Even more Italy picture spam!
Fri, Oct. 27th, 2006 12:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterPictures from Ravello, Sorrento, and Capri and Anacapri!
A rest stop because I was so very carsick during the drive from Ravello to Sorrento. Cute dog!
My sister, romantically gazing into the distance. Well, probably more trying not to be carsick herself, but the clouds are all misty and romantical.
The dog was SO CUTE!
This may look like the contents of a toy car exploded and spewed its guts everywhere, but it is in actuality some sort of artwork. Like you, I am baffled.
Have I mentioned how much I love how the buildings are stacked on top of each other? LOVE.
The giant cactus tree of Capri. Probably not a tourist landmark, even though I thought it was nifty.
This is the Restaurant of the Ordinary Wine, so pronounced by my dad. My poor mom and her friend picked it and were mercilessly mocked for the rest of the trip, even though the food was honestly fine. Just one or two dishes weren't that great, and I liked everything else. I didn't get much of this, but the little I got tasted fine.
My dad's linguine, which was actually pretty good. I learned to love pasta here, particularly very simple pasta with very simple sauces.
My dad ordered lemon risotto for my mom, and when this came, she screeched, "You ordered white rice for me?!" Despite all attempts to convince her that it was actually quite tasty and cheesy, she sniffed at it and continued to mourn her plain white rice dish.
My sister and I split fettucine with mushrooms and seafood gnocchi. I wasn't too fond of the fettucine, probably because it tasted like egg noodles instead of semolina and didn't have that nice chewiness that I have come to adore. But the gnocchi was excellent and chewy and fat!
Fake pigeons!
A view from the gondola chair ride thing. I think that's the Amalfi coast in the distance; we're on our way to the tip-top-most point of Capri.
My feet!
More views of the Capri coast.
Um. It is a tree with some sort of fruit. It was much more fascinating when I took the picture.
There was this totally random little garden with statues everywhere on the side of the mountain.
More of the totally random garden, complete with totally random clothed mannequin!
Chestnut tree!
Capri coast.
More views of the ocean
I liked the contrast of old statue and ocean.
More coast. We're looking down on the city of Capri.
For some reason, people kept carving things on these poor aloe plants or fat cacti everywhere.
Clouds.
Snail! Look at his wee antennae!
A fish on a wall in the villa of San Michele
Bedroom with old furniture
Walkway to the gardens of San Michele, complete with random statuary
More old furniture. I particularly like furniture that fits in corners
Chandelier
Impatiens seed pods! These are the most entertaining things ever! Me and my sister can (and did) stand around for hours just looking for them and popping them.
Pomegranate tree
The sphinx of the villa gazes cryptically out toward the ocean. Actually, she is cryptic because I couldn't fit her face in.
I didn't actually see these (this was taken when my family went to some other villa and I collapsed in bed and slept
Yes, they are mutant kiwis!
I have no idea why they have Disney figures in the garden, but apparently my sister was amused.
And now, another fancy dinner! This is the little thing the chefs give you for free at the beginning of fancy meals (I am sure there is a fancy name for it as well). It is a whole squid! (my sister and I debated because actually buckling down and counting the tentacles). It was really, really good.
My mom's seafood salad. She and her friend got the smaller full menu, while the rest of us went for nine full courses. In retrospect, the smaller full menu might have been a better idea.
My fancy schmancy salad Nicoise, lightly dressed, very delicious, with green beans! I love green beans. And the eggs were perfect, soft-boiled.
Mmmmmm foie gras. The blog on the side is a wine jelly, which I didn't like that much, and there's some sort of fruit preserves underneath.
My mom's pasta, which was really amazing and simple
And this is cauliflower soup, topped with caviar. Either this is a take on the French Laundry cauliflower mousse and caviar (which I think is famous?), or cauliflower and caviar traditionally go together. Either way, I don't care, because they are clearly Meant to Be.
