Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Who can spot the American?
Yesterday I had some free time and decided to take a 'field trip' to the large grocery store that my friend Jordan had shown me. It took me a few tries to find the correct cobblestone street that it was on, amongst the winding roads, but once I found it, I was excited to take my time, cruising the aisles, taking in the various products, and getting more acquainted with Italian grocery stores. Jordan had told me that she likes to go between 1:30-3, since that tends to be the time it is least crowded, as everyone is at lunch, vs out doing errands. I entered the store and thought, "wow, she was right, the store is dead, and I can really navigate it w/ ease with the stroller, and just have a relaxing time. Great!" So, I began my shopping experience in the produce department, learning how to shop for fruits and veggies. Basically, you select your items...say, apples, than you take them over to a scale, that has a board w/ buttons that each have a picture an item on them (apple, banana etc), you hit the button that corresponds with what you are weighing, so the 'apple' for my example, and then a sticker w/ the price and barcode is spit out. This saves the cashier from having to weigh your produce at check out. So, I gained my confidence in that department,then moved from aisle to aisle, checking out the different items that you just don't find in the US, and the missing items, that I just can't find here in Italy. Some of the observances:
1-Eggs are not refridgerated. They are just sitting on the shelves, just like cereal.
2-Speaking of cereal, it's expensive,and it comes in small boxes (kind of like the size of the grapenuts cereal box). I also thought I was buying the same Honey Nut Cheerios that I get at home, but it seems that General Mills must have licensed their branding to Nestles, because although the Nestle's HN Cheerios box looks just like the General Mills one, complete with the same little honeybee, the cereal itself isn't the same, and I miss the flavor of the General Mills ones.
3-Milk just comes in small size plastic bottles. I've yet to see a gallon of milk anywhere, even at the larger grocery chains.
4-A lot of the yogurt brands come in glass jars, kind of like baby food.
5-The tiniest jar of peanut butter is 6+ Euro
6-It's hard to find baking ingredients such as baking soda,baking powder, brown sugar, chocolate chips etc. Most grocery stores, if they carry baking powder/soda at all, the 2 ingredients are combined in little envelopes, so not sure how you would convert those to try to bake a new recipe? Also, brown sugar has big sugar granules..almost looks like the raw sugar you get at Starbucks, or like light brown Kosher salt. A friend did find some 'normal' containers of baking powder/soda and Dunkin Heinz cake mixes at the Lindt specialty chocolate store, but otherwise, I think the best bet, is to stock up on those items during a future trip back to the US.
7-Speaking of Starbucks, I heard today from several of the girls at coffee this morning (1 who is married to a Neopolitan, and 2 who are dating Neopolitans), that there is a law (not sure if it is a written law, or an unwritten rule) against Starbucks here, and that it's not allowed in Italy. Another one of the girls said that probably explains why her Starbucks coffee beans that she bought while in Edinborogh last weekend were confiscated at the Italian airport.
Anyhow, I kind of digressed from my story...so, I was walking the aisles, taking my time to take it all in, loving how deserted the store was, and enjoying my 'field trip'. I kept hearing announcements on the loudspeaker,but was basically ignoring them,since I couldn't understand anyways. After a few minutes of announcements, and another aisle covered, a store clerk approached me. I couldn't understand her at first, but then realized that she was telling me they are closed. I was the only one in the store, and I didn't even have any intention of buying anything. This was just my field trip. It was so funny! As she directed me to the exit, and as I rode the moving ramp to the door (like a flat escalator that they use at all the malls and big stores), I looked down to see the cashiers all counting out their drawers to cash out, and all the aisles totally empty! I wonder how long they were trying to tell me to get out of there via the loud speaker, since literally, I was the only one in there! The manager was at the door with the keys, and she locked the door the second Evan and I exited. Oops...my vocab for the day "we are closing..get out!" ha
I laughed at myself, and decided to stop and treat myself to a hot chocolate(literally a cup of melted chocolate) at Gambrinos on my way home. Gambrino's is a famous cafe here..still don't know what it is famous for. I got in the cafe, and I decided I'd also get some Tirimisu, to try their version of it. I looked in the bakery case, didn't see it, and so then I opened up the refriderated case and was going through the items in there, to see what the desserts were, and if there was a tirimisu or something else that looked good. The security guy whipped over there so quickly, snapped the door shut, and slapped a lock on it. Apparently, going into the case yourself is a big 'no-no'. Oopsy, this Americana still has a lot to learn to blend in w/ the locals, but when it comes to sweets, I tend to just go for it! ha
1-Eggs are not refridgerated. They are just sitting on the shelves, just like cereal.
