Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Snack Bar Tavola Calda da Fabio & Letizia

Anzio, Italy

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

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Ever since we lived in Santa Cruz, California, sometimes Billy gets a hankering for deep fried Calamari. Today was one of those days.

We're on the coast and it's our 3rd day in Italy, in a town called Anzio known for its seafood. We thought we'd have a 100% chance of finding this crunchy dish... but we got a good story out of it instead.

Chalk board menu outside the restaurant

Here is an outside menu hand-written with the restaurant's offerings. Generally, these are made up daily and it was still early, so we figured they had everything being presented on the board.

Clearly marked items #9 and #11 are Calamari, one is fried and one is with pasta.

SUPER!

So we go inside this lovely indoor/outdoor eatery.

Our view

Passing by a young man eating a seafood salad with lots of vegetables and lettuce, I instantly made up my mind that this would be my choice.

We walked to a beachside table and sat down.

So we could both see the sea, we sat side-by-side at this 4-top.

Apparently that was a no-no.

Akaisha enjoying her seaside seat

Pretty much instantly the waitress came over and told Billy to sit across from me with his back to the lovely view.

The restaurant was nearly empty at the time and his sitting with his back to the view seemed silly to both of us...

I began looking at the boarded floor, wondering if our weight needed to be balanced somehow or the boards would buckle or fall to the sand below.

Silly.

I couldn't figure it out.

But wanting no trouble, we looked at the menu and ordered our meals.

I asked for the seafood salad and Billy wanted his coveted fried calamari.

"No." the waitress said.

"No?" Billy responded.

"Non abbiamo più calamari" (We don't have any more calamari) she claimed.

Ok... so... being seasoned travelers, Billy politely changed his order and asked for pasta with clams.

Fresh pasta, fresh clams

After a little while, a paper bag of sliced bread was brought to our table.

Then our orders followed.

Here is Billy's delicious and simple pasta with clams, served with parsley and virgin olive oil.

Seafood salad

I received my seafood salad, minus the lettuce and beautiful vegetables that I had seen on the young man's dish.

Ok.

No worries.

My plate was FILLED with hearty protein seafood - shrimp, octopus, mussels and... calamari!

I'm confused, but hey, I have a great view of the sea (Billy doesn't) and our seafood is fresh and delicious.

Then we turn to the people sitting next to us and they are eating deep fried, tempura-styled seafood which included... calamari!

We don't know whether to laugh or cry.

We chose laughing and shook it off.

Then we received our bill.

Our bill for two

Well, once again we were confused.

As you can see, there are 2 items hand written on this piece of paper and the number "30.00"

How did we get to $30Euros?

Billy's change of order was $13E and mine was $8.50E. Our water was $2E which would have come to $24E before tip.

Not that it mattered, but I wanted the bill explained to me please so I could understand what happened and how we got to $30Euros so quickly with two entrees and some water.

I go to the cash register and using Google Translate, I asked very politely if he could please explain our bill to me.

"Certo nessun problema." the manager said.

Well, Billy's pasta was $15E (not $13), and my salad - even minus the lettuce and vegetables - was $9.50E not $8.50.

Then... the water was $2Euros and we were charged a cover charge of $1E per person (in lieu of tipping) and...

Voila!

The bill magically comes to $28.50E and the manager simply rounded it up for us to $30E.

Oh.

I see.

Thank you.

I got it now...

Billy and I are simply muffling giggles because the whole thing seems ludicrous and we felt as though we are in some Dr. Seuss alternate universe where this all is supposed to make sense!

Hey, welcome to Italy! 

Would we recommend Snack bar Tavola?

Sure! Why not?

__________

Snack Bar Tavola Calda da Fabio & Letizia

Dine-in · Takeaway

Riviera Vittorio Mallozzi, 9, 00042 Anzio RM, Italy

Hours: open daily 8am- 8pm

Phone: +39 328 893 5256

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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