Last post before Grace and I head back to the states for Christmas, as when there I will not be a broad abroad but just a broad.  A getting progressively broader broad.  MUST STOP...... 

Well today was the last day of school for the year 2012.  The kids have been putting on productions all week.  Today the older classes had their concert.  The girls were all primped and heeled and the boys looked rightfully uncomfortable in their ties and collared shirts.  After all was over everyone headed out to fly off to their various homelands.  We will be among them tomorrow.  I feel like Santa, checking my list and packing my packs.  Don't anyone get their hopes up.  It's mostly socks and underwear we'll need for two weeks of cold!

the girl half of Grace's class, she's far right

four of the gang of five.

Grace and I have been playing a little game on our way to and from school each day.  We see how many pi- diddles we can count.  I'm not sure about the spelling but as anyone who has ever driven kids around probably knows, a pi-diddle is a car with just one headlight working.  According to our research Italy has a ton.  GP thinks it has to do with speed bumps or low-cost bulbs being used in autos these days.  I don't know what the cause is but in one short trip to school (10 minutes) we have counted up to 10.  Hmmmm.  One of those strange Italian things. 

I'll be seeing many of you soon and to those I miss, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!   xxoo me

Ok, that's it.  I am officially, really and truly, sick of food and wine.  Today we celebrated Christmas with the Grandparents which means an afternoon meal lasting a couple of hours.  Four appetizers (salami, frittata, roast peppers with anchovies, chicken and pistachio salad) stuffed pasta with meat sauce,veal roast, vegetables (spinach and artichokes) and Christmas cake and fruit and chocolates with white wine to start, red in the middle and white bubbly at the end.  I slept for a while on the sofa afterwards while grace played cards with her Grandparents.  Now I am declaring that I will be on a strictly "what I don't eat here and miss" diet when we are home for the holidays.  No wine.  Beer yes, but no wine.  I am now going to bed but first may drink an alka seltzer.  xxoo me

our little yard with the first snowfall

We had our first snowfall.  Minor though it may have been, it was lovely and Christmas-like.  Unfortunately GP was away with our car so I had my father-in-law's auto.  Driving his car is always stressful because he is such a worrywart.  God forbid something happen to it while I was driving.  I'd never recover from the guilt.  Grace's school is over the hill and over very narrow, twisting roads.  Though snow tires or chains are mandatory above a certain altitude (our hills are above that altitude) the city doesn't concern itself with plowing (no plows), salting (no salt) or sanding (some sand but not enough) the roads.  The grandparents live in the "lowlands" so don't have snow tires.  The drive was a little treacherous.  There was the added problem of Italians not really knowing how to drive in snow and not following the rules of the road in any case.  So lots of cars off the road, people late to school, slipping and sliding up the sleep slope to the teacher's parking lot.  But we arrived safe and sound and I immediately called my father-in-law to tell him his car was intact.  By the time school was over it had warmed up sufficiently to melt most of the snow and the drive home was fine.  Today there is barely a trace of it left.  xxoo me

Two posts today.  This first I've been pondering whether or not to write.  As I really need to vent, here I go.  I am not proud to be an American today.  In fact I am downright sickened.  As much as I complain about Italy, with it's disorganization, the break-ins that have us living in a safe, the fact that there is a 90% chance that my car, bag, phone will be stolen, I know that there is a 0% chance of my child being shot in her school.  Italians ask what the Hell is wrong with us.  Good question.  It's not a complicated matter of changing society, dealing with the mentally ill, stopping bullying.  It's a simple matter of changing the law and NOT ALLOWING PEOPLE TO BUY WEAPONS.  If the government used half the effort they have put into anti terrorism, and put it into gun laws in our own country these things wouldn't happen.  A man in China walked into a school the other day with a machete and attacked the students.  It took a while for him to be subdued.  20 kids injured but not one dead.  Crazies are everywhere and that we can't control, but the amount of damage they can inflict we can control.  What I want to know is where is all that outrage that fueled the marches for civil rights, for the Vietnam war.  Where is a Moms Against Guns group?  Can't we stand up against the NRA and everyone in the government who is in the pocket of the arms makers?  Did you hear what the NRA's comment was?  The shooter could have been stopped if the teachers had been armed.  Are we flipping kidding?  In the school in the States we had "lock down" practice.  Every time there is another of these horrible crimes we toughen the security in our schools.  Wouldn't it make more sense to make the crimes impossible to commit.  We can't fly with a bottle of shampoo in our carry-on but we can go to Walmart and buy an automatic weapon.  The government reads our e-mails and traces our overseas travels but does nothing about the fact that someone collects an armory full of weapons.  These incongruities beat Italy's anytime.  I'm horrified and sadly ashamed.  me

