Jeff in Puglia

Carcofi

2012-02-14T16:09:00.001+01:00

Ok that hail photo sucks but this photo of artichokes at the market last weekend is pretty good.

Hail

2012-02-14T16:07:00.001+01:00

A photo of the hail from my balcony.

Truckers

2012-01-25T14:47:00.001+01:00

So I think I should start with the most local of all problems: the striking truck drivers. It started last week in Sicily and now it's spread to the peninsula. Truckers are upset with the high gas prices due to a new tax on diesel fuel that started on January 1. Now trucks everywhere are stopping in solidarity. Yesterday it was bad as they were even stopping trucks that did not want to join their strike. Panic buying of fuel started Monday night and this means that most gas stations are dry. And this strike means they won't be getting anything for a while. This a time when I'm reminded why it's good to live in town. I can walk or ride my bike to almost everywhere. Of course I will need this trucks to move for my work and some of my food!
There were pictures of empty store shelves on the news but I don't believe the news anymore. During the mudslides they used old footage that had nothing to do with what happened this year. Then just recently they all played films that was supposed to from the Concordia as it hit the rocks. Really it was some old film from a boat in the Pacific. How could all three stations (TG1,TG3, and TG5) run videos of something on YouTube and call it news?!?!

Italy

2012-01-25T14:33:00.001+01:00

Well I'm still in Puglia and boy have things changed. Well not for me but for Italia. The government has changed and Italy was thrown into the spotlight for the debt crisis. Now the new government is trying to patch things up which obviously is not going down. Add in a few unrelated disasters (Concordia sinking and today earthquakes) and I think I have some stuff to write about. So I'm going to try to get back on the blog wagon.

Holy Crap

2011-09-09T15:17:00.001+02:00

Hey with this new Google Blogger App I can update this blog from anywhere. It may be just the thing to get me excited about blogging again. Only time will tell...

Belgium photos

2011-06-02T13:03:00.003+02:00

Explanations of the photos to be added one of these days...

Belgium (May 20-23, 2011)

2011-06-02T12:59:00.000+02:00

Last weekend I used Ryanair to have a long weekend in Belgium. They fly Brindisi to Charleroi for ridiculously cheap (this round trip ticket was 40 euros with all the taxes included). I believe this is really cheap because it was over the weekend and the weather in May can be great. This is February or March when the weather is miserable in these parts. We were really lucky with the weather because it was not to hot and not too cold which was important because the hotels we stayed in didn’t seem to have AC so any later in the year and the rooms probably would be uncomfortably hot.

The flight arrived early Friday morning and we jumped into a rental car and headed towards Bruges. We had time plenty of time to get there so we stopped and checked out Gent on the way. Gent was supposed to be a less touristy medieval town like Bruges and for the most part it was. It had some charm but we were left a little disappointed. It wasn’t small and quaint like we were expecting.

In Bruges we used my navigator option on the iphone to get us close to the hotel. We couldn’t get to the hotel because the road was closed. And when I say closed really I mean there wasn’t a road, it was gone. They had it stripped down to bare ground about a foot below street level. I guess this was good because it meant there was no street noise. I highly recommend the Hotel Gheestilic Hof (or something similar to that spelling) as it was great. We were within walking distance of all the major attractions and man did we walk. The first night we had dinner near the main piazza and learned something I didn’t expect. In Belgium this time of year it gets dark really late. We were hoping to stroll around the piazza just after dark admiring the lights but that didn’t happen because at 10:00 PM it was still light out. Also a strange thing about Belgium is everything closes early. The main clock tower (the main tourist attraction) closes the stairs to the top at 4:15 PM! The stores close around 6:00 or 7:00 PM and even the place we had desert at on the square was kicking us out at 10:30. We sat down at 10:00 and the waiter announced that we needed to order right away if we wanted anything. Come on man it’s the weekend, live a little and stay open to midnight. Do you need to get home to bed before the sun sets????

One of the highlights was the boat trip on the canals. I was worried that this would be too touristy but the boat driver was great and view from boat was worth the money. My personal favorite was going up in the clock tower. It was over 300 stairs all in a tight spiral. It wasn’t as hard as you expect but I had to stop to keep from getting too dizzy. We were the first ones to go up in the morning after learning the hard way about that early closing time I mentioned earlier.

After 2 nights in Bruges we went to Brussels for the last night so we would be closer to the airport for early flight out Monday morning. The hotel in Brussels (Best Western City Center) was not nearly as good as the one in Bruges. I really would like to know what “City Center” they are talking about. The two hotels had one thing in common and that was that the road was torn up leading to the hotel. The poor navigator in my iphone again wondered what the hell we were doing. The phone was blurting out directions and seemingly getting upset that we went around the long way. We also found out that we were not far from the “Red Light” district of Brussels during this exploration. I hadn’t seen anything like that since Amsterdam! This hotel was sooo close to the city center that we ended up driving from the hotel to main piazza, interesting given our ability to walk all day. In the end this helped as we were dead tired and stuffed after dinner. One of the highlights of Brussels was dinner. One person of our group had a cousin in Brussels and she showed us around but more importantly took us to a rib place that could be the best I have had in Europe. It was near the Brussels Stock Market and for 15 euro you had all you could eat ribs with a sauce that was dam good. I’m convinced they have stolen the recipe from the USA but that’s ok because we have tons of good ribs sauces and they choose a good one to steal. Brussels seemed to stay awake until after dark so we could see the famous Grote Plaz all light up.

Overall I enjoyed the trip a lot. I learned that Belgian beer is dam good. I know I had heard some good things about it but I really didn’t expect it to be that good. I learned that Belgium eats its waffles in the afternoon, only in the afternoon, and there are 2 kinds. I love the heavier dense kind. They throw a ball of dough that’s the consistency of bread dough into the waffle press and out comes waffle perfection. The other kind is crunchier but seems factory made. They also do a pretty good French fries with an interesting mustardish sauce. They close up the country early so go to any museums or monuments first. They need to take the Italian afternoon pause so they can open past 7:00 PM!

Sicily Round 2

2011-02-19T10:56:00.010+01:00

I forgot I had the big old Digital SLR so I have these photos too!!!

The ear of Dionysis or something like that. I'll look it up later.

Sunset in Siracusa

The alley our B&B was in on.

Artsy photo of the Duomo in Siracusa

The normal photo of the Duomo

This is a night shot of Castelmola which is actually above Taormina. Very small and quiet town.
Another photo in Castelmola. Not sure how that old FIAT got up the road!

Photos from Sicily

2011-02-19T10:28:00.006+01:00

How about some photos from the trip to Taormina and Siracusa?! Remember I only have a iphone now.

Crossing the straits. It was too cold to go out on deck. This was in January!!!

Gnocchi with Pistachios. Very good. I highly recommend it.
Boats in the Siracusa harbor.
This was the most surprising find. The catacombs of San Giovanni under this church are incredible.
It wouldn't be Sicily without Cannoli!!!!

The only view of Mount Etna. The rest of the time it was covered with clouds.

Plastic in 2011

2011-02-05T18:11:00.002+01:00

So this year we (Italy and I) are lowering our plastic usage, sort of, let me explain. Italy passed a law way back in 2007 to cut down on the number of plastics in use. The law got pushed back several times but finally came into effect on January 1, 2011. It says that plastic bags are “illegal”. Now I put that illegal in quotes because like everything in Italy it’s all relative. For one thing the stores are allowed to keep giving them out until they run out of the old stock. They are supposed to use only biodegradable after that and charge for them to give people incentive to use reusable bags. They are trying to promote cloth bags. So far this year I haven’t noticed any difference. There were some places that already used biodegradable bags and some that didn’t. It seems to still be that way. But before I knew all this I had already started collecting cloth bags last year in various ways so now I’m making the most of them. For instance last year in India I was in a part of the country that already had a ban like this on plastic bags. In 2 places I bought something and they put the items in a small cloth bag. This worked out great because now I have 2 cloth bags, one small and the other medium sized. Also last year I got 2 bigger bags when I bought cat food. They were part of a promotion and they are very ugly but they work. Two other cloth bags were given to me as promotional items when new stores opened in Brindisi. Sorry mom the cloth bag you gave me I gave toAlberta because it wasn’t manly enough! Anyway I have made it habit this year to always go out with a bag in hand, even if I’m not planning on buying anything. I figure you have to get in the habit or it won’t work. It seems to be working. The number of plastic bags that I had has diminished greatly, so what am I going to use when cleaning the cat litter boxes?!! I’ll have to get some good biodegradable bags myself.

Then other part of my low plastic life is water bottles. At work I can get a half liter bottle of water for 25 euro cents out of the vending machine. This seems like nothing so I didn’t think twice about buying a bottle once in a while. Also there are recycling bins at work so I always put the bottles there so I felt ok about it. This year I’m trying to eliminate it all together by refilling a bottle and bringing it from home. The result so far is I have bought 1 bottle of water from the vending machine at work. I don’t think I have saved much money but I would like to think that I’m doing my part to improve my habits every year. At lunch they give a half liter bottle with your meal so there is nothing I can do about that. I have started bringing in a panino for lunch instead of always eating in the cafeteria.

In a related story I bought a new CD case. This is the book-type of case that holds just the CD. I took all of my CDs out of their stupid individual cheap crap plastic cases and put them into the new book-type case. I saved the CD cover/booklet with the CD because that’s important part of these old CDs. My first reason for this was my CDs were taking up too much space on the shelves of the apartment and I never use them. This change made it so my CD collection takes up A LOT less space, which in turn gave me room for other crap that I’ve been collecting on the shelves. Also I felt good throwing out all cheap plastic. Many were already broken or cracked so feel a little liberated by doing this.

Last year was LED light bulbs and solar panels. This year plastic. Hmmm what else can do to be greener? That reminds me that I’ve seen LED light bulbs on sale lately. I think a new generation of bulbs are about to come out and they need to sell off what they have in stock. I think this year they will come out with bulbs that give off “good light” and by this I mean truly equivalent to incandescent but they will stay be too expensive. I say in 2014 LEDs will replace 90% of the lights we use. I already see more and more styles and types in the store. I saw some being used to light the tunnels on the A3 fromSalerno to Reggio Calabria on my way down to Sicily. That should be a good test of them. If they can take being on all the time and in the conditions of the tunnels then they could prove their worth.

2010 The Year in Review

2010-12-23T18:57:00.004+01:00

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

2010-12-19T12:59:00.002+01:00

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

Traveling, what joy?

2010-12-01T23:02:00.005+01:00

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

2010-09-27T17:26:00.001+02:00

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

2010-05-06T21:52:00.004+02:00

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?

2010-04-24T13:30:00.000+02:00

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

2010-04-22T22:23:00.004+02:00

Slowly getting back to blogging.

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

Dis is it...

2010-04-01T22:11:00.000+02:00

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!!!

2010-02-18T15:50:00.002+01:00

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.

Movin on is tough....

2008-02-17T09:50:00.003+01:00

I hate to screw up the links and bookmarks that everyone has but I'm going to. With Roam to Rome's help I set up a new site. From now on I will be blogging over at Jeff in Italy. I'm still in Puglia but I just wanted something easier to remember and "tell people" to spread the word. It's obvious how to spell puullleeh in Italian but not English.

Also on this new site I plan to have more photos available in albums and I want to write more in Italian. My local friends seem to be getting on the Internet much more. They love MySpace but I hope they come over to my site once and while.

Anyway change your favorites now!!!

Please...

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

2008-02-11T20:42:00.000+01:00

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.

Technical Problems

2008-02-07T18:01:00.000+01:00

I know I've been a bad blogger lately. I'll try to make it up to you. First let me say that it's not my fault! I made the mistake of trying to upgrade my life online. I'm not officially switched over to a new highspeed internet KEY by Vodafone. In fact that photo just loaded in record time (and i was downloading software updates at the same time). Moving forward was not easy, that's all I'll say for now. I will also say that February is flying by. Well I still don't trust this new internet key so I'm going to keep this short.
Ciaoooooo

Life in the Slow Lane...

2008-01-29T12:36:00.001+01:00

I can’t put my finger on it but life seems to be moving slowly lately, for instance, its STILL January. How can that be? It seems ages ago when I arrived back in Brindisi after the holidays and all this putanatta in 2008 makes it seem like it’s been 2008 for two months. I’ve been cursing 2008 a little because a few lousy things have happened in this first month of the year. I can’t complain too much because so far every time something comes up that sounds really bad it turns out to be much better then first reported. For instance when I first arrived in Brindisi someone told me that the Goldoni Pub, which I told you about in November, had been closed down by the Guardia di Finanza. This is a common occurrence but I was upset because my friend Ottavio had spent 2 years working on that pub. Well the reports proved false as I stopped in a few days later and he wasn’t closed. There were some “concerns” about his stage and the lights but it was resolved. Basically he couldn’t have a bunch of stage lights. There have been other things like that but I don’t feel like going into details.
I did go out to the beach for a photo trip on Saturday so I guess I could should you a few of those photos… It was REALLY windy and the sea was rough on Saturday as you see in the photos. It’s been like that lately though one day REALLY windy and the next day calm.

Italy in Crisis???

2008-01-25T11:16:00.000+01:00

Nah, they’re just changing the whole government, again and at a really bad time for the economy. You see Berlusconi was the first Prime Minister to actually serve the whole entire 5-year term since WWII. And he’s convinced he’s the only one that can do that. To prove this Berlusconi has spent the last 20 months constantly trying every trick to get the Prodi government thrown out of power. It seemed like every time something didn’t go well Berli would be on TV saying the Prodi government needs to “go home.” I really thought it was funny when Berli said, “If Prodi can’t solve the trash crisis in Naples then his government needs to go home.” We should ask Berli what he did to solve the trash crisis in the 5 years he was in power; by the way the trash crisis in Naples has been a crisis for 15 years now. Well yesterday Berli won. Prodi lost his vote of confidence in the Senate and now the government is in a state of limbo until the President decides what to do next. This is the only time the President does anything by the way. The most likely thing is new elections. That’s right, after only 20 months, another election.
In case you didn’t follow how this could happen, good for you. I’ll briefly sum it up. The bottom line is that a member of Udeur party (the Udeur Party holds 3 seats in the over 300 seat Senate) is under investigation for corruption and fraud. The Party is upset that the Prodi government didn’t “support” them against the investigation so they switched sides and are now against Prodi. These 3 little seats in the Senate are enough to stop Prodi from getting any bills through the Senate. They called a vote of confidence to see if it’s even worthwhile to discuss bills if they are going to be voted down. The confidence vote last night basically said that anything Prodi brings to the Senate would be voted down. So we need a new government that has a majority and can get bills completed.
You want to hear the really funny part. Yesterday in the Senate they were about to vote and one of the 3 Udeur Senators decided he was going to vote with Prodi because he wanted the government to stay and continue. The other Udeur Senator went nuts verbally assaulting his fellow party member. Some accounts say he even spit on him before he was escorted out (YouTube should have video proof under “Tommaso Barbato” and “sputo” by now!). The Udeur Senator that changed his mind fainted and had to be carried out under a barrage of insults from other Senators. The 3rd Udeur Senator, oh yeah, he wasn’t even there and he’s the one under investigation too. Hmmm. I like this quote from the spitter “Questo Paese non risorgerà mai se ci sarà gente di merda a rappresentarlo” (In English that's something like: “This country will never rise again if there are people of shit to represent it”). What a nice thing to say about your fellow party member. There are many other subplots and wicked tales that make it almost impossible to find the truth. Did the Prodi government buy the one Senator’s vote? Did Berli buy the Udeur Party’s support? Are they all bunch of overpaid, power-hungry idiots incapable of doing anything for the good of the country?!!!!
On the plus side Beppe Grillo is getting ready for a new election. Will his Civic Lists make an impact? He’s asking that no CONVICTED criminals be allowed in Parliament. I won’t even touch the fact that they were just about to pass a law that changes how Italian elections are done. Stay tuned…

Dreamin'

2008-01-23T14:45:00.000+01:00

I may be dreaming but here’s the deal. I’ll let you in on it. When the dollar started to go up Monday (it has since gone…never mind) my curiosity was peaked and I went online looking at real estate sites here in Brindisi. I came across one particular property that interested me. The funny thing is that it is right across the street from where I am now. So what are the details?
It’s a 3 bedroom 2 bath apartment just like the place I’m renting now but a little smaller. I really would like a 2 bedroom 1 bath but this apartment may be easier to resell in the future.

Here’s the big good point. It has a huge terrace. I debated back and forth on weather I would like to live in the country or the city. I’ve decided that in the city would be better but only with a large terrace that gets plenty of sun. I could make it into a little garden. I envision a tranquil garden oasis in the city. This place could be it. Living in the country would be nice too but I love not NEEDING my car to go everywhere. I love my current location where I can walk to work. This place is like my current apartment only with a big terrace.

