After 6 years of not celebrating, I sat down to a Thanksgiving meal today, 3 days after the American holiday. Since I live in Italy and found myself working 10 hours at a fair on the actual festivity, the relaxed meal had to wait until Sunday, but it was worth it. We had our feast in the company of 4 Americans, a Venetian, a Paduan, a Roman and a Romanian. Wine and food abounded. There was turkey, cranberry sauce (homemade and can variety), sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, string beans, stuffing, pumpkin pie and tiramisù.
We stuffed ourselves into a small apartment and then proceeded to stuff our stomachs with the American traditions. We joked over the food and Italian wine. It was a great company of foreigners. Coffee and cognac finished off the meal. It was a very satisfactory experience.
Compliments to the chefs and good work on the part of those who found the difficult ingredients such as cranberries!
Baci a tutti! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Ski Slopes Open for Business
It's not even December yet and the ski slopes in the Cortina area have already been open for about 3 weeks. It's the beginning of what should be a very long and snowy winter in the Dolomites this year. For a look at the Faloria's slopes, click here.
Down in the Padana valley, at my house, preparations are under way for the winter season. This involves listing what needs to be bought like new gloves, ski poles and thermos, sharpening the crampons' points, practicing safety knot combinations and reading about interesting snowshoe and alpine skiing trails.
This is a picture of one mountain view from Monte Pore, which we climbed last season. We are looking forwarding to more of the same.
Down in the Padana valley, at my house, preparations are under way for the winter season. This involves listing what needs to be bought like new gloves, ski poles and thermos, sharpening the crampons' points, practicing safety knot combinations and reading about interesting snowshoe and alpine skiing trails.
This is a picture of one mountain view from Monte Pore, which we climbed last season. We are looking forwarding to more of the same.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Friday's False Friend
THIS IS PERHAPS THE MOTHER OF ALL FALSE FRIENDS
preservatives v. preservativo
Preservatives help keep food from going sour or stale in English while the Italian word with only one letter that changes, the "e" to an "o", reveals a completely different meaning: a condom. So once you have finished your Thanksgiving turkey dinner and you want to talk about food quality and keeping food in good condition, remember not to bring the "sexy" false friend into the discussion! Use conservante for a better translation unless you want to turn red at the dinner table with your in-laws...
Eng) American bread usually has more preservatives than Italian.
It) Di solito, il pane americano ha più conservanti di quello italiano.
preservatives v. preservativo
Preservatives help keep food from going sour or stale in English while the Italian word with only one letter that changes, the "e" to an "o", reveals a completely different meaning: a condom. So once you have finished your Thanksgiving turkey dinner and you want to talk about food quality and keeping food in good condition, remember not to bring the "sexy" false friend into the discussion! Use conservante for a better translation unless you want to turn red at the dinner table with your in-laws...
Eng) American bread usually has more preservatives than Italian.
It) Di solito, il pane americano ha più conservanti di quello italiano.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Expensive Mail
I am completely frustrated by the Italian postal system and custom's office. Every time I receive just about anything from the US, I end up paying at least Euro 10 ($14) on it because it's value gets taxed at 20% and then additional customs and postal services are added for it to be handled at the Italian border.
The most recent frustrating payment occurred when someone sent what they declared as $50 worth of pictures to me (but pictures weren't even in the envelope). I found myself paying the normal taxes and fees with none of the benefits of even getting what I thought I was helping pay for!
Another good story comes from the time I sent 3 big boxes of old kitchen supplies to myself. Once the packages arrived, and since I had declared no value on the old pots and pans, Italy's customs office decided to tax me on the cost of the postage of having the boxes sent from the US. So for the box that cost $80 to send, I was taxed 20% on that value. It was absolutely crazy!
Those boxes were delivered to my house by a man with a TNT tag on his shirt and he was driving not a TNT van but a plain white one with no insignia . I found out later that the Italian postal service pays for private delivery services once the big packs come into the territory. I suppose some of these bogus fees are helping subsidize this costly Italian option. I just don't know why the Italian postal system cannot complete the delivery cycle itself, especially considering the foreign sender has paid for its total voyage to destination at the departure site.
If you think you can just take your boxes and not pay, you risk having the police come to your door with a criminal report.
Meanwhile, if you call the phone number the post office gives you to inquire about these fees, no one answers. You only have five days in which the package will remain in-country and not delivered. If you do not pay within that time, you risk having the package sent back to the sender for the cost of return delivery. It's a no-win situation for the receiver.
As usual, the system is awful and who pays? YOU
The most recent frustrating payment occurred when someone sent what they declared as $50 worth of pictures to me (but pictures weren't even in the envelope). I found myself paying the normal taxes and fees with none of the benefits of even getting what I thought I was helping pay for!
Another good story comes from the time I sent 3 big boxes of old kitchen supplies to myself. Once the packages arrived, and since I had declared no value on the old pots and pans, Italy's customs office decided to tax me on the cost of the postage of having the boxes sent from the US. So for the box that cost $80 to send, I was taxed 20% on that value. It was absolutely crazy!
Those boxes were delivered to my house by a man with a TNT tag on his shirt and he was driving not a TNT van but a plain white one with no insignia . I found out later that the Italian postal service pays for private delivery services once the big packs come into the territory. I suppose some of these bogus fees are helping subsidize this costly Italian option. I just don't know why the Italian postal system cannot complete the delivery cycle itself, especially considering the foreign sender has paid for its total voyage to destination at the departure site.
