A Sandwich Saved My Day in Tuscany

A Sandwich Saved My Day in Tuscany

Well, hello everybody. It’s a beautiful day here in Tuskanyany in Italy. We’re in a place called Porto Sando Stephano, I think it’s called. And uh we’re just going to do a quick walking tour today. Um it’s a cute little town. Not much to see here, but I think we’re just arriving to maybe get a panino or pizza or something like that. So, we’ll uh check out this place. It’s very cute. And uh we are actually visiting on our cruise today. So you’ll see a lot of cruise people running around. Um looking like tourists as we always do. Um maybe we can catch some locals and say hello. But uh we’ll start our adventure. It’s times like this I wish I spoke Italian. I mispronunciate the words. But I think somehow the message comes across. Pretty aggressive drivers. It’s like grrenitas. And now we head down into these back alleys. Oops. Not quite so soon. Ralph is doing the navigation today. And here we have a local gas station. It’s that what is that? A cow with the like six legs. You see this everywhere in Italy. Although if you ever rent a car and drive around and come to these gas stations, you absolutely cannot figure out how the pumps work. You would think would be pretty straightforward, but it’s an absolute nightmare. I usually have to ask someone to help me. But today, we’re just walking. So, the only fuel we need, the only gas I need is a good uh panino. Not panini. Panini means multiple sandwiches. Panino is one, right? See, I’m learning more about the language as we come along. It’s right there. The smell is incredible in here. Our number is C80. How do you say 80 in Italian? They don’t have like a a light thing. Um, panini. See panini? Uh, which one? This. I did it. I ordered an Italian. See? contact. 30 see. So I think I think we did pretty good for ourselves. You want to sit here? There’s benches right here or waterfront. It’s going to get really hot. So try to find some shade. Okay. Yeah, we got through that. Okay. And uh it seemed to be only locals there. So, that’s always a really good sign. Oh, look, a whole sandwich place. That always happens. You know, you you look for something and then you you find it and then two stores down you’ll find something that’s already made or better. But anyway, these are going to be really good cuz they’re made with love. Here, we can sit here. There’s some benches over here. Anyway, these are the crazy gas pumps. Um, I just they’re just there’s no rhyme or reason and I promise you you can be completely technically astute and you won’t be able to figure out how to put gas in your car. But, uh, that’s okay. That’s part of the joy of travel is trying new things, learning new things, crossing streets with crazy drivers. All right. Looking both ways. The Vespa. The Vesa Patrol. Is it good? Okay, let’s check out this sandwich. I think that’s more. Let’s see. I’ll try a bite of this one. That’s good. That looks just delicious. It’s so thinly sliced. Mortadella. It’s so good. So, I learned um if you just order ham in Italy, pushut is ham. Um I don’t like pushut. I like cooked ham. So, they call it pushutto cotto. Just basically I mean hot or cooked. Anyway, so so if you want ham, like a ham sandwich, you got to order cotto. And it’s just amazing. As Ralph said, it’s so thinly sliced. M. And the view is amazing. Of course, you have this incredible marina. There we just switched sandwiches. Let me see what Ralph is like. One’s mortadella, one is cotton. I think the martella is better. Lessons learned, folks. Stick with the marchella. Okay, sandwich mission is accomplished. We also had um Thank you. We also had those little slices of pizza. I actually had the camera off when we ate them and they were okay, but the the sandwiches were really really the star of the show. So, now we’re just walking around some of the streets of this cute little town. I think we’re going to try to find a supermarket and pick up some local goodies, which we always like to do. Some snacks, maybe some local coffee, learn some more Italian, and uh try our best not to put on extra weight. That’s always the challenge. So, supermarket. Supermarket. Let’s see. I think my map is wrong, but it’s getting the shape. You know, words to the wise, when you’re traveling around like this, you have your choice. If you’re on an iPhone, you have Apple Maps, you have Google Maps. I’d say 80% of the time I get messed up when using Apple Maps. So, definitely always stick with Google. Um, Google Maps has never failed me. Apple Maps has gotten me into trouble. So, I’m going to have to come to the shade here. Reset. I think Ralph’s looking this up as well. All right. Here. What do you have for Express? Okay. What’s the What’s the distance? It’ll show. Let’s do it. Let’s wait. We walk one way and the map resets itself. I think I think we got it this time, though. We’ll see. We’ll see. That’s another problem, too. Um, if you’ve never been to Europe before, especially Italy, especially France, um, a lot of things are not open all the time. They do tend to close for a very extended lunch. Usually 1 to 4 or 1:30 to 5. So, it’s always a good idea to kind of check. Another good thing with Google Maps, I feel like I’m sponsoring them here, is um, they’ll tell you the hours of operation in most cases. And uh it’s it’s pretty accurate. Sometimes a business will close down for good. Um and that’ll be updated. So that will happen a lot. And uh especially sometimes these small towns you have some businesses they um they open for a couple years. CO killed a lot of business. So a lot of places you might have been accustomed to might be closed or out of business. But we always try to find out where the where the crowds are going. That’s always a good indication of something being good. This place is very hilly. I as much as we like to we like to hike in a lot of places we go, but when it’s really hot, like Europe summer hot, it’s kind of hard to climb these hills and stay dry. There we found it. Now the question is, will it be open? Oh, that little old lady went inside. That’s very promising. And try to Oh, here we go. Perfect. Yay. Good. Those are good. How many do you want? Okay. Ooh, cookies. Okay. We’re here for coffee. local coffee. Oh, look at the cookies though. Good oldfashioned Oreos. Oh, here we go. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. That’s a good price. Uh €8.90. I pay $14 for that in the US. You know what we’ll do? We’re going to try one of these. cuz that’s what we’re used to. I think this might be good. Kimbo Cafe D Napoli. If it’s good enough for Napoli, it’s good enough for us. I found them way back here. Let’s see. We got Fonzies. What is that? Lime and red pepper. Fonzy’s original. You know what? I’m going to try a little one. See what Fonzi’s all about. Look, you got a chef here. Oh, I’ll just stick with the Fonzies. You want to try these? They’re like homemade. We’ll try that in the fonies. What we can do is rather than eat them all, we sample a few and then give some to our staff friends on board. And look at this. They have Pringles knockoffs here. Snack friends. Look, April spritz in a bottle. Okay, I think that might be it. got. Okay, so one more one more mission accomplished. Got our stuff. Now we’re continuing our little walking tour of this cute little village. Very Italian-y. Not much to see scenic-wise or attractions, but it gives you a little sample of the the local life here. Laundry outside. So there you have it. That completes our very short stay in this cute little town. We are fed. We have our provisions. Now we take a nap, get ready for cocktail hour, and then it starts all over again. So thanks for joining this episode. Come visit. Come uh patronize the town. Leave some of your well spent tourist dollars here and I’m sure they will appreciate it. And we’ll see you next time.