It’s on the top floor (the 7th floor in this case) of the building. One of the bad things about my current apartment is the street noise. I would hope this place is high enough that the street noises are less of a problem. The building across from it is not very tall so the noise should disperse whereas in my place the noise is kind of channeled or bounced between buildings. Also a majority of this apartment faces Via Appia whereas my apartment faces more the main road Via Bastioni San Giorgio (but it still doesn’t have the address “Via Appia”, which would have been another plus in my book, damn).

Some of the downsides…
The 7th floor, ouch, that’s high, so I need to make sure the elevator works all the time. I would still use the stairs a lot like I do now but if I have luggage or groceries and I need the elevator then it better work. A friend of mine, Andrea lives in the building so I need to ask him about it. The outside of the building looks like crap. It has chipping concrete and the first floor offices have been empty forever. Is this building kept in decent shape or about to collapse? A possible big problem is that there is no mention of a garage. I know there is an underground garage under the building and USUALLY each apartment has one garage but that probably isn’t the case here because it’s not stated in the ads. No garage is really bad because I can’t leave my car on the street and there’s no place to park, legally that is…
The price is pretty good for Brindisi but it’s still really high for me (with the exchange rate). Will the owner raise the price if he hears a rich American is interested in it? How much will I get when I start renting my house again? And when will that be? OF course I’m just dreamin’ so lets say I get the apartment, put a few solar panels on the roof and make a calm, beautiful garden with a hot tub, yeah, hot tub. All with everything still within walking distance....

For Pete's sake....

2008-01-21T14:57:00.000+01:00

I don’t use that phrase normally but today I am. Things are a little ridiculous at work right now. I think I mentioned some time ago that my coworkers are not satisfied with the food served in the cafeteria. There was a survey done and nothing seems to have changed. Come to think of it, I never saw the results of that survey. Hmmm… Fast-forward to Friday of last week when the workers took actions into their own hands and did what Italians LOVE to do. They went on strike against the cafeteria. At lunchtime on Friday, instead of going to eat in the cafeteria they hung around outside it making a lot of noise. Refusing to eat in the cafeteria and not letting anyone else go in. I waited until most of them went back to work and then went in and ate. There was still two guys hanging around asking us “nicely” not to go in but I did anyway. There was even a security guard in front of the cafeteria making sure that if someone wanted to go in they could. This striking business is out of control and if I don’t agree with their position then I have every right to go in there and eat. A strike would be necessary if the food was not eatable or if there were health concerns, but the food is fine. I have noticed a slight decline in the quality over the years (I’m sure to Italians this decline probably seems like the end of the world). But the bottom line is that food is getting more expensive and I’m sure the cafeteria is just getting by on the same budget they have always had. I would be taking my complaints to the person here at work that is in charge of the cafeteria. This striking business is just used way too often. Anyway, today I’m having a panino from a little store outside of work because they say I shouldn’t go in to the cafeteria again during this strike. This is so ridiculous. Do they really think they will get better food by striking? Anyway I would love to have a hot meal for lunch today but instead I’ve caved in and I’m a cold panino. Their big statement is that I’ll benefit from this strike in the long run. What happens if the strike doesn’t work?
Also there are no photos today as the Vodafone network is on the blink. It’s really slow. I switched my Vodafone Connect Card from 3G to GPRS just to get a connection that stays connected! I wonder if that new fancy new “Internet Key” that they show on TV is having this problem. Maybe it’s causing it!!!

To quote Sheryl Crow, “Every day is winding road…”

Focara di Novoli part 2

2008-01-17T09:22:00.000+01:00

For the story of the Focara click on this: my write up on the Focara last year. This year I'll just give you some photos.

There's always a ton of lights for these festivals. This one I'm taking trying to get the church in the photo. If you look closely you'll see it.

This one is looking right down the heart of the lights. There's noone around because the fireworks just went off way down after the end of the lights. In a few minutes the street was packed with people heading against us. We were salmon swimming upstream until we arrived at the fire. Don't arrive just late. Arrive really late or early!

I don't remember this from last year. These wooden buckets are filled with anchovies in some strange yellow paste. The white bucket has what I think is sardines. I knew I should have taken a picture of the names because now I don't know, Marco auitemi, ti prego!!

Another photo of the yellow fish. I didn't try it. Sorry, but I had a panino of questionable meat. I didn't want to add fish to that equation.

The normal vendor you see at these festivals. Lots of nuts and dried stuff.

Another one. How much nuts and dried stuff do Italians use? He also had olives, figs, and other things....I'm always amazed at the number of people selling almost the same things.

Here we are sneaking a peak in a local restaurant. This place was FULL of smoke. There must have been a problem with their wood fired oven. It was a sweet smelling smoke but thick.

I'll have a scontrino with that....

2008-01-14T14:09:00.000+01:00

There was an interesting article in the paper this weekend. It said that 70% of stores in Italy don’t issue a proper receipt all the time (highest was 84% in Campania and lowest was 45% in Umbria). What does this mean? Well in Italy there is a 20% VAT or IVA or sales tax, whatever it's called. One of the down sides of many small stores is that it’s hard for the government to know what they are selling. So if a store doesn’t issue a receipt then the government doesn’t know about the transaction and doesn’t get the VAT. Instead the storeowner gets it. This upsets me because it’s plain and simple tax evasion, cheating, stealing, or whatever else you want to call it. I hate giving the government my money too but if all these stores are cheating the government then “they” still get their money from somewhere and that’s me because I honestly report all my income, so the government takes more from me. I'm getting hit twice because I paid the VAT that the government didn’t receive and my income taxes. It brings about a vicious circle. People cheat the system so the government raises the taxes to get the money they want. So more people cheat because there’s more to gain by cheating. In the big business capitalist society of the USA people still cheat but it isn’t as obvious and widespread, but of course I could be wrong. Well at least I'm not getting hit twice, I think.
This brings me to a second point that these people then have no right to criticize the state of Italian hospitals and schools. If you’re a café owner and you don’t give everyone a receipt and short change the government then how to you expect them to keep your schools and hospitals clean and new? I love shopping at these little stores, as it just feels right. It’s what you imagine when you think of Italy, but like all good things it has a down side too. I think just about EVERY store I’ve shopped at has at some point not given me a receipt. It happens more when they know you because they know you’re not from the Guardia di Finanza. The GdiF is government’s answer to finding all these lying and cheating stores (another expense I pay for!) All of this is really funny when you realize that I could get in trouble for leaving a store without a receipt. So I'll ask for a scontrino and they will give me a double take and wonder what I'm up to. Just a little Monday morning rant. Maybe I’m too idealistic because I think everyone will do the right thing and we’ll get along, blah, blah, blah…
Well at least I put up a photo of the pretty spring like flowers we have already. Along with this I had two mosquitos in my apartment last night! I swear they hang out by my door waiting for me. Maybe that's why I'm in a whiny mood...

Ok, Ok, Something new...

2008-01-13T23:27:00.000+01:00

It's just that there isn't much to write about these days. After La Befana the days are pretty boring. This week we have the Focara at Novoli but I went last year and it wasn't that great. Check out January of last year for that review.

One thing about this weekend is I did finally see "Il Padrino" (The Godfather). Yes all this time I had never seen the movie. I figured I really should and then my sister gave me the book for Christmas last year(well technically 2007 is last year). I read through it quickly as I really got into the characters so the next step was to see the movie. Is it just me or does it seem like every time you read a book and then see the movie you're disappointed? The book gives you so much more. Did the movie even mention Rocco Lampone by name? I think the only time I've been satisfied with a movie after the book is the Lord of the Rings. I can see why the movie was such a hit but I still didn't get the same feeling of tension like I did in the book.

I'm pro-tourism again!

2008-01-07T10:06:00.000+01:00

Let’s see so much to write about. I guess I’ll leave out the little stuff. I had a good weekend and I hope you did too. First of all I was going to do a good new/bad news post but the bad news is all crap that’s the usual crap, gas prices, politics, trash problems in Naples. Some of the good news…
As you see in the photo La Befana was here yesterday. She didn’t leave much candy but I guess she knows I’ll just eat it all right away. I still have a big Pandore that I just bought for 50% off because it’s the end of the season sale. Along that line I’m proud of myself because this weekend all the sales started and I didn’t buy any clothes. I don’t really need anything so that’s not a big surprise but just to help Friday I went online and paid my credit card bill for December. That was enough to put me off spending more money!!!!
In the news the big story is that in June THE POPE is coming to Brindisi. That’s right the guy with the funny hat is coming here. I’m excited and I’m not even catholic, maybe that’s why he’s coming!! Although this excitement may wear off the first time I hear about some hair-brained idea to block off the town to cars or make my life a mess. Suddenly it all makes sense. In the last 4 years just about every church in town has had some major restoration. Right now they are taking down the scaffolding on two churches, Santa Teresa and Santa Maria degl’Angeli. I don’t think the Pope is going to visit all the churches but I bet they wanted them all to look nice for people who come here from other areas. So this year is a good time to visit our churches in the best condition they have been in for years. The newspaper article says they will spend a million euros in preparations for his visit just in the next 6 months. One thing they didn’t mention is when was the last time a Pope came to Brindisi.
Other good news. I’m back on a pro-tourism push for Brindisi. Last night some friends and I went out to look at some presepi (nativity scenes). I guess after last night they will all be packed up until next Christmas. This one below is one of my favorites.

Walking from one mostra (exhibition) to another we passed something new. I read about this but I didn’t know it was open until we saw it. It’s Brindisi’s new “Sala di Colonna”. Brindisi has made a special room where the capital (top) of the Roman column that marked the end of the Via Appia is now housed. The one exposed to the elements in the harbor is a copy and the second one, as we all know, is still in Lecce (where’s my column stealing posse?). Right now the room is kind of bare but I imagine they will add other artifacts from the same period as time goes by. The other great part of this is that this room in inside a building called the Palazzo Granafei Nervegna (16th Century) that has stone balconies outside that remind you of Romeo and Juliet and also this building is across the street from theater with the Roman ruins under it. It makes a good combination. To come and see just one of these two things would be ok but to be able to see both makes the trip worthwhile. My friends tell me they have been working on this Palazzo for 10 years so I’m going to whine a little and say, "Why does everything take to long?” For more info on all the things to see in town (besides Churches then go to this link: historical town center

Upstairs from the column there was another little exhibit showing models of some plans for Brindisi. They were closing as we entered so I didn’t get chance to see everything. I did see a very nice looking park but I don’t know where in Brindisi it was going to be built. I’ll have to go back.
That's one big piece of 2000 year old marble! And it's really getting the star treatment. Good job Brindisi.

Review of 2007

2008-01-04T11:57:00.000+01:00

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.

How not to spend New Years

2008-01-01T17:29:00.000+01:00

Let me explain and this could get long…. It started several days before December 31 so maybe it’s 2007s fault. I checked my flights back to Italy and I found out I was flying back to Bari and not Brindisi. Why, because Alitalia cancelled the Brindisi flight. Keep in mind that when I left for the USA they didn’t mention this. It wasn’t technical problems or a strike, no I found out they changed the time of the flight. So now I have new reason to hate Alitalia. They change flight times without warning. How could they not know when I was leaving for USA that the flight back was changed? Did I mention I’ll dance in the streets when Alitalia is no more?!!
However, Alitalia did arrange for a bus to take us (about 30 people) from Bari to Brindisi. I didn’t know this until I arrived in Rome and as an added surprise the bus turned into a funny story. In Rome they asked who needed the bus and about 30 people put their names on the list, so at least I knew I wasn’t the only one Alitalia was screwing. In Bari I rushed out of the airport because my stuff had to be checked out by dogana and I was afraid the bus would leave without me (even though they had my name). And I was the last one to get on the bus. The funny thing is that there are only 6 other people on the bus. The bus driver gets on cursing and muttering under his breath how they told him “they needed a bus for 30.” I don’t know where the others went but we left with only 7 people. Then the story gets funnier. The first turn out of the airport is a left turn that he can’t make because we’re in this HUGE bus made for 60. He has to go right because that’s the only turn he can make. Down the road a way we come to a police officer directing traffic. He says there’s an accident on the road ahead and we have to turn at this intersection. The driver asks him how to get to the Autostrada and the police officer gives him some directions that I can’t hear. We wander around for a while bus stops again and the driver asks someone on the street for directions. I only here the bus drivers muttering but it’s not good. Finally we do the most incredible U-turn in this busy Y-shaped intersection. I loved watching the honking and hand waving from my plush seat in the sky. Man, you’re high up in those buses. We end up going all the way back to the airport only this time we’re pointing in the right direction for the Autostrada. I wanted to sleep but this driving was so entertaining I couldn’t. Although, once we were on the highway I feel asleep for the first time in 24 hours but only for about 30 minutes.
I come home to two cats that are afraid of me and for good reason. My neighbor left me a plant (I had commented about it when I saw it on her balcony) and the cats proceeded to destroy it making a huge mess of dirt on the kitchen table. She probably left it there knowing I would be home soon but what she didn’t realize is how quickly they can get into things, especially a plant. I think it may live. I hope.
All this was before the celebration last night. I would write about that but I completely missed it. I went out at 11:00 PM to see what was going on. The town was a ghost town. Except for people throwing fireworks off their balconies everywhere (and not looking to see if some idiot foreigner was walking around) you would have been convinced there was no one alive in the town. Everything was closed. I suddenly realized that party was going to be much later than I’m used to. I passed a café and it had a sign “Apertura 00:15”. Yes that means they were going to open at 12:15 AM. I texted Marco and said they were meeting at 1:00 AM. I was already running on fumes at 11:30 PM. I just wanted to stay up until midnight thinking that’s when everyone would be out. I was so completely wrong. Everyone was still at home at midnight. So I spent New Years at home, alone. I tried to stay up a little later and go out but failed. I laughed when I looked out the window and saw people leaving their homes at 1:00 AM to go out. I gave in and feel asleep for next 12 hours. I have to say it was the worst New Years for me. Why do I learn these things the hard way? I should have gone to sleep when I arrived home and then I would have naturally woke up at midnight. Either way I didn’t really experience my first New Years in Italy. I slept through it. I hope you all had more fun!

Of course if you're Keith and Pam then 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep would be a great New Years when you're taking care of this little monster!!!

Boun Anno, Tutti!!!

No Photos

2007-12-28T23:32:00.000+01:00

A little post in the middle of the holidays. I went out shopping for the stuff that people in Italy want. I have a good list this time. On my way back I drove by the house I grew up in (it's about 30 minutes from my parents' current house). It was so spooky because when I drove by the curtains were open and the light was on in MY old room. It just didn't seem right that somebody else was in there. I wonder if there's still a ton of hooks in the ceiling for all model planes I hung up on fishing line? Or is the hopscotch still drawn on the basement floor? Either way the old neighborhood seemed so spread out. I went by the houses of my old friends on the way. Faces popped into my head but the names escaped me. You think about the past a lot being back home. Adding to this is watching my nephew grow up. What experiences will he have in 2008? For me this new year may be fun and interesting but to him it's going to change by leaps and bounds.

Back to the stuff for Italians. Marco my phone is dead so I can't message you but they only have your coat in brown. Are you sure you gave me the right model. They had one with a model number J162 that had a hood and look like what you wanted and even in the right color for 110 dollars. Leave a message if the J162 is the same.

That Time of the Year

2007-12-25T02:55:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas!!!!!
It's Christmas and things have been a whirlwind of activity. The trip back actually went very well and even my luggage made it this year. The parents` house is full of activity like never before. Kyle is nice enough to get us all up early so we can spend more time together. I'm joking because it's fun to hang out with the little one. I'll post some photos of him in later. I wish you all the best during this happy time of the year.

