I decided to go to the mall and have pizza yesterday.  I mainly did it because I didn’t want to accidentally order too much wine.  The lady who helped me didn’t speak much English and I, of course, know very little Italian.  I managed to get a slice of cheese pizza and a bottle of water.  It was only 3 euros.

Bill came back from work early, so we decided to hit the store and stock up on Italian goodies.  I have to say, it may be worth it to come to Italy just to go shopping for food and wine.  For 115 euros, we bought two new serving dishes, a new scarf, several bottles of wine, a bottle of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lots of pasta, canned tuna (for some reason Italy and Spain have awesome tuna), chocolate, cheese, and sausage.

Afterwards, we drank some wine from Sardinia, then had a fantastic dinner at the hotel restaurant.  I may not love Hotel Victoria’s charmless location, but it sure does have a fabulous restaurant.  The food is amazing and cheap.  And yes, shopping is also good, especially for staples that are easy to take home.  I’m really glad we brought the RAV4 instead of my little Mini.

Today, we head to Switzerland.  I look forward to beautiful mountain and lake views and a very plush (and expensive) hotel.  We’ll spend a couple of days there, then go home to Germany, pick up our dogs, and get ready for Christmas.

The front of the hotel…  hedge blocks the front.

And the neighborhood…

The mall, backlit by the sun.

The place where I had cheap pizza!

Got Parmesan?

Last night’s dinner.  We started with fried cheese, onion rings, and meat and olives.  

Bill had a sausage pizza.

And I had an enormous t-bone.  It wasn’t trimmed so well, so I didn’t eat all of it…  but this was huge!  The grilled vegetables and polenta were delicious.  Wish I could have taken it home.  I need to juice or something to get rid of all the good food I’ve had in Italy.

Bill’s sleepy smile.  Maybe he was a little drunk, too.

The restaurant was very busy last night.  Look at that parking lot!

Breakfast buffet.  I will sort of miss this.  I would have liked to have tried a few pastries.  Where we are going tonight, breakfast costs 39 Francs a person.  

 

All in all, it’s been a good week in Italy.  I wasn’t wild about this hotel, but it kind of grew on me.  I have a feeling we could be back, so if we are, I will make more of an effort to see more of the city.