MUTANDE & GNOCCHI

Les de la Masa sont arrives a temps pour la premiere manifestation du weekend a l aeroport de Castiglione del Lago, ou nous avons pu principalement admirer les pilotes d'helicopteres (mais oui les poulettes, y'avait du gigot!!) et les gros slibards en coton (photo specialement pour la Fred :).

Que dire? Boulette dans le formatage des photos, mais tout de meme de tres beau specimenes!


Premier plan: a eviter.


Deuxieme plan: a rechercher. (Doud et Ainhoa: quelle merveilleuse excuse?!)

MA DOVE VAI?

ok, so who will admit to using a TomTom to get round town? or in our case, to find the car? Cris, in a bondesque kind of way, kept plunging behind arches and dashing behind trees to hide the navigator from view. We did manage to find the info point without it though so it was a race between me waving a paper map and Cris peering into the navigator. By the end of our stay, neither of us had any idea what Ferrara, the World Heritage Site, looked like...

So we moved on to Este, to celebrate the "Ponte del 25 Aprile" and the liberation of Italy with Rocio and Piero. The new Osteria of the Redda Shutterzza is highly recommended and got a five star rating in the Giardini Travel Guide. Where else do they provide valet service to wave you out of the car park (ok, I nearly killed the neighbour in the process), sheets AND towels, HOT freshly-baked muffins for breakfast, and most importantly great company?

During our stay, we managed to avoid strangling screaming kids during our agritourismo dinner, joined a tour group round Este, made our way up to the colli Eugubini or Euganesi (the one that does not mean from Gubbio) and discover the historical significance of Este's nobel families whilst sipping honey-sweet wine in one of their villas.


Ferrara, we are told.


The drive up to the top of the mountain was strenuous. Piero was rewarded by a cheeky extra panino whilst the rest of us had moved on to desert.


Rocio was escorted out of the villa's grounds by two guards after rowdy behaviour and alcohol abuse.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!

BIROS AND NURSES, A COMMON DENOMINATOR


Hello, my name is Giandomenico, Giando to my friends. This is my girlfriend Federica. We are sitting at the Battibecco restaurant in Perugia (where Olivia swore she would never set foot again after eating a kilo of salt in one plate of pasta).

Cristian and Luca have just described the first aid courses they attended. Federica and I are horrified because we are both nurses and neither of our friends have said anything right so far. Olivia is giggling hysterically because Cristian was told that if someone chokes, the only way to save them is to cut their throats open, just under the Adam's apple (nothing about trying to free the windpipes, or about the hazards of cutting jugular veins). Or alternatively to stick a biro (preferably a bic - was the course sponsored??) through the windpipe. She was laughing at the idea that you could actually nail someone to the floor doing that - whilst incidentally killing them also.

Luca then explained what he was told to do if bitten by a snake. It involved knives, sucking venom out of wounds and tying laces round legs and arms. At this point, I can no longer speak. My jaw dangles open.

To say I also give similar lessons and never taught any of my (paying) students such rubbish...

BOOK LIST SO FAR FOR 2008

To provide you with a little glimpse of what I have been buried in over the past couple of months - with different size book covers, to mangle the harmony of my webpage!


I am currently reading "L'elegance du herisson" - the author would cringe at me not using accents here, as would Renée Michel, la concierge.
Splendidly written.
Thoroughly enjoying it.


Andrea de Carlo's "Nel Momento" takes you through the states of mind of a fifty year old bloke going through a mid-life crisis and describes his encounter with several bohemian females.
As surprising as it may seem, it is not a bad read!
Very weird website though: http://www.andreadecarlo.com/


And I could not escape starting the year with Khaled Hosseini's "Kite Runner".
Moving. Afghanistan, boys, harelips, kites, war.
In the political context? Food for thought.
Not sure I want to go see the film though.


I finished off 2007 with "El Amor en los Tiempos del Colera" by Gabriel Garcia Marques - a splendid book. Great read. Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza, their love and life, their boats and passions. One of those novels that has been beautifully written and begs for you to keep on reading.

WAYS TO DIE

If you live in Italy and don’t particularly want to die, the best place to have a heart attack is without a doubt in the bath tub or shower box. The same applies for electrocution or brain haemorrhages. Whatever the cause of imminent death, ensure it happens whilst you are having a wash and you will be fine. Just grab for the white cord and your neighbours will instantly come to rescue you. That, or your husband or wife will faithfully plod to the front door and open it, expecting someone to be there. As no one will be, a few seconds will pass and they will dash into the bathroom to resuscitate you. That is all it takes, one sharp pull of the cord that dangles in every Italian bathroom and you will be saved!