Hoops & Crumbs with the Browns
Hoops & Crumbs with the Browns" is a one-of-a-kind podcast that brings together a 40 something-year-old mom and her 15-year-old son for authentic conversations about life, culture, and connection. Set in the warmth of their home, they dive into topics like today’s hip hop scene, the highs and lows of basketball, and what it’s really like to be a teenager growing up in today’s fast-paced world—all while eating homemade cookies.
Hoops & Crumbs with the Browns
Episode 10: Dunking Through Italy - Our Post-Vacation Carb Confessions
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Ten episodes in and 250 downloads spread across eight countries later, we're celebrating with blueberry cornbread and reflections on our Italian adventure! Taking you with us through the cobblestone streets of Rome, Florence, and Venice, we unpack what surprised us most about Esteban's first European journey.
From duck pasta to eggplant parmesan, we dive into our favorite meals and special moments - like finding shelter from rain in a cozy Florentine café, savoring cappuccinos and citrus cake while watching the world go by. Perhaps most meaningful were the unhurried family moments between destinations, reminding us that sometimes the best travel souvenirs are the connections strengthened along the way.
Having transformed Esteban from reluctant traveller to world explorer with 17 countries under his belts in just four years, he's already dreaming about his next adventure.
Where should we go next? Drop your suggestions in our Instagram DMs @HoopsandCrumbs
Have a question for us to ask each other? We’d love to hear it!
Follow us on Instagram @hoopsandcrumbs and share your thoughts! We are always looking for questions to ask each other on the #doubledouble
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Celebrating Ten Episodes Milestone
Speaker 2Welcome to Hoops and Crumbs with the Browns , the podcast where life lessons are baked in like chocolate chips .
Speaker 1I'm Esteban Brown and I'm Maria Brown Together , we're talking basketball , life and everything in between . Whether we're dunking on the court or in the milk , there's always something cooking .
Speaker 2So grab a snack and tune in . So before we talk about our crumbs , we need to celebrate our 10th podcast episode .
Speaker 1This has been such a fun journey so far . We are 10 episodes in almost 250 downloads so far and listened to in eight countries canada , us , italy , uk , mexico , india , panama and japan . You deserve a slice of something yummy . Este Esteban Yep .
Speaker 2Congratulations to us . And I'm celebrating with a slice of blueberry cornbread . So I've got the cornbread right here . Mom , do you want to say anything about it , because you're the one that made it .
Speaker 1Yeah , Listeners , Esteban is enjoying a slice of cornbread buttered up , slightly sweetened , a little bit crispy on the top . Ezi , what do you think ?
Speaker 2Oh , it's good . I mean , I'm not the biggest , I think you like it a bit more than I do , but it is good yeah .
Speaker 1Good , we'll try something different next time . So , a quick basketball question to tee us up for the main topic . And there's a hint in this basketball question as to what we're talking about esteban , who was the first nba player from italy to play basketball well , uh , I do know that palo bancaro on Orlando Magic or Logic , or Logic Raptors .
Speaker 2I know he's Italian born , but he's not the first . The first was , I think it was a Raptors player Drafted first overall 2007 , andrea Bargnani Bargnani Bargnani . I think it was Andrea Bargnani Bargnani Bargnani .
Speaker 1I think it was Andrea Bargnani . You got to dig a little bit deeper into the vault for the answer .
Italian Travel Packing Essentials
Speaker 1It would be Stefano Rusconi . Who is that ? He became the first Italian raised player to play in the NBA as a Phoenix Sun . He was drafted on November 12th 1995 . Huh , I have never heardth 1995 .
Speaker 2Huh , I have never heard of that guy .
Speaker 1No , neither have I .
Speaker 2Well , that was a good question to kind of segue us into the topic . We missed a week of podcasting because we're away . We were preparing for , you know , a lot of big vacation coming up . Mom , do you want to tell them where we went ?
Speaker 1We went to Italy .
