Rattle Those Pots

August 27, 2004

Ciao, tutti! Several fun/interesting things have happened over the past few days. Hope everybody’s peachy.

Buoni Vicini (Great neighbors)
Well, 3 ½ weeks into our stay, we’ve met a set of fantastic neighbors. We’ve made Caffe degli Artigiani our morning bar for cappuccinos and pastry—3 cappuccini and 2 paste (pastries) only E4.60; I paid almost that much just for a venti mocha at home at Starbucks. One of the women who works there, named Anna, has befriended us. She’s Swedish (grew up in Britain), and has been tutoring us in local dialect. She used to be a language instructor, and speaks English, Swedish, Italian, Spanish (her father’s from Argentina), German, Armenian, French, and Latin (“only” had 6 years of Latin and French during school in England; I think I’ve got that right). Ask just how ignorant we felt upon hearing that.

Many of the folks we’ve met have 3 or 4 languages, but this is the most extensive list so far. Apparently, in many instances, even though our Italian books say to communicate something one way, it’s not really the way Florentines would express something (yet another language hurdle), and Anna’s helping us out on that front.

Anyway, late afternoon a few days ago we headed back to Artigiani for wine and antipasti. Charlie comes with us sometimes now while we sit and study or type, and is learning to be calm and good, even when bikes go by. (For folks reading this who know Charlie well, you understand how stunned/pleased we are by this unexpected development. He still doesn’t know how to react to the pigeons that strut by, though; they make him a little nutty, and we all wind up having to hold the table and lunge for falling coffee cups.)

In addition to fun atmosphere and good food/wine at Artigiani, they play all sorts of American standards (original and jazzed-up versions. Right now they’re playing “I Get a Kick Out of You”; we’re sitting on their outside patio writing and the weather’s great, low 80s).

When we came back by the other afternoon, we were visiting with Anna when another neighbor she knew, named Lisa, came by. Lisa has moved here from Florida, and is studying oil painting at one of the Firenze universities. She used to be a graphic designer, and then an interior designer for (get this) Donzi boats (those great polished wooden cigarette boats a la James Bond). I’d guess she’s in her early 40s.

Lisa e ragazza felice (happy gal), I’d guess A) because of career change doing something she loves, and B) because of Antonio (younger italiano who seems to adore her). Very entertaining to see them together when he drove up on his scooter; I felt like I was in a Fellini flick. They’re in the same school and he’s studying architecture. She showed us some of her drawings and they’re beautiful.

Anna and her husband Ben moved here from London a year ago. Anyway, they’ve invited us to our first official Firenze dinner party tonight, so that should be a lot of fun. (He just walked by while we were sitting here saying he was headed to the butcher’s for tonight, and we freaked him out by calling him “animal killer” and saying we were vegetarians.) A half dozen of us wound up staying at Artigiani gabbing the other night til closing time, so I’m betting making conversation at their party won’t be an issue. Fantastic, interesting people, who have given us all sorts of info we’ve needed – everything from help with language and peripheral customs we wouldn’t have known, to the best/most reasonable stores, tailors, butchers, ethnic restaurants open late, etc.

Here’s a funny one from Ben: If you stub your toe, get a papercut or something similar, you’d holler “Porca miseria!” (Pig misery!) We tried that one out on Vieri over at Magazzino, and he fell out laughing over it. Now we keep saying “porca miseria!” and sound, I’m sure, like complete fools.

Anna also let us know that in our tiny piazza for the past few years on Christmas Eve, an American gospel group has performed Christmas carols, and they’ve been a wild hit with the locals. We really hope they return again this year, because that would just be amazing to stroll by. Marco, a very nice local from Rome who owns Artigiani with his partner, Cinzia, makes treats and mulled cider for the event, and everyone just sort of mills and visits. It sounds great; most definitely something to look forward to. Ben told us that the city is just beautiful over the holidays; every street goes all out with lights and fresh decorations, and people just stroll around, and stop to enjoy life.

One of the customs I’ve learned about in Italy is called “Shadow Hour,” which refers to the third- or half-glass of wine that people have at each stop (a “shadow” of wine in the glass, rather than a full glass). They do this because this way, they can try several different wines from different regions, and because it means the “hour” can stretch out for several hours without anyone having too much. Plus, it’s a prime opportunity to catch up with different people at each stop (and nibble a lot of gratis fabulous antipasti at the bar, we learned). A lot of the locals only know each other from this nightly walkabout, and sometimes if you ask how they know this man or that couple, they’ll say “I see him some evenings at shadow hour.” Interessante.