I do believe Italy is trying to kill me.  First, I've had a terrible cough, red itchy eyes and a stuffy nose for weeks.  I'm convinced it's city air but may well just be some bug.  Then, I've had a few incidents of what I think may be gallbladder attacks.  I have been sort of over doing it in the cheese department.  I love cheese.  Every region in Italy has their own artisanal cheeses.  There are soft, creamy, almost sweet cheeses and hard, crumbly, sharp cheeses and cheeses for melting and cheeses for grating....I could go on.  Anyhow, I have been having uncomfortable nights after too much rich food so I have to cool it for a while.  Of course tonight we are going to dinner at the home of friends from Germany and we're having Raclette.  That's a big ole chunk of yummy melted cheese that you eat with vegetable and bread.  Sort of a more solid and less elaborated fondue.  Argh. 

We're preparing for our trip home next Thursday.  Grace and I are very excited.  On Sunday we'll be doing an early Christmas with the Grandparents which will be an all day groany affair.  I'll be asleep on their sofa by 4pm.  The school is revving up for it's holiday concerts that start with the little ones on Monday morning.  There will also be a production of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  I love hearing all the kids with their diverse accents up on stage.  The school is decorated and Christmas music plays in the background every morning and afternoon but it is never referred to as Christmas holiday because being and international school means non denominational.  Our concerts are holiday concerts, our fair was a winter fair, the break coming up is the winter break etc.  All that aside, probably 90% of the students are from Christian backgrounds as most are Europeans or North Americans. 

Off to the doctor, (taking a book for the probable wait),  to check to see if this stupid cough is bronchitis.  xxoo me

keeping warm

look how tall!

Snow!  Not here.  In the mountains.  Grace and I were missing the white stuff in this holiday season so we nagged GP into going up, up, up high enough to touch it for the day.  We went to Pragelato, a small town that grew thanks to the Olympics.  It's where they held the ski jumping events.  Those are some seriously steep slopes.  Just looking at them from ground level made me a little queasy.  The jumps are right in town, or at least in full view from town.  A little farther up from the center is a lovely ski area that caters mostly to cross country and snow shoeing.  There is one lift for downhill as well.  We didn't really go prepared but next time I'll find someone to go snowshoeing with me.  It's gorgeous and only about an hour and a half drive from the city.  Of course all the fresh air made us hungry so we had to stop and buy some fresh bread and cheese and have a little snack.  When we came home I took a nap.  All in all a good day.  xxoo me

 In Lugano for a few hours today.  One word: WOW.  This is the center, tucked under the Alps and on a large, clear lake.  The air is wonderful.  With the beautiful weather we've had here, I had forgotten how polluted Torino and surround actually are.  The area is land locked and surrounded by mountains and hills, so there's no where for the smog to go.  Driving back we noticed the mountains were a little "yellowed" (as GP says).

 I don't know who this guy is but I love the pruned trees along the walkway.  Lugano is the best of both worlds.  It is pristine and orderly with modern conveniences like Switzerland.  And it is fashionable and lush with gorgeous architecture like Italy.  The people are all beautifully coiffed and dressed (Italy).  All the dog walkers pick up their dog's poop (Switzerland).  Unfortunately it is outrageously expensive.

 This promontory sticks far out into the water.  They use boats as taxis and buses to the various towns surrounding the lake.  One of the villages, or possibly part of the city of Lugano, is called Paradise.  See below.

 The entrance to Paradise.

 Talk about views.  Of course the only people who can afford to live here are the folks who have their bank accounts here.

I love these Dr. Seuss trees in the park.  Did I mention the lake is populated by huge snow white swans?  Of course.






As I said, WOW.  xxoo me

Tidbits.

A couple weeks ago the Prime Minister of Germany was in Naples for a meeting of some sort. While there the head of his security team had his Rolex stolen right off his wrist.  Naples is a cesspool.

