A trip to Colico, more reflections, a two and a half hour lunch...

First, today is a double posting, so make sure you don't miss the one right below this one.

On Saturday I took a trip up to a little town called Colico, which is settled between the Alps and kinda near Lake Como. I went up with an American friend who is doing this program in Brescia, about an hour east of Milan. It was really the first time I had hung out with an American in Italy. It was especially nice to talk with someone who is having a familiar experience. We could share frustrations, different experiences, different insights and just have a good chat. Before we get into some of those things I'll recount a bit of our adventure.

We visited his Italian friend in this town of Colico. When we got there Saturday night she was busy with some group activity (like Scouts) so we settled in at her house with her parents and sister and then we went to dinner. What Italian place did we go to? That's right, a Mexican Steakhouse. Where, of course, we all ate pizza. After that we went out into the town 'think population of Gladstone' but a little more concentrated and a walkable city center. There we went to a couple of bars, had some drinks and waited until Matt's friend arrived (yes, my American friend doing the same program in Italy as me is also named Matt).

The next day was when we had a three hour lunch in some very traditional restuarant. A rustic restuarant, that is, with a couple of fireplaces going, windows with views of the Alps and in some small little podunk town and full of locals (most people were speaking at least in dialect to an extent). Here's a quick recap of the menu:
- appetizers: varied cured meats, salame, prosciutto, typical meat of the area, plus mushrooms in some sort of mustard sauce and marinated little onions.
- first course: gnochetti (little gnocchi) with a delicious cheese and butter sauce with sage and cracked black pepper
- secound course: Pork ribs and sausage cooked on a flat rock which is typical of the area (like a pizza stone). A lot of that. Plus potatoes prepared the same way. And on top of that polenta, which is the northern italian stick to your ribs dish if there ever was one.
- then: Two types of cheese, one similar to grana (like a crumbly parmesan) and one white one, kinda like a cheddar.
- dessert: Specialty cake of the region, plus cookies.
- Add in a liter of wine, a liter of water and three coffees split between us, we were about to die and go to culinary heaven.

How much did it run us? For this marathon, authentic lunch we payed 52€ total. So with the weak dollar conversion I would guess that would be something like 68$. Which I think is a great deal for all the food we got, didn't have to leave a tip, got wine and made a real experience out of it. Which leads me to my next and principal observation of this post...

This type of thing does not happen in America, especially not in a restaurant. Could you imagine a) having a lunch like this and then b) being able to enjoy it to its fullest, have good conversation and not once be hasseled by a waiter? It is great! We never once felt like they wanted us to leave or to open up the table. We stayed there the longest by far and there was never that feeling. Eating together like that was something to be enjoyed. We didn't worry about when the next dish would come. It came when it came. We didn't feel like we were 'wasting time' while there at all. When was the last time you had lunch or dinner in a restaurant like this? It wasn't just a lunch to eat great traditional food but to experience the people around you, too. We talked about all sorts of things, from politics to old drinking stories. Sometimes in America I think we forget that food can have this effect. It acts as a bridge or a catalyst to human interaction. It is the ultimate excuse to get people together and spend time with the people you care about. Everyone needs to eat, right? Well let's try to make an experience out of it then. Let's not just eat to live, but let's live to eat. Let's not look at food as something that only feeds the body but can feed the mind and soul through getting people together in situations like this. Let's live to have those experiences where we share good food with good people and don't worry about where we have to be or what we have to do later tonight. Let's step back from the hecticness of life and say to ourselves 'We deserve more time like this. More time with our friends and family and good food and good conversation.' Leave the dishes on the table and let's chat some more. We'll clean them when we're ready.

That being said, I'd be more than happy to cook all of you (seriously, anyone reading this ol' rag) a big ol' Italian dinner when I get back (not too far away...in Oregon in late Feb.). We'll eat good food, but more importantly we will spend time together and appreciate the friendships that we have. I'll start preparing the menu...