Coffee House Rules

Italians are disgusted by American coffee. We may have introduced the modern world to the stuff, but they perfected it. And they've been spoiled; they're used to paying 1 to 2 euros for the deepest, richest espresso you'll ever drink.

When Italians visit the States, inevitably, some well-meaning American will tell them they can get their caffeine fix at Starbucks, which only makes it worse. One of our American friends here tells her local amici to think of Starbucks' menu as "coffee-flavored beverages"-- then they won't mind paying $6 for a cup of only passable dark water with two flavorings in a cup the size of a soda.

Tourists in Italy immediately identify themselves as American if they order cappucino after noon. No milk in coffee except for breakfast! If you absolutely can't take the late-afternoon espresso dark with a spoon of sugar as they do, the only acceptable exception is a macchiato...But I digress.

Needless to say, It's stressful to make coffee for Italians. Luckily, one of our Italian friends took pity on us after one dinner party. He was disturbed to find my Bialetti shiny as new--a year after I bought it.

So, some rules for a proper Moka: Never wash the pot with soap and water. If you do, you'll lose all the greasy coffee residue that lines the pot and keeps the aluminum taste out of the brew. Simply rinse with hot water. Use three heaping teaspoons of grounds--no more. Poke the grounds three times with a toothpick. Then put the pot on to boil. Turn it off as soon as you hear bubbling. Don't wait until the pot is full or the moka will be burned.

Techno Trash

At one point in time, I loved techno music--the mindless, thumping beat great for working out and gyrating en masse in a dance club. And after a year in Florence, I've been dunked into techno again. It's like a soundtrack to life: You catch snippets walking past clubs, sitting in traffic, eating lunch in a trattoria.

But after hearing superslow remakes of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams," the disco song

"Le Freak" and Nouvelle Vague's cover of "Master and Servant" (they should have left the Depeche Mode original alone), I was getting disgusted. Some things are sacred!

Then, I heard Gramophonedzie's cover of the Peggy Lee/Benny Goodman standard, "Why Don't You Do Right?"

The album is only out in the UK right now. But check out the video here:

It's THE song for summer 2010.

Pushed Over

Nothing is sacred. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the leaning tower of Pisa is no longer the leaningest tower in the world:

After five centuries of comfort in that spot, the tower's 4-degree tilt has been knocked out of the record books by the Capital Gate building in Abu Dhabi, a 35-story architectural marvel engineered deliberately to lean. It slants at an 18-degree slope.

I still think more people will visit Pisa...

Al Mare

This is the "American Beach" at Pisa. The only thing American about it is the number of soldiers from Camp Darby and the burgers at the concession stand. Otherwise, it's like every other hyper-developed Italian beach--from the wall of orange umbrellas and beach chairs to the Caprese Salad and Speedos.

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday...

Public Education Cuts, Italian Style

Here's what happens when government cuts funding for the public schools in Italy: Thousands of Tuscans with kids in tow march along the Lungarno to criticize slicing away at art and music--"fundamental" programs for a good education.

They're also upset about a new law that requires schools to hire "local"--but not necessarily the best qualified or most experienced--teachers.

It all made me wonder what would happen if Utahns took to the streets to protest the state's "We're No. 49!" per-pupil spending...

Memorial Day in Italy

Like most Americans, I'd forgotten the military history of this holiday. It always seems to be overshadowed by barbecues, start-of-summer sales and white shoe season...

Not this year. At the Florence American Cemetery, it's impossible to ignore the 4,400 marble crosses and stars of David and the massive wall carved with the names of many of the young American GIs killed in 1944-45 during the campaign to liberate Italy.

Current Italian and American soldiers and airmen turn out in force every year. Italian re-enactors don pristine woolen American uniforms and proudly pose for pictures with the kids. This year, Brig. General Charles Estes, a Utah native stationed in Germany, tried to shore up the alliance by noting Italians and Americans have been fighting side by side for 65 years (if you include Iraq and Afghanistan).

And there was a slight controversy as his Italian Counterpart, Gen. D. Marco Bertolini, Tuscany Regional Commander of the Italian Army, chastised his own country today for neglecting to honor the soldiers who gave their lives in the war and the veterans still alive today.

Inevitably, April 25 commemorations of "Liberation Day" turn into political debates between the current Communist Party and the ruling Conservatives. The Communists have co-opted the history of World War II Italian partisans who fought alongside the Allies and declared themselves the political party that saved Italy. And the conservatives hate being compared to Mussolini's fascists who nominally shared similar ideology 70 years ago. Add to that the tension between the middle of the country (a communist/liberal stronghold) and conservative blocks in the north and south.

One Italian woman said she'd been waiting years to hear that from another Italian's lips. "Without the Americans," she said, "we'd be speaking German or Russian."

But then, we looked around us at hillside villas, many gobbled up by German investors in the 80s and 90s. Ah, she said with a shrug, "We say: What the Panzer couldn't conquer, the (deutsch)mark did."

Typical Italian humor...

Wild Greens

Driving through Tuscany in the spring you'll happen upon natives clambering up and down the hillsides, clutching bunches of what looks like grass in their hands. A few weeks later, the bunches appear in town: Agretti, or Barba di Frate (Friar's Beard). They look a bit like chives and have a slight onion-y smell.

I had to search UK websites for a recipes. Turns out, a bit of olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper was all it required...