eating – JenandAlsbigItalianadventure

January 29, 2021

Reaching out to embrace the random

“Reaching out to embrace the random, reaching out to embrace whatever may come,”
Tool

Apologies for the radio silence over the last couple of weeks. For reasons I don’t want to go into on this blog we had to make an unexpected dash to the UK. This, as you all know, coincided with increasing covid infections and death rates both in the UK and Italy, leading to increased Covid restrictions. Suffice to say we have spent an awfully long time in quarantine in various locations and have been tested multiple times, all negative thankfully.

The day before our flight to the UK I learned that I had been successful in getting two new exam preparation courses in local schools from January. With everything else going on at the time it felt very far away and I was more concerned about making those involved aware of my need to be in the UK than allowing myself time to be pleased about them. Our already in Covid limbo life became more surreal in the UK and due to the covid situation we were not able to see any friends or leave the house much. However, we are back despite flight bans, cancellations, new restrictions and announcements from two different governments and not forgetting Brexit. Now it feels possible to start this year, albeit a little delayed. If covid has taught us anything it’s to be wary of thinking anything we plan is certain and to be grateful for what you have.

“What good is warmth of summer without the coldness of winter to make it sweeter?”
John Steinbeck

The immediate future is full of uncertainty including where we will live and work. For the time being we are forced to live in the present, which is no bad thing. I now have three courses to teach for 2 different language schools and 9 private students, which rose to include another 3 potential students this week, so my decision to go self-employed during this period seems to have been a good one but with Al still on cassa integrazione (furlough) it is not enough and it really can’t become enough to keep us here while restaurants remain closed or only partially open. We take each day as it comes, but we need to give some thought to what happens next and what we can do today to bring that closer.

It was always in the plan for me to return to work in Financial Services and to be honest I thought that the time would have come before now. I have made progress with the novel, although I haven’t finished it yet, a couple of other writing projects including this blog and I have built up a good reputation as an English teacher with an increasing number of students and courses. However, I have updated my CV and my Linked In profile and begun the search for a new role. Ideally, I will find one here in Italy or one that allows me to work remotely from here but all options are on the table.

I am proud of what we have achieved in taking the gamble, seizing the opportunity and coming here with a van full of belongings and a headful of dreams. Although 2020 and 2021 will not be the years that we hoped that they would be, we have grown (and not just the waistline) and embraced this experience, showing us what we are capable of, what we have and what we can do. Life has thrown some curve balls at all of us and it’s up to us what we do with them. I know that I have used this quote before but it feels as though it’s been the quote of the year.

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
Epitectus

To this end to make better use of his time while he is on furlough Al has set up a food blog to offer professional tips to home cooks and it can be found here.

We will be out of quarantine on the 1^{st of} February so stand by for more photos of the ever lovely Bologna and surroundings as we become able to visit them again, as well as further updates on what the next step in our adventure will be as events unfold before us.

December 3, 2020

Venice: Once in a lifetime

This week has been cold so to cheer us up Al created his version of the beautiful duck ragù with pappardelle, which we first enjoyed in Venice, and I decided it was time I wrote about our July trip there. As Venice is one of the world’s most visited destinations, there’s a good chance you’ve already been or were planning to go and/or already know quite a lot about it from various programmes and articles. If you wanted more information there are some excellent guides including the late Jan Morris’s book on Venice which is considered a classic or the Wikipedia entry is here and the official tourist site entry is here. I want to share our unique trip in this crazy year, give you an idea what it was like and what we experienced.

Last winter Venice suffered heavier than usual floods and lost a lot of its much relied on tourist income. The waters had barely receded and the buildings were just dried out when covid struck. We went in July when international flights, cancelled during lockdown, had not yet resumed and interregional travel bans had not long been lifted. People were emerging from lockdown but were rightly cautious. After our great experience in Liguria we decided to go to other places that could be reached by train and experience as much as we could, whilst using our, admittedly tight, budget to provide some much needed custom in areas trying to recover while being able to enjoy them at bargain prices without crowds. It seemed a silver lining to the otherwise unrelenting black cloud of Covid that has extended over much of the year and pervaded our daily lives.

Venice Santa Lucia station is on one of the islands that form Venice. You exit into a piazza on the Grand Canal itself and from there you can take one of the Vaporetti water buses which run on specific routes with advertised stops. Venice was built around the canals so the best way to enjoy it is from the water and the Vaporetti allow you to combine public transport with a boat trip along some of the most famous waterways and sites in the world.

We arrived at the station on a Monday around midday and stepped into a pretty empty city. Our Air B&B check in was not until 2 so we planned to have lunch somewhere close by. The Air B&B was on the far side of an island close to a Vaporetti stop. Our host had provided us with written instructions from the stop in Italian and we had foolishly put them through google translate which gave us a set of instructions that talked about foundations and fields and did not reflect where we were. Similarly, we found the provided google pin impossible to locate with the patchy signal available in the densely packed streets.

After a short but enjoyable trip down many alleys and lanes, where we lost our signal repeatedly or found ourselves on completely different streets from where google maps thought we were, we were able determine that the Italian word for foundation “fondatore” is also the name used in Venice for a row of buildings or section of buildings and that the word for field “campo” can mean any open area including squares with not an inch of grass. We had only to decipher the word for alley and we were all set with improved instructions that were, in the end, easy to follow. My advice is to forget google maps and get an old fashioned paper map and a sense of direction.

During our meandering we found a delightful restaurant called “Osteria Ca del Vento”, the owner was chatty and seemed glad of the custom. We had a delicious lunch where we enjoyed the local speciality duck ragù, all washed down with a lovely glass of wine. Once we had located our Airbnb and marvelled at its proximity to the canal, given its low price, we left our bags and went to see the sites.

We walked to Ponte Academia, and took the ferry to Piazza San Marco. Although we had already seen that there were much fewer people than usual, we had not been into any of the main areas except for the station, so nothing had really prepared us for Piazza San Marco. Everyone had seen the emptiness wrought on busy areas by this corona virus, like scenes from apocalyptical films, but to breathe it in, in one of the busiest places in Venice, was like nothing else.

