By some kind of miracle - following weeks of neglect - my tiny little veggie garden is producing an abundance of basil and fiori di zucca. How? No clue - I am no gardener. But, I won’t question what life throws my way and instead have channeled any pondering energy into these very summery zucchini cappelletti. Ricotta, fior di latte and zucchini make the filling, and those sweet stuffed ‘little hats’ are finished in a simple butter sauce, with some of the aforementioned fruits of my neglect.

---

Zucchini Cappelletti with Fiori di Zucca

Serves 4. Makes around 60 cappelletti

INGREDIENTS

Pasta dough

• 360g soft wheat flour tipo 00

• 135g whole eggs

• 85g egg yolks

• Fine semolina (for dusting the cappelletti)

Filling

• 300g ricotta

• 1 ball fior di latte mozzarella

• 2 small zucchini, finely diced

• 50g Parmigiano Reggiano

• 1 tbsp olive oil

Sauce

• 100g unsalted butter

• Zucchini flowers, as many as you have but ideally 4-5 per person

• Handful of fresh basil leaves

Extra grated Parmigiano Reggiano to serve  

Method

Pasta dough  

1. Place the flour in a mound on your work surface and make a well in the centre

2. Add your eggs and begin to whisk to until you have a thick custard-like consistency, incorporating a little bit of flour as you do.

3. Switch to a bench scraper and start to flip the flour from the outer edge over and onto the eggs, using a cutting motion to then mix it in. Continue to do this around all sides until you have a shaggy dough.

4. Begin kneading the dough vigorously for a good 10 minutes until the dough is springy and elastic, and not sticking to your hands at all

5. Cover and rest for 30 minutes while you make the filling.

Filling  

1. Combine the ricotta, fior di latte and Parmigiano in a large bowl and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper.

2. Gently fry the zucchini in olive oil until softened, then transfer to a blender and blitz to smooth. Allow the zucchini to cook entirely, then fold it into the ricotta mixture.

3. Refrigerate until you’re ready to use.

Shaping the cappelletti 

1. Divide the dough into four pieces. Work with one at a time - flatten the piece with your hand or a rolling pin before passing it through the thickest setting on your pasta machine. Fold the edges in to create a neat rectangle that fits the width of your pasta machine, and run it through the thickest setting again until your dough is uniform in shape

2. Continue passing your dough through the machine, working through each thickness setting until it’s 1/16” thick, typically the third to last setting on most machines

3. Cut the pasta sheet into two or three pieces so it’s easier to work with, then using a 3 inch circle cutter, cut the sheet into circles. Roll the scraps back into a ball ready and keep covered with the rest of the unused dough

4. Place a dollop of the filling in the centre of each circle, leaving around 1cm around the edges

5. Fold one side of the circle over to create a semi-circle, using your fingers to press around the filling to seal and to remove as much air as possible

6. Make a small dimple into the middle of the filling side of the semi-circle, then take the two bottom corner edges, bring them together so they just overlap, and press to seal

7. Continue with the rest of the dough, using as much of the cuttings/pasta sheet scraps as possible to reduce any waste

8. Place each cappelletti on a baking tray lined with a clean tea towel, or dusted with fine semolina

Finishing touches 

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to boil

2. At the same time start to melt the butter in a large frying pan, whirling occasionally

3. Throw the cappelletti into the pot once boiling - they will take about 2 minutes while you finish your sauce

4. Back to the butter - add a 1/4 cup of the pasta water and immediately whisk and shake the pan continuously to create an emulsion. Throw in the Fiori di zucca and basil leaves.

5. Scoop the cappelletti out with a slotted spoon and add directly to the butter sauce - toss to coat in all of that goodness

6. Divide between four bowls, spooning over the extra sauce and distribute the Fiori di zucca and basil between them.

7. Serve with a dusting of grated Parmigiano Reggiano

For anyone that has known me for even a small amount of time, they will know that carbonara is my death row dish. Salty, creamy, cheesy, carby goodness. You could say I am fanatic about carbonara. Which is why I have been heavily testing this recipe for the better part of 12 months.

There are some incredibly strong opinions on carbonara: ingredients, how to make it, the type of pasta etc etc. I could go on but honestly the longer I spend writing this the longer it will take for me to publish the actual recipe so I will cut it short and just note that you only need four - yes, four - ingredients to make a proper carbonara and no, none of them are cream.

