Lazy day Two

Lazy day - take two.

We napped, read, played cards, went to the pool... Had lunch (cold leftover bland pasta and roasted hotdogs over the gas burner)... It seems that doing nothing is exhausting, as soon as we lie down we start snoring. Amy took pics today to prove that everyone here wears the bikini - we're getting ours tmw. I really tried to upload the pics - but I couldn't get their computers to read from her camera for some reason. Then I spent another 30 mintues uploading and failing to get the pics of the crabs... gaw. They're being stubborn about uploading and its almost 1am here. The bikinis and the crabs will have to be a cliff hanger for tmw.

Amy was assaulted today by an old man in a walker. She let him pass, and on the way by he grabs her face, kisses her on both cheeks and then gives her a big body hug and squeeze. Now when he sees her he waves really big and smiles.

We talked about going north to this little town that we had been told was "just behind our apartments".. We could walk in fact, and it was even more beautiful than Monopoli. I looked it up online and its FOUR Kilometers north just to the edge of town. We started asking around to Alesio and he said in broken English that yes, we can walk but will be very sweaty and stinky. (Mime wringing out the clothes and holding your nose). We thought about getting a "cab" there (but they don't let us call actual taxis, and their drivers charge 20 Euro to go anywhere, which is more than 30 dollars to go 4km)... So we opted to take the 6:00 bus into town and to ask for a REAL taxi back. We'll compare prices. :). We're standing at the bus stop now, and Jon just offered to drive us in... Nope, we're going with the 80 cent bus. Thanks.

The bus schedule is approximate... Give or take 10minutes - so we can actually spend 20min waiting on the bus, and we are right now. And even though its about 6:00pm here, the sun is still full strength, its hot. We have a saying that we picked up from our tour guide in Rome - "well, at least its not hot" that we say everytime we're sweating through.. Still makes us giggle a bit.

We're going to town but we know that the earliest we can get into places is probably 7:30 - but we're going to scope out places and find somewhere with an actual written menu. No more surprise four course meals. It was more food than Thanksgiving (as Amy says). Walked around and looked for food for breakfast - each store here has a specialty. Fromoggia (cheese), salami (meats), Fruitas (fruit and veg)... We found a place with incredible fruit, it was some that we had at dinner last night (the stuff that looks like honeydew, but isn't - it has a crinkly yellow skin), and the fiurno (the lime looking thing) - we bought bananas, peaches and a kilo of cherries for 4euro. And we're not sure what this fruit is.

This sign shows the hours of a local bank... we loved that there were incriments after the hour that were so odd. They don't open at 8, they open at 8:20... and they close at 1:20 for siesta... then open again at 2:35 and close at 4:05. We think the semifestivi is holidays

It was about dinner time, we found a little place that looked like it had a menu, and it opened at 7:30 (sieti media) - it was actually 7:15, and the door was wide open, so we went in. We were looking around and thinking maybe they would let us sit, and this man came up like we were stealing the silverware. We apologized to his imposing figure, and he seemed very put out that we were American... "SIETI MEDIA!" So we were determined that we wouldn't go back to rude man...unless we were really, really hungry ...and we couldn't find a place.

We walked by another place that was next to the first place we had eaten in town - they also seemed to have a menu... Good, no four courses! There were children looking in the window at the fresh fish selection - and we checked the hours, the open at 7! Yay! Its now 7:30, so score! But it didn't look open... Crack the door... Hello?... There is a waitress who looks a little scared and the chef comes out, and he speaks a little English and has a great attitude and sense of humor. He said, just "two minutes".. We apologized and said we thought it opened at 7 - and he said yes, "but in Italy we, a little slow" ha! We have learned that you need to arrive at a restaurant 90 minutes after the posted time.