Aside from crowds and crowds of tourists trying to take the usual iconic photos and selfies Piazza San Marco is also usually full of queues for the many museums and galleries: the Basilica, the Ducal palace, The Campanile di San Marco and several smaller galleries concentrated in the square. The Ducal palace and many other museums and galleries were only opening at the weekend so although we weren’t able to go inside them on this trip, the freedom we had to roam the canals and alleys without being pressed or crushed in the sheer volume of others more than made up for it.

We went to the Campanile di San Marco where there were no queues at all. We were able to walk straight in and take the lift to the top from where we were able to photograph views of the city spread out below us.

Views from (and in) the Campanile di San Marco

There is a point on the Grand Canal where you can photograph the Bridge of Sighs which runs between the Doge’s palace and the prison over a canal. Usually this is very crowded, three or four people deep rows full of desperate picture and selfie takers but on this occasion, it was almost deserted and we could take all the photos we wanted.

From Piazza San Marco we headed across town to meet our landlords. As mentioned previously, the owners of our apartment had been transferred to Venice from Bologna. We are on friendly terms and had arranged to meet them for an aperitivo on the Monday evening. Andrea had sent us a google pin of where to meet and some directions. We had developed a technique of heading in roughly the direction we wanted to go, but being prepared to have to back track when there was no bridge where we needed it, or for dead ends or other obstacles, whilst also taking sideways routes in order to move forward eventually, keeping the end direction in mind. Thus, by a rough zigzag and some additional time you can pretty much always get where you want to go and the journey is so beautiful along picturesque canals, over ornate bridges and down tiny alleys that you don’t mind at all.

On our way we stumbled on the famous Libreria Acqua Alta bookshop and had a look around. They are no stranger to floods and have an already established staircase of damaged books in a rear courtyard which you can climb to get a view of the canal behind. Inside the shop was a gondola full of books. We enjoyed nosing around the shelves and looking at all the books before we decided we better get on our way again.

Andrea and family live in a residential area and he told us that during the lockdown they had the whole city to themselves, with the children being able to play out all the time because there was no traffic of any kind. He took us to an area where the locals go to relax and to a canal side bar that had moored a barge to provide overflow seating. Covid restrictions meant that they were strict about numbers seated at tables, so as we could not find a table to accommodate all of us, we sat on the barge. Getting on and off was an adventure as the wake from other boats and movements of other people on board made the barge move. On the barge we drank spritz and ate cicchetti bites which you can buy in the bar for a low price) and talked in a mixture of English and Italian. Al wondered out loud how many people fell into the canal every year and Andrea said that only tourists fall into the canal and usually British ones!

As the sun set our stomachs needed more than cicchetti so Andrea and Nina gave us a restaurant recommendation, “Osteria alla Frasca” which sadly was not open that first night, but we found somewhere else nearby with a good local food selection. After filling up we drifted homewards, noting that the town after nine pm was quiet indeed and darker than we expected. We made our way back to our Air B&B eventually and without falling into any canals.

On Tuesday we tried to find a coffee place that Andrea had recommended for breakfast on our way to visit the fish market. We couldn’t find it at first and so we had coffee at another bar before we strolled around the market area. It’s a working market, not just a tourist attraction, so was quite lively, although not as busy as usual. I bought a new mask of Venetian lace from one of the stalls nearby, not one of the elaborate Venetian masks for which Venice is famed, but a much more functional anti-covid mask that wiley market holders had added to their repertoire. Shortly after we found the recommended coffee bar and enjoyed a lovely drink there before heading for lunch.

We met our Italian teacher, Elena in Southampton, but she’s from a town close to Venice and was on holiday from University, so we arranged to take her to lunch as a thank you for all her help. Her father had recommended a very traditional restaurant down a side street. Waiters were white aproned and formal. We ordered some typical dishes of the region and a bottle of local wine. There is a lot of seafood on the Venetian menu and this restaurant had a fish counter from where you could choose your fish to be cooked to order. I ordered the local scampi. Al had a squid ink dish and Elena had some local fried fish.

After lunch we decided to walk it off and trundled around the streets, Elena took us to some of her favourite places including where the Biennale is held. After a lot of walking we decided to go for aperitivo before dinner so we headed back to the area we had been the previous night, after which we left Elena with some friends and headed to the restaurant that had been recommended by Andrea and Nina and this time it was open. Al noticed that the menu said to ask about daily specials so he did. The waiter brought a selection of well-aged uncooked beef joints and steaks and we were able to pick the piece we wanted to have cooked. We also accepted the accompaniments suggested and were really glad we did because we had an excellent meal and one that we would not have thought to put together.

Next morning, we had decided to take the vaporetti out to Murano and Burano so we jumped on at the station where we had deposited our luggage. You can’t miss the Murano glass in Venetian shops as jewellery or vases and other objet d’art. It really is beautiful and rightly world famous. You can watch glass being made on Murano and buy some direct from the factories. We had a little stroll around and then took the next vaporetti to Burano. Burano is a working fishing village with brightly coloured houses. Householders often have heavily patterned curtains across their doors to allow them to have the door open in the heat, but not allow tourists to peer in. We had breakfast in a café before investigating the shops and the island itself.

On the way back from Burano we decided to get off at Piazza San Marco and go to the Basilica. The Basilica was closed for repairs, but you could still access the museum and roof, we waited in a queue of 3 people for approximately 2 minutes. The usual Covid entry requirements applied. From the museum you can see into the Basilica so we didn’t miss out on too much. One of the fascinating things about the Basilica is that it looks as though it’s been painted in gold, but on closer inspection you can see the whole interior is a series of linked mosaics of Murano glass.