Guanciale, eggs, Pecorino Romano, black pepper.

The key to creaminess is utilising the magic that is pasta water. Trust the process and trust your judgement. Although there are only a few ingredients, this is a somewhat technical dish, but an easy one once you’ve tried it.

---

Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 2, generously

If you’ve not tackled a carbonara before, I recommend you read through the recipe thoroughly and the cook‘s notes before starting.

Ingredients

• 300g pasta - spaghettoni is often the pasta of choice for carbonara, but spaghetti, bucatini or rigatoni will suffice

• 100g guanciale

• 2 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks

• 150g Pecorino Romano - very finely grated

• Lots of ground black pepper - quantities will be divulged in the method notes

Method

1. Cut the hard skin off the guanciale, slice it lengthways into 1cm strips and then cut into 1 cm pieces.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for your pasta.

3. In a separate pan start to fry off the guanciale on a gentle heat - no need to add any oil as its fat will melt.

4. Meanwhile in a bowl add your eggs (whole and yolks) and beat well. Stir through the grated pecorino and a really decent amount of freshly cracked black pepper (about 1 heaped tbsp). Set aside. 

5. When the guanciale is nice and crisp, turn off the heat and using a slotted spoon remove the guanciale from the pan and onto a plate - reserve the fat in the pan, and add another good crack of black pepper (1/2 tbsp).

6. Add the pasta to your boiling water and cook for approx a minute under packet instructions (just before it’s al dente).

7. Add the pasta directly to the pan with the guanciale fat (reserving the pasta water) and add a half ladle (roughly 45ml) of the water with it. Turn the heat back on the lowest flame, and allow the pasta to continue to gently cook, giving it a toss in the guanciale fat and pepper.

   THIS IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING! You will need to move relatively quickly.

8. Add a ladle (roughly 90ml) of the pasta water to the egg mixture and stir well until the pecorino and egg mix is nice and smooth and quite liquid, like pouring cream.

9. Take the pan with the pasta/guanciale off the heat, pour in the egg mix and stir, toss and mix continuously until it starts to thicken, similar to a béchamel sauce. If you feel it’s still a little too liquid after a minute or so, put the heat back on the lowest possible flame and keep stirring/moving constantly until you’ve worked the egg mixture into a beautiful crema. It’s important to keep the sauce moving constantly.

10. Stir through the reserved guanciale before serving.

11. Serve immediately!! With extra black pepper and a dusting of pecorino. 

Notes and troubleshooting

• Guanciale is a cured meat made from pork jowl/cheeks. If you can’t get hold of any, substitute it for pancetta. However if you can find it at a local deli, it’s worth it.

• Finely grating the cheese helps it melt deliciously smoothly with the eggs and avoids any stringy, melted cheese bits in your sauce. I used the finest, powder grade on a box grater.

• Adding pasta water to the eggs before adding to the pan will essentially do the job of tempering and help you avoid a scrambled egg situation. I find this step is essential in carbonara making territory. Think of it as preparing your eggs for the heat of the pan, so they’re not “shocked” when added - effectively this helps stabilise them.

• Carbonara is similar to an emulsion, where we’re combining water with fat and agitating it to form a stable sauce. And while there are a few different methods for bringing a carbonara sauce together, this is the most forgiving in my humble opinion. I prefer to add a bit more water to the eggs to create a loose cream-like consistency, before adding to the pasta, then coaxing it into a luscious crema. You can always thicken a sauce, but you can’t fix a scrambled one. This process is similar to thickening a custard or béchamel sauce, just to give you a visual.

• Make sure you keep extra pasta water on hand to lend itself to the sauce as needed, if you find it’s too thick and need to loosen it.

• Carbonara is best served immediately as the sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. If you are planning to serve this family style, I recommend taking it off the heat while it’s still just a touch too thin, so you don’t have a coagulated sauce when serving at the table.

