We can’t seem to wake up before 10am.
I want to wake up early to make an early start and enjoy the scene from the picture below, which is the view from the window of Mike’s parents’ house. The second picture is the view from their balcony.
Beautiful, no? How nice it is to wake up to this!
Cappuccino and cornetto are among the things Mike and I like to eat for breakfast whenever we’re in Italy. He prefers cornetto con marmellata, and I prefer cornetto con cioccolato. The thing is that you need to wake up early to get these goods otherwise local bakeries run out. They bake it daily and seem to only have a supply that last until 9am. You would think they’d just make more if the demand is there, but nope! As for the cappuccino, it’s practically illegal to order one after 10 am. Ordering one after 10am or after a meal make it VERY apparent that you’re American. They look at you strangely and if you’re unlucky, they’ll call the carabinieri on you.
Though we didn’t wake up til late yesterday, Mike and I still walked over to Ciccio Sul Mare to get our first cup of capuccio, and first bite of cornetto. Unfortunately, they were out of cornetto, but we bravely ordered cappuccio anyway. Mike recognized his cousin behind the counter so we didn’t get sued for ordering a cappuccio 11:15am . (It seems that everyone is his cousin.)
We then went for a jog up the mountain, took in a view of Capo Vaticano from up high, but decided that it was too hot to continue jogging. We headed back home for a swim instead. So many of Mike’s cousins stopped by to give us their benvenuti. We stayed in the water until it was time to eat lunch. It was a BIG Sunday lunch with a BIG family to boot. Then we took our afternoon siesta that lasted longer than I intended (siestas in the beach house are OUT OF THIS WORLD.) We woke up and had some Spumante and Pan di Spagna with cream and peaches, then heard mass where we saw and greeted more cousins.
Around 10pm, Mike, Ferd (Mike’s cousin who attends University of Pisa) and I headed to Tropea, a city perched on top of a mountain with a great night life and fantastic views. We went for some late night pizza and midnight snack gelato. I am hooked — to both the pizza from Pizzeria La Boheme, and the gelato from Gelateria Mimmo! Mike and I shared a pizza with rucola, grana padana shavings, and prosciutto crudo. It was perfect. The melt-in-your-mouth prosciutto was laid on top after the pizza came out of the oven, hence it’s crudo, or uncooked. The crust was perfectly thin, but not dry. Just how we like it! At Mimmo, I had un piccolo nocciola (hazelnut) and panna cotta flavor. Here, the small is truly a small and not mammoth like in America. Mike got his own nocciola. I don’t like sharing when it comes to ice cream. I want my own piccolo cup.
Needless to say, we had a very filling day yesterday – and food here is amazingly good.
But I still want my cornetto.
Today, we woke up late again (it must be jet lag, or the late night in Tropea). Mike’s parents must have anticipated this since they know that neither Mike nor I are morning people. They had gone to the bakery early and gotten us some cornetti, both marmellata and ciccolato before they ran out! YAYY!
They’re great at making sure that we’re well-fed.
