As my first post of the New Year, I should, perhaps, be wishing all my readers a very Happy New Year.
And, for those of you in the UK, suffering the very low temperatures, I should say that, although our temperatures are around freezing, we have had snow. And snow like I never saw in the UK.
After a slightly heavy post yesterday I thought it was time to lighten up a bit and also post something about one of the differences between here and there.
I was struck by this, taking Rufus and Dino out for walk yesterday, late afternoon.
There was a smartly dressed couple, obviously on their way to friends or relations for dinner or a party or something. Here it is Santo Stefano day and, similar to the UK, a public holiday except that they do not start their sales (that has a date set by the government sometime later in January) and nearly all the shops are shut (except for the Chinese ones around Paolo Sarpi, much to N&S’s delight).
Anyway, this couple were each carrying, like a tray, a beautifully wrapped parcel, with ribbons, etc. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it was a present. But I do know better, and they weren’t presents at all.
They would, in fact, be one of two things. Either a tray of hand-made chocolates or a tray of small cakes. We have the gelateria just below us who sell less ice-cream at this time of year (although they still sell some, which amazes me every time I see it) and, so, have gone into the business of turning half their shop into a hand-made chocolate shop, which they make on the premises. Imagine, if you will, Thornton’s (if they still exist in the UK) but these shops are, generally, not a chain and the one below us certainly isn’t.
We went to a party on Christmas Eve (it started at 10 p.m) and when I asked what to bring, I was told some sweets. So I duly went to the gelateria below and chose my tray of chocolates, selecting eight of each type which she carefully arranged in rows on the tray.
Now, cast your mind back to “Love Actually” and, in particular to the scene in Selfridges or wherever with Rowan Atkinson where Alan Rickman is trying to buy a gift for the girl in the office whilst his wife is in the same store and, having selected the gift, wants to just pay for it, whilst RA spends the next 20 minutes gift wrapping it.
That’s, more or less, how it is here. I spent 10 minutes selecting the chocolates and the girl then spent at least 10 minutes gift wrapping it, even putting a small Christmas tree decoration to add the festive touch. They also do that for nearly anything (pens, scarves, etc., etc.), at any time of year, if you tell them that it will be a gift (regalo).
It is one of the nicest touches here but don’t be in a great rush when you are shopping for gifts (or chocolates or small cakes) as it can make the whole process twice as long.
But the finished product, when you hand it over to your host really is so much nicer and so much better than a bag of sweets or a box or whatever as they are always so beautifully done.
If you come to Italy, you should, at some point, buy something and tell them it is for a gift just to get the nice packaging. And be prepared to wait. It’s worth it.
I don’t know whether I’ve mentioned it before but our canteen at work is pretty good. And it only costs me 7 cents for a starter and main course. And we get freshly-made pizzas on Friday as long as you order them on Thursday.
I have mentioned it previously but it has been raining quite a lot recently. Not all day, every day but it certainly feels like it. However, it has rained heavily and for very prolonged periods (yesterday it seems that it started about 9 a.m. And finished some time after I went to bed).
On Friday, I went into the smoking room to get warm and have a cigarette. Later, just before lunch, I went in again – the heater had gone and the chairs had been rearranged now that there was vacant space! The heat already in the room from the heater kept the room above freezing for the rest of the day, so better than nothing. Several people have said that, in the New Year we shan’t be able to smoke inside the buildings any more. It will be quite funny to see the MD outside lighting up! We shall see. On the plus side, at least it won’t get so cold in my office as she won’t have the window wide open in hers whilst having a cigarette. So there are advantages to everything, I suppose.
Last night was a fancy dress party. It was held in a friend-of-a-friend’s shop in an area of Milan that, they say, is up-and-coming. She sells designer clothes from lesser-known designers from all over the world.
I absolutely HATE fancy dress parties. I never have a clue as to what to go as and am always genuinely shocked at other people’s ingeniousness and how something so simple can look so good.
