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
Or the beginning of the end?....
You are right, Phillide, coffee drinking at the bar is part of social interacting in Italy and it would be a tragedy if this custom disappears. You can still drink coffee at 80c a cup in many Italian bars; however, in others, prices are going up. Coffee has increased its price in world markets and I would say that it is all due to world speculation. I also doubt very much that any part of these increases will end up in the pockets of coffee farmers in Colombia, Costa Rica, Kenya or New Guinea...
We do not think that building costs have been reduced; however, it is easier to find builders or tradesmen available to work, even at short notice.
I have to agree with Fillide concerning the first part of his statement: QUOTE I agree with you - but to be interesting and generate traffic you do need to have enough 'new' - ideally 'off the wall' queries to keep a forum alive; those queries will get answered - maybe with many different opinions and even heated arguments. This (historically and usefully UK based) forum has two problems: firstly that Brits aren't buying houses in anything like the volume that they did at the peak of the bubble, and they are not even choosing Italy as a holiday destination. (Euro Sterling rate majorly to blame) thus an inevitable decline in visits. UNQUOTE I do not like blaming anyone specifically for the slowing down of the site. A Forum (or Community) is the result of what its members put into it. Also, life circumstances do change. In my own case, I know that I do not spend as much time as before here... On the positive side, there is not the unpleasantness that many of us feared in the past. I wish that many members had refrained and moderated their input in the old forum.
The translation is correct.
Thanks, Sprostoni. I should add that my dear husband bought some coffee at Sant' Eustachio and tried really hard to copy the one we had there... the result was not very satisfactory. I think it is very difficult to duplicate. It smells good, though.....
Definitely, we will have to find another coffee shop in Lucca, Flip. De Simo used to serve an excellent one, only a year ago. Yes, there were tourists, but the place also had a special atmosphere which is also gone. A great pity!
It is difficult to generalise. Some foreigners have purchased property in Spain without checking on the legality of the building. Others have made additions to existing properties without the necessary permits. Others have received verbal agreements from greedy politicians or public servants who only wanted some financial gain. For very many years there has not been proper control over properties in Spain; however, things are changing. I do not think that there is any resentment against foreigners in Spain; however, some of them make no effort to integrate or interact and those are the foreigners who are not liked at all. As it has been said, some people go to Spain, particularly to the Costas to have cheap drinks and sun.... They make no effort to learn even some basic Spanish, they go to foreign-owned bars, they do not even appreciate local customs, food and history. In general terms, I believe that people who come to Italy are better educated.... and, again, I am generalising.
I agree with everything already said. Age group and personal finances also will influence choices. In our case, after checking several potential locations, we realised that we had fallen in love with Bagni di Lucca. Feelings have a lot to do with choices.
A postcard to the USA costs me 1.60 Euro from Italy. Just ridiculous!