My Pizza is Rated R!

Just when you think you’ve heard and seen everything. Well I pretty sure you haven’t heard or seen this! I have an update for the videos. Yeah! But this video is not for kids. Some time ago after the first video Cosimo said he wanted to make a special pizza for me. He described it and I was a little embarrassed but now I have a little video of the Pizza Sofia, named of course for Sofia Loren (and her name in Italian is Sofia Scicolone, not Sophia Loren). It’s a heart shaped pizza because of Italy’s love of Sofia and it has boobs, ugh, because Italy loves her “assests”. The video shows Cosimo making the most important part of the pizza. Again this video is not for kids and Maurizio provides a commentary for this one. Enjoy! Maybe I’ll put up a photo of the finished pizza but then I would loose my PG rating on the blog!

Click here to see "Making the Pizza Sofia!"

Romance

I wanted a romantic sunset photo to go with my Valentine’s Day wrap-up. I don’t think I’ve ever posted this one before. The day was pretty good overall but was romance in the air, maybe?
Valentino started the day off right because he brought in cornetti and pasticciotto for everyone at work to celebrate “his” saint. We had gone OVER a week with nobody bringing in cornetti. I think I was the last one to do this and that was after the Super Bowl. You know the Colts won that!!
After work I came home to find a red envelope in my mailbox. I did receive a card! As it turns out it was from the most important woman in anyone’s life, mom. Grazie mamma!!! My mom must know the Italian mail system by now because the card arrived smack dab on Valentine’s Day! Then off I went to the gym like every other Wednesday. I was in a good mood as most of us there shared sob stories on how we didn’t have anything planned. I didn’t expect many people to be there but it was pretty much the usual crowd.
On the way home I stopped to get a pizza, considering the day, I went for a “baciami subito”, which means “kiss me now”. The reason is clear because this pizza has two toppings, onions and garlic. It’s divine and maybe the reason I was alone last night. I think even the cats stayed away. The onions and garlic are sliced very thin so that the short time the pizza is cooking is just enough for them to lose their bite but retain a lot of flavor. Oh, the smell alone is soooo good. When I entered “Il Antico Sapore” I noticed immediately that this was no ordinary night for the restaurant business. The pizza place was buzzing with activity and I was there at 20:30! Maurizio said he had the whole place booked solid with reservations so as I waited for my pizza he turned away group after group of hungry couples. I would not be surprised if every restaurant in town was booked solid. Then as I went to leave Antonio was rushing out the door like I’ve never seen and he had a massive amount of pizzas to deliver. I don’t think the holiday is a card-giving day like in the US but flowers, candy, and eating out are definitely part of the celebration, probably more so than the US.
At home I had my iPod going through the radio for music. Have any of you had your iPod possessed lately? I have it on shuffle songs (brani casuali! It’s in Italian) and some really good random songs have been coming up. Everything from Rage Against the Machine to classic Tom Petty to Vasco Rossi was coming up. I remember Susan Tedeschi’s version of “Security” was one of the songs that came up last night. You have to love the line, “Your love’s alright baby, but I can’t spend it at the grocery store. I need some security.”
After the gym and a good pizza my energy runs out pretty quick, which is just as well because tonight there is live music at Big Ben. Today I feel I can stay out late. I hope they have blues tonight. I haven’t heard a good blues band for a while.