Stereotypes and Lecce

2007-12-20T09:44:00.000+01:00

I need to do an update while I can. Whoever says that southern Italians are lazy is just making a stupid stereotype. I thought this week would be really slow at work but that hasn’t been case. We’re still plugging away and getting as much done as possible. I think in the US I saw more of a ramp down of work when a long holiday approaches. Along with this point I would like to point out my friend Marco Russo. He’s commented on the blog several times. He has a full time job here with the Italian company and he has another job in a store. When he’s working 2nd shift here (2:00 PM to 10:00 PM) then he works in the store in the morning. On those days he’ll put in over 10 hours easy. Then just last night my neighbor had a problem with the Christmas lights I put up. They weren’t working so I went over to find the problem light, which I did because I'm handy like that. While I was there she was working on the computer and talking to her boss on the phone. It just seems like I know a lot of people that are hard working. Most of the people that have their own small business are working 6 days a week. When I first arrived I tried to go out with a waitress in one of the bars. It just didn’t work because she worked 6 nights a week from 7:30 in the evening until they closed, which on some nights it wasn’t until 3:00 AM. Anyway I guess I’m just trying to make a case against stereotypes. Enough preaching.
Tonight I’m going to Lecce for second time this week. I went Tuesday after work to get the special Olive oil from Olio Claudio. My family and friends have grown attached to their oil, but if I’m such a good customer then why I didn’t know they were closed on Tuesdays? UGHH. I never even imagined that Tuesday would be closing day. I drove down thinking the day they are closed must be Monday or Thursday. That’s much more normal but nooooo I was wrong. Then I called a friend who lives in Lecce to see what he was up to and he was still at work here in Brindisi, which again reflects the point I made above. At this point I’m really regretting this trip to Lecce. I thought maybe I’ll get some photos of big nativity scene in Lecce. Every year they make a big life-sized scene in the remains of a Roman theater in Piazza Sant’Oronzo. And also every year it’s a little different. When I arrived at the theater I found that I forgot to put my memory card back in the camera. AAHHH. I was going to get something out of this trip so I walked all the way back to the car (luckily I had a spare card in my computer bag for work) and then back to get these photos below.

The Whole Scene for 2007! There's orange and olive trees down there. Keep in mind usually it's as bare as parking lot down there. Everything you see has been added just for Christmas.

Close up of the Manger part. Notice that the baby Jesus isn't there yet.

This is what they had two years ago.

Lemon Macros

2007-12-18T12:08:00.000+01:00

I brought the lemon tree inside this weekend because it was sooo cold. It could have probably taken the temperature but I didn’t want to risk it. While it was inside I decided to try some macro shots. Look at all those flowers getting ready to bloom. Unfortunately my interest in the lemon tree means the cats have stepped up their interest in it and I’ve seen a few buds knocked off already. They can’t leave anything alone. I did get some fun shots of Nello yawning just like Kent did last time they were here.

More Christmasy

2007-12-15T15:34:00.000+01:00

I have a tree like I mentioned so how could things get more Christmasy. Well it would take a little help from Mother Nature and we got it. For the first time I saw snow in Brindisi.This photo below is from Friday night.

It only lasted about 10 minutes but Maurizio at the pizzeria said he hadn't seen anything like this in at least 6 years so this appears to be our "once in a decade snow". I heard about this thing when I first moved here and now I've ived through it. I walked into the center of town with my camera ready. I was hoping the snow would start falling again. I sat down and took the first picture in this post. This Christmas tree in the center of town and I thought it woud be great to have a photo of it with snow in air but it didn't happen. It was frickin' cold and not many people were out (as you can see). I gave up and went home to get something warm to eat. We had on and off flurries all night so I went to bed dreaming of a white blanket of fresh snow greeting me in the morning. I didn't get a blanket of snow but I did see this Saturday morning at 9:30 AM

I was lucky to get this because if I would have slept to 11 or 11:30 the snow would have been completely gone. It never did "stick". I saw a few kids making snowballs from the snow on cars. It was hilarious because it seemed like good fun but most of cars were filthy so the snowballs were dirty brown and they quickly realized this wasn't a good mix with their nice jackets.

A TREE!!!

2007-12-13T21:30:00.000+01:00

I got a tree today and I'm so bubbling with Christmas spirit I had to post again today. It was a complete surprise because as I was coming in the building after work I saw my neighbor putting her tree up. I knocked on her door to applaud her holiday spirit and more importantly to make fun of her because she still doesn't have the required white lights on her balcony. I'm pretty sure from the looks of it that you are only allowed to have white lights in my building. To this joke I was greeted by two strings of white lights and spent the next half an hour zip tying them to her balcony. She was impressed (but not surprised) that I had a stash of zip tyes that were perfect for the occasion. We were talking as I worked and naturally I started to whine about how I didn't have a tree. She immediately offered her old little one. So now I have the display you see in the photo. The tree is only about 1.5 feet tall but it's the spirit that counts. Do you see the little clay manager scene under the tree? And I have Santa. I need to get some ornaments or I could use cat toys because I have feeling that's what anything I put on that tree will become!

Back to Normal...for now...

2007-12-13T11:39:00.000+01:00

For those of you who don’t read other Italian blogs then you may be surprised to learn that all the truck drivers in Italy were on strike from Monday thru Wednesday. It was a madhouse, at least from what I saw on TV, because here in Brindisi very little actually happened. On TV I saw store shelves empty of fruits, vegetables, and other perishable goods but here in Brindisi I went shopping last night at Mino’s then the local veggie place and I didn’t notice a thing out of place. Maybe they were a little low on castagne nuts and Mino didn’t have any mozzarella di bufula (he did have regular mozzarella) but then he never has it on Wednesdays. He’s closed on Thursday so it doesn’t make sense to stock up, as he wouldn’t want it to sit around for a day. It’s nice being so close to the food and goods you buy because even without trucks we get by. It’s funny because Rosalba’s husband was leaving the veggie place as I came in. He was smiling ear to ear as he was going to deliver food to the big supermarket outside of town. I’m sure he screwed them on price AND quality because there isn’t a lot of love between the big supermarkets and the mom and pop grocery store.
One part of the strike that we were not immune to was the gas shortage. There were huge lines for people filling up their cars but that was just the panic buying that surrounds any sciopero (if you don’t know that means “strike” then you haven’t be reading an Italian blog for very long!). Tuesday night I was driving my boss to the airport and there were already these lines surrounding gas stations. I’m thinking I’m sure the gas stations have a few days of gas stocked up. Of course I was wrong because almost all were out of gas last night and today. But still this doesn’t affect me because I go for weeks on tank of gas. I walked to work today because there is hardly a cloud in the sky and on the way home I want to harass Lucia at the cafe because today is the saint’s day for Santa Lucia. If we had a Lucia at work then we would have cornetti but nooo. Maybe on the way home I’ll get a free coffee from her. That may be asking a bit too much.
Still this strike was pretty amazing as strikes go. I’m just lucky in that there isn’t much that I need and there wasn’t any place I needed to go. The trucks were trying to make life hell for as many people as they could. Not only did they not deliver goods but they also blocked the highways. So what was the deal? They were upset about high gas prices and abusive (illegal) trucks. There is nothing that can be done about high gas prices and I see the police pulling over trucks all the time checking their "paperwork". So I really don't know what they are crying about. The government promised to work on some new law that will limit out of country trucks from going more than 120 km into Italy and they will spend more money on roads. Big riggin deal. All this chaos for nothing really. A friend at work says that this strike was also politically inspired as the political right is trying to get the left out of power. If the country is “out of control” then the political right can call for a new government, which they have been doing ever since the day Prodi was sworn in. This political bickering is amazing. It's just getting going in the US and the election is just under a year away.

Brindisi=Cheers

2007-12-10T11:46:00.000+01:00

You wanna be where everyone knows your name… Actually Brindisi does mean Cheers in Italian, sort of... Anyway, the story will explain the title. But first I’m sorry about the photo above. It was the best I could do given the situation.
I looked out my window Saturday night and I saw this Ape in front of the building with a Christmas tree. I immediately thought that my sister would love this. I’m still working on bringing an Ape home for Christmas, sis. The first thing I think to do is grab my camera and race out the door because I don’t know how long it will be there. As I bound down the stairs and I hear voices in the stairwell that are getting louder as go down and sure enough I passed the Christmas tree delivery guy on the second floor. Crap, I can tell from the chitchat, as I sneak by, that he’s done and on his way down too. I’m walking out the building and thinking, “Now where can I rest the camera to get the photo” but a strange thing happens. I start getting wet! Crap it’s raining. I didn’t even notice that. I retreated back to the cover of the building. So it’s raining, the guy’s coming, and I really have no way or time to get the photo like I want. No time to think, I just decide to do the best I can and see what I can do with it on the computer.
By now the guy is coming out of the building so I thought I should ask before taking a photo. We went through the usual stuff about me being a foreigner etc, etc. Then he said, “I know you. You’re the American that came in to buy flowers once. I’m from the florist next to the pharmacy.” Now that’s like saying the gas station next to the McDonalds in the USA. It doesn’t give you ANY idea where he’s talking about. Then I remembered where he meant. Yeah, yeah, he’s not the guy that’s usually there but his assistant and there was one day when the owner or head guy wasn’t there and this guy was manning the store. He wasn’t allowed to sell anything so I had to wait until the other guy returned. That was months ago. How can Italians have such good memories about meeting me? Anyway he said, “Yes, yes get a photo to send back to America” So we ran out into the rain and I snapped a few photos as best I could. He said he really needed to get this last delivery done and I said don’t stay for me. And so he putted off into the rainy night with one last tree to deliver. So it stands that this little town can still amaze me.
It also reminds me. That’s the place where I bought my lemon tree. I’m happy to report that it didn’t die in August like I thought. In fact, it has a ton of blooms that are just getting ready to open. If half of these turn into lemons then I’ll be having homemade limoncello next year. Because we all know that when life gives you lemons, make limoncello. Stay tuned.

This isn't my lemon tree but I hope it will be like this some day.

Gianna e i Rinoplastici

2007-12-07T15:36:00.000+01:00

Last night "Gianna e i Rinoplastici" (Gianna and the Nosejobs) rocked the Big Ben. This is the Rino Geatano Tribute band I told you about last month. The photo above is the lead singer getting into it. The guy in the back, you only see his head, is key to the band as he also plays the accordion for some of the songs. Last night he put his keyboard on some crazy steel drums setting for the song "Ahi Maria" to give it a more "Latino flavor".

Below is the bass and drums part of the band. The drummer is Marielena's brother so she always lets up know when they are playing. She probably has some good photos over on her Flickr page.

What's a band without fans? Nothing! And this band is lucky to have the best fans in Brindisi.

This last picture is left over from November and NaBloPoMo. I was trying some wines back then and therefore it was a bad month for wine glasses in my apartment. One was broken in the usual way, while washing it! This second one however broke spectacularly. I saw Nello and Mara playing while I was eating and I decided I would try to scare them when they weren't looking. I started to get up when I barely touched the glass and it glently fell over. It didn't break then so it casually rolled towards the opposite edge of the table. I lunged over the table to try to stop it and got their just in time to catch nothing but air. The glass fell on to the cold hard tile floor. Needless to say the cats were sufficiently scared at the end of this commotion and the following string of curse words. I hope Santa wasn't listening.

Some Christmas and news

2007-12-06T10:45:00.000+01:00

I need some Christmas stuff in the blog!! How about a photo or two. This is photo of my house back in the US when I would decorate it. I haven't put up the lights on my balcony here in Brindisi yet. I assume this weekend everyone in my building will and then I will too.

Below is my parents tree from a year or two ago. See with the new portable hard drive I have all my photos ALL the time.

This week has been pretty routine except for a few things. Monday morning I almost fell out of my chair at work laughing. My mom sent out an email about Christmas and at the end she reminded use to forward anything we wanted from Santa to her. My sister replyed back.

Dear Santa,
Tell your reindeer to quit eatin’ my garden or I’m going to shoot the sonsabitches

Maybe you have to know my sister to understand how funny that is. Anyway it really made my Monday morning. Also on Monday Greenpeace was at work again and painted climate killer and stop coal on some of the ships that were off loading coal at the Cerano plant they attacked this weekend. I don’t think this made into the news except around here.
Tuesday was the start of the windy days. It’s been howling windy for three days now. In fact on Tuesday we had a “Tromba d’aria” or tornado. I could look out the window at work and see a perfectly formed funnel cloud. There was no warnings or panic like there would be in the Midwest. Davide and I have discussed this before. They just don’t have the power here that they have in Tornado Alley in the US. We're on a peninsula surrounded by sea that tends to equalize out the temperature. So Tuesday had just enough wind and a difference in temperature to make a tornado but not enough to fuel it to destructive levels. As far as I know no one around here has an experience with a real destructive level tornado.
Tuesday also started our current string of days with cornetti. Somebody has brought in cornetti, Pasticciotto, and graffie (doughnuts) everyday since Tuesday. In fact Tuesday we had two people bring in these treats. It seems that this is the time of year when the Italian company announces promotions and raises. If you move up a level at work or get a raise then it’s assumed you’ll bring something for everyone. I guess I’m starting to put on those Christmas pounds.
Tomorrow is the day we in Brindisi eat puccia. Let’s hope there isn’t a repeat of my incident last year.

I'm back after doing it!

2007-12-03T11:35:00.000+01:00

Well there’s some news from this weekend. I was excited to see that Greenpeace “attacked” our local power station. Attacked is strong word (used by one newspaper) but what they did do is hang huge banners on the plant. The biggest (20m by 25m) said “1st Climate Killer In Italy”. This is to signify that the coal-fired power plant at Cerano was the biggest polluter of CO2 for 2006 in Italy. They also say that the 2nd place plant is in Taranto. Finally we beat Taranto! First of all, it’s a little scary that about a dozen Greenpeace activists could break into the plant and hang banners all over the place. I mean it's not easy to sneak in carrying huge banners. We all know the security at tourist sites is tight but not at the big power plant! It was done this weekend because the UN is meeting in Bali to talk about climate change. Greenpeace wanted to remind people the problem is right here in Europe, not just someone else’s fault. I also will go on record that I had nothing to do with this protest but I applaud their efforts. I hope Enel does something to improve this plant. In related news Enel is talking about merging with EDF an energy giant in France. The funny thing about this is that France is big in nuclear power and Italy is against nuclear power BUT Italy buys power from nuclear plants in France. This new merger would probably only increase the amount of nuclear energy in Italy.
I bought something electronic this weekend that I’ve been dreaming about. A Wii, or maybe an Xbox360? No, for me it was an external hard drive. I was giddy driving home with it (yes I’m that much of geek). This little baby is USB powered so it’s incredibly portable and it’s 160 GB! Now these days that’s not a lot but it’s more than all the other hard drives I own, together. My ancient laptop has a 30 GB hard drive. My iPod was the best of the time but only 40 GB and my work laptop is 60 GB. So I can save more stuff on this little new thing then all my old things together. I love it because now I’ll have all my music and photos with me when I travel back to the USA. If my sister wants a Francesco Renga song that I have then, BAM, we copy it over to their computer. If my Keith and Pam like one of the photos I took of Kyle then, BAM, we copy it to their computer. You get the point. I don’t need to carry my computer because everyone I know and everywhere I go, somebody has one. The really strange thing is that I tried to buy one of these hard drives in the US when I was there in October but nobody had them. I went to Best Buy, Circuit City and etc… they all “carried” them but didn’t have any in stock. I went to an electronics store here on a whim and they had several sizes and three different brands! I ended up getting a Packard Bell model because the physical size of the device was smaller than the Toshiba. I can’t help but wonder why in the world I couldn’t get this in the USA but I could here. It’s not just this as there are Wii shortages in the UK but plenty here. Are the businesses that bad and getting stock to right places or is there something else going on?

Day 30 Amen...

2007-11-30T10:02:00.000+01:00

So here we are at the end of NaBloPoMo. It wasn’t easy but we made it. I can’t help but think that this was an grand experiment like that movie Brewster’s Millions where Richard Pryor has to spend 30 Million dollars in 30 days and have nothing to show for it. This last week was tough. There were things I wanted to write about but I didn’t FEEL like writing anything. I’m pretty sure I’ll take this weekend off and I’ll post on Monday if and only if something interesting happens.
Yesterday there was a little excitement in these parts. My landlord called me! I think this was the second time in 4 years he’s ever called me, and this time I was at work. He said there was a lot of smoke coming from my water heater (it’s out on the balcony so you can see it from street). I rush home from work because he absolutely will not go in my (well, his actually) apartment with me not there. I hope he would if the apartment was on fire or at least he would let the firemen in (remember my front door can stop a Rhino. It would take the firemen forever to chop it down). I get home and there’s no smoke coming from the water heater. We play with the hot water and get it to come on. Sure enough it produces some smoke but I’m not alarmed at all. It was drizzling rain so there is 100% humidity in air and this just looks like some steam or condensation being produced. I had visions of black plumes of smoke rising from my balcony. It's nothing like that. Anyway the water heater guy was just at my place cleaning it a week or two ago so the landlord calls him convinced he didn’t do his job. They argue over the phone awhile and the landlord wins the argument because the bottom line is that I will have a rude awakening tomorrow morning. The water heater guy is coming again to check it out.

And so ends NaBloPoMo. Not much has changed though...

