It's Wednesday, Pranzo at Boscomantico

Most of the winter riding crew from my club, Gruppo 1, is now back from vacation in Kenya. It was 0C (32F) this morning but I wasn't going to miss the club ride because on Wednesdays we always stop for lunch at Boscomantico Airport on the outskirts of Verona.

Perina, who is an old and savvy guy, determined the route today so that we would always be in the sunshine. That made it tolerable. We wound our way to Bardolino, soaked some rays next to the lake with in an espresso and then headed back to Verona.

Just before arriving to Verona we turn into the Boscomantico Airport where there is a small, family run (3 generations of family) restaurant. The airport was used by the U.S. Army after WWII into the 1960s and there are many very interesting photos on the walls of the restaurant. I often wonder how my life might have been different had I been sent here in 1966 rather than the Laotian/Cambodian border.

For lunch I had "bigoli" with small sardines. Delicious. Bigoli is a local pasta favorite. It's the opposite of thin pasta...it's a very thick round pasta. Of course, we had a primi, wine, bread, and espresso. I enjoy eating here because the grandmother makes very traditional dishes that you can't even find in restaurants (and believe me, Verona has very traditional restaurants).

After a great lunch and good conversation (all in Italian of course) we get back on our bikes and finish our ride into Verona.