Smoked fish, tomato risotto and ... avocado ice cream. I think the ice cream would have been better had it not been so sweet; then it would have cut through the saltiness of the fish perfectly. The risotto, on the other hand, was wonderful and tomato-y.
My sister swapped her risotto for gnocchi, which turned out to be an excellent decision
And the fish course. Sadly, this wasn't quite as good, as it was overcooked and dry.
My mom's beef tenderloin, wrapped in a bit of pastry, on top of some truffly thing, possibly sweet meats. Oh, this was good and tender and dark and rich, and she didn't even finish because we were getting pretty full.
A light palate cleanser in preparation for our meat dishes. Cucumber and shaved celery (I love how it curls!), with a light peach vinaigrette and little bits of peach on the side. Really tasty and green and just what I needed after all the fancy stuff.
My main course, beef! The little yellow triangles on the side are polenta, sliced thin and fried, extremely tasty! There's a sweet-sour pickled fruit thing under the beef, but really... it's the beef, which was the right amount of doneness and so, so tender.
My sister stuck with the pork (couscous on the side), and that was also surprisingly good! Usually I avoid pork because people tend to overcook it, but this was really tasty! The skin on the outside was crispy and oozing with fat, just like really good Peking duck, and the meat on the inside was juicy as well.
Dessert! A lovely chocolate souffle cake with molten chocolate in the middle, with vanilla and raspberry sauces.
My mom's dessert (#1), a lemon sorbetto in fizzy champagne.
Dessert #2! The giant lumpy thing under the gelato is a baba, which I don't like that much because it is soaked in alcohol. But the fruit on a stick was tasty! This is because all food on a stick is tasty.
My mom's dessert #2, teeny weeny wild strawberries, sorbet and... lemony things. I didn't like this as much either, because of the alcohol taste.
And my mom's birthday cake! Fear not, I am actually not revealing any personal information on Teh Interweb, as the restaurant managed to write the wrong name on the cake! It came out and was set in front of her with great aplomb. Then we all saw it and burst out laughing.
The mini dessert things that come after the two (2!) other desserts. I didn't eat most of these because I was SO FULL, but I gobbled down the chocolates anyway.
A rest stop because I was so very carsick during the drive from Ravello to Sorrento. Cute dog!
My sister, romantically gazing into the distance. Well, probably more trying not to be carsick herself, but the clouds are all misty and romantical.
The dog was SO CUTE!
This may look like the contents of a toy car exploded and spewed its guts everywhere, but it is in actuality some sort of artwork. Like you, I am baffled.
Have I mentioned how much I love how the buildings are stacked on top of each other? LOVE.
The giant cactus tree of Capri. Probably not a tourist landmark, even though I thought it was nifty.
This is the Restaurant of the Ordinary Wine, so pronounced by my dad. My poor mom and her friend picked it and were mercilessly mocked for the rest of the trip, even though the food was honestly fine. Just one or two dishes weren't that great, and I liked everything else. I didn't get much of this, but the little I got tasted fine.
My dad's linguine, which was actually pretty good. I learned to love pasta here, particularly very simple pasta with very simple sauces.
My dad ordered lemon risotto for my mom, and when this came, she screeched, "You ordered white rice for me?!" Despite all attempts to convince her that it was actually quite tasty and cheesy, she sniffed at it and continued to mourn her plain white rice dish.
My sister and I split fettucine with mushrooms and seafood gnocchi. I wasn't too fond of the fettucine, probably because it tasted like egg noodles instead of semolina and didn't have that nice chewiness that I have come to adore. But the gnocchi was excellent and chewy and fat!
Fake pigeons!
A view from the gondola chair ride thing. I think that's the Amalfi coast in the distance; we're on our way to the tip-top-most point of Capri.
My feet!
More views of the Capri coast.
Um. It is a tree with some sort of fruit. It was much more fascinating when I took the picture.
There was this totally random little garden with statues everywhere on the side of the mountain.
More of the totally random garden, complete with totally random clothed mannequin!
Chestnut tree!
Capri coast.
More views of the ocean
I liked the contrast of old statue and ocean.
