Bonboniere (favours) could be an answer. These are containers of some kind which the married couple fill with (usually 5) sugar almonds and hand out to all their friends at the wedding reception. The number of sugar almonds varies but must ABSOLUTELY be an uneven number for luck! For example, when we got married, we had a ceramist make a variety of bowls, ash-trays, little flat dishes, in which we placed 5 confetti tied up in an organza bag. 27 years on and all my friends, both Italian and English, still have them on display in their houses!
Here is a quick translation of Article 892 of the Italian Civil code which states: Whoever wishes to plant trees on the boundary of their property must respect the distances established by the rules and regulations and, lacking these, local custom. If neither of these exists, the following distances from the boundary must be respected:
3 metres for tall trees. Tall trees are those trees whose trunks either simple or branched, grow high, e.g. walnuts, chestnuts, oaks, pine trees, cypresses, elms, poplars, plane trees and the like;
1.5m for smaller trees. These are considered to be those trees which, when fully grown, do not exceed 3 metres;
Half a metre for vines, bushes, growing hedges, fruit trees no taller than 2.5 metres.
However, the distance must be a metre if the hedges are alder, chestnut or similar trees which are regularly pruned close to the stump, and two metres in the case of robinia hedges. The distance is measured from the boundary line to the base of the tree trunk at the time of planting or from the boundary line to the sowing drill. These measurements do not need to be respected if there is a dividing wall, belonging to the owner or shared, as long as the plants are kept to a height below the top of wall. Articolo 892. Chi vuol piantare alberi presso il confine deve osservare le distanze stabilite dai regolamenti e, in mancanza, dagli usi locali. Se gli uni e gli altri non dispongono, devono essere osservate le seguenti distanze dal confine:l) tre metri per gli alberi di alto fusto. Rispetto alle distanze, si considerano alberi di alto fusto quelli il cui fusto, semplice o diviso in rami, sorge ad altezza notevole, come sono i noci, i castagni, le querce, i pini, i cipressi, gli olmi, i pioppi, i platani e simili;2) un metro e mezzo per gli alberi di non alto fusto. Sono reputati tali quelli il cui fusto, sorto ad altezza non superiore a tre metri, si diffonde in rami;3) mezzo metro per le viti, gli arbusti, le siepi vive, le piante da frutto di altezza non maggiore di due metri e mezzo.La distanza deve essere però di un metro, qualora le siepi siano di ontano, di castagno o di altre piante simili che si recidono periodicamente vicino al ceppo, e di due metri per le siepi di robinie.La distanza si misura dalla linea del confine alla base esterna del tronco dell’albero nel tempo della piantagione, o dalla linea stessa al luogo dove fu fatta la semina.Le distanze anzidette non si devono osservare se sul confine esiste un muro divisorio, proprio o comune, purché le piante siano tenute ad altezza che non ecceda la sommità del muro
We live in Brussels but have a house in Umbria just south of Todi. We always drive down if we intend spending more than a week there since the cost of hiring a car makes it prohibitive otherwise. Now, bearing in mind that I don’t like going through Switzerland and the Gotthard tunnel, and that I hate the A1 motorway in Italy, the following route, which we have been doing since time immemorial, adds about 100k to our journey but is by far the best for us to cope with my unreasonable demands: Brussels, Luxembourg, Metz, Nancy, Dijon, Bourg-en-Bresse, just missing Geneva (Fr), the Mont Blanc Tunnel, Aosta, Alessandria, Genova, just before Livorno cross to Florence, take a little bit of the A1 to get to the A1 to Perugia superstrada at Bettolle (which you wouldn’t need to get to Orvieto) and then on down to Todi from there. For the time being, I’m not too concerned with motorway and tunnel costs, I prefer having motorways almost free from traffic which this route does, other than around the big towns. We also do the trip in two days stopping whichever side of the Mont Blanc suits depending on our timings. Good luck with your planning.
My parents would have a fit! They were both vote-counters after the War in 1946 when the people were asked to decide what the Italian state should be and my mum still remembers the joyous scenes when Umberto II decided to leave Italy. It is also true that my parents' generation (they are well into their 90s) is getting smaller every year and, before long, there will be no-one around to recall the bad old days of the Italian Monarchy and, according to mum, they were VERY bad especially since it was they who supported Mussolini and opened the door to a disastrous war and a Black Era of which no Italian is proud.
If the politicians are clever (and THAT is a contradiction in terms) they will let this technocrat government make all those tough decisions that would lose them votes in an election. They can wash their hands of these unpopular decisions at a later date but, in the meantime, Italy could make its much-needed reforms and recover its economy and reputation.
This is certainly not a new charge - "il coperto" has ALWAYS been added to restaurant bills in Italy, I remember it from way back in the 60s . A few years ago it was abolished in Lazio and but seems to have come back. We were in Rome last week and there it was: "2 euros a head coperto". In Umbria it was never abolished; we have been living there on and off since 2005 and it has always appeared on our meal bills.
The "urban myth" about tomatoes being toxic also came about because the acidity in the tomatoes reacts with aluminium and copper which is what most pans were made with in the bad old days. Small amounts of copper are good for everyday health. However, large amounts in a single dose or over a short period can be poisonous. It is not certain how much can be safely taken each day. In the old days of non-lined cooking pots, this meant that more of these metals were leached into the cooking tomatoes and were considered to be a very dangerous combination. However, nowadays all modern cooking pans are either lined or anodised, thus eliminating any latent worries. Tomatoes are good for you and I just love those red ones with the green tops which make a splendid tomato salad with just the right amount of acidity to lift it from blandness.
