Food I'll miss the most: PIZZA

Thinking about the food I'll miss the more once back to France, only Pizza (and maybe icecream) come to my mind. I already talked about my pasta experience, but I never talked about my 2 years long relationship with pizza…

In France, I may eat pizza once a month, and most of the time, it’s because I do it by my own. In Italy, it happened I ate pizza twice a day: I KNOW, this is crazy.  

In France, pizzas are expensive and even if I live in a town where you can find probably more than 30 pizzerias just along the river, it’s almost impossible to find one cooking them properly. Most of the time, the crust looks like crepe, they put industrial tomato sauce, and greasy emmental. When you eat pizza in France, you feel like getting bread with it because they put too many stuff on it…

In Italy, you can find pizza everywhere and all style. Never go in a bakery at lunch time if you're starving or you will feel like buying  5 different types of slices. In Italy, the dough is awesome. The tomato sauce as well, and the mozzarella, gives an amazing taste to the pizza. It does not feel greasy, it’s tasty. Most of the time, I was prefering eating pizza cause I was considering it healthier than meat and veggies that were drowning in olive oil…  Mozzarella with pepperoncino flakes and rucola was my favourite.  Simple but good. I would have loved finding goat cheese pizza but there, it was not really possible. In brief,  I had so many pizzas in Italy that it probably became the bottom of my food pyramid… 

I remember one of my last days, I brought an Italian friend to a napolitan place, she told me it was probably the best pizza she ever had, I was so proud, I had become a pizza expert,  I knew the places where we could get litteraly pizzas orgasms.

And if ever it was not about napolitan style, I could always impress with quantity. Once, I went to a place where you can get meters of pizzas… Another concept, called giropizza, was to pay a fixed price and then you get all you can eat pizza until you can’t, the rule being: the table had to finish all the pizzas brought... aweful... I remember as well bringing a friend to a place where the pizza were more than 40cm diameter, the guy sitting next to us said to my friend: “here, they do the biggest pizza in the world !” my friend, thinking “why Italians have to think they always have the best/biggest…” well for pizza, I actually don’t care :-)

Before leaving, I went one last time to a pizzeria I was coming often when I was a student. It was a while I haven’t been there so the guy was really happy to see me. Once again, like everywhere in Italy, it was not about take away pizza, it was about getting an augmented product/service. The guy was nice, they made me a heart shape pizza as they used to do for me in the past. Such tiny positive things that contribute to make your day… And all this for 4euros with a coke… I know this is crazy (again). 

Pizza was my favorite food in Italy and for sure I’ll have to come back to get some. 

Evening metro

The other day I took the metro in Paris: only sad depressive faces, no hope. I had forgot that each time I take the metro there, people look like "about to commit suicide". I then remembered how kind of funny it was to take transportation in Milan, there was always someone that would speak too loud so you could have fun while listening. One of my favourite topic, was around 7.30pm when the mums were at the phone telling their children/husband to be patient or they could always find food in the fridge. It was like if the mum was the god of the food, the only one able to feed her family and that if ever she was late back from work, a catastrophe would happen and the family would have to quest for ready made food... Mums were: “there is this ... from yesterday or you can get some salame or there are eggs and pancetta, you can prepare some pasta”. You could feel the guilt in their voice. Most of the time, they were always with another girl friend, trying to help (or not) by giving ideas of quick recipes. I was finding this incredible, how women are still considered as the one that has to cook for all. Why do they still feel this guilt? So far, guys have hands and should be able to cook as well. Is it at church on Sundays that we teach them to be a good wife and supply good home made meals to their family otherwise they stand for failure/shame of their home ?!!! 

Anyway, even if Italy is not a feminist country for sure, in 2 years in Milan I never experimented such sadness in public transportation than in Paris. Each time I go there, I have the feeling of being in death row, and for sure, this is a failure of our french (parisian) society...

Leaving Italy: merchandising and design...

Last week end, while I was walking in Milan, paying attention to every details, so I could capture them forever in my mind, I was trying to understand why I loved so much this town and what I’ll be missing once back to France.

