Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Something about Italian Culture That I Enjoy


Culture can mean many things such as fashion, religion, art, food, family, relationships and many other things.
I most enjoy watching the culture of social relationships among Italians in everyday life. In general, they are very social. Ladies and men drop by the café to say hello to the people they know inside. They may stop for a coffee or not, but they pop in for a visit. When they go to a grocery store or shop, they know the people in the shop and strike up a conversation. They can be talking for about five minutes before the store clerk notices the next person in line, waiting to purchase something. Then the clerk rings up the customer while still talking to the first person. I cannot understand what they are talking about, otherwise I would also join in the conversation. I suppose I am very similar to them in freely talking to other people.
When families go out for dinner, I can tell they are a close knit group. The children are watched by all of the adults. For the most part, the children are well behaved. The families check on their children often, and give them pats of encouragement or hold their hands. They touch each other a lot to show their love and concern. In their eyes and faces I see compassion, caring and love. The mothers are not over protective. The kids are not running around or throwing tantrums. The family is closely watching and nurturing the children.
When in a fruit and vegetable market, a short, old man with a smiling face started to talk to us in Italian. He was proud that he was 92 years old, and said something about how he felt about it. He was very talkative and we just nodded, because we didn’t understand him except when I clarified with my fingers his age. He was a social guy and part of the Italian social scene. As usual.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Making Gelato!

We watched as a gelato expert made his gelato in the back of his gelato store. The equipment runs 32,000 euro each for the mixer machine! See pictures. We had a sample afterwards of his yogurt flavored gelato and a flavor that tasted like vanilla. The shop is located in Viterbo, Italy.
The Gelato Shop L'Antica Latteria

The owner and his son. His son translated to English for us.

The size of the preparation kitchen.

Step one, mix first batter

Step 2 - add cream

Add sugar

Mix, what a large mixer! must weigh 40 pounds!

Add another special potion!

Put into large automatic mixer. 32,000 euros to buy it!

Mixing away!

Starting a new batch, this one has a yogurt taste (tangy)

Mix, Mix Mix!

First batch is ready, he starts releasing it from the machine

Yum!

The inside of the mixer

He puts fresh gelato in a freezer, ready to go to the front counter

A view of the gelato from the 


Sacro Bosco - Monster Garden in Italy

The castle that overlooks the gardens. Built in the 1500's

These rock statues are very large, made from the rock on the site.
This one is so large, a person can fit in the mouth. There is a castle on top of what looks
like a globe.

A mythological character ripping a woodsman apart. See how large he is?

A huge turtle statue

Pegasus? or is it? A trick of the eye. It was a fountain, except the water
was draining out of it, another trickery.

Faces and flower baskets

This house is built to be on an angle. The rooms are on angles too. The picture below
is deceiving. I am standing straight up but the floor and window are slanted, so it makes
me look like I am at an angle!


A dragon fighting or protecting a lion cub with mom and dad lion fighting the dragon.

The monster sculpture. There is a picnic table carved inside! And
some benches along the sides. It echoes when a person talks inside
of it, and a strange sound comes out of the mouth that echoes through the park!


This is supposed to be the god of fertility. She has twin tails.

Another view of the castle from the garden

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Pictures of Rome, Italy

 video: Walking down a Roman Street


 The Talking Statue. Back in the day, people would put notes on this statue complaining about the political climate. Then the politicians would gather up the notes and read them to understand what the people were complaining about.
 Trevi Fountain!!
 The fountain at the base of the Spanish Steps
 Two lovers on the monument. They became embarrassed as we tourists defended upon them snapping pictures of them.
 Me at the Trevi Fountain
 The Turtle Fountain. At the top there are four turtles trying to climb on top. Really cute.
A really cool round faced building. Exterior is well designed.