious sandwiches, before stepping up to make my purchase.

First he pulled a piece of trippa out of a pot of boiling liquid on his stove. He quickly chopped it into small pieces.

He then drew a fresh bread bun from a huge bag behind him. He sliced the bread in half, scooped the trippa up and onto the bun, topped it with a teaspoonful of olive oil with green herbs. He asked if I wanted it "piccante" (hot). With my enthusiastic "si si si!" he drizzled it with a bit of olio piccante (olive oil with hot pepper flakes).

He dipped the top bun into the bubbling meat juices. It resembled a French dip sandwich.

He then slipped it into a triangular brown waxed paper holder, which even had a white napkin already inserted into a little pocket. Yumm! I am so glad I am a 'foodie'. What a wonderful treat I would have missed. I'll be back for more.

Yes, trippa is tripe.

The venditori ambulanti or street vendors are found all over Italy. These trucks act as traveling refrigerated storefronts or portable kitchens. They are setup to sell fresh fish, salame (any dried meat), regional cheeses or cookies. Often they are a traveling Rosticceria, where one can find a full size freshly roasted pig, head still intact, chicken, sausages or ribs.

Italian bar-b-que never uses American style sugar sweetened sauce. Instead, the crispy meats are basted with olive oil, salt, rosemary or spices. Simple but oh so good. Leo loves to bar-b-que here in California and he's won me over.

I remember the first time I had bar-b-qued ribs at Marina's parent's restaurant, located inland from Liguria. Nonno (Grandfather) was roasting ribs and sausages in the indoor, wood burning oven. Small bundled branch trimmings from their vineyard were stacked outside the back door. He saw the yearning for bar-b-que in my eyes and speared a sausage and handed it over to me. HOT HOT HOT...and heaven sent.

So, at lunchtime today, I took my panino to a park bench and enjoyed every morsel.

Rested, I made another walk around the piazza and chose two packets of Sicilian peperocino intero (whole, small red hot peppers). Looking further, I paid 4 E for a set of four tiny, etched liqueur glasses, which I think will be adorable after I wash them up. Marta, our bride to be, will love them. From the honey vendor, I purchased a jar of organic honey.

After returning to Firenze, with my shopping list in hand, I exited the autobus on Via Romana. I know a grocery store which is open on Sunday, when most shops are closed. I purchased as much as I could and then took the afternoon off to walk and take pictures.

Later, I made a terrific discovery. My favorite DVD shop, Alberti, has a location in Borgo San Lorenzo, and it's open on Sundays too. Evviva! (Hurray!)

I normally buy a dozen Italian movies to bring home, which I use for language and cultural studies. The shop was full of American movies too, but I always steer clear of them.

My shopping list:
Nutella
Brass hooks
DVDs
DVD: I Centi Passi
DVD: La Traviata
Scarves
Tank tops
Plastic food containers
Langenscheidt Dictionary
Fabio Volo books
Andrea Camilleri recorded book
Valentina book
Crepe cookbook
Pinocchio dolls
Stockings
Hair brush
Dior nail polish
Luis Vuitton purse
Coffee-Espresso
Seals for espresso maker
Hair cut
Eye glasses
Perugina cacao in polvere (powdered chocolate)
Chocolate pudding mix
Perugina chocolates
Bread crumbs
Spices
Dried beans
Pasta
Dried mild hot peppers (Basilicata)
Black rice
Bread (Sardegna)
Black olives (Morocco)
Honey
Baba (bakery, Cremona)

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