2018 is riding off into the sunset and globally it has been quite a year.  Trump, Brexit, Trump, Syria, Yemen, Trump, far right winning elections all over Europe, Trump...  you know.

But in my little world there is both good and bad.

Sad, sad news.  At 8 pm last night delivery guys brought a new bedroom set to our upstairs neighbors (the crazies) and began to install it.  The drilling and hammering continued for 2 hours.  Why sad news?  It means they're staying.  After having tried for over a year to sell their place I believe they have given up.  I have a lump in my throat just typing this.  Mother is more neurotic than ever.  Son huge, white and the epitome of weird nerd.  Poor kid.

Other news from Italy.  I am coming to believe that people are actually trying to kill me every time I get in my car.  There is so much Italian weirdness I don't even notice any more but my 8 am commutes to work are still HARROWING!  There are flipping CRAZY people on that road.  The other day someone pushed me so far over to the side, (passing on a very narrow road and on a curve), that I went into a deep ditch and the car made scary grating noises.  I don't like scary grating noises.

This is the first year that MIL has permitted us to "do Christmas".  She is truly aging and getting a little wacky.  She was always a wonderful cook so I have a lot to live up to.  But as she has taken to drink and the fattiest food possible, as long as I add wine, cheese and cream she's good.  This year I have introduced her to some serious heavy American dishes and she LOVES them!  Scalloped potatoes, mac and cheese, our cheese onions.  Her cholesterol is lower than mine.  That's another story.

The daughter is back for a week or so to be spoiled and coddled.  Today she and I drove up to a Christmas fair on Lago Viverone, north of Torino.  GianPiero has sworn off Christmas fairs and all else commercial this time of year.  He said he's never killed anyone so shouldn't be punished in this way.  Fine.  We girls went alone and it was beautiful.  Not the Christmas fair which was so-so, but the area.  The lake is up toward Aosta valley in the Alps and is surrounded by vineyards and scenic little towns.  Really beautiful. 

Alas I can't say the same for me!  When is it my skin stopped being attached to my bones?  Oh well.  Let's hope for a peaceful and happy new year for us all.  xxoo me

That Grinch of a colleague of mine won't let me play my Santa Radio station on my computer at work.   To punish her I have begun singing Christmas carols whenever she is near, complete with intermittent humming when I don't know the lyrics, which is often.  Ahh the little pleasures in life.  Like driving really slowly in front of a car right on my tail when it is impossible for him to pass.  It just brings me joy....

10 more days and then off work for the holidays.  The various lunches and dinners have begun.  Last Sunday we went to the annual holiday lunch put on by GPs hiking group.  There were over 120 people in attendance, most older than us and all in better shape.  Before the lunch was a 3 hours "walk" through the mountains above the village where the restaurant was situated.  It was an easy stroll for this group and I did fine!  At lunch they sold lottery tickets for donated prizes.  The money goes to a couple charities the group supports.  For the 120 plus attendees there were 100 prizes.  Not everyone bought tickets but I bought five.  Did I win anything?  NOOOOO.  But the guy beside GP won FIVE prizes!  Bet he cheated.

Last night we had dinner here with GPs two best buddies and their partners.  WE all chipped in and had a truffle dinner.  There was a good harvest this year so prices are down.  We haven't had the in years because they've been so damned expensive.  The traditional Piemontese truffle dinner is as follows:

Salami as all meals start with salami.

Steak tartar mixed with olive oil, salt and pepper topped with grated truffles (I skipped it)

Tagliatelle with butter, pepper, topped with grated truffles (I ate lots)

Fried eggs topped with grated truffles (ditto)

This is usually ended with Toma, a local cheese, topped with truffles, as all meals end in cheese but we skipped that serving.

Last night's White Truffles from Le Langhe

 There is an on going feud between those that believe that white truffles, like those found here in Le Langhe, (and also the type found in France), are the better truffles and those that say black truffles from Tuscany are best.  White truffles are more well know and more expensive.  There is an annual truffle auction in Alba where truffle dealers (yes they exist) from around the world come to buy.  The largest truffles used to all end up in the US in restaurants in NY or LA.  In recent years American dealers have been outbid by the Chinese.  We are losing our grip people!  The largest truffle this year went to Hong Kong and sold for 85 thousand euro.  That is insane.  We managed to get away with 25 euro a head last night.  Friend's in high places and all that.....

xxoo me

Last Saturday GP and I went down to the seas to hike in the Manea Range, the lower Maritime Alps that follow the coastline.  We parked in a town called Finale Ligure, hiked up into the hills and followed the crest to Noli, my favorite little seaside village. 

