What kind of a magical land is this?

Yes, it's a 24 hour automatic fresh pesto machine.

(You won't find one of these in Buttsford.)

The Aforementioned Cioccolata Calda.

Hey, Happy New Year. Let's start off with something very good!
-5 tablespoons good quality unsweetened cocoa powder- I am using the Perugina Brand lately.
-6 ounces bittersweet chocolate,
-1 tablespoon sugar
(NB - you may like your beverages more sweet than I – try semisweet chocolate or more sugar if I am too bitter of a pill for you to swallow.)
-a little boiling water
-2 cups milk or water
-powdered chili, ginger or cinnamon

Mix Cocoa powder, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of boiling water in a saucepan and heat. Whisk like the dickens until the sugar melts and all is smooth (Ewww, lumps! yucka!) and you can’t help yourself and have to taste it. Boil and add the 2 cups of liquid. Keep whisking and heat until almost boiling. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate cut into tiny pieces. Stir to melt the chocolate and let it sit for a few minutes. If it is too thick for your taste add a little more hot water. (Some of the cafés in Milan and Florence serve CC so thick the spoon you will need really does stand up.) Reheat if needed and stir well before serving or give it a whiz with a frother or hand mixer. Pour or spoon into a demitasse cup and sprinkle a little chili, cinnamon or ginger powder on top.
When I have been very good, I serve myself this with a glass of sparkling mineral water, chunks of warm bread and a few fresh strawberries if I can get them. Bundle up and sit outside to drink, putting your feet up and smiling knowingly. Nice boots by the way.

I wish we could forever all speak in poetry.

The point at Portovenere - 19th November 2006

On the way to Byron's Grotto - Portovenere 19th November 2006

There is pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

Lord Byron - Childe Harold

Byron's Grotto - Portovenere 19th November 2006

Oh, there she goes being wistful again!

Glory, like the phoenix 'midst her fires,
Exhales her odours, blazes, and expires.

Lord Byron - English Bards and Scotch Reviewers

Big, Fat Happy Sigh.

The Grand Canal - Venice 14th November 2006

I haven't posted in some time as I have guests here from Canada.

Last week I took some time off and brought them to a few places. As I'm not sure how much longer we will be in Italy (it really depends on work), I've decided to optimise the rest of my time here. I think I'll definitely be coming back to North America but it will be hard

to leave scenes like this.

The River Arno -Florence 16th November 2006

This weekend we will be going to Portofino and Portovenere. I, of course, am extremely excited because of the whole Lord Byron/Grotto/ Shelley connection. No, I am not a Litgeek - well, maybe a little, okay, a lot. It's not like I will be spewing out quotes whilst gazing wistfully into the distant dark sea...

Is it time to stop being mossless?

Stop leaving and you will arrive.
Stop searching and you will see.
Stop running away and you will be found.
~Lao Tzu

Lalalalalalalalalalalalalala! Not listening!

~Stupid quote of the day service, making me question and review my life choices. ..harumph.~

The Heat's Turned On! The Heat's Turned On!

“Woo hoo!” is all I have to say. There is a law here in Italy that says the heat must be turned off completely from spring until fall. When I first looked into it I had a little Canadian stress attack and was ready to go out and start chopping wood or at least getting into daily baking again. The date for the big switch-on is November 1st – luckily when you live a little bit more north-erly they take pity and everything goes on October 15th. It’s been a colder than usual autumn here apparently so this date came none too soon. It’s still not that cold, but it’s damp and rainy and I fear that I am getting soft and will soon be languidly wandering through the centre of Milan with great boots, a pained look and a fur stole, searching endlessly for the perfect, steaming hot Cioccolato Caldo (an incredibly rich, thick hot chocolate drink – more on this soon.)
But in the meantime, I figured out the heating system – did you know you could download pdf instructions files of wall mounted apartment temperature regulators? I’ll say it over and over again - I love the internet.
And I love not having to drag my blankey all over the apartment, although I do anyway. I really must see about getting an “outside” job. Maybe in the spring.

Please Light a Candle

This is a small thing, will take only a few moments of your time and can help stop the abuse of children on the internet. Watch the message, add your light for those poor souls caught in the darkness and then ask someone else to do the same.
http://www.lightamillioncandles.com/

~~If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, march right down there and turn it on yourself.~~

The Only Time I Will Talk About My Toilet - I promise.

Three words: Fabulous Italian Design.
I nearly fell over in the local grocery when I saw this and yes, I had to buy it. It is an Alessi designed toilet cleaner/refresher and is at this very moment hanging in my toilet. When you flush, he rides the wave. I won’t elaborate any further save for three more words:

Brilliant, yet disturbing.

I'm sure could learn Italian faster if I had better shoes.

I hope to be going back to Italian lessons soon. I have to wait to see how many people sign up – if there are enough then the class goes ahead. If not, I am COL and have to go into the next city (hassle) or hire a tutor (expensive) – so I am crossing my dita.

Italian is easier in many ways than German, but sadly enough; it still involves work and memorizing and using parts of my brain that are having a hard time switching from Deutsch. I still regularly say “Ja, si” and “vielen, uh, grazie”. It’s like I have a second language Rolodex brainfile and only one whizzy cartridge can be in use at a time. It took a long time for the German file to get in there to replace the French so I guess it’s not surprising that the Italian one is slow in arriving. (Note to self, check mailbox for phone bill)

Italian is similar to French but has a lot more conjugation (like Latin) and the verb endings in the more complex tenses are really hard. On the other hand, you don’t use personal pronouns that much (built into the verb ending) and if you want to ask a question, all you have to do is intonate at the end of the sentence. No pesky inversion even. The people are great and are thrilled when you can speak a little and when you say that you don’t in any way shape or form understand anything that they say, will continue to talk to you and expect you to answer, or at least nod knowingly. I rely on the deer in the headlights look and generally get a face pat from the old women who I imagine are saying something like “oh, you are kind of cute in a pale sort of way, so it’s okay that you are not so clever. But you really do need better shoes and a tan.” Si. Indubbiamente. Danke.

Wha?

My afternoon entertainment was as follows:

I received an email today saying that my telephone bill is online.
I want to pay this right away as the last one took a long time to be processed and was almost late so I thought - best to get it out of the way...
But when I try to pay it, I can't because the phone company has not printed it yet and the bank won't let me pay it because telecom has not told them that I owe them money. I am not allowed to pay them money unless I owe them money. But I do owe them money - can I pay? Please, I ask? No, you don't owe them money yet. But I received a bill. Maybe it is some sort of an advance bill that lets you know that you will be owing money in the future? How come they charge me for phone calls I haven't made yet, quote ~based on predications about my past usages~ but I can't give them payment in advance for a bill I "haven't received" yet (even though I have)?

And why on earth would I want to pay my bill that I have seen but does not exist, before I get it, when I receive it, before it's due anyway?

Think German rules. With no logic. And more paperwork.
Is there a patron saint of logic? Let me take a wild guess and surmise that he or she is not Italian.

I'm going to wait until I get the bill in the mail and pay it online when the bank lets me, after of course, I have had a small glass of wine and a biscuit, and debated whether or not I have actually received it. I must let go of this whole efficiency habit - it really is quite exhausting.

Oh, who am I kidding? Shoot me now :)