Welcome to Porto Santo Stefano, a charming seaside town tucked into the Tuscan coast — and the unexpected setting for one of the best paninis I’ve ever had.

In this video, I set off on a walking tour with no plan other than to explore. What I found was far better than I imagined: a legendary local bakery serving up fresh paninis with mortadella, ham, and cheese on warm, house-baked bread.

But this wouldn’t be real travel without a few detours. After taking a few wrong turns, I stumbled into a local supermarket where I stocked up on snack foods, Tuscan coffee, and Italian potato chips — the kinds of small, everyday finds that make travel feel real.

From waterfront views to quiet backstreets, this is a glimpse into a town where tourists rarely stray far from the marina — but just a short walk away is where the real flavor lives.

No filters. No big production. Just a sandwich, some sunshine, and the joy of discovering something real.

Takeaways

The charm of Porto Santo Stefano is in its simplicity.
Language barriers can be overcome with a smile.
Local food is often the best way to experience a culture.
Navigating gas stations in Italy can be a challenge.
Finding local eateries is key to a great meal.
Google Maps is more reliable than Apple Maps in Italy.
Crowds can indicate the best places to eat.
Traveling in Italy requires patience and flexibility.
Supporting local businesses enriches the travel experience.
Every small town has its unique charm and offerings.

🍞 In This Video:
• Porto Santo Stefano walking tour
• Bakery stop for fresh paninis
• Mortadella, prosciutto, and cheese on Tuscan bread
• Exploring a local supermarket
• Discovering regional snacks, coffee, and chips
• Wandering into side streets and quiet corners

📍 Filmed in: Porto Santo Stefano, Tuscany, Italy
🌊 Region: Monte Argentario / Maremma Coast
🧭 Keywords: Tuscan food, Italian markets, seaside towns, walking tour Italy, off the beaten path

Chapters
00:00 Exploring Porto Santo Stefano
02:04 Culinary Adventures in Italy
04:09 Navigating Local Markets
06:26 Experiencing Local Life
08:49 Wrapping Up the Journey

💬 I’ve traveled to over 85 countries, and sometimes it’s the simple things — like a warm sandwich in a small town — that become the most memorable.

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