Yesterday, July 6, was like many other weekday in summer when we work on our “stuff” during the day and toward evening, say, 7 pm, we start to think of a break as the temperature begins to moderate. That often means a short drive to the scavi, the nearby Roman excavations and ruins where our dear setter/border collie, Lucky, can run and we can easily climb up and down a small hill leading that wanders around this ancient olive oil port town on the Tiber some 50 miles north of Rome.
What Anniversary?
The Tiber river (il Tevere) at the foot of the scavi in Otricoli
Usually we meet no one at these hours and we can chat as we walk. Very nice. But yesterday, Heidi looked at me and remarked with some surprise that July 6 was our wedding anniversary! I was surprised that I too had forgotten and we mutually wondered how we could forget such an important date. But we had, and I also thought about how I wasn’t sure of some other important dates, like the deaths of loved ones, which had seemed so indelibly scored into my memory. But it happens.
So the immediate concern was: OK, it’s 7 pm so… what do we do about this anniversary at this point? To address the “problem” immediately we decided to visit the bar next to the park entrance, where we had left the car, and order prosecco ( a bubbly dry wine rather like champagne) to toast the event and decide upon the rest of the evening.
We were interrupted from our planning for a few minutes by an unexpected call from an old colleague of Heidiìs who found himself in the neighborhood and wished to spend a few minutes with her. He met us at the bar and after a few minutes left and we ordered our special, and a bit pricey, prosecco
Some of the Roman ruins in the scavi at Otricoli
We recovered our equilibrium after the interruption and considered the alternatives, eventually deciding to visit a restaurant/bar in the center of our little town, Otricoli, which in Roman days had been known as Ocriculum and had moved “uphill” from the river banks in the dangerous middle ages to a more defensible location on top of one of Italy’s many hills.
The restaurant, called Le Delizie (meaning the tasty things, or the delightful and joyous treats), was in the very center of the “new” town in a street that had been built in the 1700’s and featured covered open arcades to protect residents and shoppers from inclement weather. And now in the hot summer, they provided shady spaces for dining tables, one of which we claimed, tieing Lucky’s lead to a chair leg which put her about equidistant from the car traffic and the pedestrians threading their way along the covered street.
Prosting the Prosecco
Having “prosted” the prosecco a few minutes earlier, we were already in a very “lightly” holiday mood and simply decided to order whatever looked good, beginning with bottles of imported German weiss beer, a special creation using wheat grain only. Then we ordered focaccia to nibble on. It’s a kind of flat bread, rather like pizza dough, that has been baked quickly with olive oil and rosemary, very tasty and friendly to an empty stomach! So far, all very Italian, even with German beer now “on tap” though our weiss beer came in bottles
We scoured the menu for some beef, most cuts of which are served without a bone, but we wanted something with a bone so Lucky would be occupied while we dined. We chose to share an eight etti (800 grams = 28 ounces) thick steak of a cut like Americans would call sirloin, knowing we’d probably be taking some part home with us.
The Cook Went Next Door
Then Italian touch became apparent. The cook came out to be sure of what we wanted and then walked down a couple store fronts to the butcher shop, which was closed, opened the door with her key and went in and cut a custom piece from a carcass, locked up and returned, on the way back to the kitchen showing us the beautiful steak she’d be preparing for us! Now that’s service!
The arcaded “new” main street with Le Delizie recessed between
We also ordered a fine plate of marinated, skinned, boiled and then fried in olive oil, red pepper strips that just slid down our throats with no resistance between bites of bistecca, from the English word “beefsteak”. (Oh, and you can also order bistecca that is pork, as they’ve forgotten the derivation of the term.) And it was excellent. We ordered two more of the same beers and eventually got around to a dessert that went very well with our beer: panna cotta, a cream and milk pudding cooked a bit and served with blueberries. We were sated!
Looking up to the backs of the old main street buildings from the 1100’s
And all this tasty food was in a lovely but typical setting along this “new” old main street. As we gazed outward from under the covered arcade we saw the plain old shops across the narrow street until as our eyes swung upward to take in the “old” old buildings as we beheld the backs of the “old” main street buildings up above. Those were from the 1100’s and were still in use, some as part of the municipio or city hall.
Population 1900
We were quite mellow at this point and reflected how we had been able in this little town (population: 1900) to put together a very nice instant celebration. All the young and old strolled up and down the street, seeing and being seen. Cars cruised by also,along this recently made one way street which now even has a few outlined stalls for parking in the wider spots.
Life as in any other weekday summer evening went on and it’s our little town which exhibited to us some of the nicest aspects of living in Italy yesterday. And the bill was some 48 euros, 55 dollars, for a fine wedding anniversary.
And we luckily have strong internet at home connecting us with the rest of the world!
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