My Country

2007-11-29T15:28:00.000+01:00

I’ve decided that I want my own country. Why not? Everybody else does too! This train of thought started yesterday when I happened to catch a little BBC. They were talking about Belgium. Did you know that Belgium hasn’t had a government for 6 months? Why? Because the French speaking Flemish want their own country. Now I’ve heard of everything. Belgium wants to split up. Thank god I’m not a kid studying Geography these days. I thought European Geography was bad when Russia split up into a dozen countries (quick what's the capital of Latvia?). Is there anywhere in the world were people don’t want their own country? In Europe these days it REALLY doesn’t make any sense. So they would make their own flag and national anthem and then they would turn around and join the EU. Well, it would give the Italians more teams to crush in the European Championships (provided Northern Italy isn’t one of the new countries, Padania).
Asia and the Middle East are obviously full of countries that have small areas that want to split off, sometimes not so small areas like Tibet! North and South America seem pretty stable, if you don’t count Texas. Then again Canada has some Frenchies that would probably start their own country if given half a chance. Australia has been quiet for a while but I bet Tasmania is planning something we just don’t know about it yet. Actually Tasmania is probably where I’ll establish my new country. You have a little protection already because you’re surrounded with shark-infested waters and chock-a-block full of dangerous animals. See I already speak their language. I’d have to call my country something like Frigidland to keep nosey people out (look how well that has worked for Iceland). I would train the Tasmanian Devils to attack strangers and I’m done with security (although their name would be Frigidland Devils, that’s still pretty scary). I would be a good King. That’s right. Screw this democracy stuff!
This photo is Nello climbing up to the top shelf. This is his sanctuary away from Mara. Sometimes little sister can be annoying. Maybe up on the top shelf is Nelloland?

Wines all around me...

2007-11-28T14:18:00.000+01:00

Ok I thought I should do a little explanation of the wines of the Salento. I was going to say Puglia but then I did a little research and I realized I don’t know many of the wines from the Bari and Foggia area. Keep in mind I’m not an expert and I just drink a lot. Wait, that didn’t come out right. Anyway this is just a quick guide. Puglia is know for it’s wines that "for drinking" (i.e. more in quantity than quality) and there 25 DOC varieties and 6 IGT. Puglia alone produces twice as much wine as all of Australia so you have to drink a lot to get a handle on the different wines. The photo shows some of the bottles of wine that I like.

First the grapes and there’s THE BIG 3, Primitivo, Negroamaro, and Malvasia Nera, in Salento (for red wines).

The king of Puglian wine is the Primitivo, but not just any Primitivo. The Primitivo di Manduria is considered the best. So you have to have Manduria, a town between Taranto and Lecce near the Ionian coast, on the label if want to impress your friends with your knowledge of Salento wines. The Primitivo grape must be pretty tough because it can take the heat of Salento in the summer. I think most of the Primitivos are aged only about 12 months maybe a little more and you drink them within 4 or 6 years. I have to admit that I wasn’t a big fan of Primitivos at first but the taste has grown on me. The wine has bite, as I call it, because it’s usually 14% or 14.5% alcohol.

The next grape is Negroamaro (I’m not talking about the Italian rock band!) I think I read that it’s actually the most abundant grape in Puglia so some people would say it’s the most important grape variety around here. There are a many wines that use the Negroamaro grape as you’ll see. I like a good wine that’s 100% Negroamaro as it has what I call a good fruity flavor to it.

In third place among the 3 is the Malvasia Nera grape. Just this week was the first time I’ve ever had a wine that was 100% Malvasia Nera grapes. And Mino warned me that it was sweet and it is the sweetest of the Puglia red wines. It doesn’t seem like a very popular wine because usually Malvasia Nera grapes are blended into Primitivo and Negroamaro grapes to make other wines. There are also two varieties of Malvasia Nera one “di Brindisi” and other “di Lecce”. When you start blending, as you’ll see below the types of wines seem endless.

One of my personal favorites of this blending is Salice Salentino. Salice Salentino is a town between Brindisi and Lecce and it’s also the name for a wine that is a blend of 85% Negroamaro and 15% Malvasia Nera. I think I like Malvasia Nera best in a small amount like it is in this wine. So I’ve decided that 100% Malvasia Nera is a little too sweet for me but 15% is a good hint of sweetness.

Then comes Squinzano, another town between Brindisi and Lecce, that has a wine that’s 70% Negroamaro and 30% Malvasia Nera so you get the picture. I prefer the Salice Salentino to this wine in most cases. I guess this confirms that I’ve discovered my level of sweetness I like in my wine about 15% Malvasia Nera but 30% is ok.

And it goes on and on and on like this usually with Malvasia Nera as the smaller percentage. The next wine I plan to try is Platone by Al Bano Carrisi. It’s 50% Negroamaro and 50% Primitivo. I don’t think I’ve ever had a wine that was 50/50. Well I probably have but I just didn’t realize it at the time. Wow this is getting too long quickly. I didn’t even talk about using oak barrels or steel tanks or bottles to age the wine. I guess I should encourage you to experiment and find out what you like. Start with a Negroamaro or Primitivo and then try some of the blends. Enjoy

How about a little on white wines…

White wines are little easier. In the Salento they are generally cultivated in the hills of Locorotondo and Martina Franca. Their wines are made with the grape varieties Verdeca, Bianco d’Alessano, along with Fiano and Bombino Bianco. There are some other varieties of white wines in the Salento including Trebbiano, Chardonnay, Sauvignon, and Pinot Bianco. I think the Chardonnay and Sauvignon are catching on, as they are more recognizable to people outside Puglia. If they want to export wines they need the right names. There is a Salento Bianco IGT that’s 100% Chardonnay and another that’s 70% Sauvignon and 30% Chardonnay. I like the Verdeca from Locorotondo myself.

This image below I took from the www.tablewine.com site but the link to their source of it didn't work. It was from some government website. This link will take to an ungly but informative version of this image.

Near Heart Attack!

2007-11-27T11:36:00.000+01:00

Ok I was about to have a heart attack when I saw the headline today “Poste Italiane diventa un operatore telefonica” (Poste Italiane to become a telephone operator) with a picture of Poste Italiane Mobile next to the headline. I thought they were going to offer a telephone network like Vodafone or something. I was thinking they would have ridiculous fees to receive calls, they would listen in on all your calls (after all they like to open your packages), and to would cost an arm and a leg to call someone. It turns out what they mean is that PI is coming up with a way to pay bills with your mobile phone. A truly good idea but it’s too bad that I fear the people in charge of it. I love the idea that I’m at trying to do some insane Italian paperwork (TV tax, hot water heater registration, apartment rental contract registration, etc….) and they say that I have to pay a bollettino to do it. Then I whip out my cell phone and punch in a few numbers and say, “Ha, it’s paid now give me my dam _____ (insert Italian thing here)”. Of course the big thing is going to be the security of this sending money by cell phone. I don’t know that people will trust it. I don’t, yet. We’ll see.
This morning walking to work I passed the cleanup of an accident. From the looks of it a scooter hit a car pretty hard. I would guess the kid is ok but I bet he has a broken leg. The car had the yield triangles in his direction so I assume he was at fault but I could be wrong. I’m still amazed that cars and scooters don’t hit more. I really think the kids spend so much time on their scooters that they are “good” drivers. Now don’t get me wrong I don’t mean good as in responsible. I mean good as in avoiding getting hit or hitting something. That’s why I don’t have a scooter. I would drive it responsibly and probably get knocked off it every day. The cars would assume I’m going slip in and out and when I didn’t they would be surprised and hit me. The kids drive like idiots but that’s all they know and it makes them tough to hit. I always signal when I’m turning right into my garage but I know one of these days a kid on scooter is going to be sliding past cars on the right and hit me. It’s been close a few times already but then again they always seen avoid the accident. That’s another thing I like about winter. Less kids on scooters.
Also back to the news. I see that Germany believes they can decrease their electricity usage by 40% by 2020 and England is working on lowering the amount used in households by 60% (but they say 80% is possible) by 2050. Meanwhile in the US we give the Green Car of the Year award to V8 Chevy Tahoe Hybrid that gets 22 mpg. Am I the only one that doesn't understand this?
This photo below I made it darker on purpose as I like the outline of the trees on the horizon for some reason.

Rome pictures, Ok!

2007-11-26T11:38:00.000+01:00

So I guess I need to get on with the trip to Rome. Looking back I didn’t take many photos although it seemed like I was at the time. I take a lot of “classic” photos. This one below is the classic Castel Sant’Angelo with the reflection in the Tevere (with the "Angel Bridge" as some call it) . A must have for every traveler to Rome.

I mentioned that I had to go up to the top of the San Pietro and I did. It was more of a walk than Manni and his wife were expecting. I think it was the best weather I’ve ever had up there. Light winds and the temperature was fine for just a sweater. In the winter it’s cold and windy but you can see forever so it’s good for photos but you don’t want to linger. In the summer it feels cool but there is a haze and you can’t see far. Before descending into San Pietro I stopped at the gift shop and bought something for Nonna (it turned out to be the only gift I bought on the trip). Inside San Pietro it felt crowded. There were tons of seats set up because the next day the Pope was ordaining some new bishops. So it was getting late and I had the feeling that they were going to start ushering people out so they could complete the preparations. Below is the typical shot of San Pietro from the top of San Pietro!

One of the surprises to me was that the interior of the Pantheon is no longer under restoration. I wasn’t even going to stop in there because I thought it would be a mess but instead it was fantastic. The walls and ceiling look beautiful. I never get tired of admiring things like the Pantheon. Why, oh, why can’t we build things like this these days? I overheard someone say that there is a piece of plastic covering the top now but I couldn’t tell. It might be a good idea after all the work they did and if I can’t tell then I’m for it.

A night stop at the Fontana di Trevi and then time to turn in after a drink at “The Nag’s Head” near Piazza Venezia.

Saturday I was going to shop but instead I headed to the Trastevere area of Rome. At Home in Rome’s backyard but she wasn’t at home in Rome, if that makes any sense… I was looking for Piazza de Mercanti and I found it but not the Taverna de Mercanti she mentioned. The piazza is a strange shape and very quiet.

This is an unconventional shot of myself on top of the San Pietro. After that Manni said he’d take a picture of me if I wanted. I broke down and let him. I look like crap in the photo so I ain’t puttin’ it up! I love running my own blog.

Another unconventional photo. This photo was slightly out of focus so I decided to play with the chalk and charcoal effect.

The whole trip was rather uneventful. Nothing extraordinary. I didn't run into anyone famous or get robbed or etc. It did rain the minute I sat down to lunch on Saturday. When the rain stopped I finished my coffee and hit the road again. There is something about Rome that makes me walk and walk and walk. Why don't I take the buses or Metro or taxi more? Boh...

Where to start?

2007-11-25T16:39:00.000+01:00

From the beginning of course. I would love to start showing you photos from Rome but let's start with the beginning. These photos are of the Puglia countryside. They were all taken on the train between Brindisi and Bari. The train was moving pretty fast and it was overcast so I couldn't get the focus and color I wanted. Also I was trying to find the cleanest window to shoot through. At Bari the train filled up and I had to sit in my assigned seat! Now I see why they want to have the Eurostar stop in Bari.

This one you can see how windy it was. I love how silver the underside of olive leaves are. You know it's windy when you see silver.

There's not just olive trees and vineyards in Puglia. There's also figs. See we have fall. The fig trees lose their leaves.

This one I like because the farmer is using he's land to the fullest. Most places leave the ground bare under the trees so they can rake up the olives.

Ok I did get one from Campania. You can tell because there are hills in this photo!!

Next time Rome...

Rome

2007-11-24T08:45:00.000+01:00

Ok this should be my last quickie blog from Rome. Tomorrow pictures and all the good stuff. I'm proud of myself as we haven't been ripped off by a Taxi. Twice I was sure that he was preparing to give us the Grand Tour but both times I was wrong. We went from Piazza Venezia to Duke's and it was only 10 euro. I couldn't argue with that.
Today I hope to do some shopping but I'm not a "shopper". It's just not in my blood. We'll see how long I last.
Well, wish you were here and the Pope says ciao.....

Duke's

2007-11-23T18:08:00.000+01:00

Well it looks like I'll keep the month of blogging goin but I don't have much time. I had Thanksgiving dinner at a place called Duke's. The people at the hotel said it was "American" so we gave it a try. It was not at all what we expected. Manni said it best, "I was expecting some place like Hooters." Instead it was a very nice restaurant with great food. Pretty expensive but then we did have desert and some good wine. It wasn't like any Thanksgiving back home but fun nonetheless.

Today we had THE big work meeting, which went better than expected. Then we were off to San Pietro. We arrived just in time to go up to the top of the cupola. Then on the walk back we stopped at the Pantheon. Can I just say that I'm thrilled that they are finished with the interior renovations. It looks amazing and to think I almost wasn't going to stop in because I ASSUMED it was still a work in progress. Never assume, right?
The weather may turn to crap tomorrow so the next post may be from home with photos.

Happy Turkey Day

2007-11-22T11:40:00.001+01:00

Well have a Happy Thanksgiving. I'm off to Rome but I'll leave with this Mohawk quote. I figure they always taught us in school that this whole holiday only happened thanks to the Indians....

To be a human is an honor, and we offer thanksgiving for all the gifts of life.
Mother Earth, we thank you for giving us everything we need.
Thank you deep blue waters around Mother Earth, for you are the force that takes thirst away from all living things.
We give thanks to green, green grasses that feel so good against our bare feet, for the cool beauty you bring to Mother Earth's floor.
Thank you, good foods from Mother Earth, our life sustainers, for making us happy when we are hungry.
Fruits and berries, we thanks you for your color and sweetness.
We are thankful to good medicine herbs, for healing us when we are sick.
Thank you, all the animals of the world, for keeping our precious forests clean.
All the trees of the world, we are thankful for the shade and warmth you give us. Thank you all the birds in the world, for signing your beautiful songs for all to enjoy.
We give thanks to you gentle Four Winds, for bringing clean air for us to breathe from the four directions.
Thank you, Grandfather Thunder Beings, for bringing rains to help all living things grow.
Elder Brother Sun, we send thanks for shining your light and warming Mother Earth.
Thank you Grandmother Moon, for growing full every month to light the darkness for children and sparkling waters.
We give you thanks, twinkling stars, for making the night sky so beautiful and sprinkling morning dew drops on the plants.
Spirit Protectors of our past and present we thank you for showing us ways to live in peace and harmony with one another.
And most of all, thank you Great Spirit, for giving us all these wonderful gifts, so we will be happy and healthy every day and every night.
Translation by Chief Jake Swamp

More good stuff...

2007-11-21T11:06:00.000+01:00

So tomorrow I’m heading up to Rome. I’m excited because I haven’t been there for a while and the weather is supposed to be great. I “sort of” have plans for Thanksgiving. I’m meeting up with a coworker and his wife in Rome since we’ll be at the same hotel for the same meeting Friday morning. I say sort of because neither of us is sure when we will be at the hotel and where we can go to eat. I hope it works out.

I’m also excited because I should be taking the train during the day so I’ll try to get some photos along the way. My biggest worry is NaBloPoMo! What if I don’t have time to find an Internet café and make a post Friday or Saturday? I could blow it all right here! At worst I’ll just pop into a café and say, “All is well, wish you were here and the Pope says ciao” and there won’t be any photos. Then I should be back in Brindisi Sunday so I can fill you in. I could drag out the photos from Rome and make the last few days of NaBloPoMo easy.

I also hope to do some Christmas shopping up there. After all IT IS that time of year! There is much more of a selection in the shops in Rome but I need to make sure I don’t get ripped off! And that’s frickin’ easy these days with the dollar trading even lower against Euro. I think a lot of my Christmas shopping will have to wait until I’m back in the US, right before Christmas. So maybe I should say I’ll be window shopping this weekend and trying to get some ideas. Man, do I need some ideas, as my friends and family have to be tired of getting olive oil and cheap wine as presents. I have to come up with something else. Last year was great though because I packed a 5 liter metal drum of my favorite olive oil in my big suitcase. It made it back to the US with no leaks (but it did have a big dent in it like they tried to bust it). Then I bought some glass bottles at World Market (made in Italy too) and proceeded to divide up the oil between several people. I could try that again. I won’t try bringing in a salami from Norcia again as that was taken away by the mean Customs guy in Newark. He probably enjoyed it. Bastardo.

Brindisi also has a new place to eat. It’s not really a restaurant. It’s something I never thought I would see in this town. The name is “Hara” and they call it a “Finger Food/Sushi Bar”. That’s right kids we have ourselves a Sushi bar in Brindisi. I haven’t been in it yet. I asked my neighbor if she wanted to go (because she’s the only one I know that would try something like this) and she said yes but then hedged when came to deciding what night. I think she had second thoughts. Maybe we’ll go after one of us has heard something good about it. It shouldn’t take long for word to spread. It’s a small town.