After San Marco we took the ferry to Giudecca the island on the other side of the grand canal. We had been told it was usually a bit quieter than the rest of Venice and this proved to be true with few shops or restaurants open. We eventually found a waterfront place which sold sandwiches and arancini as well as some interesting craft beers so we decided to eat there. It was a lovely spot to watch the canal and afterwards we bought ice-creams with the plan to eat them as we were walking along. We were expecting a twenty minute wait for the next ferry, but almost as soon as we had the ice cream in hand, we saw the ferry pulling in. We needed to get to the station to catch our train home so we rushed onboard, masks on and ice cream melting. In the end we stood well away from everyone else, leant over the side of the boat, masks lifted to eat the ice cream as fast as possible while enjoying our final views in a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Venice as she is seldom seen, without her coating of people, before retrieving our luggage and heading home to Bologna.

November 19, 2020

Lockdown 2.0

Last Thursday when I went to the Meta (Sainsbury’s express equivalent) I had to join a socially distanced queue to get in and I had a flashback to the first lockdown.

It wasn’t the first reminder (Al has been on furlough for a few weeks now) and it won’t be the last. The numbers in Italy remain terrifyingly high and this weekend our region of Emilia Romagna moved from yellow to amber. There were new regional rules: the open air markets could open but with tighter restrictions on numbers and direction of flow (dedicated in and out areas) and some “non-essential” shops were closed. The gyms, museums and cinemas were already closed. Now only one person from a household can go to get groceries, with the familiar caveats for people who need to be accompanied and children. Interregional travel had been stopped with few exceptions, Language schools have been instructed to move to online teaching. You can’t do exercise in the city centre, but you can use the parks. So, we could still go anywhere we want within the region and could go out and have lunch which led to us feeling we were in an almost Lockdown 2.0 but not quite.

It had been a hard week. Al discovered, not unexpectedly, that his restaurant will not reopen after furlough. I am struggling to find students and now feel that I should really only teach online where possible. Luckily, the language school where I teach a couple of conversation classes has moved online so I can continue with those lessons. There is nothing yet to say I can’t continue to teach face to face, but I feel that more people will want online lessons. Friday was a day of tough conversations, soul searching and strategizing so we decided to treat ourselves to an Aperitivo at Mamalo Cafe which is just down the road. It’s quite pubby and local and we like it for that. We had the ubiquitous Spritz con Campari and were brought a plate of nibbles. The owner recognises us and although there hasn’t been much in the way of conversation, we feel welcome.

Saturday morning, we woke up to the realisation that Bologna city (comune) was bringing in tougher restrictions than the region. Bars and restaurants were to be closed except for takeaway starting from Sunday. Open air markets and non-essential shops were closed. Al had been planning to go to some restaurants with his CV, in case any of them needed staff, but now they were all being closed. It’s difficult not to feel downhearted and a little bit thwarted by life.

Our plan, such as it was, was to have this experience while I wrote my novel and Al learned different aspects of Italian cooking, then to return to the UK and start our own food business. It all feels very far away now and quite remote. The writing has not been easy and always seemed to be underscored by my own inability to prioritise what I love doing and practical considerations like earning enough money. The hospitality industry around the world, like so many other industries, has been decimated and while getting a new job for Al is the priority, starting a food business in the UK feels unlikely in the short term. I know, there has been a global pandemic and no one asked for this, no one’s lives are unchanged, but I am feeling self-indulgently down right now.

However, we are well. This experience, certainly since March, might not be what we had planned for this year, but it has meant we were able to have some amazing experiences in places that would usually have been out of our price range, or too full of tourists or both. We have taken advantage of the lack of tourists to see new parts of Italy and experience new things. It is unlikely that anyone will experience an empty St Marks square like that again. We are in an incredibly privileged position that has allowed us this once in a lifetime experience and to guard ourselves against the dramatic ups and downs that has been 2020 so far, its not done yet and I don’t want to be complacent, we are still in a good place, in a beautiful country.

Luckily for us our favourite central bar, Astral put up a post on Saturday to say that they were having a final opening between 3 and 6 that afternoon. We headed down there to support them and drink great beer and wine whilst being super careful about masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing. Astral has been our most regular spot, the guys that run it are knowledgeable and friendly and we feel very at home there. We don’t know how long it will be before we can go out to bars and restaurants again, but as they reminded us when we were there, Astral are still offering delivery for the duration.

So, the future won’t be the one we imagined, so what? It will be different that’s all. There will be new opportunities and options that we couldn’t have dreamed of before. If we keep moving forward with our eyes open who knows what will happen. We’re going to get through this lock down like we did the last one. The world will still turn. Life is going to be tough for everyone for a while, so we need to look after each other, keep our chin up and, when its time, head out into the world and be what happens next.

July 11, 2020July 11, 2020

High days and holidays

I must admit that when Al first suggested going on holiday a mere two weeks after returning to work and with me still looking for a job, I thought it was a bit indulgent even by our standards. He made two strong and valid points.

We had been in quarantine, not on holiday. We hadn’t chosen to stay in nor to be furloughed/have our contracts lapsed. It was not relaxing or without stress and it impacted negatively on our sleep and mental health. There was and remains a level of fear about the virus, but as there were less need for restrictions we could move forward.
There were no tourists and a once in a lifetime opportunity to see some places empty in a way they probably never will be again. This in itself would enable us to take advantage of places that were usually too full of tourists or too expensive, whilst also supporting those local economies adversely impacted.

High Days

When I thought about it, I knew it made sense. Many of you are probably also feeling bored of looking at the same four walls and streetscapes, no matter how lovely they are, after 3 months of lockdown. Just as we visited Ravenna and Modena when the within region restrictions were lifted to give ourselves a change of scene and a chance to do the exploring we came here for, so we also began to look further afield as the Regional restrictions were lifted. We have a renewed hunger for the outside world and all that it has to offer.