For example, each time I have to think about Paris, "show off and cold" come to my mind. On the contrary, I consider Milan “boiling” and trendy without being bossy. You can feel humility in the postwar constructions, acting like imperfection stains in the middle of the historic architectural palaces. The roads, poorly maintained, sometimes dirty, contrast with the beauty of showrooms and palaces. 

Milan is not about doing it big, it’s not like striking by being overwhelming, nothing compared to Times Square or Dubai for example. Milan is about surprising even in the tiny places you would never expect. 
I’ve been trying to figure out why even the smallest shop in Milan is cool. OK, I understand it’s a bigger town than the one where I’ve been raised, though I like thinking that Italians are different and can't consider experimenting a place without design, that it's part of their culture. When you know as well, that you have more architects in Italy than in the rest of Europe, you ‘re in a way increasing the proportion of having the right "connections" to setup your place or to have out of the box/cool ideas….

Living in Milan for me, was like having the feeling of being in a bubble, where merchandising would meet design and art. Every week, taking the bus and passing in front of COIN 5Giornate windows displays was a bit like my treat, each time I was wondering which crazy idea they would have come up with that time…

This is part of the things I will probably miss the more: in Milan, shops are not about selling a product, they re about selling an experience. Same for the restaurants or the bars (when you skip the more traditionalist), you go there and it’s a bit like a game, if you’re paying attention to details, you will discover small “gifts” that were left while doing the layout of the place. The other day, I went to Pasta Madre restaurant in Porta Romana, I found the place awesome, the clothes hanger was made with kitchenware, the door handle was made with a trowel. When I took a picture of the ceiling made of recycled carton roll, one of the customers started watching up and suddenly discovered this detail. 
It's about watching and observing.In an era, where we promote the 5 senses experience and eco sustainable design, eating or shopping in a surprising and enjoyable place, is enhancing your customer experience. You may be conscious of it or not, but even if don’t pay attention to it, no need to be a design expert to feel the wellness associated. That is what is transforming any customer experience into a nice one...

Calder style using small tables at Cassina

other examples (links): 
DADA meeting point merchandising
Replay Milano

Coffee at the counter...

Yesterday, while I was having my coffee at the counter, it came to my mind that it was probably one of the last time I was drinking a coffee in a bar  in Italy. I had a look around me, listened to the noise of the plates and cups extracted of the dishwasher, saw the guy managing perfectly all his actions to make 2, 3, 5 coffees at the same time (in a minimum of gesture). I noticed the old boiserie,  the smell of the coffee, the guy knowing by heart each customer preference and I thought how funny it was, that morning coffee had became one of my favourite daily routine, whereas when I arrived, I was finding it stressful. I remember how weird it was for me to see people getting their “shot” of coffee and leaving. 

In France, we have the tradition of seating to sip our coffee. I remember as well how I started loving that moment, like if every morning, when I was getting up, I was having my injection of Italian culture before starting the day. It was not anymore about considering this moment as drinking a coffee alone and in a hurry, no, it was like if I had finally discovered the Italian secret: the art of getting a concentrate of social life mixed with caffeine energy in less than 3 minutes… It was about small pleasures, and for this, no need of the volume of an American coffee…

Leaving Italy: one of those morning moments...

This morning, still in my “Im leaving Milan soon” mindset, I had the most amazing walk. In 10 min, I saw a guy staring at me (from the tits to the butt), a old lady wearing fur coat  and carrying  her fashion tiny chiwawa dog  (yes we can kill mink but dogs are like babies..), a guy checking that the chrome of his motorbike was OK, after his girlfriend fell while trying to jump on it (why should we check if the girl is ok too ?…). I arrived then at the level of road works, there the 5 working men were working while watching all the girls going around. I thought, this is amazing, this is I.T.A.L.Y. Even if I have to be honest, cause I probably never paid so much attention in my own country, the fact that it’s striking me even after 2 years, means the overall culture is different. Italy is like a SHOW (for people like the French)… And either you  laugh about it or you hate it….

