Unveiling Boiano's Allure: A Journey into Italy's Molise Region with Dominica

Embark with us and our guest, Dominica, as we unveil the charming secrets of Boiano, nestled in Italy's Molise region. This town might not top the usual Italian travel lists, but its hidden treasures are bound to captivate your senses. From a breakfast spot that nods to cinematic history to the decadent local pastries that lure the sweetest tooth, we traverse through Boiano’s rich tapestry of flavors and sounds. Imagine an amphitheater, ancient and worn, where music still dances through the air as freely as it did in Roman times—this is Saepinum, Molise's own Pompeii, and it's just waiting to be explored.

As our journey through Molise unfolds, the art of Italian cuisine takes center stage. Dominica shares her experience with homemade cavatelli, weaving a tale of the passion and patience required to master this pasta. The conversation simmers with discussions of fresh figs, the robust flavors of regional meats, and the craft behind the perfect spread. Savor the authentic taste of Italy's countryside as we relish in the preparation of traditional dishes, free from preservatives and bursting with the authenticity only found in the local haunts of Boiano.

As we wrap up our Italian escapade, we find ourselves not just sharing a meal, but memories and laughter too. Molise's local wines and olive oils become characters in their own right, each with a story to tell. We tease out an unexpected link between Boiano and rock legend Bon Jovi, adding a dash of whimsy to our tale. I, Z Michelson, am here to remind you that the true beauty of travel lies not just in the places you'll see, but in the cultures you'll embrace and the stories you'll collect along the way. Join us for this special episode, and let your wanderlust be fueled by the hidden gems of Italy's heartland.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:03

Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast. This podcast is devoted to the travel industry. Z says let your imagination run wild and start dreaming about where you want to go. And dream big, reach for the stars, and if you only get to the moon, at least you enjoyed the trip. Your guide to travel is Z Michelson, a travel advisor, and sitting at the controls is Jay Lawrence, your concierge of podcast travel. Now here's Z.

Speaker 2 0:28

Michelson, a travel advisor, and sitting at the controls is Jay Lawrence, your concierge of podcast travel. Now here's Z. That's me. I'm Z and Jay, you're at the controls. Don't, don't? There we go. We need all those buttons being pushed. You know, this is a very busy year for both of us traveling.

Speaker 3 0:40

Yes, it is.

Speaker 2 0:41

Yes, it is, and you know we have the busy year. You have recently got married, yeah, and she is joining us again today. Dominica is joining us. Here she is, ladies and gentlemen, yes, so we have brought her back to the mics again because she has so much information for us, but we want to let everybody know that we are brought to you by collage travel media network, which is home to streaming radio, podcasting and travel and travel. So the streaming radio we have zmax radiolive and collage travel radiocom and, of course, my podcast.

Speaker 3 1:19

Yes, yes and we produce more than one podcast too we do so we have lots and lots. There's a new podcast coming out called you Need to Know.

Speaker 2 1:28

You Need to Know and we're going to reverse a little bit here because I'm going to be your producer and concierge of Needing to Know- oh, my goodness.

Speaker 2 1:37

And you're going to be hosting it, yeah, but there's so much going on and a lot of people are traveling more and more. So much going on and a lot of people are traveling more and more. But what we're trying to do, domenica brings to the table a whole new viewpoint because she is originally from Italy and she knows some of the off the beaten path places that we can actually visit, other than the main. The main stays. You know, a lot of people, of course, go to Rome and they go to Venice, they go to Napoli, they. You know these are the main places, but she knows some of the other places that you really want to get in and get to see.

Speaker 3 2:09

Well, let's bring her in and find out what she knows about Italy.

Speaker 2 2:13

Welcome to the show, dominica. Well, thank you for having me. Last time we spoke, you talked about a region called Molise and you just touched on a place called Boiano, and I think today you're going to be bringing us into Boiano.

Speaker 4 2:28

I am, and you're going to love it. I am.

Speaker 3 2:32

Why am I going to love it?

Speaker 4 2:34

Well, first of all, it's a very unique town in itself and it has great food, great restaurants. There's even a place for breakfast. It's called Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Speaker 2 2:48

They took that from something.

