Today we are covered in fog. It is difficult to see more than 50 meters, and most everyone drives a bit slower and safer. It gives one a feeling of dreariness. We watch the leaves turn and slowly fall. Tomorrow it will rain and we will join our British friends who have had their umbrellas in their hands. Winter proceeds.
However, this past weekend was glorious. The sun was in abundance and warm. We looked up and saw a large V flight of a type of ducks that live in the Veneto, heading south for the winter. I hope you can see them in the photo. I expected to hear the type of vocal sounds that snow geese make when they fly over my father’s home in Manzanola, Colorado, but it was more of a screeching sound. Still, it was nice to hear. I think this is the first time we have ever seen this above our village.
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Venice to Cesenatico
Along the Adriatic Coast |
We were so lucky to choose this weekend to drive down to the area around Rimini where my wife would visit a knitting conference and I would paint scenes of the sea.
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| Served With Bread |
We both planned to enjoy the mussels that are grown in the Adriatic
sea, served up on big platters in a special piccante (spicy) sauce.
We hit a major roadblock in sadly finding that our favorite restaurant on a canal that we ALWAYS go to was closed for the month. However, we were happy to find out that the owner also owned another fish restaurant on another canal in nearby Cesenatico.
In this area there are many canals which feature colorful boats and great fish cuisine. There is a lot of competition, so you can be assured the food will be awesome.
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A Very Large Wooden Boat
At the Canal Bridge |
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| On The Other Side Of The Canal |
With reservations made digitally we arrived on time to walk across the canal and then ten minutes toward the sea we found Trattoria Lampara. There were so many boats, I cannot feature them here. You must come yourself and enjoy the view.
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A Boat Like This Will Take
A lot of Work to Maintain Its Beauty |
I am always happy to visit this area and its canals because there are so many old wooden boats. The residents and owners make sure they are always well painted in colorful schemes. It is quite like walking through a museum and I try to take a lot of photos to use later in watercolor paintings.
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Many Smaller Ones Well Kept
Our View From Our Trattoria |
This weekend there was good lighting and the water showed deep colors and the shadows from the boats made a good contrast.
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| Eye Catching |
We passed one trattoria which had a terrific front, one which reminded me of what I thought I would always see when coming to Italy. I will use this shot while adding some people in painting. We did not eat there, but kept walking towards the sea.
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| One Happy Tasting Expert |
Here you can see a happy customer leaving Lampara. We sat two tables down from the door. The menu was loaded with choices and after choosing the mussels appetizer we easily found other items to try. The waitress suggested a chardonnay and we were set!
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| Taste Of Heaven |
My parents always called the yummy liquid in the bottom of the pot "Pot Liquor". That is the perfect name for what is left after the mussels have disappeared. The local type of bread is used to enjoy it.
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Still Warm In The Shade
Last Gasp Of Summer |
We
spent a pleasant two hours enjoying the local
specialties with a lot of people watching and of course, the romantic boats moored nearby.
The canal where we were is
at Cesenatico, a port town with about 26,000 inhabitants. It is on the Adriatic coast of Italy, I have included two small maps to show you were it can be found. It is located in the region of Emilia-Romagna, about 30 kilometres south of Ravenna.
This is an area that most tourists do not have the chance to visit because they choose Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice. They are missing out as Ravenna has some very nice Roman ruins with well preserved mosaic floors, and the sea and the beaches are quite nice. During the summer, especially August, it is overwhelmed by Italians on vacation. We won’t go there in August for that reason. We also avoid Venice for the same.
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| Lemoncello |
Finishing off our meal the host brought out a flask of limoncello. They make their own and it was quite good. Many trattorias offer this end of the experience treat. In the Veneto it might be a "gasoline" called grappa.
I plan to continue this posting in a few days with some other activities we found plus two other restaurants we were lucky to find. The food in this area of Italy is somewhat different from what one will find in Rome, Florence or Venice, so I want to write a bit about the differences. Plus I plan to write a blog posting about how to translate menus, including the type of pastas and sauces. That will all be coming soon.
With that, I wish you all a fine end of October.
Ciao!
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