24. Where can we buy food?

You can go to a series of small shops – the bakery, the fruit store, the butcher, the fish store, the pasta shop, a wine shop, various rosticcerie.  You can go to the central piazza on Wednesday morning – market day – and buy produce, cheese and meats from a collection of trucks and vans. Nonfood items, including clothing and linens, are just beyond the parking lot below the central piazza.

Or, for one-stop shopping, you can go to the Coop.  Directions are in the House Book. The Coop is in town, opposite the tennis courts and public swimming pools. Put a Euro coin in the slot on the shopping cart and walk past the pizza-by-the-slice concession to the large grocery store filled with freshly baked breads and desserts, a huge selection of cheeses, gourmet treats, wine, beer, liquor, prepared foods, fresh fish, local meats and sausages, as well as frozen and packaged delights. Take a number for the baked goods and another for the cheese and salami counter. If you want special help from the butcher, you’ll take yet another number. Unlike the smaller shops the Coop does not close for lunch.

Signs instruct you to put on a disposable glove from the dispenser before touching fruit or vegetables. Weigh your produce and apply the resulting price sticker to the bag before putting it in your cart. At checkout, there is a small charge for plastic bags. You may pay with cash or by credit card. Your Euro coin is returned to you when you return the cart.

While touring you may see signs saying vendita diretta (direct sales).  They may be selling wine, fruit, honey, or knitwear. They may be selling funghi porcini (mushrooms) or even tartufi neri (black truffles) – both local delicacies. Stopping at such places will add to your treasure of holiday memories.