Holidays

We had previously planned to go on holiday for the end of June/beginning of July for my birthday and to attend an outdoor festival in Milan to watch Faith No More. Although the festival was not officially postponed immediately, Faith No More had already begun to cancel and reschedule the tour and the writing was on the wall for live music generally. As we were still in lockdown at this time thoughts of our holiday drifted from our minds, until now…

As we started to look there seemed to be a lot of deals and discounts around, which meant we could search in areas that are usually completely out of our price range. This included the beautiful Cinque Terre on the Ligurian coast. We had looked at this area for our honeymoon and even with that expanded budget it was far too expensive for us. However, at the moment, many holiday operators and holiday homeowners are desperate to rescue their summer season and so bargains are aplenty. We found a very reasonably priced air B&B with air con in a central location, Rapallo.

Having taken the leap and decided on a holiday in Liguria we were delighted that although some things were not open or not running this was more than made up for by the fact we pretty much had all the main sites to ourselves, give or take a handful of brave French or Swiss adventurers. There was so much to see, do, eat and drink that I am putting the details in separate posts which I will upload over the next couple of weeks and link here.

In fact, it was so successful that when we returned, we immediately booked a shorter escape to another of Italy’s usually tourist stuffed treasures. If you are thinking of new adventures and a change of scene, while boosting a local economy and taking a silver lining of sorts from the last few months, I highly recommend it.

June 17, 2020

A Day out in Modena

This week we decided to use the recent lifting of regional movement restrictions and to take advantage of Al’s days off by going to Modena.

A very short description of Modena

Modena is a city in the region Emilia Romagna. There has been a settlement here since 187BC and the Duomo, which was built 1000 years ago, is included in the UNESCO world heritage site that can be explored in Grande Piazza. There is a long standing rivalry between Bologna and Modena as they used to be competing city states, typical of neighbouring cities and towns the world over. There was a series of battles known as the war of the Bucket (1325) when the opposing factions fought each other. The Modenese fighters took a bucket from Bologna as a trophy and it (or one meant to replicate it) is on display in the Torre della Ghirlandia to this day.

Modena is the home of Balsamic vinegar, but not the stuff you can buy from the supermarket in the UK, the product here is produced from grape must, thick and sweet and takes at least 12 years to ferment, using a centuries old process. You only need to use a tiny amount, let down with olive oil which is good news as even a small bottle will set you back, but it should last for years. Modena and the area immediately surrounding it has a large number of products of either DOP (products of a protected origin) or IGP (products with a protected region) meaning that you cannot buy the same product anywhere else. The city’s proximity to Bologna means that many of the regional dishes are the same, but there are some interesting variations to look out for.

Modena is also home to Lambrusco (sparkling red wine), Ferrari and Maserati cars as well as the world famous tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

How to get to Modena

Modena is about 38 km from Bologna and easily accessible by rail or car. On the train from Bologna it can take between 17 and 29 minutes depending on whether you get the slower regional train or the faster Freccia Rossa and the tickets are priced to reflect this. On this occasion we drove and chose to go via the slower, toll free roads, which are more picturesque. Like many Italian cities, the centre of Modena is covered by a ZTL (traffic limitation zone) where cars are either not permitted to enter at all or are extremely restricted. The fines for infringement of the ZTL are high and its possible to get more than one in a day so be careful if you are driving about. A brief amount of research meant that I was able to get a map of the Modena ZTL and find a free car park outside it. Modena is a compact city so parking outside the centre is not a problem. Our free car park was next to the stadium, from where it is a 10 minute pleasant walk to the Grande Piazza.

What to eat?

The Italian version of the tourist information site of Modena lists an ideal Modenese menu; starting with salumi (sliced cured meats), followed by tortelloni stuffed with pork, prosciutto and Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan cheese). They also recommend Zampone or Cotechino, which are local types of cured sausage, but they are not for the faint hearted. They are true to the concept of nose to tail eating in that they contain some of the parts of the animal that we don’t usually, knowingly, consume. For my tastes they are too greasy and too gristly. Al, on the other hand, really likes them. After the sausages they recommend slices of Parmigiano Reggiano with a small quantity of local balsamic vinegar and all washed down with a bottle of the local Lambrusco. You may have heard of Lambrusco before and even have an opinion about it but I urge you to put that aside and try it in Modena. It’s a delicious sparkling ruby red wine and my friend Jess is particularly partial to a glass or two when she visits. The meal is finished with some local cherries or other fruits or something called Zuppa Inglese, a kind of firm custard, served with Amaretti biscuits.

As we were only having lunch we were not looking for a full set of courses and had a recommendation from a friend. Ristretto is found in a narrow alley a short distance from the Duomo. Although the weather forecast was bleak and the skies were grey, we opted to sit outside on one of the tables along the alley. The menu was short but it was still hard to choose. In the end we had passatelli with prosciutto crudo in a parmesan cream sauce. Passatelli is a pasta made from breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. We accompanied it with a glass of dry white wine. The meal was delicious and they are noted for their wine selection so I highly recommend eating there.

The unassuming entrance to Osteria Francescana

I couldn’t possibly talk about food without referencing Modena’s 3 Michelin starred restaurant, the Osteria Francescana, owned by Massimo Bottura. It has been listed in the top 5 at the World’s Best Restaurants since 2010. Al is a huge fan of Massimo Bottura, his approach to cooking and his focus on minimising waste and increasing sustainability and although I would like to say that we have eaten there, as yet, we have not been so fortunate. However, we did slope past to have a look at the outside. Eating here is a once in a lifetime event and you need to book a long time in advance i.e. they are currently booking for tables in January 2021. The 12 course tasting menu costs €290 with the wine pairing €190 on top. We were fortunate enough to eat in Thomas Keller’s French Laundry pop up in Harrods a couple of years ago so I’m sure that it would be worth it, but it’s just a little out of reach at the moment.

Fast Cars and Opera Stars

Ferrari’s are not made in Modena any more, the works having transferred operations to nearby Maranello, however there is the Museum of Enzo Ferrari, in the original factory, where they have a nice selection of cars for you to drool over and, for those who know about these things, a hall of engines. The trident of Maserati was modelled on the trident on the statue of Neptune in Bologna as Maseratis were made in Bologna for a while. It is interesting to think that the origins of motor racing and the Grand Prix were on the roads around here.

