Welcome and Benvenuti to all my Lovely Followers around the World,
Sunday morning and it’s a little scary here in our normally sunny spot in Chianti. The wind is picking up and the shutters have started banging; yes, there is a storm coming. The forecast is for serious storms in both the north and south of Italy; we are not expected to be hit so badly, but I think we will tuck in for the day. I’ll make us some comfort food like pear crumble. Yes, I know, how English, but to be honest we mostly go out to eat Italian and I tend to keep to recipes I have known for years. I am not a creative cook, I’d prefer to employ one, but that would be very lazy indeed and my man actually likes my cooking, bless him. 
Anyway, you want to hear about the Music scene, don’t you! There is always a lot going on this time of year, with indoor concerts of course. It’s a tad too cold for outside gigs and the chance of rain is high in November. In the coming two to three weeks Bryan Adams will be in Bologna & Milan, Rickie lee Jones will be in Lucca (just an hour from us) Milan & Rome and Ian Anderson, he of Jethro Tull fame, is in Florence on 5th November. Now for those of you who have not heard of the American Rickie Lee Jones, I should tell you that she is a hugely talented singer, musician and actress. She has a real bluesy voice and great to listen to as well as to see on stage. Listen to her yourself on YouTube Virtually all visiting musicians get a full house in Italy as the Italians just love American and English music. And, if you are an aging rocker like me, you’ll be even more popular! So, if any musicians are reading this and you have not yet toured in Italy, you really should! Foto Shine a Light Tour Image.
Meanwhile, back in the relative calm of La Dispensa, our local coffee bar and alimentare in Fiano, my man and I are enjoying our coffee and reading the local and national newspapers. “ha, ha, just look at this picture!” My man passes his paper to me and there is a picture of Niccolo Machiavelli by Antonio Maria Crespi. Just look at that profile! There, almost four hundred years ago, was the original Mr Bean, or should I say Rowan Atkinson. There is also a family in Montespertoli that resembles Mr Bean, particularly the daughter, bless her cotton socks. Perhaps they are descendants of the great Machiavelli?
But lets move on and enjoy a bit more Italian Fashion. I spotted this perfect Autumn outfit yesterday. Personally I would wear flat boots with this, but on this model the whole outfit looks great. I have checked out the website for The Flexx and have to say it’s worth visiting. They are actually makers of women’s foot fashion with a factory in Pisa and shops in Pistoia and Florence; so very local! I found some gorgeous flat boots, moccasins and pumps. Oh, no, I also found some handbags! Take a look.
So, it’s late morning on Sunday and I must get my head around lunch. The sky is now very grey and threatening so I will go and make that crumble. I’ll come back and finish this blog a little later; don’t go away!
I’m back and the storm seems to have abated thank goodness. Feeling a little sorry for the England Rugby Team going home with their tails between their legs. But, so very disappointing.
Never mind, lets look forward to a good week. Life eeez good, life eeez now!
Salute June x
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Before I start, I must apologise. I have spent most of the weekend watching the Rugby World Cup, instead of writing to you. So I trust you can forgive me for making this blog a little shorter than usual as it is already lunchtime on Sunday! What a great match yesterday, England played incredibly well, the poor All Blacks couldn’t even get a look in. So today’s match between Wales and South Africa was rather an anti-climax. Anyway, now we know that the final next weekend will be England vs South Africa. Make sure you diary date to watch it! Foto UK Telegraph
I must also mention that the local farmers
Well, must dash off to lunch, but will add a little more to this blog when I return. OK, I’m back and ready to tidy this blog and get it off to you. But before I go I thought you might like to enjoy this bottle of Sticciano’s Cantastorie Rosso with me, which my man and I had with lunch at C’era una Volta Ristorante. Ooops sorry, we finished it off. Oh well, perhaps next time!
