.......OH NO!!! - Right now, I am doing something prohibited in these fruit/veggie markets, and that is touching the produce! It was an honest mistake, I swear, (as most of our photos were snapped in haste), but I think the vendor noticed my hand on her pomogranates! In Italy's produce markets, (unlike in supermarkets) customers are NOT allowed to pick and choose what they want by handling it, because NO touching is allowed - period. I already described the unpleasant consequences of breaking the "No Touch" rule (and the logic behind it), in the Venice section! Just make sure you know about this in advance of any trip to Italy where you may find yourself in such a market. (But hey, you almost can't blame them....look how BEAUTIFUL their produce is! As you see, the oranges are SO FRESH right off the trees, that they still have their LEAVES on them!!

Now for an even "darker side" of some of these outdoor merchants. They can get very irritated and even verbally abusive over literally nothing, as they are often the least educated of all Italians. (They even have a special expression they shout at you meant to insult your deceased loved ones!!) You might hear this EVEN when your "offense" was nothing worse than not purchasing something from them (!!) ......I heard someone abused this way this very day at this very market, (NOT directed toward ME this time, but directed toward another customer). Though someone DIO curse my dead relatives once for not buying one of his umbrellas! Hard to believe.....but true! You might also want to remember a general rule in Italy that applies to MOST stores of all types - that the "Customer is (almost) NEVER right". It's nearly impossible to return anything after purchase, (even IF that's 5 minutes later!) usually not even for credit or exchange. This general rule of thumb is not merely realized from my own experience from living in Italy, but also what I've heard from many Italians, including family and friends, numerous times over many years.


...... FOOD AND MORE FOOD ! ! ! I never saw so many different kinds of OLIVES, until I lived in Italy!



















.........SO MANY GREAT DINNERS -----SO LITTLE TIME!!.........OK, there WAS a photo here of some COD FISH for sale, which I described in the paragraph below. Must be another of those photos that got deleted accidentally, in spite of all my efforts! But while we're on the subject of FOOD, I'll now talk about some of the meals that my Italian family prepared for us during our visit. I haven't given details about them so far, so I will now, because no Italian trip would be complete without talking about FOOD! All the dinners Settimio's sisters made were delicious and very much appreciated!

One evening we visited SANDRA, a sister who is extremely sweet and has always been so good to me. Her husband is "JOE" (who used to work for Proctor & Gamble in Italy) but now in his early 80's, has a hearing problem. (He is about 15 years older than Sandra). It was almost comical to see me struggling to make him understand me; ALL evening I often had to shout when speaking to him, and he barely heard me even then. The others had the same problem...I didn't suggest it, but I think he probably needs a new battery for his hearing aid! LOL. But he was such a dear and very spry for his age too, (the Italians would say, "in gamba"). At age 82 or thereabouts he was still driving, and even drove us back to our apartment at nearly 2:00 AM that night!! We took taxis home from other places when it was that late, but he wouldn't hear of it. Joe even slammed the receiver of the telephone down in the middle of Settimio's conversation with the Taxicab company!! HA, HA! (BTW, Joe was a very good, safe driver too, and drove the way I wish ALL Italians would drive!)

But back to those GREAT DINNERS! I still remember all their yummy homemade dinners 2 months later! SANDRA made some delicious lasagna and even more savory VEAL "Salt' in Bocca alla Romana", and her specialty, dried tomatoes and eggplant in oil. She also had fruit and a special Sicilian orange cake for us. She's a great cook, and the sweetest person you'd ever want to meet!! And unfortunately, she has also had a very hard life, in some ways, and I wish her all the very best in this chapter of her life --- she deserves only the best!

GABRIELLA (Certainly very much "in gamba"!) is another sister we visited, who was a great world traveler, and whose late husband, Luciano, was an ambassador for the Italian Embassy. They traveled and lived all over the world, and we really enjoyed seeing all her photo albums of their adventures, including their life in Africa and South America. (Another sister, AGNESE, was there in "spirit" only, because she lives in Argentina and wasn't able to come.) GABRIELLA made for us: Very tender roast veal cutlets in sauce with peas & bacon, but for our "first course" she served her famous ravioli. Fruit and dessert came later, but we were so full afterwards, that I regret to say that none of us could eat the delicious lemon cake she had made (or bought - I forgot!). We did have a little ice cream instead.

IRENE, the blond sister in the dinner and Anzio photos with us, also invited us over for her equisite Cannelloni, Veal & mushrooms, and 2 excellent cakes! My husband's sisters are all such great cooks and were so kind to us in so many ways! We appreciate also so much the nice gifts they gave us. I've talked about Irene a lot in this Blog, as we spent more time with her than any sister, after Romana. There are LOTS of pictures of both IRENE & MAURIZIO in our ANZIO pictures after the Venice ones.

At ROMANA'S HOUSE (where we stayed a week) there were many of the same dishes, Veal and Chicken, (sometimes made in the popular Italian way - breaded) , Tortellini, Minestrone, Fish, and various Antipasto items, including olives, salami, ham (prosciutto), green & red peppers in oil, and green beans, also in oil and served cold, eggplant, zucchini, salad and MANY varieties of cheese! And of course, always Italian bread and fruit! I can't remember everything probably after nearly 2 months, but it was all delicious!! The only thing missing from the table was salt and pepper, and I know I annoyed Romana by asking for it because I have such a "salt habit" it's pathetic. She considers both salt and pepper almost poison, and I know I really need to break my salt addiction! It makes me retain water, for one thing and isn't good for my blood pressure.