We stopped for lunch in a cave accessed by a person sized hole in a rock face.  Stepping through you find yourself on a large shelf over the sea.  Very cool.

lunch spot

not bad eh?

view over small beach

looking down on Noli

Waking back was another story.  Instead of going over the hills again which was time consuming, we followed the road along the coast, which was at times a little harrowing with a precipitous drop to the rocks on one side and speeding cars on the other.  At one point we climbed the rocks down to a remote beach for a sit.  It was a lovely day. 

Alas that was last weekend followed by a week from Hell at work.  My new comrade in arms in the Library has proved to be F@#%ing insane!  It's taken me almost 3 months but I've finally come to the conclusion that she sees, hears, and interprets everything in a completely contrary way to everyone else.  I'm terrified to speak as she takes everything I say as an aggression.   She chastises the children constantly for misbehaving when they are being perfectly well behaved.   Everything is an affront to her.  I'm thinking she may be paranoid schizophrenic.  Really.  I've asked for a meeting with her and two (at least) other people present so that it's not her word against mine when we discuss some issues we've had.  I HATE confrontations and would much rather retreat into my own space and silence but this is unavoidable as we literally work side by side every day.  Oh to be a hermit....

xxoo me

It's time I stop teaching.  I realize I've been saying this for a while now but someone needs to keep me away from children.  In the past two days I've had one kid report me to her mother because I was "mean" and wouldn't let her check out a book, (which was far above her reading level and she had had for 2 months without progressing past the first chapter), and the second I had in tears Friday because he brought me back a book that had been damaged and I chastised him, (he's always been a sniveling little prig).  I am obviously a wicked woman.  And what has really shown me that I should no longer be doing this is that I don't give a hoot.  I would much rather be spending my days bingeing on The Great British Bake Off and sleeping in late. 

Anywhoooo.  Yesterday GP and I went into the city to go to our fav food market.  We stopped by Piazza Castello in the center of the city, to see the huge manifestation against the city's mayor.   There were an estimated 60,000 people.  She is not liked.  They elected a beautiful, well-educated young woman thinking they were getting a progressive newcomer.  What they got was a yes-man to the  party that stands for and does nothing.  So she has stood for and done nothing.  Except to say that she wants Torino to be the first Italian vegetarian city.  Yup.  She said that. 

At the market we loaded up on fish and veggies as we are back on our diets for a while pre-holiday.  The cholesterol numbers have been creeping back up.  Damn this aging thing!

Oh these fish mongers and their sense of humor!

Then last night we went to friends for dinner.  Gianni is a wonderful cook and makes most of his pasta by hand as well as grows his own vegetables, has hens for eggs, and makes his own limoncello!  He made us work for our dinner.  I spent an hour and a half stuffing and cutting out ravioli.

GP making shadow puppets on my pasta!

They were very yummy if I must say so myself.  I did them justice. 

After a few weeks of rain, Indian Summer is predicted for next week.  A last hurray!  xxoo me

Ah London.  I love it from a distance.  But every time I'm there I think "JEEZUS!  I could NEVER live here!"  If it's not the weather, rain every other day, or the lack of affordable produce, half a pound for 1 miserable little apple, it's the fact that not having Thanksgiving, they start decorating for Christmas the first of November!  To quote our eloquent president "WRONG!"