Speaker 2So we had to learn , you know , how to pack for a different kind of vacation , right , like I'm used to either having to pack tropical , like when we go down to South America or Central America , you know having to pack for a bit warmer weather If we go to , like , new York , I know what to pack for there . But you know , I've never been to Europe , I've never been to Italy , so I guess I kind of had to learn a new style of packing , yeah , which is just kind of comfort , I guess comfort style , because I really only brought sweatpants , a couple pairs of baggy jeans and one pair of shorts .
Speaker 1Yeah , would you say , those are your packing essentials .
Speaker 2I think those are my packing essentials . I think it varies based on where we're going , but generally those are pretty good stuff to pack's , pretty good stuff to pack , like for most trips . Cool , what are your packing essentials ?
Speaker 1My packing essentials . Well , I always like to put everything in a packing cube , and our clothes have to be versatile , so these are things that should be worn from day to night , with lots of different little layers . I like to make a spreadsheet of all of our activities that we're doing so that I can plan outfits around everything we have booked , and I love to use a light sweater as a scarf . That's my little trick .
Speaker 2Actually , I have one more packing essential that I forgot . What'd you forget ? You can't forget the shoes . No , that's right . I do like to bring a lot of shoes with us when we go on vacation .
Speaker 1I agree it's . Even though we're just living out of suitcases , it's still important to look and feel your best .
Speaker 2Yeah , exactly , you know well , especially because you're exploring a new place . You just want to feel like you have that kind of comfortable attitude with your you know little pep in your step . You got it , and I think a greatly designed or greatly inspired outfit brings a little pep to your step .
Speaker 1It definitely makes you feel good . So was there anything that surprised you about Italian style ?
Speaker 2To be honest , nothing really surprised me about Italian style . If I had to say , though , I would say how small sports is there ? It's not like , like here , there's no match . Like you , there's people that , like , dedicate their life to sports . People love sports here , mm hmm , like I love sports , but in Italy , like you , don't really see much about sports . I only really heard of one soccer team , and it was venice uh , fb or venice fc , and they're the . Where they play isn't even in venice . They have like a separate island where they actually play . So , like it's not really they don't treat sports like we do here .
Speaker 1Yeah , that was pretty cool to see boating past the soccer club , or the football club as they would call it . Yeah , okay , cool . Well , we landed in Canada and just jumped right into school and work , so we haven't had a chance to look back on our trip too much . So what do you say ? We do that now . Sure .
Speaker 2I'll ask the first question
First Impressions of Italy
Speaker 2what landmark impressed you the most ?
Speaker 1That's a good one For our listeners . Just for a bit of background , we went to Rome , florence and Venice , so we did get to see a lot of beautiful things . I think probably going to the Vatican City was the most impactful . It was very beautiful , of course , with so much history , but it really was just incredible to see all the art and all the intricate work that goes into the Vatican City and also just to think of how old it is and that they had so many beautiful things so long ago . What about you ?
Speaker 2Yeah , obviously the Vatican City is probably my favorite landmark , or you know my favorite , I guess , landmark , I don't know why I said that I think , aside from Vatican City , probably Doge Palace . I really love Doge Palace .
Speaker 1That was beautiful . Do you remember where that was ?
Speaker 2Venice . Yeah , it's very beautiful , so decorative and elegant . The marble carve-outs in the walls of the angels and the golds , and the beautiful view over into the water of Venice , it's all very beautiful , it's pretty special .
Speaker 1Well , what was your first impression of Italy ?
Speaker 2My first impression of Italy . Well , my first real impression of Italy was why it was so tropical . We saw a lot of palm trees coming out of the airport and I didn't expect to see that .
Speaker 1Yeah , the greenery is so diverse . Yeah , there's every sort of tree that can be imagined .
Speaker 2But I think my first real impression of Italy was it's a tough one , yeah , I think just the architecture very ancient kind of renaissance colonial it's all very beautiful but there's just nothing you would see like that back home . So it's very interesting to see how they kept that same architecture through basically all of recorded time . They've had that type of architecture and they've never wanted to change it .
Speaker 1Yeah , I think someone someone in our tour group said that it was like walking through history , and I agree . Yeah , that was a great observation .