Continuing with my passion for making fresh pasta at home (you can follow along for some pasta appreciation here) I dipped my toes back into the waters of hand rolled pasta with a batch of cavatelli rigati or cavatelli with ridges. You could also call these little grub-like pasta gnocchetti sardi or malloreddus, which I’m sure some pasta purists/Sardinians might argue is the correct name for these for whatever reason (DM me for a rant). Ultimately as far as fresh and hand rolled pasta goes, these are incredible easy to make and catch sauce beautifully in their ridges, so their name doesn’t really make a difference to me.

OK so let’s talk sauce. Alla vodka is traditionally a combination of crushed tomatoes, onions, cream and of course its namesake, vodka. The origins of this ridiculously moreish sauce are disputed (like most great things), but I like to think this was conjured up in the kitchen of Dante in Bologna during the 1980s, which is what Pasquale Bruno Jr., author of The Ultimate Pasta Cookbook reckons. Typically the pasta of choice is penne, but I think anything with ridges - or rigate - work just as well, which is why this cavatelli makes for a perfect pairing.

After first trying this dish in the Swiss-Italian region of Ticino back in ~2010, over the years I’ve tried a number of recipes to recreate the magic at home, always following the more traditional method of using crushed tomatoes and cooking them down over time. Totally delicious, but never making the cut to become a return favourite.

Enter tomato puree.

Now I’m not really one to follow celebrities, and I really never thought I’d be looking to Gigi Hadid for a recipe. But! she did happen to popularise this recipe by posting about it on Instagram, and it introduced me to subbing crushed tomatoes with tomato puree. Using tomato puree results in a super silky sauce with a beautifully concentrated tomato flavour, and as an added bonus it can be made in less than 10 minutes. (Side note: credit where credit’s due; I’ve got to give my mate Becky some kudos for getting me onto this recipe after she cooked this for dinner one night (thank you)).

---

Cavatelli alla vodka

Serves 4

Sauce lightly adapted from here

METHOD

FOR THE PASTA DOUGH

1. Add the semolina flour to a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the water into the well.

2. Using a fork, start to incorporate the flour into the water little by little, whisking until the liquid resembles pancake batter (note - the majority of flour should still remain around the sides of the bowl).

3. Using your hands, start by scooping flour from one side of the bowl, and folding it over the liquid/pancake mix. Use your fingers to press the flour into the liquid until incorporated. Rotate the bowl 45 degrees and repeat. Keep doing this until all of the flour is incorporated and you’ve got a somewhat shaggy dough.

4. At this point transfer to your work surface and knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until you have a smooth and shiny dough that doesn’t stick. If it’s too wet, add a touch of flour.

5. Wrap tightly in clingfilm and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.

SHAPING THE CAVATELLI

1. Cut off 1/8 of the rested dough (make sure to keep the rest covered in clingfilm while you work), and roll it into a sausage about 1/4” thick

2. Cut the sausage into thumbnail sized pieces, and roll each into a little ball using the palm of your hands

3. Using a gnocchi board (or a fork if you don’t have one), place one ball at a time at the side closest to you, and using your thumb press into the ball and away from you, rolling the ball as you do so. Repeat with remaining balls and dough following the same process.

4. Place the cavatelli on a lightly floured board or plate and cover with a clean, dry tea towel until you’re ready to use.

FOR THE SAUCE

1. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook the cavatelli for around 6-8 minutes depending on their size. Semolina/water pasta tends to have a chewier, denser consistency.

2. Meanwhile heat olive oil in a large pan and add the chopped shallot, cooking for a few min before adding the garlic and chilli flakes.

3. Add the tomato puree and cook for a minute or so until it takes on a deeper colour.

4. Add the vodka and let the alcohol cook out (this should only really take a minute), then stir through the cream.

5. Just before the pasta is ready, add the butter.

6. Using a slotted spoon, add the cavatelli (along with some of the pasta water) directly to the sauce, stirring through with a good handful of grated parmesan. Check for seasoning and add a splash of pasta water if the sauce seems too thick.

7. Serve with a drizzle of good olive oil, fresh basil and extra parmesan.

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE PASTA DOUGH

450g durum wheat semolina flour

225g luke warm water

FOR THE SAUCE

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, sliced

1-2 tbsp dry chilli flakes (optional)

80g tomato puree

50ml vodka

120-140ml double cream

25g butter

A couple of handfuls of grated parmesan

Fresh basil to serve

We lost Boo, my mother a little over three years ago and since that moment I have had the inevitable misfortune of learning to live with loss. Grief, at the best of times keeps a low profile, bubbling up a memory - whether painful or pleasant - here and there when something sparks that corner of my brain where I store the most precious moments. When grief hits hard, it can feel like getting locked inside a crashing wave. With it comes intrusive, often unpleasant memories from when she was sick, anxiety, irritability, deep sadness and every now and then a fresh and shocking realisation that I am now a Motherless Child.