More coast. We're looking down on the city of Capri.
For some reason, people kept carving things on these poor aloe plants or fat cacti everywhere.
Clouds.
Snail! Look at his wee antennae!
A fish on a wall in the villa of San Michele
Bedroom with old furniture
Walkway to the gardens of San Michele, complete with random statuary
More old furniture. I particularly like furniture that fits in corners
Chandelier
Impatiens seed pods! These are the most entertaining things ever! Me and my sister can (and did) stand around for hours just looking for them and popping them.
Pomegranate tree
The sphinx of the villa gazes cryptically out toward the ocean. Actually, she is cryptic because I couldn't fit her face in.
I didn't actually see these (this was taken when my family went to some other villa and I collapsed in bed and slept
Yes, they are mutant kiwis!
I have no idea why they have Disney figures in the garden, but apparently my sister was amused.
And now, another fancy dinner! This is the little thing the chefs give you for free at the beginning of fancy meals (I am sure there is a fancy name for it as well). It is a whole squid! (my sister and I debated because actually buckling down and counting the tentacles). It was really, really good.
My mom's seafood salad. She and her friend got the smaller full menu, while the rest of us went for nine full courses. In retrospect, the smaller full menu might have been a better idea.
My fancy schmancy salad Nicoise, lightly dressed, very delicious, with green beans! I love green beans. And the eggs were perfect, soft-boiled.
Mmmmmm foie gras. The blog on the side is a wine jelly, which I didn't like that much, and there's some sort of fruit preserves underneath.
My mom's pasta, which was really amazing and simple
And this is cauliflower soup, topped with caviar. Either this is a take on the French Laundry cauliflower mousse and caviar (which I think is famous?), or cauliflower and caviar traditionally go together. Either way, I don't care, because they are clearly Meant to Be.
Smoked fish, tomato risotto and ... avocado ice cream. I think the ice cream would have been better had it not been so sweet; then it would have cut through the saltiness of the fish perfectly. The risotto, on the other hand, was wonderful and tomato-y.
My sister swapped her risotto for gnocchi, which turned out to be an excellent decision
And the fish course. Sadly, this wasn't quite as good, as it was overcooked and dry.
My mom's beef tenderloin, wrapped in a bit of pastry, on top of some truffly thing, possibly sweet meats. Oh, this was good and tender and dark and rich, and she didn't even finish because we were getting pretty full.
A light palate cleanser in preparation for our meat dishes. Cucumber and shaved celery (I love how it curls!), with a light peach vinaigrette and little bits of peach on the side. Really tasty and green and just what I needed after all the fancy stuff.
My main course, beef! The little yellow triangles on the side are polenta, sliced thin and fried, extremely tasty! There's a sweet-sour pickled fruit thing under the beef, but really... it's the beef, which was the right amount of doneness and so, so tender.
My sister stuck with the pork (couscous on the side), and that was also surprisingly good! Usually I avoid pork because people tend to overcook it, but this was really tasty! The skin on the outside was crispy and oozing with fat, just like really good Peking duck, and the meat on the inside was juicy as well.
Dessert! A lovely chocolate souffle cake with molten chocolate in the middle, with vanilla and raspberry sauces.
My mom's dessert (#1), a lemon sorbetto in fizzy champagne.
Dessert #2! The giant lumpy thing under the gelato is a baba, which I don't like that much because it is soaked in alcohol. But the fruit on a stick was tasty! This is because all food on a stick is tasty.
My mom's dessert #2, teeny weeny wild strawberries, sorbet and... lemony things. I didn't like this as much either, because of the alcohol taste.
And my mom's birthday cake! Fear not, I am actually not revealing any personal information on Teh Interweb, as the restaurant managed to write the wrong name on the cake! It came out and was set in front of her with great aplomb. Then we all saw it and burst out laughing.
The mini dessert things that come after the two (2!) other desserts. I didn't eat most of these because I was SO FULL, but I gobbled down the chocolates anyway.