old wild west

You can get a little stir crazy when you have been homeless (and wearing the same few clothes) for more than three months.  Sleeping in your own bed is entirely underrated.  We have an inspection scheduled on the apartment tomorrow, which we are hoping will go well.  The contract meeting should happen relatively soon after, and we may be moving into our new home by the end of the month, a mere two months after we arrived.

For now, short excursions around the area keep us entertained.

Over the weekend we found a fairly large mall, that rivals a good one stateside.  We wandered the halls, prowling skinny jeans for the Major...

Ok, just kidding.

And after considering the offerings of the Old Wild West,

(can't help but be tempted by the PC offerings of the Wild West - Carni Grand Canyon style...)

a Haus of Weiners,

and something out of 101 nights...,

we score a bit of tavola calda from a cafe, where the dish of the day is pasta mixta with mussels and beans...

We scour the mall for a reasonable pair of polarized sunglasses to no avail, and settle instead for an our old friend Illy.

No take out cups here.  You don't see Italians walking anywhere with coffee.

On our way home I insist that we get a closer view of our neighbors...

These fellas are the real deal.  Unlike the "bison" we have in the states...

What I learned about their cheese, is that it was popular before cow's milk mozzarella, thus the designation of "mozzarella di buffala", to distinguish it from it's lesser rated sister.  There is a slight sourness to this kind of mozzarella that creates its unique flavor.  Divine.

I grew up in the heartland of America...  so it seems a bit strange that after all this time, I finally get to see where the buffalo roam.  Just outside Naples, Italy.