We stopped at Paninoteca-Birreria Pizzeria for pizza by the slice on our way to the beach. This was the place Claudia says is her favourite, where she took us for lunch the day we first arrived in Castiglione. We understand why, it is ours too. It is a rather unassuming place. To be honest, if it wasn’t recommended to us we probably would never have tried it, it looks a little bit unkept from the road side, but inside is a pizza nirvana. We ordered simple Margarita pizza, two slices each at 1.20 euro a slice.
We spent the afternoon at Castiglione’s beach, it was pretty busy being a weekend. Castiglione is a popular holiday/weekender for Italian families as it pretty easy to travel to from Rome, Florence and Milan. We waded out into the depths, the water was pretty clear. I was doing well until I saw a jelly-fish swimming towards me. That was it, I screamed like a big girl’s blouse and high tailed it into shore. With encouragement from the boys I returned to try again. Now there were things touching me. I would stand waist deep in water, look down and all I could see were my toes and the ripples of sand on the sea bottom. The next minute I would be screaming my head off after feeling something touching me. I yelled and screamed and the boys laughed and laughed at me. Again we returned to shore. JR did the next stint alone with AJ. I watched from the safety of the sand. They went out so deep and I longed to be with them so I had a little talk to myself and decided that everyone out there swimming was just fine, if no harm was coming to them, no harm would come to me. When the boys came back and AJ begged me to join them again I did just that. I had a little cry this time giving the boys more fodder for laughs. Once we got out deep enough and we could not touch the bottom, I calmed myself and had a lovely time. In fact, when the boys were ready to come back to shore, I was the one that wanted to stay in the water. The African dudes tried to sell us everything but the kitchen sink as we lay on our beach towels in the warm sun, we waived them on firmly but politely.
We cooked a lovely dinner at home, spinach and ricotta tortelli with a tomato and garlic sauce, and after, we got dolled up and wandered the streets, taking in the wonderful summer, seaside feel that is Castiglione. Everyone was out to enjoy Saturday night. We strolled slowly (I am teaching JR how to stroll and he is doing rather well) enjoying a gelato. JR couldn’t resist dropping into Dal Buchaniere for a late night snack of Margarita pizza, no one resisted of course although I must admit to only having a sliver.
I was ready for bed when my head hit the pillow tonight. My skin had become thirsty after the salt water and I had a little bit of colour to my usually pale complexion. Don’t you always feel exhausted and exhilarated at the same time after a day at the beach?
Showing posts with label tortellini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tortellini. Show all posts
Friday, October 2, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Bye bye Burgundy. Friday 7th August 2009.
It is with sadness in my heart that I leave Burgundy. We have all made happy memories here, meeting new friends and making new family memories of moments we will all treasure forever.
Moving days are always tiring, it is a big job to pack, clean and get organised to move onto the next exchange and today was no different. I don't know how we manage to fit all of our stuff into our three suitcases, but somehow the zips always come together, even if a little strained.
Annie came, on time to the minute, to take us to the train station, she is such a sweetie. As we were unpacking our bags at the front of the station, Pauline appeared to give us a hug and a kiss and send us on our way. Pauline had only just returned from staying in our place with her family and just loved our home and the things she experienced in Australia. Then, Isabelle was there with a message for AJ from Jeremy who is staying at his Dad's place and could not catch up with AJ this week. The tears welled in my eyes as we said goodbye, Burgundy and its people will always hold a special place in my heart.
So, Paris here we come. The train ride took just over two hours, AJ and I were in a silly mood and annoyed JR for most of the way.
Our new apartment where we will live for the next 21 days is gorgeous. It is style, style, style all the way. The walls are hung with Warhol, and at long last I have decent knives to use, Porsche design no less. We are a 2 min walk from the subway, 10 mins to Place de la Madeline and a little less to the Louvre. You just gotta love this home exchange deal. The family in our home have arrived safely too and they have commented on how huge our place is. The apartment is small for us but that makes it no less wonderful, just different. As they don't own a car and will be driving ours while in Brissy, they have bought us three passes to cover all our train, bus and tram transport while in Paris.
