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Mill at Boldara
The waterwheels of the restored cereal mill at Boldara It was our turn for some Kiwi cooking. Pavlova of course but we'll do more next week. Our Pavalova for mid-day meal turned out to be a little more difficult than following a recipe. Firstly, buying the ingredients was interesting. There was no castor sugar and we couldn't find the correct cream to beat for the whipped cream. We got three varieties to try - one of them was going to work. We also didn't have an electric mixer or an egg beater so we bought a whisk at the shop. If you haven't tried beating a pavalova with a whisk, then believe me, it takes a loooooonnnggg time! But we got there taking turns at beating and using granular sugar plus icing sugar. The oven was a mystery but as long as it wasn't too hot, not much could go wrong. The end result was just fine - a lovely pavalova, soft in the middle, crisp on the outside, with whipped cream and gold Zespri kiwifruit on top. It seemed to go down a treat and met with Piero's high standards in the cooking department.
Today was biking day. We peddled off down the banks of the Lemane River to Concordia Saggitaria to the Roman Ruins. There are Visitor Centres for 4 towns along the Apian? Way of which this is one town. The old Roman town sits under the exisiting one so while some is exposed to the outdoors, other parts of it are under existing buildings with larger than usual basements to allow the excavation of the ruins. Some of it, particularly the ancient cathedral is well excavated and displayed, other areas only have remnants showing. and the remainder are in a state of readiness for work to be done. At the main site is part of the original road complete with large solid flat rocks making up the pavement. To think that we were walking where people lived, walked, rode, and carried out their day to day lives on that spot 2000 years ago is quite amazing.
It was getting quite hot in the afternoon so we had a 'pit stop' in Portogruaro then headed into the countryside north and east of the town. It is superb biking country - flat and beautiful. No hills. Oh joy. We cycled past farms with lovely houses, many trees and crops of maize and grapes. It is the trees that are so outstanding. It might be flat but not boring. We still haven't seen any animals though.
Our second stop was at an old villa and park at Portovecchio but it was shut, so onto an old cereal mill at Boldara. We had a second pit stop at Cintello and since we were to meet Pierina and Piera here we decided not bike the other planned stops and wait for them to arrive. We parked our bikes and then went by car to Bagnarola to see another restored mill and a very old and tiny church called San Pietro. Unfortunatey it was locked.
Pizza followed at Cordovado and then back to Cintello for our bikes. By now it was dark and fortunately the proprieter allowed us to leave our bikes there where we'll return for them in the morning and explore this area a bit more.
So, what do we think of Italy so far? The infrastructure is good. The roads are excellent. The public transport works well. The countryside is lovely and there is a huge number of places to see and visit. The history is fascinating and varied. The people are like people all over the world - they are friendly and warm. No, they are not crazy drivers, or not in this area anyway. But yes, they are excitable compared to the calmer more laid back Kiwi. Yes, it's a great place to visit. On the negative side, the graffiti is bad, and although we don't experience it first hand, the political system is a bit nutty and there is corruption. If you visit, don't mention the work "Belusconi"!
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