2-Speaking of cereal, it's expensive,and it comes in small boxes (kind of like the size of the grapenuts cereal box). I also thought I was buying the same Honey Nut Cheerios that I get at home, but it seems that General Mills must have licensed their branding to Nestles, because although the Nestle's HN Cheerios box looks just like the General Mills one, complete with the same little honeybee, the cereal itself isn't the same, and I miss the flavor of the General Mills ones.
3-Milk just comes in small size plastic bottles. I've yet to see a gallon of milk anywhere, even at the larger grocery chains.
4-A lot of the yogurt brands come in glass jars, kind of like baby food.
5-The tiniest jar of peanut butter is 6+ Euro
6-It's hard to find baking ingredients such as baking soda,baking powder, brown sugar, chocolate chips etc. Most grocery stores, if they carry baking powder/soda at all, the 2 ingredients are combined in little envelopes, so not sure how you would convert those to try to bake a new recipe? Also, brown sugar has big sugar granules..almost looks like the raw sugar you get at Starbucks, or like light brown Kosher salt. A friend did find some 'normal' containers of baking powder/soda and Dunkin Heinz cake mixes at the Lindt specialty chocolate store, but otherwise, I think the best bet, is to stock up on those items during a future trip back to the US.
7-Speaking of Starbucks, I heard today from several of the girls at coffee this morning (1 who is married to a Neopolitan, and 2 who are dating Neopolitans), that there is a law (not sure if it is a written law, or an unwritten rule) against Starbucks here, and that it's not allowed in Italy. Another one of the girls said that probably explains why her Starbucks coffee beans that she bought while in Edinborogh last weekend were confiscated at the Italian airport.
Anyhow, I kind of digressed from my story...so, I was walking the aisles, taking my time to take it all in, loving how deserted the store was, and enjoying my 'field trip'. I kept hearing announcements on the loudspeaker,but was basically ignoring them,since I couldn't understand anyways. After a few minutes of announcements, and another aisle covered, a store clerk approached me. I couldn't understand her at first, but then realized that she was telling me they are closed. I was the only one in the store, and I didn't even have any intention of buying anything. This was just my field trip. It was so funny! As she directed me to the exit, and as I rode the moving ramp to the door (like a flat escalator that they use at all the malls and big stores), I looked down to see the cashiers all counting out their drawers to cash out, and all the aisles totally empty! I wonder how long they were trying to tell me to get out of there via the loud speaker, since literally, I was the only one in there! The manager was at the door with the keys, and she locked the door the second Evan and I exited. Oops...my vocab for the day "we are closing..get out!" ha
I laughed at myself, and decided to stop and treat myself to a hot chocolate(literally a cup of melted chocolate) at Gambrinos on my way home. Gambrino's is a famous cafe here..still don't know what it is famous for. I got in the cafe, and I decided I'd also get some Tirimisu, to try their version of it. I looked in the bakery case, didn't see it, and so then I opened up the refriderated case and was going through the items in there, to see what the desserts were, and if there was a tirimisu or something else that looked good. The security guy whipped over there so quickly, snapped the door shut, and slapped a lock on it. Apparently, going into the case yourself is a big 'no-no'. Oopsy, this Americana still has a lot to learn to blend in w/ the locals, but when it comes to sweets, I tend to just go for it! ha
Wax on Wax off
I finally found a salon today to wax these catepillars off my face---my eyebrows had grown out of control, and w/o knowing the language, it's taken longer than expected to find a salon capable to handle a job this size!ha I was introduced to the salon owner by 2 friends of mine, who have had luck there w/ their haircuts, leg waxing etc. Thankfully, my friend Alexis has a Neopolitan boyfriend, so she's become fluent in Italian, and could take care of not only the introduction to the salon owner, but also communication of my waxing needs and cost negotiation. If you don't get a price up front, you're likely to be charged a lot more after the fact, so upfront price negotiations are always necessary. So, we stopped by the salon, and Christina, the aestetician said she could take me in 5 minutes and would charge 4 Euro to wax my brows. Wow..what a