When the pandemic hit, suddenly the world became united in dealing with a global crisis, grieving life as we had known it together in arms. News of COVID19, daily death stats and reportage from the frontline consumed TV stations, papers and my social newsfeeds. Work quickly pivoted to a 100% remote working model while we were instructed to only leave the house for essential services. Suddenly those daily thoughts of my mum - regardless of how happy or sad - were gone. So overwhelmed by everything going on around me, the capacity to remember her quickly diminished. I’ve only been able to see her face through tightly shut eyes.

Mother’s Day this year has been different. Companies are using physical distancing as a central piece of their marketing campaigns - can’t be with Mum this Mother’s Day? Spoil her with X even if you can’t be together to show her how much you care - it’s the usual triggering onslaught of unwanted emails and promoted posts, but it’s hit harder than usual. With relentless coverage about how difficult it is for mothers and children alike to not see each other in person today, the knowledge that I will never be able to see mine again quite literally feels like I’ve been sucker punched. Being forced to remember my mum when I’m struggling to remember her fills me with doubt about how I was as a daughter, whether I did enough, whether she knew I adored her. What did I get her for the last Mother’s Day we had to celebrate? I just don’t know and can’t recall.

I wish I could remember.

Armenian soldiers pose for a photo outside the Tsitsernakaberd memorial in Yerevan, 2015

Over the years I have been fortunate to have a traveled as much as I have. I’ve spent almost every summer that I can remember bathing in the sea and sun of my father’s native homeland Cyprus. Winters have seen me travel to North America, arctic Norway and the mountainous regions of Europe, and London’s proximity to pretty much everything has given me countless opportunities to add more stamps to my passport whenever a cheap flight or a long weekend landed in my lap.

I’ve been living in Australia now for close to six months, and no matter how much I love the lifestyle, weather and the regional travel opportunities, I can’t help but look back at past adventures with nostalgia and a touch of sadness; moving here has reduced the opportunity for travel ten-fold, especially travel outside of this (admittedly stunning) land of red dirt and endless shorelines.

Forever the optimist, instead of wishing for everything I don’t have, I’ve been thinking back to past trips that have left a lasting impact on me, and one trip that has remained as one of the most memorable was when I travelled to Armenia in 2015. Everything about that trip was different, I was travelling during a historically important time, where the country was simultaneously mourning and standing proudly with their heads high in a year marking 100 years since the genocide that took place in 1915.

Mount Ararat, seen from the rooftops of Yerevan, 2015.

Arrival was followed by a complete sensory overload: the smell of ethanol shooting out from the exhausts of Soviet-era cars; lavash, soujouk, lahmajun - all available almost everywhere and washed down with a customary shot of hard liquor similar to that of raki - sent aromatic smells wafting through the air; the oddly familiar sound of Eastern Armenian heard peddling and bargaining from within shops and market stalls; the distinctive peaks of Mount Ararat that crowned the city, acting as a visual reminder of the raw beauty that existed past the housing projects and remnants of a communist past.

Market seller, Yerevan 2015

I spent the week staying in Ujan, a small village in the province of Aragatsotn almost an hour outside of the capital city. I slept in a traditional Armenian home with little hot water or the modern amenities I am so used to taking for granted. Along the village tracks, gas pipes were found protruding overground as if the decision to build them had been made at the last minute, while cows aimlessly wandered between homes, settling now and then to graze on a spot of grass. It felt a world away from the city-breaks in Europe and beaches of southern Spain.

What blew me away most during my time in Armenia was the hospitality of those who I met. Despite being a nation that had endured such adversity, people were full of life with an incredible sense of generosity and kindness. Everywhere I went, I was met with some kind of offering, whether it be food, animated directions or the sharing of a past lived story. It certainly was a world away from the travel I was used to, but it showed me that a world away was a beautiful thing.

