Sea Urchins

 If Janet were not the voice of reason in these things, I'd probably eat at Assettati every night. Granted, isn't that the expat dream, to be that character in a W. Sumerset Maugham novel who is always - and mysteriously - lurking in the same restaurant or bar every night? Last night I had it in my head to try their spaghetti and clams, because it's such a staple of the Mediterranean diet and I know that Salvatore and his crew must prepare a killer version. Anyway, I ordered it, and they had to break it to me that the strike (because, well, Italy) meant that there were no clams. I tore back into the menu for another option, when Salvatore asked if I would be interested in trying spaghetti and sea urchins. The answer was obviously yes. I don't even think it was an option on the menu, but it was fantastic.

This picture made me think of how much great food I've eaten here (and some dog meals as well, but certainly not at Assettati), and how I've somehow managed to lose weight. I don't know if I've truly noticed it yet, but Janet assures me that I've lost a goodly amount of weight. That said, most Americans who go to live in Europe end of quite naturally losing weight. Apparently, it's an actual verifiable thing. According to the Interweb, Americans moving to Europe lose weight for at three main reasons: 1) portion size - I mean, look at that plate in the picture - that's actually quite enough food (in America we'd have twice as much on the plate, and it would be less than half as tasty; 2) better, fresher, and healthier ingredients - I saw statistics claiming that the average American diet is comprised of as much as 60% of highly processed foods, which the European average is around 12% - that's a huge difference; and 3) walking a lot more - Europeans tend to spend less time in their SUV, and instead more time travelling around on foot or public transportation - we're sort of an extreme example because we don't have a car (for the first time in fifty years, and this makes me very happy), and thus I, initially out of necessity, but now more out of desire to explore and sit by the sea, walk at least two miles a day.