The neighborhood is starting to open back up again. Folks are coming back from vacation, so we’re getting to see all sorts of craftsmen’s stores and enotece (wine stores/bars) that we didn’t even realize were nearby. It’s fun discovering these new things. La Dolce Vita is the hipster bar a few blocks away, and we may try that this Saturday (they were closed for feria last weekend when we went by after dinner). We’re joking that since it’s supposed to be filled with 30- and 40-somethings dancing to U.S. music from the 70s and 80s, we’ll get to feel like the kids in the crowd, for a few hours, anyway.

Parecci Sbarre (A Good Many Bars)
We’ve discovered two pubs in town. “JJ Cathedral” is a British pub, right on Piazza Duomo, and every Wednesday night at 8 they have Trivia Night for E1 per person; winner gets the kitty, and runner-up gets a free round. We also thought the signs advertising their Daily Happy Hours as being from noon to 7 pm were pretty funny.

We stopped in again the other afternoon to study and read the paper, and folks started playing “Wild Rover” and “Whiskey in the Jar,” making us sorely miss Murphy’s in Old Town. We like to sit on their tiny balcony outside of the second-floor bar, because the view from that perch is literally the entire front of the Duomo and baptistery. It seems surreal, sometimes…

Then, two days ago, we discovered an Irish pub called “Friends” two blocks from our apartment (I can see Vicki and Dave laughing right now, thinking of our routine treks to Murphy’s). Very comfortable place with tables near doors that open out to the sidewalk to people-watch; another good “study nook”.

I mention both places because we’ve discovered that once people learn you’ve moved to town and aren’t only here for a week, sudden unexplained discounts start appearing. That seems to be the case everywhere, and it’s just great. We can’t tell if it’s because no one tips here, but even if you only leave a euro or two, they seem to really appreciate it; a few items mysteriously never appear on the check. We didn’t tip knowing that, but it sure has wound up benefiting us repeatedly. It’s just how things work, Ben and Anna assured us when we worried that people would think we were grifters. (We’ve started to call Ben and Anna “Benanna,” thinking they must’ve heard that a thousand times. They hadn’t heard it before, but do officially think the Yanks are insane.)

Nuovo Bellissima Amica di Mio Cane Matto
(My Crazy Dog’s Beautiful New Friend)
A middle-aged italiano whom we believe lives right nearby strolls around each day with his tiny dog, Molli (“MOElee,” which makes us chuckle), sans leash. (We’ve noticed that no dogs in Florence—none that we’ve seen, anyway—are ever on leashes. They’re so docile they don’t seem to need one.) Charlie keeps wanting to play, but Molli’s having none of it, thank you very much.

Molli, a small, very fluffy, very white pooch, has a one-track mind; le piace giocare solo (she only likes to play games). She’s obsessed with fetching and bringing back whatever her owner throws, and reminds us of the Energizer Bunny. Last night it was a wine cork, the night before that it was a water bottle cap, and before that a gelato spoon. Because she looks like a miniature white shoe-shining gadget that runs, it makes it that much funnier. Charlie just sits and wimpers, “But what about me?? Don’t you want to jump all over each other and slobber?? Come on!”

Sometimes when we’re sitting outside people will go by selling roses or playing accordion, and hit us up for money. Charlie doesn’t seem to like those folks, and gets all worked up the closer they get.

Interessante Notizie (Interesting News)
The English-language daily we read here is the Internatl Herald Tribune, and the other day a story ran about an Algerian Olympic athlete, Hassiba Boulmerka. Did anyone read about her? If I remember correctly from the article, she won the gold in the 1,500-meter in Barcelona, but returned home to scorn and “shunning” for “baring her legs.” She now lives in exile. Yikes. I don’t remember ever hearing/reading about that.

Vogliammo cominciare scuola (We want to begin school)
I’ve got my schedule for first semester (below), and we start orientation this coming Thursday.

Culinary Arts - Section A

AP DN IN 305 Introduction to Nutrition
Mondays

AP CA PC 330 Introduction to Professional Cooking
Tuesdays

AP CA TF 340 Tradition of Italian Food
Wednesdays

AP WE WA 340 Wine Appreciation I
Thursdays

AP CA RC 360 Italian Regional Cuisine
Fridays

IL SA BG/IN/AD Italian Language
TBA TBA TBA

Nothing else to share at this point. I started my update on the Artigiani patio late this morning, and now have reached lunchtime, so am going to order panini.

Arrivederci e tanti baci,

Jen

Postscript: Just learned U.S. women won the gold in soccer! Here, here!