Milano Cimitero Monumentale

Working in the area, and knowing I was about to leave Milano, one day I finally escaped during “pausa pranzo” to visit Cimitero Monumentale.

I’m not really into visiting cemetery and taking pictures of graves, I find it weird and voyeurist.  But that day, my curiosity won, everybody was keep talking about it, I could not leave Milano without visiting it...

Without knowing, I probably picked the best moment of the year to do it: with All saints, graves were covered by flowers and the winter light of midday was giving a strange ambiance…

I have to admit I would have never imagined what I saw, I was expecting big but not so crazy insane big. This cemetery is like a Versailles for dead people, even if  I would consider it more like a Disneyworld: every famous “name” has its own doll house and tried to make it the most appealing. So walking in the alley, you go from the egyptian pyramid, the greek temple, roman architecture, Indian influence small palaces to very modern structures.

 

Initially it has been build mid 19^th century to gather all the small cemeteries of Milan and a lot of famous people are buried there. But I experimented it as a completely megalomaniac place. It reminded me UBU ROI from Alfred Jarry, where a ridiculous image is given to "fame and power" greedy people, afraid of death cause nobody will remember them, and so try to find a way of leaving a trace.

While I was walking there, I tried to focus only on architecture, to avoid the discomfort left by watching graves. Yet, the sculptures on the graves have been made to catch the eyes, they are everywhere, big, in bronze, scary. Even the sun or the flowers, don’t manage to give them a quiet and peaceful attitude, it’s even worse, they become surrealist. You can’t avoid feeling the pain everywhere: the sculptures are standing for people praying in the pain, skeletons, death metaphor… Like if each time you have to think about dead people you have to feel guilty and bad. I’m not saying death is not a big deal, I’m just saying I prefer to keep a positive souvenir of the people I met and are dead, more than feeling about to commit suicide cause, me, I’m still here. I remember visiting a cemetery during all saints in Morne à l'eau in Guadeloupe, the graves were giving you a healthy feeling. They had lighted candles everywhere, and the warmth of the candles was giving a positive/joyful atmosphere. A good way to remember people you used to know, nothing compared to the traditionalist “ I have to whip myself cause I have to feel pain of death”…

A DOG LIFE

The other day, while I was under the rain, walking in the streets, I noticed several  dogs wearing jackets and I thought “ahh right it’s winter, I had forgot… dogs wear clothes in Italy during winter.”

Actually, when I arrived in Italy, it’s been one of the first things that stroke me: the Italian dog icon.

I may be wrong but I have the feeling that Italians have a special relationship with their dogs. Dogs are like an extension of themselves, like “cool” accessories. You watch the dog and it gives you an idea of which identity/image the owner wants to give of him. Getting the wrong dog or the wrong dog’s outfit and you gave a wrong idea of you. OK I may exaggerate but I’m sure I’m not that far from reality.

It didn't take me hours analyzing the phenomenon to understand that dogs have  either to be small/ cute or need to be in 2, like if,  having a pair (like a pair of earings), was a sign of breeding quality race and hence luxury goods.

As I mentioned earlier, they need as well to wear clothes during winter, I think I will never forgot the day I saw a guy with a Montcler jacket and his dog wearing a mini one, awesome. 

I saw so many petshops with “nice” outfits, there is a real business there, I mean at the end why fashion should be only for human beings? dogs must be cold as well… Honestly, I don’t know. I hesitate between finding it ridiculous or shameful since a lot of homeless can’t even wear proper clothes during winter.

The other trend  I did notice is to have a dog pooh bags stock on the leash, this means you re conscious that its really not nice to have dirty side walks and to slalom between dog poohs. 

Still, that does not seem to erase the problem, the first apartment I was living in, was located in an area where all the dogs where just coming to poop. I keep reminding the billboard in front of the school saying: “please this is a kindergarden, have your dog poop somewhere else” but I guess Italians were refusing to read it. 

