What Fills My Plate

It has been a few years since I first went to the movie theatre in Padova.  Television is quite boring in Italy, the evening offerings are filled with stupid game shows that are so bad they have to have a chorus line of dancers break into the scene and shake their booties.  If that is not interesting enough you could go numb watching experts argue points, shaking their arms, yelling and using body language fit for a basketball coach at the finals. So I felt quite lucky when I heard that we could go to the theatre and I didn't even care if it was in Italian.  What that means is at that time I wouldn't be able to understand even a simple sentence in Italian.  But that is okay because they use extreme gestures which often tell the viewer what they are saying.  Off we go, fighting traffic, and searching for a parking place like the shark of Jaws seeks out tasty swimmers.  I often hum John Williams' Jaws theme, which irritates the heck out of my wife and gets a smile out

A few years ago when we were back in Colorado my Italian wife decided she wanted to see what garage sales are all about.  This is not to be found in Italy, so she was curious.  Upon leaving the first sale, she was hooked and now we MUST go to a few garage sales when back in the states. You never know what you'll find The closest thing to a garage sale in Italy is a flea market.  We have been to some good ones and some that seemed a bit "not exactly as expected".   I thought Rome would have a good flea market, but we found it to be rows of stuff made in China, with a few old trinkets that had lost their polish. Arezzo has a spectacular flea market, and is made up of what seems like professional dealers.  I spotted an actual guillotine for sale, and a huge amount of furniture.  Visit it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrxQIH3w3n4   Padova has a large flea market once a month.  It is held in the massive piazza, Prato della Valle, located in the middle of t

I am enjoying my day while thousands of miles away and across the sea my friends and relatives are sleeping.  In a few hours they will soon commence their big blowout birthday celebrations for America.   Most Americans will have the day off and picnics and family get togethers are planned.  I miss these greatly.  Italians do not think about July 4, they have their own birthday with a day off of work.   My thoughts are with all of you in the states today. My Step Mom Always Made a Rhubarb Pie When I first moved to Italy I tried to keep the bigness of July 4 going with my friends here.  It is difficult because July 4 does not fall on a weekend every year and people here work and basically could care less about this birthday.  They went along with my plans, but after a few years we began to plan less and less.  This year's celebration will begin after work with burgers on the barbecue.  For a smile I might show fireworks on some youtube video while I remember past 4ths.  Ther