Things that make me scratch my head

How (NOT) To Implement a Recycling Policy in Your Town

1 year ago

by Michael in Lazio, Let Me Vent, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetI’m a big fan of recycling, and I was really happy to hear that our town, Soriano nel Cimino, was planning on implementing a recycling program. Better yet, it would include garbage pick-up. Cool! The fact is, that much of Italy is full of litter, many towns have garbage bins that [...]

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“Boh!?”… And Other Perfect Italian Words & Phrases That Don’t Translate Well

1 year ago

by Michael in Culture, language, Personal, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetWhen you split your life between two cultures with two languages, it is quite easy to get trapped in the wrong language from time to time. I sometimes find myself speaking one language, then suddenly a word or phrase pops out from the other. I don’t realize it until the person I am [...]

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Welcome To Italy… There’s a Tax For That

1 year ago

by Michael in Culture, Let Me Vent, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetI haven’t gone on an Italy rant for a while, but with healthcare and taxes filling the US airwaves, it has really made me think about taxes in Italy. I’ll not get into my opinion of these subjects in the US, since this is not the place for it. I also don’t want anyone to see this [...]

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Anglitaliano: English Words in Everyday Italian

1 year ago

by Michael in Culture, language, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetWe use a ton of Italian words in English. More than many might think. Just walk into a Starbucks, and you will probably walk out with something called a ‘LATTE‘ (Be careful asking for it in Italy, since all you will get is milk), and if it was a large, you will have asked for [...]

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Man Dies: Caught The Cold in Stomach

1 year ago

by Michael in Culture, Food, Let Me Vent, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetTraveling to Italy, some visitors notice various oddities about Italian culture that seem to defy explanation. Some are rooted in the socio-political history of the country, some are rooted in religious tradition, and others… the ones that are often the most seemingly nonsensical, [...]

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Olive Garden cooking school in Tuscany?

1 year ago

by Michael in Cooking, Culinary, Food, Let Me Vent, Things that make me scratch my head, Tuscany

TweetUpdated 02/2010 Olive Garden is one of those places that really sets my blood to boil. Every time I hear the word ‘Hospitaliano’ I begin to cringe and twitch. When I hear them say ‘When you’re here, you’re family’, I can’t help but visualize the corporate offices of a chain with [...]

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The Italian Beat – When Italy was covering all of our music

2 years ago

by Michael in Culture, Music, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetI was searching for Italian covers of popular International songs for the fun of it, and I couldn’t believe what I found. In the 60′s and early 70′s there was a huge trend for covers. Some are absolutely fantastic, while others are… well, they should have been left alone. I found [...]

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Why Italy is not known for modern music

4 years ago

by Michael in Music, Things that make me scratch my head

Tweet You know, there is a really, really good reason that you don’t see any Italian groups on the International rap scene. What could that reason be, you may ask… just click above and remember that Italians make great food and wine, ok? Oh yeah, and promise you will keep watching it at [...]

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A little more Olive Gardening Laughter…

4 years ago

by Michael in Cooking, Culinary, Food, Let Me Vent, Things that make me scratch my head, Tuscany

TweetFace it, I’m back in the states for a few months, so I just don’t have much material for the blog these days. I mean, when I am in Italy, I could write several posts a day, but I am sitting here in Florida, what to contribute to THIS blog? That said, little things catch my [...]

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Soccer Fanaticism in Italy – Because they cant feed Christians to the lions anymore

4 years ago

by Michael in Culture, Lazio, Let Me Vent, Sports, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetI love Football (Go USC!) & Baseball (Go Dodgers!).. I’m an American after all. But I have never been able to sink my heart into Soccer. So having spent all of these years in Italy, I’ve never been to a serious professional Soccer match. I’ve been to the small ones, but never [...]

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How do they get the flavor out of the food in the states?

5 years ago

by Michael in Cooking, Culinary, Culture, Food, Let Me Vent, Things that make me scratch my head, Travel Tips

TweetI’ve been back in Los Angeles for a week now, and last night we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner for the first time since I got back. This may not seem like a big deal, but for us it is always a tragedy. The restaurant was Pomodoro in Woodland Hills. I don’t want to say it [...]

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Cattle Call in Rome versus an Italian country sunrise

5 years ago

by Michael in Culture, Let Me Vent, Things that make me scratch my head, Tours, Travel Tips

TweetI’ve been here for 5 days now and have had no time to write as I have been so busy working on our apartments. However, yesterday I took my cousin to see Rome. After all, she has never been to Italy and it is less than an hour away from our house. It’s late October… we are pressing [...]

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Having a craving for Grilled Flesh

5 years ago

by Michael in Culinary, Culture, Food, Let Me Vent, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetGrilled Flesh… YUM! When I lived here in Soriano, I was, quite simply, ‘The American”. In fact, the immigrant population of the area consisted of me, two Brits and a Brazilian. Outside of that, nobody spoke a word of English. My, how things can change over the course of 20+ years. A [...]