Eating In Italy

While we were staying in Santa Margherita Ligure on the west coast of Italy, an hour north of Cinque Terre and fifteen minutes south of Portofino, we would, as a matter of course, leave our hotel about 7 pm and walk into town. We would then find an outside table at an attractive bar with people-watching possibilities. What we didn't count on was that with our pre-dinner drink, we would also be served a plate of munchies. I don't know what they're called in Italy, but they're good. So good, in fact, that we were often almost too full to order a complete dinner. I'm not complaining; it's just that when you look forward all day to dinner, it can be deflating to look at the menu and not be all that enthusiastic. We solved the problem by not going to dinner at all one evening, opting to go to two bars and filling up there. The drink and food prices in Santa Margherita were in stark contrast to those in Venice. Even with the extra food, there's no gouging the tourists, most of whom are Italian anyway. I learned about two new drinks while in Italy: the Spritz, a mildly alcoholic drink made with an appertif called Aperol, and the Negronski, a Negroni made with vodka instead of gin. Spritzes in pictures two and three, the Negronski at bottom.