Sometimes a little sadness cannot be avoided, but at the same time a smile can come out of such occasions. On October 12 we said addio to that very funny Italian actor from Naples, Carlo Croccolo, a face never to be forgotten. He was 92. Carlo worked alongside the likes of Toto and many other famous Italian actors. What most of us did not realise was that he was a prolific Interpreter and dubber. He actually interpreted 118 films and was the dubbed voice behind some very famous people including Laurel and Hardy! He also wrote and directed three films of his own! He also worked in the theatre and on TV most recently playing the fisherman Totonno in the series ‘Capri’ as recent as 2010. I loved his character and it’s worth revisiting some of his old comedy films from the 50’s like ’47 dead talking’ with Toto.
Meanwhile, if you are walking through Piazza Santa Croce in Florence, staring down at your phone, you might bump into a Very Big Book. Yes, that’s what I said, a very big book! It is actually an instillation celebrating Zanichelli’s new amazing updated ‘Vocabularly of the Italian Language.’ A must for every Italian speaker or student of the language. Well that’s started my Christmas present list off then! 
Then, if you keep walking, and it also happens to be the evening, you can follow the smell of roasting Italian chestnuts. By this time I hope your phone will be put back in your pocket! There are lots of opportunities to join organised trips to find your own chestnuts in the Tuscan countryside. And, organised is better as there are a lot of hunters about carrying guns; at least one local hunter gets killed or badly injured every season! Foto BeautifulItaly.
But enough of that, back to my adored world of Italian fashion! Hand made Italian shoes and boots. Just that sentence alone makes one drool. My man has hand made shoes with his name inscribed inside. He once had to take a shoe off in a UK bank to prove who he was, as he had left his identification behind! It worked! Anyway, his first shoes he bought in Arezzo, but they were made in Florence. However, there is a factory near Arezzo called Soldini Scarpe, which you may like to visit if you are in the area. This advert reminded me. Don’t you just love the woman’s hair colour in the picture? 
What else did I want to tell you? Oh yes, how could I forget, Italian made Pasta of course! In the paper the other day, was a very revealing article on the making and exporting of Italian pasta. I knew that a lot of the stuff was made, but was amazed to find that 58% of production of spaghetti and macaroni is exported and worth 2.4 billion euros a year! Mind you, I know from experience that the quality here is the highest in the world. Even we gluten free diners can enjoy delicous Italian made pastas at home and in the ristorante. My last pasta dish was tagliatelle with fresh porcini; just wonderful. Porcini is being collected locally in the woods, I just adore this time of year. Not long before White Truffles (tartufo bianco) will be served at ‘C’era una Volta’, our favourite ristorante in Lucardo.
“look at this lot, all crushed under car tires and ignored!” My man, having been a champion player in his youth, is bemoaning the fact that hundreds of conkers are going to waste in the Piazza in Fiano, which is also a car park. There are several big Horse Chestnut trees growing around the edge of the Piazza that are looked after quite well and pruned when needed. They also provide shade for villagers during the summer months so that they can sit outside and enjoy village life. But, O Dio, the poor conkers are left to be crushed by the cars! My man decided to check this disaster out with Rossella at La Dispensa, our local alimentare and coffee bar. ‘No’ she replied in very good English, ‘We have never heard of conkers!’ My man was visibly upset by this. How could generations of children never have picked up the conkers, selecting the best, threading the old shoe lace through and leaving them to dry in the sun? He decided to rectify this and between us we threaded up two conkers and took them in this morning. Rossella and her handsome young amore, Alessio, thought this hilarious. So we showed them how to play, rather restricted by all the breakables around us and here is a foto. You have to look closely for the conkers, but I think my man will have started a whole new craze in Tuscany! Foto J Finnigan
Meanwhile, yesterday evening was the big celebration party for having won the beautiful hand-made Calambur banner. The banner was apparently made by a disabled person, I will try to find out more. If you want to see how the Italians celebrate, here is the village crammed into the Old Cinema, enjoying a feast of home-made food and gallons of wine. Foto Rione ‘Le Fonte’ Fiano, Facebook page.
