11525 “Here’s to your honest sauncy face, great chieftain of the pudding race,

Not only is it Burns Night, it's the 250th Anniversary of the Poet's birth.

Anyone celebrating it here or in Italy later??? A most important question too. Can haggis be bought in Italy and is there an equivalent???

([url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090125/tuk-scots-mark-burn-s-250th-anniversary-a7ad41d.html]Scots mark Burn's 250th anniversary - Yahoo! News UK[/url])

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Well Sal as you can see from the following article Burns night is indeed celebrated here in Barga.
What else would you expect in "La citta piu scozzese d'Italia"?

[url=http://www.barganews.com/2009/01/22/burns-night-at-da-riccardo/]Burns night at Da Riccardo at barganews[/url]

[quote=IRITALIA;109095]
What else would you expect in "La citta piu scozzese d'Italia"?

[/quote]

Come mai??

I think there is quite a strong Scottish connection over the hill from us in Liguria too, around Calice al Cornoviglio - don't know why, maybe they like the sea breeze blowing up their kilts.:eeeek:

When I first described haggis to my local mates, i had them convinced for a short time it was a small furry animal that ran round hills in one direction only and therefore had one set of legs longer than the other.

For me haggis is a bit like Xmas pud, nice, but best eaten once a year maximum.

[quote=annec;109096]Come mai??[/quote]

Stop trying to confuse everyone annec - you know it's because they ran out of deep fried Mars bars in Barga and so decided to set up the Sagra delle pesce e patate fritte in Paisley. :bigergrin:

[quote=annec;109096]Come mai??[/quote]

Well JC isn't far off the mark there Annec.
The largest single group of Italian immigrants/descendants in Scotland are from the town of Barga. They went by the truckload in the late 1800's, early 1900's (my family included) but kept up a strong connection to their home town. This has been well kept up by subsequent generations who return most every year. Barga is twinned with East Lothian and in Saltcoats there is even a street called Barga Gardens. Many Scottish 'celebrities' owe their roots to Barga and visit regularly including Archbishop Mario Conti, Tom Conti, Carmen Pieracccini, Tom Sermanni, Daniela Nardini, Peter Nardini, Paul Nardini, Sergio Casci, Paolo Nutini, Nicola Benedetti, Warren Bacci just to name a few. The late Giovanni 'Johnny' Moscardini who played football for Italy was born in Falkirk to parents from Barga and the stadium there bares his name. Each year Barga holds the Scottish weeks which is usually the last week in July and the first two in August. This does indeed include the now popular "Sagra di pesce e patate" which tastes almost as good as any you would taste at the local chippie.
Hope that wasn't a too long winded reply to your short question! :bigergrin:

Are you Scottish too then IRITALIA???

Wonderful voice.
[ame]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ffJ8xcfqOX0[/ame]

[quote=Sally Donaldson;109127]Are you Scottish too then IRITALIA???[/quote]

No Sal, N. Irish hence the IR in my username.
The grandparents moved there after living nine years in sunny Stranraer. :eeeek::bigergrin:

Great to hear about the "Fish and Chips" sagra and I will not miss it, because it is one of those simple dishes which are a delight. We always go to Barga for lunch, coffee or to buy some local food products such as chestnut pasta at a small shop which is a little marvel. We saw how proud they are of their Scottish links and we made some enquiries which ended up giving us the information that Iritalia has shared with us. Barga is one of the most beautiful towns you can imagine. Not to be missed.

Thanks IRItalia. Married to a Scot and my first job was with a Demarco in Edinburgh whose family originally came from Picinisco. I find the whole imm-emi-gration thing fascinating. I have a friend who is Argentinian, because his grandfather emigrated there from Le marche, but is now back living and working in Italy, in his home village in fact. Just one of many stories of global migration.
Have you read Joe Pieri's books on Scots Italians? I think he's been mentioned on this site before.

Just come across this site [url=http://www.scotsitalian.com/index.htm]scotsitalian.com[/url]

"Deep fried Mars Bar" AAAARgh (Homer Simpson-type noise)
Paolo Nutini - Ditto