You can also visit the House of Luciano Pavarotti at the gates of the city. He lived in this house for the last 9 years of his life. He had a passion for horses and bred them here as well as holding an annual horse contest. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit on this occasion.

I would highly recommend Modena for a weekend break or a day trip or even as a base to explore the wider region. It is very beautiful and an easy city to navigate on foot. There are plenty of cafes and bars for you to stop at when you need a break and interesting museums and churches to investigate.

Lion at the entrance to the Duomo on Grande Piazza

June 8, 2020June 8, 2020

Looking forward

This week Al has returned to work and I have been looking for a new job and visiting reopened shops.

Paper wrapped purchases from the Quadrilatero

Establishing new patterns (the new normal)

Al started back at the restaurant on Monday to prepare for reopening the restaurant on Tuesday, which was a national holiday (Republic day). FICO World Eataly, the food centric theme park (their words), where’s Al’s restaurant is located, had decided on a big relaunch for Republic day. They had targeted their advertising locally as inter regional travel was still not permitted until the end of the week. It’s been a long time since people in Bologna have been able to eat out and go anywhere so it was not surprising that it was busy on the re-opening day. The following days were quieter, but they were ordinary working days, so this weekend is the real test.

I, on the other hand, have still been largely at home. I am splitting my time between looking for a new job and writing. Initially I had set aside an hour a day to trawl job sites and apply for any promising looking roles, but it soon seemed to develop into a rabbit hole of amended CVs and cover letters and very little writing happening. This is typical when you are constantly plagued with the notion that your writing is self-indulgent and struggle to prioritise it. I flipped my day around and decided to start writing first and then job hunt if there was time after.

So far, my job search has not yielded any responses, but these are odd times. I have set myself a sort of deadline and if I have not managed to find something more in line with what I want to be doing, I will start hitting up old contacts to see if I can get a contract in what I used to do.

Hay Festival (on line)

Hay festival is a UK literary festival held in Hay-on-Wye every year. The town of Hay-on-Wye is widely renowned for its many second hand and new bookstores, so it makes sense that there is a festival dedicated to literature here too. We have attended the festival twice and really enjoyed it. This year we were not intending to go as we are here in Italy, but as it turned out the festival was cancelled anyway due to Corona virus. Indeed, the whole area remains in lockdown as Hay is part of the Brecon beacons national park in Wales which remains closed to the public. However, someone at Hay Festival had the brilliant Idea of putting the festival online. As we were signed up for festival updates we received an email with the line up from 18^th to 31^st May. It was free to sign up for any of the events and you could sign up to as many as you wanted. Knowing it was going to be Al’s last week before returning to work we went through the listing and signed up to several events.

Highlights included, John Sopel’s “A year at the circus: inside Trump’s White House”, Adam Rutherford talking about his book “How to argue with a racist”, Paul Dolans challenging discussion of his book “F**k the narrative”, William Dalrymple talking about his book “The Anarchy” detailing the original Mega corp that was too big to fail – The East India Company, including how the British Government ended up colonising India and our largely untaught shameful colonial past. On the more light hearted end of the scale there was Natalie Haynes with Chris Riddell for a live drawing of Troy Story; Allie Esiri, Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West performing “A journey through a year of Shakespeare” and with Sandy Toksvig closing the festival in her own inimitable way.

You can still find the listing for the events on their website and for £10 you can sign up for the Hay player and access the recordings of all the events from the festival this year plus loads more content from other Hay festivals, including in other locations across the world. I am hoping that Hay Festival will use this experience to allow people to watch remotely in future.

An idea whose time has come (Victor Hugo)

It seemed oddly prescient that the talks which had the most impact on us were the ones about race, identity and the untaught and unacknowledged British past, given the turbulent week following the tragic death of George Floyd. It seems ridiculous that there would be any argument about Black Lives matters, but I have seen some of the most racist things I have ever read posted online and in response to the protests and demonstrations. Events have reminded me of my privilege and my power and I have been inspired to write a longer piece in response to this, but I am not finished with it yet. My journey into Hay had encouraged me to buy some books (but not from Amazon) and this week has added a few additional items to the list so I can educate myself.

If you, like me, are looking for information about what more you anti-racist actions you can take or how you can be a better ally the Hay player and Waterstones are showcasing works by black writers and artists as well as works on UK and US history in relation to race, colonialism etc. under the banner “Black Lives Matter”. There are a number of you tube and videos out there and amongst the most useful I found was this one from Joe.co.uk.

To quote the final thoughts in this video and lyrics from the musical Hamilton “this is not a moment, it’s a movement”

Stay safe, educate yourself and fight racism.

Anti-Racism protest – Bologna 6th June 2020

May 24, 2020

The beginning of the end of Lockdown?

On 18^th May we knew some more of our lockdown restrictions were being lifted, thanks to lower infection and death rates. However, on 16^th May’s announcement Conte (Italian President) surprised us with more relaxations than were expected. It included the opening of bars and restaurants so you could eat and drink in which was a pleasant surprise but did come with the caveat that social distancing must be maintained and that you must wear a mask (except while eating or drinking). Coupled with the relaxation of travel within the region that had been expected we were getting quite a bit more freedom than we have had for some months. So, this week we intrepid two have been back to the centre of Bologna to see what these changes look like in practice

Piano piano (step by step)

It is important to remember that Corona Virus has not gone away. There is a real need to maintain the measures that have been put in place to save lives, reduce the burden on the healthcare system and minimise new infections. Any of loosening of restrictions are at risk should rates of infection start to climb again or if people abuse the situation and abandon the restrictions that are still in place. We are in new territory here and every decision must be fraught with what ifs and the shadow of the law of unintended consequences, necessitating a trial and error approach. With each relaxation there is a two week window before we can be sure if the new situation is increasing cases or not. If it is there is a need to roll back and try again.

