Piccole perle del Road Trip 2: The Exorcist

We ended our quick visit to Washington DC with a night stroll along the streets of Georgetown, a neighbourhood in Washington known for its quaint houses, its fashionable bars and restaurants and for Georgetown University. (For the Italophones or Italo-sympathizers among you, readers, Beppe Severgnini used to live in Georgetown while working as a foreign correspondent and, as far as I know, his former house is now a must-see for Italian tourists who have read his books. I personally didn't go...but I was tempted! I just didn't remember the house number any more!!)
Well, while visiting the area, cinema-buff Mr Steve Race became firmly determined to go find the STEPS! "Which steps?"-asked I. "The steps where the priest is precipitated by the hand of an evil spirit"-said cinema-buff Mr Steve Race. Before I began seriously worrying for his mental health (it had been a long, exceedingly hot day after all!), Steve explained that Georgetown had been the set of the infamous 1973 movie "The Exorcist". At that point we had to find THE STEPS, which didn't seem to be an easy task, given that: 1-we didn't have a guide or a map; 2-it was night; 3-I was exhausted, hungry and very little patient ; )
It was only by an unexpected stroke of luck that we happened to pass by a very steep descending set of steps and I could see in Steve's eyes (pretty much like Sylvester's eyes when he sees Tweety) that we had landed in the right place.
...to me, that was just a bunch of steps...not very well-lit, to be honest. However, how very much reassuring it is to watch a kid having fun while playing on his own...

Piccole perle del Road Trip 1: The S'more Pizza

While crossing west to east the state of West Virgina we decided to stop at a supermarket (...OK, I'm not proud to say this but it was...Walmart!) to get some fruit, if you can call it so. I tend to fall for supermarkets, crappy as they might be. I can easily get lost and spend lots of time between aisles, reading, comparing prices or just attracted by unseen specimens of pre-packed food, which I won't buy anyway, but I just like to know that they exist. My grandma Elda used to want me to take her shopping for food (instead of my mum, n.d.a.) upon my returns from the UK to Italy, because she said the way I could arrange boxes and packets etc. in the trolley was unparalleled ;)
Anyway, as I was keeping myself busy at this (and Steve was grumbling because of this!), hear what I found: a S'mores Dessert Pizza, which is (for those of you who might STILL ignore what 'S'more' means...please, go and review older posts and you'll be enlightened) a pizza with chocolate, Graham crackers (something like 'biscotti secchi' in the old continent) and marshmallows! Well, I could not resist having a picture taken of me holding such a rare breed of pizza!
...and no, I did not try it!

America the Beautiful (Colorado part I)

"Oh beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea."

1893. Professor, poet, and writer, Katharine Lee Bates, on a trip to Colorado Springs (Colorado) composed the poem "America the Beautiful" marveled at the beauty of the Rocky Mountains' landscape. Reportedly, once at the top of Pike’s Peak, a 4,115 feet (4302 m) mountain 10 miles (16 km) west of Colorado Springs, she said, "All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse".
Listen to the unofficial US national anthem here.

The landscape is undoubtedly inspiring and rich in historical meaning, but, I must say, Colorado Springs exhibits an extremely unpleasant metropolitan area (read: shithole!). The downtown (too much 'down' to my likings...) is composed of a runway-wide road where a series of papier-mâché looking buildings are located. Especially along the bar/pub/restaurant/cafe street (THE street...in a 500.000-inhabitant city!!) you invariably feel like you're in the midst of a movie set, where the juxtaposition of edifices of various height, colour, shape, architectural style and period features conveys a strong sense of picturesqueness. Yet, not a comforting one.
The 'ciliegina sulla torta' touch comes when you encounter two bronze cowboys. Too bad they're not real! Las Vegas feels only a stone's throw away.

Gimmesomemore

Forget Apple or Derby pies, Trifles, Shakes, Tiramisùs, Monti Bianchi, Panettoni, Pandori, Colombe farcite/ ripiene/ ricoperte/ nocciolate or snocciolate, Gelati ... affogati and not. The ultimate dessert is here: Signori e Signore ... the S'more.
This is a traditional campfire treat popular in the United States and Canada, consisting of a roasted marshmallow (pic on the right -->) and a slab of chocolate (pic below left) sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker, the same crackers used for the
cheesecake base (pic below right).

The name is short for "some more" as in "give me some more" or, as a son of the ’80 like I am would rather put it, ‘gimmesomemore’.
Part of its enjoyment is the way in which it is made on such camping trips. A marshmallow is skewered on the end of a long stick and held just above the campfire until its outer surface starts to brown, char, or even catch fire. Once heated, the marshmallow's inside becomes soft. The marshmallow is quickly pinched off its stick with the graham crackers, one of which has a piece of chocolate on it. Ideally, the heat from the roasted marshmallow partially melts the chocolate into a gooey mess.
Alternatively, if you're way past the age for a summer camp retreat, you can always roast marshmallows in a friend's roaring (and scorching hot!) fireplace. Just like we did...