Speaker 4 2:51

And I looked and I thought are you kidding me? And oh man, the pastries in there were amazing. Pastries. They had this tea that was like I've never had before. It was like a tea concentrate oh, I'm a tea totaler. So I've never had before.

Speaker 2 3:05

It was like a tea concentrate oh I'm a tea totaler, so I would probably love that.

Speaker 4 3:08

It was fabulous.

Speaker 2 3:10

So when you went and you went to Boyano, you had mentioned in the other show that you could actually take a train to Boyano and then pick up a rental car over there.

Speaker 4 3:20

Yes, and then you can get a rental car and Boyano and the region around, that is a trip in itself. What makes you say that? Because of the architectural, the excavations that they have done? There's near the town of Sepino, which is near Boiano, there's another Roman ruins called Saepinum, s-a-e-p-i-n-u-m, and it's also modern Altilia.

Speaker 2 3:57

And what does this have? You're saying it's Roman ruins. So what is there when you say ruins? I think of the Colosseum.

Speaker 4 4:04

Yes, so we have an amphitheater there that is still being used for concerts.

Speaker 2 4:11

Really.

Speaker 4 4:12

Yeah, I never knew that this existed and actually a proper name might be the Pompeii of Molise. Wow, and it's like a whole town that was there.

Speaker 2 4:35

And it is amazing that it's so well preserved, the road.

Speaker 3 4:37

So they say it was the Pompeii of Molise. Was it hit by a volcano? No, I was just going to say wasn't Pompeii destroyed?

Speaker 4 4:41

So they didn't discover Pompeii until not too long ago.

Speaker 2 4:46

Not too long ago.

Speaker 4 4:47

They had forgotten about it when they started to uncover it. So this sapino has actually been there, not covered by anything. They knew about this and sadly, some of the people took the stones from that and made their homes.

Speaker 2 5:05

Their homes. Yes, that's kind of typical of what goes on with prehistoric.

Speaker 3 5:13

You find a stone you can build.

Speaker 4 5:15

Right, exactly.

Speaker 3 5:16

Now we just know, across the street from the studio at this very moment, they're tearing sidewalks apart.

Speaker 4 5:22

Speaking of tearing stones out, and I'm thinking maybe we should take some of those stones from the sidewalk and build uh, yes, and these, these sidewalks are only you know 10 years old so these things are 2 000 years old, wow, and still there no, so you can actually visit these uh excavation sites and what's amazing is that it is free and that's even more amazing.

Speaker 2 5:47

These locations are free, yes, free, Yay, and you mentioned that in our other. Show that some of these places that we went to are also free to go in. Now you said it's unique the food, everything that around it, the region around it. So when you talk about Melisa, you were talking about the mountains and the sea and the lakes that are here. Now, what does Bayano have?

Speaker 4 6:11

Well, it's got the mountains, it's got this architectural antiquity that's 2,000 years old. It still has the gates to get in there. The arched are still there. Oh wow, the arches are still there. The arched are still there. Oh wow, the arches are still there. The pillars are still there. I mean, if you've been to Pompeii then you know what I mean, but it's even bigger.

Speaker 2 6:34

Oh it's bigger.

Speaker 4 6:35

It's amazing, and it's why hasn't Italy promoted this area? Maybe because they didn't know it existed, maybe it was Well, they don't want it overcrowded, because it might get ruined if there's too many tourists floating around. Well, and they really didn't start until about 1850 to To excavate. Well, I don't think they had to excavate it because it was visible.

Speaker 1 7:03

It was just there. It's just there.

Speaker 4 7:06

And on one of the gates leading to this there's an inscription that was written in 168 AD.

Speaker 3 7:18

What.

Speaker 4 7:20

And it was relating to the Tratura in Roman days. And it was relating to the Tratura in Roman days and I will talk about the Tratura in another podcast, if you will have me Okay.

Speaker 2 7:32

Like I said, you're coming back every month because there's so much of Italy that people don't know, and these are places that you know. If you want to explore the world, these are places you really should go to.

Speaker 4 7:43

These are places you really should go to, and this Tratura, which is taking the livestock from the mountains to the valleys. It's an ecosystem, you know so that in the wintertime, when you don't have the food for the cows, you would take them to a valley Right and they do that out west as a matter of fact.

