One of those villages which was build in the Late Middle Ages in the Valle Argentina where the alleys are steep and close and live seams to have stopped all watches and calendars. We had many breakfasts in the central bar with sensational coffee and snacks.
Buying Olive Oil in Badalucco
We wanted to buy olive oil from the region and so we stopped at a sign on a private house. I knocked and heard a slightly shivering voice from the inside “Sto arrivando!”. After waiting for an unfamiliar long time, the door opened and a very old lady appeared in the frame. I asked if she would sell olive oil, she said yes and invited us in. The room was a mixture between restaurant and living room, a bar, sofas, family pictures and certificates on the wall, paired with heads of a wild boars. I made the mistake to ask her, if we could try the oil before buying, she nodded and went to the kitchen to cut some bread, which was visibly a hard task for her and took quite a while. While trying, she ordered us to take more from the oil, with such little amounts we wouldn’t have the real taste. After that, we would have bought everything for nearly every possible price just out of guilt. Thank god the oil was very good and just a slightly expensive :-).
Have you read Annie Hawes’s “Extra Virgin”? She and her sister moved from the UK to Liguria and settled into a community there. Fun and insightful reading.
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No, I didn’t read it yet, but it sounds like something I have to read š Thanks for the hint!
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