Blogs from Piedmont, Italy, Europe - page 27

Moj kwadrat: Borgo Dora, czesc wiekszej dzielnicy Aurora. Sredniowieczna, polozona wzdluz - dzis przykrytego - kanalu rzeki Dora, gdzie miescily sie garbarnie, mlyny, wytwornie oliwy, dwie fabryki jedwabiu - uwazane za pierwszy przemysl krolestwa sabaudzkiego. "Quartiere popolare", co oznacza mniej wiecej tyle, ze nie ma tu palacow i fontann. W 1832 Borgo Dora mialo 20.000 mieszkancow - robotnikow i bylo najwieksza dzielnica robotnicza Turynu. Przez kolejne 100 lat dzielnica podupadala, rownolegle do unowoczesnianiajacego sie przemyslu i zamykanych fabryk, stajac sie powoli symbolem "immigrazione extracomunitaria". Dzis, patrzac na Borgo Dora, mozna pomyslec, ze dawne wloskie Wlochy odchodza powoli w niepamiec. Z jednej strony Turyn reklamuje sie jako nowoczesne otwarte miasto - siedziba organizacji miedzynarodowych, organizator igrzysk, a z drugiej strony widoczna miedzynarodowosc o... read more

Don't bother trying to check into an Italian hotel without a passport. Surely the intrepid reporter didn't commit this rudimentary faux pas? Yes, just last week, I popped up to Lake Maggiore in northern Italy for a couple of nights. I rang the ostello in Verbania to secure a room, arriving at 9pm, just in time for a glass on the terrace. Or so I thought. 'Passport,' says the sour-faced girl behind the desk. 'Certainly,' I say, fumbling in pockets. Very quicky it dawns on me that, despite a fistful of cash, I don't even have a Tesco Clubcard on me. Everything - and I mean everything (credit cards, driving licence etc.) - is in the truck, 96 kilometres away in Milan. She murmurs something about needing ID for the police. Oh come on, this is ... read more

Mama mia! Aspetta! Aspetta means wait, and it is the most commonly spoken word in this household. I always intend to count how many times it is said, but then it just seems too daunting. Also aspettiamo (we wait), and many other versions. Everything is happening so fast! I can understand quite a bit of Italian but am not great when it comes to speaking, and bought a book to learn more, and intend to continue my studies when I get back home. It really is a beautiful language and isn't so difficult if you try. My current vocabulary mostly consists of the names of fruits and vegetables and curse words. Many, many curse words. I'll tell you why with cinque Fs. Family I am living in an Italian stereotype. The mother, Silvana, cooks and cleans ... read more

On the last full day of my workshop we were treated to a tour. I choose the farm nitrogen tour and got to visit a dairy farm and a field trial site. The average farm in Italy is very small only 9.5 hectars and their growing season is year round. For these reasons farming is very intense. We were told that dairy farmers make almost nothing when they sell their milk but the farmers we visited had good business sense and theyinvested in milk dispensors were anyone willing to drink unpasterized milk can buy it for a euro a liter. This is a very good price for milk over here trust me! The other thing the farmer and his family have done is to make gilato ice cream with they sell. Gilato (I maybe spelling it ... read more

Oggi finalmente abbiamo potuto completare in via del tutto definitiva l'affitto dell'appartamento che ci ospiterà per un mese! La zona è Shinjuku, come speravamo, ed è proprio la camera che abbiamo sperato per mesi, in una zona ( Arai, Nakano-ku) che pare essere piena di cosine interessanti per la quotidianità. Volevo mettere qualche foto dall'agenzia, ma son troppo piccole e il blog non me lo fa fare.. Comunque è' proprio un buco, ma lo renderemo confortevole, in qualche modo, forse. Quindi, incredibile vittoria! E la partenza si avvicina. Prossime tappe: -ritirare passaporto di Tucci -comprare valigie rigide decenti... read more