My Life in Italy, Part 7: “The Roof is On Fire”
Part 7 in my story, chronicling my 37 journey of living with one foot in the United States and the other in Italy. This chapter covers a dark period in my fife, when I had just returned from my first trip to Italy in 1983.
Starbucks digs its claws into Italy, and why that saddens me.
With its massive global expansion, Starbucks has always left Italy alone. After all, how do you open a store in the country you copied your model from?
Olive Garden cooking school in Tuscany?
Updated 02/2014 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,...
Food Marketing Terms That Really Chap My Hide…
Many of my posts here are about the oddities I find living in Italy as an American, but the reverse holds true as well. Having spent so much time in Italy, when I come back to the states, there are things that are normal to...
How (NOT) To Implement a Recycling Policy in Your Town
I’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,...
Welcome To Italy… There’s a Tax For That
I 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...
Man Dies: Caught Cold in Stomach
Traveling 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...
Italian… So lost in translation
“My daughter speaks perfect English. After all, she spent a month in England with a native family”. That was the quote that caused me to simply give up, and it speaks volumes about Italian culture and the denial so many of them...
A little more Olive Gardening Laughter…
Face 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...
Finding Italy through London Fog this XMas
On Tuesday, December 19th at around 4:30 PM we sat at the departure gate in Los Angeles waiting to board our flight. It had already been a very long day for us, and we were looking forward to a 10 hour flight to London with...