Cheap Eats on a Lazy Sunday in Tuscany

We all know about the little problem the dollar is having against the Euro. But if you pay attention to what the locals are doing, you can beat the odds and eat cheap.

On our Sunday drive in Northern Tuscany, our first stop was Aulla, where a small market of local gourmet products was taking place. When we got tired of walking amongst the stalls and having tastes of jams and preserves shoved at us, we sat down at a bar outside and ordered a couple of drinks, a Campari Soda for me and a Prosecco for Martha. They brought out a bowl of chips and a platter of foods you see in the picture over there to the right that included caperberries, crackers, corn chips, cipollini agridolce (sweet and sour onions) a small salami sandwich, a bowl of peanuts and a couple small slices of focaccia slathered with cheese.

The drinks cost €5 and the food was gratis.

But we weren't done yet. On the way home we stopped at our local bar for a gelato. It was packed with guys playing in a Briscola tournament and those who weren't playing were watching the Formula one race on the wide screen. (It's Sunday in Italy; the women go to church, the guys hang out). 2 gelati cost us €2.

So there you have it: €7 for the lot. Yeah, ok, alcohol, snack food and ice cream wasn't exactly what your mom said would make you grow up big and strong, but €3.50 a person for lunch with dessert isn't bad.