Whining

2007-11-20T11:50:00.000+01:00

Ok, I’ve been whining a lot again. Time to get back to good stuff. There are some things I like about winter and Italy. One is the new wines (that’s a given) but along with the vino novello there’s roast chestnuts. Here they go together like peanut butter and jelly (which by the way, don’t go together here in Italy!!) Now we’ve all heard in that Christmas tune “chestnuts roasting on a open fire” but I’m pretty sure that I’ve never had them until I arrived in Italy. Now everyday (from October until sometime in January) I pass the contraption you see in the photo. The veggie place has this super excellent chestnut-roasting machine made by Rosalba’s husband. It has a drum (with little fins) that rotates like a washing machine only slower and over flames that cook every castagna to perfection. I’ve never even tried to roast my own chestnuts and why should I with this thing just a few hundred feet from my front door? So many times I’m coming back from shopping or the gym and I catch that smoky sweet smell. It’s all over and I have to get at least 2 euros worth to snack on. Then at home I proceed to throw one of the shells on the floor to the delight of the cats. They bat it around until it either gets under something where they can’t reach it or I’m walking around and not paying attention and suddenly I hear a loud CRUNCH under my foot. Once they actually managed to push the shell under the throw rug in the hall. I almost fell on my ass at the surprise of stepping on a rug that crunched.

I may have mentioned it before but another thing I love is having the shudders open. The sun is our friend again. I would like to have the shudders open year round but I learned from the locals that in the summer that’s just not a good idea. Your apartment gets hot quickly and it won’t cool down. This time of year I get to welcome the sun in to try to warm the place up.

Another thing I love is how green the countryside is this time of year. For a couple months there in the summer it’s so dry and brown but now it’s nice and wet and green and it will be like that until May or June. It’s like Ireland. Ok maybe not that green but it’s all backwards to what I’m used to. In the Midwest by now all the trees are bare it’s looking bleak and winter like. You’re hoping for a snow to make the cold weather worthwhile. Here there are a few trees that loose their leaves so there are some trees that are bare like it’s winter but everything else is too green for me to accept that it’s winter. I mentioned how a large part of the park Torre Gauceto burned in August with the hot, dry summer we had but if you go out there now you can’t tell. Sure it doesn’t have the taller trees and some bushes it had but I think it will recover quicker than people are predicting. I also think the Gargano area will recover quickly too. I would like to drive up there to see. I bet the natural areas are recovering faster than the man made houses and businesses that burned. Mother nature is good like that.

This photo below is of an interesting sunset we had Sunday night. It was really low in the sky so it was almost hidden by the other buildings around me. The clouds were thick and just had this one hole that allowed sun through for about 5 or 10 minutes. Then right in the middle was this one palm tree that sticks up above the buildings. I’m taking this photo from the 4th floor (5th to you Americans) and that tree is about the same level as my apartment.

Fast Food Italian Style

2007-11-19T11:10:00.001+01:00

That was supposed to be the title yesterday! Let's just forget yesterday. Today's photo I call "cooking minestrone", pretty original. Hey I'm an Engineer. I'm better with acronyms!!
Well yesterday I guess I was trying to do too much with my poor computer. It just was running very slow and locking up all the time. A coworker game me 2 CDs of music and I was desperately trying to copy them so I could give them back today. Problem is these were homemade CDs and old. Some parts were just not readable. In the end I copied most of the songs. I saw that I did get one song that I’ve been dying to find (and don’t say iTunes as it’s not a song worth paying for). It’s “Gianna” by Rino Gaetano. There is a tribute band to Rino Gaetano here in Brindisi and when they play “Gianna” the place turns into that scene from Animal House when they play “Louie, Louie”. It’s hilarious so I now I have the original and I have to say the live local version is more fun. I need to learn the words but that won't happen listening to the song, so here they are:

Gianna Gianna Gianna sosteneva, tesi e illusioni
Gianna Gianna Gianna prometteva, pareti e fiumi
Gianna Gianna aveva un coccodrillo, ed un dottore
Gianna non perdeva neanche un minuto, per fare l'amore

Ma la notte la festa è finita, evviva la vita
La gente si sveste e comincia un mondo
un mondo diverso, ma fatto di sesso
e chi vivrà vedrà...

Gianna Gianna Gianna non cercava il suo pigmalione
Gianna difendeva il suo salario, dall'inflazione
Gianna Gianna Gianna non credeva a canzoni o UFO
Gianna aveva un fiuto eccezionale, per il tartufo

Ma la notte la festa è finita, evviva la vita
La gente si sveste e comincia un mondo
un mondo diverso, ma fatto di sesso
e chi vivrà vedrà...

Ma dove vai, vieni qua, ma che fai?
Dove vai, con chi ce l'hai? Vieni qua, ma che fai?
Dove vai, con chi ce l'hai? Di chi sei, ma che vuoi?
Dove vai, con chi ce l'hai? Butta la', vieni qua,
chi la prende e a chi la da!Dove sei, dove stai?
Fatti sempre i fatti tuoi!Di chi sei, ma che vuoi?
Il dottore non c'e' mai!Non c'e' mai! Non c'e' mai!
Tu non prendi se non dai! Vieni qua, ma che fai?
Dove vai, con chi ce l'hai? Butta la', vieni qua,
chi la prende e a chi la da!Dove sei, dove stai?
Fatti sempre i fatti tuoi!Di chi sei, ma che vuoi?
Il dottore non c'e' mai!Non c'e' mai! Non c'e' mai!
Tu non prendi se non dai! Vieni qua, ma che fai?

I played around last night doing the effect Kent told me about. I used a long exposure and them zoomed in with the shudder open (something the books all say never to do). I managed a few fun shots looking out my window.
This is multiple cars!
My favorite!

2007-11-18T15:07:00.000+01:00

Well when I don't feel like cooking and I don't want to really go out for a long dinner there is an option, sort of. The photo is of two little trays of food I bought at the butcher place. These things are available in most butcher shoes or other food stores. I have one tray of stuffed cannoli pasta and the other is not just potatos. It's the wonderful potatos, rice, and cozze (black mussels).

I'll put up photos and write more just as soon as blogger stops screwing around. I'm worried I may not be able to post today if I don't post now.!!

Antitourism in Brindisi

2007-11-17T13:55:00.000+01:00

Well I'm cooling down a little after being pissed off at Brindisi this morning (I have Nora Jones playing while I write this). I guess I got of bed with the wrong state of mind. I had my first person push "my button" this morning at 8:00 AM!!!!! Porca... Mannaa... I immediately remembered a little conversation with my landlord. He asked if was ok if the man to clean the caldaie (water heater) comes on Saturday morning. I foolishly said yes so there he was at exactly 8:00 AM ringing my bell! I jumped out of bed. I rang him into the building and threw clothes over my pajamas. Thirty minutes later he's gone and I think he spent most of the time writing the bill but that doesn't matter because now I can't go back to sleep.
I decide this a perfect chance to do something I've been meaning to do. You see the photo in this post is of the wonderful "Sailor's Monument" made by everyone's friend Mussolini. I have been tharwted at least three times from going up to the top to savour the wonderful views of Brindisi. This time I was going to be there in time. It's only open in the morning so Saturday morning is my only chance. I get over there and it's open but I can't up to the top. Why was I blocked? Because I had a camera! What?!! I was so upset (to put it nicely). He said you can't go up there with a camera! "It's a Zona Militare". This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. They're afraid you'll take a photo of Navy Base (an castle built by Frederick II around 1200s) across the bay. I wanted to argue just for the fun of it but I could see he was happy to enforce this stupid rule. Never mind that every Italian that goes up there has a cell phone with a camera on it (some have cameras of 5MP now!) and all of them take a few photos. He said if that's true then they are risking being arrested for spying. What a joke!

Then I went over to the Theater Verdi to see the ruins under theater that are now open. I asked if I could take pictures. Guess what. He asked to see my camera. I showed him my new Digital SLR proudly. He said, "With that camera, NO!" WHAT?! Because I have a good camera that takes good photos he said no! This time I argued. He buckled and said OK but if I don't take any "detailed photos". I planned on writing whole posts about these two tourist attractions but now I don't feel like it. This is the one good photo I got under the theater.
All I can say now is Brindisi is merda for tourism. Sorry about the language but what is a tourist going to think. You can come but don't bring a camera. Good job Brindisi. Theater Verdi no GOOD cameras, Svevo Castle closed to tourists because they still use it(it was built in 1200s come on splurge a little Italy), Sailor's Monument no cameras, the little Argonese Castle out in bay also still being used by the Italian Navy and closed (what the he** could they be using that little stone castle for these days).

Tomorrow maybe I'll talk about how Brindisi is being cut out of the tourism map anyway. Trains that are no longer coming here. Flights only to Bari. Maybe it's better that way. Brindisi is not ready for tourists.

There is good news. I stopped at the farmer's market and picked up some minestrone. Cosimo's sister was still cutting up the veggies for the perfect cold weather soup when I arrived. It was only then that I realized there is pumpkin in my minstrone. I knew there was carrot for orange color but I didn't realize there was pumpkin too. It doesn't have a real pumpkinny flavor.

Sign Sign Everywhere a Sign!

2007-11-16T09:45:00.000+01:00

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

2007-11-15T11:51:00.000+01:00

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.

The Pain is over, yeah!!! I hope....

2007-11-14T19:39:00.001+01:00

First, doesn't my helicopter look cool in flight? The thing has been broken twice so far but my amazing engineering skills have rebuilt it. It still flys after ONE WEEK. It's been one week since.... (come on you know that song). I guess I've already got my money's worth! I could use some spare parts though, if I find a place that carries them.
I'm feeling ok, now. The second trip to the evil dentist is over. My teeth are better than new. A few things you should know about the trip. The road from Ostuni to Martina Franca is BEAUTIFUL. A winding road on low rolling hills in the Valle d'Itria with grape leaves changing color, olive trees, and trulli scattered about in the countryside. I highly recommend it, but not at night. At night it sucks as you can't see a damn thing so I took the less direct route, Brindisi-Francaville Fontana-Ceglie-Martina Franca. Since this route is a little new to me I've noticed a few things. One is that people are ALWAYS burning olive cuttings around Latiano. I love the smell of burning olive wood but it rained most of the day so I'm amazed that the smell and smoke was as thick as ever around there. I thought they would wait a day for the wood to dry out a little, or something. Second, I hereby award Ceglie the distinction of having the most traffic lights per inhabitants for any town in Puglia. Italians aren't keen on traffic lights and now that I've had a ticket for running a red light I pay more attention to them. Well, Ceglie must have a traffic light factory nearby.
I also love the fact that they have a sign in Ceglie pointing to the left saying Brindisi 44 (44 kms). Thankfully I've never fallen for that trick. If you take that left you get 44 kms of side roads full of "apes" (little 3 wheel trucks) that will drive you crazy. The drive is much easier if you go to Francaville Fontana and get one real road.
That's my driving tips for today. Stay out of Ceglie and don't do the Ostuni to Martina Franca road at night.

Phoning it in

2007-11-13T16:59:00.000+01:00

I'll admit it this isn't one for the books. A little busy today. Wait, I have something. In the gym I've noticed we've changed radio stations from Radio DeeJay to Manbassa. Why is this important? Because Friday night I was working out to Huey Lewis and the News singing "I want a New Drug!" The memories came flooding back. Then last night I did the John Stewart "Whaaaaattt?" when Shania Twain came on with that song "I feel like a woman". I didn't know American country music was on any station in Italy.
The photo is the ferry to Albania. The one in the background goes to Greece. I really need to that trip. One of these days!!!!!!

Day 12 Enter at Your Own Risk

2007-11-12T14:38:00.000+01:00

I had big ranting blog post written but I’ve just read the rest of the story about Lazio fan that was killed yesterday. It was just simply a “tragic accident”. The police officer started by firing a warning shot in the air because fans were starting to fight. A warning shot is allowed according to police procedure. Also according to police procedure he should have put his gun in the holster while running but he didn’t. He started to run to the site of the fight with his gun in hand and his gun went off accidentally. This second shot is what killed the Lazio fan. The fan by the way was inside a car between two other people. It was just incredibly bad luck that the mistakenly fired bullet managed to kill. So the officer is in big trouble because he acted recklessly and well…we'll see. So in the end it was not a case of the police being violent towards fans. So what do all these fans have to say for themselves? Do they still feel their terrorizing of the area around Rome’s stadium was justified yesterday? Do they really believe that they can act as a mob and get revenge by destroying the stadium or police property? This only creates more tension between fans and police and it increases the likelihood that another officer will pull out his gun. In fact it’s more likely that police officer will feel he needs his gun for protection. If history is an indication then only more violence will follow unless they stop the games. Maybe for the rest of the year? I love watching the games but I definitely will not go to a game ever again. I don’t want to get caught up in a melee that could break out anywhere at anytime. Maybe we need the opposite. No police at the stadium and let the fans fight all they want inside and out. Enter at your own risk.
On the lighter side of the news I was only going to blog about a funny article that I saw in the newspaper yesterday. It was titled “Due nonnini a bastonate sventato rapina in banca” that translates to “Two old men with canes thwart bank robbery”. It seems two old men 72 and 75 years old saw a guy in a ski mask coming out of bank. They blocked his escape and beat him with their canes until the robber dropped the money and then managed to escape. So he still got away but without the money. Maybe the banks need to start employing two old guys with canes to be the security guards.
Also for the photo. What is this seed? They arrived in hundreds on a windy Saturday afternoon. The wind calmed down on Sunday so I could go out and sweep them up.

Day 11 The Big Game

2007-11-11T18:17:00.000+01:00

I've never been a big fan of rugby until I saw it on TV and learned the rules. Now I find it very interesting because I know there are only certain aspects of the game that are brutal. There's also a lot of discipline and ball handling skills required. So, today I went to a Brindisi Rugby match. My friend Matteo plays for Brindisi and he always tells us about the game but somehow on Sunday afternoon everyone's occupied by soccer or sleeping. I awoke to a beautiful day and I knew I had to make it to this game (usually the weather can be real crap too). It was a well played game on our side especially because Brindisi trashed Lecce by about 28 to 11. I know Brindisi had at least 28 but I couldn't tell if some of the kicks were good or not. There was no scoreboard or announcer to tell you what was going on. It was a great game to watch but only because I know the rules now. If I hadn't watched it on TV I would have been frustrated not knowing why they stopped.
Brindisi really did well in all aspects of the game.

Brindisi scored its first 3 points on a penalty.

My buddy Matteo is about to kill that guy if he picks up the ball at the edge of the scrum. In the end the guy wussed out.

The Lecce player gets up high on a lineout.

The Brindisi team is made up of kids and adults. They have plenty of subs which really worn down Lecce. I was worried at the start because the Lecce team is a university team so they're all about the same age and appeared to have played together more.

I call this one "trouble". Time to pass the ball kid!!!

Day 10 Recipe from Jeff?

2007-11-10T14:42:00.000+01:00

So today I thought I would do a food blog. It kind of came to me last night. I was coming back from the gym and I stopped in the veggie place. I joked with Rosalba that I wanted to make rape but I didn't have any orecchiette at home (and I was too lazy to walk the other direction and get some). She says, "That's OK. You can make "Rape Stuffate" This was a new one for me. What's it take?
Picture of the ingredients

The list of ingredients:
1 kilo of cleaned Rape (turned out to be way to much for me so I have some for lunch today)
2-3 tomatoes (I used 5 or 6 cherry tomatoes because I wanted to buy a big bag of cherry tomatoes for the weekend)
1-2 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves (Foglia d'alloro, sometimes I call these "foglia d'oro" or "leaves of gold" because I could swear that's what they say)
peperoncino
olive oil

You heat up about 2 cups of water (with a little salt) and add all the above cook for about 10-15 minutes and there you have "Rape Stuffate".

Just like she mentioned the smell when it's cooking is great. I was a little disappointed how it looked at the end. The red of the tomatoes tends to wash out the dark green of the rape. Maybe I did something wrong and the tomatoes were supposed to be added later. I don't know. Hey this isn't a foodie blog!!! It tasted good but then again it's all ingredients I like so I expect it to.

Day 9 OHHH THE PAIN!!!

2007-11-09T10:35:00.000+01:00

If you’re squeamish then close your eyes when you read this one. It all started on Sunday night after my mom called. I get second call from someone I haven’t talked to in a while and it caught me completely off guard. The conversation was something like.

