On Thursday, March 20th, 2025 my wife and I jetted into Rome to begin our 2 week vacation. After 3 days in Rome we took the fabulous Bullet Train to Florence early on Sunday morning. The elegant Hotel Berchielli on the River Arno would be home base for the next 4 days. We slotted in day tours to Cinque Terre and Tuscany with our limo tour driver Martin also our friend. We enjoyed excellent dinners at a number of restaurants including a very good pizzeria recommended by Martin. In fact every time Martin has driven us to places he has never failed to suggest a great lunch spot. NEXT STOP ! After a wonderful time in Florence we engaged the services of our friend Martin to drive us to Salerno . . a 5 hour trip.
After a delicious early morning buffet breakfast at our hotel we met up with Martin at 9am for the long drive. After loading our luggage in rear of the black Mercedes we hit the road. Some interesting scenery along the way but nothing we needed to stop for. I asked Martin if we could stop for lunch around 1pm and Martin replied . . I know a place and you’ll like it. OMG ! When Martin pulled into the huge parking lot of this gas station I got very worried about what the standard of the food would be. In the USA we’ve learnt to avoid buying fast food at gas stations and roadside diners not to mention the rubbish served inside Roadhouses ( petrol stations beside the highways ) back in Australia.
SURPRISE SURPRISE ! One inside we could see that this was more a giant food court than a gas station. And we weren’t the only ones here for a good feed . . the place was packed out. FOOD & DRINK OPTIONS EVERYWHERE ! Of course Martin knew the ropes . . pick out what we wanted, go to the cashier desk to pay for it and then pick up our order. We hardly knew where to start . . . multiple counters serving baked goods, pastries, cooked meats, espresso and more. I picked out a big slice of Focaccia while my wife selected an enormous Baguette Sandwich with speck, cheese & arugula. After Martin had ordered his meal we paid at the cashier desk and then headed back to pick up our lunch orders.
TOO EASY ! After we seated ourselves at a table in the huge community indoor dining area Martin showed up with his lunch order . . a huge juicy pink Pork Shank and a side of Roasted Potatoes. We were jealous just looking at it. Martin did share a bit of his Pork Shank with us and a couple of little roasted potatoes. TOO DELICIOUS FOR WORDS ! My wife returned to eating her huge baguette sandwich and I chomped away on my warmed up tasty focaccia. DESSERT ! It had been long time since breakfast that morning . . we needed strong cappuccinos and how about a couple of chocolate croissants. When we first came in I saw they had an ESPRESSO BAR with a high end espresso machine and serving illy !
SAME DEAL ! We selected 2 Chocolate Croissants at one counter and then ordered 2 double shot cappuccinos at the espresso bar. I watched the 2 baristas at work as they expertly made our cappuccinos. After paying at the cashier desk we came back to pick up our stuff. LOVED IT ! Our rich creamy cappuccinos knocked it clean outa the ball park and the chocolate croissants were pretty darn good too. Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected a gas station to serve me a delicious cappuccino let alone everything else we saw here. We had to hand it to our friend & limo driver Martin . . he knows all the great dining spots. FEELING HUNGRY . . STOP RIGHT HERE !
