Intermission - Men's Fashion and Other Blah

I'm interrupting the vacation report with a discovery on men's fashion (yes, I notice them more)... We all know Italy is known for designer brands (ex. LV, Dolce & Cabbana) but guess what is the brand that Italian men love which is NOT an Italian design? This foreign mark is making something special in Italy because not only does Italy have so many of its own fashion designers already but also its people are patriotic. I see 5 out of 10 men daily (50%) wearing a nice polo-shirt or shirt with this reptile brand in Torino. My father and his friends used to wear it quite a lot when I was a child in Taiwan but I think these days in Asia and USA, this particular brand is not very popular. Have you guessed it yet? It is...


Lacoste (the crocodile) which is a French brand name. The cost of a polo-shirt (most common) after 30% discount is still a whopping 80+ euros. It is still owned by the Lacoste family in Paris today. Rene Lacoste, the founder, was a tennis player who won the 1927 US Open Championship. The mark, le crocodile, was his nickname due to his tenacious behavior on the courts - never giving up his prey. The high quality and unique fabric (jersey petit piqué) is supposed to take away moisture/ sweat so the wearer is always cool in summer.

You may wonder what American brands are popular in Torino? Well, I have so far seen Tommy Hilfiger, Timberland, and Calvin Klein and they all are on the most expensive shopping street - Via Roma. I've heard Gap is somewhere in the city but I haven't found it yet. For you people who are familiar with Asian brands, the only one that I have been so far is Muji (無印良品). Oh, and of course, the power of Hello Kitty is everywhere in the world... I have seen 2 stores with the cutie cat in Torino already.

Ok, going off on the topic of men's fashion, how about their interests? Many men love cars. Well, you guys are going to envy Italian men because even construction workers and DHL delivery men drive a Mercedes-Benz!

Vacation from 'Long Vacation' - Venice

Venice, Venice, the most romantic city in the world, how I love thee.

Yes, Venice is one of my most beloved cities despite that every time I go there, it's always hot and humid. Although Piazza San Marco was full of tourists (again), I'm happy to report that I have finally visited Basilia di San Marco (3rd time is the charm). The line was unbearably long the previous 2 times so we went there this time before it opened. The inside of the church was unbelievably amazing with mosaics dated from 13th - 17th century. No wonder people were willing to wait in line.

My favorite structure this time in Venice is the new remodeled clock tower, Torre dell' Orologio, which is adjacent to the basilia and the Campanile. On the top of the tower, 2 bronze man statues hit the bells at every hour. It gave me a sense of peace watching the statues. I apologize for not having pictures... surprisingly, I took the least photos in Venice. We were pretty tired due to the heat and crowd that we decided to explore Venice individually after visiting the island of Murano (known for blowing glass) together. I sat next to a pretty narrow canal in a tranquil back alley and read for the afternoon. One of the reasons I love Venice is even with the crowd and heat, one is able to find a quiet place watching people and condolas walking/ swinging by and simply relax.

Picture on right: Syd in Piazza San Marco. If you look at it closely, you can see the 2 bronze statues on top of the clock tower behind Syd.

Picture below: Dawn and I with The Bridge of Sighs - a passageway between Palazzo Ducale and prison. It took its name from the sighs of prisoners being led to trial.













Warning! The next 2 photos may be unpleasant.

In Venice, I had the best Spaghetti with Squid's Ink. The dish didn't look appetizing but it was really delicious. Oh, and of course, I didn't look pretty afterwards either but it was worth it. :p Syd laughed at me a little too long and too loud.

Vacation from 'Long Vacation' - Verona

Dawn, Syd, and I started our adventure in northern Italy on 7/14 Monday. The first destination was Verona (again) because we wanted to relive the romance of Romeo and Juliet. Well, Juliet's balcony and courtyard were classic and pretty but with so many tourists (one of the main problems everywhere we went during the busy tourist season) and the big souvenir store right next to the house (casa di Giulietta), it was not that appealing to us. Nevertheless, I tried to imagine Romeo serenading to Juliet, "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon. It is my lady, O, it is my love! O, that she knew she were." (Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare)

Picture on right - Juliet and me (her shining right breast is due to the rubbing of many tourists' hands: it'll bring a man great vitality and a woman her Romeo! But I feel disrespectful to this fictional lady so I just held on to her skirt instead.)