Speaker 2 8:05

I got caught up in a cattle drive one time and I'm scared the heck out the cows. You would take them to a valley Right, and they do that out west as a matter of fact.

Speaker 3 8:09

I got caught up in a cattle drive one time Scared the heck out of me. Now didn't you say that your parents used to do that? My grandfather. Your grandfather.

Speaker 2 8:15

He was a cattle wrestler. Yes, he actually would wrangle those cows down the valley. No, they didn't wrangle, they were peaceful, they didn't wrangle. They were peaceful.

Speaker 4 8:24

They just kind of moved along. But in this Roman ruin there is a stone that actually says that it forbids the natives not to harm the shepherds or the animals. They passed through this to get to Apulia. This was 2,000 years ago.

Speaker 2 8:44

Right, so they were making sure that the animals and the people that were guiding them had a clear path.

Speaker 4 8:49

They were protected and there's proof. It's on this stone.

Speaker 2 8:54

Now do they still do a lot of that today?

Speaker 4 8:58

There's one family and, like I said, I'd like to do a separate podcast on that. That actually does that. But in this sapino there's the amphitheater that is still being used for concerts. And then, outside of Boyano and in the city of Boyano, the town of Boyano, my cousin Maria Teresa Mangione. She is a retired science professor and she's the one that took us on tour of Boyano and Cepino, so she was your tour guide, she was our tour guide, our free tour guide.

Speaker 2 9:34

So she still lives over there.

Speaker 4 9:36

Yes, she and her husband and her son now works for RAI TV, so they do videos and so on. So she really knows how to be a tour guide. She knows her stuff. She really does.

Speaker 2 9:54

Well, that's great. That helps you because, like you said, you don't get the option to go overseas every year like you would like, right, and you were born there and you lived there until you were a little girl and then you came over here. So things, I'm sure, have changed, even though it sounds like it tries to stay the same.

Speaker 4 10:13

Yes, and that's the great part. But in the town of Boyano, in the homes you will see On the foundation, roman inscription, oh wow, so they took some of those stones from those ancient. From those sites, yeah, from 2,000 years ago, and you can see them as part of modern.

Speaker 2 10:36

Well, I mean, they're not modern, but Right, the people that are living in the house now. They utilize them. They utilize everything that's available to them.

Speaker 4 10:44

Yes, and then another in Boyano. It's on a hillside, so if you go further up there's a little town, the Cepino, and from there the homes that were there have kind of been abandoned, but now they're going back to restoring them and you can actually stay in a bed and breakfast there.

Speaker 4 11:12

There are 60 inhabitants, that's it, that are left in this town. It is magnificent. There's a beautiful church there, and then in the church courtyard there's a thing they call Belvedere, and Belvedere means beautiful sight, so from that sight you can look down into Boyano.

Speaker 1 11:44

So, from high on the top of the hill, where this small area is 60 people you can actually look down on everything and you can look down on everything now.

Speaker 2 11:46

Um, we're gonna have to get into a trivia question right now because we're going to talk about a lot of different things. So what is our trivia question of the day? And, dominica, feel free to chime in, because jay hates when I ask him these questions, and it's an easy one what is the name of the longest river in Africa? In Africa, in Africa. The longest river in Africa.

Speaker 3 12:08

You know, I've never been to Africa.

Speaker 2 12:10

Well, I haven't been there either.

Speaker 3 12:12

But we should know.

Speaker 2 12:13

But Dominica, I think, has.

Speaker 3 12:16

Is this like the longest river in the world? No, it's the longest river in Africa In. Africa. Okay, dominica, it's the longest river in Africa.

Speaker 4 12:23

In Africa. Okay, dominica, I've been to Tanzania, but I cannot recall the name of the river.

Speaker 3 12:31

Well, I'm going to go with the Nile.

Speaker 2 12:35

And Jay, you'd be right. Wow, yeah, it was kind of a trick question. Everybody thinks the Nile Egypt, but they don't realize Egypt is in the continent of.

Speaker 3 12:43

Africa.

Speaker 2 12:44

So, yes, it is the Nile, egypt, but they don't realize Egypt is in the continent of Africa. Yeah, so, yes, it is the Nile. So you did get it. Woo-hoo, Woo-hoo, whoa, wow, wow. So you got it. Today, jay, we got to give you a gold star. Well, now we got to get back to Dominica.

