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