2010 The Year in Review

Back in the good old days when I blogged a lot I could wrap up the year with a highlight from each month. Let’s see if I can do that without the help of continuous blogging to look back on. If I forgot something important then feel free to remind me in the comments.

January

I went to Tunisia and realized a life long dream. I went and saw Luke Skywalker’s house from the original Star Wars. Of course there was a lot more to Tunisia than that but lets not get into the details about how Tunisians are TERRIBLE at giving directions.

February

I saw my beloved Colts get beat by the Saints in the Superbowl. Well I did see some of it live and then I fell asleep. I guess its ok they lost as New Orleans “needed” it more according to the articles. Blah, blah, blah.

March

My soccer team won the work tournament here in Brindisi. Kolletti Bianchi (White Collars) were unstoppable in the semifinals and finals. I have to admit that those two were my best games too. I tried to explain that when the game is important I turn up adrenalin because when you’re over 35 you have ration it!

April

I can’t think of anything that happened in April. That’s unusual because April is Easter and usually I take a trip with that nice long weekend. This year it came and went with no explorations. I can’t remember why. Then April 25th and May 1st both fell on the weekend so a trip using one of these holidays was also out of the question. Italians really need to learn to move vacation days to Mondays and Fridays like we do in the States.

May

In May I made up for April. I went Whitewater rafting in Calabria. I think it’s amazing that this was my first time in real white water. I’m also upset at my slow reactions when someone in my raft fell out. I imagined that in such a situation I would summon superhero strength to pull the fellow out of the dangerous waters. It ended fine but I did nothing heroic and the waters weren't dangerous. I also went home for a week of R&R in Cincinnati. I’ve learned long ago that I need a trip home about every 6 months or I’ll go crazy.

June

This was the start of the World Cup 2010. Highlights for Italy were few so I’ll just relive 2006 in my head. At least the USA made some highlight film material.

July

This month too seemed quiet and without highlights from what I can remember. Maybe this is because like April it’s the month before a lot of traveling. I didn’t have a big 4th of July celebration at my house like in 2009. I guess I need to bring that back in 2011.

August

August is always the big vacation month in Italy and this year was no different. I again went to Asia for the 3rd year in a row. This time it was to Eastern India (Calcutta to Darjeeling) and then Bhutan. Very nice trip and definitely another highlight of my life.

September

I was back in the States but this time for work. I also managed to see a lot of family on the weekend, which is great when it works out like that.

October

This went I really started feeling bad. For those of you who don’t know I was getting a very strange feeling of nausea. It had been bothering me for weeks but in October I really felt bad so much so that I went and saw my Italian doctor for the first time. It was a good experience with the National Healthcare System. Finally I used my tessera di sanita.

November

Continuing my stomach issues I had a gastro-scope done and they found that the valve at the top of my stomach (called the cardias) ain’t doing its job well. So now I’m doing much better with the help of Omeprazolo (I think that’s what it’s called). Also I went to Torino for a long weekend, which was a surprisingly nice town. Then I went home to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving. I’ve learned over the years that traveling at Thanksgiving is way better than Christmas. Anybody seeing the news about Europe right now knows I choose wisely.

December

This month has been quiet. I guess the highlight is looking back at all the crazy stuff that happened in my life this year. I’m happy spending another quiet Christmas in Brindisi. After Christmas I may drive down to Sicily. I love to visit that part of Italy I still haven’t seen Stromboli or Siracusa which would be nice.

There is definite fear in the air for me in 2011. A lot could happen. The most definite thing is that I will turn 40! Uffa, that sounds old. My return to the States seems more definite than all the other times that I said I was moving back. I think 2010 was the only year that there wasn’t a danger of me being moved back to the States. This time it could really happen and as usual I’m undecided as to weather its good thing or not. Sometimes it seems like a great idea when something is pissing me off and at other times I think about ALL the changes that will lead to and I think I should stay. Still Italians have taught me a thing or two about family so if I have to leave at least I will be getting back closer to family. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Regata di Brindisi December 19, 2010

Some photos from today. I was looking for Christmas photos but found this race instead.

Traveling, what joy?

So let’s recap my latest visit to the states from a traveling view point. Going to the US was relatively easy this time. There was a strange procedure in Rome for getting on the plane. They made everyone get out of seated area by the gate and then slowly let everyone back in by checking their ticket and passport. Then of course they checked your ticket and passport again as you went through to get on the plane. I won’t blame the Italians because I’m pretty sure we Americans have required this system to travel to the USA. I didn’t see this for the flights going anywhere else in the world from Italy.

