Another fabulous month

I'm sorry to gloat but I can't help reflecting on June and concluding that month nine of 'funemployment' has been another good one.

Since my last post I spent another couple of days in the French sun before flying back to the UK. From there Mum and I explored the beautiful Cotswolds for two days before returning to London for three action packed days of sight seeing. Highlights included: Brixton; Camden Markets; Regents Park and the canals; Borough Markets; Trooping of the Colours where we even spotted Kate; War Horse; an open top bus tour and lunch on the shores of the Serpentine in Hyde Park. Thank you so much for visiting Mum. I loved having you here.

Once Mum left to return to New Zealand it was time for a wedding in the English countryside. A top day and the weather even behaved. The bride and groom make such a wonderful couple and I felt very lucky to be able to join in their celebrations.

Then it was onto Sicily to visit Rebecca, a very good friend who is living there. It was so awesome to experience the city with my own personal tour guide. I loved the grittiness of the city and the food was outstanding! Plus, of course, the company was fantastic.

I then had a whirlwind tour of Berlin. A very cool city. I found the history fascinating and was highly impressed by the number of free exhibitions. A panorama of the wall was a highlight, as was bumping into another friend who was visiting at the same time. I love it when the world feels so small.

And finally I'm now in Greece and about to embark on a week sailing with seven friends. I can't wait, although I'm a little sad as this will be my last trip in Europe for the foreseeable future.

The last month has reminded me how wonderful it is to hang out with old friends. While I have met lots of fabulous people on my travels, there is nothing quite the same as a laugh (or in my case the occasional snort) with old friends.

The joys of cake

I've been eating some wonderful food in Italy.

Wild asparagus, artichokes with pasta, zucchini pizza, cheese, home pressed olive oil, the BEST eggplant parmigiana I've ever tasted, gelato, biscotti and some delicious home made baking.


I got the recipes for two of the home cooked sweet treats I've been feasting on which I thought I'd share. We usually stop work around 10.30 for a caffe and cake break. (I could really get used to this lifestyle - I don't even need to feel so guilty about eating cake when I've been out doing physical work for two hours that morning!)


CIAMBELLONE
This is a delicious moist cake recipe.

3 eggs
3 glasses sugar (the glass used is a little less than a cup)
4 glasses flour
1 dessert spoon baking powder
1 glass milk or yoghurt
1 glass oil
1/2 glass amaretto (if you have it)

Simply mix all the ingredients together (no beating of sugar etc required). You can also add other flavours before baking - chocolate or raw chopped apple - 2 or so apples - work well.

Bake in a large ring tin at 180 degrees for an hour (cook for a little longer if it isn't cooked at the end of an hour). (Adding a tray with some water in the oven while cooking will help keep the cake moist.)


CROSTATA
This recipe is for a delicious tart.

Pastry:
2 eggs
120 grams butter
70 grams sugar
300 grams flour

Mixed the pastry ingredients altogether but don't knead too hard.

Roll pastry out flat and using approximately two thirds of the pastry line a greased round tart tin (approx 30cm size). Keep the remainder of the pastry and roll into 1cm thick 'snakes' for decorated the top of the tart.

Filling:
Cover the pastry with a good quality jam. Any flavour will do, but ideally it should be homemade! You can also add ground walnuts (hazelnuts would work well too) to the jam filling. The filling should be about half to a centimetre thick.

Cover the filling with a criss/cross pattern from the remaining pastry. (See photo below).

Bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes.

Buon appetito!

Finally, the real Italy

My first foray into Italy was an accidental stop off in Pisa. It's a long story, but in short, a few hour stop off on the way from Budapest to Albania coming up two years ago, turned into a two day stopover for a friend and I after our plane was cancelled for no apparent reason.

I didn't warm to Pisa and it certainly didn't live up to my expectations for Italy. It was teaming with tourists (mainly Americans on tour buses - not that I have anything against them), the food served in restaurants was frozen pasta meals and breakfast involved packet croissants (you know the ones that physically can't go off because they are packed with preservatives).

My second trip was a much more successful trip to Sardinia with 9 friends for Easter last year. While we stayed at a lovely villa and revealed in the relative warmth compared to London, we didn't really get out and about in the villages of Sardinia. I came away from the trip feeling like I was yet to experience the real Italy.
This, my third trip to Italy, has finally allowed me to get a sense of the Italy that I was so sure was lurking here somewhere. The farm I am staying on is 4 kms from a town called Orte. I spent my morning wandering around the town and soaking up the 'italianess' of it all.

Cappacinos for one euro; locals having their morning shot of grappa; enticing bakeries with fresh ciabatta and pizza by the slice; crumbling buildings; roads so narrow the cars could barely squeeze through; flower boxes; delis selling fresh pasta and olives; vegetable stores brimming with artichoke, radicchio and tomatoes; little old ladies wearing headscarves and wheeling their morning purchases in those funny little shopping trollies; old men smoking on the street; clothing stores selling leisure suits (and frighteningly people wearing leisure suits); vespas; washing hanging from balconies high above; gelato shops; window shutters - my morning stroll lived up to every Italian stereotype I had in my head.

The other bonus which I must harp on about, not a single tourist in sight. Orte won't be in your guidebook, it's only claim to fame according to wikipedia appears to be its prominence as a road and rail hub and some battles during roman times - but for me it was the Italian experience I have been waiting for.

Italian ways

I have made it to beautiful Italy. I am staying on a small olive farm about 10 minutes from a town called Orte which is 40 minutes by train from Rome.

The countryside is stunning. Rolling hills peppered with pockets of bush, olive groves and meadows filled with spring grass. In exchange for food and board I am expected to work in the mornings: looking after 4 beautiful show jumpers; gardening and working in the olive grove. We stop during the morning for stovetop Italian espresso and lunch is an outdoor, sit-down affair: pasta; salads; bread; and cheese (today I counted the number, eight different types of cheese, heaven).

It is a fantastic way to gain an insight into the traditional Italian way of life. I'm here until 3 May when I hit the tourist trail again in Rome.