Wines of the Langhe & Roero

My wife and I really enjoy the wines of the Langhe and Roero, and also had a wonderful visit to the area with friends. Consequently, I decided to do some research on the area and present wines of the Langhe and Roero to members of our wine club. I would like to have included the wines of the Monferrato, but that would have been too much for one evening.

The wines we tasted were accompanied by home baked bread and by the following tasty cheeses: taleggio, fontina fontal, gorgonzola, montegrappa, and brie. It might have been nice to include other cheeses from the area, but they are not available here.

Below are the PowerPoint slides if used for my presentation. I created some of the slides myself, used some images from the internet, and used copies of two postcards from our trip to the area. Whenever I used internet images, I gave credit to the appropriate site.


One particularly valuable resource I used was the web pages of the Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Roero (Consortium for Guarantee Barolo, Barbaresco, Alba, Langhe, and Roero - an organization dedicated to overseeing and promoting the wines of the Langhe and Roero http://www.langhevini.it/welcome_eng.lasso- ). 

(The Director of the consortium advised me that the Consortium will host a 3-day promotion event for the Langhe and Roero wines. The event will take place May 5-7 in the Langhe and Roero and includes visits to wineries and vineyards. It is for wine professionals.)

I am also grateful for the assistance I received from a representative of the Michele Chiarlo winery.

Lemartine, Another Wonderful Wine from Poggio Antico

As I have mentioned in previous postings, Poggio Antico winery, located in the commune of Montalcino, Tuscany, is one of my favorite wineries. Poggio Antico is well known for its superb Brunellos. In January of this year, it introduced a new wine -Lemartine, a wine which it produced in 2010. I purchased several bottles during a visit there last summer. I served the first bottle  at a special dinner the night before last. It was terrific. I think the winery best describes this wine as "a hearty, rich, and elegant wine." 

Lemartine is a red wine which is a blend of 50% Sangiovese, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 25% Petit Verdot. The juices of the three types of grapes are aged separately for 10-11 months in 225-liter French oak barriques. After blending, they are aged a further 4 months in bottles before being released.

Lemartine is named after an old stone family homestead built on the Poggio Antico property over a century ago. The wine is classified as a Tuscan I.G.T. (Indicazione Geografica Tipica).

I paid €22 (US$27.28 at €1 = US1.24) per bottle at the winery. I have not seen this wine in the U.S.

The main wine I served at the dinner the other night was a wonderful 2004 Poggio Antico Brunello Riserva. Others such as Wine Spectator, which rates it at 96 points, have already done a superb job of describing this wine.

The menu for the meal was Italian, with the exception of the appetizer:

- Tomato, avocado, mango salsa with chips
- Carabaccia - Tuscan Onion Soup
- Parmesan Cheese Flan (Sformato di Parmigiano-Reggiano)
- Pappardelle Pasta with Umbrian Ragù
- Strawberry, Mascarpone, Marsala Pudding (Budini di Fragole, Mascarpone, e Marsala)

Typical of Poggio Antico's responsiveness to its clients, when I asked for technical fact sheets about the wines I served, they were sent to me within hours,

For an earlier posting on Poggio Antico, see: http://viaggiviniecucine.blogspot.com/2012/03/poggio-antico-winery-i-love.html

The URL for Poggio Antico's web site is: http://www.poggioantico.com/

Thin Spaghetti with Asparagus and Shrimp, from Pisa

I love Thin Spaghetti with Asparagus and Shrimp (Spaghettini con Asparagi e Gamberi) from page 249 of Beth Elon's book, a Cullinary Traveller in Tuscany. She obtained the recipe from La Taverna dei Gabbiani, Marina di Pisa, at the mouth of the Arno River. It is relatively easy to make and serves six. I added extra shrimp to the recipe.

Ingredients
- 1 pound large shrimp (I used a pound and a half of medium shrimp). Get shrimp in the shell because the shells are used to make stock.
-1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 shallots, chopped
- 1/2 cup dry white wine. (Publix supermarkets sell single-glass containers of chardonnay and other wines, so I didn't have to open a bottle for this small amount of wine.)
- 3 large, ripe tomatoes - peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
- 1 small bunch of Italian parsley, chopped
- 1 pound of spaghettini or other long, thin pasta.
- 1 pound of asparagus, steamed or boiled until cooked, but still firm, and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions
- Peel the shrimp, and remove the black vein. Prepare a stock with the shells and heads by putting them in a pan with 2 cups of water and boiling for about 10 minutes. Remove and discard the shells, reserving the stock and keeping it at a simmer. Chop the shrimp into bite-sized pieces. (That step is unnecessary if you buy medium shrimp.)

