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).
Once the festa ended and September 2nd drew closer, people in the town started discussing Virgilio’s birthday celebration. In the previous years, they would host a party in the piazzetta with sweets, drinks, and sometimes music. After all, he’s been the oldest person in Torre Orsina for quite a while, and is now the oldest person in all of Umbria. The town is proud of Virgilio and wanted to join in on marking his big day. The family had decided that this year Virgilio would stay home. I’m assuming this decision was made by Maria Giulia and perhaps Elda. The reasoning was twofold: this is the first years Virgilio would be celebrating his birthday without his wife, Luigina, and Virgilio no longer walks much further than the piazza. Making the walk to the piazzetta would be too much and celebrating without Luigina didn’t seem appropriate. So the town would have to be content to stop by his home to pay their respects. Family would gather at 5pm and visitors sometime afterwards.
It’s been a few days since the last blog entry, so let me cover several days as we wrap up our stay in Torre Orsina. On Wednesday we thought that we were supposed to meet Daniela at Roberta’s jewelry shop in Terni at 1pm so that the four of us could all go to lunch. Somehow this was lost in translation. When we arrived at Roberta’s shop she said that she was going home to spin on her stationary bike and that Daniela had no plans join us for lunch. She recommended a couple restaurants, both of which were closed for lunch, so we went with her 3rd choice – a small sandwich shop. After a cheese-laden lunch we rode the bus back home for our naps.
While walking around Terni we came upon several vending machines along the road. As we’ve seen before, they always offer an unusual assortment of items for sale. Guess which item is NOT for sale in this vending machine? (No, not this Lavazza coffee machine. The once next to it.)
Four years ago we went to dinner at a beautiful restaurant called Osteria dello Sportello which is perched atop the ancient town of Casteldilago – just across the valley and in view of our rental. We went with Elda, Daniela, and Roberta. The meal was simple and delicious with everything made in house. Then, 3 years ago, we returned with the same group only to be told that they were sold out for that evening, forcing us to find a suitable alternative. This year we were sure to make reservations and were not disappointed.
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