Earlier in the day I managed to capture one of the villagers and got him to pose in the bar next to the banner. Let me introdude you to the very handsome Massimo Maccari, who always has a smile on his face and readily posed for his picture. Sorry ladies, I have to tell you that he is happily married and the father of two children, but I promise to find you a Hunk of the Month for October soon. Foto J Finnigan
On a quieter note, I do love Italian men’s classical clothes. Other than my man, very few men can wear beautiful tailored outfits and still look sexy. I know, here I am a bit of a Rock Chick, black is my signature colour, but I do like to be seen with a man who can really wear his clothes well. My man, being ex-military and having a naturaly tall balanced frame, finds it impossible to look scruffy. Clothes hang on him like he is made for them. The alternative to being like my Englishman is to be born Italian, as male models here just have that subtle edge. Don’t you agree? 
Then I noticed something quite different for we ladies (I prefer to say girlies, but you know how it is). This outfit from Fracomina is strikingly different, a subtle designer edge to the jeans and matching cuffs, very clever. And, the jaunty little cap to set it off! I would order this but just need to slim down a bit first…… 
Earlier in the week two copies of that gorgeous magazine Envy Italy arrived. I do like the hard copies, but you can also read it free on-line, so no need to miss out! My beautiful daughter Sharon is joint Editor of this lovely publication, which is full of everything you need to know about the best things that Italy has to offer. The theme is ‘Eat, Stay, Love’ and this Autumn Winter edition has a focus on ‘gourmet’ featuring the finest foods and wines in the Country. Wonderful features too, so go on spoil yourselves! 
Meanwhile, Fiano is preparing for the formal celebration of the winning the much coveted banner at the Calambur event a couple of weeks ago! If you woud like to meet the locals and join in the celebrations get your tickets ASAP!
They are often assisted by the big gorgeous white Maremmena sheepdogs, easily mistaken for sheep, which certainly fools any predators! The resulting cheese is called Pecorino (Italian for sheep) and is truly delicous ranging form a very soft young version to a very mature hard one. Other cheeses to love include Buffala Mozzarella and the creamy soft Burrata, which I adore, the latter being made from both cow and sheep’s milk, so you woud need to check if avoiding Lactose. Foto petGuide.com
Meanwhile, yesterday Sunday, the weather was lovely and Roberto Manetti, our local sculptor, finally unvieled his lovely sculpture, ‘Le Speranza che Le Mani’, which does not easily translate into English. So perhaps one of my local Italian readers might send me the English version. The sculpture shows three of Roberto’s charming little characters holding hands across a globe, which signifies to me the reaching out in friendship across the world. I love it. Foto J Finnigan
And, the final celebration of the week was Silvio Berlusconi’s 83rd birthday. Well, love him or hate him, he keeps forging on, at the edge of the political scene with his long suffering and much younger fiancé, Francesca Pascale, who was absent from the birthday party in Arcora. How long are you normally a fiancé? It’s been a few years now. I wonder who is postponing the wedding; Silvio, Francesca or Dudu the dog. There are rumours……watch this space!
Meanwhile, that other great Italian beauty and brilliant actress Sophia Loren, has been celebrating her 85th! Can you believe it? she still scrubs up very well indeed and why not I hear you say. For me Sophia will always be the most iconic Italian actress of all time. She was so good at serious and funny parts, playing opposite the likes of Peter Sellers and Marciello Mastroianni. I have a whole collection of DVD’s and, dare I say, old videos of her films that I will watch again at Christmas! Just noticed in the paper that she accompanied eight-five year old Valentino to his Green Carpet Fashion Award ceremony! Rock on Sophia!