Speaker 3 12:59

Let's get back to Italy.

Speaker 2 13:00

She's talking about all these different beautiful places to go to. And now we're in Boiano. Yes, and you're talking about some of the smaller areas in and around Boiano, but you say that Boiano is unique and it has some great food and got some places to stay. Let's talk about the food.

Speaker 4 13:20

Well, one of the things Maria Teresa took us into the one restaurant and you would think that you were in the middle of I don't know Rome, and in fact I was in Rome. I did not get the same kind of food that we got in that restaurant. It was magnificent, the appetizers so unique, presentation, beautiful.

Speaker 2 13:42

Okay, don't sit and just say appetizers. You got to tell us what you had.

Italian Cuisine and Travel Tips

Speaker 4 13:48

I know you were going to go into the, but it was. It had to be like a fresh ricotta cheese with fig jam on top and some different nuts, and then all of the vinegars, you know, decorating the plate. And then we were given a menu for the different, for the full course, for the main course.

Speaker 2 14:20

Okay, so I'm assuming that all of this appetizer is completely fresh, made locally in the area or the region, along with the figs yes, the nuts too as well, yes, wow.

Speaker 4 14:32

Okay, because hazelnuts.

Speaker 2 14:34

Jay is drooling.

Speaker 4 14:34

Jay is drooling the hazelnuts are a native and that's where our. And what type of nuts were these Hazelnuts? Oh, I love hazelnuts. And what is? Oh, now, I can't remember the name of the spread.

Speaker 2 14:48

Nutella, Nutella. Who's using the hazelnuts? Yes, oh yeah.

Speaker 4 14:51

So all of that is, and then all of us order something different for a.

Speaker 2 14:56

Well, that's always fun when you go with people and you're traveling. Everybody should order something different, so you can kind of all share in taste, don't?

Speaker 1 15:02

you think?

Speaker 2 15:03

Yes, absolutely. I think that's the fun part.

Speaker 4 15:09

So you all got a menu, and now let's talk about what you had to eat and again it was all you know different pastas, the meats I mean. It was all beautifully presented.

Speaker 2 15:22

Now you say beautifully presented. But let's talk about the meats a little bit, because the meat overseas is a little bit different from the meat here in the United States. So did you have pork?

Speaker 4 15:29

Did you have beef? Well, one of the big things there is veal Veal, so you get more veal than you would. Beef, right, Lamb. I love lamb.

Speaker 1 15:41

I'm a big lamb person.

Speaker 2 15:42

Different lamb, dishes different pork, and is this because this is what they grow? They actually have them. They grow pork.

Speaker 1 15:49

They grow these pigs?

Speaker 2 15:50

Yes, and that's because it's here in that area. Yes, so you're basically eating fresh off the hoof, as I like to call it.

Speaker 4 15:58

Yes, so you had veal, you had lamb, yes, and then they make a sauce with pork, and then they have cavatelli with that. What's that? And cavatelli is another homemade pasta that you shape into a rope.

Speaker 4 16:18

The pasta itself it's flour, eggs and some ricotta cheese in there to make it light, and mashed potatoes oh, they push potatoes in this oh, inside tip, inside tip so then you uh shape it into a long rope, and then you cut it into one inch pieces, and then you take your fingers and you carve them, and that's the name cavatelli Cavatelli.

Speaker 2 16:46

Wow, yes, that you carve. It Totally different from what we see in the grocery stores.

Speaker 4 16:51

Yes, and totally different than gnocchi.

Speaker 2 16:55

Gnocchi is a whole different.

Speaker 4 16:57

It's almost like a what?

Speaker 3 16:59

is it Gnocchi? And?

Speaker 4 17:01

a lot of people think that gnocchi and cavatelli are interchangeable, but they're not.

Speaker 2 17:06

Yeah, that's almost like a dumpling, like a little tiny dumpling.

Speaker 3 17:10

I don't even know what we're talking about.

Speaker 2 17:12

Yes, you do, because I ordered that from the Olive Garden here. The chicken gnocchi soup yeah, not the same.

Speaker 3 17:18

Soup, yeah, but is this a? It's not a meat.

