A MYSTERIOUS HENHOUSE

One morning during our refreshing morning swim, we heard chickens cackle.  There were lots of trees and bushes around the pool. And behind them we saw huge fields. Where are the chickens?

After a few minutes of looking around for the secret chickens, my husband jumped into the small forest.  And he found a small henhouse. I then jumped in to the forest too.

I am a city woman. I have never seen a henhouse. I saw ten chickens and one rooster. The rooster was so suspicious of us, the hens were not. They were happy to see us. It was a fun moment. A neat moment.

We wondered when the eggs were fetched. Maybe so early in the morning that we did not see or hear anyone in our garden.

Another funny thing was to find Danger signs in the bushes 😉 Still wonder what was so dangerous in the bushes…

A FROG LIKE A FOOTBALL

What is better in the morning than a huge dead frog ? 😉 After breakfast my husband cleaned the pool.

When I came to the pool area, ready to enjoy another perfect day by the pool, I had surprise waiting.  My husband said I would never guess what he had found.  He showed my a huge dead frog. It had drowned in the pool. We buried the frog.

AMAZING DINNERS

Ardea is a small city. We searched for a neat restaurant, where to enjoy nice small dinners. We found two close to the house. The frist one was a pizzeria. We tried it twice. Then we found Le Pietre Antiche, and ate there often. A small hotel, with a small restaurant and fabulous food. And friendly people and aervice. We enjoyed our time there.  So did the locals. The restaurant got full quite fast after opening at 8 p.m.

The fish dishes, the pasta choices, the squid and the pizza… they were all excellent. When we arrived before 8 p.m. hungry as we were, we were always welcome to sit down and have something small to eat and drink.

Our waiter was a great Italian gentleman. It was interesting to discuss with him. He liked to share his thoughts and learn more English.  We liked to share our thoughts and learn more Italian.

We were happy to visit Le Pietre Antiche in the evening, after some happy and enjoyable hours by the pool.

Sometimes I cooked dinner at the house. I love cooking.  In Italy you find great ingredients for anything you want to cook.

Salsicce is a tasty sausage, maiale is pork, vitello is veal. Sea bass is in Italian  branzino.

When you would like to enjoy sword fish, order pesce spada. Octopus and squid come in various sizes. You can ask for seppia or calamari, or choose the big one: polpo.

When you want to order a steak, the waiter will ask you how you want it. If you want it well done, say: vorrei la carne ben cotto. If you like medium steak, you say: vorrei la carne non troppo cotto.

To get a bottle of water, you ask: vorrei una bottiglia di aqua, per favore.  White wine is: vino bianco. Red wine is: vino rosso. Tomato is: pomodoro and onions is: cipolle. Peach is great for dessert, so ask for: pesche. Ice cream is: gelato. Bread is: pane. When you would like some chicken, ask for: pollo.

The Italian ham… is something else! It is the best in the world. I love prosciutto di Parmasta (air-dried ham from Parma). I also like very much prosciutto cotto and prosciutto crudo (tasty Italian ham)

I bet about everyone knows mozzarella, but I mention it anyway. The best type is: Mozzarella di Bufala.

Always say: per favore when you ask for something. It is important to be very polite in Italy. And why could we not do that in other countries and languages as well 🙂

When you leave a store or a restaurant you say:  Arrivederci, which means goodbye. If you know someone, you can say: Ciao!