bargain, considering I pay $18 at InSpa in Seattle. Evan got all sorts of attention as I waited for my appointment, and once ready for me, Christina took me in the back room. The salon assistant, Angela, brought me espresso, as I waited for Christina to get the wax ready. While I waited they asked me if I wanted my hair shampooed, which I didn't, but the inquiry did make me a bit self conscious as I wondered.."what, does my hair look super greasy or something?...I mean, I know I didn't wash it today, but I didn't think it looked that bad"....ha So, without a shampoo, I just waited in the chair for my brow wax. Christina came back with the hot wax and a metal knife (sort of looked like one of those double-rounded knives that you frost cakes with),and I started to get nervous...I mean, heat and metal and sensitive eye area skin spell 'burn' to me, but I kept my cool to see what would happen. Christina first tested the wax on her hand, and deduced it was too hot. She waited a minute, dipped the metal knife in the wax, blew on it, and then headed towards my brow with it. All I could think of was being branded w/ a red hot poker! I totally screamed when she touched it to my skin! ha..just kidding, no I didn't, it actually didn't hurt at all, BUT the fear that it was going to hurt, did up my adrenaline for a second! Since noone in the salon spoke any English, and since my friends had left after negotiating the price for me, I couldn't totally describe how I wanted my brows, but at least they are cleaned up, and I don't have burn marks to remember the experience by...just coiffed brows, and a new salon to call my own:)
Now, for those of you following my bloomers saga, I tried to pick up my laundry yesterday, but due to January 6th being a big Italian holiday, the day the witch (or something like that) of Christmas delivers gifts and chocolate coal to kids (because all kids are bad at least once in the year), I couldn't get my laundry because it was closed. So, I left the hotel this morning at 8:30 to meet up w/ 6 girls for coffee, passed the lavandaria, and my poor undies were still outside on the rack. I think that because it rainded on them the other day, Nina, the laundress, must have had to rewash them, and then rehang them today. After a great day w/ the girls, I stopped in the Lavandaria on my way home. Since my clothes were still on the rack, she gave me 1/2 my clothes today and told me to come back tomorrow for the rest. The damage? 75 Euro, because we had 3 washloads full of clothes. Wow...almost 100 bucks, and again, my clothes were not even getting the electric dryer treatment!
I've learned a lot about laundry since being in Italy. In Naples, you are not allowed to vent your dryer, so most people don't even bother buying a dryer, and for those who do, it takes about 2 hours to dry your clothes, and that's putting just a few articles of clothing in at a time. Most of the expat women I have met, have dryers, but they usually just use their drying racks, since the dryers just aren't worth the effort. This dryer issue explains why as you drive through Naples you see clothes hanging off all the balconies. Rain or shine, they are out there. When it rains, rather than pulling their clothes off the line, people just drape tarps over them.
The water is also very 'hard' here. It's so full of minerals, that you have to buy special capsules of water softener to add to each cycle in your washing machine and dishwasher, otherwise, the minerals will build up and quickly freeze up your machine so that one day it will just stop working. I also notice the 'hardness' of the water in my hair. It seems to be pretty drying! And the clothes, forget it, they come out like cardboard...even when you are paying 75 euro to have them done. A lot of people iron all their clothes, underwear, jeans, sheets etc, because the heat from ironing helps to soften them up. I get poor Evan's baby clothes back from the Lavandaria and they are so scratchy and brittle! I thought for sure his sensitive baby skin would react to the roughness and the super heavy perfumed detergents, but so far, he seems to not notice..at least he doesn't 'complain' about it or seem uncomfortable. I rememmber one of my college roommates whose mom is from Italy, used to tell us how her mom would iron all of the families underwear, sheets, and how my friend used to get kind of annoyed that her mom would iron her jeans, because she would never like the crease her mom would iron into them. I used to think, wow..her Mom is little miss homemaker/martha stewart, but now I realize it was likely just a cultural thing and she was used to always ironing in Italy. Seems like a ton of extra work to me!
