Making Sense (Or Not)
+ highlights from Italy
After returning from Italy on Sunday night, I thought I was feeling pretty good on Monday and might escape the elusive jet lag—but by Tuesday, I truly wasn’t making much sense. I tried to push through, run errands, mark off my to-do list for my upcoming event this weekend, but my body screamed all the good sense to go lay down.
Feeling much more refreshed, now that is it Thursday Friday, I wanted to share a few highlights from our trip and what really sparked my senses (to keep that convo rolling). A couple of my favorite newsletters like Ari’s Top 5 and From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy always share what they are reading, listening, or cooking, so I thought it made sense for me to start there first.
What I Read: I had just finished Stag Dance the night before we departed, so I wanted to shift gears and really had a hard time narrowing down which reads to take… so many food memoirs I wanted to read, so many book clubs to catch up on… What ended up not making sense is the way I OVERpacked all the books to take with me (but certainly helped contribute to my workout of toting my bag throughout the trip)!
I ended up starting Care and Feeding by Laurie Woolever on the flight from Newark to Frankfurt. I’d heard it was a real page-turner and figured I’d breeze through it in time to leave it with my friend—the one we were staying with during the first part of the trip in Florence. I guess I’m not as speedy as I thought and not much reading took place once we arrived in Italy, because… well, spritzes, gelato, wine.. you know.
Plot twist (mine, not the book’s): I didn’t finish Care and Feeding on time, so it ended up making the return trip with me. But I did knock it out on the first flight home—leaving the full 8-hour stretch from Munich to Newark wide open for New Yorker crosswords and diving into this month’s Inky Phoenix pick: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. (Call it a reader warning: this one’s a fun, easy read that totally pulls you in—so yeah, sleep didn’t happen.)
Lastly, I carried Stanley with me the entire time. While I didn’t make it through What I Ate in One Year cover to cover, I did dip into it along the way.
What I Listened To: Hands down, Alexis Ffrench is my go-to plane listening. This playlist on repeat. Perfect for reading, sleeping, or calming nerves on a rocky flight.
Now for the fun part— highlights from Italy and what I (we) ate!
It makes sense here for me to give you a little back story on our travel plans. We spent 4 nights in Florence (with good friends who live there— they own Bellemille Olive Oil and Tuscany Cycle and you should most definitely check them both out!), 1 night in Lake Garda, and the rest of our trip in the Dolomites, in a teeny village up from Bolzano. But there were some noteworthy stops on our road trip along the way!
Favorite Florence Stop (Snacks): Procacci Firenze — we had a bottle of Marchese Antinori Blanc de Blancs (local to Florence since the 13th century!) and mini sandwiches (mostly truffled!) which are truly my heart’s delight. Don’t skip out on the peas!
Favorite Florence Stop (Drinks): Locale — the most beautiful space, the most beautiful cocktails— just all of it… bellissimo!
Favorite Florence Stop (Dinner): Nugolo — the bread selection and the truffle pasta are something that will visit me in my dreams. I rarely eat pasta here at home and this visit confirms why I must travel to Florence more often. There was also this cloud puff of a pecorino mousse that was spring-y and delightful with eggs, peas, and puffed spelt. The perfect little cloud puff is the only way to describe it.
Favorite Florence Stop (Gelato): Gelato Gabriele Vannucci — the three of us roamed the streets post our Uffizi visit and happened to stumble upon this little gem. I didn’t realize what we had discovered. He nails it. I got the R.A.P. gelato (ricotta, amarena cherry, pistachio) and there will never be anything to top it.
From Florence, we road tripped to Lake Garda with a stop in Modena at the Enzo Ferrari Museum and lunch in the Piazza Roma where again, I think we got really lucky stumbling in. Emilia Bistro had a lovely view of the Palazzo Ducale di Modena and we nibbled & sipped on all the local treats— prosciutto di Modena DOP, parmigiano reggiano, balsamic vinegar, lambrusco. While I didn’t make note of the local beer we tried there, we are always on the lookout for a good regional beer stop.
Which brings us to the next travel day where we stopped in Trento for lunch at a punky little beer bar, Uva e Menta, where no one spoke any English, but we pointed to tasty beers and mortadella sandwiches. It made sense.
We ended the trip in the Dolomites— in a little town up from Bolzano up in the clouds, but the weather did not dampen our exploring. First of all, we stayed at Haflinger Hof, where you could visit the cows being milked and order rye sourdough, wine, or eggs from the paper menu. You had to do a bit of creative travel (by foot or car) to a nearby hamlet or village for your next meal.
Our hiking meals had to be creative as well and they definitely didn’t make much sense. The day it was so foggy, we were foggy rather groggy too in our meal planning, and we picked up cheese, prosciutto, and cioccograno (shortbread biscuits)— oh, and Forst beer— for our make shift lunch.
The other hiking day, we again, lucked out— the Schutzhaus Tschafon hut was our peak destination and the weather tried to cooperate. We didn’t get the full view, but still the cloud watching and peak finding is an energy I needed to take with me.
Favorite Mountain Meal: Tschafon Hut — I wasn’t just excited over the Campari spritz at the top of our hike! The minestrone, full of what they grow at an altitude of 1737m, was oh-so-nourishing. I wish we had ordered more!
Made sense that the day we left, we finally got an (almost) full view of the mountains!
Now that I’m making a bit more sense post jet lag, here’s what’s happening this week:
What I’m Reading Post Trip: Worn: A People’s History of Clothing for PA Fibershed’s Book Club (hosted by me in May!) and Between Two Waters: Heritage, Landscape, and the Modern Cook for Alicia Kennedy’s Book Club.
What I’m Listening to Post Trip: First day back, I listened to the newest episode of Progressive Hedonist with Dan Barber. Reflecting on Italy our eats, I really appreciated Dana and Dan’s convo on eating hyper local and food being ‘attuned to what the landscape needs to grow’. Take a listen.
And Central Stem’s first event on Sunday, 4/27! More information here.