Picture below - Juliet's balcony














Guess what surprised me most in Verona?! We had the best gelato so far in Italy! I don't advertise in my blog but you guys definitely need to try it otherwise you'll regret. It's called 'Gelateria Artigianale Ponte Pietra' (Via Ponte Pietra, 23) which makes homemade gelato daily and it's located near the Stone Bridge (Ponte Pietra). Also, if you are into traditional Veronese cuisine, then you'll have to go to this amazing restaurant, 'Osteria al Duca' (Duke's Inn on Via Arche Scaligere, 2). It's right next door to Romeo's house. I highly recommend you arrive there before 7:30pm, otherwise you should make a reservation.

Picture on right - the entire restaurant only has 1 duke's chair and guess who was sitting on it? The answer is on the chair.

Picture below - we loved the dishes at 'Osteria al Duca'! Syd had a hamburger-like horse tartar, Dawn ordered escargo with polenta, and mine was carpaccio (raw beef) with rucula. Yummy yum yum!













Verona's beautiful beautiful sunset

Eating and Hiking in Alps

Dawn, my college friend and our first visitor, arrived Torino on July 10th. The first meal she tried was our typical lunch and she loved bufala (buffalo) mozzerella cheese and sashimi-like salami. Before we explore other cities together, Syd took us to a small town (Bardonecchia) in the Alps for some hiking and eating! In case you haven't heard it before, Torino area is known for 'Slow-Food Movement'. Obviously it is to fight against Fast-Foods (Sayonara, McDonald's!), however, more importantly, it aims to preserve the cultural cuisine and the associated food plants and seeds, domestic animals, and farming within the local region (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Food). In other words, the movement promotes preparing cuisines using local and quality ingredients to appreciate their taste and nurition.

The slow-food event consisted 6 courses: Antipasti, Primi, Secondi, Formaggi, Dolci, and Forte Bramafam. The hungry hikers hike 10 -15 minutes to each course to taste a dish accompanied by a choice of 6 - 8 different wines. The best part is that you can go back for seconds! :) Since Dawn doesn't drink wine, we forced her to get a glass at every course anyways... well, you know where the wine went. :p At the end of the hike/ lunch, Syd have tasted 15 wines and 2 liquors!

Picture on left: Entree - cosciotto di maialino cotto nel fieno maggengo con polenta concia (tender pork cooked in hay with polenta)
Picture on right: Formaggi - plates of cheese!













Picture on left: molti molti vini
Picture on right: the result of too much food and wine













Syd is a mountain guy so he really likes Bardonecchia. Well, can't complain much since the weather was cool and the scenery was beautiful. The town apparently hosted events for Winter Olympics 2006. It also looked like a good place for skiing (so you know where we'll go in the winter). But before winter comes, we already plan to revisit in August when Torino heat is supposed to be unbearable (well, I hope it's not as devilish as Taiwan's summer).

Adjusting and Slowing Down

Hi friends and family, yes, I have been back in Torino since last week. But I was so tired from traveling and the heat (don't travel in Italy in July and August if you can avoid it) that I needed to rest. I'm starting to feel back to normal so I'll try to post highlights of the northern Italy trip sometime this week. :)

I have also been a bit homesick for the past couple weeks. I miss my mom, you guys, Asian food (Vietnamese spring rolls and vermicelli, Chinese noodle soups, Thai pineapple fried rice, Japanese sashimi, etc.), and the familiarity and comfort of our home in Milpitas. I experience this backdraw whenever I travel outside of US for more than 2 weeks, so actually I'm doing quite well. The way to deal with it for me is to mix up the daily routine. So today I made an effort to go out having lunch, shopping, and exploring (I have been reading, internet surfing, and sleeping for the past week). It must have worked somewhat since now I'm updating the blog. I haven't feel like writing it since I returned to Torino.

Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well. I'm looking forward to friends and my mom visiting in September and October. In the mean time, I can't wait for the Olympics!!! Go Beijing! Talk to you guys later.

AIDA in Verona

It's odd that after Italian class ended, I have less time to myself. I have been trying to read "Under the Tuscan Sun" for the past month but I just have neither the time nor the mood. On the weekends I'm busy cooking. With fresh ingredients from Porta Palazzo, I want to prepare and taste the fresh vegetables and fruits right away. Last Saturday I made my very first cold tomato soup! Yummy and refreshing for the hot day. Beth gave us a chart that lists seasonal fruits in Torino, and of course summer produces the most fruits. This month Syd and I have to stuff ourselves with apricots, blueberries, peaches, cherries, raspberries, and strawberries! And on weekdays, while Syd's working, I'm either surfing on internet, creating blog entries, typing up Chinese writings, doing house chores, or taking a nap. So one way or the other, I'm just not reading (which is one of my favorite hobbies).