Still here

So I haven’t blogged in a long. Hey it’s not the “in” thing anymore. Facebook has definitely taken over the time I used to spend writing here BUT (that’s a big but) now it seems Facebook is getting old. Thank god I dropped Farmville and Mob Wars. Those games really can be addicting a take over too much of your free time. Now I’m back in my routine. Going to the gym 2 or 3 times a day and play soccer 1-3 times a week. That’s good use of my free time. Not much is new here though. I still have only 2 cats. I still have the same Italian girlfriend. I’m still in the same apartment with the same car. I feel something has to change. Change I can believe in! Oops getting too close to politics there.
There is some bad news. My pizzeria (L’Antico Sapore) closed for August and is not going to reopen, ever. It really hurt when I found this out. The place seemed to be an institution in Brindisi. It was one of the last wood fired pizza ovens. That may have been part of its downfall as it can’t be cheap to run a wood fire every night. There is oddly even a new place down on the sea that has a wood fired pizza oven and it’s a chain restaurant called “Fratelli di Bufala”. The other night I went to a new place (called “La Pizziaola”) that is now the closest pizzeria to my apartment. The pizza is actually pretty good and they have a Margherita pizza for only 2.50 Euros, which is amazing these days. The new place (new to me that is) still just doesn’t have the character like my old place. I guess nothing lasts forever. Still it makes me worry what other businesses I like that may go away unannounced. That reminds that I heard Blockbuster is gone in the USA but I think most people could see that coming a mile away. Shoot pretty soon CDs and DVDs will be a thing of the past. You’ll have everything in electronic files and streamin’ it. I remember when you had to have a cabinet for all your VHS tapes and the older and more tattered the box, the better the movie.
The good news is the Italian politics keeps me entertained. The big news this summer is one of Berlusconi’s key allies Gianfranco Fini has decided to break from PDL and this would mean that Berlusconi has lost the majority and there will be new elections. But wait!! Somehow even with “Fini and friends” leaving the party, Berlusconi still has the majority. Some say he bought, I mean found, enough Senators to just make it. And to add to the situation now there are these strange dealings that Gianfranco Fini’s brother in law did that are just now becoming public. Could it be anymore obvious that Berlusconi has been holding on to this little gem and when Fini decided to do his own thing then Berli let loose? I wouldn’t be surprised if Berli doesn’t have something on everyone!!!! And this scandal is something about a house that Fini’s brother in law may or may not own in Montecarlo and how he paid for it. It’s not even about Fini. Need I remind you that Berlusconi’s lawyer was found guilty of taking a bribe….from Berlusconi? And Berli won’t even think of stepping down for that…
All this and my poor dollar is taking a beating again. I have written in my agenda, “On July 6th TD Securities broker Shaun Osborne says that the dollar will be $1.13/ Euro on October 1st and $1.08 by the end of 2010.” I wrote this down because the article said he was the best forecaster of the currency markets and I really hoped it would come true. Well he’s WAAAYYYYY off. Back in July the dollar was around $1.21 so instead of gaining on the Euro the dollar has gone South. This is good for US exports so I can’t get too mad and it reminds me way I shouldn’t make any big purchases here in Italy.

A good day

Yesterday was a pretty good day. There was no one thing that made it great but a lot of little things. Mainly it was after work that things were so good so I’ll start there. I went to the gym to work out. The usual crowd was there and I was happy because I remembered the phrase that Umberto taught me on Monday. The phrase is “Ti puzza la fatia”. This is Brindisi dialect and not real Italian so don’t bother looking it up. Literally it would mean, “You smell of fatigue”. Nicely put it something like “Not working too hard are we?” It started as a joke in the gym when I was waiting to use a specific machine. Now we decided to make a phrase in local dialect part of the gym routine. A new phrase for every day I’m in the gym. Last night he went deeper into dialect. “Osci non ti sta` ncodda`”. Now first we translate this into Italian “Oggi non ti sta una cosa”. Now in English “Today, you don’t feel like doing a thing.” This is very similar to the first phrase joking about how you’re not working hard. Today I realized if I change the “ti” to “mi” then I could say, “Today, I don’t feel like doing anything” (Osci non mi sta` ncodda`”).
Back to yesterday. On the way out of the gym I ran into Monica and we talked for a short time. She always has a plan for something to get her out of town. Classes in Venice, work in Spain. She should realize that going out with me would be the best plan but I’ve gotten over that a long time ago. She didn’t seem to have a new plan just yet. It was funny because everyone was stopping to talk to her because no one has seen her in a while. It made having a conversation difficult so I resumed my walk home and she tried to continue her way into town. Still it's always fun to run into someone you haven't seen in a while.
About 50 feet up the road I ran into Alberta my neighbor talking to a pharmacist outside his store. She said that Nello was watching her work on the computer about a half hour ago. Nello has learned if he gets up on the balcony railing and goes all the way to one corner then he can see into Alberta’s apartment. It worries me because he could probably jump from the railing in her window if he wanted to and the window was open. Plus, he really seems to like her so he would do it. She said she opened the window and yelled at him to get down and he did. But we all know that sort of tactic will only work a few more times and then he’ll ignore it when he realizes she can’t stop him. Still I think she likes having him watching and it’s just funny to think of his curiosity in everything around him.
Further along on my way back I stopped to get a pizza at THE pizza place. It was only around 8:15 PM so almost no one was there. I showed off my new phrases and they almost split a gut laughing so hard. They really liked hearing it and offered many new phrases but without writing them down I’m at loss to remember them. This pizzeria could be the heart of Brindisi’s dialect as it used to be “La Brindisina” (Now it’s “La Antica Sapore”) and they had the lyrics to a song on the menu that was so deep in dialect I could only find a few words in a dictionary. I didn’t know what I wanted for dinner and the old man (I forget his name) offered to make the “Spiritoso”. It’s a pizza with a different flavor in every slice. Hmmm, I don’t remember seeing that on the menu. He carefully placed toppings to make about 8 different pizzas on this one. It was perfect, except for the part with yellow peppers but I ate around them. I have a picture of the pizza that I’ll put up.
The day couldn’t be perfect though because I arrived home just in time to watch the Inter –Bayern Monaco game. The game was not good at all. Inter lost 0-2 and two Inter players were sent off with red cards.