I'd like to mention though, I haven’t been the only one shocked by this behaviour and that tried to understand it. I read an article once, written by a British, he was wondering why Italians are able to have so beautiful interiors (and be maniac with cleaning) but once they’re outside, don’t care about turning the space filthy…

The art of parking your car and bringing you back home.

Yesterday I went out, and when the time to come back home arrived, my friend proposed to drive me home. That’s the beautiful part of living in a country as Italy: whereas I could have died walking hours in France, I never saw any Italian guy not bringing you back home safe. I can say that first I was feeling like a “pain in the ass” when they were proposing, but now I kind of enjoy it even if always thankful.

Anyway, that’s not the topic of that post. So basically, we walked until the car, one of my friends was keep saying he was not parked properly (something usual in Italy too, I never saw someone parking his car properly). When we arrived there, he had a fine, he took it and put it on another car. He explained to me that he had “borrowed” the fine to an unlucky guy so police would think he had already a fine. I was flabbergasted. He told me: “yes we’re abusing of the “sfortuna” of a guy for our own sake” and then added with a big smile: “tomorrow, we will be on your blog”. So I replied “you know usually, I don’t write about a behavior until I see it reproduced 2 or 3 times, I don’t write clichés based on one occurrence”. So he told me “well, believe me, this is something common in Italy”…

This is quite funny how this country is about avoiding the rules, like if rules were made not to be respected if they bother you and prevent you from reaching your goal, meaning finding a convenient parking lot, close to the place you go. Since I’m in Italy, I saw my friends parking everywhere but still though going through a complete analyzing process where to put their car, as if they were hidden rules saying that some specific areas were forbidden but fine free. I have to admit, I still haven’t been able to understand the difference, why a lot 2 meters upfront would be ok and the other one not, why you can park on this sidewalk but not that one… this is a mystery, all I know is that it works, I never came back seeing a fine on a car, and when they can’t do it, they can always steal  a fine if ever there are some around…  

Economy: Credit card, Scontrino, Pizzo and workforce system

This morning, I went to make my monthly pass for the metro. I asked just in case, if I could pay with credit card and of course they said no. I come from a region of France where I was using my credit card for even 1 euro. I always been scared of having cash in my purse, I think it’s scary, I always feel I’m going to be robbed and as well you realize at which speed you spend a lot of money. Actually the only time I got around 100euro in my purse, I got my purse stolen (murphy s law...). The problem is that in Italy, I don’t know if it’s a result of the old mafia black market or the fee that shops have to pay for the credit card machine, but they simply refuse the cards. You pay everything with cash, your electricity,  your transportation pass, most of the restaurants, bars, last time I’ve been to “Terme”, I had to pay the entrance with cash and I had no cash with me… It’s been now 2 years I’m facing that aspect of their culture and I’m still not used to it. Each time I get pissed off cause you know that potentially, if you don’t have cash, you can’t do anything, you’re blocked.

Besides, I can't stop thinking : “waoh, must be so easy to hide money if you pay everything with banknotes…” But on the other side, the first time I went to a place and let my "scontrino" there, the people yelled at me until I came back. Was really weird for me, cause in France, you simply don’t give it or the guy throws it for you. But here, I got several shops/bars/supermarket pissed off cause I didn’t take the scontrino. One shop explained to me that they’re legally obliged to make a receipt and give it to you. A friend told me that if they don’t do it, they can get a fine, this has been implemented to fight black market. She told me as well that technically they have to produce it but the customer is not getting a fine if he doesn’t have it ! So basically now I take it and throw it immediately when I found a trash can…

Though, I read the other day that 1 out of 3 shops in Milan still pay the “pizzo” to the Mafia. When I went to Sicily I read a lot of thing about it but could not imagine it was still so active in the North. The ratio looks unbelievable. I really have difficulty in understanding how the economy works. I  consider Italy as a modern country but there are still a lot of things not regulated. Most of the people I know work without contract, there is no min salary like you can find in some countries, people work during nights, weekends. Having a diploma means doing what they call "internship" for 2-3 years ( basically it means no contract, and not getting paid, I call it black market). Women that stop working for raising their baby know they will probably never work again, less than 30% of the women work.  In brief, the working population is blocked in a vicious circle and does not know how to go out of it.