We are acutely aware that the situation remains precarious. We have not been going out just for the sake of it and our manner has not suddenly become dismissive or flippant. We have been extremely careful about our and others safety while we are out and we are still at home for the majority of the time. However, it is also true that many businesses have suffered a great deal so if we can spend money in the market or in a bar that we would have spent in a supermarket it’s a better use of our resources.

I understand that there have been reports in the UK press about Italians not maintaining distancing, not wearing masks, crowding into certain areas etc. I cannot speak to whatever has been reported, I can only give you my experience, which is in general a maintenance of social distancing and mask wearing, with some predictable exceptions.

Monday mooch

On the first day of relaxation we decided to take our daily exercise by going into Bologna centre and seeing what differences the relaxations had made. We packed our gloves so that we would be able to go to the market this time. There were more cars on the roads and more people in the street, but still less than usual. Many shops had reopened, but they all had masked employees and there were Perspex screens at till points. Some stores were allowing customers in, in small numbers, to look around while others had set up tables and screens at the entrance and would fetch what was required. All customers were masked. Many shops have instructions about how you can access the shop e.g. mask wearing is obligatory, two customers at a time, use hand sanitizing station before entering etc. The restaurant opening had clearly caught others by surprise and we saw staff frantically disinfecting premises and organising socially distanced seating.

This was a much more positive visit than our last trip to the city centre. There was a general air of optimism and activity. We were able to go to our favourite fruit and vegetable stall in the market, with mask and gloves on. We exchanged pleasantries with the stall holder about being glad to be back. There were socially distanced queues outside Comet and, sadly, the Nespresso store. People with bags from clothing stores were clearly here to shop. However, it was cut with some sadness too. There were empty tables in the restaurants and bars that had opened. Empty shops waiting for customers. There were shops that had not reopened and perhaps won’t. Some restaurants and bars have not reopened as the cost of doing so would not be offset by the few customers they would be able to accommodate.

Hill climbs and much needed exercise

I quite often post photos that I take in our garden, which has a great view into the hills. This week we decided the climb the hill that our garden looks onto and take a picture of our apartment. It is a very steep walk and we were not sure if we would be able to get views of San Luca from the top. The short answer is that we couldn’t, as it turns out there us another hill between this one and the one San Luca sits on. However, it was a great walk and at one section it forms part of a national walking trail, which we followed into Parco Villa Ghigi. The weather was threatening rain, so the park was much quieter than when I had been at the weekend when it was full of picnickers and what looked suspiciously like large family gatherings and groups of teenagers ahead of the Monday official start of restrictions being relaxed.

Aperitivo a Zanarini

Caffe Zanarini is a lovely pasticceria in a beautiful piazza next to the Cathedral and Piazza Maggiore. You can sit at an outside table and watch the fashionistas on Via Farini. It serves a very gentile Aperitivo and is somewhere we go when we want to treat ourselves. It is immensely popular and at times we have not been able to get in because there are too many people already waiting. Back in March we celebrated a year of being in Bologna with Aperitivo there just before the lockdown was announced so it seemed a logical bookend to go there to celebrate the re-opening. Al called and was able to make a reservation for that evening. The tables outside were spaced widely apart and the staff all wore masks. Tables needed to be cleared very quickly because the minute someone left a flock of hungry pigeons would descend on whatever was left, fighting and flapping over the scraps. Who knows what they’ve been eating while the centre of the city has been deserted? The experience was non the less wonderful for that. It was very positive to be able to go out to a bar and sit watching the world go by with a Campari spritz and some delicate morsels to eat.

In this situation it sometimes feels as though we are in some kind of time slip where we are two weeks ahead of the UK, this was certainly true when we were starting to go into the Lockdown and the UK were still stubbornly saying that what was happening in Italy would not happen there. The feeling persists now and I hope, as we start to enter a period which feels like the beginning of the end we can give those of you in the UK some hope and show you that soon you will have more to look forward to. Where will you go first when the pubs and restaurants are reopened?

May 15, 2020

The Walk to San Luca

This week I wanted to write about a walk we did before lockdown. I have been holding on to it because it was not possible to do the walk and I didn’t want to be irresponsible by appearing as if I was breaking the lock down. We completed this walk on 28^th February and when we reached the top they were just closing the church because of the virus and it remains closed. However, now you are able to walk up to the church again and for many people the walk up to San Luca is part of a regular exercise routine.

What is San Luca?

For those who have not been to Bologna, San Luca is the church on the hill (Colle della Guardia) overlooking the city. It has been the symbol of Bologna for centuries and is still a place of worship and pilgrimage. There has been a church on the site for almost a thousand years and the current church was built by Carlo Francesco Dotti between 1723 and 1757. The two external stands were completed by his son Giovanni Giacomo in 1774. Since 1433 there been an annual Ascension week procession carrying the Byzantine Madonna and child down from San Luca to the cathedral. According to tradition The Mother and Child was brought to Bologna by a Byzantine pilgrim in the 12^th Century, with the first church being built on the site that same century. The portico San Luca was built to protect the pilgrims and the procession from the weather and was started in 1674 and completed in 1793.

There are some incredible views from the grounds, but when the church is open you can give a donation and climb the stairs inside to the panoramic viewing platform. NB take smaller notes or loose coins as they do not give change. The church itself is beautiful and has some fantastic art so it’s well worth a visit.

How do I get there?

I recommend walking, you can google a map to Porta Saragozza from wherever you are in the city. However if the walk seems like too much or you don’t have time you can get tickets for either the San Luca Express which is a little road train or the jump on/jump off open topped tourist bus both from Piazza Maggiore. Jess and I took the little train to the top on her first visit with us last year and it’s a good way to see the city, but be warned, it does not have a lot of suspension and some Bolognese streets are cobbled. If you want more info you can find it here at Bologna Welcome

The longest portico in the world

Bologna’s porticos cover a large proportion of the city centre. If you are going to San Luca from Piazza Maggiore it is possible to walk under porticoes for most of the route. The porticos of Bologna were nominated as a World Heritage site in 2019. However, the 666 arches of the official portico San Luca start at Porta Saragozza. This is a very impressive porta on a busy intersection. It is reportedly the longest continuous portico in the world. It is almost 3.5km long and nearly all of it is uphill, however because of the portico structure it does offer some of the most beautiful views of the surroundings while you ascend, winding around the hill. The porticos also provide shelter from both the sun and the rain which is great because Bologna is known for both.

