Dolce dei Santi

Like most faithful Americans, I'm a bit of a Halloween zealot. Not so much because of the overcompensatory skanky female outfits, but rather for the prospect of finally receiving that mythical razor blade in my carmel apple. Though the holiday is not celebrated with an equivalent enthusiasm in Italy, what it lacks is costume it makes up for in:

DOLCE!

I am mad about dolce. Like, -eat it alone in my closet- mad. So when I saw this Pane dei Santi and said to myself "I'm just going to buy this as a matter of blog fodder", my conscience knew I was lying. 

In Italy, November 1 is All Saints Day or Ognissanti and November 2 is Day of the Dead or Giorno dei Morti. I guess the belief is that the dead return to the living the night between November 1st and 2nd and remain with the living until the Epiphany in January. The dolce is an offering made to the recently resurfaced and is known as Pane dei Santi or Pane dei Morti; it's a tradition that apparently originated in Milan but has since become a devoutly practiced ritual of Tuscany. Anyway, I did not bake this myself, nor do I particularly care to investigate how it is prepared, but I can tell you it has a distinctly dense, cakey texture, boasts flavors of chocolate, nuts, citrus and spice, and that there isn't any left.

Holiday 1, Best Of

Giulio and I just returned from two weeks in Turkey. It's an extraordinary country with a broad range of things to do, an impressive history, stunning landscapes, delicious food, and welcoming people.

In honor of this blog being dedicated to my ineptitude in Italy, I've decided to refrain from featuring the blues and greens of the glittering coast, the reds  and oranges of the fiery sunsets, or the deep purples  of harvested eggplants, and instead  share with you the less conventionally appreciated moments of our travels.

Let me first just say that on day three I barfed twice in a random kebab shop in Uchisar, and on day six we both almost crapped our pants in Pamukkale.

Now.

hiking Love Valley: one can easily discern the reason behind its romantic name.

unfortunately we were only able to sample the peanuts

oh no, no no

they really did look genuinely fake

wonder if I can get a discount if I buy the onions in bulk?

why bother with natural beauty when your girlfriend is a FOX!

giulio's observations: five waiters, one cup.

bullying: their collective burst into vindictive laughter when Giulio dropped his keys

shark bait: a clandestine attempt to woo me with honeyed words in the two minutes G was gone for a bathroom break

lunch pairing of fermented vegetable juice to accompany Bosphorus street sold fish sandwich, purchased after forgetting my seeing glasses/mistaking it for pomegranate juice. 

SURPRISE!

(Did I mention we almost crapped our pants in Pamukkale?)

Ok, but seriously, GO TO TURKEY.

Fresh Pages

My brand new British Passport arrived which means I don't have to go through the Permesso di Soggiorno/Dolce Visa process again! What a relief. 

Just one thing, can someone please explain to me the purpose of this:

Admittedly, I left it on for a little while because I felt ridiculous following such sorry instructions (recurrent thought: "why'd you put it there in the first place?") But I finally caved and peeled off "this label", which left me feeling micromanaged for almost a week.