Perugia, Italy. May, 1988

Halfway through the adventure Nick and I were having -- researching, photographing and eating our way through all of Italy’s dolci for his Great Italian Desserts book -- Miriam joined us in Bologna. From there we made our way to Perugia in our little Fiat Panda, now jam-packed with luggage and acquisitions, professional and otherwise. So much so that when I turned the car down a street the map had indicated was the most direct route to our destination and it suddenly became a staircase, I couldn’t see anything in the rear-view mirror in order to back up, much to the amusement of the gathering locals. Eventually we got free, parked, had lunch and snapped this photo (which for reasons she still can’t explain, is one of Miriam’s favorites.) It was on this same Perugian soggiorno that we visited Sandri, the enticing pastry shop about which both Simon and Marin would later rhapsodize at length: Marin for the pasticceria he remembered from his student days, Simon for the cheese bread whose displayed price, he didn’t realize before his purchase, was for an etto not for the whole bread, which, he says, cost him almost $40.

Perugia, Italy. May, 1988

Halfway through the adventure Nick and I were having -- researching, photographing and eating our way through all of Italy’s dolci for his Great Italian Desserts book -- Miriam joined us in Bologna. From there we made our way to Perugia in our little Fiat Panda, now jam-packed with luggage and acquisitions, professional and otherwise. So much so that when I turned the car down a street the map had indicated was the most direct route to our destination and it suddenly became a staircase, I couldn’t see anything in the rear-view mirror in order to back up, much to the amusement of the gathering locals. Eventually we got free, parked, had lunch and snapped this photo (which for reasons she still can’t explain, is one of Miriam’s favorites.) It was on this same Perugian soggiorno that we visited Sandri, the enticing pastry shop about which both Simon and Marin would later rhapsodize at length: Marin for the pasticceria he remembered from his student days, Simon for the cheese bread whose displayed price, he didn’t realize before his purchase, was for an etto not for the whole bread, which, he says, cost him almost $40.

Perugia, Italy. May, 1988

Ah, the splendid pastry shop Sandri on this medieval town’s main thoroughfare. No wonder so many people I know have been here. My Croatian friend Marin, when he was a high-school student in Perugia for the summer, was a regular visitor. Nick, Miriam and I were here while doing research for Nick’s Great Italian Desserts book. And my friend Simon, when he was trying to find a place he would like to live. (He finally chose Tucson.) Simon went into Sandri, saw these cheese breads, saw the price listed, and asked for one to be wrapped up for purchase. It was only when he was presented with the bill that he realized that the price was per etto (about 3.5 ounces) and he told me his weighty Crescia cost something like $40. Oh, well, I’m sure it was good.

Perugia. May, 1988

Ah, the splendid pastry shop Sandri on this medieval town’s main thoroughfare. No wonder so many people I know have been here. My Croatian friend Marin, when he was a high-school student in Perugia for the summer, was a regular visitor. Nick, Miriam and I were here while doing research for Nick’s Great Italian Desserts book. And my friend Simon, when he was trying to find a place he would like to live. (He finally chose Tucson.) Simon went into Sandri, saw these cheese breads, saw the price listed, and asked for one to be wrapped up for purchase. It was only when he was presented with the bill that he realized that the price was per etto (about 3.5 ounces) and he told me his weighty Crescia cost something like $40. Oh, well, I’m sure it was good.