Starbucks, November 1st

That said, I have just returned from a few days visiting the daughter where I saw Kinky Boots at the theater, (I highly recommend it),  saw Bohemian Rhapsody at the cinema, (epic music,) and ate expensive exotic food like kuzu guvec, (Turkish lamb), and sultana scones, (saying sultana instead of raisin makes them exotic).  But generally I just stumbled along after G who is busy and has a life there and who walks way too fast.  I had her take me to see the Kenwood Ladies' Bathing Pond in Hampstead Heath, a huge park not far from her place.  (I've also seen it called Highgate Pond and Hampstead Pond.  Dunno. ) There are 3 swimming ponds in the park, one exclusively for women, one for men and one mixed.   They've been open for swimming since the late 1800's and are maintained via small contributions by patrons.  The Ladies' pond is surrounded by woods and fenced to provide privacy.  There is a changing room, a tiny snack bar and wooden platforms for sitting with ladders for access to the water.  Photos are not permitted as many of the patron bathe au naturel.  I snuck a corner shot from the end of one of the paths leading in.  It is charming, naked old ladies apart.

Tomorrow back to the grind. xxoo me

If it weren't for the fact that this is malaria central I'd be sitting outside right now.  It has been a beautiful day.  Blue skies, 72 degrees.  But we have the worst freaking micro-skeeter problem.  There is a lot of green around us and probably standing water in all of the gardens.  And despite spraying in spring and summer we swarmed.  Grace sat out in the sun for half an hour last time here and came in with 22 bites.  The Maine woods ain't got nuthin' on this place.

I have a friend here, an American gal who works with me, who spent all last year preparing to do half of Il Cammino di Santiago in Northern Spain.  She walked over an hour to work each day and hiked most weekends.  She bought all the right clothes and booked hostels and hotels along the route.  She planned on taking it slowly, she's a couple years older than I am, and gave herself 12 days to do it.  Along the way she began to feel unwell and assumed she was just not as in shape as she had hoped but she trudged on and made to the end where, instead of spending a few relaxing days in the celebratory spa she had booked, she collapsed and spent a few days in the ICU of the local Spanish hospital.  Complete heart failure.  She returned to Italy where she had open heart surgery and spent the rest of the summer, and up til now, recovering!  The woman walked about 225 miles in heart failure!  And I bitch and complain about hiking up a stupid little mountain!  Anywho... so last Saturday I took her shopping and we had a little picnic in the hills.  Sunday I did this:

Who's the big girl??

moi

Year 7.

So these are the messages I get from the daughter in London.

10am  "Was just about to go out and it started pouring.  Guess I'll have to wait til later."
10:02am "Just kidding.  Now the sun's out."
10:06am "Raining again.  I'm wet."

Just a little aside.

I've been back more than a month.  Italy is just coming out of the throws of a many months long heatwave.  This past summer was one of the hottest on record.  Hi 80s and 90s daily up until last week and it has rained only twice since I've been here.  Some plants in my garden are literally cooked.  The leaves are brown and shriveled but not from lack of watering as GP watered nightly all summer and I've kept it up.  I never thought I'd say I'd love a cool, rainy day.  But Grace is getting all of those.

I managed a last beach trip the first weekend I was back.  A friend and I went to Noli, my favorite little seaside town, and swam and sunned all day.  It was lovely.  Noli was once part of the great Maritime Republics along with Amalfi, Genova, Pisa and Venice between 1000 and about 1300.  It's slightly less touristic as isn't on the trainline nor reachable by highway.  It's on it's own bay surrounded by looming hills covered in maritime pines and olive trees. There's a tiny ancient center with twisty, narrow roads and even a castle atop one of the hills.  Usually it takes a little over an hour to drive there but we ran into a lot of backed up traffic due to the bridge that collapsed in Genova.  Though Genova is a good hour south of our destination, the bridge was on a major highway and has messed up traffic everywhere on the coast.  When I think of the number of times we have driven over it I get chills.  Everyone is blaming everyone else and no conclusions nor definite plans for rebuilding have been made.  It's a mess.  It's Italian.

Then 2 weeks ago GP dragged me off on our first ventures into the mountains of the year.  VentureS.  With an S.   He wasn't happy with one hike per weekend but had to make it two.  Or at least for me.  Saturday was a reasonably easy climb with lovely FLAT areas through vineyards and past farms.  I survived.  Sunday HE did a via ferrata which I refuse to do for the sake of my sanity, so I hiked up to the top of the mountain that he was climbing.  It was already well into the 70's early on and it was STEEP.  When I first started up from the little village of San Ambrogio, a vital center of the Italian communist party, I met an old man with wonderful white mustaches, curled and waxed, who was just coming Down.  He must have started ot at 5 in the morning and he was as fresh as a daisy.  Geesh.  The hike is a popular Via Cruces with crosses at every few turns.  I needed them as I pretended to be very pious and stopped to study them intently and catch my breath.  All the 80 year olds that passed me probably though I was praying as I was on my knees, hand clasped to me breast.  Actually I was near fainting. 

