The Giro d'Italia began on May 4! If you're new here, and never heard of the Giro d'Italia, it's a bicycling road-race through Italy, and the first of the "big three" cycling races of the year: Giro, Tour de France, and Vuelta España. ​

Unlike the Tour de France, however, the Giro is not broadcast on television networks here in the States. If I'm going to cook regional meals for this race, I like to get a sense of the towns and culture and hear interesting anecdotes.

I was lucky enough to travel to Italy on my honeymoon and have that knowledge in my soul now. This year’s tour will go to one area I visited: Perugia, as well as glance by the hometown where my Italian lineage is from: Sarno. ​

To watch daily coverage of the racing action, beautiful scenes of Italy, and other stuff like when the ride was almost brought to a gruesome standstill by a wandering dog on the street, or a stage that canceled a miles-leading peloton because a train came through and closed gates across the road, you'll need Max…not to be confused with a streaming service for Cinemax…this is the name the advertising geniuses at HBO came up with. It’s $9.99/month. I later learned that you can also stream on Discovery+ as well. While the same price as Max, they also have a $5.99/month option with commercials.