- In a large pan big enough to hold the pasta and the sauce, sauté the chopped shallots in the oil. Add the shrimp, and sauté for another three minutes.

- Pour in the white wine. As it boils, add the tomatoes and parsley, and cook for another five minutes. Add a good amount of salt and freshly ground pepper, and lower the heat.

- Drop the pasta into a large pot of boiling salted water. As soon as it begins to boil again, turn off the heat. Drain the pasta, and add to the pot holding the shrimp. Almost cover with the stock which was made from the shrimp shells. Begin to mix the pasta and sauce, adding more stock as the pasta absorbs. Add the chopped asparagus at the last minute, with some more salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Ca' Amadi - Staying at Marco Polo's Place in Venice, Italy

During our trip to Italy in last July, we spent several busy and interesting days in Venice. Our base of operations was a very comfortable, large, air-conditioned room at Ca' Amadi (http://www.caamadi.it/en/), a bed and breakfast that was part of a palace that was Marco Polo's residence in the late 13th and early 14th Centuries. Our room overlooked a picturesque canal called the Rio Fontego dei Tedeschi. This B&B clearly deserves the many wonderful reviews on Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187870-d275958-Reviews-Locanda_Ca_Amadi-Venice_Veneto.html). I highly recommend it.

Looking at Ca' Amadi from a Nearby Bridge

View from Our Room

Ca' Amadi is located an easy 5-10 minute walk from the Rialto bridge over the Grand Canal. Of course, we had to make this walk with our luggage when we came from the vaporetto (water  bus) stop near the Rialto Bridge.

The staff of Ca' Amadi - the manager Valentina, Nicolo and Alberto at the front desk, and the breakfast cook were all very nice. Alberto was extremely helpful in answering questions about various activities.

One of Our Two Sets of Beds

The two large beds in our room for four were comfortable and the room was nicely outfitted. One of the large beds was two smaller ones pushed together.

The breakfast had a nice variety of fruits, juices, yogurts, cereal, cold cuts, coffees, breads and pastries, etc. The cook would make delicious bacon and eggs to order. The one complaint I had about the breads and pastries is that they were commercial and uninteresting, in contrast to nice bakery/homemade pastries I have had at similar B&Bs elsewhere in Italy.

Another complaint is that the WiFi signal in our room was often very weak and unusable. However, I could go out into the reception area and receive a strong signal there.

The price of our Family Room for Four with Canal View was €265.00 ($334 at the exchange rate then) for the first night, a Saturday night. The next two nights were €236.55 ($298) per night. The room tax was only €5 per night in contrast to a typical American hotel tax that would have been around 15%, This was also the height of the summer tourist season.

Rio Fontego dei Tedeschi, is an interesting name. It means, "Canal of the Warehouse of the Germans." It refers to a large building that is located at the intersection of that canal and the Grand Canal. The building was the HQ of German merchants in an earlier day. In the Venetian language, "Rio" is the word used to refer to canals other than the very large canals like the Grand Canal. (Many visitors do not realize that the Venetians have their own language (not dialect), that they speak in addition to standard Italian.)

One interesting experience we had was that the route of the gondola ride we took passed right under our hotel room. That offered us a very different perspective.

Several times, when sitting in our room with the windows open, we could hear passing gondoliers pointing to Ca' Amadi and mentioning it had been Marco Polo's home.

Anyone who is staying at Ca' Amadi and is interested in a close place to have delicious gelato should try L'Alta Gelateria on nearby Salizada Fontego dei Tedeschi. I loved the peach gelato.

Osteria da Alberto - Wonderful Dining in Venice, Italy

The best meal by far that we had in Venice last July was at Osteria da Alberto (http://www.osteriadaalberto.it/sito/en/index.html). The food was delicious, the menu included Venetian specialties, the atmosphere was warm, and the staff was very nice. It was decorated with lots of antiques.