Good News, Bad News

Ok Sister, I’ll make an update. There is good news and bad news. Bad news first, I guess. Mara found a new toy the other night. It was the wrist strap of my digital camera. The game ended when I saw her dragging it off my desk. Naturally I was just in time to see the camera fall with a thud on the tile floor. The camera is really broken. I haven’t taken it apart to see what I can do with it but I think this time is really the end. It’s part of the engineer code that anything broken must be taken apart. Hey, it’s already broken so taking it apart can’t hurt anything. The camera was old and was already on it’s last legs as I’ve dropped it a few times so this is not all the cat’s fault. But this means that this space may not have as many photos in the future. The decision for new camera is going to be long and hard. I still haven’t decided between a real SLR digital to get good photos or another pocket camera that’s easy to carry around.
Cosimo making a pizza!
The good news is the camera was sitting out because I had just got home with a pizza. I brought the camera to the pizzeria and made a short video of Cosimo making pizzas. Nobody is watching my videos on Youtube so I’ll try a different slant. I thought maybe people would enjoy seeing him do what he has been doing for years. I took several videos and decided that I would need a step-by-step approach: 1. working the dough, then 2. Dressing the pizza, and 3. Cooking in their wood-burning oven. My original idea was no commentary, as I just wanted it to catch the “usual” happenings in the pizzeria. If someone comes in and yells ciao then that’s part of the video. No staging or setting up scenes. I’m not a movie director so it would probably be crap if I tried to set it all up. Cosimo and Maurizio have both approved the video. So now you can experience the best pizzeria in Brindisi online. More to come, I hope.
While you're on Youtube look at the other videos. Some people have seen my video driving around Brindisi. Isn’t it exciting? I have KissKiss playing on the radio. I pass an Ape in the first 10 seconds! Keep in mind this video is going towards town and it ends as I approach Porta Lecce. I plan on doing another in the historic center of town if anyone wants to see it!!!
How’s that sis?!

More Pizza videos

The second pizza making video has been posted!!
PART 2
In this video, Alessandro makes a surprise cameo appearance. Alessandro is funny because he is the only one that "knows" English. He is also the only that works there that is not officially part of the family. Is it just me or do you think he looks a little like crusty the clown? More to come...

Review of 2007

This photo should help brighten up the cold dark days of January.


