Zampa's New Carrier

As many of you know I have a cat. Zampa. And he's not just any typical cat, he's a rather large cat. About 25 lbs to be exact. I don't know how he got that way as he's not an over-eater. Not only is he big, he's also very long.

Being as large as he is presents several problems. He got too big for the standard enclosed cat litter box so we had to get creative. We wanted one with a door and the larger ones didn't come with one so we modified it. I've spared you the litter box picture. The latest problem has been with his cat carrier. He just didn't fit into it anymore. So today we purchased a new carrier for our beloved kitty. It's for a small dog. And it's got wheels as he's a bit too heavy to carry around.

So far he seems to like it.

The vet is going die of laughter when he sees us roll in with this. But he will be happy as he'll be able to examine Zampa without removing him from the carrier. Zampa isn't too fond of the vet.

Franco Biondi Santi - A very wise man

For those of you who've read my other blog, Winesnob's Blog, you'll remember that I spoke about the history of Brunello di Montalcino and the family that invented it. I also got to meet and chat with Dr. Franco Biondi Santi. Franco and his wife, Boba, will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary this year. I almost made it to 10 years (just shy 6 months) in mine and was pretty proud about it. During our chat Franco shared with me the secret to a long marriage. He told me that the only true secret was that the man just needed to always say yes to his wife.
A very smart man indeed.

Dear Mr Ferrari

Dear Mr Ferrari,

Just a quick note to apologize for not being able to get out of your way today while travelling down the Chianti highway. It's not that I didn't see your pretty blue car with tan leather interior as it was stuck to my rear bumper but there was really nowhere for me to go on that narrow winding two-lane highway. I sincerely hope that this did not take away from your enjoyment of that scenic roadway.
Such a shame that you did not have anyone with you to share in the experience as I did.
Perhaps next time you may want to spend the extra and get a convertible. It worked for me.

xoxo

And this means what?

This sign was in my hotel room this weekend. Where can I get a self-cleaning room?

Tanks

I must not have gotten the memo

I've been back in Italy now for almost 2 weeks and in that time I've only left the house a handful of times. It always takes me time to wrap my head around being back here. To re-adjust my expectations. Everyone always says how envious they are of me because I live in such a beautiful part of the world. This is a beautiful place but keep in mind that nowhere is without it's challenges. And believe me, Italy is an incredibly challenging place to live.

As tourists, you come here for a week or two, take in the culture, eat amazing food and drink fabulous wine. Then you go back home. Any inconvenience you may have encountered in that time you just attribute to your travel experience and laugh it off. But what if those experiences were a continual part of your daily life? Not so funny now.

A couple of my trips outside the safety of my home were to the grocery store. I've been very spoiled in the last year living back in Vancouver as I live above one of the best supermarkets in the city. I got very used to just grabbing my canvas shopping bag (because I'm good like that...and I get extra Save-On points), heading down the elevator and walking 500 ft to the grocery store. I would just buy what I needed for that particular day. No need to shop for the entire week. Here, a little more planning is required as I don't want to drive to the grocery store every single day.

So on my very first trip out of the house I headed to the grocery store. Now there are things I like about the grocery store here and things that drive me absolutely mental. Let's start with the thing I like. The grocery store chain I go to has a hand held bar-code scanner that you pick up at the entrance and it sits in a handy holder on the shopping cart. In Vancouver we have cup holders on our shopping carts as god forbid you go anywhere without a cup of coffee. The bar-code scanner allows you to instantly scan your purchases so you breeze through the checkout. I love this feature except for the 1 time out of 10 when you have to unload everything just to check that you're not scamming the system. The other thing I like.......ok, there isn't any but at least there's one.

Now as for what drives me mental. In every single supermarket here you have only one point of entry. Imagine going to Safeway and being forced to enter at one door. No big deal you say. Well, you're wrong. The problem with this is that you have everyone concentrated in one area of the supermarket. If you have one annoying shopper you're stuck with them until the store opens up enough for you to lose them. And in my case, if they haven't showered in a while, you're stuck with that stink bomb while picking out your produce. (because the produce department is always the first area you go through). This happened to me both times I ventured to the supermarket in the last 2 weeks. Which brings about the question, was there a memo about not washing due to some environmental crap? Like, let's not wash for a few days so we can save water and stop polluting with soap. One lady was particularly ripe. And, as luck would have it, she was shadowing me in the produce section. At one point, I had to reach across her to grab my lettuce. By now I was so disgusted that I pinched my nose with one hand, grabbed the lettuce with the other and muttered 'stinky stinky'. Whether she heard me or not I don't know because I saw an opening and got as far away from her as possible.