My final destination was the Sagra di San Michele.  My patron saint should be nicer to me.   When I got to the top I bought a cold beer and threw myself down to snooze while waiting for GP.  Up was bad enough.  Down was very very bad!  My knees are a mess.  Going for x-rays on Friday.  No more mountains for a while for me.

Today instead we went to the annual Tripe festival in Moncalieri.  Yes.  TRIPE.  It is taken very seriously here.  The fair was packed with thousands of hungry people.  A scary thing to see in this country.  There is even a Brotherhood of the Tripe.  A fraternal organization dedicated to all things tripe.  I did not eat any but took photos for posterity.

The HUGE cauldron where the Tripe is cooked in the tradition local manner.  It stinks.

Your truly with members of the Knights of the Tripe

All manners tripe

I'm having salad tonight.  Sort of off meat at the moment.  xxoo me

This is it!  In a nutshell.

 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/i-dont-know-how-to-explain-to-you-that-you-should_us_59519811e4b0f078efd98440?utm_campaign=hp_fb_pages&utm_source=main_fb&utm_medium=facebook&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063&guccounter=1

1/2 way up

the top

some kids we ran into

Sunday in the mountains.  8372 feet to Lago Chardonnet.  On the way up I felt like a 90 year old, 3 pack a day smoker.  On the way down my knees almost gave out.  Ain't aging grand?  xxoo me

FAKE NEWS!  Or maybe partial news.  Though I agree with almost nothing, (99.99 %), that Trump says, there is SOME truth to the fact that the media picks and chooses what they want to tell.  The news from Europe is that Italy turned away a ship of refugees from Africa.  Huge accusations of fascism, good Spaniards, bad Italians!  What the news failed to mention is that Italy only refused a shipload of refugees picked up by international NGOs.  Refugees picked up by Italian ships are still being accepted and in fact, the day after said "refused" ship of 600 and some, a ship holding 900 some refugees landed on our shores.  They also failed to mention that in these past few years of enormous immigration from Africa, Italy has only been surpassed by Germany in taking in refugees.  Both of these countries are light years ahead of other European nations.  The numbers look sort of like this:

Germany is way ahead with about 800,000
Italy about 300,000
France 200,000
Greece 120,000

All other countries are WAY down the list.  Including Spain with maybe 50,000.

And no children are taken from their parents by the way....  xxoo me

Oh it's been so long!  But alas, after six years things aren't as interesting as they first were.  I'm accustomed to the lunatic driving.  Only had my heart in my throat two times this week!  I've become immune to the moms at school with painted on bodysuits and hooker heels.  The 5 year olds with Gucci sneakers and Moncler jackets, an outfit that costs more than my first car, have ceased to astound me.  I can't possibly describe another hours-long, calorie laden meal.  There have been a few...  The unusual has become usual.   The insane family upstairs are still insane.  Not only does she still vacuum obsessively, she has bought one the those robotic vacuum cleaners so that when SHE isn't vacuuming, IT is.  The genius or idiot kid, (we've never figured out which but he's definitely at an extreme), is now in middle school and has become huge.  He's tall and overweight with piggy eyes and white, white skin.  Poor kid.  He's a bully's fantasy.  The dad continues to leave for work at 7 or 8 am and return as soon as mom and son have locked the door behind them.  For these long hours he's paid a handsome salary by the state as vice principle at an agricultural secondary school nearby.  Sadly, while two other condos in our complex sold quickly, theirs is still on the market.  They have just installed a new awning over their terrace so I'm thinking that's a bad sign.  They plan on staying a while.  I wonder if potential buyers walk in their apartment and are hit with a wave of hostility and cold.  (Like a haunted house!)  MIL has just had her last holiday at the sea.  For years she, and with my father-in-law before, has been joining a group organized by her parish to go to the sea spring and autumn.  When Aldo passed away a few years ago she gave up the autumn trips but continued to spend 10 days every June in Cattolica  on the Adriatic.  She enjoyed the days on the beach playing cards and chatting.  Sadly this year was too much for her.  She had a fall, often wasn't up to the walk to the beach and came home exhausted.  It's sad to see a person who has always been so energetic start to sputter.  So changes are a comin'.  Next year will be my last year at school.  I'm finding it more frustrating than enjoyable so it's time to find something new.  My new bosses, headmaster and lower school dean, are really pissing me off and I find myself bristling and arguing with them a lot.  I am NOT being a good subordinate.  I think they'll be glad to see the backside of me.  I'm hoping for more time in Maine.  Heading back in 10 days and can't wait!  xxoo me

