What Fills My Plate

     When I first moved to Italy I did my best to see every famous cathedral, museum and castle within means, filling my weekends and sometimes weekdays fulfilling the needs of a tourist on a mission.  Unfortunately, the first few years of this gluttonous touristing caused what I call being  “museumed out”   This occurs when you have seen way too many museums, villas, castles, exhibitions, and far too many cathedrals.  Your eyes begin to tire and your tired brain slows and you begin to remember less of what have seen.   You enter a cathedral and you begin to hurry through and you take less notice of things.    Your foggy brain, eyes and soul need a change of pace.  This behavior is not akin only to foreigners, Italians also feel the need for change.  I have found a good answer to this.        Rugged Exterior After reading several books by Italian soldiers of WWI, I decided to set about looking ...

  The Duomo    A whole lot of people visit Milano for the shopping and then spend a few hours wandering over to visit the Duomo, pictured here.   They can take a tour of La Scala and go shopping for fashionable clothes and shoes.   You might even take a tram and visit the Sforza Castle before you visit the painting The Last Supper (La Ultima Cena in Italian).       I am not your normal tourist kind of guy.  My highest thing on my to do list in  Milano was not  the shopping, the food or even seeing the impressive cathedral called the Duomo.   Since I now live in Italy I have the luxury of electing to see those sights on another visit. I was driven on my first visit to this city to find connections to the life of Leonardo da Vinci and Milano when he  worked for the Sforza family in their big castle.  He was employed to create war machines and give advice on strategy to win  battles.   Da Vinc...

  Padova Homes Buying A House In Italy Some years ago in a movie, Under The Tuscan Sun, a divorced California teacher on a gay Italian tour bus suddenly had a thought to buy an old house in Tuscany.  She had a lightning moment, jumped off the bus and in one scene later signed the papers and to complete the deal.  What a romantic story that was!  (Ok, the music helped a lot)  How twisted the facts of obtaining a home in Italy!  I always wonder how many people, after viewing that movie, decided to act on their romantic dream to buy a house in Italy but were beaten down by the process.   I have read stories of more than a few. Hollywood made it look so easy to buy, sign the papers and the very next day pick up the key.  What happened to all that  Italian bureaucracy!  Paperwork pushed around, titles rubber stamped with a bang, bank wirings, notarizings, lawyers, it goes on and on.  You just don’t immediately move in. ...

    Italian Newspaper Article Today      I miss the newspaper.  I miss a cup of coffee and a bit of worldly catch-up.  There is no home delivery of newspapers in Italy.  They think this custom is a bit strange.  I could go to my local newspaper/magazine shop and purchase one, instead I will walk to my local bar for a coffee and try to read any of several editions free.  In the middle of loud Italian conversations and the deep smell of cappuccinos, with my computer set on google translate, I will attempt to make a perfunctory attempt in translating a few articles. Translating is made difficult because the writing in Italian newspapers is loaded with a indigenous vernacular that cannot be translated literally with a dictionary.        March 2, 2016 Front Page Today there was only one article in my bar’s  Italian newspaper having something to do with United States.  Nothing about the election...