When we sat and the chef came to the table and ran down the menu - four courses!! NO! We explain that its too much food, and they are very confused - he said ok, we will just do a *little* antipasta (2 orders instead of 4) and then we can pick *either* the fish or pasta course instead of both, and then dessert. Ok, deal. He set us up with a good beer and still water. The beer comes, Amy and I each got one, and each bottle is the size of a 1 liter bottle of coke. Dude. But we ended up getting a third to share by the end of the night.

They bring out the bruscetta (again those amazing tomatoes and olive oil), a veggie (looks like green beans) wrapped in fish that tastes like bacon and a barbeque sauce... Ok we're good... The waitress is practicing her english and says "one question, antipasto english?". - Appetizer - ah "Appetizer". But we're not done - they bring out proscuitto with a kind of mozerella (scarccelli?) - it looks like a mix between the fresh very soft mozerella and ricotto - that we roll in the proscuitto with ridiccio.

AND they bring this black rice with red sauce and calimari ...

Done right? No, a huge plate of octopus grilled (which looks a little scary, but is very tasty), and then TWO huge bowls of mussels (we said no way, just one! And our cute little waitress was so confused, "but it comes"... She couldn't take it back) - but only Amy and I eat them, so one bowl each, yay us.

Then the waitress comes back, timidly, apologetically, with another plate - vegetables tempura (YUM!!) - green peppers, cucumbers and eggplant - she says, "last one..". - ok, we laugh.

Then the chef comes out to ask about our decision with the fish or pasta - and which fish. We decided on this huge fish, like 12 inches long that he said will feed 4. We ask him if this four course thing was normal and how they stay so thin... He says yes its normal, and really most people want more!! He says "my friends, they want more", And he runs and works with no time to eat, so he's thin. He says now that he knows us, that if we come back he would say less anitpasto and then less of everything so we can have the pasta too. So cute. This is our fish before.....

The fish comes out and its just as huge (we held up a butter knife to try and show the size) - and the person we're calling the owner, cleaned and plated the fish for us at tableside, and then there was this amazing tomato and olive sauce.. Its awesome, the fish is so fleshy and meaty - We cleaned our plates.

Dessert? Tiaramisu? OMG, yes! They come out looking like parfaits, with the cutest little spoons that balance on the edge of the glass. Incredible meal. And in meantime another couple has come in with their huge dog, and the waitress brought water for the dog. :). We got to see their pasta course, and we're so glad we didn't get it. Huge. Man! And we are so grateful to rude man for being an ass... We started at 7:30 and its now 10 and we're ready for the bill (conto).

The waitress bring out the after dinner drink - limoncello (sounds like lemon jello and tastes like a liquid lemon drop) and cream limoncello - really strong lemon concentrate drink. Amy loved both, Patti loved the regular, and Dana and I could do without.

The owner waited outside for us until the taxi came (it was an unmarked Mercedes Benz... hmmm) - no "taxi" light or anything anywhere, but he did point to a taxi decal when he was driving us past the guard at the compound gate. He spoke no English - and it cost 20 euro, same as the other compound drivers. So there you go, but Amy said that at least we got to ride in a much nicer car. :)

So tomorrow we leave Monopoli and the Puglia area. We have learned that the Puglia are of Italy is responsible for the largest percent of wine and olive oil consumed by all of Europe. Hmmm.We were supposed to check out on Saturday but when we were planning we decided to leave a day early to allow for more time in Florence. Now we're really happy with that decision - and wishing we were leaving even a day earlier. We've enjoyed our time here in Monopoli, in spite of the resort, and we made a lot of memories here in "real Italy". Looking at our schedule is pretty crazy from here on out. Tomorrow we pack and leave about 3pm , then walk around Bari and get dinner before taking the midnight train to Pisa through Rome. Then three nights in Florence, three in Venice, one day in Munich, on to Heidelberg with the Murphys, three nights in Paris (sans Amy who will be headed north to Bremen to visit her former exchange student and new baby), back to London for a night - and home. So no more lazy days after this week until we get back home!