The views from the walk

You start with a view over the stadium, but with the view opening out as you climb higher. There are chapels along the route as well as paintings. Some of the arches still retain painted ceilings, so it is worth keeping your eyes on the porticos themselves as well as on the view outside. Here are the photos we took in February, as is typical in Bologna there was a haze on the city so we didn’t get as many photos as we would have liked. If you were to go at the moment you might find much of the haze has gone thanks to lockdown.

The restaurant at the top

When Al and I did this walk we did it so that we would reach the top at lunchtime, obviously. If you go to the road behind the church and walk a little way along there is a lovely restaurant Vita a San Luca. We ordered from their seasonal pasta menu and we were not disappointed, although we have since been told that their pizzas are also fantastic and it is considered one of the best pizza places in the city. As you might expect from the location they are well equipped for tourists, however they are also accommodating for those attempting the language. I felt like I wanted to eat everything and there was a good wine list. We felt that we had earned our lunch with the walk so we also had desert. The only downside is that there are not really views as the restaurant is tucked into the hill, however the interior is fairly unique and an experience itself. We will certainly be returning here and it’s a good excuse to make the walk.

Things to note

There is nowhere to get anything to eat or drink from Porta Saragozza to the Church. At the church there is only a water fountain and a coffee vending machine. Vita a San Luca is the only restaurant at the top and although it has a lot of seats it is usually busy, so you could be disappointed or have to wait for a table. If you are planning on picnicking, you need to either bring something with you or stop and get something at one of the many bars, cafes and shops on the way to the Porte. In places the walk is quite steep and you can get warm so you need to dress appropriately. Expect it to be busy on fine days and don’t be surprised if you are huffing and puffing at the end of a section only to be overtaken by a running nonna (grandma).

April 24, 2020

Liberation Day (Festa della Liberazione)

An annual public holiday also known as Anniversary of Italy’s Liberation (Anniversario della liberazione d’Italia) or Anniversary of the resistance (Anniversario della Resistenza) or sometimes just as 25^th April (25 Aprile). It celebrates the liberation of Italy from Nazi occupation during World War 2 and the victory of the resistance in Italy[1].

Bologna liberated itself on 21^st April 1945 and by the 1^st May most of northern Italy was liberated. The national date of 25^th April was decided in 1949. In a previous post I made a joke about reclaiming “Liberation Day” from Farage et al who had attempted to use it as a phrase for the day when Britain left the EU. I wanted to use it instead for the day when we are all free to leave our homes and see our friends etc. without worrying about spreading the virus. I had forgotten that Liberation day already existed in Italy and, more importantly in these days, that it is a national day of celebrating the fight against fascism.

The history bit

As usual I offer the caveat that all the information presented here has been researched (badly) by me, mostly from Wikipedia, and therefore any inaccuracies or misunderstandings are the result of my poor workmanship.

The Italian resistance[2] is a term used to cover all the many Italian different resistance groups who were fighting against 20 years of fascist rule in Italy and 5 years of war. They gained more prominence after the occupation by the Nazis. It is also an important date in Italian history because it led to Italy abolishing the monarchy and establishing itself formally as a republic. If you read my post about Italians and food you will know that this was not long into the existence of Italy as a unified country. The republic was declared to be founded on the struggle of the resistance (La Resistenza). The members of the resistance were also known as partisans (I partigiani) and many people see this conflict to liberate Italy as the Italian civil war.

While many of us have holidays and festive days dedicated to various battles and liberations, I don’t think there is anything quite like this Italian Liberation Day. Its connection to the resistance is a key part of the day, at least it is in Bologna. It is not a celebration of long past historic events; it is a living reminder of the continuing fight against fascism.

I have always had a soft spot for resistance fighters and partisans. I see them as the ultimate form of DIY; ordinary people organising themselves to fight against something, using whatever means they have at their disposal. I have read several books by and about resistance groups in the 2^nd World War and their invaluable contribution to the Allied victory. These people were willing to sacrifice their lives. They often lived in terrible conditions, supplied by supportive locals, having to remain mobile to avoid detection and capture. The casualty rate was high and Nazis were known to execute 10 civilians for every soldier killed, usually taken from nearby villages or POW camps. However, this move which was intended to discourage local support for resistance groups backfired as the resistance fighters were usually from the community and shared in their deprivations and hardships so it ended up reinforcing support against the common enemy. I think it’s great that this day is specifically remembered as both the liberation of Italy from Nazi occupation and the victory of the resistance against fascism. It reminds us that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. It reminds us of the power people have when working together towards a common goal. It reminds us we are strong enough and brave enough.

How soon is now

We were lucky enough to be in Bologna for Liberation Day last year. We had not been in Italy for long and had never heard of it. In the centre of the Bologna there is a formal wreath laying at the memorial plaque, however from my perspective the action is in Via Del Pratello and the surrounding streets. We have heard great reviews of the bars here but we tend to feel a teensy bit older than their usual customers. Sadly, Al was working, but we decided to go in his break to check out what was going on.

In Via Del Pratello Liberation day events are a cross between a street party, a political rally and a DIY festival. There is very much an anarchic homemade approach to banners and flags and stalls. Representatives from all manner of political and social groups are nestled alongside food drink and general market stalls. There are also impromptu looking stages that barely rise above the pavement where many bands seemed to play a punk polka. Last year it was really busy even though the weather was not great. There was one part of the street that we could not pass at all because it was so rammed with people. That’s hard to imagine at the moment, but at the time we were forced to divert into a couple of other streets to avoid the blockage.