As we had less than 2 days notice and it was Friday night (so no time to try and do something special on Saturday), V came up with the idea of going as 70s people. My era. Sadly, we had all the necessary items in our wardrobes including, for me, a pair of real platform shoes that I had worn only once before. They had brought them in as new items in the 80s in Schuh, in Birmingham, hoping for some sort of revival, I guess. Well, it never took off but I kept them as I loved them. Boy, they looked good last night but how my calves suffered! Anyway, it was a cool party and we got back about half one in the morning.
Finally, I had written a long post about the jury’s verdict on the de Menezes case but feel it was far better covered over at Stef’s site. If I lived in the UK now I would be very, very afraid. What kind of future is there when you cannot trust the police to be truthful and themselves uphold the law against murder?
Oh, yes, and it hasn’t stopped bloody raining for days!
We arrive about 1 p.m. The place is heaving with people. Italians, not renowned, in my view, for moving to one side, bump and jostle with each other to get to the stalls, get to the next aisle, get to a place for food.
This morning, taking the dogs out, it was snowing. It was thick but wet. In less than two hours it had already started to melt although still snowing heavily. And with the combination of the wetness of the snow and the melting it became transparent snow – like looking through a bathroom window – you could see the tarmac, black, underneath the snow which was heavily pregnant with the water – a translucent look.
I won! Since this happens rarely and certainly if V is playing (since he nearly always wins) it was quite something. It was a match arranged by V with some colleagues since one of them, L, was convinced he could take V on and beat him.
But I did like the ‘new’ way of making deals. L started it with the deal he gave to M, letting him complete the ‘dark-blue’ set on condition that he wouldn’t have to pay rent if he landed on them. Then I made a deal with him in a similar vein but also collecting 25% of any profit that he made during the game.
>However, my coup-de-grace was letting V have the final green one in place of a complete one and a half sides of the board! I knew that he wanted the greens so much that he would give anything to get the set.
And it snowed Sunday night, even in the centre of Milan. And it’s been very cold since then. I just HAVE to get another job because they don’t keep the offices warm enough for me. The forecast is for snow and rain from now until next weekend! Enough already! Roll on spring.
In other news: I think my feet have put on weight. It seems to be getting harder to get my socks on.
Also, I found this morning, yesterday someone at work found my blog. I was a bit concerned for a while but then I thought it must be Pietro. Luckily, perhaps, it was. However, whilst I was looking at all the sites they had visited, it did scare me for a while. Anyway, now that he has found it perhaps I should include his blog on my links on the side? Nice to see you Pietro!
The last two mornings, when taking the dogs out first thing, it is cold. The baseball cap that I have been using will have to be replaced with a ski hat – tomorrow. My walking boots became the norm for dog walking about 2 weeks ago but that was for the rain as much as anything else.
As we’re driving to work this morning, we go for a short while on the motorway that leads from Milan to the Lakes (and Switzerland). The day was bright and sunny and the mountains, in the distance, ahead of us, were snow covered. It is beautiful but I much prefer the heat of summer.
I will have to get out all my nice, thick, warm jumpers this weekend. And gloves. And coats. Brrrr.
V brought back some strong cheddar cheese from when he went back to the UK recently.
We already had celery in the fridge and, the other night, we had cheese and celery and a nice glass of Nero D’Avola. I had forgotten how good cheddar cheese was.
Next week I am back in Wolverhampton for a couple of days. Unfortunately, with three colleagues, so I won’t be able to visit S nor go and see V’s family (although, on that front, everything is not too bad).
However, I will be able to buy some cheese, and bacon, and sausages and, maybe some other stuff, so there is a bright side. My colleagues have a list of stuff that they want to buy. Maybe I can encourage them to go to Primark too!
V has some sort of internal interview early next week. We don’t know what for, exactly but we are hopeful. Apparently, there were jobs that V has been put up for (secretly, of course, Siamo in Italia) but the language was considered a barrier.
Nothing further on my job front but one can always keep one eye open, just in case. Although, it seems, the only way to make some real money is run the business yourself and I consider that a tad difficult in this Bel Paese.