The city of Lucca has always been my favourite. Not only because it is only 25 minutes away from our home and I go there at least two or three times a week, but also because you do not feel like a "tourist" there.
Gala Placidia's activity
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In this icy cold weather, hot drinks and comfort foods are a must. Preparing and consuming them are good ways to spend time when we cannot venture outdoors.
Wed, 02/08/2012 - 06:10
The cold weather is affecting most of Italy and creating difficulties concerning energy supplies. Russia, the most important supplier, has been reducing the provision of gas up to 30% due to increasing demand in their area.
Tue, 02/07/2012 - 02:22
The San Francisco Chronicle publishes today this most interesting article:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/
Sun, 02/05/2012 - 12:45
Whenever we are in Italy, we love to visit antique and vintage markets and fairs, looking for that special piece that we would love to have. Sometimes, we find it...
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 02:47
One of my favourite activities in Italy is to visit those markets that sell antique and vintage items.
Tue, 01/31/2012 - 06:38
Some members may have noticed that I have been fairly quiet for the past month and a half. The reason for this was that we have been visiting our daughters who live in San Francisco (CA).
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 02:59
The new Italian government has been announced and it is obvious that we will have a fight between technocrats and politicians.
Wed, 11/16/2011 - 14:24
A lot has been written about the dangers of overheating Teflon coated cookware. Toxic fumes can be extremely dangerous for our health. Personally, I have never liked that type of cookware and I do not buy it anymore.
Sat, 10/29/2011 - 06:24
In another thread, we were discussing Tuscan herbs and "funghi porcini". Tuscany is a paradise for herb lovers and many varieties, such as rosemary, sage and "nipitella" grow wild.
Thu, 10/27/2011 - 11:23
Comments posted
There is a method to cook artichokes. You have to trim them getting rid of the dark, external leaves and cut off the spiky tops. Also, cut off the stems, but do not throw them away. Trim them with a vegetable peeler getting rid of all the hard, stringy bits.Rub the artichokes and the stems with the cut side of a lemon and boil them in plenty of salted water, adding the pieces of lemon you have used.Then, they are ready for any style of preparation.
Hi Chris and a warm welcome to our Community.
Don´t blame your teacher, because it is not Italian but Latin and attributed to Cicero. But I have always loved that phrase because it suited us fine having lived in many different countries. Wherever you feel great, that is your homeland.
Hello and welcome to the Community. Have the gas burner checked before using it. Better safe....
Ciao! I do not know of any Italian wine merchants in Ohio, but there are plenty in California, particularly in the San Francisco area and also in New York.Regarding wines from Calabria, although some 30,000 hectares of vines are cultivated, their wines are not as widely known as the ones from other regions. Probably they do have some problems with marketing and I do know that they lost quite a few workers specialised in wine production in the 60´s as they had better living conditions and salaries elsewhere.Nevertheless, Calabria produces some interesting wines and they have been acknowledged since ancient times for its grapes and wine. The Greeks used to call Calabria "Enotria", the land of wine, and a glass of the Calabrian wine Cirò was served to the winners at the original Olympic games.Just to give you an idea of some denominations you can find, these will be, besides the already mentioned Cirò, the ones called Pollino, Savuto, Greco di Bianco, Lamezzia, Sant' Anna di Isola, Capo Rizzuto and Melissa. Only small quantities are exported and for this reason it may not be an easy task to find them in the USA.Abruzzo´s wines are easier to find and I am sure that members from that region will be delighted to give you information about them.Try to find an Italian club in your area, they may have valuable information regarding where to find products.Happy wine hunting!
There will always be a certain percentage of incomers who will miss their old country and lifestyle. This happens everywhere. Don't get me wrong, we all remember certain things from the past that we liked very much and this is fine. They are memories. The problem starts when those memories occupy most of our thoughts and this is a sign to move back to your old country, because life is too short and there is no point in spending it complaining about what we left behind.But if you enjoy living in Italy or in any foreign country and you feel good about it, you have made the right decission. I always say:"Ubi bene, ibi patria"Where I feel good, there is my home.
Sabianico's advice is excellent . Just follow it.To be fluent in Italian is absolutely necessary.I wish you all the best.
Carole is right, the meat is not salty at all, very tender and it keeps all of its juices. Really delicious. The same method is used to cook not only beef but also whole chicken and mainly whole fish. The results are spectacular. You only have to remove the salt crust that has formed during the baking process. The salt is acting as a wrap, only. This method of preparation is used throughout the Mediterranean.Allan, I think that the low sodium salt is called "sale iposodico".
I found an article which may interest you which was posted in the old forum by our fellow member (Badger, formerly Geotherm). Here are the links:rome.angloinfo.com/countries/italy/animals.asp#threatPoisoning is still a problem in some areas and you should be careful when you allow Doggie to run free.You may also find useful information here:www.dogwelcome.it
Ram is right, check both with the Comune and the author of the renovation plans. Perhaps, the previous owners realised that the cost of the project was going to be too high and they decided against going ahead and did not submit the plans; however, you should check all this before making any move.