Advertisement
Published: December 1st 2008
THANKSGIVING IN ITALY
So I spent Thanksgiving in Italy, but not alone, as I was fortunately blessed to spend it in good company with friends from LA: Louise from Carson, Emily from West LA, and Mario from San Pedro (now living the Allah life in Egypt). We stayed in an apartment just outside of Sorrento in the town of Massa Lubrense.
It was a bit of a mission getting to town taking a 3-hour train from Rome to Naples, stopping at Di Micheles for Naples famous Margherita and Marinara pizza, hopping on the regional Circumvesuviana train for an hour to Sorrento, and then final taking a 20 minute SITA bus ride cliffside along the Sorrento coast into the town square of Massa Lubrense. We settled into the apartment and got things in order with Luigi, the young man renting the apartment to us. We found it very funny that we were in the presence of both a Mario
and a Luigi. Luigi and his mom Maria found it funny as well. We would later find out that Luigi actually has a brother named Mario. Hilarious.
Anyway, four Americans in Italy for Thanksgiving. What to do. First, we
had to look past our foreign surroundings that were more so apparent with no typical Thanksgiving decorations around to set the mood and Italians who cared less of our American tradition. Regardless, we would still celebrate.
Thanksgiving day, Louise, Emily, & Mario ventured out for some sightseeing to the cliffside town of Positano. I stayed behind and in the afternoon I left for the market to pick up items for our Thanksgiving dinner. I had in mind what I would pick up, but that was easier thought than done.
First, leaving the apartment was a bit of a challenge. Massa Lubrense is a
small town with narrow, windy roads. Getting to the town center, less than half a mile away, and just a ten minute walk was like playing Frogger with no pedestrian sidewalk along the path. You literally share the road with vespas, cars, and buses having to rely on the sound of oncoming cars speeding around corner turns.
Second, stupid me left the house at 3pm. My third week in Italy and you think I would be used to the hours of operation. Upon my arrival to the market it was closed and there wasn't
a sign indicating when it would re-open for the evening. I had to rely on the business hours of other stores which was 4:30pm. Great. I turned around dodging more cars and scoring more points making it back to the apartment safely. I killed time chopping onions and garlic hoping that I was going to find what I needed at the market to put them to use.
Lastly, I left the house at 4:30pm and made it to the market happy to find it was open. A traditional turkey I already knew wasn't an option as its not something typically found in Italian markets. I tried to improvise and had roasted chicken in mind, but no luck there, just salami and proscuitto. Not what I had in mind for a meat course. I set that idea aside and moved on to the next item on my grocery list. Four bell peppers I needed to make stuffed bell peppers, one for each of us, but only three in good condition. I took the three anyway optimistic that I would find another market nearby that would have more. I left the market not accomplishing much with only the bell peppers, rice,
Dr. Mario
Hum-do-lah...and salt in my grocery bag. I ventured off into the other side of town to find another market. I wandered aimlessly for 20 minutes with no luck until I stopped at a hotel and asked the door man for another market nearby. Found it, but nothing I needed.
CRAP. Someone must've been looking down on me as I just as I was about to give up and opt for going out for dinner, Louise text messaged me that they were in Sorrento at the market and asked if I needed anything. My saviour.
It was a joint effort in the kitchen among the girls (of course) preparing dinner. Mario chilled out on the couch in front of the TV minus the traditional sounds of yelling and screaming watching football, but instead sounds of CNN, our only English channel, broadcasting the news of the chaos in Mumbai and Thailand.
Dinner was served. We enjoyed bruschetta, salami, proscuitto, cheese, & caprese for antipasti and for the main course - bell peppers stuffed with rice and ground beef, complimented with chicken cordon bleu. For dessert, toasted bread with Nutella. No quite a traditional Thanksgiving meal, more so Italian and French.
Weez - The Banker
Don't let her innocent face fool you. There wasn't even leftovers to indulge in or the partake of a mid-evening naps as I'm sure all of you did back at home. (Jealous).
Our night was finished with a familiar American game of Monopoly, but of course our evening would not be complete of never ending non-traditions discovering it was the German version of the game. It was nearly impossible trying to figure out what the heck the
Chance and
Community Chest cards said and unfortunately there wasn't a "Playing Monopoly" section in my German translation phrasebook. 😊
Though it was a not-so traditional Thanksgiving, it was good food, good company, and that's all that mattered. I hope that everyone back home had a blessed Thanksgiving spent with family and friends.
Ciao!
More Thanksgiving in Italy Pics ---->click here
Happy Thanksgiving Where in the world is Lynn now? ---->click here
Lynn's Twitter Page
Advertisement
Tot: 0.435s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 54; dbt: 0.1358s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Jessica
non-member comment
Mmmm
Di Micheles.... my mouth is watering! I have to say, I do not miss those travel days! :)