Hi from Rick: Panino Virtuoso
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| From Naples to Nottingham...order to go...and enjoy the show. |
Dear Traveler,
I was in Naples recently, researching my 2009 Italy guidebook with a new emphasis: "cheap tricks." I quickly dumped a listing for one restaurant that was gouging tourists. Then I found Pasquale's salami shop — run by the Toscanini of sandwich makers. I simply asked, "panino?" and the performance was underway.
To watch Pasquale build a sandwich is to witness a maestro at the top of his game. He demonstrates the freshness of his rolls as if squeezing the Charmin. Then he carefully spreads an even pavement of salami, gracefully picks up a fluffy mozzarella ball as if it were a kidney transplant, slices a tomato with rapid-fire machine precision, and lovingly pits half-a-dozen olives by hand, arranging them like little green paintings on a tasty wall. Taking a moment to survey his creation, he finishes it off with a celebratory drizzle of oil. Five euros (less than $8) and a smile later, the panino virtuoso hands me my bargain gourmet take-out lunch. (Surrounded by Europe's greatest city for people-watching, why would I want to sit indoors?) As I said goodbye, I warned him that he'd be performing his sandwich show for lots of American visitors next year.
This month I'm particularly tuned-in to back-to-basics travel because our 18-year-old daughter and her girl friend are enjoying their post-graduation no-parents European adventure. A generation ago, my parents kept track of me with stale postcards. Now I can follow Jackie's trip via her blog. (And so can you — take a look!)
When the dollar is strong and travel is cheap, it's all too tempting for us to splurge a little. And before you know it we're traveling like tourists rather than locals — building a barrier between us and the culture we've come so far to see.
A tighter budget opens us up to more Pasquales, picnics and people-watching. This is just as important in the crazy south as in the stately north (like Scandinavia and the Baltics, featured in this month's Travel News) — where the locals are virtuosos at squeezing more fun out of every euro, kroner and kroon. And so can you.
Bravo, and happy travels!
Rick