I guess everyone should review his or her life once in a while. I looked back at my blog entries to get an idea of what I did last year. So here are some highlights month by month.
Gennaio- Mysterious date (OK it was my neighbor, Alberta) that never grew into a relationship. A lot of big fires in Gennaio. I’ll try to do a better job covering the festival of Sant’Antonio Abate this year.
Febbraio- The Colts won the Super Bowl but that’s not a local event. Mara broke my digital camera but somehow I brought it back from the dead. It must have 9 lives too.
Marzo- This was when I introduced you to the R-Rated pizza called the Pizza Sofia. That reminds me that I haven’t put a thing on my Youtube site in a while. Also in that month the Big Ben was robbed at gunpoint and I was there.
Aprile- I had my first visitor of the year. We went to Venice, Rome, and Ostuni!!! Also our bickering at the Salu…mino brought about my introduction to bacon in Italy. Yes, Italy has bacon just like in America.
Maggio-Was the month of “Brindisi in Bicicletta” and our group won two prizes. I hope we can do that again this year. I also went to a Brindisi Basket playoff game. They won the game and they were so close to being promoted to Serie A, the highest level. Maybe this year we’ll move up although they aren’t playing that well right now.
Giugno- The big story was me buying a “Man bag”. Just for your information I don’t use it in the winter because I have enough pockets in my jacket. June is also when I started taking my digital camera underwater. This summer I’ll try to get more and better shots of marine life in the Adriatic.
Luglio- Lori and Kent were here. Most of the blogs revolved around our hiking trip in Basilicata.
Agusto- Holy cow August was big. Erika and Valerio were married in a great traditional Southern Italian wedding. Then later in the month I traveled to Colorado where Kristen and Brian were married in a Ski Lodge at 12,000 feet.
Settembre- I fulfilled my resolution to visit a new country every year. I went to Budapest and had a great time with Juli and Juli and the wine festival. I still think there is nothing like going on a vacation where you know some locals.
Ottobre- I didn’t blog much. Maybe I was holding out for November
Novembre- I blogged EVERY DAY of November so there is plenty to talk about there. For me I still remember going to the EVIL dentist, twice. That reminds me that this weekend is the La Befana and there is tons of candy being advertised everywhere. What should I do? What can I do?
Dicembre- Was a quiet month again. I did get you some photos of Gianna e I Rinoplastici. Of course that month includes the great trip home to see my family for Christmas.

In amongst all this I had 4 trips back to the USA in May, August, October and December, which is new record (3 of these trips were primarily for work!)

In 2008 I need to: Visit another new country maybe two and most importantly decide once and for all if I’m going to stay or leave. There is a possibility that I could stay in Brindisi for another 3 years but there many things to consider on both sides of this issue. That's a whole blog in itself.

One last Christmas photo...Remember, there is no parking in the piazza.

Thanks!!!

Thanksgiving is the greatest of all the holidays. Bill Bryson mentioned this in one of his books. He had some strong arguments that I couldn’t deny. I can’t remember exactly what he said but it was something like:
No presents to buy (probably the greatest single reason to like Thanksgiving)
No cards (but I just received one from Nonna!!)
No caroling
No costumes
No decorations really.
No real religious implications
There IS plenty of food and it’s ok to eat as much as you want.
There IS plenty of football
There IS plenty of family time
YES, there are TWO days off of work.

I couldn’t go without turkey so I picked up a turkey breast at the “Salu…mino” the other day. It’s not as good as a whole roast turkey made by Nonna but it’s pretty good. How do I know already? Because I kinda ate it last night. I’ll have to get more tonight. I also jumped the gun and opened a new bottle of wine last night. The weather was lousy so I thought as long as I’m eating at home and watching Champions League Soccer I should have some wine and try out the turkey. I couldn’t resist.
I have no special plans for tonight. I did just have a great idea. I should take some of the turkey to my pizzeria and see if they will put it on a pizza. I think that would be good! Turkey pizza for thanksgiving!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Another weekend of stories...

Friday night was a rather ordinary night. We spent most of the night at Goblins and then on to “The Spinnaker”. I realize now that the whole night I only had two small beers. When you’re out with a larger group you’re talking and switching seats so you don’t seem to drink much. Probably why Italian pubs don’t make much money. Then Saturday night I was waiting for a call from Marco and I ended up going to a nearby small town with Teodoro, Allassandra, Ottavio, Mitrana and others. It was strange because the first place we stopped was a pub that had a cover charge. No one wanted to pay this so we went on to another place. This turned out to a school gym that was having a reggae concert. It was 5 euro to get in here too but everyone was willing to pay for this concert. The place was packed with mainly kids smoking, smoking all kinds of things. I think my jacket will be airing out for a few days. It was a pretty good concert but I would not go to something similar for a while. I didn’t get home until about 4:30 AM and I again I didn’t spend much. I had one glass of wine before we left and then 5 euro to get in.
Sunday was a very good day. I had lunch at Marco’s house and I think his mom cooks better than Turibio’s (don’t tell Turibio I said that). I couldn’t ask for much more. We had home made orecchiette and she even gave me the left over uncooked pasta and some sauce!!!!! Then after that we met up with some of Marco’s friends for a coffee and gelato. It was starting to be suppertime so everyone went to Erika’s house for a pizza. Now at this point I wasn’t hungry so I shamefully had to take a small pizza because that’s all I needed. So when this was over and we talked a while it was time to head home. At this point it was just after midnight. I think I have all the names and couples worked out in the order of how well I know them.
Marco and Antonella
Valiero and Erika
Gianluca and Francesca
Teddy and Allassandra
Alberto and Annarita (Bari)
Christian and Illaria?
Ottavio and ??
Mitrana and ?Piero?
Federica and Paolo
Marco (taller one and more hair)
Marco (tallest and always best dressed) and Dora
Ok maybe I still need some work on names.