If you think you can just take your boxes and not pay, you risk having the police come to your door with a criminal report.
Meanwhile, if you call the phone number the post office gives you to inquire about these fees, no one answers. You only have five days in which the package will remain in-country and not delivered. If you do not pay within that time, you risk having the package sent back to the sender for the cost of return delivery. It's a no-win situation for the receiver.
As usual, the system is awful and who pays? YOU
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Diesel Jeans, No...Olive Oil and Winery
The famous jeans-maker extraordinaire not only designs cutting-edge and trendy clothes, but also boasts land that produces wine, grappa and olive oil. Renzo Rosso, who created his dynasty in 1994, wants to go back to Italian tradition and work the land-with design in the bottles and tradition in the fruits of the land.
In Marostica (Vicenza), Diesel company owns 7 hectares of land that they dedicate to farming, an azienda agricola.
I find this an interesting addition to the company. Something like this would only happen in Italy. Would Gap company ever make cheddar cheese or open up an authentic hamburger joint in the USA?
Diesel's wine list includes the following: "Bianco di Rosso" Chardonnay; "Rosso di Rosso" Merlot and Cabernet (together?); "Nero di Rosso" Pinot Nero; "Grappa di Rosso" with a combination of all the plants together; and "Olio di Rosso" with mostly the Leccino tree and some additions of olives from the Frantoio and Ascolane varieties.
I wonder how good these wines and oil are being that a business guru, most interested in design, is trying to produce some quality food and drink products. It's definitely an interesting project. It's probably mostly in the hands of farmers with just the label put on the bottles and promotion.
Click here for the website of Diesel Farm, including online store. Of course, the site looks great--it's pure design!
If any of you taste these products, let me know about the quality. Thanks!
In Marostica (Vicenza), Diesel company owns 7 hectares of land that they dedicate to farming, an azienda agricola.
I find this an interesting addition to the company. Something like this would only happen in Italy. Would Gap company ever make cheddar cheese or open up an authentic hamburger joint in the USA?
Diesel's wine list includes the following: "Bianco di Rosso" Chardonnay; "Rosso di Rosso" Merlot and Cabernet (together?); "Nero di Rosso" Pinot Nero; "Grappa di Rosso" with a combination of all the plants together; and "Olio di Rosso" with mostly the Leccino tree and some additions of olives from the Frantoio and Ascolane varieties.
I wonder how good these wines and oil are being that a business guru, most interested in design, is trying to produce some quality food and drink products. It's definitely an interesting project. It's probably mostly in the hands of farmers with just the label put on the bottles and promotion.
Click here for the website of Diesel Farm, including online store. Of course, the site looks great--it's pure design!
If any of you taste these products, let me know about the quality. Thanks!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Friday's False Friend
stranger v. straniero
We English-speakers use stranger to refer to someone we don't know. In Italian, straniero may look similar but the meaning is more specific: a foreigner. Translate the word with estraneo for a better solution.
Eng) "Don't talk to strangers," the mother said to her son.
It) "Non parlare con un estraneo, " dice la madre al suo figlio.
We English-speakers use stranger to refer to someone we don't know. In Italian, straniero may look similar but the meaning is more specific: a foreigner. Translate the word with estraneo for a better solution.
Eng) "Don't talk to strangers," the mother said to her son.
It) "Non parlare con un estraneo, " dice la madre al suo figlio.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
A One-Name Street
While walking my dog today, I got especially curious about who lives on my street. There are many nice houses with fenced gardens. It's an Italian dog's paradise for this reason. Plus, it is within a mile of the city center.
My careful observation of the names listed on the houses' mailboxes revealed that either almost everyone comes from the same family or there are a hell of a lot of people in Padua with the last name of Schiavon. Out of 13 consecutive houses, 11 have at least one person (husband or wife) with that name. So this leads me to believe that either one or two farmers were able to sell off their copious land and house all their relatives in the area from the funds derived from that sale, the family is incredibly large and full of generations of people who have chosen lucrative jobs, or all the Schiavon's just happened to love this area and settle here. Since the people are not exceptionally friendly or talkative, I probably will never really find out the real reason. I've lived here for over 3 years and only know 2 neighbors by name. Everything is very discrete...
The same street (which I won't mention for privacy's sake) has recently become a one-way road towards the city center so that a bicycle lane could be installed, making the area safer for everyone.
This one-way street has basically one name as owner: Schiavon.
My careful observation of the names listed on the houses' mailboxes revealed that either almost everyone comes from the same family or there are a hell of a lot of people in Padua with the last name of Schiavon. Out of 13 consecutive houses, 11 have at least one person (husband or wife) with that name. So this leads me to believe that either one or two farmers were able to sell off their copious land and house all their relatives in the area from the funds derived from that sale, the family is incredibly large and full of generations of people who have chosen lucrative jobs, or all the Schiavon's just happened to love this area and settle here. Since the people are not exceptionally friendly or talkative, I probably will never really find out the real reason. I've lived here for over 3 years and only know 2 neighbors by name. Everything is very discrete...
The same street (which I won't mention for privacy's sake) has recently become a one-way road towards the city center so that a bicycle lane could be installed, making the area safer for everyone.
This one-way street has basically one name as owner: Schiavon.
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