Culture Shock: How I forgot what rain looked like and where are the figs?

Ciao amici! Ho ritornato.

The scene: A typical bumpy landing at Logan airport. Squinting as I disembark, I recoil in horror at an unfamiliar temperature or weather condition (in this case, torrential rain, from which I have become alienated during my stay under the tranquil summer umbrella of the high pressure system planted over the Meditteranean Sea!)

Alas, all dreams must end, and my rude awakening of returning stateside to stone-faced airport personnel and the responsibilities of real life has been softened markedly by the abundance of ombrelloni-free New England beaches and fresh farmer's market produce! Hooray for tomatoes and corn!

Fresh organic figs from Montefalco, Umbria

I will continue to cry in my sleep for lack of fresh figs, like these ambrosia-filled organic gems plucked warm from the tree in my friends' Montefalco garden...

Sigh.

While the lack of fresh figs, proper gelato, and non-imposter mozzerella di bufala in the U.S. continues to trouble me, fear not! I am hard at work updating the site to improve loading time and fix some broken image links. Stay tuned for new posts and Providence-area show reviews as July makes way for August. Ritorno fra poco.