Speaker 2So now your turn .
Speaker 1No , I already asked you . I just asked oh yeah , what am ?
Speaker 2I saying so , uh , I guess now my turn . Uh , what will you miss the most about italy , aside from the chinese food ?
Speaker 1aside from the chinese food , haha . Um , I think I will miss the feeling of exploration and seeing something new , because certainly when you travel , it's always a really nice treat to be able to see something unexpected . We visited a few other smaller towns other than Rome , florence and Venice , so it was nice to see how small towns were in Italy . And I also just miss having time with my family , you know , just having time to enjoy breakfast or sit in a bus talking
Favorite Meals and Towns
Speaker 1about the sights or just relaxing together .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , this is all great . Yeah , what will you miss the most ? Oh , you know , I think just exploring , seeing new places , very beautiful place , yeah , just exploring generally .
Speaker 1Well , did you have a favorite meal ?
Speaker 2Did I have a favorite meal , aside from the burritos ? I would have to say tough one . Our first day in Florence , or the first night in florence , we had that really good uh , the duck pasta and the steak and the ravioli . You , you probably remember what that place is called .
Speaker 1I don't oh , we did . When we went to , um , we went to a place called , oh , in florence , uh , treteria zaza . Yes , that's where we went .
Speaker 2That was delicious also in rome , uh , wherever we got that , I don't remember what it was called either , but the eggplant , the eggplant parmesan and the , the carbonara which I had . It was all great .
Speaker 1That was so delicious . But are you , are you , uh Jones , in for some pasta now ?
Speaker 2I don't think , I'm just uh , waiting to dive into the pasta just yet . Uh , you know , we'll see in the future if I want pasta . But uh , kind of tired of the pasta pizza lifestyle .
Speaker 1That's so funny . Okay , what question do you have for me ? What ?
Speaker 2is your favorite town that we stopped off at . So she mentioned that we stopped off , or we went to florence , venice and rome , but in between , uh , each city , we stopped off at little towns that you know we just took a couple hours to explore . So , uh , we went to a cz or vieto , uh , padova yeah and bologna , which , uh , bologna or bologna , was actually not invented in the town of bologna , but you know what was what ?
Speaker 1was it par ? We should actually have tasted some of our cheese on this that would have been pretty good if we tried the cheese .
Speaker 2Because we did bring home some Parmesan cheese 36 month old cheese .
Speaker 1Yep , it's going to be good . So , my favorite town of all of that I think I really loved . Of the small towns , I think Assisi was probably my favorite of all of that . I think I really loved . Um . Of the small towns , I think Assisi was my probably my favorite . Um , the colors were so soft . It was like every shade of yellow , like butter yellow , bright yellow , very faint yellow , into beige . Um , and I I loved the peacefulness of it . It seemed , uh , seemed , very serene there .
Speaker 2What about you ? I think I really liked Corvieto . It's very beautiful , very calming , peaceful town . It's right on top of a mountain , so you look out . You see all the other cities , all the other towns at the bottom , very very beautiful .
Speaker 1It was pretty , I agree , and they had pretty good strawberries . Would you go back to any of those places that we visited again , just the little towns or the big cities Anywhere ?
Speaker 2Anything that you saw in the last two weeks , I think , um , I would want to visit florence again , because we didn't really get , uh , to see all of it um , while we were there . Uh , what's the river called ?
Speaker 1The Arno .
Speaker 2The Arno Flooded , so they actually closed down the city . There's nothing to see . The museums got closed , the restaurants got closed . We didn't even get to go to Pisa , because they closed Pisa as well , because of how rainy and floody it was . That was a bummer for sure .
Speaker 2Yeah , I would go back to Florence . I think I liked Florence the most . We also had probably also one of my favorite meals there , which was just like it was rainy and we wanted a snack , so we stopped off at this little cafe and it was very good . Oh yes , we had two cappuccinos and you had some sort of cake . I think it was lemon cake or something . What did I have ? You had like a lemon or orange cake , something like that it was a citrusy cake .
