One of the many advantages of staying in an apartment while in Italy (or anywhere in the world) is you have the option of eating in or out.

Although we enjoyed most of our mid day and evening meals out we always ate breakfast at the apartment.  Our apartment in Lucca had a fully furnished kitchen which made it easy to prepare foods and a pleasure to eat in. We had a supermarket just around the corner so it was very easy to just pop out early morning or sometimes we ducked out the evening before to pick up fresh fruits and yogurts.  Right by the supermarket there was a fabulous patisserie where we could also buy freshly baked breads and pastries.

In Lucca you will find many Gastronomia Prodotti Tipici – Gastronomy Typical Products.  Late one afternoon after several hours of exploring this wonderful city, we popped in to this Gastronomia Prodotti Tipici.

 

We were like children in a candy store. We could not get enough of what we could see.  So, we made the decision to buy some of this lovely produce,  fresh bread and some local wines, and take it back to the apartment and have an “antipasti”dinner. We had eaten lunch out so we did not need another big cooked dinner. We selected so many different delicacies.   It did not take long to realise that we had bought far too much but how do you know when to stop. We sure didn’t.

The fun continued as we walked home talking about all this fabulous foods that we had just purchased and the ones we left behind.  And then, when we arrived back at the apartment the fun really began as we started opening all the different containers and packages.

We purchased a bottle of my favourite blend of wine, Vermentino.  Vermentino is a light-skinned grape wine. We also purchased a lovely bottle of red.

 

After laying out our spread, we sat and enjoyed and talked about every thing we were eating.  Our spread included sardines & anchovies & smoked salmon, cheeses, artichokes, olives, tomatoes, mushrooms, bread and strawberries.  What a pleasure.

This turned in to another wonderful memorable evening for us in Lucca.

A vacation in Italy is complete when you buy, eat and enjoy the lovely local produce.