Import Export

I love Christmas lights. I actually should've done a better job of photographing them in Bologna, where they are the best in the whole world (in my biased opinion), but the ones in NYC aren't bad either. Italians put them on every street and Bologna has them not just over the street, but in the market, in the porticoes, on the towers, everywhere. It's beautiful. I'm sad that they'll be gone when I get back.



It's good to think that 2009 is ending, even if all of the year's little loose ends can't be tied up and left in December. I'm sure that 2010 will be better!

Speaking of great things coming in 2010, here is one:

Eataly, Flatiron Building, New York City, Summer 2010! Yipppeeee! Full of Slow Food and good vinegar and rabbit ragu and basically every other delicious thing to come out of Italy. Probably fewer people will want to visit me, now that a part of Italy (and Bologna, though mostly Turin, where Eataly comes from) has been directly transported to Midtown. I'm almost jealous.

No More Snow

This is the weather in my Italian home:


This is the weather in my American home:


That's why it's pretty great that we're going to Florida for 6 days, starting tomorrow. This is what it looks like, there:


Yay!

Hot dog!

My NYC trip has been completed (see gourmet culinary exploits above). All my presents are wrapped. It's really Christmas. There's the same bittersweet feeling of being in one place and feeling as if part of me is elsewhere; I should be used to it, but with possible upcoming decisions about my big future, it feels even more poignant than usual. And our catless house feels rather empty; I think that we all keep expecting Dinkie to be in one of his old hangouts, and he's not.




Hopefully more snow and festivities are coming up; along with visits to shelters and new animal friends. The first step is stuffing my face with Christmas Eve dinner. Hurrah!

While we may not know the identities of our future kittens, we do know the identity of our future vet. She's already preparing the ensemble that will help make her seem friendly to her patients. (No comment about the cash; it has more to do with vegan-food-related tips than with animals.)



P.S. The location pictured below is a the view from my friend's house in a town called San Lorenzo in Collina. It's about 20 minutes outside Bologna in the hills. Her house is a bit chilly, but the view makes up for it (note: that's the exact view from her bedroom window).

Bad Blogger

It's Christmas and I haven't blogged in forever. Probably it has to do with the fact that I felt the need to write a fitting farewell blog for my beloved cat, Dinkie, who passed away this fall. But it's probably better to get back to blogging, even without the right memorial post.

I'm in Cambridge for the holidays and it's been a wonderful whirlwind of activity so far. I'm looking forward to more food and Florida and possibly even new kitties.



More soon.

Grownup Homework

About 6 months ago I decided to enroll in a graphic design class. Among other things it has provided me with unlimited junk food, constantly occupied weekday evenings, new friends, a disrupted eating and sleeping schedule, body painting experiences, and most importantly, a little info about graphic design, which I really enjoy.

The photo below is a basic representation of what I do with my free time. It may look like hieroglyphics to you. It still feels that way to me, pretty much. Plus, there's the fact that I'm taking the class in Italian, while web code is in English, but my computer programs are in Italian because I got them here . . . um . . . help me.



However, there is an immense satisfaction that comes from actually creating my first web page after months of lessons. And my little Flash buttons actually scroll and enlarge the way they're supposed to. And (sometimes) I actually manage to fix my own problems. Pretty cool. The only problem is that now, when I look at a really fancy website, I almost faint from the realization of all the work/sweat/misery that it took to create it.

P.S. Advice/suggestions are more than welcome. However, the color scheme above was chosen after hours of obsessive-compulsive deliberation. Please do not comment on it unless you have a real problem with it. (For a closer look, click on the photo; it'll load much bigger in a different window.)

Blueberries for All

I went home for a few weeks at the end of August/early September, and it was (as always) a wonderful trip. Especially because I didn't have to get any teeth pulled. Plus, we went to Vermont during the best weather ever. Is it really necessary to state how beautiful Vermont is?



And blueberry picking is up there with the best activities of all time (along with strawberry and apple picking). We had a grand time and picked a bajillion berries. The only problem with these situations is that you pick so much (because picking is fun!) that you pick more than you can eat, and then spend the next week or so trying to give fruit to everyone you know. But berries picked in Vermont are so much better than supermarket berries, so they're a good gift.



