Strade Curiose domenica 29th maggio 2011

Strada curiose Strange roads

Beautiful day today - summer is here, it gets up to about 28C every day and I've just done a nice ride on the wheels of steel - 42 miles through the hills of chianti, through Castellina in Chianti and Radda in Chianti. It's pretty hilly round here, in fact within half a mile of our house I have already done over 30 miles an hour and then gone up a 20+% incline which puts my heart near it's max. The ride took just over 3 hours - indicative of how hilly it is around here. The scenery is beautiful and there are exciting little things on the streets at all times. When I moved here I quickly learnt to keep my mouth shut whilst I'm cycling else I get a bonus aerial protein snack. Lizards are constantly running and disappearing into the hedgerows, hooded crows roam the fields and the view from up at Radda, at about 800m altitude is stunning.

http://www.chiantistorico.com/

One famous part of the roads in this region are the strade bianche - the white roads. These are rural unpaved roads, covered in white rubble. They add some great character to the region and also are the location of a famous cycling race - the Strade Bianche

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montepaschi_Strade_Bianche

Annoyingly we found out yesterday that this race actually goes past our house! This year we were up north in the dolomites skiing whilst this was on. Today I went on a little section of the strade bianche and it was a nightmare. The gradient was about 25% and the rubble means that you lose grip. Anyway, in October I will be racing in L'Eroica

http://www.eroica-ciclismo.it/italiano/home.asp

which is the race on the strade bianche - 175km on the strade bianche, and to make it worse and to earn the name L'Eroica (The Heroic) you have to do it on a pre-1983 bike. Stuart has found me one in the UK on freecycle and it should be with me soon. So, this race is long, its on terrible roads, and you have to do it on an old steel bike. Grrr!

Yesterday we were looking at some houses to buy, we drove to Rapale (which we give an amusing homophone name) and we were again struck by the number of street prostitutes. Rapale is way way out in the countryside

http://www.rapale.com/

And yet, out there, there are lots and lots of prostitutes. Unlike prostitutes in the UK, in Tuscany they seem to just hang out in the countryside, actually not just in Tuscany as we saw some in Sicily too. Anyway, they sit around in small groups, 2 or 3 people, and they are all africans. Very strange that they are not in cities. Strange strange roads.

Pasta is required for tackling these roads. Am just tucking into a nice simple pasta dish, with oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice plus a little tuna and sweetcorn. Simple and nice - good idea Dawn. A much better idea than buying the film "Into the wild" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_wild which I paid for, and was 2h20m of tripe. Based on a real story, about some 24 year old fool who decides he wants to go native for a couple of years, goes to Alaska without knowing much about survival and dies. Surprise surprise. I was worried when Dawn showed it to me as the review "Mesmerising and unforgettable" came from the Daily Star!! Don't watch it!!

On Friday I went to the pub. There's only one pub in Siena, and it's the Irish pub. It's good, serves beer, you can sit outside, shoot the breeze and watch the world go by. I don't go to the pub very often, and don't go into Siena very much, this is a shame. So much of a shame that I initiated some monthly "Discussion Groups" i.e. a payday playday when we can all go to the pub. Anyway, most bars, if such things exist, will serve snacks between 5-8, so a sort of plates of pasta, rice, chips n dips, sun dried tomatoes and olives. In the Irish pub it's pretty good - but it lured me into the delusion that I had eaten. The outcome of this was that I was steaming drunk and tried to leave Siena quite late, maybe 2 am. Anyway, I could not find a raxitaxi - nightmare, I was wandering around (not in the Dutch sense) trying to find a taxi and somehow, I don't really remember how or where it was, as I mentioned I was pretty sloshed, I found a car. He was quite chatty, seemed to know where I lived, although by that time in the morning my Italiano had deserted me so I couldn't be sure. Anyway, got back home and asked him how much, and he said nothing. This confused me and it was only at this point that I realised it wasn't a taxi but just some guy who kindly gave me a lift home. Dawn said that maybe he was cruising for some man loving, but he certainly didn't let on. We had a little battle over 20 bucks, and eventually I lobbed it in the car and legged it. So, it seems that he was just a nice guy who was there and just gave me a lift home. I was in the UK last week, and I am amazed, certainly in Tuscany about how nice everyone is in comparison to the UK. Anyhow, it was strange, strange strange roads.

Ciao for now

Dr Hammers 26th maggio 2011

Dr Hammers

Yesterday we went to visit "Dr Hammers". That's not his real name, but it was always be his name according to me.