Now that was my second unpleasant encounter of that particular shopping trip. Italians are not a tactful people. More often than not when I venture out I'm stared at like some alien being. Why? Because I'm tall. But I'm really not all that tall but here they look at me like I'm a giant. Perhaps it's because I don't slouch and I carry myself with purpose. Or maybe because I take the time to put on make-up and make myself presentable. Who knows. What I do know is some days I'm really not in the mood for it and that day was one of them. Just as I was entering through that one gated section of the supermarket, some man stops and just stares at me. I think his mouth gaped open a bit too. Real subtle. Not being in the mood for this nonsense, I asked him if he'd gotten a good look. He turned away rather quickly. This isn't the first such supermarket encounter of that nature that I've had. I actually had one man follow me around the supermarket, stand in front of me various times and just stare, 3 times to be precise.

How I miss the anonimity of Vancouver. I love being able to go about my business without being scrutinized. This just isn't possible here. It's a small town and I stand out. So, that's why it takes me time before I'm comfortable venturing out again. In the meantime, I'll hang out at home with my cat watching tv. Much less stressful.

Change... What does it really take to bring it about.

We've heard alot about change in the last year. In North America we were inundated with slogans regarding change. A major political campaign was won based on that promise. But what does it take to bring about change?

I've been back in Italy for a little over a week now and on this beautiful sunny Tuesday afternoon, I have to attend a funeral. I did not know the deceased but I do know his sister so out of respect I will attend. Marco (the deceased) was 26 years old and the victim of his own stupidity. Sounds harsh but I think you'll agree if you read on.

Early Saturday morning Marco and his 3 friends decided to go out dancing after celebrating a friends' birthday. Travelling about 130 km/h (that's 80 mph for those who are metrically challenged) on a 2 lane, dark and winding road he lost control of his BMW 320i, spun and hit a wall. All the occupants of the car were killed on impact. They were between 23 - 26 years old. 2 girls, 2 boys. Marco's 3 friends were all only children. It has been established that alcohol was not a factor.

Ever since I've been in Italy these type of events have been occuring on a regular basis every Friday and Saturday night. The weekend papers are filled with similar stories. To be honest, I've never even bothered to read the accounts but on this occasion I did. The article I read seemed more like a Grey's Anatomy screenplay than a newspaper article. So with over 3 full pages dedicated to this tragedy, how come it still happens?

I know we've all done stupid things in our youth, myself included. I'm sure that anyone over 40 has gone out drinking and driven home when they had absolutely no business behind the wheel. Drinking and driving wasn't taboo in the 80's. It took a group of mothers who lost their children to hammer the message home and society is much better for it. But how many years did it take to bring about that change? At least 10. And without the threat of loss of licence, fines and jail, it would have taken longer.

So what should the Italians do? They drive like maniacs all the time. They feel that speed is their god given right. Even as I write this, I can hear the traffic on the street below me. I live on a busy street in front of an elementary school. The average speed, 70 km/h (44 mph). It's a 2 lane road with driveways, homes, shops and street parking. There has never once been a speed trap set up. And the irony is that there is a police station on the corner.

Perhaps all the parents who've lost children in similar situations should band together and lobby for change. One of the fathers, after seeing his daughters' corpse in the morgue, implored a police officer to start suspending drivers licences as it was the only way to save lives. But will it happen? They only started punishing drunk drivers a couple of years ago.

What seems so blatantly obvious, at least to me, isn't here. I've been complaining about it for 6 years. Been seeing the headlines and yet it keeps happening. So how long before things actually change? How long before people realise that roadways are not racetracks? And that 80 km/h (50 mph) isn't an acceptable speed on every road and in any weather. That each straight stretch of road isn't your cue to floor the accelerator. In the meantime there will continue to be grieving families and weekend newspaper headlines.

And people like me who will be attending funerals on beautiful sunny afternoons.