Rosa and I worked on our photo posing skills. We may have perfected the art.



And again. We are explorers of a new land, or something. Either way we deserve a high score for duplicating our poses!



Blueberries aside, though, it's important to comment on one of the things that the US does better than Italy, and that's cake. Cake with frosting. How I miss it! However, I made a special trip get a slice of red velvet cake, excited to eat the whole thing, and I started to feel sick halfway through. Perhaps my time abroad has weakened my stomach - sad!



What else? Oh yeah. Smartest cat ever. Notice that he hangs out and watches TV just like a human?



Dinkie is the best.

Puglia-ing

I will now repeat something that I've already written at least twice on this blog. I love Puglia. There are many positive things about this region of Italy, the heel of the boot, probably too many to count. But here are some. The food - see capers and tomatoes above - is fabulous.

Plus, there are really good mussels.


And figs, and watermelon.


There are meddlesome but endearing relatives who like to know what you're up to. The vacation wouldn't be complete without them.



I stayed for 5 days with my friend Francesca, ex-roommate and frequent celebrity on this blog. Her family's beach house has its own claim to fame: it used to be the beach house of one of Italy's most important musical stars, Lucio Battisti. This year Francesca's father was invited to a gala honoring Battisti. Unfortunately the sponsors thought that Dr Ruberti actually knew Battisti, but he actually bought the house 15 years after the musician's death and never met him. So this plaque, which reads "for the precious testimony of many years spent with Lucio Battisti at Porto Cesareo", is extremely mistaken! It was too late; Francesca's dad accepted it politely and then escaped from the party.
Anyway, the house is beautiful and spacious and right on the water; I'm lucky to have visited two years in a row!

All this being said, I think that the most beautiful characteristic of Puglia is the sea.

I want to go back, now!

Abandoned Altars

Twice this summer I went to what is one of my most favorite places in Italy: the Santerno River near Moraduccio. The river itself is beautiful - clear water, deep pools among lots of shallow little streams, a waterfall, greenery, birdsongs, etc. Basically, it's paradise. And you don't even get sand in your hair, because it's replaced by big, smooth white rocks. They're perfect for sunbathing, if you enjoy such activities.



The counterpoint to this river is the old town of Castiglioncello, which sits high above the river on a mountaintop. It's been abandoned and the half-collapsed, decaying buildings and churches are an amazing sight. To get there, you have to climb about 20 minutes up a dirt road, and suddenly you find yourself among stone buildings with splintered wooden rafters and blackberry bushes growing up inside the old houses. According to this website, the inhabitants already numbered a sad 85 in 1833. A friend told me that the residents all left to come to the USA. Or they realized that their village was incredibly inconvenient, since the road is basically vertical, and they all moved down the mountain.



As always, in any isolated part of Italy, amazing food can be found at super low prices. The nearby restaurant (which, I believe, is named "The Waterfall" or something equally creative) is full of truffle ravioli and steak and amazingly thick mascarpone. Plus, the owner has 5 Siamese long-haired cats that have to have their eyes bathed 3 times a day. She is a superwoman.



The funny thing about my visits to the river is that, the second time, we HAD to replay the exact same experience again (day by the river, late afternoon climb to abandoned town, extravagant dinner before heading home) because it was amazing. And surprisingly enough, it was equally wonderful the second identical time. This must be proof that originality is overrated in the face of good food and days spent lounging by bodies of water.

Biological Clock (or not)

At the beginning of August I spent four days in the Dolomites, a mountain range in northern Italy that is actually a section of the Alps. I don't know any Americans who have heard of them, but in Italy everyone goes there to ski and enjoy nature or whatever. I'd never been (I don't know northern Italy very well at all), but I received an invitation from a choir friend whose father spends his summer avoiding civilization in these isolated mountains. How could I not accept?



The weekend was a fantastic mix of food, hiking, sunshine, and family time (I was staying with three generations of my friend's family: her kids, husband, and her parents). Regarding children, I had the important revelation that some - maybe a very select few - are truly amazing. These kids, Mila and Nico, are beyond wonderful.



