Expect the Unexpected in Italy - Part II

Although our tour included lunch later at a farmhouse turned tourist attraction we decided to find out what porchette was after our guide pointed out a little butcher shop.  He said the sandwiches were divine and a local specialty.  Pork?  How could we pass it up?

We shared a sandwich that was divine and hoped we'd still be somewhat hungry for our group lunch.  This Spring I found a recipe for porchette and decided to give it a go.  After creating an herb stuffing and rolling the roast, it was braised in the oven for a very long time at low heat.  A lot of time had passed to compare pork to pork and mine we ate sliced thick and browned for dinner, but it brought back the fun memory of our secret pig out.

The farmhouse was a beautiful old stone building and is still a working farm, producing food for the restaurant and farmers' markets as well as the only balsalmic vinegar produced in Lazio.

Cuoco (cook) showing us how to make pasta.  So easy!

Adorable Capra kid - (capra is Italian for goat)

Finding our way back to the ship was an adventure in itself.  We got stuck in this decent size village in the hills when the special police that deal with crowd control decided to barricade the streets for a planned demonstration.  We were 2 blocks from the main road.  The detour was to turn around and drive 2 hours out of our way.  No protestors were seen for the hour we waited.  With lots of hand waving for punctuation on both sides, our bus driver yelled at the police for the entire hour until finally someone got tired of it and moved the barrier to let us through.  It was comical and typical for Italian roadside communication.

Fortunately our tour was cruise arranged so although we arrived back late to the ship, they had to wait.  I also was able to get this final shot a bit off kilter as we came off the hills into the coastal area of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

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