While it is a bit off the beaten path, on Calle Giacinto Gallina at Cannaregio 5401, I noticed that it has 112 Trip Advisor reviews, of which 49 are in Italian, so it seems clear that a lot of people seek it out.

Before leaving our hotel to walk to the restaurant, I phoned (041-5238153) to make reservations. That was fortunate. When we entered the osteria, I saw that it was almost completely full.

Just inside the front door was a counter which displayed lots of good-looking food. We were quickly welcomed by Manuda, our waitress, who took us to a table near the rear. 

Two of us  had Tagliolini al Pesto for €9 each.

One of us had a green salad (Insalata Verde) for €3.80 and Gorgonzola Gnocchi with four cheeses (Gnocchi Gorgonzola ai Quattro Formaggi) for €9.

As usual, I went for local dishes. I started with Sarde in Saòr, the same sweet and sour sardine dish I'd had the previous evening, for €9. It was wonderful.

I noticed that there were two baccalà dishes on the menu. In most of Italy, baccalà means salted cod. However, in the Veneto region of Italy, where Venice is located, baccalà refers to stockfish (stoccafisso) - cod or other whitefish, which has been air dried. I had never had it before, and wanted to taste it.

One of the baccalà dishes was Baccalà alla Vicentina (Vicenza-style Baccalà). Vicenza is the name of a city and a province just west of Venice. The other dish was Baccalà Mantecato. I did not know where that was from. I asked the waitress, and she told me it was from Venice. When I told her I was not sure what to order, she told me that they could prepare a plate with half of one and half of the other. I decided to do that. I'm glad I did. Both were terrific. The cost was €14.

It turns out that Baccalà Mantecato is a signature Venetian dish. Like so many other recipes, this one has many variations. Among the ingredients are stockfish, cream or milk, olive oil, garlic, onion, parsley, salt, and pepper.

The ingredients in Baccalà Vicentina are stockfish, onion, milk, anchovies, parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, flour, and parsley.

Two of us shared a bottle of 2009 Fabiano Valpolicello Ripasso for €30. This is a very nice type of red wine that is produced on the east side of Lake Garda, which is a short distance west of Venice.

For dessert, two of us had Tiramisu. one had Semifreddo Pistacchio, and I had Venetian cookies (Biscotti Veneziani). Semifreddo is a class of semi-frozen desserts like ice cream cakes. This one had three layers - chocolate, pistachio, and vanilla.

Semifreddo Pistacchio

Biscotti Veneziani

One of us had a cafe Americano for €1.80, and two of us had espresso for the same price.

We shared a large bottle of water for €3, and were charged a cover charge of €1.80 each.

Forget Ristorante Vittoria di Tonello Vania in Venice, Italy

While I had two delicious dishes at Ristorante Bar Vittoria di Tonello Vania in Venice, Italy, the rest of our party had mediocre food and the service was abominably and inexcusably slow.

The restaurant is beautifully situated on the waterfront on Riva degli Schiavoni, not far east of Piazza San Marco. It has nice outdoor tables overlooking the Riva and the water. However, the service there was the slowest during our 16 days in Italy. I had to call the waiter several times to ask him the status of two of our orders. He was completely unapologetic, saying it was not his fault.

The two dishes I had were superb, but the other meals were mediocre at best despite the fact that they were all simple dishes.

Additionally, the mineral water was very expensive - €6 for a large bottle.

I had two dishes:
1. Sarde in Saòr (sweet and sour sardines) for €9. This is a Venetian specialty that has sardines, raisins, pine nuts, white wine, white wine vinegar, olive oil, coriander, cloves, onions, salt and pepper. I loved it.
2. Grilled branzino fish, a popular northern Mediterranean fish for  €19.50. This was delicious.

The others in our party had the following dishes, which were mediocre:
- Spaghetti alla Carbonara for €11
- Gnocchi with four cheeses (Gnocchi ai Quattro Formaggi) for €11
- a cheeseburger for €7

The wine I had was nice - a half bottle of 2011 Cesari Valpolicella Classico for €14. Valpolicella is produced on the eastern side of Lake Garda, which is just east of Venice.

