Are those beans or pajata?

Our last dinner in Europe was at a small trattoria that specializes in local dishes. We had been talking for days about a dish we imagined was a figment of Tom's fertile imagination; a pasta dish called pajata. When Mr. Bittante asked the server if she had ever heard of pajata, she described it and then, as a joke on us, changed Mr. Bittante's, Ms. Calendino's and Mr. Risi's dinners to pajata. So, I imagine you are wondering what exactly this is. When a suckling veal calf is butchered, they remove the intestine and cook it with the contents intact. The milk cooks like a soft sweet ricotta cheese forming the basis of the pasta sauce. Hmmm . . . When the three plates arrived, Ms. Calendino thought it was regular penne with a few beans but NO! Tom, Mr. Bittante, Erick and Brendan shared these 'wonderful' dishes while the rest of us had a quick taste - it's not quite as bad as liver! If you hear us say "It's better than a plate of pajata." you will know what we mean.

Danilo drove us back to our hotel and we bit him a fond farewell. He made our visit to Italy much easier and we were very thankful for his help!

We have just finished room checks and most people have finished packing for tomorrow. We will leave the hotel around 9:30 giving us plenty of time for our 1:30 flight.