Me: “PPrrrroonto” (in a happy tone)
Him: “Hi Jeff. It’s Martin. How are you doing?”
Me: “I’m doing ok. How are things in Martina Franca?” (Slightly cautious now)
Him: “Ok. Listen. It’s been over 6 months since you were here last.”
Me: “OH really. (@#$%!#%$#^%$#^#$^#!*) It’s been that long. You don’t say…” (Trying not to show fear or anxiety)

Yes Martin is my evil dentist. Sorry, I’ve associated “evil” with “dentist” for a long time and for the sake of this blog I’ll try to refrain from saying evil dentist. I think I’ve made it clear that as a kid I liked the sweets and some things you never outgrow. My visits to the dentist were never fun. So the rest of the call is a blur. Me agreeing he’s right I need to get in there for a visit and me also thinking “How do I put this off for the maximum time possible?” In the end the appointment was made for Thursday night. I would have to go to Martin the English Dentist in Martina Franca unless a meteorite hit me, but that didn’t happen.
Just to make this visit more interesting he changed the location of his office. He gave me directions over the phone but I was so upset about my lack of excuses that I didn’t take very good notes. I had basically written down. “By the orange tower of the Citroen dealership. On the left. Ground floor.” Looking at the paper Wednesday night I thought, “I have no idea where I’m going.” I did a search for the Citroen dealership on Pagine Gialle (the Italian Yellow Pages online). I highly recommend this site. Holy crap they are good. It’s like Mapquest and the Yellow Pages together. So I find the Citroen dealership in Pagine Gialle and it looks easy enough. At least I could get there and then call him to guide me in from there. That’s exactly how it went too.
Now this visit was supposed to be a cleaning so why does my jaw ache this morning? I’ll tell you why, because I’m paying twice for my love of sweets. The fillings that I got some 20 odd years ago are wearing out and last night he (the evil dentist) had to drill one out and put a new one in. So let this be a lesson to all you kids out there. Brush your dam teeth! And listen to your mother about sweets! Still poor “Ozzies” by my elementary school might have gone out of business if it wasn’t for a few hundred sugar hungry kids and me….
The photo below is, yes, in my mouth!! The silver thing you see is the next to go. Next…. Wednesday…. AAAAHHHHH…. I HAVE TO GO BACK. The tooth right in front of it is one he did last night. At least now my teeth look better.

Day 8 That cat is nothing but trouble

2007-11-08T15:15:00.000+01:00

Nello is getting in the way so I’ve decided to store him in this drawer for the month. Just kidding.
He is always trying to get into things and this is the latest story. I wake up in the middle of the night because I here all kinds of scraping (later I realize it’s his claws and the drawer sliding slowly out) coming from the “cassetto” right next to the bed. I’m naturally in a mood of “What the hell is going on in here!!!” I wake up to see the situation in the photo today. He’s learned how to get into something else!!! Ugh that _____ cat! So the angry mood changes to laughter as I see how excited he is to have ANOTHER place to sleep. Now, if chase him out of it then I close the drawer and watch him with my "you-better-not-do-it-look" he will sit by the magic drawer and cry as if to say, “Can I open it? Pleeeeaaasseee.”

Day 7 How to get a job in Italy

2007-11-07T14:01:00.000+01:00

From now on when someone asks “How did I end up here?” I’ll point them to this post

It’s quite simple. It starts back when I was born in the quiet suburbs of Cincinnati. Ok, maybe that’s going back too far. The short version is I’ve always loved airplanes and anything that flies. So to me it was obvious that in college I would study Aerospace Engineering (by the way I don’t recommend this, study Mechanical Engineering instead, trust me on this!). After university I got very lucky and found a job in the aerospace industry almost right away. Most of my classmates didn’t even try to go into the workforce because the job market was so bad back then. I took a contract job at a jet engine manufacturer in Indianapolis that turned into a direct job. Then I quietly spent almost 10 years designing jet engines in Indianapolis. I liked it but I wanted to play with the whole engine and see the world. In the design department you need to specialize in one area of the engine to be able to handle everything but only in “your area”. I was tired and worried about being too specialized, so I decided to get out and see engines in the wild. The Italian Government at the same time was deciding that they were going to buy some new aircraft for their Air Force with new engines, IF (that’s a big if) they were allowed to repair the engines in Italy. So my company said, “Ok, we’ll let you repair your engines in Italy, IF (that’s a big if) you agree to have someone from our company there to help you learn this engine.” The deal was made and a job created. I saw the advertisement for the job in our company newsletter and put in for it because it was exactly the combination of things I wanted, a new adventure at work and home. After a tough round of interviews they picked me. It was an easy choice for them because the engine that the Italians bought is one of the engine models that I worked on for most of the 10 years in design. So you see that’s how I was able to legally live and work in Italy. I had experience with a jet engine that was designed and built in the USA so there was no EU citizen that could do the job I was contracted to do. Not easy but I got in. I do recommend working for a big international company that has offices or businesses around the world if you are seeking a position in another country. That is your good way of getting a job in the country of your choice. By the way the company I work for and the Italian company are not part of the military but they both work a lot with the military.

A couple of interesting side notes to my story.
I had never visited Italy before I accepted the job in Brindisi. I did have a pre-work visit but at that point I was committed to coming and would have looked bad if I refused. I reasoned that with the Italian side of my family I already knew what it was like to live in Italy. I think that was true…to a small extent.
The day I was offered the job was also the same day that I had a first date with a woman I had known for a while in Indianapolis. In my excitement we went to an Italian restaurant called Amici. I announced how excited I was to be moving to Italy and that was our one and only date. Did I mention that I’m not good at maintaining a relationship?
My original contract was for 3 years and I’ve just finished 4 years. My contract runs out in September of 2008 but NOTHING has gone to schedule in Italy. All good things must come to end. I’m also not sure what comes next. That’s the subject of a post by itself, someday, when it’s clearer.
The job requirements should have included, “must at least like soccer, preferable to have playing experience and a desire to play in situations that are as serious as life and death.” If I didn’t play soccer then the working life here would have been much tougher. When I would go into new area of the Italian company there would be somebody there that was in the company league and therefore I was not a complete stranger or outsider.

The photo is the miniature radio controlled helicopter I bought myself for my birthday. It's soo frickin' cool but the cats better stop looking at it with a gleam in their eyes.

Day 6 No Comment

2007-11-06T09:53:00.000+01:00

The photo today is from my birthday party LAST YEAR. There is NO party this year. I’m officially closer to 40 than 30 now, and that doesn’t sit too well. Getting old sucks. I did bring in cornetti and pasticciotto for my coworkers but that's required by law. I was a big supporter of bringing in doughnuts for your birthday in the US so I understand the importance of cornetti.
As a little celebration I’ll add the words to “Happy Birthday to Me” by Cracker. The song is hilarious even if it doesn’t make any sense. It just has some good lines in it.

I was having a good sleep…in my car
In the, parking lot of the…Showboat Casino hotel

I say, "I remember you…you drive like a PTA mother"
You brought me draft beer…in a plastic cup

I'm feeling thankful for the small things, today
I'm feeling thankful for the small things, today

Happy, Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me and to you

Happy, Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me and to you-ah

I'm feeling thankful for the small things, today
I'm feeling thankful for the small things, today

I remember you…I crashed your wedding
With some, orange crepe paper…and some Halloween candy

A sometimes…I wish I were Catholic
I don't know why
I guess I'm happy to see your face…at a time like this

Happy, Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me and to you-ah

So Happy Birthday to me and to all the other cool people that have birthdays today. For famous people born on this day I found only Ethan Hawke and John Phillip Sousa.

Day 5 A Short Story

2007-11-05T10:32:00.001+01:00

Don't look at the photo until you've read the story...
So here’s a little story from my walk home from work last week. As many of you may know Italy changed the clock for daylight savings a week before you Americans. So because of this as I left work on foot it was already sundown. Clouds had rolled in making it darker than I was expecting for this journey home at such an early hour. I could sense something strange was about to happen. I hadn’t gone far when I heard a dog barking in excitement. I turned my attention across the street towards the sound. A strange white mass, constantly changing shape was on a parallel path to me but on the other side of the street. There was enough light to make out individuals so I knew immediately that there could be trouble and I quickened my pace. You see I knew from previous experience that our paths would cross and I wanted to make sure I was out front. Usually I was safe and sound in a car but not tonight so who knows what could happen. As they made their way into the street, much to the delight of the motorists, I could see my plan had worked and they would be a safe distance behind me. I took the opportunity to whip out my trusty cell phone and flip it into camera mode all the while keeping the pace up and keeping a safe distance. Then with the phone ready I set it down on the railing of the wall to my right to get a picture. They were closing fast so I knew I wouldn’t get a second chance at this. It would be too risky to try second photo as I would surely be swallowed up in their midst. I cursed under my breath as I waited what seemed like an eternity for complex device to focus and then take the dam picture. Now they were practically on top of me and the smell was cutting through the air ahead of them, not to mention the noise. I got back to striding briskly ahead and only then could I check the photo. The photo was ok but more importantly I would live see another day. There would be another chance, another meeting. Then where the wall ended they took their turn out into the fields and disappeared into the darkness. I continued home with my senses more alert than ever because I didn’t know what I come across next….

The photo.
The photo also doesn't show how many goats there were. I would say 30-40. These same goats would go by my office when I had an office in the very back of the plant. I could be on the phone with my boss and he would hear goats in the background. Not a great impression.

Day 4 Pasticceria

2007-11-04T16:55:00.000+01:00

Today is a day of rest so I’ll post more tomorrow. Hey, nobody said the blog had to be long. For the photo I’ll leave you with something I bought today. This little tray is their 5 euro special. I picked out most of them but let the guy behind the counter talk me into a few. I like those chocolate sandwich ones the best. I stopped in to the Pasticceria this morning only because I had to leave a special order for Tuesday morning, but I couldn't help buying something.
Oh yeah and “boun viaggio” to Erika and Valerio. They were married back in August and left for their honeymoon this morning. They are spending over a week in Tokyo. This photo is from last night in the store. Marco Ruu and Antonella jumped in the photo too.

Day 3 Mama Roots

2007-11-03T13:55:00.000+01:00

So last night THE thing to do was go to the concert of Mama Roots at the Big Ben. Mama Roots is a local reggae band that never fails to please the Brindisinos. I still remember the first time I saw them at an outdoor concert in Sava. I’m not a big reggae fan but when you’re in a crowd that’s all bouncing to that reggae beat you can’t help but join in. I’ve also noticed that the whole Salento area seems to feel a connection of sorts to the Caribbean. Is it the palm trees, beach, and laid-back lifestyle that they have in common? Who knows?
I managed to get copy of their CD "La Voce Di Chi" soon after that first show so now I’m able to sing along. I have a good story about them. They are so good that later that night after the first time I saw them I dreamt that I married the lead singer’s sister. It was hilarious because you see in the dream I skipped over the whole wedding ceremony and went to the reception where Mama Roots was playing in a big masseria in the countryside. Everyone who is anyone was invited and those that weren’t were at home crying. If you want to hear them then go to their MySpace. I recommend "pupazzo"
I realize now that this month may get tough. So I think I will open up this blog to answer any questions that you all in the viewing public have. I think the question I get the most is something like this, “What the hell is an American doing living and working in Brindisi?” Or “Why are here (there)?” I don’t think I’ve ever given a real story so maybe I will, tomorrow.

Day 2...Ugh this is tough. Casale

2007-11-02T13:23:00.000+01:00

My best laid plans were of no use today. I could go on about “How could they…?” Or “Why did…? But let’s just cover what I was able to do. First of all, the rain was terrible yesterday and it didn’t let up as I thought it would. It was so bad that one of the staff of the Lecce soccer team was killed yesterday when he was struck by lightening. The team was out having there last workout before the game on Saturday when he was hit in the middle of the stadium field. One player and the coach were also thrown to the ground in the shock. The game on Saturday is going to be postponed.
This reminds me that I don’t hear about the danger of lightening strikes here like you do in the Midwest. Back there you’re constantly reminded of the danger (usually in the form of a tree split down the middle). I think lightening strikes to the ground are pretty rare here. I very rarely see clear bolts of lightening and hear loud crashes like in the summer in Indiana or Ohio. It seems here you see flashes of light in the clouds and hear rumbles but that’s cloud-to-cloud lightening. It’s not nearly as threatening. I have no scientific proof that’s just what I noticed. And yes I used to sit on my porch in Indianapolis and watch thunderstorms. There is just something cool about watching a good mid-summer thunderstorm roll in.
Today on the other hand is beautiful. I took a little boat ride over to the area of town called Casale. It’s on the other side of the harbor from the centro storico. It’s where some of the nicer houses are and rich people live. My boss in Rome said that should be where I start my search for an apartment when I first arrived. I admit there was a place over there that was a close second on my list. The only thing that drove me away was that they said the garage for my car wasn’t exactly done, but it would be “soon”. I knew what that meant. So today I went over and poked my camera in a few gates. This is what I found in one.

And this is what I found in another.

A slight difference...
Also hidden amongst some of these mansions that overlook the sea is a small area where fishermen live and work. Again, I was too shy to take photos of the fishermen. Some of them would have perfect but you see those photos in other blogs.

Day 1...This is easy!

2007-11-01T12:02:00.000+01:00

The photo today is from last night. This is one I took of CatsnJoe before they started playing at Mr Browns. They were dressed up for Halloween as well as the staff and some people watching. CatsNJoe (this is a link to their MySpace) are hard rocking garage band good for a party night like Halloween. Below is a photo to show a little more how the whole stage area was done up for Halloween. Silvia (the lead singer and fidizanta of Luca) is very animated when she sings. She's like a boxer that's nice a friendly outside of the ring but once the bell sounds. Look out.

Day 1 is easy because of the Ognissanti holiday. Most businesses are closed so there isn't much to do. All the Italians are going to the cemetery to pay they respects to relatives that have passed away. I thought about going over there as I'm sure that would be some good photos with all the flowers but I woke up to thunder and lightening so going over just to see what's going on doesn't seem like a good idea. Although as I write this it's being to lighten up so maybe I will take a stroll around town.

It's about to begin....

2007-10-31T10:03:00.000+01:00

Brothers and Sisters are you ready. Don't the cats look scared. They should be. Tomorrow begins a new month but it’s not like any other month and this year is not like any other year. I’m going to attempt something that has never been done (as far as I know, but I haven’t researched it too hard). I’m going to join NaBloPoMo and that would make me Brindisi’s first member if I can pass THE TEST. First let me explain. This jumble of letters stands for National Blog Posting Month for those of you not keeping up with the times, which is most of you! This exclusive club requires that you blog EVERY DAY in the month of November. This November I’m going to “Just Do It” and I WILL join this elite club that WILL surely rule the world, someday. So EVERY DAY of the coming month I will blog AND I’m going one further and I say that I will have a new, never before seen photo with every entry.
This sounds tough and it may be, but I need a challenge, as this blogging thing is getting too easy. Things may go a little haywire this month. Laundry may not get done. Personal grooming may be overlooked but there will be something new here. Just last night a funny thing happened to me on the way home from work that will make a good story during the up coming month. Also we have a lot of events coming up. I might as well say it. We have my birthday in this month. We have Mama Roots in concert. I will be in Rome for Thanksgiving and who knows where else. So stay tuned as I hope to blog about things you never seen or even thought you would see. It may get personal you may be offended but remember it’s for your entertainment only.
Use as directed. Consult a physician if the condition persists for over a month….
Ci vediamo domani…and dopodomani and dopodopodomani…

Little update. I decided to add this scary photo of Mara for Halloween. You have to go back 3 years on my blog to see when I last carved a pumpkin.

Goldoni

2007-10-27T15:47:00.001+02:00

So the newest music pub is open. Thursday night the place was packed and rocking. This first photo is outside early in the night. As you can see there is not much to see outside but there is room for smokers to hang out, which is important. The cars make good places to put your beer while outside.

Inside you see that the place has the barrel shaped roof. You are surrounded in yellow, or gold light. I took this photo from the stairs as you head into the main room. It's in the basement of 3 story building. Nice layout with a long bar on one side and all the tables on other. The beers are good but it's officially a wine bar so I'll be tasting those in the future. I'm not sure how old this place is but I was told that this place was a bomb shelter in World War II. Then it was a pizzeria until now.

The band Creme had the honor of playing the first night. They have a new CD out called Sulla Collina. There is a screen behind the stage to show videos or CALCIO.

Frigo part 2

2007-10-26T09:48:00.000+02:00

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!

Night photos

2007-10-25T10:46:00.000+02:00

I've decided to get a decent tripod. These photos are from Tuesday night in Martina Franca. I always think I can find a way to brace the camera and get the picture but now my common sense is coming into play. I have a good digital SLR so I should carry a tripod if I really want to get good night photos. Also, if that's not enough then I should look at how I got my coat dirty bracing myself against a wall to get this one below. Any good advice on tripods is appreciated.
By the way. For my mom. The pigeon has flown the coop. Repeat the Pigeon HAS Flown the COOP.

