Saturday, October 24, 2009

DINNER IS SERVED!

Appetizers at our home, I believe it's Dylan's B-Day. Hot day in July, guests are Patry and Marcello, Ale and Parizia, Tony and M.T. and Linda; we are in the veranda and the turquoise sheet is trying to keep some of the sweltering heat from making a first course out of us.

More appetizesrs!



The main course.....piglet on carta da musica!

Pie! Apple and peach....



More piglet....this is at Tony's



In Santadi at aunt Ersilia's, she had quite a spread: amaretti, almond crunch, pardulas and piricchittus, mmmmmmmm!



Buitoni minestrone, you buy the frozen veggies, doctor it up a bit with fresh tomato soffritto . maybe a few more peas or fava beans... and it is as good as homemade. Now why don't they bring it over to the States,,, they import all kinds of other product here but I have yet to see the minestrone.

At M.Teresa's again, this was Jazzi's B-Day, I provided the food and they the entertainment.

Paste: cornetti, americane, filled donuts, chocolate eclaires....

Time for cake!

Blow the candle out Jazzi!

Another day, another meal at Tony's... this is for Jazzi's going away party

M.T.'s Watermelon, straight from the garden, it was soooo goood!


Hope you enjoyed the food, we sure did!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

THE "CASOTTI" OF THE POETTO




I have being always interested in the "Casotti" of the Poetto in Cagliari. As a child we rented one most every summer and I will never forget those days, waking up to the lazy sound of the water lapping the shore. spending practically every waking moment in the water, eating mortadella panini, under the hot sun, and sitting in the cool sand at night playing games or simply talking. I remember the long walks on the shore, especially those taken early in the morning, before the beach would fill up with the "day visitors", at that time in the morning the beach was all "ours" and nothing compares to having an 8 mile beach all to yourself!
These unique "huts" were built at the turn of the century for the beach goers of Cagliari, and a portion would be rented. In 1985 the township had the "bright idea" of tearing them down. and they did. As you may guess this was a a big mistake as it took away what was anchoring the fluffy white sand to the shore, and as the huts went, so did the sand. The "big Brains" then compounded the first blunder with a second even bigger; they dredged the waters 10 km. from shore and filled the beach with a black mixture that, more than sand, contained minced shells! The outcries were loud, but nothing could ever bring back the fluffy white dunes, except maybe the passage of time...a lot of time.


has been 24 years now, and this summer I started to see a small improvement, not an awful lot, but a beginning; the water was more transparent than even last year, and the sand is starting to look like sand.

This was a very cloudy day, and in fact it even rained....it never rains in summer!!!! So the water does not look as clear as it was.

The sand in this area was not really disturbed during the big fiasco of '85, but I was in other parts, and I can see an improvement there.

The majestic "Saddle of the devil" sitting in the middle of the Gulf of Angels. The Devil is not there anymore, having been defeated by St. Michael, the angels are also in hiding....too many topless girls and floss bottoms!

The first and second stop are the dominion of the young, Dylan and Jazzi really liked this area. It also has the dubious fame of being the place where I met my future husband.


1986 a sad day for me and many...THE LAST ACT...




Monday, October 12, 2009

THE FOUNTAINS OF ROME

The weather is turning here in Sardinia, there is a slight chill in the air at night and this past week or so the sky has melted every so often and got me, and the ground all wet. The mud gets stuck in my paws and for some reason mommy gets all upset when I walk all over the clean floors, she has washed my paws so often that I’m starting to loose my pads!! I have noticed that she has started to pack the luggage, and have a feeling that my stay here is coming to an end; I will go outside and check my kingdom one more time.

Sure enough I was right, not too long after saying goodbye to my grounds we took a trip to the airport; uncle Tony and aunt M.Teresa came along and that was a God sent for mommy who had a very tough time making my tickets, I guess they are not used to sending dogs to the States because they could not find the prices; it took a while, but finally things were resolved. I did not even know about all this mess because Tony and M.T. had me outside to water a few plants, and let the Elmas dogs know I had been by. By this time we are almost late and have just enough time to say our goodbyes and go our separate ways, I to “Bulky Bags” and mommy to the baggage check, and next to the gate. After all the stress of the ticket and …did I mention that at first they did not want to send me and the luggage straight to JFK?…the plane is late, and if that were not enough, once on board the captain announces that the weather in Rome is bad and we do not have permission to take off…my Doberman nose and instinct tells me that trouble is brewing, but mom is oblivious to everything.

