The waning days of this trip were spent relaxing and reuniting with our dads best childhood friend, Turi Vinobianco and his family on the outskirts of Rome. As with all family here in Italy, they welcomed us into their homes with open arms…watching our dad and Turi laugh and reminisce is as cool and wonderful an experience as you can find. Two men chatting and telling stories about their days growing up during and after WWII in Sicily.
Juliana and Turi treated us to homemade pasta alla carbonara when we arrived, along with roasted chestnuts from their yard and fresh clementines for dessert. The apex of this part of the trip is a tradition that happens everytime our dad comes to visit this part of the country…he insists that we all go out to his favorite Roman restaurant, Attila. This area just outside of Rome is where the local Romans drive to during the hot summer months because the temperature is cooler, so the restaurants here bring their A game. Attila was a local favorite of actor Anthony Quinn, who owned a home in this area prior to his passing.
Among other treats, our first course included homemade bread, steamed mussels and baby clams in a white wine and garlic sauce, a seafood salad with baby shrimp and squids, and a fried squid dish. The next course brought seafood risotto and seafood pasta. And finally, massive dishes of grilled and fried prawns, crayfish and calamari. Everything was capped off with a light lemon sorbet. It was further proof that absolutely no one does a meal like Italians…it is an opera of food. Tomorrow we will say our goodbyes and by Friday I’ll be back on US soil ready to begin my next chapter with humility, excitement and an open heart.
Anton's Buen Camino 