Sign Sign Everywhere a Sign!

A couple of strange things happened yesterday and I’m not sure what to make of it. The first thing occured when I went to the Sweet Sweet Way store. It’s a candy store on the main drag in town. I felt it was fitting that I go there the day after the dentist visit. The old guy working there said “Ciao, Jeff”. Now I don’t stop and converse with him like I do in other stores. I also don’t go in there nearly as often as other places but yet our relationship has moved up a notch. This is stranger because I don’t know his name. Then coming home from hanging out on the street, ok it’s not hanging out, it’s the passeggiata. I stopped to talk to some people that are always next door to the pizza place. Among this group there are 3 very young girls that are always talking to Antonio and Maurizio and just out of curiosity I asked their names because they are practically part of the pizzeria family so I should know who they are. The strange thing is that I remember their names, Rosella, Illaria, and Francesca. I wonder if remembering Italian names is becoming easier. I wonder if I’ve been exposed to these Italian names enough to make connections. I also commented that Rosella is very close to Rosetta (there is a Rosetta at work) and it worked. I seemed to be keeping them straight, for now.
Anyway I noticed another strange thing that is by far the strangest. My name is now on my button on the front of the building. Now you may say “Big Deal” but it’s very strange to me. I’ve been living in this same apartment for over 4 years and the whole time my name has been on that button but only because I wrote it on a piece of paper and then taped it on the button. The weather would take its toll and I would change it every few months. Now my name is printed in plastic and under the clear button cover like everyone else, but why now?

Strange isn’t it. My name just doesn’t seem to go along with the others. You’ll notice something that maybe you didn’t know. There are two last names for most apartments. That’s because Italian women almost never take their husband’s last name. That throws a lot of foreigners off when they come to Italy and do paperwork. If you’re married they are still expecting two different last names. Most of my readers probably know this but I thought it was worth a mention. Also notice how my name has a hyphen in it like everyone else’s. I guess there is one person living here with the last name Jeff and he or she is married to someone with the last name Gromen. It could happen. We foreigners have strange names, not like Italians. See Cacciapaglia that literally means strawhunt or huntstraw in the order it is here.
Maybe my landlord has grand designs that I’m going to buy that apartment. He says he’s going to sell it when I move out. I was a little curious about buying it and then I asked Marco what he thinks the guy would ask for and then I went into a state of shock. The thought escaped my mind very quickly. It would be 3 times the cost of my house in the US, no 4 times with the current exchange rates!!!!
This last photo is exchange from the old passport to the new. The old one can barely stand these days. The new one is ready to see the world. I hope!

