Food, wine, and shopping

You can not live or visit Italy without talking about food and wine. First thing first, food in Italy is not what Americans think Italian food is. It is much blander here and pizza is its own beast. The food is not bad here, but we have not found anything that we absolutely love. Eating out here is expensive and very time consuming. The only drive thru we have found in this country is the Burger King on post. The next closest thing is the pizzaria right around the corner from us which you can only get pizza to go. Otherwise, meals are very slow and usually several courses. A Friday night dinner at a pizzaria will usually last about 2 hours and run between 30-50 euro for a family of 4. With the exchange rate right now that is between $40-70. It is a very relaxing experience as you usually share some wine with those at your table. We even found a place that has a small playground in the back for the kids while you enjoy food and wine. The chow hall has become one of our favorite places to eat as it is inexpensive, fairly quick, and all you can eat with variety. Pizza is definately not American pizza. They are very thin, little sauce, and some interesting toppings. The kids ate a pizza with hot dogs and french fries as toppings one night. We eat at home quite often as we don't always have 2 hours to enjoy dinner and really can not afford those prices several times a week. The first Italian meal I ate here was spaghetti with seafood. It was ok after I got past the clams still in the shells, octopus mixed in, and the shrimp staring back at me as they were still whole.

Gelato is a nice experience though. You find the stores everywhere and we have one right around the corner from us. You can enjoy a big scoop for 1 euro. That is about $1.50 for a scoop, so not so bad. I have not partaken of the Italian cappucino or espresso yet. Usually because when the opportunity arises I am already about 15 degrees hotter than I want to be and a hot drink is the last thing I want at that point. Once cooler weather arrives though I am sure to enjoy a few cups from time to time.

Wine has become a great enjoyment for us. I have never been a fan of red wine, but now I drink a glass almost every evening with dinner. Table or house wines have become our favorite. Before we had a car to shop downtown we were limited to the selection on post. They have a huge selection, but can get pricey at $7-10 per bottle if you drink a bottle in 1-2 days. However, we went downtown one day and found some wine for .85 euro a bottle. That is about $1.25. You can't even buy the bottle in the States for that price. It has become our favorite wine along with several of our friends. We have an inside joke running by calling it our Boone's Farm wine. We bought 7 bottles one night for us and friends and the cashier wanted to know if we really wanted all of it. You quickly learn a few important words when it comes to things like that. :-) When eating out wine is much cheaper than Coke or any other soda and sometimes even cheaper than water if you get the house wine.

Shopping: This is an interesting ordeal and takes some getting used to. Stores close for a period each afternoon usually between 12-3 for ripossa or rest. This is due to the Italian government telling them they can only be open for a certain number of hours each day and so they close during the afternoon so they can be open later at night for more customers. Plus, everything is pretty much closed on Sundays to include the malls. Only big stores like Ikea are open on Sunday. (Ikea is only 15 minutes from our house so I am quite excited about that.) Many stores are closed on Mondays also. The worse part is figuring out what stores keep what hours. I am getting used to the concept though and just plan my day around it. Every Wed. there is a Farmer's Market right down the street here in our town. Each town has one on different days of the week. You can find everything from clothes, purses, produce, cheese, and even fresh meat and seafood. They are interesting to walk through every once in awhile. Another thing about shopping is stores are only allowed to have sales twice a year. Once in July and then again in January. This is a government mandated policy and has something to do with the outrageous sales tax they pay on things. I for sure will miss Target and the clearance racks.

All of these experiences are not bad, just take some getting used to. They are what they are. We are adjusting and getting used to it all. One of the great experiences so far is dealing with our landlord. Ok, he does not speak English and I don't speak Italian, but anytime we call him with an issue he is here within an hour to look into it. He is a dentist in a town just minutes away, but I wonder how many patients he has left waiting to come check out our problem. He is always very friendly and appears concerned about our issues. Like this morning I thought my washing machine was leaking. The repair guy was here for it and said it was not the machine, but something else in the laundry room leaking. There are about 6-7 other pipes, a wash sink and the hot water heater in there that could all be leaking. So, right now we have toilet paper lying all over the place to try and see where it originates from. However, when the washing machine repair guy called our landlord he was here within 20 min when he had told the guy he would not be here until about noon. Having that kind of relationship with our landlord makes a huge difference and we don't feel left out hanging. I just wish I was not calling him almost every other day for an issue.

These are just my thoughts on Italy so far. I am sure not everyone agrees with me, especially with the food. I will say that Italy has some great cheese and I am not a huge fan of cheese. I don't like tomatoes either, but I am sure after 3 years I will grow to like them.