Some history. Dawn has been suffering from a bad back for a long time, aggravated by a half marathon over 6 months ago. Not only a nightmare for her, not being able to do anything physical or sleep, also a nightmare for me, for the latter reason.

She tried physio and various strange and expensive Italian doctors. Italian doctors are a little strange, and there is always a surprise as to whether you will be seen and what sort of treatment you get. We should be thankful - someone I know who recently moved to another city in Italy from England, who has a profoundly disabled son, was refused treatment at a hospital due to a problem with documentation. Thankfully, our company has looked after us well and all our docs are in a line (quack quack), or should that be tutti nostre anatre sono nella linea? WHo knows! Anyway, sometimes doctors are dismissive and sometimes incredibly over zealous. Sometimes they are cheap or free and other times they are extremely expensive. In summary Dawn had been going to an Italian physio with limited success and attending our dear chiropracter Dr Beneski in Boston, USA whenever she went on a business trip for some temporary relief (we could not trust a chiropracter in Italy).

One evening I had arranged a soiree in the Irish Pub (where else?) and Dawn had gotten chatting to some random Dutch guy - Dr Hammers. His name is Dr Hammers but is something very Dutch, Raimund van der Orangechboom or some such :), also probably a very distant relative of mine. Anyway, Dr Hammers is a Dr of some strange wacky chiro/physio thing, where he does realignment using what I can only describe as hammers. Yes - he takes rubber mallets and hammers your spine, neck, sacrum, pelvis, knee into the right alignment. And sells you some super strength vitamins and volcanic ashes to negate acids at the same time. Scary - yes! Effective - double yes!! Dawn had instant almost total cure, and it really helped me with my knee when I thought I would not be able to go on my much planned cycle tour of Sicily.

In fact, one problem that he says he has, is that as well as not being liked by the rest of the medical community, because he cures most people very quickly it's not a very good business as opposed to other chiropracters and physios who work on repeat business.

Anyway, he's great, quirkily Italian (for a Dutch man) and pretty cheap. And he lives in a great place (Murlo, just south of Siena and site of many an Etruscan thing or two http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murlo). In fact the drive is splendid - the hills roll and this time of year, it is once again tear-jerkingly green, the sort of green that builds and builds and overwhelms you, although I do wonder sometimes if that is a little vestigial synaesthesia (naturally, I will say no more, thank you Monty Python). Wish I'd have had my camera with me yesterday as soon the sun will come (it's over 30C here at the mo) and the land will become brown and crispy.

Ciao for now.

Dodici bottiglie 25th maggio 2011

In the end I bought 12 bottles of the Nero D'Avola as in a case it was easier to carry from the supermarket!!

Vino vidi vici 24th maggio 2011

Italian pricing is very strange compared to what I am used to back home. In the UK clothes can be cheap, food can be very cheap and cheerful, and even booze can be cheap and cheerful, although it seems to get ever pricier.

In Italy, things are a little different. Clothes are very expensive (plus they don't fit me!), food is very expensive (but it is of generally great quality (if over fresh and expires quickly)), but booze is cheap, incredibly cheap. Wine especially is just a bit mental - how this would happen in the UK I just don't know - people would go crazy with the prices of wine, spirits and beer.

Some time ago I committed to doing a review of some of the cheaper end prices for wine. Today I will continue, but I must say that in the interim I have found that wines are so cheap that there is no point in buying the cheap ones. In fact, my tastes have changed somewhat over the past few months that I have been here and I have enjoyed a number of wines and have pushed further into the more expensive areas.

Chianti: Around here we have Chianti, this is hot Chianti region. I don't really like Chianti!

Brunello: Brunello is, according to me, one of the two great wines in the area. Brunello comes from Montalcino using Sangiovese grapes. It is strong and deep and simply wonderful. A reasonable bottle costs about €30, we have some bottles at home that are over €90, although recently there were some on offer in the Pam supermarket for €10 - 2006 I think. Not so bad, but a bit young and will be fantastic in two years - likelihood of it lasting for that time = approximately zero!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunello_di_Montalcino

Vin nobile: Vin nobile di Montepulciano is in my view very similar to Brunello, using the same Sangiovese grape. This has less cachet than Brunello, is a little cheaper, usually about €25 for a good bottle, but in my mind is slightly better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vino_Nobile_di_Montepulciano

Nero D'Avola: This Sicilian wine, which I first sampled for the first time in Sicily a couple of weeks ago is a very different taste - it is dark and complex and actually preferable to the others, in my humble opinion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero_d%27avola

Which brings me on to today's subject. Yesterday in the Pam Supermarket I found some Sicilian Nero D'Avola for €0.99 per bottle. Please see the attached pipctures.

