February 27, 2023 - Market day

Today is market day. We started by going to a copy store to scan the forms that we needed to fill out. They had to be signed so we had them printed, signed them, then had them scanned so we could email them back. That took about 5 minutes to do so on we went to the San Ambrogio market. It is much further than the central market but not as busy, so we prefer this one.

We have noticed that on Fridays and the weekend, the market is very busy with long lines and the prices are also higher. We brought more cheese, prosciutto, olives and 2 types of artichokes. Oh, and more strawberries. They are so tasty compared to the ones at home.

A customer placing an order.

We walked back to the apartment to put our supplies in the fridge and take a short break before going out for lunch. Elly had given us the name of a restaurant that served the primi, secondi, water and wine for 11 euros each. We each started with an artichoke risotto which was much bigger than we had anticipated for the price, for his secondi Jacques had a cuttle fish stew and I had roast beef with potatoes. That came with a 750 ml bottle of water and half a liter of wine to share. All for 11 euros. Now knowing how big the plates are, I will take a salad as my secondi. It is obviously a place where the locals eat. Many of them looked like they were on their lunch break. It was a huge restaurant with many small rooms which were all filled with people and a lineup outside.

Before returning home, we went to the train station to buy our tickets for tomorrow’s day trip to Lucca. I timed the walk from the station to home to make sure and it was again 16 minutes from door to door. We have an open ticket again, but we want the 9:09 train because it is direct to Lucca with no  train changes. The next direct one is at 11:00 so we don’t want to miss it. We will give ourselves enough time to find our platform and validate our tickets before we board.

We are starting to get the hang of it all and understand how they shop, travel, eat and go about their daily lives.