I'm watching the royal wedding in real time and it's hilarious!  The American Episcopal priest is preaching like he's in Macon, Georgia and these Brits don't know what to think.  Some are trying not to laugh.  William looks like he's going to crack a rib.  Some look shocked.  The English priests are just staring straight ahead, frozen in disdain, all stiff upper lippy.  Now there is an America gospel group singing!  There have NEVER before been so many blacks in St. George's Chapel!  The BBC announcer is a kick.  He keeps saying that there has never been a royal wedding quite like this.  So...lively...so energetic!  He just called it a ceremony and a half.  Tee hee.

What a lovely 24 hours we had this weekend!  GP and I took the train, (high-speed, 2 hours), to Verona on Saturday morning.  Grace gave me two tickets to see Sam Smith in concert at the Verona Arena.  And yes, you know who he is.  Watch this.

 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_ub7Etch2U)

Moi outside the Arena (I have no lips?)

Our view of the stage

The Arena is a smaller version of the Colosseum but in much better shape.  From April through October, it's used as a venue for concerts, opera and theater.  It was a glorious night with a light breeze and stars shining.  We couldn't have asked for better weather.  That man has the voice of an angel, gospel back-up singers and puts on a great show. Then there is Verona which I have always loved though it's getting too touristy.  When I first visited it 30 plus years ago, it was a quiet, dusty little city but very beautiful.  The walled old center sits in the curve of the river Adige that curls around and almost surrounds the city.  There are hills on the far side of the river backed by the Eastern Alps, (or Western Dolomites?).  Unfortunately there were thousands of people there for the concert and it was way over-crowded.  Those lovely narrow old streets are not made for those numbers.


It was also Greyhound rescue festival or something, cause those scrawny dogs were everywhere.  They are the most pathetic looking things with their skinny little tails always tucked between their legs and their ribs protruding.  Most of them were dressed too.  I mean, come on!  What kind of self-respecting dog wears a hoodie? 

We spent the night in a b&b way the heck out of the center because everything else was booked or 5 stars.  The owners are an odd couple.  She's a young spacey English gal who must have said, "Oh yeah, yeah..", 50 times.  (I started counting).  He's a middle aged Italian with creepy Mel Gibson crazy eyes.  He drove us into the center on Saturday afternoon and all I could see were his eyes in the rear-view mirror.  Spooky.  But actually they were very hospitable.  They still have a lot to learn about running a business though.  They had no signs.  I mean NO SIGNS.  And the place is on a tiny dirt road with the same name as a longer paved road 1/4 mile away.  We wandered around like idiots for half an hour before calling them, getting directions and still couldn't find it!  Signs people, signs!

Here's GP wandering aimlessly.

 Anywho.  We got home yesterday to cold rain.  Today back at work and it's even colder and rainier. Sniff.  I prefer vacation.  xxoo me

*OH MY GOD what is going on today?!  I am the SAT supervisor at school.  Big mistake.  Way too much paperwork and bureaucracy for my addled brain.  That said, in the 6 years that I've been doing this there have been very few problems and I've never had to fill out an Irregularity Report.  Well I'm making up for it today.  Firstly we had 3 no-shows which led to our starting late as I was giving them some extra time.  I don't like being here on a Saturday and I REALLY don't like being here more time than needed.  When I finally got everyone in and settled there were tons of questions (students rarely ask anything) about filling in the answer sheets, one kid needed a calculator, another pencils, one was registered for the wrong testing center and her exam today won't count, another wrote all of her answers in her test book instead of the answer sheet when we explicitly discussed this and when she couldn't transfer her answers because time was up she had an anxiety attack and had to borrow my phone to call her mother to pick her up.  I had to talk the poor kid down off the ledge while desperately needing to pee and having a room full of test takers waiting for me to continue.  Then, in the middle of testing, when all is quiet and needs to be so, the skylight behind my desk started leaking (it wasn't even freaking raining!) with really loud "plunk, plunk, plunk" sounds till I put a pile of tissues under it.  Fer chrissakes!  AND I have a headache from a food hangover.  GP was craving steak last night, (well, always).  Real steak from an adult cow that is red in the middle.  So we went to a place called Renegade.