Now, for those of you following my bloomers saga, I tried to pick up my laundry yesterday, but due to January 6th being a big Italian holiday, the day the witch (or something like that) of Christmas delivers gifts and chocolate coal to kids (because all kids are bad at least once in the year), I couldn't get my laundry because it was closed. So, I left the hotel this morning at 8:30 to meet up w/ 6 girls for coffee, passed the lavandaria, and my poor undies were still outside on the rack. I think that because it rainded on them the other day, Nina, the laundress, must have had to rewash them, and then rehang them today. After a great day w/ the girls, I stopped in the Lavandaria on my way home. Since my clothes were still on the rack, she gave me 1/2 my clothes today and told me to come back tomorrow for the rest. The damage? 75 Euro, because we had 3 washloads full of clothes. Wow...almost 100 bucks, and again, my clothes were not even getting the electric dryer treatment!
I've learned a lot about laundry since being in Italy. In Naples, you are not allowed to vent your dryer, so most people don't even bother buying a dryer, and for those who do, it takes about 2 hours to dry your clothes, and that's putting just a few articles of clothing in at a time. Most of the expat women I have met, have dryers, but they usually just use their drying racks, since the dryers just aren't worth the effort. This dryer issue explains why as you drive through Naples you see clothes hanging off all the balconies. Rain or shine, they are out there. When it rains, rather than pulling their clothes off the line, people just drape tarps over them.
The water is also very 'hard' here. It's so full of minerals, that you have to buy special capsules of water softener to add to each cycle in your washing machine and dishwasher, otherwise, the minerals will build up and quickly freeze up your machine so that one day it will just stop working. I also notice the 'hardness' of the water in my hair. It seems to be pretty drying! And the clothes, forget it, they come out like cardboard...even when you are paying 75 euro to have them done. A lot of people iron all their clothes, underwear, jeans, sheets etc, because the heat from ironing helps to soften them up. I get poor Evan's baby clothes back from the Lavandaria and they are so scratchy and brittle! I thought for sure his sensitive baby skin would react to the roughness and the super heavy perfumed detergents, but so far, he seems to not notice..at least he doesn't 'complain' about it or seem uncomfortable. I rememmber one of my college roommates whose mom is from Italy, used to tell us how her mom would iron all of the families underwear, sheets, and how my friend used to get kind of annoyed that her mom would iron her jeans, because she would never like the crease her mom would iron into them. I used to think, wow..her Mom is little miss homemaker/martha stewart, but now I realize it was likely just a cultural thing and she was used to always ironing in Italy. Seems like a ton of extra work to me!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sunday in Sorrento
The sun was shining, and we were ready for a day trip, so we packed up Evan and headed the 20 miles south of Naples to Sorrento. Because there is really just one main way in and out of Sorrento, the 20 mile drive took us about 2hr 45 minutes. Thankfully, there is some gorgeous scenery along the drive (once you hit the coast), and I had also packed some 'scooby snacks' to help maintain my blood sugar, although a bit of crankiness did come out during the drive, when I was ready to throw in the towel on the gridlock traffic we were encountering. Thankfully, Josh kept me rational..mainly by laughing at me, and we made it to Sorrento, in time to feed Evan, and go on the hunt for our own lunch. In Italy, stores and restaurants close up shop mid afternoon for a few hours for their siesta time, and as luck would have it, we arrived in Sorrento hungry, and just as the restaurants were pulling down their metal grates/doors, inviting us back in a few hours for dinner. We wandered the narrow, cobblestone streets, and finally found a tavern that was still open. We sat down with our mouths watering as we looked over the menu. When the waiter came to take our order, it took us about 5 tries to find an entree (actually a primi and secondi) that were still available...as food is made fresh, so by the time we had shown up for lunch, most of the lunch items were sold out and no longer available (such as the lasagne, minestrone, spaghetti a bolognese etc..that we had initially attempted to order). We both ended up ordering veal marsala, plus Josh got a primi of this delicious pasta dish w/ sausage and a white cream sauce. It was so good..one of the best meals we've had here. After lunch, we casually roamed the streets, just taking in the pretty street decorations, taste testing the fresh limoncello which came in many varieties (regular, creamed, chocolate, cafe etc..we bought the chocolate one), indulging in, or course, gelato, and pondering if Sorrento may be a town we want to consider living in. We had a great time, and Sorrento will definitely be a place we will take guests to during visits..either for a fun day trip, or maybe even for a night or two, as it is such a pretty town, with so much to offer.