Zu Terzia

Nero D'Avola

2010

Strength 12.5%

Usual price €1.99 per bottle

As a review, I would say that this is a good and very drinkable wine. Needs a good amount of time to chambre, better with air through the wine, and better at a slightly warmer room temperature.

In fact, tonight I will go back and buy another 10 bottles! Salute!!

Something I saw on the way to the forum lunedì 23rd maggio 2011

Something funny I saw on the way to the forum

It is lovely and hot in Italy today. After a few days in the UK, with some hail and lots of rain in Wales, it is a shock to be back and to be hitting the warmth over here. Since it is hot, the type of animals that I have seen here are really very different to those that I see back in the UK. So, today's post is to discuss the type of creatures that commonly crop up here. A list:

Snakes - fairly common. This one is only a little one, but we used to have one that hung out by my office - until it was run over by a car! This is a photo of one I saw whilst out cycling - as you can see it is very small. This alarmed me. The others I have seen are about 3 or 4 feet in length and I have been told that the big ones are fine, but the small and scared ones are poisonous - gulp. We did see a large black headed one disappearing into a well in Pompei and I had an overwhelming compulsion to pull it out by it's tail but I am glad to say that I was not totally overwhelmed!

Crazy insects - this bad boy was small, but the antlers were crazy in length compared to the rest of it. How did it do anything? How could it go through a door? What is the point? I see similarities with the ladies at Ascot with their florid hats but they can take them off at the end of the day, after 20 glasses of Pimms and get on with their lives - not these insects.
Porcupines (istrice) - these spiky funny creatures are great fun to see. One night I was driving and nearly ran them over. Very large they are too and very bouncey when they run. Apparently the meat is very delicious, so you will never see roadkill porcupine as the Italians will stop immediately and take it home!

Coypu - well this was up north, but it still counts. The coypu is a water based mammal, which used to be very common in East Anglia (it is the UEA rowing club mascot) but I think is now not found in the UK.

Toads - everywhere. Some huge ones in Sicily but that is for another post.

Rats - never. Interestingly I have never seen a rat in Italy. Despite the sometimes chaotic approach to rubbish disposal I have not seen one of these, thankfully. They are all too common in the UK nowadays.

Wild boar (cinghiale) - these are very common and very good to eat! Wild boar ragu with the local spagghetti (pici) is the main dish in Siena. Wild boar is hunted a lot, any small wood will have khaki'ed men with guns all weekend, and we can hear the guns roaring from where we live.

Birds - plenty, and some interesting ones. Firecrests (smaller even than goldcrests - in fact when I saw one hovering by the car window at the office, I thought it was a hummingbird!), hoopoe are everywhere with long beaks for digging insects out of crevices, woodpeckers, bright red heads and banging on wood. And of course a few pigeons!

Lizards - lucertola - everywhere. There seem to be a few different types, some all green, some all brown, some brown with green tails, and vice versa. And of course there are the gheckos, which look like lizards but have big flat hands - maybe from too much high fiving! Lizards are everywhere, and wherever you go there is a rustle in a hedge from a lizard dashing away. Some of the smaller ones are bouncey and do some good jumping! Recently we were on the beach not far from here and we saw some amazing footprints and tailprints in the sand, and were a little disappointed when we saw that it was small lizards creating the patterns!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Funny_Thing_Happened_on_the_Way_to_the_Forum

martedi 22nd marzo 2011

Dear blog,
It appears to have been a long long time since I wrote. Mi dispiache, I have failed you.
Today I want to talk about sport, so I will try.
Most mornings I try to go to the gym. I find that with the job that if I try and go in the afternoon, or lunch or evening then it doesn't happen. So I go early. This means that it is quiet. Italians don't seem to be the best at getting up so early. They work hard, but they are rarely at work super early. In fact, the coffee bar in the morning only seems to work strange hours. I think it opens at 9:00 and closes at 9:30, so all the Italians get there for a coffee and a cake, when usually a cornetto con crema - which is like a croissant filled with custard. And then work begins.