We arrive in Rome one hour late and, while mom is refused the V.I.P. treatment to make sure she does not miss the flight to Frankfurt, I am picked up faster than you can say “BIG TROUBLE” and put on the plane!!!! Mom is not alarmed yet, Alitalia is issuing a new ticket for her on the 3:30 flight to JFK, all they have to do is trace her luggage….and ME!!! Yea, good luck, I know German when I hear it, and THAT is all I’m hearing!!! As I was saying, the poor woman is no worried yet, she’s been issued a ticket and all she wants to do is find me and possibly have some food since she hasn’t eaten but a cup of coffee at breakfast, there are a couple of hours to go and for sure they will find me since they are sending inquiries to every corner of the airport. So sure they are that I’ll be found, that at boarding time they let mommy get on the plane giving her a sense of security that I also am on board, just to make sure she does stop an attendant and asks to double check the pet compartment and make sure I’m there….. I have just landed in Frankfurt, how can I be there?????? Two seconds before takeoff they finally tell her that I am not on board and the poor woman gets off the plane worn out, worried, and starving…. yea, she still has not had any food. The Alitalia attendants are very nice, they take her to the ticket counter again and she’s issued a voucher for a hotel, and a new ticket for the 9:50 plane on the following day, there is still a little problem…. nobody knows where I am, they suspect Germany and start sending inquiries to Frankfurt and tell her to just go to the hotel and they will call ASAP when they have news. It is now around 4:30 and she goes to the hotel (the Hilton btw) dreaming that I am found soon, and to have a meal. When finally in her room, trying to decide if to shower all her weariness off first or have a meal, she gets THE CALL: I have been found in Frankfurt, am on my way back, and can be picked up at 6:30. OK, she thinks, I’ll have a sandwich at the airport, it is close to 6, I have time to go, eat, pick up Rupert and then call Michelle to advise her of the new flight, shower and eat. It was a good plan, and it would have even worked IF she had not forgotten her passport, so she had to say good-bye to the sandwich and hello to a measly cappuccino. We are finally reunited, I’m in my crate holding my temper and my urine and am so happy to see her that they do not need to check the baggage claim tags to see if I am her dog, the attendant again is so nice and tells us to go outside the airport via the customs and let the “Finanzieri” know that we need to come back in, but first we must go trough passport check…again! Everyone is very nice and all compliment me on my good looks telling mom that they would not dare stop me from going where I please! It pays to be a DOBERMAN!!!! We go outside and it feels so good to have a drink and pee!!!! !!!! Go back in, customs, passport check, pick up rest of luggage and crate, passport check, and out to a loooong tunnel with strips on the floor which move…I want nothing to do with that, and we are obliged to crawl with two luggages, one crate, and one dog on leash

Finally we get to the hotel, we are both past exhausted and hungry it is close to 8 and after a quick call to Michelle, and a warm bath for mommy, she goes to a well deserved dinner. Her first dish, “trofie al ragu” is so salty that, if the advents of the day were not enough to send her blood pressure spiraling to the sky, this would surely finish the job; but the entrĂ©e is very good and since it is also plenty, she saves part for me and asks the waiter to have some rice boiled for my meal. The Hilton cook redeems himself by preparing the best-boiled rice of my life, and when mixed with the chicken it makes the best dinner!!!!
My crate, how would you like to take an extra four hour trip in that!

Nothing like a nice comfy bed to make you forget 7-8 hours in a crate!

Here I am under the "Leonardo Da Vinci" art piece.

I will spare you the details of the trip back to the airport, the looong crawl on the tunnel, the up and down, up and down etc on the elevators because it is too painful to even remember. Let’s concentrate on the pleasant things, the walks around the Hilton, especially when she let me loose around 6am; sleeping in a very nice bed; meeting very nice people who could not compliment me enough, a nice soldier even offered to take me upstairs while mommy schlep the luggage and crate up the elevator, (I just refused to enter one more elevator, and told her in no uncertain terms that I had had it with that contraption)!

The best part though, was seeing the Roman fountains. I had always read about the famous and beautiful fountains of Rome…Trevi, Piazza di Spagna, Triton…and many more, it is the dream of every tourist to see them and, even though it cost me a trip to Germany, it was a privilege to see and drink from a Roman fountain!