MY verdicts are here!

2007-10-23T09:58:00.000+02:00

My review of Marco’s playing? Well, I kinda missed it. When I arrived he was already done playing. But hey I wasn’t the only one surprised by the early start. Mr. Browns is in a building surrounded by people trying to sleep so they had to start the music “on time” which should be translated as “very early”. I mean if they say the music starts at 22:00 nobody really expects the music to start then, but in this case it did. So we can add this to the list of reasons I don’t like Mr. Browns for music. Other weekend updates. South Africa won the Rugby World Cup Saturday night and I was able to see the game at Goblins Pub (Thanks to Francesco, we kicked the Inter fans out). Kimi won the Formula 1 Championship on Sunday. My theory that it’s all rigged was confirmed when Lewis Hamilton had some strange problem shifting gears and ended up in 7th place, which gave Kimi the win by one point. How convenient and Amanda shares my views so it’s not just me. And last but not least, I didn’t go to the Olive sagra as the weather didn’t cooperate. In related news, the heat came on for the first time in my apartment this year. Meanwhile my mom calls and tells me that in Cincinnati it was going up to 82F Sunday. Son of a ….. Still, wait until January! I’ll have my revenge then!
There is good news from this weekend. Another “Music Pub” is about to open THIS THURSDAY. It WILL be a good place for music! I’m excited and a little cautious about it though. You see Ottavio has been saying this new pub of his is going to open for about two years now. Last week he gave me a date for the first time, it was October 25 and I jokingly thought to myself, “he didn’t say what year!” He showed me the plans for this bar probably 3 years ago when he was running the Thomas Inn. This new place will be long and skinny with the band stage at one end. Therefore everyone in the place should be able to see the band. This will make it the only small indoor venue that is set up for music. So many of the pubs have music but they are strange shapes that don’t work if you are trying to have a concert. Most have tables two feet from the band or the stage is right next to the door so you can’t get in. As a bonus he’s also going to have free wifi inside. So this will be the first place in Brindisi to offer free wifi (besides one of the hotels, but I can’t use that free wifi spot). He even mentioned that there are two acts touring Italy from the US that will play at his place this winter. Otavio is a big fan of Jazz and Blues (and plays the trumpet himself) so I’m interested to see whom he gets. Most places around here will get whomever they can to play but I think Ottavio will work harder to get better musicians. Plus he seems to know people in the business from his playing days.
Other news. Maria elena showed me her photos that are now online at Flickr. Once again I’m reminded how boring my photos are. Take a look at her photos here to see more interesting and artistic shots around Brindisi.
Her picture of a soap bubble alone is worth look over there. It’s amazing and I’m jealous because I would never think to take a photo like that. But the photo for today is one I took of her about this time last year on Andrea’s Harley.

Get out your scarves!

2007-10-19T11:32:00.000+02:00

Well the weekend is just about here and I can’t wait. Tonight Marco Russo is playing at a pub called, Mr. Browns. This will be THE first time I’ve ever heard him play and I will be merciless in the review on Monday. I’m also looking forward to the Rugby World Cup Finals if I can see it (most TVs will be tuned to Soccer!). I saw New Zealand loose a few weeks ago and caught South Africa crushing Argentina last weekend so I’m interested in who wins it all. I was impressed with South Africa who has a player with just incredible speed. He looks like an Olympic sprinter, but bigger. Also this weekend Formula 1 has it’s final race and it actually means something. There are 3 drivers that could win the Championship in the final race. Personally I just like watching the start of the race. That’s when they really mix it up. After that there’s no passing. My prediction is: if anyone other than Lewis Hamilton wins then that means someone sabotaged him. It is too strange that in the race two weeks ago this rookie who has driven incredibly well then suddenly, “accidentally” drives off the track and gets stuck in the gravel while going in to the pits. Please. I don’t want to start a controversy but I think something fishy is going on. Actually the story of Formula 1 this year would make a good movie. There was a big spying scandal between the top 2 teams. The two-time World Champion driver is loosing to a rookie driver AND they’re even on the same team. And on top of that THE team owner is not speaking to his World Champion driver but he loves the rookie. Sounds like there are some real characters here. Throw in a love story and someone dealing with a drug addiction and you have another "Stroker Days of Talledega Nights" but on an international scale.
The weather was nice all week so naturally it’s taking a turn for the worst this weekend. The grecale wind (out of the northeast) arrived this morning. It’s bringing rain and the coldest weather of the season so far. They’re even saying that there should be snow in the higher elevations of the Apennines. This isn’t good because there’s one outdoor event I want to go to and that’s the Sagra of the Olives down in Martano. It’s a long way and if the weather is questionable then I probably won’t go. But still a sagra is calling…

Lou

2007-10-17T11:20:00.000+02:00

I don’t know what to say. One of my favorite relatives passed away. Lou was one of relatives we (I’m speaking for my brother and sister) loved when we were kids. I think the best thing was that he and his family lived in Cleveland and us in Cincinnati. There is this strange love-hate relationship between Cincinnati and Cleveland. Why do the North and the South never get along(in this case Ohio)? We could always joke with him and his brother Tony about why Cleveland sucks and Cincinnati was great.
Anyway we didn’t see him all the time but they were close enough that he and his brother would be down for smallest anniversary or holiday gathering. My mom still remembers when he drove from Cleveland to Cincinnati as soon as he got his driver’s license. He was part of that big extended Italian family thing that made holidays at Nonna’s house so cool. He will be missed but we will always remember him. Still, it starts to hurt when you think about how we can never have those amazing holidays like we used to. This is why I should be in the States, so I can be there to pay my respects. Sometimes being an Expat sucks, like Cleveland!

I guess I need a little Pliny the Elder to help me out “Assuredly, only he who is always mindful of the frailty of man will weigh life in a fair balance.”

LOUIS V. PALLOTTA, age 76. Beloved husband of Susan (nee Toth). Loving father of Louis M (deceased) (Ann), Robert (Diane), Ellen Neel (Keith), William (Lisa) and Patrice Kilo (John). Cherished grandfather of Janice, Christine, Louis, Michael, Andrea, Emily, Keith, Kelly, Matthew, John and Nicholas. Dear brother of Anthony and the late Josephine Englebry. In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions to Parkinson Disease Research. U. S. Army Korean Conflict Veteran. Former ARCA stock car racing champion.

Another short book review...

2007-10-15T15:36:00.000+02:00

Well it was a good weekend in the end. The rain finally stopped on Saturday afternoon. Until then it had rained every day since I got back from the US. A couple nights it really stormed but most of the time it was a light rain that the farmers probably loved but it was beginning to annoy the hell out of me. The photo for this blog is from me playing with the new lens in the apartment on Saturday. I was testing the depth of field. That picture was taken from way across on the other side of the apartment! Are you impressed?
Sunday I didn’t do much even though the sun was finally out. I was near the end of Travels with Herodotus (because of the previously mentioned rainy nights) so I was compelled to keep reading until it was finished. I like the book but it was a little too much about Herodotus. I wanted to read more about the author. He was a reporter born in Poland and started going overseas for his newspaper in 1955. It was fascinating to read about his impressions of going off exotic countries. His first assignment was India in 1955. You can only imagine what a different world it was in every way. Then he’s back in Poland for a while but he soon gets a new assignment in China and then after that Africa so you see what I mean about his travels. He has some incredible stories to tell but you only get a taste. But I realize now the book itself is pretty short and I guess he keeps to the point, which is comparing the East to the West from a reporter’s point without taking one side. Dare I say it, “an objective view”? Something I would love to hear more of these days. Herodotus could be considered the first “reporter” in the author’s opinion. Herodotus attempted to compare “Greeks to non-Greeks” in his book The Histories (which everyone now agrees should be translated as The Inquiries). Herodotus does so by traveling to the ends of the earth (at least the ends of the earth around 450 BC). The author admires how Herodotus wants to see for himself and relates everything in very non-bias manner, especially for his era. If you read this book then I highly recommend having the map in Wikipedia section on Herodotus handy. That way you understand where he is and why sometimes it doesn’t make sense with what we know about geography today. Overall I recommend the book, as it is an interesting read about a reporter’s duty and how little people haven't changed in 3,000 years. It always is “us verses them” from both sides.
Now I have to get back to Pliny the Elder. I left him in the middle of describing all the sea creatures he knows….

Blog Ads...

2007-10-10T14:06:00.000+02:00

Maybe I should start charging for publicity on my blog. Nah, I couldn’t do that besides how many people really listen to me? Don’t answer that!!!
It has come to my attention that my favorite Pub has a site on the Internet. So if you are so inclined then here it is The Big Ben . If you like the site then let me know because Raffaella who works at the bar needs some positive encouragement. Also if you have any advice then I’m sure she would welcome that too. Hey, It’s a work in progress and not her real job. Be careful what you say as she may find this blog one of these days.

I also want to give out the site of Bob and Debbie. They have taken care of my cats while I’ve been in the states and now they have an article written by me on Brindisi on their website. Andiamo in Italia. Sure I’ll say it. If you’re looking for a vacation rental around Brindisi then they are good place to go. Maybe I’ll follow in their footsteps someday. They bought two villas south of Brindisi. One they live in and the other they rent. I think it’s a great idea because, you, as the vacation renter have the owners that are native English speakers nearby if you need help and they, as owners, can keep a close watch on their property and keep their renters happy (but maybe at the expense of their own happiness at times). It can’t be easy as some renters will never be content.
Other news on the money front. You know that I like to track my monthly bills so I know how much I’m spending for utilities and stuff. Well the electric bill comes every two months (the gas every 3) and the bill for June-July was much higher than I expected and it didn’t seem right and sure enough it wasn’t because the August-September bill showed a credit that made a correction in the right direction. In the end I’m happy because I did lower my electric bill over the summer (June to September) by about 10%. So that brings the total to around 630 euros on gas and electricity this year, compared to 634 at this time last year. No real savings, but not an increase. I figure that’s pretty good because I know couldn’t heat, cool and provide electricity for my house in the US for this amount. But there is always bad news because I recently read in the paper that the gas rate went up 2.4% and electricity rate has increased 2.8% starting in October. Maybe that’s more than you wanted to know…

October

2007-10-08T14:36:00.000+02:00

Well I’ve been away from the blog for a while so I should update ya’ll on what’s been going on. First of all I was in the States, again. That makes it 3 times that I’ve been in the US this year. I believe that’s a record for me. I’m getting a little tired of sitting on 9+ hour flight. And in true form Alitalia lost my bag in Rome for the umpteenth time. It wasn’t just me, as least 20 people arrived here in Brindisi without their bags. I can’t complain too much because it did arrive on the very next flight that afternoon. So everything is ok. In fact, it took so long to fill out the lost bags form that Airport bus had returned by the time I left the terminal building (see my “A bus” post for the joy in this).
Important news for you blog readers is that I picked up a new lens for my camera. I bought a monster 70-300 mm telephoto lens. Now I can get pictures of people without them knowing it! (Insert sinister laugh here). It was rainy and dreary this weekend so I haven’t gone out shooting photos, yet. It’s funny because I left record high temperatures near 90F in Indianapolis to come back to cool and damp Brindisi. That’s backwards from how it’s supposed to be.
Also I picked up two books while in the States. One that I’ve been meaning to get Travels with Herodotus and other was an impulse buy, Natural History by Pliny the Elder. Pliny has interested my ever since I read Pompeii and found he died because he hung around when Vesuvius was erupting and burying Pompeii in 79 AD. He died because he was so curious that he went towards the eruption when he was far enough away that he was safe where he was. Natural History is the only book he wrote that has made it to modern times and also the book he was working on when he died. It’s his take on everything that was known at the time. I think I’ll be quoting it as I read it. For example the first quote I have from the book is this from the Astronomy section about the search for God, “God is man helping man, this is the path to everlasting glory.”
By the way the photo is from the May trip. I didn't have my camera on this trip since it was all work....

How was your weekend?

2007-09-24T14:05:00.000+02:00

Really, so how was your weekend? While you think about it...
Mine was pretty boring except for a few things. The most exciting thing is that the Big Ben opened Friday night, which according to Erika it means, “It’s winter!!!” I think she’s going overboard but IT IS the non-summer hang out. The Big Ben is always trying to be a better pub and they have succeeded secondo me (according to me). They have added a “magic Guinness” to their beers. Let me explain. They pour a Guinness from a can into a glass. They put the glass in a little machine and puff… the carbonation and cascading of a Guinness happens right before your eyes. It’s like a Guinness from “alla spina a Dublino”. The magic is cool but most importantly, it’s pretty tasty and probably the best Guinness I’ve had since the days of the Henry Gratten in Broadripple. I wonder if Austin reads my blog? How could I find out? I know I remember how much I love visiting the country of Great Britain, but I don’t understand why they use the euro in Ireland and the pound in London. That should generate an email or two unless the company email filter picks up Irish curse words….
Then Saturday night I had a huge dinner with coworkers (there was about 40 to 50 including family members!). A group that size needs a whole masseria, which is what we had but it was outside. That’s a problem because it’s a little cold to be eating outside so you could tell that by the end the night that no one would be hanging around after dessert and an amaro. To my surprise there was entertainment included in this dinner. I’ll put it nicely and say I was amazed and frightened by coworkers’ ability to sing. You see it was Karaoke night, which is not my favorite night, anywhere. Of course they kept trying to get me up to sing, “qualcosa in inglese”. I believe my choices were mainly Frank Sinatra songs. I’m sorry guys, but I REALLY can’t sing and I KNOW I can’t. Yes, yes, I know we’re all friends and as a friend I wouldn’t want to subject you to me singing “My Way”. I’m being a friend by NOT singing.
Daniele and family. One of my caffe` dependents. Notice the Karaoke microphone close by.
Claudio and family and part of the appetizer

Then I Sunday I decided I wanted to try my digital Rebel out in Lecce. I realized that I might be able to get all of Santa Croce in one shot. Guess what, even with a lens that goes down to 18mm you can’t get the whole church in. For crying out loud, why did they build that church on such a narrow street?! I also wanted to get a picture of the column we discussed last week. The latest on that fight is that it seems the mayor of Cursi (in the province of Lecce) is offering Brindisi a perfect replica of our column made out Lecce stone. Nice try buddy. That Lecce stone column would be more at home IN LECCE! As I was heading back to Brindisi I had the brilliant idea to get a picture of the wind farm they built near Lecce. It looks sooo close to the Autostrada but then I tried to get “there” and oh what fun.

The column that's not in it's rightful place.

Does this look like the right road to the wind farm? There's no one to ask for directions, not that I would.

The wind farm! These babies are huge. Puglia is one of the leaders in wind power in Italy. Brindisi is working on a 11 MW photovoltaic site near where I work.

Return the 2000-year-old marble column and no one will get hurt!

2007-09-20T15:08:00.000+02:00

Something has been in the local news lately and I love it because it sparked a good debate after lunch in the office. I was really getting into it. I’ve mentioned in the past how Brindisi historically is known as the town at the end of Via Appia, which is the greatest road in the Roman Empire (history according to me!). I have also told you that the end of the Via Appia was marked in Brindisi with two marble Roman columns, which are the symbol of the town. I also have mentioned that Lecce, for some odd reason, has one of the columns in Piazza Oronzo in Lecce with their patron Saint Oronzo on top of it.
(cue the music)
Now....
The rest of the story....
In Brindisi the popular story is that Lecce is a bunch of thieves and they stool the column back around 1660. Lecce believes that the column was a gift, which sounds like something a bunch of lying, cheating thieves would say. I’m not trying to influence you or something. Recently the mayor of Brindisi started asking the mayor of Lecce to please give us back our column and we’ll stop calling them lying, cheating, ugly, good-for-nothing thieves. I, for one, would love to see both columns back in Brindisi overlooking the sea like they are supposed to be. Why now? Well just recently Brindisi finished a restoration of the capital of the column we have. The capital is sooo precious that Brindisi is putting it in the “Salone di Colonna” (basically indoors to keep in preserved) instead of back on top of the column we have. They on the other hand are letting our column fall apart. Our column in Lecce has metal bands on it to hold it together under the weight of their fricken saint!
I should be fair. The big question should be, why would Brindisi give such a beloved piece of the town to Lecce? Well this is good story. It seems in 1528 one column fell over. No one is quite sure why but the common belief is that an earthquake caused it. I think someone from Lecce knocked it down, have you seen how they drive? Anyway, history is sketchy back then because Brindisi was hit with The Plague in 1526. Naturally putting the column back up was not a priority as people were dying in the streets. The column sat in pieces and not much is known until in 1660 when the column was erected in Lecce with a bronze of Saint Oronzo on it, like it is today. The theory is that sometime between 1528 and 1659 Brindisi gave the column to Lecce because Saint Oronzo liberated Brindisi from The Plague. That sounds like a reasonable reason to give the column away but Brindisi claims (and always has) that San Rocco liberated Brindisi from The Plague so there wouldn’t be any gifting of nothin’ between Brindisi and Lecce. There is even a record from November 2, 1659 in Naples of the mayor of Brindisi asking for the column to be returned but it was denied. So even before it was put up, Brindisi was asking for it back and now 348 years later and we are still asking. Sorry I went back to being a little one sided there again.
There is a response from the mayor of Lecce and I’ll just say it’s long and boring and definitely written by someone in politics. He even mentions at one point “Where would Lecce put its statue of Saint Oronzo?” Boy, do I have a response to that!!!!!

