Pizza, Pasta, and Bureaucracy

Aaron's Proscuitto i Funghi Pizza (ham and mushroom)

Even though I'm sitting here listening to American music and cooking an "American" meal (meatloaf and cauliflower. I wasn't feeling Italian tonight?) I am enjoying the rest of that fizzy Italian red wine and listening to the bells of Bergamo.  Because I am in Italy!  We haven't been here a week yet so a lot of things are still really new, but also still exciting.  Riding the bus around town is still a novelty but finding a place to eat lunch that doesn't cost 40€ and also has a gluten free option is still difficult.  These things may change in time.

Today we set out early because we had a few errands to run.  We wanted to get our bus passes so that we didn't have to keep buying tickets.  Yesterday when we were on our way back from the grocery store the transit police got on the bus we were on.  Our tickets were only good for 75 min from the time we purchased them so when they inspected, we were 7 min past expiration.  Luckily he took pity on us either because we couldn't speak Italian or because it was too much trouble to write us a ticket, but either way, we learned our lesson.

Pizza with ham, artichokes, capers, olives, mushrooms and anchovies

The second thing we had to do was go by Ryan's new school to get him registered.  He was a bit shy, but we talked to the registration coordinator and hopefully we will be able to get everything handled in time for him to go to school on September 7.  The hardest part is going to get him "certified" as a celiac. They test nearly all the children here and apparently in most of Europe.  When the coordinator asked for his certificate and we told her that they don't do that in the US she was pretty shocked.  The fact that the US doesn't test children for celiac disease at all surprised her as well.  Since we don't have a certificate for him, we are hoping that a letter from the pediatric gastroenterologist will suffice.

Emily's Gluten Free Pasta with meat ragu

The third thing we had to do was get a prepaid card so that Aaron could get paid.  Many Italians do not like dealing with the banks so many get a prepaid card and just have their paychecks loaded on to them.  It has turned out to be pretty difficult as most things have been involving Italy.

Then we ate.  Breakfast was a cappucino and another Brioche which I still forgot to take a picture of because I ate it entirely too fast.  I promise tomorrow, I will take a picture.  This is a very typical breakfast for Italians, usually eaten on the way to work.  That's me.  A typical Italian.

For lunch we ended up going to the same restaurant that we went to yesterday mostly because we knew Ryan would eat the gluten free pasta there with butter and cheese.  Emily had gluten free pasta with meat ragu yesterday and today was pasta with tomato and basil.  Both of them were very tasty.

Ryan's Gluten Free pasta with butter and cheese

Yesterday I had a pizza with ham (proscuitto), artichokes, olives, capers, mushrooms and anchovies.  I discovered I don't like anchovies.  Aaron had a pizza with ham and mushrooms (funghi).  Today I had an amazing salad called a Medeteraneo with tuna in oil, buffalo mozzarella, corn, olives, and tomatoes.  They give you Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil for a dressing which is really quite perfect.  It was one of the best salads I've ever had.  I totally understand why my friend Wendy said that Italy spoiled mozzarella cheese for her.  It's very different over here, much moister and creamier.  Everything tasted really fresh and at the end I used the bread to sop up all the extra dressing.  I may have added a bit more vinegar because it is so delicious.  It's much sweeter than most Balsamics I've had in the states and much less of that vinegar-ry tang to it.  The bread also has a bit of a yellow tint to it because they don't process their flour or bleach it.  So their bread isn't perfectly white, but it is delicious.

Medeteraneo Salad

Then of course it was gelato time.  We went back to the soft serve place but decided we liked the gelato better from an actual gelataria where they scoop it.

Then we came back to the apartment.  Yesterday, Sunday, on our way back from our errands the Citta Alta was totally packed due to the tourist season and there was an event here.  Today was much nicer and we didn't have to fight through throngs of people for our gelato or for a way home.