Speaker 2 17:22

No, it's a pasta.

Speaker 4 17:23

It's a pasta, it's a pasta.

Speaker 3 17:25

I get so confused on pastas.

Speaker 4 17:27

It's a pasta, and so this usually when you have cavatelli, then you have the sausage or the pork that makes it into the sauce, and I'm assuming they make their own sausages over there too. Yes, oh, my goodness, yes, yes, yeah.

Speaker 2 17:42

I mean a lot of people don't realize how fresh everything is overseas when they go there. You know people go there and say things taste different. That's because it's fresh.

Speaker 3 17:52

No preservatives added, right? No, you know.

Speaker 2 17:55

The thing is I'm always wondering how do these people actually do it? Can you imagine? I can't imagine making fresh pasta every day. That's kind of tedious.

Speaker 3 18:04

I bet Domenica can.

Speaker 4 18:06

Well, you know, and it's interesting that Cavatelli, when I was in college and I'm a home economics major, and so one of the things that we had to do a demonstration, and I did a Cavatelli demonstration, and you know, I mean I'm 18 years old and doing this and the teacher is in her.

Speaker 3 18:28

I don't know, she's real old.

Speaker 4 18:29

It's really old at the time and she's looking at me as I'm making the cavatelli and then I go to carve one, and then they flew off the table and onto the floor and the other the other students were going. Oh no, what? No, what's going to happen. And I said, well, you know, you'll have that, you know, you just have that. And she just thought that was hysterical. And she goes that's just what Julia Child would say and, needless to say, I got an A on the class Because you still pulled through. You still did it Thanks to the cavatelli from Italy, from Molise, italy, that my grandmom taught me.

Speaker 2 19:05

I was going to say did your mother or your grandmother teach you how to make it okay?

Speaker 3 19:09

okay, boys and girls, I'm stepping out of the stage, uh studio, from being the concierge of podcast travel and what are you gonna be the food taster? No, I'm gonna ask my wife when are we making this?

Speaker 4 19:21

I knew this was coming next, yeah.

Speaker 2 19:26

I mean, it's a lot of work. You know, I watch shows where they're making fresh pasta and things to that nature and it's. You know, it's amazing to see that they do this on a daily basis.

Speaker 4 19:40

Well, you know, if you go to Molise or at Bruto, you know, one of the things that can be included if you find a tour group is they will take you into the farmhouses, right, and you will make the pasta with the ladies.

Speaker 2 19:55

Oh, they will teach you how to do this I'll have to watch because I don't like to cook. But you know, speaking of not liking to cook, I also don't like to fly, and I do have a travel tip.

Speaker 3 20:06

Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 20:09

Now, as you know, I'm not a big fan of flying, but I do fly because it's the way you need to get to places.

Speaker 3 20:14

Well, in a couple of episodes ago, you were talking about tips in an airline.

Speaker 2 20:18

Yes, you know. So I know there's a lot of nervous flyers out there, so here's what you need to do. So I know there's a lot of nervous flyers out there, so here's what you need to do One of the things to keep your mind off of things is to keep your mind preoccupied.

Speaker 2 20:30

during a long flight it is a little difficult, but you focus on a specific task Work, even though you're going on vacation. Maybe work or reading a book. Listen to music with noise-canceling headphones, because a lot of the ambient sounds that are going around the plane kind of set you off too All those little pings that we had talked about in another podcast. So even a minor distraction can help calm your nerves. And what I like to do if someone's willing to chat with me on a trip and you know, sometimes you know people that like to chat chatting will also help keep your mind off of it and that will help calm your nerves now domenica went on this flight to italy last year.

Speaker 3 21:13

Right? What did she keep her mind focused on?

Speaker 2 21:18

well what'd you do throw?

Speaker 4 21:21

Well, I believe that a very good friend at that time gave me the noise-canceling headsets. Oh nice. He was a friend. He was a friend at that time. He was a friend at that time.

Speaker 3 21:34

And then what happened? You married the bomb.

Speaker 4 21:39

You know, because of the headphones, and he drove me to Miami. I mean, what else can I say? Who could be that nice?

Speaker 2 21:46

That's right. I remember when you drove her to.