Yes, there's my little cowboy just a sauntering in.  It's all done up like a saloon with saddles and velvet pictures of Native Americans on horseback.  The regulars wear cowboy hats and boots and take it all VERY seriously.  There's line dancing every evening at 9, Harleys parked out front and a Confederate flag flying over the gate.  THIS is their America.  But the steaks are good and they have imported beer.  Whatta ya want?  xxoo me

*wrote this last Saturday but never sent it.  oops. 

The world is falling apart with nuclear war imminent and Italian papers are all about the cops that nabbed a marmalade thief!  A pastry shop was being routinely robbed of marmalade so the intrepid police, dressed as electricians, set up a security camera to catch the criminal.  (This is the honest to goodness truth).  They caught the guy on tape, an employee of the shop, and we can all now rest easy.

nite

We're having a 4 day weekend.  Tuesday, May 1st, is celebrated as Labor Day in much of the world. Nobody cares about Labor day here but it's a four day weekend just when weather is turning warm so most folks went off to the sea.  GP and I went out to Alba yesterday to see Vinum, a wine festival that has become quite a big deal in recent years.  In fact there were tons of foreigners, Germans, Swiss, Americans...  Alba is a lovely little city of about 30,000 that is the epicenter of the wine and food region in Northern Italy.  There are gorgeous boutique shops, a boatload of restaurants, hotels and galleries.  It's here that the annual truffle festival takes place.  To think that when I first came to Italy, 30 some years ago, Alba was a rundown hole-in-the-wall agricultural town.  The enogastronomic business has brought gobs of money to the area.  Right now it's asparagus season so we went to get a few bunches and see friends in the area.  Of course all of this made us hungry so we came home and cooked and had a little wine..

 setting up for lunch

tasting site

Ferrero, home of Nutella!

Today we went hiking in Gran Paradiso, the first national park established in Italy.  It's in the mountains northwest of here near the French border.  About an hour in to our walk we saw a den under a large rock with baby boars!  Big boars are some damned ugly, but baby boars are adorable with big eyes and spiky hair sticking straight up.  After some squeals of fright from them and some squeals of delight from me, we "hoofed it" (pun intended) out of there as mommy boars are not only ugly but big, fast, and bad tempered.  Every once in a while we hear about someone getting gored by a bore while out hiking.  Not my idea of a good time.  We passed through lots of tiny enclaves, a few lower ones still occupied, of stone houses and farms built right up against the rock, some seeming to be growing out of the mountain.  We even found a little church that is still maintained though I wouldn't trust it in an earthquake.  The forest has encroached on the buildings and the stone roofs have fallen in.  There's moss growing inches thick on every surface.  It's sort of spooky and primeval. 

first little inhabited enclave

higher up abandoned village

little church

Tomorrow spring cleaning!  xxoo me

You know that old joke that goes "How many...does it take to screw in a light bulb"?  It must have been written about Italians.  Check out this photo.  There are 9 men, that's NINE, trying to put up a small shade sail over part of our playground at school.  Four of those men are in suits with clipboards "directing", 3 are standing around with their hands in their pockets and 2 are actually doing something though it's taken an inordinate amount of time with much discussion and redoing.  Welcome to any physical labor workplace in Italy.

