Don’t worry, this won’t be a history or statistics lesson. Just a few random topics related only because I find them interesting. Think of it as a compilation of short stories.
The way we think about events and experiences has started to change a little. We have started to categorize events and experiences as “blog worthy” or not. After deeming something blog worthy, we immediately start thinking about how we are going to write about it. Often, these events are little things which may not be significant enough for its own post, so we jot them down so at some point, we can make a hodgepodge of a post like this one.
Snails
We’ve seen a lot more snails in Italy than we see back home. If you have looked through the pictures, you may have been surprised to see so many photos of them. That’s because they are novel (to me), they look alien, and they are easy to photograph. I spotted one one evening as we were sitting outside eating dinner at the farmhouse. I ran inside and got my camera and took a bunch of pics. I then set the camera down and continued with dinner (thank you Jesslyn for being understanding of the interruption). After we had finished eating, the snail had vanished! I couldn't find it anywhere. How far could it have gone? I went to grab the camera to go inside, and there he was on top of the camera. I guess he liked getting his picture taken.
Getting artistic with the snail photos and the good camera
This is where he was when I couldn't find him
Wine
I like wine. In fact, I really like wine. Red, white, pink, bubbly, still, Californian, Italian, French, Australian, Chilean. I like visiting vineyards and wineries and learning about how the grapes are grown and how the wine is made. I had a blast at the Boston Wine Expo, going from table to table and hearing all about the producers and trying so many different wines. But…. I am just not THAT into it. On a recent wine tour through Montalcino tasting Brunellos, I realized something. We were sitting with our guide tasting various vintages and he had a 2000-and-something and another 2000-and-something-else, and was smelling and tasting and describing the differences. To me, I couldn’t tell any difference whatsoever. Perhaps my palate isn’t as refined as it could be with practice, or perhaps I just don’t have the physical ability, I don’t know. I have given up on trying or caring. So, I am OK knowing that I am not able to discern a Sangiovese grape grown on a north facing slope in Montalcino in a dry year from a Barbera grape grown in Alba on a south facing slope in a wet year. By the way, I am a little skeptical of the whole business because I never see these “experts" do blind tastings.
Food update
It was bound to happen at some point, we had our first inedible dish. It was some sort of preparation of bacalao and it was awful. I have had bacalao a couple times before, and I liked some, and not others. Let me start with the visual; no other word comes to mind other than “slop". In retrospect, it should have been served in a bowl with a spoon with some bread. It still would have tasted awful, but at least they could call in stew. Instead, it was a main course, served with creamy polenta (which wasn’t bad). And both things were just slopped on a plate. The gray color didn’t help at all. It smelled like a fish market at 4pm on a 95 degree day... and the taste was worse. Jesslyn and I intended to share it, she tried one bite before politely informing me that she wouldn’t be having more and passing it my way. I took one bite and told her that I was impressed by how calmly she handled that situation (some other time I will tell you about when she spit out the horseradish cheese at a wine tasting and proceeded to wipe her tongue off with a napkin). I choked down a couple more bites, but I wasn’t up to the challenge. Luckily the waiter brought us something different for free. Unfortunately for Jesslyn, that something different was cuttlefish in its own ink.
What does a barrel smell like?
This is actually an old story that I forgot to write about at the time. In Orkney, Scotland, Lynn, Rob, Jesslyn, and I toured the Highland Park Whiskey distillery. We were being shown the barrels in which they age the scotch and were offered a chance to smell the inside of a recently used barrel. After popping off the bung (yes that is the name of the stopper, I will let you guess the name of the hole into which it is inserted), our guide asked us to step up and take a whiff. Lynn, not being shy, and also apparently not paying attention, stepped right up in front of the whole group and proceeded to smell... the outside of the barrel, no where near the hole.
My favorite thing about Croatia so far? The size of the beer!
Yes, that's a 2 Liter plastic bottle.
- Jake