Back in our local village of Fiano, my man and I take our morning coffee and read the newspapers at La Dispensa. By the way, La Dispensa translates to The Larder. An English friend thought it was a little confusing because it sounds like Dispensary, which is normally found in Chemists. So here you are, the true meaning is correct as it is a grocers, butchers and bar combined. Back to yesterday’s paper and I noticed an advert for a new Festive Art Exhibiton at the famous Palazzo Strozzi in Florence. This one I must attend as it brings together the likes of Gauguin, Matisse and Picasso! It starts on 28 September and runs until 12 January. Yes, I know, yet another excuse to have lunch in Florence!
Meanwhile, September is the month for the Annual Slow Travel Fest, which is hugely popular and takes walkers slowly and gently through the Tuscan countryside whilst stopping off for wine and food tastings, Art and Music. What a lovely way to spend three days. Go to 
Roberto Manetti, our lovely sculptor friend and all round nice man, has donated a sculpture to Fiano, but oh no, heavy rain has postponed the unveiling so make sure you are there next Sunday 29 September at 7pm instead! The sculpture will be unveiled in the Communual Gardens behind the apartment block opposite La Dispensa. My man and I visited Roberto’s studios a couple of years ago, his characters seem to be part of their own world of little people and, most of his works have a little dog or cat looking out. I just love them. See next week’s blog for pictures of the actual event!
Well, would you believe it, Silvio Berlusconi’s ex-wife Veronica Lario has has been told by an Italian court that she will no longer receive her monthly alimony payments of 1.4 million euros, yes, read this again 1.4 million euros, from billionaire Silvia Berlusconi, as it has ruled that Silvio had been unfairly treated! Who the hell really needs that much a month anyway? Well, Veronica does have cash deposits of some 16 million, jewels and a real estate business, so methinks she won’t go hungry. There will, however, be another small dent to her wealth as she will have to pay back around 60 million of alimony, which the courts said she had no right to! Well, that’s the Berlusconi planet for you. Meanwhile, it looks like his political career is on the rise again too! Watch this space. foto La Nazione.
Meanwhile, back in the real world and in my case, our little bit of Chianti, it’s fig or Ficchi time! I love Italian figs and Paolo has just started serving them up at Ristorante C’era Una Volta in Lucardo. When the olive wood platter arrived with a wonderful display of figs and Pecorino cheeses, I couldn’t wait to dig in, then remembered you guys! I should have taken a foto before I started eating! Anyway, here is the last one for you to drool over. it is also Zucchini (courgette) Flower time; Paolo’s Zucchini Flower fritters are to die for! Foto J Finnigan
Now another important indulgence for me is my four weekly visit to Sandra at La Parrucchiera in Certaldo for ‘colore.’ Sandra is my hairdresser and has been for the last fifteen years! Fortunately, she is a lot younger than me, so should be around even when I am in my nineties. My man understands that, no matter what my state of physical or mental health, he must get me to Sandra’s. It is also the only time that I have the chance to read some glossy magazines and last week I spotted these gorgeous Hand Made Italian Moccasins. As you know, I am dead against trianers as a fashion item, other than for sport. All I can say ladies, if you want to look good in flats here’s the answer; beautiful and comfortable at the same time! 
Where were we? Did you know it is the 50 year anniversary of Woodstock. Woodstock? Now come on, even my grandchildren have heard of Woodstock and by the way, love my music from the 60’s an 70’s. Our local village of Fiano is celebrating this momentous event in the Piazza with great food and two bands thumping out the original music! I absolutely adore the Italians for their love of great music and bands. Where else in the world can one be an aging rocker and be considered normal? I sometimes include the song ‘Woodstock.’ by Mathew’s Southern Comfort in my concert repertoire. Pop on to You tube and have a listen.
Of course the next thing we have to enjoy is Il Calambur. This is the annual battle of Certaldo Commune’s factions (Quarteriere), ours is Fiano, which won the year before last. The big event is held in central Certaldo and we hope the this year our village will come out on top again! There will be sporting and intelligent tests and a lot of fun. Put 15th September in your diary! The flags will be flying soon!
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. 
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.’ 
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.
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.
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