I digress. The gym. It's not a place for sweating. I break all the rules by actually doing something, and not coordinating my outfit correctly. Huffing and puffing seems to be fine, as well as strutting, and compulsory gloves, even if you're not lifting weights, but sweating, that's a no no.
There is one guy, who wears short shorts, who does his hair before going into the gym. And he spends a lot of time blow drying it after.
Another guy is a very quick runner, very quick indeed. However, I can only focus on the fact that he is a "thumbs up" runner - that is, he runs as though he is giving two great big thumbs up at all times. Quite comical. One day I dream of giving him some thumbs up back - that would amuse me :)
Last night, after karate, one of my fellow karateka was explaining to me the reverse punch. Apparently I was not engaging my hips during the session. So he was giving me some punching advice, giving it a lot of big swinging hip. Unfortunately he was all of the following:
a) sweaty
b) hairy
c) tattooed
d) naked
This meant that every time he demonstrated, his salsiccia swang to and fro, like nothing I'd seen since the Jim Rose Circus, or that bit in Life of Brian. I didn't know where to look.

In many aspects, the Italians are extremely well organised. The number of marathons and half marathons is nothing short of extraordinary.

But, back to the gym. If you want to survive in an Italian gym you will require the following knowledge:
a) Do not sweat
b) Wear some gloves, even if not lifting heavy weights
c) Coordinate your outfit
d) Huffing and puffing is allowed, and possibly encouraged
e) Increase your chat to exercise ratio, the more the chat the better
f) Don't do any exercise where you cannot see yourself in the mirror
g) Do some very boring basic twisty stuff, get other people to copy you, and then make it become a national passtime, even if it is of no value
h) In the changing rooms, you must blow dry your hair, wear flips flops at all times, have a huuuuge kit bag, and have a dressing gown with a hood
i) Watch the music tv at all times

Really, I guess I'm just frustrated since the Italians eat and eat and eat, and don't do exercise and are all still thin - grrrr!

JJ

mercoledi 13th ottobre 2010 Beijing

Well, just now I am not in Planet Italia, but in Beijing.
I nearly didn't make it - a general strike in France, and my flight being on Air France via Paris CdeG, meant that about 50% of flights were canned, but luckily mine were ok. I got trapped in Paris a couple of years ago, and I have no intention of repeating that awful evening - vive le difference.

An ok flight, where I managed to watch two terrible terrible new release films: the first was "Grown Ups" with Adam Sandler and others - some funny slapstick bits, but a general sickly sweet awful taste in the mouth type experience. This was then followed up by "Get him to the Greek" with Russel Brand. I am embarassed to say that I enjoyed the music, including songs by Brand, and again some funny slapstick, but some awful sickly sweet rubbish thrown in. It was a pleasure to get to sleep after all that.

In China, the company car service picked me up in a Buick - a Buick!! Where am I?? The drive to the hotel was marked by two possibly related, possibly unrelated things. The shades of green on the trees. The green was very odd and I could not understand why. It was as if my head could not process that colour of green - it was too olive to recognise. I think that green is a vastly underrated colour and has such an enormous variety of shades that it really needs further description. There is a green hill far away, well not really, but on the main road from Siena to Florence there is a hill which for a couple of weeks this year had such an intense colour of green that it made me want to cry. It only lasted for a couple of weeks, and as all hills in Tuscany seems to vary week to week, from verdant burning green, to mud brown, to sun stained yellow. Anyway, I could not focus on this particular green. I wondered if there was some remnant synesthaesia interrupting my brain working on it - green is the only colour that I have found affected, but I think the real answer is that there is the elephant in the room in Beijing - the smog. I have been told from several reliable sources that it must not be talked about to the Chinese as they do not believe it exists, but there was a low haze here all day, and a lot of the cars seem to be coated in a light sandy coating. To be expected really for a crazy city with 22 million people.

My hotel is in the financial district and is next to Beijing World Trade Centre. I don't know how tall this building is, but it hurts my neck to look up at it, even from half a block away. There are some incredible buildings here.

I had a traditional chinese meal with the team, complete with novelty serving waitresses with comedy hats and dress, then worked in the hotel room (internet regulations point out that certain websites are not allowed - notably Facebook!), prior to a guided tour round some sights in Beijing including Tianamen Square, Opera House, but my favourite bit was the kites being flown by the locals. Enormous enormous kites, controlled by two men with winches, must be at least 15 metres long, with LED lights blinking on them. With 10 or so high in the air above one of the parks it looks very odd - like UFOs or dragons have come back!

I ate a skewer from a street vendor containing something very similar to toffee apples, although they were some sort of very stoney cherries instead. Very nice, but a bit oversweet.

So far am very impressed by China. Very ordered and clean, coupled with nicely maintained historic parts. The facade, if it is just a facade, works on me. Also learnt that two lions guard a lot of doors in China to give luck - usually one female and one male. For lunch we were served crysanthemum tea - I've had it before from Chinatown UK and it was terrible. Here it was pleasant, but you could quickly have too much of it!!

Sleep is now required. Ciao for now.