Gardener in Ujan, 2015

Man and his children watch a local village performance in Ujan, 2015

Old men playing Narde in Yerevan, 2015

Thinking about future travel, I want to continue to explore off the beaten track and experience travel that will leave a lasting memory with me that I can look back on. I would love the chance to go to Tanzania because it’s somewhere completely different to anywhere I’ve ever been before. From the landscape to the wildlife, the people and culture and of course the food, having the chance to see another corner of the world would make for an unforgettable experience, which is why I’m entering Yellow Zebra Safari’s competition to get the once in a lifetime chance to go on safari, see the Serengeti, bask in the views of Mount Kilimanjaro and get to see big cats, elephants, zebras and more - all in their natural habitat.

One of my favourite things about the neighbourhood we live in here in Brisbane, is the farmers market that sits right on our doorstep on Saturday mornings. When living in London, the desire to buy the weekly shop at a market was greatly outweighed by the necessary 30+ min journey just to get to one. Here however, between 6am to 2pm each week I can walk 200m from our building to Davies Park, grab an excellent coffee (I mean, the coffee is excellent everywhere here) and get my fruit, veggies, meat, fish and eggs all for the equivalent of around £50. To put that into perspective, it works out to about half of what I was spending per week back in Blighty.

So as you may have guessed it, this delightful side dish came about as a result of a recent market haul. I grabbed a beautiful bunch of carrots - tops and all - with the intent of simply roasting them. But looking at those tops I thought there’s got to be a way of utilising them, instead of them going to waste. A fiend for pesto shall always be just that, and I quickly blitzed those leafy greens up together with the necessary ingredients that I seem to always have on hand (pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and of course parmesan) while those multicoloured carrots were roasting to sweet perfection.

This recipe makes enough pesto to use another time - try stirring whatever you have left through pasta, topped on eggs or as a base for your next sandwich.

---

Roasted Carrots + Carrot Top Pesto

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

1 large bunch of carrots with tops

2 tablespoons pine nuts

10 tablespoons mild/light olive oil

50g parmesan, grated

1 garlic clove

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200c (180c FAN)

2. Remove the tops from the carrots and place in an roasting dish. Drizzle with two tablespoons of olive oil, and season generously with salt

3. Roast in the centre of an oven for 25-30 minutes or until tender

4. While the carrots are roasting, get to work on the pesto. In a blender add the carrot tops, garlic, pine nuts, a pinch of salt and the remaining 8 tablespoons olive oil and blitz until combined.

5. Transfer the pesto to a bowl and stir in the grated parmesan. Add more salt as needed, and an extra glug of olive oil if you see fit.

6. Once the carrots are roasted, serve with a few dollops of pesto.

While mindlessly scrolling through the digital equivalent of 500 tonnes worth of cat memes on Instagram, something stood out: a green chilli sauce. Usually, I'd slow clap the vibrant hue of green, give it a nod of approval and move on. But when I saw the word tahini in the ingredients let's just say my interest was piqued. 

I absolutely love tahini and anything that it's in. I'm talking fan girl territory, a sweet ode to my Cypriot heritage with hummus being the obvious contender for most loved tahini recipe - until now. This sauce is capital letters LEGIT and I have been putting it on everything from steak to chicken, to mixing it into salad dressings and using it to add an extra dimension to the usual egg and avo combo. If you follow me on Instagram and have ever felt compelled enough to watch my stories, you may have noticed my new found obsession for this sauce because I have been preaching hard. 

The recipe comes from my all time favourite bon appétit and is another example of why they are IMO the best food magazine out there - they deliver the goods time and time again (and can we take a moment to applaud them for likening this sauce to the summer sandals you wear with everything? So true.). But of course it wouldn't be like me to ever really follow a recipe to the T, so my take on this punchy little number uses some garlic scapes I picked up from the market along with a single clove of garlic, a little less lemon and a touch more heat from an additional serrano pepper. I promise if you try this you will be just as obsessed as me. 

