I almost hate to ask, but did anyone see the Sicily episode? I thought the places he visited were interesting, if his banter was maybe not. The last part with the Sicilian filmmaker was kind of charming, and it was nice to hear from a Sicilian one take on what it means to be a Sicilian. For those who didn't see it, Anthony visited a caper farm and ate, visited a salt flat (farm? what do we call this?) and ate, rode around on a moped on a couple of islands off sicily (Pantelleria and another one that I don't remember), jumped off a cliff, visited Mt. Etna and went squid fishing.

As much as I hate to bump this thread, I thought I'd mention two things:

The sicily episode was quite good, in my opinion. It certainly made me want to go more than any of the other shows have so far. Except maybe Paris.

And, they're currently filming season 2 and planning season 3, so there will be a lot more fuel for these particular fires soon.

gleam wrote:The sicily episode was quite good, in my opinion. It certainly made me want to go more than any of the other shows have so far. Except maybe Paris.

I really enjoyed the Sicilian episode as well. He exhibited a reverence for the location and the people much more than he did in any other episode.

Do you remember the name for the offal that they ate that was served on the street from a basket beneath a blanket? For the life of me, I can't remember what that was.

Best,
Michael

Wasn't that the spleen sandwich?

It's funny, I also watched the Vegas one, where he mentions, in the ersatz Venetian streetscape, that in the real place there'd be a guy selling spleen sandwiches. Then he gets to Sicily (no doubt actually shot first) and, he wasn't kidding!

No, this was after the spleen sandwich. After they wandered around the market for a bit, they bought some type of offal stew from a guy selling it out of a cloth-lined basket.

I can't remember what it was called, either, and I've deleted the episode...

Recent eps have been better than the first few, with a nice balance of the gor of food vs "Let's Torture Tony"

The Vegas ep had a nice "Fear and Loathing" homage, although I could have skipped the paintball (the poker game was more fun in the LTT department).

The I-forget-which-astan had some great looking food, some awesome markets and beautiful architecture. Torture included a rather prison-like spa sequence.

New Zealand had great seafood, but no lamb? The ATV accident was a bit too reminiscent of a similar injury-free flip my son did this summer.

After watching the Sicilian episode I doubt I will ever have another caper without thinking of those older gentlemen hand-picking the berries - backs parallel to the ground. My back hurt just watching them.

JoelF wrote:The I-forget-which-astan had some great looking food, some awesome markets and beautiful architecture. Torture included a rather prison-like spa sequence.

Uzbekistan - and maybe it's just me, but that massage looked so good.