Last night I took the metro in to meet Brian after his rehearsal and we wandered down to the Piazza Navona. There was a big fair going on for La Befana and it was the last night. We ate a donut bigger than my head, saw a drag Befana, rode the carousel, AND got gelato. It was a night of too many treats. And Befana found our kids last night and left some candy in their shoes so the first things they ate this morning was Kinder eggs. The toys in the eggs are really great (we seem to remember Cracker Jack toys being a lot better in the olden days than they are now). Colin even got a little USB in one of his eggs that has some little computer games and activities.

Colin was very tired last night but perked up to see the fair. It had rained on and off all day. The rain stayed away while we were looking around, but started again on our walk home. Colin wanted to go back to the fair tonight. I do wonder how all this travel is shaping his experience and world view.

In other news, this is what we had for breakfast yesterday, courtesy of Mercato Trionfale, the amazing open market a few blocks away from us. Brian's brother Dan will recognize the little package above. It is a Burrata- the pinnacle of the fresh mozzarella experience. The few outlets in the states that supply this cheese charge upwards of $20 to $25 for the serving size pictured above (I got it for about $6). Since it is a southern Italian (Pugliese) specialty, it is not available every day in the market, and I think the vendors were tired of Brian asking for it. When it came in, they saw him coming and immediately said, "Burrata?"
It was consumed with this delightful bread (Filone del Contadina, wild yeast with whole grain) and some Blood Oranges on the side. The citrus here is spectacular right now.

Let me explain Burrata. Mozzarella di Buffala is pulled into a thin sheet, than filled with an unbelievably buttery mozzarella and cream hybrid called straciatella and tied up in a little purse. The interior is a spreadable consistency with a bit of stringyness and the whole thing is basically the embodiment of fresh dairy goodness. Trader Joe's sells a domestic version of this, and it is a noble effort, but now that we've had the real thing we won't be able to go back.

There are not words.