On the plane things were great. The seat next to me was empty! I can’t remember the last time the plane wasn’t packed going across the pond. I wonder, is this Alitalia’s fault or is it the economic crisis? Usually I take Continental to Newark and its packed solid. Anyway I didn’t care. I dumped my backpack in the seat next to me and connected my Ipad to the headphones and my entertainment for the 10.5 hour flight was set. My expensive Bose headphones have paid for themselves if you ask me. You can truly forget you’re on a plane under their noise-cancelling cushions. It’s a good thing I had this stuff too because this old plane has the monitors in the aisle so everyone watches the same crappy movie. The plane left a little over an hour late so I missed my connection in Chicago. This news hits me like water on a duck’s back. I’ve missed so many flights I no longer get upset.

So the flight to the USA was pretty good with only one missed flight and no lost luggage.

Now flying back to Italy sucked and I took a trip into “Bizarro World” for those of you who know Star Trek (for those of you who don’t it’s when things are opposite of what they should be). First inCincinnati I went through the full body scanner with the new rules. After my radiating experience he asked if I had anything in my back pocket. I did. I had one frickin piece of paper, my travel itinerary. That was enough to make me a pat down victim. So a word to the wise, you can’t even have a piece of paper in your pocket with these full body scanners. No wonder people with prosthesis or other medical conditions are getting harassed. I’m all for safety but this was ridiculous.

Then in Chicago I had to go from one terminal to another. To do that you go outside of security zone so I had to go through security again. It was then that I remembered that I didn’t go through a full body scanner at O’Hare coming into the country (going to the internal USA terminal of AA) so O’Hare must not have them I thought. But I was wrong, going into the International Terminal I had my second full body scan for the trip. I learn quickly and had NOTHING in my pockets so I didn’t get a second pat down. I was amazed how quickly the line moved. I mean consider how hard it is for people to remove obvious pieces of metal, like a watch, when going through a metal detector. I guess the threat of pat down gets people to remember the rules much quicker. I think you American men are going to need “manbags” for traveling. That way you won’t have anything in you pockets going through security.

The plane from Chicago to Rome was about 1/3 full. As soon as we were at altitude people spread out like an oil spill. Again I was about as comfortable as you can get on plane and not be in 1^stclass. Again the plane was very late leaving ….

I arrived in Rome and I didn’t even check how much time I had until the flight for Brindisi. I knew I was close but no need to rush because you can’t! As I’m going into the line for security for transferring flights there was an Alitalia person there saying “Qualcuno per Brindisi?” This is strange so I told her I was. She moved a pedestal that let me into a shorter line for security. That has never happened before. In fact the opposite seems to happen. This was now “Bizarro World”. Usually you’re running late and you want to skip ahead so you ask someone and they say sorry because everyone i s running late, which I have to admit is true. Then I knew I was in Bizarro World because after security there was the same lady from Alitalia waiting of me. I felt like a VIP. She told that the plane hasn’t started boarding yet but it will soon so we walked quickly towards the gate. Normal world made a brief appearance as I waited for passport control. A kid cut in front of me and of course it turned into a big problem. He and another student and 2 teachers were coming to Italy from Turkey as part of some exchange program. I learned all this as the 3 other people behind me went up there to talk to the customs agent after the kid couldn’t answer a single question. Bizarro World conquered as another agent came over and escorted them off to an office to talk about their issues. Then I went up customs agent who seemed apologetic. He commented, “I’ve never seen an American with a permesso di soggiorno before.” “I follow ALL the rules”, I commented back in my best Italian. I wanted to add “even in Brindisi” but the less you say the better. My Alitalia friend was waiting for me again after passport control and she explained that they had started boarding but I should be fine now if I knew where the gate was. I confirmed I knew exactly where it was and I promised to go straight there so she went back to whatever she needed to do. I’d never had treatment like this from Alitalia.

I made it to the gate in plenty of time because the plane from Rome to Brindisi was packed. What the hell is going on? Usually the flight to Brindisi is almost empty and I can stretch out and get quick nap on the 45 minute flight. Of course the one time I arrive last was very important because there wasn’t a square inch available in the overhead bins. I had to put my backpack under the seat in front of me leaving just enough room for my feet and that’s it. At least this was a short flight to be packed in like a sardine. My one joy was another person tried to fit one more bag in the overhead and several other people said, “Hey careful, that’s my bag!” as he adjusted things to no avail. I laughed because I know the people complaining would have doing the same exact thing.

In Brindisi all was well. My bag made it fine and it also seemed to have no new damage (still in Bizarro World). I bought the ticket for the bus to the center of town and of course I could see it leaving before I could get out of airport terminal. That was ok because I know how the guy drives and he was back in about 20 minutes. It gave me time to notice that price of the bus ticket has gone up to 90 cents (from 80 cents) at the tabaccaio in the airport, while the price of buying it on the bus is still 1.50. Next time I’ll go straight to the bus!

