a veg life

(posted by Emily)  12 July 2015 Casperia, Italy With nowhere to be until 11 on Sunday, we took advantage of the rare opportunity to sleep in. Of course, it's all relative, but staying in bed till 9 was great. We ventured upstairs to the breakfast room at La Torretta, where we met Maureen, the b&b's owner, and her daughter Jennifer. They had lots of fresh fruits, toast, pastries, juice, coffee, and even soya milk for us to enjoy. The sun-filled room was airy and simple, and we loved the chance to chat with Maureen, who is Welsh, about what brought her to Italy and Casperia.  The patio off the breakfast room  Before we knew it, it was time to head down to Vigna to meet up with Johnny. It was funny--throughout our stay in the village, when people asked what we were doing there, all we had to say was, "We're going with Johnny" and we'd get lots of nods and moments of understanding. Everybody knows Johnny, and knows the tourists he brings in to the village.  We...

(posted by Emily) 11 July 2015 Sorrento, Italy  Rome, Italy Casperia, Italy Saturday was our big travel day for the Italian leg of our journey. We didn't have to go too far, but the day consisted of 4 trains and a bus in order to reach Casperia.  We left the Hilton in Sorrento around 8:30 Got on a local train to Naples  Waited for our high speed train Which took us to Rome  Got on the Metro to go to another station outside of Rome  Then got on a local train to Poggio Mirteto (though we did have to wait a bit for it to arrive)  Then finally a local bus to Casperia  Casperia is a medieval village, about an hour outside of Rome. The city itself is about 1000 years old, with a walled complex that is home to 200 people. The village has expanded outside the walls, but it's only home to about 800 people total.  We are here because of Rick's fascination with olive oil, and desire to learn more. One for the world's leading experts on oil lives here, and we...

(posted by Emily) When I think about "the staples" in our house, an unconventional list comes to mind. Then again, I guess that's to be expected since our staples don't include things like eggs, bread, and milk! Thinking about the foods we buy every week without fail, here are my top ten items we can't live without.  Top Ten: Food stuffs we can't live without 1) Bananas via 2) Veggie broth made from our leftover veggie scraps in the crock pot .  via 3) Hummus via 4) Avocados via 5) Rice noodles via 6) Tomatoes via 7) Potatoes via 8) Olive oil via 9) Celery via 10) Sprouts via I hope you had a great week! Happy Friday! --E&R