The guy looking at me with the shades is my archenemy - GianLuca

Every two weeks we have an International lunch at school.  Today it was American.  It was not good.  Have you ever been to a truck-stop or diner in the south with a buffet?  Everything on it is white or yellow, fried, mayo or potato, often all together.  That was lunch.  There was insipid mac and cheese, chicken fingers, french fries, grey hamburger patties in gravy, and cabbage in oil that they called cole slaw.  It was really sad.  This is what they think is American cooking.  The kids were thrilled.  Usually the meals are very healthy and vegetable heavy.  The soup was chowder!  I had been consulted on how to make it but alas my advice was not followed and there was no bacon fat, it was oil, and no fish stock, they cooked clams ahead of time and used the water.  Didn't have any flavor.  Oh the Shame I say!

Talking about food, our favorite market was raided by the FOOD POLICE, (very scary guys) today.  The raid was on the Nigerian street food vendors who evidently have been illegally selling (to other Africans) fried rats, muskrats and fish caught from the Po river here in the city.  There is sooooo much wrong with this.  Firstly, I would never eat ANYTHING that came out of this river!  Secondly,  rats and muskrats?  Really?  Thirdly, they were fried, dried and sold out of greasy paper bags on the sidewalk.  As little as these "delicacies" may have cost, they are beside the largest food market in Europe with ridiculously low prices!  Come on!  Hmmm.  Let me think.  Rat on a skewer or fresh asparagus and Pecorino cheese?  What'll it be?

On another note, I've been dog walking for a friend who has had an operation on her foot.  Duna is a beautiful, square yellow Lab and she loves me because I have two good feet.  How I miss having a dog!  But I must admit I do not miss the hair.  Tomorrow is a national holiday, Liberation Day, celebrating the end of occupation during WWII.  No school!  GP and I will take the dog for a long walk then come home to make dinner for MIL.  The weather has been beautiful so we'll eat outside and grill some sausage for her, a favorite.  If I ate like that woman I would have been dead years ago....  xxoo me

Duna

Man oh man is Italy up in arms!  The bars are pullulating, the corners and park benches are swarming, the news is covering nothing else!  More than the immigrant crisis, more than the lack of government, (still in stalemate, no deals have been made so one declared official winner), more than economic down turns, earthquakes and rotten weather...

Last night there was a "football"* match between Real Madrid and our local team Juventus.  They were competing for a spot in the semi-finals of the Champion League.  Though Juventus is a top-tier team, Real Madrid is possibly the best team in the world and it was a given that they would win.  In a weird scoring system that I can't be bothered to understand, Juventus had to score 3 goals against Madrid just to break even and 4 to win.  Impossible.  No way on God's green earth.  When Hell freezes over.  You get the picture.  By the end of the game, going into overtime, Juventus had 3 goals to Madrid's 0.  Unfreakingbelievable.  Even GP and I were excited and we are fair weather fans at best.  Then, at the last minute, the ref gave a much disputed penalty shot to Madrid.  Juventus protested which led to their star goalie being expelled from the game.  In came the replacement goalie, RONALDO, (heard of him?), was given the penalty shot, goal made, game over, Madrid goes on to the semi-finals.  People in the stands were deranged.  There was screaming and hair-pulling and general hysteria.  If I were that referee I'd get a body-guard or six because A LOT of distraught fans are making threats.  Kids at school today had to be told there would be no discussing the game in class because so many students were in tears, (a couple of teachers too).  Nuts.

I like sports.  I like to participate in them, or did when my body could handle it.  I loved to watch school sports and cheer on the local teams.  And since living here I have even taken to watching the occasional Juventus game on TV as many of the players kids go to our school.  But I've never understood this kind of obsession with a sport or a team.  We'll be hearing about this game for a long time to come.  Whatever....  xxoo me



*Football in quotes because don't these people know that it's called soccer?  Football is that stupid sport for big men with small eyes and concussions.

Hello, hello!  I've just returned from London.  It rained for 6 days straight and I surely drove my daughter crazy but I'm glad I went.  Firstly because we went to see The Book of Mormon at the theater.  It was hilarious and profane and very naughty.  I loved it!  Secondly because we had a very yummy traditional Sunday "roast" in a lovely old pub for Easter lunch.  Roast beef and all the trimmings.  Great local ale.  Sticky Toffee Pudding proves there is a God.  Thirdly, we went to the movies to see The Greatest Show.  Hugh Jackman can do no wrong and another proof of a divine being.  In my dreams I too can sing and dance.  Heavy sigh.  Fourthly, because I went on a two hour tour with an organization called London Walks.  They have daily tours, no reservations required, 10 pounds cash.  The tour guides are unemployed actors or history teachers or something and they're loony but very knowledgeable.  The tours show you places you'd normally never find.  "Hidden gems".  Things I saw:

This steeple is the inspiration for the 1st tiered wedding cake.