We are trying to figure out how feasible the weekday commute would be for Josh from Sorrento to his office, and if it's doable, we plan to contact our realtor to add Sorrento to our list of targeted towns to live in. Will keep you posted on our housing search, as we expect to see more places early next week, once landlords are back from extended xmas holidays.
A Beautiful Day for my Bloomers!
Today, during my typical walk w/ Evan, I found out what our 50 euro/~75 dollars gets us at the Lavandaria (laundry place)..it gets my bloomers a free ride on the drying rack, right outside on the sidewalk! Yup, walking along Via San Lucia by my hotel, I started laughing out loud when I realized that the clothes on the rack in front of our lavandaria, were ours! Blowing in the wind, my undies, for all to see:) It was hysterical! I stopped only to document this with a picture, and then continued on my walk, calling Josh on the way to provide him with some comic relief!
I walked for about an hour and a half, down my street past the taxi driver strike that was blocking off our entire 4 lane road, through Piazza Plebiscito, and up Via Toledo, a long street dotted on both sides w/ tons of clothing stores, bars, jewelry stores etc. It is also lined with street vendors selling knock off purses, wallets etc. They pack up every once in a while with a quick sweep up of all of their merchandise into the huge tarp the goods are laid out on, to avoid a reprimand from the police. I didn't find a new purse, although I am in search of one that can be both stylish, and practical--hopefully large enough to carry some diaper change contents. I did, however, find a 'jungle gym' for Evan--one of those arches that will hang over him while he lays on the ground, allowing him to swat at the dangling toys. I balanced the huge toy box on top of our new stroller (cheaply made but not a cheap price..I still need to learn how to properly negotiate prices here),and started on the path home. I passed the lavandaria again...my bloomers were now not only blowing in the wind, but hanging in the rain..along w/ Josh's clothes, some of my sweaters, and Evan's clothes and bed sheet. Hmmm...I hope the mopeds cruising by aren't splashing dirty rain water up on our 'clean' clothes..I mean, that Lavandaria is not cheap! Across the street from our lavandaria, is the supermercati, so I popped in there to grab some milk, a hunk of parmesan, some fresh bread, and a 4 pack of diet coke...sodas are all sold in 4 packs instead of 6 packs. I'm not sure why, but one guess would be because the fridges are so much smaller here. So, I got those 4 items, coming to about 10 euro, and made it home just in time for Evan to let me know he was hungry. I fed him, set up his jungle gym, skyped with family, and now while the little guy takes a nap ( I rocked him to sleep by pushing the stroller back and forth in the bathroom w/ the shower running--sometimes desperate measures are needed:), and am taking the time to update this blog. I'm hoping Josh will be home no later than 8pm, so that we can grab dinner at one of our local favorite spots, and then call it a night.
Buon Anno
Happy New Year Everyone!
Naples did its part to live up to its reputation as having the biggest New Year's Celebration in all of Italy, and Josh, Evan and I hunkered down with a huge hunk of parmesan, several varieties of salami, vino, champagne,milk (for Evan:)) in our hotel room to take in all of the sights (and sounds) from the comfort, and safety, of our room.
The fireworks, or should I say explosives, started going off early in the afternoon. Since huge fireworks are sold to anyone at the supermercatis, it was no surprise, that as we walked down the streets on New Years Eve Day, that firecrackers and fireworks were going off all around us. Some of these impromptu displays in the streets, could have been considered grand finales in some of the town's back in the US...they were amazing! I'm sure I made several people laugh as they dropped fireworks out of windows, and I did some of the 'oh my God, you just scared the heck out me' dances while trying to catch my breath. I should have joined some of the many dogs who were cowering with fear and shaking in the streets. You couldn't help but feel sorry for them, and wonder what the heck the dogs thought was going on?