Anyway, I noticed that Italians have in their culture to go to the restaurant, eat pizza, take a coffee at the bar on a regular basis. Even if they don’t have a awesome salary, they keep in their culture the fact of going out and “godersi la vita”. It's a pity to have such a nice country to live in, where people are prone to enjoy life, and meanwhile have a workforce system that makes the people worried about how to make both ends meet and the younger disgusted by work market. OK I know crisis is everywhere but here the situation seems to have always been like that. My grandparents left  Italy more than 60 years ago to find work in France, and I have the feeling that even if I love Italy, I'll have to go back to France soon to find a paid job...

It’s not about being controversial but being skeptical... My Excelsior experience or how both my rational and emotional sides tell me it’s all wrong.

Around one month ago, Excelsior opened in Milan. Officially launched during vogue fashion night out, this has been spotted as THE fashion/architecture event of the season. I have to admit I was thrilled to go there after all the articles I had read about it. The rendering were awesome and just thinking Jean Nouvel was in charge of the architecture, was turning me into an excited curious freak. So I organized myself to go there ASAP and got finally the opportunity to enter the shop 2 weeks ago. 
In fact, at the day of today I'm still skeptical...

I tried to get the point of view of some interior designers and architects I know, but visibly I’m the only one thinking the result is deluding, and I don't really understand why. Maybe it’s my marketing background that prevents me from liking the project. When I was in school I  always refused to do a project just by jumping directly on a solution. For me the difficulty of interior design, is standing in the fact that designing is not doing a painting i.e. putting nice stuff together, no, designing is about understanding the purpose of a place, the mood we want to set and how we ensure customer is enjoying his experience so he will turn back and trigger again a purchase (in case of a shop).

With Excelsior,  I have the feeling that they've been using  the strengths of the brands and the luxury positioning as a key factor success. The place becomes secondary whereas it was supposed to be a monument in itself.  I don't know the marketing strategy, but I was expecting a place where fashion addicts could go and buy something more than occasionally. In fact, apart Ladurée Macarons and maybe Tiffany necklace for Xmas, I don’t really see why you should go there. I have no doubts  though the place will  work. Part of the turnaround will come from the ground floor where people, that can’t afford upper floors, will come for a drink or buy Ladurée macarons, just to feel they part of a trendy chic community. The second part of the turnover will come from rich tourists, that will come there just for compulsive buying in a famous place.

But let’s talk about the overall environment. When I entered there I had great hope, first because I entered from the wrong side, so I didn’t have all the lightings, nope, I just had a nice windowshop display and all the inside was hidden, like to create an effect of surprise, or setting the idea that the place is chic.

I got in and felt immediately strike by a stifling environment, I was almost feeling in apnea, like missing air. The height and the thickness of the walls give you the feeling they're bending over you. Everything is declined around a concrete hue, and the circulation flow is a real labyrinth. I haven’t read anything about the architectural concept apart the fact they wanted to keep some architecture of the old theatre it used to be, but my first impression has been quite negative. 
After trying to understand what was the customer flow, funny I experimented the same last year when they opened the museum of novecento, the place was awesome architecture but a "shit" in term of circulation, anyway, I finally found my way up.

Basically, you have 3 options to go up: you can take futuristic elevators, a bit like in star wars movies, basic stairs (which are hidden) or  escalators with walls from each side covered with led screen. We took the escalator option (the main flow one). It was like being in 6flags or spacemountain, it was narrow, chaotic, I was feeling trapped,with no possibility to turn back. The LED light was aggressive, giving an electro night club effect to the overall environment. It’s a bit like being in a theme park, but without the fun and the interaction with the user.