---

HOT GREEN TAHINI SAUCE

Makes 2 cups, lightly adapted from here

Ingredients

2 lemons (zest of one, juice of 1.5)

3 serrano peppers 

1 garlic clove

2 garlic scapes, chopped (or just use an additional garlic clove)

3 cups curly leaf parsley, roughly chopped (discard stalks)

60ml extra virgin olive oil

120g tahini paste

Salt

Method

1. In a blender, grate in the zest of a lemon and add the juice of 1.5 lemons, discarding any pips.
2. Add the garlic, garlic scapes, serrano peppers, parsley, olive oil and roughly 75ml water and blend until you have a smooth sauce.
3. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and stir in the tahini paste - season with salt to taste.
4. That's it! Keep refrigerated in an airtight container. 

I think this tastes better the next day, when the tahini has thickened the sauce and the flavours have developed and settled. Keeps well for a week. Maybe longer but I wouldn't know because I eat it too quickly. 

recent travel

ROME | PARIS | STOCKHOLM

With a move to Australia a mere 11 weeks away, I've been making a point of getting away as much as possible. The idea of being way closer to the Asia-Pacific region is so exciting, but it's beginning to sink in that I won't be able to jump on a 2 hour flight to pretty much anywhere in Europe for a weekend getaway. 

Recently I've travelled to Paris, Rome, Stockholm (and Dublin - although I didn't take my camera). Each city was an absolute melting pot of culture, full to the brim with lovely spaces and places and incredible food. Talking about food, a few highlights from those trips that absolutely deserve a mention below.  

Dublin - Forest & Marcy | The Fumbally

Stockholm - Fabrique bakeries | Matateljen | Tyge & Sessil

Rome - Il Chianti Vineria | Freni e Frizioni

Paris - Beef Club | Chez Charlotte (near marche d'Aligre) | Le Progrès

So... hi. It's been over two years (!!) since my last post, possibly the longest hiatus from a blog the world has ever known.  

Truth be told, a lot has happened. When my mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer in May 2016 everything changed, and by November that year I left my job to look after her - simultaneously the easiest and most difficult decision I have ever made. In short, it was the most painful time of my life and everything took a backseat while I navigated through heartache and grief - including this blog. 

Fast forward to today - a little over a year since she passed away - and I feel like I'm slowly coming out of the fog and starting to pick things back up. A conversation with a friend asking me about whether or not I'd update this blog again prompted me to post this - something a little fun on a sunny, chilled out Sunday.  

This is my dream food on a plate, a combination of all the good fats, protein, nutty brown rice and a mash up of flavours - plus it's pretty healthy too. I like to hit the salmon at a high temp for a short amount of time so it's just cooked through with a nice finish on the outside. Add as many or few components as you like - avo and a pop of pickled cabbage work a treat for me. 

---

Roasted Miso Salmon with Brown Rice + Scallions

Serves 2

Ingredients

For the fish:

2 salmon fillets

1 tbsp brown rice miso paste

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp fresh orange juice

For the rice:

400g cooked brown rice 

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil 

Small handful slivered almonds, roughly chopped

1 tbsp sesame seeds

Garnish:

2-3 scallions, peeled

Micro greens

Avocado

Pickled red cabbage

Method

Preheat oven to 220c (200c FAN) 

1. Mix together the miso paste, maple syrup and orange juice and pour over the salmon fillets - leave to marinate for as long as you can spare. 
2. Transfer the fillets to a baking tray and cook in the centre of your oven for 15-16 minutes. 
3. Meanwhile, toss the rice with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, almonds and sesame seeds and season to taste with a little salt if required. 
4. Plate the salmon alongside the rice, top with the peeled scallions, micro greens (if using), a side of avo and a heaped tablespoon of pickled cabbage. 

In mid-August I took a backpack, my best friend and a camper van and drove over 1,500km through Italy. 

Without a real agenda or a specific route, we set off from Venice with the sole aim of trying to get as far south as possible in seven short days. Our ride was completely ridiculous, a 5-seater safari camper painted a mix of garish yellow and orange, emblazoned with 'assassins do it from behind' on the back. I pretend not to have completely loved it.

We made 14 stops (Venice - Florence - La Spezia (+ Cinque Terre) - Viareggio - Tarquinia - Naples - Sorrento - Capri - Nerano - Amalfi Coast - Salerno - Rome - Venice) and lived off a diet that was 90% carbohydrates. We camped, we beached, we drank a spritz in every place, and we bombed it back to Venice from Salerno on the last day.

“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.”

— Jack Kerouac