We were each charged a €2.50 cover charge.

La Ghiotta Lupa - Tasty Pizza in Pisa

On our outing from Florence to Pisa to visit the Leaning Tower last July, we found a place near Pisa's main train station, Pisa Centrale, to have an inexpensive but tasty lunch. It was La Lupa Ghiotta (http://www.lupaghiotta.com/la-lupa-ghiotta), which means something like "The Ravenous Female Wolf" or "The Greedy Female Wolf." It is a Tavola Calda (Hot Table), a type of Italian restaurant that specializes in casual and cafeteria-style food. La Ghiotta Lupa had a large selection of pizzas cooked on wood-fired ovens, as well as various pastas and sandwiches.

Two of us had Pizza Margherita - with tomato, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil for  €4 ($5.08). One had Pizza alla Diavola (Devil-Style Pizza) - tomato, mozzarella, prosciutto, mascarpone cheese, and olive oil for  €4.50 ($5.67). I had Pizza Sasa - with tomato, mozzarella di bufala, Tuscan salami, sausage, and extra virgin olive oil for €7.50 ($9.45).

La Lupa Ghiotta is located at Viale Francesco Bonaini 113 at the intersection of Via Giacomo Puccini,  about two blocks from the train station.   

La Lupa Ghiotta

Great Gelato with Homemade Waffle Cones on the Isle of Capri

When we were on the isle of Capri in mid-July we had terrific gelato at R. Buonocore at Via Vittorio Emanuele 35. While we had lots of great gelato on our trip, this is the only one where I saw them making homemade waffle cones. I had my gelato in one of those cones, which I watched being made right before I placed my order. My wife and I also had wonderful gelato there in 2007. I highly recommend it.

R. Buonocore also serves meals.

See Trip Advisor, where it is rated number one out of 105 restaurants on Capri: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187783-d2342249-r136320794-Buonocore_Gelateria-Capri_Island_of_Capri_Campania.html

Ristorante Sant'Antonino - A Nice Combination of Food and Atmosphere in Sorrento

When we were in Sorrento last month, I discovered Ristorante Sant'Antonino (http://www.ristorantesantonino.com/english-home/cuisine-menu/) while looking up another restaurant on the Internet. I decided to try it instead of the other restaurant. I'm glad I did because of the nice combination of food and atmosphere. The prices were very reasonable for a popular restaurant in a major tourist venue at the height of the tourist season.

Ristorante Sant'Antonino has an extensive menu (in both Italian and English) with many local specialties. The menu can be downloaded from the URL above. The restaurant is located at Via Santa Maria delle Grazie 6, just a few feet from Piazza Sant'Antonino. (Sant'Antonino - Saint Antoninus, is the patron saint of Sorrento.)

The ambiance is very nice - it is a roof-garden restaurant with a trellis overhead. Among the plants in the trellis were lemon trees full of lemons. We were amused by a cat walking across the trellis.

There were two musicians playing live music that was a perfect accompaniment to our dinner.

While my daughter and I really enjoyed our meals, my grandchildren were not excited about their pizzas.

My granddaughter had a Margherita pizza for €6, Peasant Salad (Insalata Contadina - lettuce, radicchio, red peppers, and mozzarella) for €7, and a diet coke for €2.50.

My grandson had a Margherita pizza with sausage for €7.50, Treccia Sorrentina cheese (a local version of mozzarella) for €5, and a regular coke for €2.50.

My daughter had Lemon Veal Scaloppine (Scaloppine al Limone) for €10.50.

I had a caprese salad for €8, and scialatielli pasta with shrimp and cherry tomatoes (Scialatielli Gamberi e Pomodorini) for €10. Scialatielli is a pasta which originated in the Amalfi Coast area, and which I love. It is long like spaghetti, but flat on all sides.

We shared a large bottle of mineral water, and I had a half bottle of Fidelis del Taburno Aglianico (90% Aglianico and 10% Merlot), a nice local red wine, for €9 . Aglianico grapes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aglianico) are one of the main grapes used to produce red wines in the Campania and Basilicata regions in southern Italy.

For dessert, my daughter had Delizia al Limone, a traditional Sorrento dessert, for €4.50. It is light and airy sponge cake covered in chantilly lemon sauce. I had Torta Caprese, dark chocolate cake with almonds, for €4.50.