Besides fireworks, Naples is known for the tradition of households throwing everything old out of their windows..from dishes to furniture, to go with the belief, 'out with the old, in with the new'. It sounded like it might be dangerous to be walking around on the sidewalks...wouldn't want to get beaned off the head w/ anything, so that is why we decided to stay at the hotel. In the evening hours as the countdown to midnight came upon us, impressive fireworks were closing in on us. Last year, we had watched the 4th of July fireworks from a friend's house on Lake Union in Seattle, and we were the closest we had ever been to the barge..making that show incredible to watch, as the fireworks exploded right over our heads. Well, this year, in Naples, we felt like we were ON the barge! We could see huge fireworks show from every angle...and the volume of the 'booms', sounded like concussion grenades. Josh and I took turns out on our balcony, because one of us had to be inside the room to listen for Evan in case he woke up (surprisingly he didn't...that boy can sleep through anything!)
After having seen so many amazing fireworks, we couldn't believe that they got even louder and bigger at Midnight! It sounded like were were in a bombing zone! Not many people were driving in the streets, but the 2 cars I saw go down the street behind our hotel, ended up w/ fireworks being aimed at them, and then I saw 2 mopeds go by, and the guys came together and high fived as they maneuvered the street, and swirved to avoid fireworks coming at them. Pretty daring if you ask me!
Anyways, we survived, loved the excitement of it all, enjoyed our hunk of cheese, and doubt that we'll ever see as much of a fireworks show as we saw here on New Years!
Naples did its part to live up to its reputation as having the biggest New Year's Celebration in all of Italy, and Josh, Evan and I hunkered down with a huge hunk of parmesan, several varieties of salami, vino, champagne,milk (for Evan:)) in our hotel room to take in all of the sights (and sounds) from the comfort, and safety, of our room.
The fireworks, or should I say explosives, started going off early in the afternoon. Since huge fireworks are sold to anyone at the supermercatis, it was no surprise, that as we walked down the streets on New Years Eve Day, that firecrackers and fireworks were going off all around us. Some of these impromptu displays in the streets, could have been considered grand finales in some of the town's back in the US...they were amazing! I'm sure I made several people laugh as they dropped fireworks out of windows, and I did some of the 'oh my God, you just scared the heck out me' dances while trying to catch my breath. I should have joined some of the many dogs who were cowering with fear and shaking in the streets. You couldn't help but feel sorry for them, and wonder what the heck the dogs thought was going on?
Besides fireworks, Naples is known for the tradition of households throwing everything old out of their windows..from dishes to furniture, to go with the belief, 'out with the old, in with the new'. It sounded like it might be dangerous to be walking around on the sidewalks...wouldn't want to get beaned off the head w/ anything, so that is why we decided to stay at the hotel. In the evening hours as the countdown to midnight came upon us, impressive fireworks were closing in on us. Last year, we had watched the 4th of July fireworks from a friend's house on Lake Union in Seattle, and we were the closest we had ever been to the barge..making that show incredible to watch, as the fireworks exploded right over our heads. Well, this year, in Naples, we felt like we were ON the barge! We could see huge fireworks show from every angle...and the volume of the 'booms', sounded like concussion grenades. Josh and I took turns out on our balcony, because one of us had to be inside the room to listen for Evan in case he woke up (surprisingly he didn't...that boy can sleep through anything!)
After having seen so many amazing fireworks, we couldn't believe that they got even louder and bigger at Midnight! It sounded like were were in a bombing zone! Not many people were driving in the streets, but the 2 cars I saw go down the street behind our hotel, ended up w/ fireworks being aimed at them, and then I saw 2 mopeds go by, and the guys came together and high fived as they maneuvered the street, and swirved to avoid fireworks coming at them. Pretty daring if you ask me!
Anyways, we survived, loved the excitement of it all, enjoyed our hunk of cheese, and doubt that we'll ever see as much of a fireworks show as we saw here on New Years!
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