Speaker 2I remember that , yes , and I had a blackberry tart cake , something like that . It was a citrusy cake . I remember that , yes , and I had a blackberry tart , which was very good , and I think it was not only nice Sorry , not only one of my favorites just because of the food , but also because of the conditions , like a bit rainy outside , but you could still see people walking by and it was , you know , nice and soothing inside . Yeah , I think it was called Gili , f-a-gili , gili , gili or Gili , I don't remember G-I-L-I .
Speaker 1Yeah , it was highly recommended , yeah , highly recommended
Travel Reflections and Future Destinations
Speaker 1, and I would absolutely love to go again .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , highly recommended and we would . I would absolutely love to go again . Yeah , um , but aside from but , but aside from that , I also just loved the atmosphere of florence , how I kind of combined the exploration part , where it's like you know , you want to see these old , beautiful cathedrals and and the basilica and and this bridge that was made like thousands of years , like it was . It combines that with also , like the luxury that we also love , yeah , like we love new york because of the luxury and the shopping and and seeing all the bright lights and stuff . Like that's why people love new york , yeah , because it's such a luxurious . It combines kind of that essence along with the essence of Venice , where it's like the old architecture and the beautiful buildings and the grand color schemes and everything and the history . It combines both and I think it just clashes very well .
Speaker 1Yeah , it was pretty special . Was there something unique that you picked up while you were there ?
Speaker 2I got . Let me see if I can remember it off the top of my head because I know you will know what it's called . I got a cologne from the brand . I want to say something Siciliana .
Speaker 1Santa Maria Novella . Santa Maria Novella .
Speaker 2Santa Maria Novella , I got a cologne that they only sell in Italy , I'm pretty sure . It's very special yeah it's a very special cologne . You probably wouldn't find it back home and you know it smells nice . It smells very fruity and elegant and I like to smell kind of citrusy . Yeah , I think that's my smell . So it's , it's , it's a great great smell , great great scent yeah , it was a nice treat yeah , uh .
Speaker 2So yeah , this , you know , this talk kind of makes me want to book another vacation . So where's our next ? Where's our next trip ? What do you think ?
Speaker 1I don't know . I think I'm ready for another . Another tropical destination . Need some more snorkeling in my life . What about you ? What do you think ? Well , obviously there's been talks about Costa Rica .
Speaker 2But also , you know , I like to also kind of stick with what we already do . So you know , um , new york cruise , florida , all sounds nice to me as well . But you know , whatever you guys decide , I'll be grateful to be along the journey for well , it's a pretty big world .
Speaker 1There's a lot for us to see .
Speaker 2I'm so happy that you've caught the travel bug , though yeah , I mean , up until a couple years ago , I didn't really want to travel . You really didn't ? I hated planes , I hated the idea of flying . I I'd only been to what two countries like gen , I think . I had four countries . I'd only been to four countries before .
Speaker 1I really started traveling .
Speaker 2I'd only been to four countries , and now and now , I've been to 17 .
Speaker 1All right .
Speaker 2And I only started traveling . Well , one's the first time . We went to Mexico Four years ago . Maybe Four years ago I only Mexico Four years ago . Maybe Four years ago I only started traveling four years ago . So in the last four years I've seen 13 different countries .
Speaker 1You've done a pretty good job . I don't even know if you . I don't even know if I've got that many . I'll have to take time to count .
Speaker 2Well , I mean you probably have . I think you'd have to , because we would have gone to those countries together , you're right , because we would have gone to those countries together , you're right . So you probably have that or more Well , listeners .
Speaker 1if you've got any ideas for trips that we should add to our list , please drop in on our DMs on Instagram at Hoops and Crumbs and we will be sure to add them to our travel list ideas . Hopefully we get some ideas from folks out there .
Speaker 2Yeah , join us next time for more Hoops and Crumbs on Apple Podcasts , spotify , amazon Music and anywhere else you can find your favorite podcasts . We talk basketball cookies and share other random life musings Till next time . Thanks for listening . Bye .