Smart, funny, affectionate, sensitive - if I have kids one day, they'd better turn out this great. Mila and Nico accompanied us on every hike and were great sports; being small, they were also talented wild berry harvesters. This is important in these mountains, where the wild berries are amazing.



I enjoyed the scenery, especially because it's light years away from Bologna's landscape - even the architecture seems to come from a different nation altogether.



Plus, the dialect is a mix of German and who knows what. The kids and I understood very little of what was said, even when the locals were speaking in Italian - their accents were just too much for us. We let the grownups figure things out.



Between forests, ancient cowpaths, lessons on the significance of Harry Potter and mushroom scavenging, it was the best long weekend I could've hoped for. And we've already started discussing possible babysitter exchanges during the year. It's probably one of the best surprises to come out of the entire summer!

Fresh Towels Galore

Somehow it became August, which means that soon summer will be over. I have no more guests coming to visit me, at least as far as I know, so I can obsessively clean my apartment and eat weird meals in peace. Actually, though, I had great times with the people who visited me this summer. Having guests is so easy when you live alone! I could hand out keys and maps and towels like nobody's business, and there were no roommates to worry about. Here is a photographic representation of my summer guests:


Gallatin invasion, part 1. Anthony and Christine are probably the lowest-maintenance guests ever. They somehow trained their stomachs to be hungry only upon command (if only I had that talent). And they had matching red sneakers, so I never lost track of them.


My super adorable cousin and cousin-in-law (well, almost). How cute are they? It was so nice to have first-time Italy visitors who not only appreciated the phenomenon of Italian fashion, but actually got to know Bologna better than me. Eataly fans unite!


Gallatin invasion, part 2! Chinaka came to Italy and Venice almost moved her to tears. Plus, she was speaking Italian after five days here. I think that she should get ready to move.

However, if I'm going to host guests full-time, I think I need to get ahold of a washing machine. And a bigger coffee-maker!


By the way, I'm a zebra now.

Ghosties

In the past weeks I've visited a haunted castle and an abandoned village. Apparently it's a good time for spooky adventures. And especially after the visit to Azzurrina's castle, I'm becoming convinced that this stuff is real! The castle provides scientific recordings of chanting and singing, which were taken during the night when no one was there. I wonder why ghosts feel more believable in Italy; possibly because the country itself is so full of ancient buildings and memories? (To be fair, the US is too; it's just that the people who could've taught us about the country's history pre-400-years-ago have been silenced and/or decimated.) Everything here seems to have a whole set of different meanings according to each century. It's good and philosophical, because it leaves lots of room for interpretation.

Well, bring on the ghosts. There are still 6 weeks left of summer; there's lots of time left.

Sweat, Corn and Babies

My last choir rehearsal took place here, in the beautiful countryside outside Bologna.

Though this farmhouse is surrounded by greenery and plants, which naturally make you think of health, the food we ate after our final rehearsal was anything but. Pasta with sausage, various meats and cheeses, and fried bread. But of course only Americans eat fatty foods!

Until the second half of August I'll be in Bologna and I have to brace myself for the heat and the emptiness of the city. People keep encouraging me to take a trip alone, but I don't know if I want to; any suggestions?


On a brighter note, I recently went to visit an ex-coworker, Massimo, to meet his new baby girl. Luckily he was at his vacation house on the seaside, so we were able to combine baby viewing with beach time, watermelon, sunshine . . .

. . . fried and grilled seafood, naptime . . . Basically, a day of relaxation.

I did learn from a removed perspective, however, that having a baby is hard work. New parents cannot relax the way other people (i.e., layabouts such as myself) can. Instead, they have to adhere to an extremely busy schedule of feeding, burping, pooping, bathing, crying, laughing, sleeping, and other such behaviors. Matilde even had her own ideas when it came to posing for photos.

This being said, there's a lot of evidence that it's all worth it - as Massimo explained it, in a single moment a real person with needs and a personality appears in your life. It's pretty amazing to see a friend transformed by parenthood.