This jaded history is taken from the site below which is a Brindisi site so even my original story is from the Brindisi perspective….but you can’t trust those Leccese anyway… http://www.provincia.brindisi.it/provbr/storiatradizioni.nsf/3e86072a2032ae07c1256cf40039e714/51a1062d34b7b7a2c1256cf5003db251?OpenDocument

Last Chance?

2007-09-17T10:30:00.001+02:00

I know I said summer was over but that doesn’t mean I have to accept it. This weekend I went to the beach one last time, maybe. I’m pretty sure I won’t be going again because the water was frickin’ cold. I WAS TOLD that the water would stay warm into October. Well if you call the water this weekend warm then you must have some Viking blood in you. I think the wind may have mixed things up and took away the warm water. I did go snorkeling anyway and I managed one last good photo of a fish. This fish was a beauty too. Definitely related in the Luna Wrasse you see in Zoos and Aquariums. I don’t know if you can tell how purple and blue the head of this fish is. It was really hard to even get the fish in the frame, let alone get the light right.

Also I haven’t had any photos of Nello and Mara on the blog lately so I tried to get some new shots of them on Sunday.
Nello relaxing all day in his chair!

Mara is that some new game that you and Nello are playing? And wait, I know I didn't teach you play spin the bottle!

The "A" Bus

2007-09-13T14:25:00.000+02:00

Ok, back to all things Pugliese! Have I ever told you the story about the bus to the airport here in Brindisi? I still remember when I found out about it. I was sooo happy. A bus that goes from a stop near my apartment almost directly to the airport, it seemed to good to be true. Well this past weekend is the very first time that I’ve taken the bus TO and FROM the airport!!! Yeah for me! I don’t ask people to take me to the airport because I almost always leave on the 6:40 AM flight to Rome and I don’t like getting up early for that flight so I’m not going to ask someone else to do it too. I don’t ask people to pick me up because the planes, naturally, never get in on time. So a taxi or a bus are the only real options, although I noticed the parking at the airport is open again, but don’t get me started on how much that costs.
Anyway back to the topic at hand. The bus is the perfect option. The first bus of the day is actually timed to get you there in plenty of time for the first flight of the day so all I have to do is catch it. So why did everything work this past weekend and not in the past? One reason is in August I learned of the new route. Not from the guy who sells tickets or a schedule but from a little old lady at 5:30 AM in the morning. She sees me at the stop with my suitcase and says the airport bus just went by on the next street over. I’m convinced she’s crazy because the sign next to me clearly has the “A” on to signify that this is where the airport bus stops. About 10 minutes later it becomes evident to me that she is in fact not crazy because there is no sign of the bus I’m waiting for. I jump in a taxi and pay 20 euro to make it to the airport in time to catch my plane. So in August I learned that the route changes. From this I have also learned to look for route changes not at the bus station but to go visit the bus stop a few days before I intend to use it. I check to see if the bus does indeed stop there, because the route could change again by the time I take another flight. The change was incredibly small but nonetheless just enough.
Then coming from the airport to my apartment I learned another valuable fact in August. This is probably the most important lesson for you all out there in cyberspace because you can take this bus from the Brindisi airport to the train station (and to catch the ferries but that's a bit of walk). This last trip was different because I only had one carry on so when the plane landed I went straight out of the airport. Low and behold the bus is right there waiting for me just like I always dreamed it would be. I did a double take because it must be the wrong bus or something. I soon learn why I’ve never seen it because as soon as I get on the driver gets in and takes off. I’m looking back and only one or two other passengers with only carry on have come out of the terminal. Didn’t the driver want to wait a minute or two to see if anyone else was going to take the bus? The moral. People with checked baggage will not catch the bus. Actually I’ve learned that if I want the bus and I have checked bags then I’ll have to be patient. In the past I see no bus and I have no idea if it’s on schedule so I usually break down and get a cab. Now I know the bus has just left and will be back in about 15 minutes. So next time I’ll wait and not pay 20 euros to get me where the bus takes me for 80 cents!!! I even wonder if it’s a scam too because who would take a cab if the bus was there. The cab drivers may ask the bus to “get lost” before the rest of the passengers can catch the bus.
So you all can learn from my mistakes!! One the bus route can change so ask me if you plan to take the bus. Two the bus into town probably has just left before you walked out of the terminal so tell the taxi driver politely, “vaffancula” and wait for the bus. Oh and I should warn you that the ticket will be 1.60 euro if you buy it on the bus and 80 cents if you get it from the tobacco shop in the airport. That’s all.

Also there is supposed to be a Pasta Strike today in Italy to protest the rising price of pasta but at lunch I already crossed the picket lines! Actually everyone was eating pasta so as far as I can see this was the worst organized strike of all time. And here I was ready to eat steak and potato chips all day!

Magyar

2007-09-11T14:43:00.000+02:00

I’m back and holy crap what weekend. So I alluded to the fact that I was taking off this weekend and here's the report on what I did. I’m tempted to not tell you where right away and make you figure it out based on what I write. Ahhh, I can’t keep a secret so I’ll tell you soon if you haven’t figured it out from the title of this blog. In general, this trip was pretty much perfect. I got to know a European capital in a country I have never been to and meet new and interesting people (some locals, some not so local).

So what happened? Well I left Brindisi frickin’ early Friday morning and I arrived at my destination and Juli met me at the airport to show me how to get to her friend’s house (another Juli, so I get to confuse you with the names) where I would be staying. The next stop was THE Wine Festival being held at THE castle in picture above overlooking one of the great rivers of Europe. The Wine Festival was one of the reasons I went there when I did and it was a big part of the fun. Juli was working the festival as translator/consultant for journalists and her mother is a VIP for this festival and we all know how important it is to have friends in high places. On Friday I ate, drank, enjoyed the view, and visited the museum in the castle. What more do you need? The photo below is the view from castle the first night. No, I didn't have a tripod. I was doing the old "balance it on a railing shot". The far left building in white light is Parliament. The bridge is "The Chain Bridge" and the other lighted building is Church of Saint Stephen.

The next morning I started out slow but really had no ill effects from the night before. Juli had to work at the festival again but she gave us (another American Joe, and French guy Nicholas) a brief tour and some things to do before meeting up with her later. My goal was to walk the city up and down to get a real feel for it. Of course, for me the first thing I needed was a good café, which I found in a nice piazza in the center of town. The waiter was immediately convinced I was Italian because of the way I asked for a caffe and I played along with him because I thought it’s more fun to be Italian.

Caffeinated and ready for anything I took the tram up and down the river, walked the exclusive Andrassy Street, and checked out the view from the cupola of Saint Stephens. I really liked everything I found and the more I think about it the better it was. This country is part of the European Union but they still use their own money and the language is impossible to pick up so you really have the feeling of being in Old Europe (the way it should be). I love the Euro but once in a while it’s cool to be playing again with money completely unique to the country. If you haven’t figured out by now I was in Budapest, Hungary (by the way the title of this blog is Hungarian in Hungarian, see what I mean about impossible to pick up words). I used the last bit of energy in my legs to walk up a to an overlook called the citadel. I hung out there until sundown. As it started to get cold, I went over to the castle but the festival was packed and Juli had to get away from the madness so we met up with the her friends and Nicholas at what I’ll call an “industrial style bar”. Nicholas was a hilarious kid that was just fun to hang out with. Hey he’s only 20, so I can call him a kid! His idea of not sleeping while on vacation could really expand the tourism market.

Sunday Nicholas, Juli, and I went out into the countryside where we were transported back in time. There's an outdoor museum about an hour from Budapest in a town called Szentendre. They’ve made buildings and structures that represent different types of old villages that used to exist in the various regions of Hungary. You could see everything about how they lived throughout the country in one location. You walked among the thatched roofs and mud walls from the towns that were on the open plains and then among the rock and timber buildings typical of highland towns. Again Juli had to get to work so Nicholas and I wandered around and ate some traditional foods and drank some wines (they had wine tasting here too!). The best thing to me was without a doubt the “pipe-pie” or “tube-tort”. This picture is that incredible pastry being made. They wrap dough around a wood cylinder and cook it over coals with coating of sugar and cinnamon.

Then we headed back to Budapest to experience one of their well-known thermal baths. After all the walking we did it was soooo frickin’ nice to slip into that hot water. After 5 minutes, I didn’t know how I would be able to get out. About 2 hours later I remembered there is one force strong enough to get me out of the hot bath. I started to get hungry! A quick bite to eat and N and I went back at the castle to meet up with both Julis to celebrate the last night of wine festival. I was celebrating a great first visit to Budapest too!!

Monday morning was spent relaxing and recovering. I had a late afternoon flight so there wasn’t much time to go around but did see a little more of the town. I was amazed at how well I could navigate the mix of trams, buses, and metro. Of course, it helped having both Julis give me directions but after 2 days I had a feel for all the different ways to get around. Hungarian doesn’t have ANY words I recognize so I thought traveling around would be tougher but it’s not. I had a great time in Budapest but I don’t recommend you go there because I don’t want to see it go the way of Prague and be overrun with tourists. So it was good for me but not for you!

A nice church? No. This is the Thermal Bath in Budapest that I went to. It's the one in the park behind Heroes Square. I was told by the locals it's a good place.

The last night celebration. Nicholas, Juli, Adam, and Juli. Adam kept the good wine coming so go to learn about good Hungarian wines, at Cezar Winery.
I wish I could post more photos but this is pretty long. I could paste random photo some other day....

Do you feel it?

2007-09-06T14:33:00.000+02:00

The cooler weather has been here all week and I’m feeling it and so are the kids (cats). Last night I started my non-summer routine. I was going to call it “my winter routine” but that’s a strong word and I can’t really use it in a place where it doesn’t snow. So the routine is something like this:
After work I go to the gym (on Mon-Wed-Fri). Oh man, let me tell you, last night it was the first time in over two months, so I’m feeling it today.
Then on the way home I stop at “Il Salu…Mino” and then the fruit and vegetable store to get food for dinner. Remember if Mino can explain something without writing it down then it usually is a good simple recipe for me. Usually his recipes require a stop at the fruit and veggie place too, which is fine because that's on the way home anyway.
Then I cook it all up and watch a little TV before heading out to a pub around 11:30PM, if I feel like it. With the cooler weather I suddenly feel like cooking again and it’s a good thing too. After playing calcetto Tuesday night and going to the gym last night my appetite is twice what it was in the summer. In August I just didn’t feel like cooking or eating much. A cold panino and salad sounds good when it’s near 100F. Now it’s real pasta weather! It’s ok to boil up a big ol’pot of water.
The cats are feeling it too. While I was watching the game (Italy vs Poland in basketball) and cooking I had to keep checking on what they had gotten into or knocked over. I guess when both animals have “cat-like” reflects they tend to forget the laws of physics. Why do they ignore the fact that they are running on tile floors? They CANNOT turn and STOP like they want to! It’s like watching Tom and Jerry or actually Tom and Tom. Their little legs moving twice as fast as their body and then they try to hide behind a chair leg. Their antics can make me laugh out loud sometimes. In July and August they would wait until about 11:00 PM before going on a rampage and even then it wouldn’t last very long.
I guess it’s just fun to be in a different routine even if it is a routine. I remember last spring I was really sick of going to the gym. I wasn’t going to join again this fall but I’m glad I did. There really isn’t anything to do between after work and say 7:30 PM when you start to think about dinner.
Also this cooler weather is getting me ready for a little trip I’m taking this weekend. I’ll tell you all about Tuesday.

Ciao Estate!!!

2007-09-03T12:16:00.000+02:00

Well another Saints' Festival is over and so is summer. Now some of you out there will think I’m crazy to write that, after all it was in the 90’s last week, so how can I say summer is over just because the calendar is September. Believe me I know, and so does Mother Nature. On September 1 the hot Scirocco wind from the south departed and the cool Maestrale from the northwest took its rightful place. The weather here is much more predictable than the weather of the Midwest. When the wind changes so does the season. Now I can look forward to comfortable temperatures with a chance for rain every once in while. Put away the sun tan lotion and beach towels. Bring on the long sleeve shirts and jeans jacket!
The festival in town is over. So what are the highlights you ask?
When I walked past the Monsignor on the podium he was calling out parts of the town trying to get everyone ready for ceremony when the boat parade arrives. He was saying things like “Who here is from the Sant’Elia parish? Who’s from Paradiso? Come on, I want to hear you!” I laughed because it felt like I was at rock concert.
The fireworks show actually started 10 minutes EARLY. What was up with that? I’ve never heard of starting them early.
There was no new gadget for sale this year. Last year the new gadget was these two magnets that you throw up in the air together. In the air they rub and make an annoying cricket like sound that stops when you catch them. All the kids were buying them so you heard the sound everywhere.
There's no saints fastival without "copeta". This is almonds coated in caramelized sugar. Did I say sugar? So you know why this comes first according to me...
Let's not forget the reason for fest! Here is San Teodoro riding the white horse. He's paraded around town several times but for this photo he's in the temporary gazebo in the middle of town.
Fireworks are always a hit.

Kids and their rides..

Outside my apartment Saturday night. Actually, only 14 of these cars are illegally parked. The parking madness gets worse the closer you get to the sea. That's why I love living in town. My car always has a home in the garage.

The Story of San Teodoro D'Amasea

2007-08-30T15:02:00.000+02:00

The story of this saint is pretty cool to me. It’s lacks a lot of detail and if I’m getting something wrong then I hope Marco Ruuu will correct me. San Teodoro was a Roman soldier on a ship that sailed from Brindisi as part of the Crusades around 1210. He died in a battle in Aukat, Turkey. As the ship returned with his remains the sailors realized the Turks were chasing them and they would not escape. They decided to put his remains in small dingy and sent him adrift as they turned the ship to fight the Turks chasing them. The story says that the dingy miraculously made its way back to the harbor of Brindisi unaided.
So to mark this event, every year Brindisi has a boat parade led by a boat with the effigy of San Teodoro riding a white stallion (and a statue of San Lorenzo, the other patron saint of the town is on the boat too for some odd reason). The lead boat brings the statues into the harbor again as a reenactment of the original miraculous return in 1210. There are speeches made by important local politicians and religious folks. Then they set off the best fireworks show of the year from the Sailors Monument on the other side of the harbor. The waterfront and the steps up to the columns that mark the end of the Via Appia are PACKED with people.
The whole celebration is about 4 nights of what you see in the Youtube video link below. I guess I would be called crazy if I acted surprised to find video on Youtube. It's not great but it gives you a little of what the rides and vendors are like. My camera would make a video of about the same quality so I can’t make fun of the person that did this and if you can’t be here for the festival then it’s the next best thing.

Festival of San Teodoro

The carnival rides remind me of how I would like to take some of my Italian friends to the US. Back in Ohio I could take them to King’s Island just north of Cincinnati or Cedar Point up by Cleveland. Some of my best memories of childhood are when I was first allowed to ride “The Beast” at Kings Island and then later in my teens going there for most of the summer with a season pass. Nothing was cooler than riding in the very front of the Beast late at night.
It’s funny that I forgot about those days because people here always ask me what I did as a kid in the summer with no sea to go to. I remember now. The parents would drop us off at Kings Island and we would run wild all over the park. We hardly ever got into trouble except when we learned how to squeal the tires on the “old fashioned car ride” or when we learned that we could screw up the mechanical Smurfs by throwing pennies on their tracks until the Smurfs got stuck or…. Ahhh, the good ol’days….

Quick Plug for a Blog

2007-08-29T09:28:00.000+02:00

My sister told me about a friend of hers that's living in India teaching English who has a blog. The guy is a really good photographer and I just checked out his blog and looks like things that you would see in National Geographic.
His blog is:
Bombay Dreams

It has nothing to do with Italy but it's pretty cool to me since I've never been to India, yet.