After weeks of above average temperatures here in Italy, autumn has arrived, and with it, the temperatures have dropped. The mercury dipped from the mid 80’s, past the 70’s, and into the 60’s seemingly overnight. This makes walking around the town much more comfortable and gives us the chance to put away our summer clothing and bring out the fall outfits along with our scarves – that very Italian accessory to protect you from “the evil winds”.
It’s Monday. After a relaxing weekend spent mostly indoors, we decided to get our butts out of the apartment early today. “Early” means sometime before noon. We did well. With shopping bags in hand we headed to Piazza dei Frutti just after 10am. Our goals were modest: pickup some tasty cheeses and bread to make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and then pick up ingredients for linguine alla puttanesca for dinner. The seafood vendor always has fresh anchovies filleted on his marble table for sale, and I wanted to try these when making a sauce with fresh tomatoes. Alas, not realizing that it was the day after Sunday, the seafood vendor was closed. Since the fishermen are off Sundays, there’s no fresh catch to sell today. I’ll have to put off making puttanesca until later this week, but I’ll pick up the Gaeta olives and capers today.
Let’s face it; we’re in Italy to eat. Staying in hotels or traveling the country on a tour bus doesn’t allow you to buy local fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, etc. to prepare in your own kitchen. That’s why it’s so great having an apartment. Every time we go to the markets I see things that I want to buy (and eat). “I wonder what that salami tastes like?” “Look, 7 varieties of prosciutto!” “There are 4 types of fresh ricotta: cow’s milk, buffalo’s milk, sheep’s milk, and goat’s milk.” “That yellow pepper is the size of my head!” “Which saddle of veal looks best today?” “What on earth are all these varieties of bread used for?” “I wonder how many pastries I can eat this evening?” And then there’s gelato, but we’ll save that for another blog.
Ever since I watched Miss Italia 2014 I was hooked. You might think it’s the parade of sexy young girls in swimsuits and evening gowns that are the draw. You’d only be part right. As I blogged about back in October 2014, the Italian version of our Miss America pageant is a brutal bloodbath if there ever was one. This year we’ve seen ads promoting the event on TV for weeks in advance, so there was no way I was going to miss it. Miss Italia is broadcast in two parts. The first aired on Sunday night and was pre-recorded. This was the semi-finals. The finals aired Monday night and was live. Here’s the blow by blow.
We can’t watch Italian news and game shows all the time, so we usually tune into one of the many music stations. Our favorite is RTL 102.5. We’ve listened to them in 2011, 2014, and 2015 during our stays. This past year “I created a mix tape”, or as the kids would say these days “I curated a playlist”, of the popular RTL 102.5 music videos we remember watching. It wasn’t easy trying to remember all those songs, so this time I have a notepad and pen handy to jot down songs to download once I get home. Below are a few of the Italian music videos. A lot of the videos RTL 102.5 plays are English, but these are just the Italian ones.
In addition to the Italian TV game shows and cooking shows, there are the occasional commercials that raise an eyebrow. Here are two of them.
On Thursday we decided to make our first excursion outside of Padova. We chose Vicenza. We’d been there 12 years ago during a business trip to Aviano. If you ever see Cinzia wearing her gold hoop earrings, ask here where she bought them and she’ll tell you Vicenza. Also, if you ask her where she first tasted truffles, you’ll get the same answer. Vicenza is a short train ride from Padova – only 3 stops away and the trip is under 30 minutes.
Palazzo della Ragione is the enormous rectangular medieval town hall that dominates the center of Padova. Built in 1218, this structure’s upper floor, with its great frescoed hall, is now a museum. The lower level houses dozens of grocers, butchers, bakers, florists, cheese shops, and a fish market. The palazzo has two interior halls with shops on either side as well as more stalls along the exterior of the building. The building is flanked by Piazza delle Erbe (square of herbs) on one side, and Piazza dei Frutti (square of fruits) on the other. These enormous twin piazze are home to open-air markets every day of the week. Vendors set up their stalls, all covered by umbrellas or tarps to shield their fruits and vegetables, as well as their customers, from the sun.
We’ve spent our first full week in Padova and have lots to tell – from our departure from Torre Orsina to our visit with friends from Germany and all of the meals and sites in between. Padua is a compact city, with narrow twisting streets lined here and there with shady porticos which offer temporary relief from the midday sun. Memorizing the map of the city isn’t easy, but that’s why I brought a Cinzia with me. They’re ever so handy, especially where navigation is concerned. We’ve just finished a lunch in our apartment which consisted of a perfectly ripe melon, similar to cantaloupe, with thin slices of tasty cured meats purchased from the bottega around the corner. The grumpy fellow that mans the deli counter, and occasionally the produce section, is starting to warm up to me after seeing me in there four times in just a week. Having been fed, I can spend the afternoon banging away on my keyboard while the rest of the city lays down for a little pisolino (nap).
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