My grandchildren did not have dessert here. They were more interested in having gelato at a gelateria.

My grandaughter had a caffe latte for €3, my daughter had a cappuccino for €3, and I had an espresso for €2.

We were charged a cover charge of €1.50 each.

We were grateful to our waiter for asking the diners at the next table to stop smoking, when we complained that the smoke from their table was blowing into our faces and was very annoying.

The restaurant has several hundred reviews on Trip Advisor, most of them very favorable. Many of those reviews are written by Italians. When I use Trip Advisor to check out restaurants in other countries, I often sort the reviews so that those in the local language appear first. (Trip Advisor reviews can be sorted by language.) Reading reviews written by locals, or at least looking at the nr. of stars they have given, provides insights into how the locals view a restaurant in their own country.

A Delicious Roman Meal at Ristorante Antonio al Pantheon, Rome

After visiting the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon in Rome a few weeks ago, we had a wonderful Roman meal at Ristorante Trattoria Antonio al Pantheon (http://www.ristoranteantonioalpantheon.it/) at Via dei Pastini 12. I selected this restaurant, which is only about a block from the Pantheon, on the basis of its many favorable TripAdvisor reviews.

We enjoyed our tasty repast at a nice outdoor table.

Outside Tables at Antonio's

During the course of our meal, I had interesting discussions with the owner, Antonio Garbini, and with one of his employees, Nando. They were kind enough to spend time chatting with me despite the fact that they were very busy. Antonio's family has owned this restaurant since 1934.

Antonio & Nando

The restaurant offers many items that are specialties of Rome and of Lazio, the region where Rome is located. We had a delicious and typically Roman meal at a very reasonable price. I saw many items on the menu that I would love to have tried. I would return here in a heartbeat.

Antonio has a home in the Umbrian town of Norcia, which is renowned throughout Italy for its prosciutto and other pork products. I noticed a number of Norcia items on menu. When I mentioned that at the end of the meal, Antonio brought out a free plate of Norcia prosciutto for us to try. It was fantastic. (My wife and I visited Norcia in 2010 and had a wonderful meal at Ristorante Granaro del Monte, the oldest restaurant in Umbria. See my article about our visit to Norcia - http://viaggiviniecucine.blogspot.com/2010/11/norcia-sibillini-mountains-national.html)

Before we ordered our meal, they brought my daughter and me each a free glass of white wine. The Lazio Region, is better known for its refreshing white wines than its reds.

As we drank the wine, I mentioned to Antonio and Nando that I liked red wines and always like to try local wines, but that Lazio was not known for its reds. They told me that there were some very nice reds produced in Lazio. They recommended the 2010 Sesto 21 Syrah. It was very nice and reasonably priced at €25. It is produced by Azienda Vinicola Casata Merge (http://www.casatamerge.it/) about 8 km southeast of Rome.

My grandson and I shared an order of Jewish-style Artichokes (Carciofi alla Giudia) for €11. This dish originated in the Jewish-ghetto of Rome, and is particularly popular during February-April, when the local Romanesco artichokes are harvested. In this dish, the hard outer leaves are removed. Then the remaining part of the artichoke is put in water with lemon juice, seasoned with salt and pepper, and fried. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carciofi_alla_giudia). I loved the dish.

My grandson also had Spaghetti alla Carbonara for €8.

My granddaughter had Insalata Verde (green salad) for €5 and Spaghetti alla Carbonara.

My daughter had Tonnarelli alla Gricia for €9. Tonnarelli is a Roman pasta. The tonnarelli at Antonio’s  is house made. Alla gricia means in the style with little bits. The “bits” are small pieces of guanciale, a type of bacon. The other main ingredient is Roman pecorino cheese. This dish is basically like pasta all’Amatriciana without tomatoes.

I had house-made pappardelle pasta with fresh porcini mushrooms and pachino tomatoes (Pappardelle con Porcini Freschi e Pachino) for €12. Pachino tomatoes are a type of cherry tomatoes from the southeast coast of Sicily.

We were also charged the usual cover charge for bread. In this case, it was €1.50 per person.

The total cost of our delicious meal at this great location was a very reasonable €84.