Once you arrive to the first floor, you get wrapped by a doom light giving you the idea you’re surrounded by fog, the lines are cold, straights, everything is made around one material, it looks austere and old. The irony is that I love pure lines, concrete, minimalist style but here, something is missing: there is no emotion. Weird as well they developed a project all around concrete and doom light knowing the trend for the future is for living material, that give a natural and more cosy effect...

I remember as well when I received a fb notification from Skitsch saying they have been chosen as official furniture vendor, I was really curious… Well, I would not like to be showoff but let’s say that I don’t understand why everybody keeps rejecting my job position in Merchandising…  Skitsch merchandising was simply shit, I mean we’re 21^st century, merchandising became a piece of art for luxury or trendy brands, just think about Louis Vuitton shop windows or Diesel ones. Here there was the chair of Jean Marie Massaud standing there alone, and some products put random.  A bit further, they were 2 luggages on the ground, ready to fall, I’m not sure if it was decoration though…

2^nd floor  looks like a old museum abandoned. As merchandising, the clothes are embedded like old prêt a porter piece of collection, I was ready to put my hand on the table to check if there were some dust. Expensive Manolo or Repetto ballerines are standing at dog/kid height, no doubt that when this tiny place will get crowded, people will push them with their bags or others.

There is  no natural light to check the colour /material of the clothes. The products are completely killed by the environment instead of being put first. Basically you go there only because you know already the product and want to buy it in a trendy place.

Going downstairs is a problem as well, no indications, it’s kind of funny that for a place like Coin or Rinascente you give no indications how to move. You don’t invest in such a big structure if you can’t have people buying easily.  

In brief, I really have mixed feeling. Did they want to develop a new type of shop and I’m not ready yet ? Were they missing time before the aperture? In any case, according to me, this is completely wrong: the place hasn’t been thought for customers, both in term of circulation flow and customer experience; no doubt the turnaround will be done thanks to ground floor. 


The same day I've been there, I’ve been to rinascente, and even if it’s a different environment, the merchandising of the prêt à porter level was much better,  above all you don’t have the feeling of being in a tunnel that you want to escape asap whereas it’s impossible to find an exit.

Last week, I got as well the opportunity to visit the shop of DADA that opened during fashion week. It’s a concept store between boutique and art gallery.  I know the scale is different, but I was expecting something as experimental as DADA  for Excelsior. This place as no window either, but they have known how to retransmit a natural light putting all the products first and giving you a more confident feeling. This a place where you feel staying to find something to buy. They kept the old (wood beams, etc. ) and mixed  it with new. In the basement old columns are trapped in resine giving you an effect of a Venice palace under water. The place remains simple, but it’s original, thinking out of the box in term of reuse of materials, modularity of the furnitures, walls palette colors, unusual piece of furnitures reviewed in a different use as clothes hanger. 
Really really nice. 
Each time I discover such places in Milan it’s simply makes my day…

http://styleandfashion.blogosfere.it/2011/09/milano-moda-2011-apre-il-dada-meeting-point-latelier-della-sperimentazione-fashion.html

The night call or the art of being “mammoni”

I remember the first time I’ve been dating an Italian: with my  girl friends, we were trying to understand what will be the standard behavior of an Italian. I was joking about the fact that maybe his mum will call. Well, I was not wrong. The first night I saw him, he left me half an hour alone cause his mum was doing what I call “the night call”… I thought: “this is amazing dude, he’s 34,  getting called by his mum every night at the same hour, and can’t even make an exception”. Basically the complete opposite of  the American trend where, once you go to university, you’re considered as a grown up and see the communication amount with your parents considerably reduced.

I discovered later that most of the guys that had to leave their hometown (mainly from the South) to find a job or study in Milan, and consequently  live far from their parents, receive a call of their mum every night… In Italy, I guess the right word is “mammoni”.