Goodbye Old Friend

Well it’s time to say good-bye to an old friend. But this is a happy parting of ways. He's been there for me for 10 years now and he deserves a break. Ohh, the places we’ve been. I’m talking about my old passport, of course. I finally received my new passport today. It wasn’t as easy as it should be. You see for me I’m supposed to send my old passport, the fee, the pictures, and the paperwork to the US Consulate in Naples. I called them about how to do this several times I was never impressed with their knowledge. If you go to website of the consulate in Milan they have everything spelled out for you and they look efficient. The Naples website is, let’s just say, not so impressive. I used my judgment and decided to go another route. I wanted to make sure I had a passport in time to go home for Christmas. I sent everything I needed to my parents in the US. My mom sent the stuff in and received the new passport there. Then my mom sent the passport to me in Italy. It worked almost perfectly. There is one thing I forgot. My mom is too honest sometimes (now I know where I got it). When she sent me the passport she made the mistake of writing what is ACTUALLY in the package. When Italian customs realized they had something of value to me they started to think about how they could use this to their advantage. I’m not sure how it worked out. Maybe it was a miracle but in the end they agreed with my rationale that this passport has no commercial value so they delivered it with NO customs fee. I believe that qualifies as a miracle.
It must have something to do with my birthday. Last year I received my renewed permesso di soggiorno (permit to live in Italy) on my birthday. It was the best present I could get from anyone. The importance of getting my permesso has increased exponentially because immediately after I got mine the process has done nothing but turn into a BIG MESS. There are hundreds of thousands of permessos waiting to be processed. Italy went to this really nice credit card like permesso but the system is seriously flawed. Thank god I got mine when I did. So I’ve had two paperwork miracles in two years. Am I ready for sainthood yet?
This new passport is strange. The cover is much thicker cardboard and the photo seems to be printed into the page instead of laminated on like it was 10 years ago. It’s also the new electronic passport with a chip in it so whenever that’s required then I’m already legal.
The photo today is from when I went to Ostuni a while ago with another Couchsurfer. She just put up some of her photos on Flickr here. Again it seems other people find beauty in Brindisi in ways I wouldn’t think of. She has one photo of me in the group, one of Cosimo at the Pizza place, and one of fishermen in Brindisi. When showing her around I decided to take a photo above out towards the sea (instead of towards Ostuni). I don’t know what that building is in the foreground, but I love the expanse of carefully trimmed olive trees that go out in all directions until you get to the sea.

All alone...and it's getting spooky...

Well my mom and dad are on there way back to the good ole United States. I was feeling down about them going back but last night Valiero called to ask me to play soccer tonight and Andrea sent an SMS saying he was organizing a pizza night for Friday, (already –strange to plan so far in advance, must be something big). On top of this I have the Puglia Posse night out Saturday night. So I’m sad that my parents are gone but at least I know I won’t be lacking something to do until at least Sunday. Also I should see the whole family shortly, be it Thanksgiving or Christmas, maybe even both!
My mom didn’t get to see Sicily. Their trip was too short for that! Maybe when we do go the A3 will be done and the drive will be easier. Boy am I an optimist!! The A3…done…maybe I’m not thinking straight since I got up at 4:30 AM to get them to the airport for the 6:10 AM flight. I still can’t believe Alitalia has a flight that early. No wonder they’re loosing money. You have to pay an Italian pilot a lot to get up and fly that early!!! I thought only bakers and fisherman work that early!!
The town was strangely quiet in the predawn hours this morning. When I was walking from my garage to the apartment I felt a slight breeze but everything was so still. Even the trees and flowers didn’t move. There was also a wispy hint of fog in the air. All I needed was some scary music and a howling wolf for a horror movie. I must have Halloween on my mind….

Tutto a posto

I was a little freaked out yesterday and I didn’t include it in the blog until now. I had another wonderful experience with Alitalia coming back. I can’t tell you how much I hate them. They lost my bag AGAIN and it wasn’t just me. There was at least ten people waiting for their bags from my flight. I have learned something though from my past experiences, and that’s to get to the lost and found desk first. I did, so at least I managed to get home quickly. Then yesterday in just under 24 hours they called and said they had my bag at the airport. I went and picked it up, as I don’t trust them to deliver it. Why should I believe that they can handle that? So I checked my bag and nothing was missing or broken so everything is ok, now. Still I can’t believe the stress they put me through. I had packed two expensive items that I probably should have had insured in case they really lost the bag (or they were stolen).
I saw today in the news that there are only two bidders left looking to buy Alitalia, Airone and Aeroflot. I think Airone might be able to turn them around and on the other side I fear Aeroflot. What good would come out of a Russian airline (with a dubious past) buying an Italian airline (notorious for not showing up to work)? The news also said it would take about 5 billion dollars to turn Alitalia around. I wonder if that includes firing everyone and starting over. I’m sorry but they get no sympathy from me. They are the ONLY airline allowed to fly from Brindisi to Rome and they still can’t make money. Anyway that's the past, for now everything is ok. phew...
Nello, however, is still not ok. He has been crying and following me around the house more than usual. He doesn't seem to believe me when I say "I’m not going to leave again for a while so he should just calm down." Goofy cat. Mara didn’t notice that I was gone and she is now in "full shed mode". She took a little longer to reach this stage but now I get a brush full of fur out of her whenever I manage to hold her down long enough to brush her. To her people are only useful when they are throwing something to chase or putting out food and water. Goofy cat!
Me, well, I’ve already had many coffees, a pizza, etc etc but I haven’t had a gelato since I got back. That will have to change tonight, although the weather has cooled down. Before I left it was sweltering hot and not it feels great. It’s not beach weather anymore but that could change by this weekend.
The flowers are another random shot in Indianapolis with the new camera. And they are calming when I start to think about Alitalia.