Antonio’s is closed on Sundays.

Tante grazie per una cena squisita!

A Touch of Rome - Comfortable Accommodations near the Vatican in Rome

During our recent visit to Rome, we stayed at a bed and breakfast called A Touch of Rome. This very reasonably priced lodging was nicely situated on Piazza del Risorgimento - a couple of blocks from St. Peter's Basilica, from the entrance to the Vatican Museum, and from the Ottaviano Subway Station.

It is one of two B&Bs that are owned by the same people and located in different parts of an eight-story building. The other B&B is called A View of Rome (http://www.bbaviewofrome.it/). Both B&Bs focus on American clients. Normally, I would not choose lodging that focuses just on Americans because I like to use foreign travels to meet people of other nationalities. However, in this instance, A Touch of Rome seemed to suit our needs. I made my choice on the basis of Trip Advisor reviews. As usual, the reviews were spot on.

The owner of the B&B, Daniele, his colleagues Simona and Livio, and his staffers Lourdes and Filippo were all extremely nice, helpful, and friendly. I had several very nice conversations with Daniele, and with Lourdes, who is from Peru. Both spoke excellent English. My dealings with Simona and Livio were via emails in English. Their English was superb.

When I called Daniele from our car to inform him we had arrived, I learned that he was outside waiting for us. He showed us where to park for a few minutes while we checked in. He also took our luggage up to our room.

The price for our room for four was €144 per night. The room, which was located on the fourth floor, was large and clean, with a modern bathroom. We had a king size bed and two single beds. One thing we liked about the bathroom was that it had a medicine cabinet behind the mirror above the sink. This made it much easier to store our toiletries. The view from our window was a boring view onto an uninteresting courtyard. In this instance, the view was not important.

The room had free WiFi, and a big-screen TV, which could also be used as a computer. Another nice feature of the room was that it had lots of electrical outlets, which made it easier to recharge all of our cameras, smart phones, computers, ereaders, etc.
The price of the room did not include breakfast, so it is not quite a Bed and “Breakfast.” (The sister B&B, A View of Rome, does provide breakfast.) We were provided a free breakfast on Sunday, when Zero Cafe, a nearby restaurant with which A Touch of Rome has an agreement, was closed. On that Sunday, we were served breakfast at A View of Rome. That breakfast was very nice - a tasty omelet, bread, coffee, and juice - served by Filippo.

As I mentioned, A Touch of Rome does have an agreement with Zero Cafe to serve a reasonably priced breakfast to its clients. There is a choice of an €7 or €8 breakfast. We all had the €7 breakfast, which was nice and which included a ham & cheese omelet, toast, choice of coffee, and a nice size glass of orange juice.

One great recommendation from Daniele was to have dinner at Da Vito e Dina, where we had a delicious and very reasonably priced meal.

For our departure, Simona arranged for a large taxi to take the four of us to the airport for a fixed fare of €50.

See TripAdvisor for reviews, photos, etc.: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187791-d3171929-Reviews-A_Touch_of_Rome-Rome_Lazio.html

Maison Tofani, An Incredible Hotel in Sorrento

One of the many delights of our recent stay in Italy was the wonderful boutique hotel, Maison Tofani (http://www.maisontofani.com/en/), at Via San Cesareo 34, in the heart of Sorrento’s historic district. It was terrific in every aspect - comfort, ambience, staff, location, breakfast buffet, and resident kitty cat. As always, I made my selection based on TripAdvisor reviews, and, as usual, was delighted with the results.

I have to start with praise of the gracious owner, Maria, because it is she who sets the tone by hiring such wonderful staff and by setting the high standards which are reflected in every aspect of the hotel’s operation. Secondly, I have to praise Giovanni Fiorentino, the Guest Relations Manager. He epitomizes the best in hotel management. His colleague Diletta was very responsive to my email correspondence.

We had two rooms, both of which came with breakfast:

1. A double deluxe room with Jacuzzi shower and a small balcony, overlooking Via San Cesareo, which I consider the main tourist shopping street in the historic part of Sorrento. This room cost €209 ($261) per night. The bed in this room, which was shared by my grandson and me, was incredibly comfortable. We both wanted to take it home.

