Saturday, February 2, 2019

A Somewhat Snowbound Saturday Minus Flag Practices and With Stinco


Saturday, February 2, 2019

First and foremost . . .

Happy Groundhog Day!

It is a special day in our house for Laurie and I, but I digress.

Still lots of snow on the ground
in Varese but it's turning into slush

I was headed downtown to the public library to return a book and check out a new one for the next few days.

As you may recall, the Varese library is located in the city's large municipal building.

The city's small tribute to two judges
who bravely stood up to the Mafia only
to be cut down by the Sicilian mob

Their deaths outraged the citizens of Italy at that time which led to some severe crackdowns on Italy's infamous crime families.

The park behind the municipal
building was still a winter wonderland
for kids of all ages

I was told by the Nardi's that this
is the best butcher shop in the area

Obviously, I had to give it a try today.

As expected, lots of meats but also
an interesting array of wines and
cheeses too

The small shop was quite busy so the lady working the cash register went around to the queued up patrons offering samples of cheese, salami and PROSECCO!

Italy, WHAT A COUNTRY!

The meat choices were awesome!

I bought a couple of different cheeses and a small bottle of Chianti wine and was off to my next destination.

No, not the Sacro Monte

The Nardi's pick for the best panificio

I bought a nice loaf of bread and continued on my way to the Bar Semaforo for a noontime spritz and a chance to peruse the daily Gazetta della Sport.

Apparently Cristiano is off to a relatively,
for him, slow start in his first year
with Torino's dominant Juventus squad

Did I say dominant?

I believe that a record of 19 wins, 2 ties and 0 losses qualifies as dominant.

Wouldn't you agree?

Hey, Monday morning's big NFL game
made it onto Page 9 today!

Go Rams GO!

When I got back to the Villa Skorpion II, Giorgio Nardi informed me that all of the Skorpion flag team practices today were cancelled because of the muddy, slushy conditions at Skorpion Field.

Thus I had the afternoon off to putter around the Villa and prepare for dinner tonight at Varese's Spitz Brew Pub.

Fried gnocchi behind Stefano's hand
with meats and cheeses to accompany
our spritzes

Now all of this was just appetizers before we ordered.

I was told to order the Stinco alla birra

Stinco is the meat of a pig's knee joint cooked in a beer sauce.

It sounded like an adventure to me.

LET'S DO IT!

 Stinco alla birra

It was amazingly tender and quite flavorful, I'm glad I ordered this delicious dish.

Our Dinner Crew

Stefano, seated next to me closer to the camera, inquired as to any of us having a tequila boom-boom after dinner.

Cooler heads prevailed.

Dinner lasted for over three hours and we had an amazing time with great people.

Tomorrow the Skorpions will load up the recliner bus for the three hour drive to Verona to scrimmage the Mastini.

Wish us luck please!

Life is GOOD!

No comments: