Welcome and Benvenuti to all my Lovely Followers around the World,
Now, this time of year is all about being out there on beaches and in Piazzas having great music concert parties. If you also happen to be Lorenzo Jovanotti you will find your party will become a mass of sand stomping fans, as far as the eye can see. Simply known as Jovanotti, Lorenzo has taken to the beaches this year to hammer out his fabulous music and to put across a little more politics than he has in the past! He has gone from wearing silver alien suits to the scruffy pirate look and the fans still love him. In an interview he was recorded as stating ‘We have more intelligence than democracy. Young people, don’t be afraid of the world!’ Javanotte is hugely popular here in Italy. Beach Parties
Back in our little bit of Chianti where things have been nice and quiet due to 90% of Italians being at the seaside, we relax over coffee and the newspapers at La Dispensa in Fiano. Yesterday I found a lovely story about the romance and secret marriage of two Italian Partisans, right under the noses of the Nazi’s, in 1945. I love to read these kinds of stories. Detail of the romance and marriage of Tullio and Theresa have only recently been unearthed and the article was written by novelist Maurizio Maggiani. His books can be found on most online outlets, but mostly in Italian at the moment. You will also find a little bit involving wartime Partisans and Romance in my third novel ‘The Italian Connection.’ My site
Meanwhile, it’s been a busy week for the the lovely ladies lining up for the Miss Toscana (Tuscany) final. And, the winner is the beautiful Chiara Gorgeri! Methinks she may not be happy with this picture, obviously taken form a lower position from where she is standing, giving her thunder thighs and big hands! On the subject of big hands, did you notice that Michelangelo’s Statue of David has hands too big for his body? Sorry, I digress. But now my mind has wondered off even further! There are a lot of really hunky handsome men in italy, so why do we not have Mr Italy contests,? It all seems rather one-sided. What do you think?
And, back to the real world, last week I said that the Italian Government is about to implode and as anticipated the long suffering Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti has resigned. He is absolutely fed up with the bickering between the coalition parties and in particular cites Matteo Salvini as the main culprit, quote ‘He has been irresponsible and dangerous’ and many will agree. So what’s on the cards? Another election I guess. Watch this space.
Well, enough already. Time to think about Sunday lunch, to go out or not to go out that is the question. I”ll go and look in the fridge first…..
Hope you are enjoying a good weekend and have a great time in the week to come. Do drop me a line at the bottom of this page or email me at june.finnigan@virgin.net I love to hear from my readers.
Salute June x
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Pps We wnt out for lunch……again. I just can’t help it!
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I would like to mention the passing of my lovely Mother-in-Law Marie at the age of 93. Marie spent just over a year living with us in Tuscany and she absolutely loved the language, the people and the restaurants. She had learnt a little Italian and, whilst she mispronounced many words, like absolutamente instead of assolutamente, we loved her for it. She had a marvellous singing voice and could reach all the high notes, singing along to Andrea Bocelli; her favourite was Ave Maria of course! Forever with us, darling Marie. Foto P Finnigan
Back here in our little bit of Chianti it is the weekend after Ferragosto, and this year we feel almost completely abandoned. La Dispensa in Fiano remains open, bless them, for coffee and groceries catering for the few of us still here and the tourists. Reading the paper I see that 95% of Fiorentines have abandoned Florence for the coast or mountains, although some museums and art galleries remain open. This seems even more than last year! Roads are empty of traffic and most shops and venues will remain closed now until the second week in September; the Italians will try to stretch the holiday out as far as they can, love them! Roll on September.
Meanwhile, the papers are full of politicians frolicking in the sea sporting more than just a little too much belly. Parliament is in complete disarray, the alliance is imploding in on itself, so we would not be surprised to see elections in October. Funny that, probably also in the UK……
But what’s this? We also read the news about Trenitalia, our famous Italian train service, part owned by the government, is now an invested partner in in the UK’s London to Scotland High speed Rail Link! Italy does have a very good high speed service, linking Rome and Milan, Florence and Venice and several other places and, the fares are not high like the UK. In fact travel by rail in Italy is probably the cheapest way to get around, Just a warning though, when checking on train times, also take a look at the section on train strikes (sciopero(i), which is updated regularly due to the tendency for rail staff to strike as often as Italians take days off for festivals.
But, enough of this. Just a question, do you love trainers? Am I the only one who really dislikes trainers, except for sport of course, particularly worn with skirts and worse, evening dresses! I think they make the wearer look clunky or indeed frumpy in some cases. They also encourage people to stomp around, forgetting how to walk with a little bit of style or elegance. Also, men’s feet have become too soft for army boots! My man is an ex-Royal Marine and is horrified at the inability of young men joining the forces to wear the necessary tough boots. In the paper I found this crazy Italian guy who has a huge collection of the things. Well, it takes all sorts to make up a world, I guess.
Of course the high temperatures have been perfect for the bathing beauties parading in front of the judges for the Miss Toscana contest. Here in Italy it is still a very popular event, despite the rest of the western world frowning on the so-called exploitation of young women. Lets face it, Tuscany has some very beautiful young women and if they choose to put themselves on show, so be it.
Meanwhile, I have been seeing adverts in the paper for Autumn and Winter fashions! I never fail to be amazed at the number of successful Italian designers. I noticed this advert for the man in your life; of course all men’s clothes look better worn by Italians, yes I know I’m biased, apart from my English man who looks good in anything. It seems you can even find Pal Zileri’s made in Italy clothes at Harvey Nichols in London! I must say, I love the slightly half-mast trouser look and the flash of socked ankles. Pity about the model’s long faces though, but we can’t have everything I guess! 
We have just got back from C’era Una Volta our local ristorante, where it was nice and quiet and gently cooled by the air-conditioning. Now Paolo, the owner, has a liking for hot spicy food and makes the meanest chilli sauce. It has been said that in very hot weather you should drink hot tea to cool you down. Well, Paolo came out of the kitchen with his own cooling down recipe, home grown baby tomatoes cooked in a very hot (picante) sauce. Here he is displaying his huge pot of the stuff! My man quite likes the occasional pasta arrabiata but this, whilst smelling delicious, would blow your head off! We declined a tasting (assaggi) and went for the salsa pecoraia instead. If you are a meat eater, Paolo will bring out your huge raw Fiorentine Steak to view before he cooks it! All part of the theatre.
Well, if you were here in Tuscany at this very moment, you would be amazed to find hardly any British or American tourists in the area. Even the papers are talking about the huge drop in tourists from outside the Eurozone. The beaches of Versiglia, a typical high-end resort north of Pisa and usually packed solid with Russians and Americans, was photgraphed with empty sun-beds as far as the eye could see. We have to face it, exchange rates are apalling at the moment. One pound sterling will only buy you 1.09 euros today. When we came here nearly sixteen years ago, we could buy as much as 1.49 euros! This will change of course, but at this moment in time it seems to be having a profound effect on the tourist industry! Foto trip advisor.
But lets not worry about that. Just up the road from us is our most frequented ristorante called 
Of course pizza is so very Italian, but a less talked about food is the Italian Potato. I absolutely love the new potatoes here. Not the little round things that the Brits like, simply newly harvested ones in all shapes and sizes, sliced in their skins boiled and tossed in butter. The Itallians like to chop them up into small pieces and roast with garlic and rosemary twigs, also nice, but I prefer them as they are. In the picture is my favourite brand, which I can buy in our local Co-op.
Meanwhile, back in Fiano our local village, we catch up on the papers over coffee and can’t help but notice some fotos of the politician Licia Ronzulli of Forza Italia (Silvio’s party) in house with her new baby strapped around her, oblivious and sleeping as it’s impressive mother gets on with the debating and voting. I must say good for her. I know there are those out there that would not approve of such behaviour, but here in Italy all mothers would understand. Things have changed a lot since we have arrived. There are fewer grandparents taking care of the little ones, and the pre-school nurseries (Asilonido) are getting busier.
And, still on the subject of Politics, I see that Silvio Berlusconi, that veteran of all things controversial, is back in the news. Formerly an Italian Prime Minister presiding over four parliaments, a cruise ship singer and Bunga Bunga party goer, he currently represents North West Italy as MEP for his Forza Italia party and has a net worth of around $6.6 Billion due to his entrepreneurial activities. Now keen to give his political profile a boost, he has announced that he wants to launch a new party. I wonder what he will call it? Perhaps you could come up with some suitable names and I’ll let Silvio know! Leave your thoughts at the bottom of this page or email me at june.finnigan@virgin.net
You thought I had forgotten the Hunk of the Month didn’t you! Well I’m glad to say that I spotted a picture in The Telegraph the other day and I thought ‘perfect’! How, I wonder, have I only just come across Jack Savoretti? He’s apparently made six albums! He’s gorgeous, plays acoustic guitar and sings like a god. Yes, OK, he’s English but he is of Italian descent so he definitely qualifies, well you will hardly argue that point will you? Check him out on You Tube, you’ll be mesmerised! Foto found on twitter.
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