"My father kept a look out out while my brother Duilio helped them escape by leading them to a river close to the Indaco in order to escape detection, but we have had no news of them since"
Comments posted
Bonboniere (favours) could be an answer. These are containers of some kind which the married couple fill with (usually 5) sugar almonds and hand out to all their friends at the wedding reception. The number of sugar almonds varies but must ABSOLUTELY be an uneven number for luck! For example, when we got married, we had a ceramist make a variety of bowls, ash-trays, little flat dishes, in which we placed 5 confetti tied up in an organza bag. 27 years on and all my friends, both Italian and English, still have them on display in their houses!
Here is a quick translation of Article 892 of the Italian Civil code which states: Whoever wishes to plant trees on the boundary of their property must respect the distances established by the rules and regulations and, lacking these, local custom. If neither of these exists, the following distances from the boundary must be respected:
However, the distance must be a metre if the hedges are alder, chestnut or similar trees which are regularly pruned close to the stump, and two metres in the case of robinia hedges. The distance is measured from the boundary line to the base of the tree trunk at the time of planting or from the boundary line to the sowing drill. These measurements do not need to be respected if there is a dividing wall, belonging to the owner or shared, as long as the plants are kept to a height below the top of wall. Articolo 892. Chi vuol piantare alberi presso il confine deve osservare le distanze stabilite dai regolamenti e, in mancanza, dagli usi locali. Se gli uni e gli altri non dispongono, devono essere osservate le seguenti distanze dal confine: l) tre metri per gli alberi di alto fusto. Rispetto alle distanze, si considerano alberi di alto fusto quelli il cui fusto, semplice o diviso in rami, sorge ad altezza notevole, come sono i noci, i castagni, le querce, i pini, i cipressi, gli olmi, i pioppi, i platani e simili; 2) un metro e mezzo per gli alberi di non alto fusto. Sono reputati tali quelli il cui fusto, sorto ad altezza non superiore a tre metri, si diffonde in rami; 3) mezzo metro per le viti, gli arbusti, le siepi vive, le piante da frutto di altezza non maggiore di due metri e mezzo. La distanza deve essere però di un metro, qualora le siepi siano di ontano, di castagno o di altre piante simili che si recidono periodicamente vicino al ceppo, e di due metri per le siepi di robinie. La distanza si misura dalla linea del confine alla base esterna del tronco dell’albero nel tempo della piantagione, o dalla linea stessa al luogo dove fu fatta la semina. Le distanze anzidette non si devono osservare se sul confine esiste un muro divisorio, proprio o comune, purché le piante siano tenute ad altezza che non ecceda la sommità del muro
We live in Brussels but have a house in Umbria just south of Todi. We always drive down if we intend spending more than a week there since the cost of hiring a car makes it prohibitive otherwise. Now, bearing in mind that I don’t like going through Switzerland and the Gotthard tunnel, and that I hate the A1 motorway in Italy, the following route, which we have been doing since time immemorial, adds about 100k to our journey but is by far the best for us to cope with my unreasonable demands: Brussels, Luxembourg, Metz, Nancy, Dijon, Bourg-en-Bresse, just missing Geneva (Fr), the Mont Blanc Tunnel, Aosta, Alessandria, Genova, just before Livorno cross to Florence, take a little bit of the A1 to get to the A1 to Perugia superstrada at Bettolle (which you wouldn’t need to get to Orvieto) and then on down to Todi from there. For the time being, I’m not too concerned with motorway and tunnel costs, I prefer having motorways almost free from traffic which this route does, other than around the big towns. We also do the trip in two days stopping whichever side of the Mont Blanc suits depending on our timings. Good luck with your planning.
...walnuts have only just dropped their last year's fruit.
My parents would have a fit! They were both vote-counters after the War in 1946 when the people were asked to decide what the Italian state should be and my mum still remembers the joyous scenes when Umberto II decided to leave Italy. It is also true that my parents' generation (they are well into their 90s) is getting smaller every year and, before long, there will be no-one around to recall the bad old days of the Italian Monarchy and, according to mum, they were VERY bad especially since it was they who supported Mussolini and opened the door to a disastrous war and a Black Era of which no Italian is proud.
If the politicians are clever (and THAT is a contradiction in terms) they will let this technocrat government make all those tough decisions that would lose them votes in an election. They can wash their hands of these unpopular decisions at a later date but, in the meantime, Italy could make its much-needed reforms and recover its economy and reputation.
This is certainly not a new charge - "il coperto" has ALWAYS been added to restaurant bills in Italy, I remember it from way back in the 60s . A few years ago it was abolished in Lazio and but seems to have come back. We were in Rome last week and there it was: "2 euros a head coperto". In Umbria it was never abolished; we have been living there on and off since 2005 and it has always appeared on our meal bills.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-15613133
The "urban myth" about tomatoes being toxic also came about because the acidity in the tomatoes reacts with aluminium and copper which is what most pans were made with in the bad old days. Small amounts of copper are good for everyday health. However, large amounts in a single dose or over a short period can be poisonous. It is not certain how much can be safely taken each day. In the old days of non-lined cooking pots, this meant that more of these metals were leached into the cooking tomatoes and were considered to be a very dangerous combination. However, nowadays all modern cooking pans are either lined or anodised, thus eliminating any latent worries. Tomatoes are good for you and I just love those red ones with the green tops which make a splendid tomato salad with just the right amount of acidity to lift it from blandness.
"My father kept a look out out while my brother Duilio helped them escape by leading them to a river close to the Indaco in order to escape detection, but we have had no news of them since"