This is the site of England's biggest heist.  The Hatton Garden Safe Deposit robbery.  The mastermind is still at large!

One of the few Catholic churches to not have been converted or destroyed by Henry V, right in the heart of London.

very cool

buildings

such as these

But primarily I'm glad I went because I really enjoy driving the daughter crazy.  xxoo me

After school on Thursday I accompanied a group of students from our high school to a center in the city that works with immigrants, homeless, addicts and other needy peoples in the area.  Students from the school have been volunteering there every Thursday for the past couple of years.  The organization is called Sermig.  Sermig is housed in an old military arsenal that is now called the "Arsenal of Peace".  Cheesy but sincere.  It's a semi religious organization that has branches in Brasil and Jordan.  They have youth programs, a hospital, an immigrant help center, tutoring, homeless beds, battered women's center, name it, they do it.  The people who work there make me feel very inadequate.  They are tireless volunteers or employees making diddily-squat but who are so happy to be doing what they do.  I am a slug.  xxoo

Entrance

clothing distribution

Our kids walking to packaging area

Isn't that HORRIFYING!  Yes folks, that is an eye.  This is what greeted me this morning when I opened the fridge.  Something I do not appreciate about Italians is their complete refusal to deny that packaged meat comes from an animal!  Personally I have been doing it for years and I do not want to come to terms with reality at this late date.  I'm making GP cook the bunny.  I may or may not eat it.  And right before Easter too.  xxoo me

Is it cruel to say speech impediments on little children are the cutest thing!  There is a tiny girl in nursery who speaks with her tongue half way out of her mouth.  It is so damned cute.  Unfortunately I can't understand a word she says and neither can anyone else.  All I hear is "tha tha tha tha tha tha tha".  I do hope the situation improves before it is no longer cute.  So that aside..

A couple times a year GP and I make a pilgrimage to the Langhe, the hilly wine region about 40 minutes from here, to have dinner with a very old friend and about 20 of his buddies.  GP has known Riccardo since school.  Riccardo has "gone native".  He grew up in a grand elegant apartment in the city.  His friends called him "the little lord" because he was the only child of old-monied parents who insisted he study the piano and Latin and such.  They had a country house in Langhe and a boatload of inherited property.  At about 16 Riccardo rebelled, dropped out of school and opened a car radio shop but he refused to work on Saturdays because he wanted to sleep in.  After that it was one thing or another but nothing ever stuck because basically all he wanted to do was play music with his buddies and eat and drink.  About 30 years ago his parents gave up the city place and moved to the country house.  Over the next 10 years he and his mother managed to blow all of their money by buying and mismanaging a hotel, restaurant and wine dealership.  But now finally he's happy.  He lives in a small but nice apartment in a high village with a little terrace over looking the vineyards and the mountains beyond.  He's named his terrace, loosely translated from Piemontese, (the local dialect), "the fat terrace" and many a calorie have been consumed there.  He works for a shipping company 9 - 5 and spends most evenings playing the accordion in someone's wine cellar, drinking and eating salami.  He has a huge network of friends and is happiest when playing host and entertainer which is what he did last night.  Gone are the days of fine dining and intimate dinners that we all used to enjoy.  Now it's an evening in a "joint", last night a sort of local sports club, with tons of traditional country cooking (cheese, cheese and more cheese.  Oh, and sausage) and wine by the barrel and Riccardo and friends singing and playing in a corner.  The music is old folk songs in various dialects that I don't understand.  It's very much like the Arcadian stuff you hear in Quebec and New Orleans.  They undoubtedly all have their roots in Southeastern France as up until recent history, this area was part of Provence.  After a night like that I want nothing more than a week of salad and water.  I just can't do it anymore.  I'll spend most of today shuffling around the house worrying about my cholesterol and hoping my gallbladder doesn't explode.  xxoo me

the entertainment

my downfall