Speaker 3 21:48

Miami. I remember that, yeah, I'm driving her crazy, do you like to fly to Munich?

Speaker 2 21:53

Is that something you love to do? Or do you like to say well, I get on it, because that's the way I got to get there?

Speaker 4 21:58

I get on it because that's the only way to get there. Get there. I get on it because that's the only way to get there. I mean you know you can go by ship, but then that takes a week, which is, you know, which may not be bad If you don't like to fly then take one of those cruise ships on our repositioning Right.

Speaker 2 22:13

but then you have to reposition back.

Speaker 4 22:16

Yes, but then you have to fly.

Speaker 2 22:18

you know one way or another, so so, as people can hear, a lot of people do not like to fly. It's not an uncommon feature, so just remember, keep your mind preoccupied. Read a book, talk to the person next to you, listen to music.

Speaker 3 22:34

All right, let's get back to Italy. What do you say? I?

Speaker 2 22:37

want to get back to Italy because we were talking about food before we went to the travel tip. To get back to Italy because we were talking about food before we went to the travel tip. We were talking about how we heard about all the pasta and the meats is veal and lamb and the sausages and it's all kind of locally grown, which makes it nice and fresh.

Speaker 3 22:53

Is the pasta locally grown as well?

Speaker 4 22:56

Well, the durum wheat is locally grown that the pasta is made from.

Speaker 3 23:02

But, pasta doesn't grow on a there was a april fool's joke many years ago on pbs where they they showed a segment on growing pasta oh, with actual sticks yeah yeah, yeah, yeah I thought you were being serious and again I'm trying to be.

Italian Cuisine and Travel Exploration

Speaker 2 23:23

I don't know how people can do that. I mean, I don't even like to make myself a cheese sandwich when I see these people doing, oh, they make their own sausage, they make their own cheeses, they make this, they make that, and it's like that's a lot of work. Yeah, but you went to this restaurant that your cousin, your tour guide, brought you to. Yes, your tour guide brought you two.

Speaker 4 23:41

Yes, and do you remember what dish you had? I have to say it had to be the cavatelli.

Speaker 2 23:48

Okay, so you had them. I'm going to call it the macaroni or the pasta.

Speaker 3 23:52

Thank you for Americanizing that for me, so I knew what we're talking about.

Speaker 2 23:57

And then did you have the lamb or veal, or did you have both?

Speaker 4 24:00

Or you had the sausage that came with the pork. A piece of pork or the sausage.

Speaker 2 24:06

The pork, the pork, the pork. Oh, that came with the pork. Now did you guys kind of taste each other's dishes?

Speaker 4 24:13

Yeah, we usually do.

Speaker 2 24:15

We do. So what was the other dish that you kind of liked?

Speaker 4 24:19

Well, the other dish was the, the, the lamb, and melody always orders lamb because she loves lamb.

Speaker 3 24:27

I'm right with her do you think we should get melody on here?

Speaker 2 24:30

we should about italy she's your uh traveling companion your partner in crime.

Speaker 4 24:34

One of them, yes, and beth is the other.

Speaker 2 24:37

Yeah, oh yeah we can get the girls on that would would be fun yeah. You might get left in the dust, Jason.

Speaker 4 24:42

I would love to be left in the dust you know, and then the other one that came on this trip to Italy was Josie. Oh yeah, your cousin yes my cousin yes, and she's from Minnesota, so did she live in Italy, she did. Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 24:58

She was also born over there, yes, but the other cousin that tour guided you around, she still lives there. She does yes. Now, do you happen to remember the name of the restaurant?

Speaker 4 25:07

I do not. Oh, I do not, but I probably have a picture of it.

Speaker 2 25:11

Okay, we've got to get it then.

Speaker 4 25:12

Probably has it yeah.

Speaker 2 25:14

More pictures.

Speaker 3 25:15

More pictures, more pictures.

Speaker 2 25:17

Now, it sounds like you were in farming regions. Sounds like you were in farming regions, yes, so is this like a farming region? The?

Speaker 4 25:23

Bayano. Well, all of Molise is farming, it is vineyards, it is raising cattle, pigs, goats, sheep.