So what did we all learn here? A lot I think…..

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.

Some photos from hiking in Calabria

I include this photo because the next photo is from that clock tower that you see here...

The cute town of Orsomarso....

This photo is me practicing for that dream photo that gets me in National Geographic.

This photo is from Saturday afternoon when hiked along a river called "Fiume Argentino." This whole area could have been used in a water commercial.

They said the old owner of the agriturismo liked Ostriches and that is the only reason they still had a pair. For the record they produce 3 eggs and week and they are not fertile for some reason (these two are a couple!).

What the hell is going on?

I tell you it’s never a dull moment in Europe or Italy. We have volcanoes ricking havoc in the skies. We have Greece falling further into an economic ruin and here in Italy we have no elections for 3 years, or do we? The other 2 problems are getting plenty of western press so I’ll dive into the Italy problem for you, the reader. We just had an election where the right leaning party won (the PDL of Silvio Berlusconi). Now of course both sides SAY they won but let’s be blunt. Silvio Berlusconi’s side picked up a couple of regions thanks to the left (Partito Democratico) being a bunch of idiots. Now Silvio’s “Party of Love” (I’m not making that up) is having a big old family feud. The PDL is made up of 3 groups one lead by Fini, one by Berlusconi, and one by Umberto Bossi. The problem is not everyone in party agrees on the direction. Silvio Berlusconi and Gianfranco Fini have been at odds for a while and it’s finally coming to head. Today the real nut-job of the party Umberto Bossi has chimed in and it seems a split is now inevitable. I say Umberto Bossi is a nut job because he honestly believes that Italy should be split in two so the wealthy North can live without being bothered by those dirty southerners (and I can’t write what he thinks of foreigners). Bossi’s son recently went so far as to say he has, and will never, visit Italy south of Rome. If that wasn’t enough he also said he’s not a fan of the Italian National Soccer Team in the upcoming World Cup. Now that’s just crazy talk... you see why I call them nut jobs?...

So the next step is will this rift lead to Italians voting again. You see every time a party loses a majority in the houses of parliament the Italians have to vote again because you HAVE to have a majority to get anything passed. So if Fini is kicked out or leaves the PDL and he takes his support with him then it could mean that Berlusconi no longer has the votes in Parliament needed to pass new laws. I find it hard to believe that all this would not be part of Berli’s plan, so I’m thinking he’s been buying up Fini supporters in the background this whole time so that if Fini leaves he goes by himself. Then again Berli did spend most of his time in power working on laws that would benefit him so maybe he knew this split was coming and he wanted to make sure his ass was covered before getting into new laws that Bossi wants…. Silvio did a good job of covering his ass… So the politics leading up to the election was all left verses right with scandals and controversies. Now it’s plain political infighting among the people that should have it made for the next 3 years. It’s almost as if they are afraid of not being the center of attention.

All this political mess and I now just noticed that two BIG Italian banks had their credit rating downgraded, Intesa San Paolo (my bank!!!) and Mediobanca (the bank run by Berlusconi!!!!!)

photo from Ostia Antica Easter weekend

Slowly getting back to blogging.



More to come.... soon.....

Dis is it...

So I need to get back to the grassroots here at Blogspot where everything is free. The JeffinItaly site is no more. Why, because I’m cheap and blogging is not the IN thang…Ah well just having this simple blog is something. They’re falling out of favor you know. It was hip and now it’s boring. It’s way to easy to write something quick and funny on Facebook. I know because I’m one of the funniest on Facebook. Anyway what’s going on around here.

The weather has been dam good this week. I feel the heat has been turned off and I don’t think I’ll need it again until October or November.

This weekend I’m heading up to Rome. This whole trip was planned around getting tickets to the Caravaggio exhibit and so we have to be there on Sunday at noon. I hope Easter Mass doesn’t make it crazy. Actually everyone should already be there by then.

In May I’ll be heading back to the States for a week R and R. Maybe I’ll pick up an Ipad if I’m a true Apple fan. That reminds me; I noticed that next week I will celebrate 1 year with the Iphone. I really love it like I’ve said before. It has continued to entertain me and proved useful. I’ve also said before that I don’t like talking on the phone which is why the Iphone is so good. It seems you HAVE to carry a cellphone around so why not have it do other things.

Hey it still works!!!

Technical troubles over at Jeff in Italy so I thought I would check out my old site and see if it still works. And aftera few tries at the password I'm in. So if I can't get Jeff in Italy hosted somewhere I could come back to this nice familar blog location. That's good to know.