I think they fell asleep while wrestling!

Frigo part 2

So R2R wants to know what’s in the fridge. That’s a little scary when you mention that it’s a window into your soul so let’s see what I have in my soul….(quite fitting this close to Halloween and All Saints Day).
The top shelf is a bottle of white wine chilling nicely, Fanta, and coffee. I’ll admit it, that’s not Illy coffee in that can. I’m just using the nice can the Illy people give you. It’s really Moka, the cheap stuff. I swear the middle shelf was like that before the photo and I’m not sure why I didn’t put this fruit in the fruit drawer. I’m usually kinda of anal about that. It has a special drawer for fruit, dammit. I have a peroche (cross of peach and something else), 1 pear, 2 Chinese oranges (think that’s what they are called), and 2 mandarins. In the cheese drawer just below them, you can’t see it, but there is grated Parmesan. The next shelf down we have: a half empty jar of Old El Paso Salsa Mejecan, half empty jar of Barilla sauce (Tuna flavor, hey I didn’t feel like cooking after the gym yesterday), beer, and leftover Pizza. In my drawers you have one potato and one onion in the vegetable side and 1 lemon and grapes on the fruit side. The meat drawer below is currently empty except for garlic. A little old lady told me that’s the best place to keep garlic and it does seem to keep well down there. On the door we have 6 eggs, some butter, 3 bottles of Aperol soda (which I hate so they will be there adding color to my fridge until someone else drinks them) and some orange juice.
That’s exactly how my fridge was when I got home yesterday. I thought about shopping to make it look better and more interesting but I have a more interesting shot of my frigo back here… That was in May of last year. Amazing the difference. Si?
I'm not going to tag anyone for reasons I've mentioned in the past. I love doing these but not tagging people. However, I would love to see what Lori and Kent have. I'm sure it's full of crazy stuff!

Another weekend wrap up... Dancing at a Jazz concert?

So what was I up to all weekend? Friday night I had a celebratory dinner with some coworkers. It was mainly an excuse to get together and eat at one of my favorite restaurants "La Locanda te le Spilusi" or just "Lu Spilusi" for us. This place is famous for an appetizer that never ends. This appetizer is a mix of seasonal vegetables and seafood. Some things don't change but others do. The rule of thumb for this restaurant is the larger your group the better. That way when someone doesn't like one particular dish of the appetizer then there is more for everyone else. Theoretically with enough people you have different tastes and everyone can pig out on their favorites. After the appetizer you decide what to order next. I usually can manage a half a pizza on a good night.
After stuffing myself it meant a slow start Saturday morning then a little shopping and light lunch. Dinner was at a friend's house, which is a small apartment, but with a terrace to die for. The terrace encircled the whole apartment and in one area she had giant cacti. Sure, she has a great apartment but she works for my archenemy Alitalia. I tried to not let her profession affect my opinion of her.
After dinner we were going to head to a Jazz concert that was supposed to be "really good." It was 13 euro to get in so it better be good, I thought. Well when we arrived I assumed we made a mistake with the directions. We were at a hotel in the middle of nowhere. There was a huge tent with heaters and big band playing 70s and 80s music. We went to a scene that I would call a huge wedding reception. Despite being midnight there were kids dancing with 30 somethings like myself. There were much older people very nicely dressed which reminded me, I wonder who drove that Masserati I almost side swiped in the parking lot? There was the stage area a big wooden dance floor, and small bar and then tons of collapsible tables and chairs. Like I said it seemed to be wedding reception but it wasn't. A few of my friends and I sat down to access the fact that things weren't as we thought. Usually I need a drink or two before on go on the dance but after about 20 minutes I decided to just go with the flow and went out and danced. I haven't danced like that since....the last wedding reception that I went to. Enough of that you get the point.
The next morning I felt really useful. I assisted Ivan as he installed a very complex light fixture in the bathroom of my neighbor. Word of my handiness is getting around so we may be called on to do more projects. He is very precise and has the local knowledge and I'm engineer so it's assumed I know something about everything mechanical. That afternoon I decided to relax after all that hard work and watch some good rugby action (Italy vs. England in the 6 Nations Tournament). That evening my neighbor made dinner for us as thanks for finally getting the light installed. It seems the saga of the light fixture started long before I started hanging out with them.
So there you have a brief listing of what I did with some gaping holes that I don't care to fill in for you. Sorry.