Speaker 2 25:42

So it's more off the beaten path, it's not like a major city. No, there are no major cities, so that makes it kind of nice, yeah. And then you said a lot of vineyards are in that area as well. And you kind of I remember on the other show you said you kind of just asked for I don't want to say the house wine, but basically that wine of the region, yes, the local wine, the local wine.

Speaker 4 26:02

So you, I want to say the house wine, but basically that wine of the region, yes, the local wine, the local wine. And the other thing that Molise is known for is the olive oil.

Speaker 2 26:08

Now I got to ask this because every time I see when people are going to Italy, into certain places where they raise or grow the olives and the oil, they have oil tastings. Yes, we did that.

Speaker 4 26:20

You did that.

Speaker 3 26:21

I don't know if I could do that yeah, it's got to take some more oil, isn't it?

Speaker 4 26:26

oh no because, this is good olive oil, right, it's fresh, yes but I, I just don't see oil as being I mean they don't give you a big glass of it, you're not chugging it you. You get a small little glass and then they teach you how to taste it just like wine.

Speaker 4 26:41

yes, so you put it in your mouth and then you inhale just like wine, yeah, well, you don't necessarily even have to swallow, you just you know, you just put it in your mouth and they have like different types of olive oil. And we went to a, a place where they actually make it, and I mean it's a— Did you bring back a bottle Mass production? Well, it was one of those things that we all wanted the same— Bottle.

Speaker 1 27:11

The same bottle.

Speaker 4 27:13

And this time Beth, because Beth is the one that really was into wanting to see how olive oil was made and the whole production, she won. So she got to take how olive oil was made and the whole production. She won, so she got to take the olive oil and I got to take the cheese.

Speaker 2 27:29

Oh wow, she got the cheese the last time in the olive oil. Yes, Unbelievable. And I know, you know, I used to have an olive tree in California and my ex-husband's aunt ran off with all my olives. And it's like oh my God, she ran off with all my olives. I said you're going to give me some of it.

Speaker 3 27:46

Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 2 27:47

But yeah, but over there it's all fresh. And again, you know, time is flying so fast, learning about all these different places in Italy. Dominica, I would love to have you come back next month again. Can you come back? I would love to Fab come back. I would love to Fabulous. Well, thank you again for sharing the region of Molise and the area of Boiano. Did I say?

Speaker 4 28:05

that right? Yes.

Speaker 2 28:07

And all the things that you can do, and we've got still more to come, so thank you very much for joining us today, and if you can't remember Boiano, you can say Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi. I'm sure Bon Jovi would like that that's what Melody nicknamed it.

Speaker 3 28:23

Oh yeah.

Speaker 2 28:24

Well, good for her.

Speaker 3 28:25

Maybe we can get a hold of Melody for next month.

Speaker 2 28:27

Yeah, next month maybe we can have the girls in or over the phone or whatever. Yeah, yeah, that would be great. We can get them all on the mic at once. That might be a little difficult for you, jay, because you've got to control four or five girls chatting.

Speaker 3 28:39

Well, I could, I would try.

Speaker 2 28:42

As a concierge of travel.

Speaker 3 28:44

Yes, yes.

Speaker 2 28:45

Well, again, thanks, dominica, for joining us today. There is so much traveling to do and so little time to do it in Tune in every week for more travel info and insights and just plain old fun. And if you want to hear more about Dominica's trips, once a month, I'm going to have Dominica in here, so please follow me and like me on Facebook. Do you have a favorite location, an interesting travel tip perhaps? Or let me know, just send it to my Gmail.

Speaker 3 29:12

ZMichelson at gmailcom. How do you spell?

Exploring Cultures Through Traveling

Speaker 2 29:13

Z, z is so easy Z-E-E. I'm very excited to let you know about my podcast. They can be heard on all your favorite podcast players. Feel free to give me a review. I'd love to hear what you have to say. Thanks for listening today. Traveling truly opens up the world to you. You learn all about the different cultures, the lifestyles and, of course, as we're hearing, lots of food. We love food. Then you really truly realize that we are the same. So dream, dream big, reach for those stars and if you only get to the moon, at least you made the trip. If you're looking for great places to travel to, feel free to visit my website, zmichelsontravelcom. And don't forget Z is spelt Z-E-E. This is Z Michelson, making your travel dreams come true. Music, music.