Thursday, 16 January, 2020
I was greeted by yet another chilly but cloudless day, perfect for some shopping and a visit to the site of our first church festival of the season.
Loving the narrow streets that
were part of my walk this morning
After stops to have a cappuccino and a brioche at the Pasticceria Marabelli and to buy a loaf of bread and some choice cuts of meat in our neighborhood, I headed by a C Line bus into Varese.
The Bell Tower in Varese
was still standing
The Big Deal of the Day in Varese was the beginning of the annual two day Festa di San Antonio.
As is usual in these church festivals, several vendors were setting up to offer up their edible delights.
The cheese looked excellent!
I passed.
Amsterdam Chips are what
Americans call French Fries
No, grazie.
Of course a boar's head enticed
me to this meat salesman
No, I'd already bought enough meat today.
More cheese
Again, I passed.
Oh there were sweets,
lots and lots of sweets
Definitely a NO, my body is a temple.
Hardy items
Too hardy for my tastes.
Did I mention the sweets?
What part of NO, do you not understand?
Cheese everywhere!
I'm weakening . . .
A pretzel sounded good
Heaven help me!
Hand filling a fresh
Sicilian style cannoli
Simply not fair.
Lots of Sicilian delights including . . .
While I like Sicilian food in general, . . .
. . . ARANCINI!
. . . I'm in LOVE with Sicilian arancini!
I can't believe that I said no to one of these tasty wonders.
Sicilian Minchia Beer?
A bit unsavory for my delicate tastes.
And more sweets . . .
I'm getting impressed by my will power.
Chestnuts for sale
I had no interest in these whatsoever, other than as a photo op.
"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire . . ."
A nice Christmas song to be sure but I was still unmoved.
Stirring a big pot of polenta
The chilly weather today was tailor made for a bowl of polenta but I kept on strolling.
Oranges from Calabria
They looked good but I did not want to tote them around town the rest of the morning.
Bonfire preparation!
Shades of Texas A&M before the Texas game back in the day.
I wonder how high they'll stack up these palates before setting them ablaze?
A large part of this particular festival's tradition revolves around a bonfire in front of the Chiesa di San Antonio tonight.
Unfortunately, we have practice tonight from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., so I'll miss the bonfire.
San Antonio with his pet pig
This was the first time that I'd
ever entered the Chiesa di San Antonio
I walked some more and then realized . . .
. . . I had no more will power
One of their panini salssicia had my name all over it at this spot.
I needed to pay before ordering which brought me face-to-face with this . . .
. . . pig's head!
The aromas were wonderful!
That's my panini closest to us
with grilled onions and peppers
Add a little mayo and ketchup and I had the perfect panini.
I only have one word for this al fresco dining experience . . .
I went back to the chef after I finished my panini to congratulate him on his perfect offering. He smiled and then said something to his partner by the pig's head who proceeded to hand me a slab of delicious turkey meat for free to finish my dining experience.
It's good to be polite.
Near the bus stop on my way home
after one last stop to buy coffee capsules
In the cold, cold evening I was off to our Prima Squadra practice.
One of our new players drove this
classic 1960s Fiat 600 to practice
It was immaculate and was an extension of the famous Fiat 500.
After practice with the temperature down to 0°C/32°F, the lock on the Fiat 600's door was frozen shut.
We had to use someone's cigarette lighter to heat the key so as to melt the ice that had formed inside the lock.
It worked.
One-on-Ones
Team Period
We had a solid workout highlighted by great effort from over 45 coachable Skorpions.
That white on my Timberland
shoes is frost!
I'm pleased by what I'ver seen in these first two practices.
I think that I'll return to Day II of the Festa di San Antonio on Friday to see how well my will power holds out.
2 comments:
Glad your player was able to thaw the lock on his 600, but if that had failed, he could always just pick it up and carry it home.
David,
I think that you are correct!
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