2. A double loft room with a terrace that had a view of part of Mt. Vesuvius. This room cost €179 ($224).

The breakfast buffet was incredible with a wide assortment of terrific pastries and fruits, eggs, meats, cheeses, juices, preserves, coffees and teas to order, etc.  On one morning, I counted at least 16 types of beautiful pastries. The fruits included both fresh and canned fruits. One morning’s fresh fruits included melons, watermelon, cherries, pears, plums, oranges, strawberries, kiwis, grapes, pineapple, and bananas. Most of the fresh fruits and eggs came from a property owned by Signora Maria and located a short distance away.

The pictures below give some small sense of part of this terrific breakfast.

Breakfast Pastries

Some of the Breakfast Fruits

The breakfast room is a large, elegant, high-ceilinged room with a striking ceiling mural. Vita, the young woman responsible for breakfast, was extremely efficient and helpful, with a heart-warming smile.

Every morning at breakfast, Signora Maria was in attendance as the perfect host. I had several interesting conversations with her.

There is no better way to start a day than breakfast at Maison Tofani.

The hotel has a beautiful roof terrace with tables, chairs, and lounges chairs. It offers views of Mt. Vesuvius, the nearby hills, and the rooftops of Sorrento.

 Vesuvius from the Rooftop Terrace

The hotel owns three nearby restaurants - L’Abate, La Lanterna, and Dolce & Gelato Sorrento. We had a nice meal at L’Abate. My wife and I had also had a nice meal there 5 years earlier. I will describe our meal at L’Abate in a later posting.

The hotel offers many other services too numerous to list. Check out its web site for additional information.

We departed from Sorrento by rental car and could not drive the car on narrow Via San Cesareo, where Maison Tofani is located. However, Giovanni advised me to drive the car to nearby Piazza Sant’Antonino. He then arranged for Luigi, a member of the hotel staff to bring the luggage to the piazza and load it into our car. Giovanni’s suggestion and arrangement worked out perfectly.

Cell Phone Service in Florence, Italy & Other Parts of Europe

Whenever I travel to Europe, I try to obtain local phone service, including Internet access for my smart phone. The costs are generally significantly less than roaming with a U.S. carrier.

Internet service on one's phone is now less important since most hotels in Italy offer WiFi service. However, smart phone Internet service away from one's hotel is still very useful for using Google maps for telephone GPS navigation, googling for restaurants, etc. (While smart phone GPS does not require an Internet connection, Google maps does. The off-line downloadable versions of Google maps only cover small areas. From my experience, free Android off-line GPS navigation apps are not yet as good as the on-line versions.)

In order to obtain local phone service, you need a world phone that has the European GSM frequencies. On my recent trip to Italy, I used my U.S. Samsung Galaxy S II.

The service I obtained in Florence, Italy was incredibly cheap. I found a prepaid deal with Wind, one of the main Italy cell-phone providers. For something like €20, I got an Italian sim card with an Italian phone number, and one month of service that included 150 minutes of local calls, 1 Gig of Internet service, and 150 local text messages. (The actual introductory monthly cost of the service is €9, but there was a cost for the Sim card and stores could not make a sale for less than €10.)

I purchased the Sim card and part of the service one day for €10 at the Music Center S.A.S. di Poggi e Pomerani store at Via Martelli 33R, one block north of the Duomo in Florence. I then had to wait overnight and activate the Internet part of the service the next day. I did that at the Porta Rossa Telefonia store at Via dei Tavolini 3/R. (I could have returned to the Music Center store to do that, but the other one was more convenient.)

The service worked beautifully for the 15 days I was in Italy - from Venice in the north to Amalfi in the south.

Additional minutes can be added to the service by purchasing additional time at phone stores, tobacco kiosks, etc.

The Music Center store I used to purchase the service also sells cell-phone service for Tim, another major Italian cell-phone service. There is another Music Center store across from the Duomo, but it does not sell cell-phone service.

The Wind service  I purchased is called "All Inclusive" (The name is in English). You can find an Italian-Language description of this service at http://www.wind.it/it/opzioni/pagina181.phtml
Clerks at the store may not speak English, but you could print out the web page at the URL above and show it to a clerk.

The Italian word for cell phone is telefonino.