Good Friday

Why is Good Friday called "Good"? Doesn't seem good to me at all, at least I'm pretty sure Jesus wasn't calling it that. I'm pretty bummed that I missed mass tonight, but my bike broke on me (shifter cable snapped--when this happens, the gearing is very difficult and with the major climb home, there's no way I could have ridden it). Rode to Assisi again & apparently you're not meant to see it since the camera came with but the memory card did not. Sorry!!!

Fortunately, the bike shop is at the bottom of the climb (though many kilometers away from where I was when the cable broke) so I was able to make it there and they were awesome to help me out. The mechanics spoke enough English (though I was sort of hoping they would just try to speak Italian to me and I could try really hard to understand...I prefer it this way). I'd enjoy not hearing another word of English for the next 5 months, to be perfectly honest.

There's a street fair going on right now in the piazza with the most wonderful food (and some non-edible wares, too)--many of the vendors are from Sicily so I made sure to try a cannolo. It was, by far, the best one I've ever had--Dad, you'd agree with me, I'm sure. Shell wasn't flaky, but more solid and thick, the filling was creamy but with enough ricotta, it wasn't airy or too sweet. It didn't have the chopped chocolate or pistachios in it like the way I make them, but it didn't need the extra ingredients. There's another vendor out there selling cannoli as well, will try one of theirs tomorrow.

Picked up some super wonderful wine (Montefalco Rosso and Rossobastardo) -- two bottles, 12 euro. Can't beat that!

And here's the best part of my mini-food shopping extravaganza (besides the canolo): Mozzarella di bufala (1/2 kilogram for 4 euro, I don't know prices, but that has to be good)! (See how moist it is in the center?)

And huge olives! Guess it's not obvious in this picture how big they are, but trust me on this one. Huge (like the longest is a little over an inch long, I will measure later) and very, very meaty.

My version of the Mediterrean diet:

This is rosemarino (rosemary) pizza that I picked up from the local grocery store this morning, basilico (basil) and sun-dried pomodoro (tomatoes) with the mozzarella di bufala, drizzed with olive oil...what a treat!

Until I make friends, I'm trying to eat well at home since I'm going to want to go out a lot probably soon. Can't believe I'm in Italy living alone (basically), eating alone. This really stinks. The whole point of this was for me to get out of my "comfort" zone of living alone, doing my thing. And here I am, living similarly to how I did before. I will be moving in with Italians next month unless things pick up dramatically socially. On that note, I'm too tired to go out (wrong gear on hills ripped me up), though I know that I should. Tomorrow I will switch things up and start living more like an Italian! Buona notte!