TRATTORIAS NO MORE

Thirty five years ago, I visited Italy for a month. Trattorias all over the place. A not too pricey Italian restaurant. Good food.

This trip I discovered restaurants called trattorias are a thing of the past. I saw a total of two in my travels through Milan, Novara, and Courmayeur.

The former trattorias have been relabeled/renamed. Ristorante is one. The other Ristorante and Pizzeria.

Pizza definitely has come into its own. Restaurants serve a whole pizza. That is the only way a pizza can be ordered. One to a person. The customers eat them up. Every morsel. Italians leave nothing on the plate. I ate at a Ristorante and Pizzeria tonight. actually called E.T.’s Ristorante and Pizzeria. While I was enjoying a pasta dish at my table, the couple at the one next to me each devoured a whole pizza. All done with white tablecloth and napkins.

Carmelo and his brothers came to Key West many years ago. They opened La Trattoria on Duval Street. They made the restaurant a fantastic success. Then sold it. If Carmelo and his brothers were opening a new Italian restaurant today, no question in my mind they would call it a Ristorante.

Wi fi has been a problem throughout my travels in Italy and France. Very few establishments have wi fi available to customers. Whereas in Greece, wi fi was available all over the place.

I spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon sitting at an outdoor café in Courmayer. I enjoyed the ambiance and view. I came to the conclusion that the men of Courmayeur have trophy wives or trophy girl friends.

I have fallen behind in posting photos. Tomorrow comes the deluge.

I mentioned the beggars I saw in Athens. Thought they were the worst ever. Several have written and said in effect they had seen beggars in the United States. Even in Key West. What in effect was the big deal?

I took the comments to heart together with what my eyes had seen on the streets of Athens. There is substantial difference between “begging” in the United States and begging in Greece. A world of difference. Ergo, I have to dispute those who disagree with me. No problem in not agreeing with me. A problem exists however if a person disagrees without having first hand knowledge of the facts.

If a person has not seen with their own eyes the beggars on the streets of Athens, such persons are in no position to dispute my observation. Not because you were not there. Rather because you do not know what you are talking about.

I say such with all due respect. It’s the lawyer in me.

Let me help the situation a bit. I decided to write an extensive article on the issue. I titled it The Beggars of Athens. It will appear in this week’s KONK Life as my column of the week. The issue will be published thursday. Dig it up on the internet and read it. I guarantee you will find it revealing.

If you still disagree with me after reading the article, so be it. We have a legitimate difference of opinion regardless of how the opinion was arrived at.

Go to KONKLife.com. Select the edition you wish to read. Leaf through it to find my article.

In 48 hours, I will be sleeping in my bed in Key West. I am ready to return. I miss family and friends big time.

Enjoy your day!

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