Bolzano bakery ballet finale

... or the end to the perfect day.

Woke up late this morning and decided to go to Italy on impulse, because we could.

We eventually arrived in Bolzano at 4.30pm on a warm clear evening after a long but pleasant drive through Bavaria, Austria and the Tyrol.

Grubbing around for food we happened upon a small and attractive looking Italian restaurant in one of the side streets of the popular city.
As I couldn’t decide which of the many farinaceous dishes to fill my face with, the waiter suggested (with what I now understand to be a wry smile) “fleisch” (meat). In frustration at my own indecision I agreed to “fleisch” and left him to it.

After a while he returned with what I can only describe as a most suspicious “T” bone steak surrounded by cunningly distractive grilled vegetables and a cloud of Italian bon vivant.
The bone was decidedly separated from the meat, which bore very little in relationship to the shape/thickness/colour of the proffered bone (which incidentally was more “L” shaped than “T”).
Being British and considering myself quite receptive to the foreign way and custom and not wishing to cause more international incidents than we already had, I reasoned that the restaurant was economising on waste/energy for cooking/world food shortages etcetera by recycling an old “T” bone amongst unsuspecting “out-of-towners”. A piece of meat (don’t ask where from or what type) is then prepared and nestled twixt multi-chewed bone and the tantalising colours and textures of the vegetables (probably the remnants of unsuccessfully masticated offerings to the gummy geriatric customers the previous afternoon!).

Again, being British, with an inbred sense of fair play, I wondered if it would be correct to nibble at the bone and leave some for the next chap, or strip it bare and make sure I got my Euros18.00 worth?!!?