The towns and cities have all put up their Christmas decorations.  GP and I took a walk in Torino to see the lights.  They have a giant Advent Calender set up in the largest square in the center which they open at 6:30 every evening.  The fire department arrives with a ladder truck and kids are recruited from the crowd.  Then with the aid of the children, a fireman on the ladder pulls a rope and opens the daily window.  It's all very cute and festive.

It would be even more festive if it felt vaguely like winter.  Temperatures continue to be up near 50 and though the mountains are white, down here the grass is still green.  They keep saying a blast of wintery air is coming but these people have no concept of wintery air blasts.  A slight breeze here is seen as a blustery day and actual wind is dangerous and worrisome.  This time of year is usually very damp and gray and foggy.  It has been lovely and dry and sunny which has everyone on pins and needles.  Anything out of the ordinary tends to send them over the edge.

There is something wrong with our oven.  Every time I use it in conjunction with either the washing machine or the iron, I short circuit something or another and the power goes out.  We are left in utter darkness, stumbling around looking for the front door so as to get light from the hallway.  It's happened three times now.  I then have to go down into the garage under the apartment, go into the "basement" of the next stairwell where all the fuse-boxes are, and flip our power on again.  As Grace and I are planning on making Christmas cookies next week I think I'll just leave the flashlight out.

Tomorrow GP has a business meeting in Lugano, a beautiful lakeside town on the border between Italy and Switzerland.  As I don't work on Thursdays I'm going to trail along.  I have a package to mail to Germany and I think the likelihood of it arriving before Christmas is exponentially higher if it is mailed from Switzerland than if mailed from Italy.  Our local post office here has 5 women who work there.  Two are usually seated and waiting on customers while the other three mull around moving papers back and forth between tables.  I also want to try to buy a flu shot in Lugano.  GP and I have already had ours (one buys the vaccine in the syringe at the pharmacy and goes to the family member or neighbor who knows how to give injections.  In our case my mother-in-law.)  But Grace hasn't had her shot yet and Italy seems to have run out.  Up until last week the news was all about Italy having a surplus ordered to guarantee the vaccine to all who wanted it.  Well today we couldn't find any anywhere.  All the pharmacies are out.  Grace is pleased.

ooxx me

It was the second time in as many weeks that we took a new family to the wine region for a day of tasting and buying.  This is how it goes.  First we warm them up with a drive around Le Langhe.  Le Langhe is the wine producing area about a half hour from the city.  The name means "the tongues" because of all the rolling hills and deep valleys.  I personally don't see what rolling hills and deep valleys have to do with tongues but as I wasn't around when the name was given who am I to say so?  Anywho.  We drive around the narrow roads going up the rolling hills and down into the steep valleys appreciating the lovely scenery.  If the weather is clear one has great views of the Alps as well, but alas yesterday was grey.  We walk around in some of the hilltop villages to get everyone good and thirsty and then we head for one of our favorite vintners.  Yesterday we started with Stra, who own a small inn as well as their winery.  They welcome us into their tasting room, with an arched ceiling, a fireplace and a long wooden table.  We all take a seat around the table and the owner and his wife start popping open one of each of the wines they produce (quite an array).  Glasses are set in front of everyone.  Bread sticks, cookies and nuts are placed on the table.  The dogs barking at the door are let in to sleep by the fire and the tasting begins.  They introduce each wine, telling us about the vintage:  the year, the aging process, the location of the vines, the type of soil.  All elements that can influence the flavor.  They start from the "lightest" wines, whites, and work their way up to their "heaviest".  After each tasting, about three horizontal fingers depth in a glass, the glasses are changed or rinsed (with wine).  By the time we leave, after a couple of hours, the table is covered with glasses.  We conduct a little business, buying a few of these and a few of those and then move on to the next place.  Yesterday we visited two wineries and spent easily 5 hours tasting.  We stopped for dinner at a place in one of the villages and had roasted peppers with garlic sauce, home made stuffed pasta with butter and sage, and pears cooked in, what else?, wine.  We came home with the trunk full of cases and the veins full of grape juice.  Surprisingly, the wine is so pure and unaltered by artificial preservatives or flavoring, I feel fine today if a little tired from the late hour.  Tonight going to go into the city to see the Christmas displays.  Not exactly NYC but the lights are pretty.  xxoo me