ITALIAN VS. JAPANESE/CHINESE COOKING - I know not everyone may be interested in my Blog "Chapter" on food, (Best to read it when you're hungry!) but many believe Italian food to be the best in the world --(including my husband of course!!) I love most Italian dishes, really, but I also have mixed feelings about them. And while I love Italian food, sometimes I prefer the JAPANESE OR CHINESE style of cooking them!! So IF I had any suggestions for Italians IN GENERAL (NOT any family members of course ;-), it would be to use LESS oil of all kinds, and LESS fried, battered cooking. I think Italians have a very healthy diet in general, the so-called "Mediterranean" diet, but to me it defeats the purpose of eating fresh green, healthy vegetables if you're going to deep-fry them in flour or egg batter, as they do so often with zucchini, eggplant, artichokes, meats and other foods. Also, many Italians (including my husband!) boil or otherwise cook the hell out of vegetables, making green vegetables like broccoli and green peppers turn brown and mushy. DEFINITELY a NO-NO for me! LOL, Apart from this, ITALIAN FOOD IS WONDERFUL!! But definitely also meant to be eaten in moderation, as we all know, due to its high calorie count !!

....PHOTO MISSING!....BELOW IS THE PARAGRAPH I WROTE WHICH PREVIOUSLY HAD ONE OR TWO PHOTOS ATTACHED, WHICH HAVE STRANGELY DISAPPEARED. BUT I'M LEAVING WHAT I WROTE HERE ANYWAY, BECAUSE IT DOES PERTAIN TO FOOD, AND SOMEONE MAY BE INTERESTED IN THE FOOD PRICES IN ITALY. WE SURE WERE!!

....MEAT & FISH - is extremely expensive all over Italy, (Like many other foods), but definitely less costly at these outdoor markets. The least expensive meat & fish is between $8.00 and $20.00 per pound. Even this sale on dried cod here is almost 23 euros per kilo, (2 lbs.) which converts to $36 for 2 lbs, or $18.00 for one pound! The other white fish in the photo is clearly marked 11.90 (almost 12 euros per kilo = about $20 per 2 lbs.), OR $10 per pound. And remember, outdoor markets are generally the most economical way to buy stuff! At the supermarkets we bought sliced cooked and raw/cured ham (prosciutto cotto e crudo) to make sandwiches for lunch, and the price was also about 23 euros per kilo, (that converts to $18 per pound!!) VEAL is the meat of choice for most Italians, it seems, and is plentiful in markets, restaurants, and homes. As I mentioned before, I tried to order CHICKEN, but chicken dishes weren't on the menu in many restaurants, and we were told that some Italians are wary of chicken due to many reports of contamination and "bird flu" in chickens some months ago in Italy. And of course, in Italy and in the USA, chicken is normally the least costly of all meats. (Lucky for that, because I love it!!)

....LASTLY, SOME "UNMENTIONABLES" I'M GOING TO MENTION ANYWAY! ....But to be fair, we discovered they really cleaned up the butcher shops and outdoor meat markets since our last visit in 1984. At least now they cover the food somewhat from the flies and don't keep it hanging in the open doorways anymore, those poor skinned animals!! I always felt so sorry for them seeing them hanging there, with all their parts still attached, entire head, legs, tail, etc. Hey, I don't like to be reminded of what I'm eating TOO MUCH when I'm eating it - (but that's just ME!) We ate dinner once in the 1970's with a farm family in the country and the Signora made chicken soup - using EVERY part of the chicken. I witnessed the CLAWS sticking out of the pot!! The man of the house ate a RAW PIG'S EYEBALL at the dinner table in front of us!!! (I'm NOT Kidding!) Many Italians also eat organ meats, not just liver, but brain, kidneys, and other "goodies" which I don't even want to HEAR about! AND I'M SURE you don't either, so I'll shut up now!! (Besides many other Italians eat only what I consider "normal stuff", and by now I'm sure you realize that I tend to eat "with my eyes!" as the saying goes! : -)

WHEW....! ! THIS CONCLUDES THE FOOD & NETTUNO PORTION OF MY BLOG (SO SORRY ABOUT ANY REPETITIONS! THIS HAS TO BE THE LONGEST "CHAPTER" OF ALL! LOL) NOW, WE'RE FINALLY MOVING ON TO VENICE ! ! PLEASE CONTINUE SCROLLING DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS OF THIS UNIQUE CITY THE ITALIANS CALL "VENEZIA" WHICH IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND CHARMING, YOU JUST ABSOLUTELY MUST VISIT IT SOMEDAY! SO DON'T JUST KEEP DREAMING ABOUT IT!! AS THEY SAY, IT'S A "GREAT PLACE TO VISIT" THOUGH FROM MY "VENICE REVIEW" YOU MAY SEE THAT IT'S A PLACE MANY FIND IMPOSSIBLE TO LIVE!





**** WELCOME TO VENICE ! ! ! ****