Mystic Pizza

I can't wait to have a peperoni pizza in Italy! You may be asking yourself, "What?! But Mel, aren't you vegetarian?" and the answer is yes, I'm still vegetarian. 'Peperoni' in Italian translates to bell pepper. If you come to Italy and order a "pizza di peperoni" (take note of the missing 'p'), don't expect spicy salami (called 'pepperoni' in America). If you happen to be in the mood for spicy Italian salami known as pepperoni in the States, look for "salame piccante" on the menu. :)

Anyway, this weekend was awesome! It started with grandpa taking the kids and me out for "merenda" (afternoon snack). As you can see, we really enjoyed it.

I got a hot chocolate, which is very different in Italy. It's super thick! If you have ever eaten a Snack Pack chocolate pudding, imagine putting it into a mug and microwaving it until hot. That's the best way I can describe Italian hot chocolate.

That night I visited a friend who lives about 45 minutes east of me. On Saturday we were hungry around 3:00pm, which apparently is a very inopportune time to be hungry in Italy! Most restaurants only open for lunch time and dinner time. We drove around for quite a while until we finally came across a mall with a food court. Within a few minutes we found a place called "Old Wild West." Now, I've only been in Italy for a few weeks, so my first choice for a meal wouldn't have been American style food, but the people I was with were instantly enamored with this place. We sat in an "Oregon Trail" style covered wagon table and that's when I realized that I was sitting in the most kitsch restaurant on the planet. After some nachos and a "burrito" we went home, played cards, and then went to an Irish Pub in Desenzano. This was definitely the least Italian weekend I've had here so far!

Yes, they had a segregated seating area, for an authentic effect:

And today we had a nice Italian meal at La Piola, just outside of Brescia. My favorite part was dessert: creamy custard topped with strawberries. Yum!