Well, all that changed for the past 2 days. I finished the book on the way to and back from Verona. Apparently traveling provides the time and mood for me to read. Beth, Trevor, Syd, and I went to see the famous opera "AIDA" (Verdi's version, though I also saw Elton John's version and I loved it!) in the ancient and oh-the-most-beautiful Roman outdoor amphitheatre (built in 30AD, it's 2000 years old!). Now dig this: NO amplifiers were used yet the voice of each singer traveled all the way to the last row of the theatre (capacity of 30,000 ppl when full)! It was incredible! We were drowned under the stars with Verdi's music, Aida and Radames' love, and Barbera wine in this amazing Verona Arena. Though no elephants appeared in the opera, I felt equally satisfied with the outstanding costumes, dances, singing and horses! I'd highly recommend a nice soft cushion for your behind (you can rent it at the Arena) because my tush was screaming in pain after an hour of sitting on the hard concrete (cheapest ticket). Syd refused to use his body as my cushion. Bad hubby.
























We came back to Torino today while Beth and Trevor continued on to Germany. We will meet up in Venice and Cinque Terre with my college friend Dawn next week. I told Syd that it's good to come home. I miss our apartment in Torino which has my comfy bed, my laptop (yes, I'm addicted to it), the yummy yummy pasta salad I made on Sunday and buffalo mozzerella cheese. Before reaching home, we went for a delicious and refreshing gelato of uva fragola at Gatsby's. Yes, we are home.

Our New Looks

Our Italian beginner course ended last Friday so you might think that we would now party all night, sleep in every morning, and be lazy bums from this week on. Well, how can you think of us that way? We managed to get up everyday this week around 9am except yesterday (we got up at 5:30am instead to take a train to the beach!). We went running and played frisbee on Tuesday morning. We're trying to exercise at least twice a week to set up a healthy routine living in Torino so we don't return to California gaining 20 lbs. each (darn those yummy buttery gnocchis)!

Since the course is over, Syd and I finally have time to do other things besides studying Italian. For example, we can pay attention to our appearances. Syd now has a goatee (I like it!) and that's all the change he made. As for me, it is more complicated because of my gender. I need to shop (though I'd say I spend only half the time most women shop), compare, think, and then choose. I'm happy to introduce Beth, my shopping partner/ fashion consultant, who accompanied me to spend $ at a big Robe di Kappa (a Torino brand) outlet. We had to take a bus (20 min) and after getting off, we searched for the outlet for 30 minutes because its name is 'Spaccio' instead of 'Kappa'. No wonder we couldn't find it even though it's only 1 block away from the bus stop. Anyways, I love this brand because it has a lot of sporty and simple designs: the style fits my personality. So I contributed to Torino's economy that day. :) Well, what could I do? I have been eyeing that jacket since my first visit to the store in Piazza San Carlo but I couldn't find my size then. I was so happy to find it (only 1 left with my size!) at the outlet that my blood started to boil which blurred my vision so I could only see the jacket. Besides, Beth said I looked good in it. Hence, although it wasn't on sale, I still went for it. I'm not posting a photo of this jacket, you'll just have to wait for its premier in winter. :p I can tell you that it has awesome symbols: an Italian flag, a Torino bull, 2 Kappa marks (which is a man and a woman sitting back-to-back with each other), and the word "Torino" across the chest. Please sit still, my CAL friends, the color of this jacket is Maroon, not RED. :p

My next choice is to get a haircut. Yes, it's a big decision as it's not just a simple haircut... I decided to go for a short hairdo. The first problem we encountered was how to communicate the desired style with hairdressers in Italian. Beth came up with a great idea: find photos of the hairstyle that we like online then we will bringing in her laptop to show them to hairdressers. It worked perfectly since pictures speak a thousand times better than words (let alone our poor Italian words). The experience at the salon was rather relaxing. Hair washing alone was 15 minutes of gentle massaging, washing, and conditioning. My hairdresser was a young man (mid 20s) with blond spiky hair and wears hip pink glasses. He wasn't surprised of my request of a rather dramatic hair style. As a matter of fact, he was the first and only hairdresser who suggested to cut my hair even a little shorter. Well, non `cè problema, I have had the same hairdo for a few years and since I'm in Italy, I want to go for a new look. Now with new clothes and a stylish hair cut, I need to look for earrings and sandals. Gotta go shopping. Again. Now.