Spiritoso

The pizza from last night. A different flavor in every slice was the selling point. I have to say I liked it even with yellow peppers on one part (it's a really small part).

Land Rover?

Look at this beautiful new truck on my street. No, it's not mine, it's Maurizio's (from the pizza place). He's been driving a Ford Ka, which I think is the ugliest car out there, and now I know why. He's been saving for this, which is his "dream machine". It seems he's an offroad nut and has already taken it out "fuoristrada".

Busy, Busy

I can't believe how busy I've been here for work. Today we talked for 6 hours straight about the state of the business. Last night we all went out for a big steak dinner. I still feel full and my stomach can't seem take it. Tonight I had pizza which was a little more to my taste. I've taken some photos but I can't but them on until I get back in Italy. This weekend I'll be hanging out in Cincinnati with the family, which should be much more laid back. I still have a lot of things to buy for the people back in Brindisi. No I'm not buying a bowling ball for you, Marco!!!!

Paola and Berti

Here we find the real unique part of my trip. This is Paola with Berti. He is the son of Roberto and Madelena so he's half Italian and half Czech and he's already learning those two languages and English. Having dinner at their apartment was great. I don't know when I'll have handmade Italian pizza with local Czech wine again....

Things new to me

This post goes along with yesterday’s midpoint post.
Simple things I’ve never done until 18 months ago (some of these I now do everyday) in no particular order:
1. Drink coffee.
2. Shared a cup of coffee with someone else (yes I shared a coffee and it was a thimble sized cup).
3. Had gelato. A lot.
4. Eaten pizza for more than one meal in a day
5. Eaten pasta for more than one meal in a day
6. Had 5 types of cheeses in my frig.
7. Wake up early on Saturday just to walk to the market.
8. Go for a walk either before or after dinner almost EVERY day.
9. Gone without fast food for over a month and at times 6 months.
10. Used the fire department to get into my apartment
11. Driven a car with the alarm going off.
12. Driven the wrong way down a one-way street, on purpose.
13. Run the same stop sign every day (unless someone is coming the other way).
14. Honked at someone even though they had the right of way.
15. Cut someone off even though they had the right of way.
16. Passed a car down the middle of the road. Don’t worry mom I don’t do this anymore.
17. Hung my laundry out to dry.
18. Walked arm in arm with another guy.
19. Worn a scarf.
20. Fallen asleep at work
21. Gone on a blind date with 2 women.
22. Started eating dinner at 11:30 PM
23. Reported a lost key to the Police.
24. Drank 5 different types of alcoholic beverages at one meal
25. Eaten horse meat
26. Stood in a field of poppies
27. Missed a flight
28. Ridden a train. (I mean one that actually went somewhere)
29. SMS text messaged someone (now I can't go without).
30. Owned more than one cell phone and used both at one time.
31. Used my cell phone as the modem for my computer to connect to the internet. (going 32. through the infrared port no less, pretty cool eh!)
32. Paid the same parking ticket twice
33. Listen to American Indians playing “Hotel California” on the streets of an Italian town. There was just something very odd about that.
34. Taken a dump in a hole in the ground and it wasn’t because I was out camping.
35. Got lost within walking distance of my apartment (many times in fact).

Some of these may make you wonder....