James C. writes:

I know a lot of people on your blog think I’m some sort of wealthy playboy, though in fact I don’t have much money at all. I can afford to splurge only once in a while on my journeys, but one of the wonders of Italy is that it doesn’t cost much to eat wonderfully if you keep things simple (and avoid tourist traps). Wednesday was a perfect illustration of that (though I can’t say these are my best VFYTs).

I had to fly home from Pescara on the east coast of Abruzzo on Wednesday night, so I was looking forward to a long, leisurely couple of train rides from Assisi through a region I’ve never been. I was able to make a couple of stops in this very untouristed, ruggedly mountainous region. I spent most of the day in the old town of Sulmona, and spring has sprung (at least in the lower elevations!), so I had a lovely couple of meals outside.

First meal: a piadina (Italian flatbread sandwich with smokey scamorza cheese and prosciutto) with a  caffè shakerato (fresh espresso with sugar shaken vigorously with ice, like a cocktail, until it gets nice and frothy—a summer thing in Italy). Total cost:  €3.20.

Second meal: lasagna abruzzese (a wonderful version! The layers include prosciutto, tiny little veal meatballs, finely chopped poached egg, and scamorza and pecorino cheeses) with a glass of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (I think one of the best reds I’ve ever tasted). I told the owner I was hungry after walking up a hill to the town and she came out with a lovely antipasto for me to eat—free. Total cost, including the bread: €8.

Dessert: superb gelato, with three scoops: pistacchio, amarena and tiramisu. Total cost:  €2.50.

So  €13.70 for food that day in Sulmona. And I got some great people watching in as well, especially at the place where I had lasagna—I caught lunch there right before la pausa, the Italian siesta, and I had a ringside seat for the ritual of locals all pouring out of their shops to gather in the street to talk and make animated gestures with their hands and wave at people they knew passing by.