It was a lot of fun and we were able to find a bar (there are formal and informal bars) with a shortish queue and get drinks in plastic cups so we could drink while walking along. I have been told that Liberation Day in Via Del Pratello can get very messy, but I haven’t heard anything about problems with drunkenness and violence. We were there between 3 and 5 so it was quite chilled and only just getting started.

While we enjoyed our brief glimpse into Liberation day we felt like voyeurs, tourists snapping a local festival, which we were. We wondered what it would be like to be in Via Del Pratello for the day, meeting up with friends and being part of the community. We had hoped that this year we would be able to take a more active role in festivities as we have now lived here for over a year. Sadly, the Corona Virus restrictions mean that there aren’t going to be any events this year. It’s still a National holiday so those businesses that were open will be closed, or on reduced hours, but there won’t be bands and stalls and bars in Via Del Pratello. However, we can take the means at our disposal and celebrate at home, making sure we still remember those who sacrificed their lives to free this country and to remember our role in maintaining our vigilance and standing up to fascism whenever we can.

[1] ‘Liberation Day (Italy)’ (En.wikipedia.org, 2020) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Day_(Italy)> accessed 23 April 2020

[2] ‘Italian Resistance Movement’ (En.wikipedia.org, 2020) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_resistance_movement> accessed 23 April 2020

April 17, 2020

People called romani they go the house

If you don’t recognise the above as a quote from Monty Python’s Life of Brian, then that’s a film that you need to add to your watch list.

Learning the Lingo

When I was trying to learn other languages at school the teachers would say “what’s the past participle” or “conjugate the verb to go” or talk about the position of the “subject” and the “object” of a sentence. I didn’t know what those things were in English never mind in whatever language I was struggling to learn. Education might not have been the same everywhere but I maintain that British students of the 70’s and 80’s are more likely to recognise “Kumbaya” from the opening strums on an acoustic guitar than they are to have been taught what a participle was in English.

Grammar is useful to help you understand how the new language structure is different, but this does necessitate knowing what it is in your language first. In many ways this remains the biggest struggle I have learning Italian. I sit there and have to try to summon the Italian grammar rules. Is this a passive sentence? Am I giving my opinion? These require the use of different tenses or rules. If I am in a real life situation this is compounded because I need to answer quickly.

On top of the grammar and structural issues there is also problems of vocabulary. There are some words which look and sound similar to English words but which have completely different uses and/ or meanings. These are called “false friends”. Then there are verbs that can be translated as roughly the same meaning but are used in different ways. For example, Italians use their verb to make (fare) for things where we use to do or to go. When you want to translate some things from “do” or “go”, you need to use “make” e.g. I make food shopping, not I do the food shopping etc. You need to bear in mind these differences when answering simple questions like “What are you doing this weekend?”

I know that I just need to remember that learning a language is hard and the results are not instantaneous, but patience is not one of my virtues. I have so much more respect now for anyone who has managed to become proficient in a language that is not their mother tongue.

“He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own.”
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Teaching the lingo

On the flip side of learning a language I am teaching my language to others. This is a newly acquired skill and still involves quite a lot of learning itself. It means looking at English, a subject I had thought I knew well, from the perspective of the learner. I think my teaching is enhanced by the fact that I have current experience of the trials and tribulations of language learning. One benefit I have is that my students are nearly all Italian and they often make similar errors which I can backwards navigate to understand what the Italian structure or vocabulary is, which helps my Italian too!

I live in fear of my students asking me questions like “in what circumstances do I use the past perfect after the past continuous?”. First, I need to remember which they are (past tense of have, verb+ed) after (past tense of be, verb +ing) and then deduce the rule around when you might use that form. There is also the pretty tricky fact that we have so many exceptions. I don’t want to give an answer that covers the example I just thought of (I went jogging after I had studied) but not the situation the student was asking about.

However, this is nothing when compared to the student who said “Oh, I’ve forgotten, what’s the English order of adjectives again, it’s age, colour and material isn’t it?” I looked at her blankly. “You know the order you need to put the adjectives in, I can’t remember if it’s colour before material?” I was about to say that there wasn’t an order, but it immediately became apparent to me that there was and my mind was blown.

I have asked a number of people about this and not one mother tongue English speaker ever remembers being taught the order of adjectives, but we all use it without thinking. If I said to you leather, brown, old sofa you would understand what I was referring to. However, you would usually say old brown leather sofa. Don’t believe me? I dare you to consider anything in front of you now and let me know if you don’t use a specific order to describe all items e.g. blue suede shoes.

As a writer I have found both the learning and teaching experiences enlightening. They focus your mind on the way we use language, how and why we select certain words for particular sentences or specific uses. There are so many things about our language and the way we use it that I had never given a second thought to. Nothing makes you think twice about an expression you’re about to use like imagining how you will explain it to someone for whom English is not their first language.

So, what else is new?

Not much really. I couldn’t let you go without some gratuitous food shots, obviously. We are fine. We are both still healthy. We are getting better at cryptic crosswords, but not fast enough given that we are two pretty impatient people. We have been formally extended in lock down until 3^rd May, but our numbers are looking more positive. There were free masks being distributed in our area on Monday so Al went out on Tuesday to get some and they had all gone. It’s not that we have a specific view in the masks vs no masks debate, it’s more that these days everyone out in the shops has a mask and we are worried that when lock down restrictions are lifted they might mandate mask wearing while out and about. Amazon.it mask delivery dates were for June. Amazon UK claims 22^nd April, I’ll keep you posted.

Chargrilled and fresh vegetables on sourdough toast with mozerella

One final thought in the shape of this quote, which I found when looking for one about learning a language. This is so true and useful at this time, all language is thought shaping, especially the language you use most often.

“Change your language and you change your thoughts.”
Karl Albrecht

*feature image courtesy of: Terry Jones, Life Of Brian (1979).