AJ set tonight's itinerary and chose an amazing Italian restaurant in St. Germain. It was mind blowingly good. Everything was made in house, the raspberry tiramisu was heaven sent and made with the plumpest fresh raspberries God ever made. My tortellini was filled with spinach and swam in a rich gorgonzola sauce - loved every creamy, calorie laden mouthful too. The whole place was spot on from go to woe, couldn't fault a thing except for a loud American on his fifth visit to Paris complaining they still couldn't get his coffee right. You would think after five visits he would have learned to sit back and feel the love.
On AJ's agenda next was a night time stroll up and back along the Champs Elysees, the guy's got taste. What fun we had. AJ was car spotting and I think managed to see almost one of every dream car he had ever heard of. He and JR snapped photos and drooled curbside more often than not. Every step we took brought us closer to the Arc de Triomphe, we had never seen it at night before and it was beautiful.
The Champs Elysees was alive with people and it was magical and exciting to be back in a big city again after our time in the country. We got home late to our little apartment, the party upstairs was in full swing but we were not and were in bed before you could yell, 'turn that music down and would you mind taking off your high-heels so we can get some sleep down here!'
Moving days are always tiring, it is a big job to pack, clean and get organised to move onto the next exchange and today was no different. I don't know how we manage to fit all of our stuff into our three suitcases, but somehow the zips always come together, even if a little strained.
Annie came, on time to the minute, to take us to the train station, she is such a sweetie. As we were unpacking our bags at the front of the station, Pauline appeared to give us a hug and a kiss and send us on our way. Pauline had only just returned from staying in our place with her family and just loved our home and the things she experienced in Australia. Then, Isabelle was there with a message for AJ from Jeremy who is staying at his Dad's place and could not catch up with AJ this week. The tears welled in my eyes as we said goodbye, Burgundy and its people will always hold a special place in my heart.
So, Paris here we come. The train ride took just over two hours, AJ and I were in a silly mood and annoyed JR for most of the way.
Our new apartment where we will live for the next 21 days is gorgeous. It is style, style, style all the way. The walls are hung with Warhol, and at long last I have decent knives to use, Porsche design no less. We are a 2 min walk from the subway, 10 mins to Place de la Madeline and a little less to the Louvre. You just gotta love this home exchange deal. The family in our home have arrived safely too and they have commented on how huge our place is. The apartment is small for us but that makes it no less wonderful, just different. As they don't own a car and will be driving ours while in Brissy, they have bought us three passes to cover all our train, bus and tram transport while in Paris.
AJ set tonight's itinerary and chose an amazing Italian restaurant in St. Germain. It was mind blowingly good. Everything was made in house, the raspberry tiramisu was heaven sent and made with the plumpest fresh raspberries God ever made. My tortellini was filled with spinach and swam in a rich gorgonzola sauce - loved every creamy, calorie laden mouthful too. The whole place was spot on from go to woe, couldn't fault a thing except for a loud American on his fifth visit to Paris complaining they still couldn't get his coffee right. You would think after five visits he would have learned to sit back and feel the love.
On AJ's agenda next was a night time stroll up and back along the Champs Elysees, the guy's got taste. What fun we had. AJ was car spotting and I think managed to see almost one of every dream car he had ever heard of. He and JR snapped photos and drooled curbside more often than not. Every step we took brought us closer to the Arc de Triomphe, we had never seen it at night before and it was beautiful.
The Champs Elysees was alive with people and it was magical and exciting to be back in a big city again after our time in the country. We got home late to our little apartment, the party upstairs was in full swing but we were not and were in bed before you could yell, 'turn that music down and would you mind taking off your high-heels so we can get some sleep down here!'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)