I tried to discuss it with people that were doing it but a girl told me in a aggressive mode: “yes but we don’t see our parents more than 3 times a year (for Xmas, Easter, August), so it’s normal to talk to your mum EVERY night”. I have to say I’m really impressed by the family power. When you see all those people at 30 still living with their parents, in France, you would be considered as “looser”. I know this is not linked only to culture but economical context as well, the salaries being so low and the rent so high, youngs try to stay with their parents as long as they can. In brief, it’s what French people would call Tanguy paradise (Tanguy being a movie about a 30 year old boy that refuses to leave his parents house whereas he works and earns a lot of money. At one point the parents are pissed of having no intimacy, seeing a new girlfriend every morning in the kitchen, and decide to “get rid of” their child. At the end, the guy leaves for China). I guess for once, Italy is much closer to China than France... at least for family concept.

Food: the AOC Pasta

It’s been a while that I want to talk about food. I mean, how can I write about Italy without mentioning food !

I decided to start with the most representing dish, no I don’t talk about pizza, but PASTA.

I come from a country where pasta is eaten as worst case scenario i.e. when there is nothing left in the cupboard, you’re broke or you’re starving. The lucky days we get them “bolognaise” or “carbonara” but usually we get them plain with a nut of butter.

In Italy, Pasta is an institution and I learned quickly that you don’t joke with pasta.

The first time an Italian cooked pasta for me, he weighted the pasta to get the right quantity for 2. Actually  it’s been really difficult not to laugh,  for me, it was simply incredible to grant such care to an aliment that you can find at 50cents the 500gr.

The second time an Italian cooked pasta and I was there, he TASTED the boiling water. I mean, can you imagine tasting the water ! Well, he explained me really seriously that  when the water boils, the water goes and maybe  it remains too much salt for the water left so you have to pour water again and make it boil again…

Once I entered the car of a friend, he lighted on his GPS and as background he had put a picture of pasta al ragù.

I understood quickly that my 5min ready to eat pasta should not be granted  “AOC “* pasta for an Italian.

Each time I was going to aperitivo, I was wondering how pasta, even cold, could be so good. Well, still the same night I saw the guy weighting the pasta, I saw him adding an incredible amount of cheese and oil, and I suddenly understood… I was working as well in a studio where everyday my colleagues were preparing their pasta. When I was seeing them putting half a pot of pesto or a full cheese inside, I was always flabbergasted but thanks to them I started understanding  that the more fat you put the tastier it is. Unfortunately, each time I was cooking my pasta to bring to the office, I was suddenly scared of the oil or the cheese I could put inside, like if I was about to  pour a lethal poison and consequently I was eating, each time, dry tasteless pasta.

Another tradition that I discovered is that all the youngs go to their parents house on Sunday to eat the “lasagna” of the mum. The first time I hear a guy telling me about that fact our mum was cooking the best lasagna in the world and consequently he was going there for Sundays, I smiled. The second time I heard another guy telling me the same ,I smiled again. The third time, I was thinking “shit, in Milan they must have the most amazing lasagna in the world”, I was already considering inviting myself to one of this best unofficial restaurant and taste lasagna to reach Sunday heaven (meaning probably 6 hours of digestion). And last Sunday, I was eating at a friend’s place (pizza), when  she told me “next time we go to my parents to have Sunday lasagna”… I can’t believe it, my dream is going to finally come true! I only hope they did not set wrong expectations due to a biased  chauvinist opinion…

*Apellation d’origine Controllé as for wine

My daily cultural shock

This morning I got up, prepared myself and went out. Daily routine you could say. In fact, it’s been almost 2 years I’m  in Italy now, but I still get amazed by Italian  lifestyle every morning I go out.

Not standing the metro, I go to work by walk, this grants me the possibility to see the city in action, to see how it moves. Each time I stop to a traffic light, waiting, I realize suddenly that I’m in Italy (and no longer in France), that  the roads are full of well dressed ladies riding their bike or guys wearing suit on their vespa. What is awesome is that they look so chic. OK, I understand they go to work and have to dress well, but still, they have usually  the helmet (and even the jacket) matching the color of the vespa. This is really amazing, because it’s not touching only a small elitist percentage, nope, this is an entire culture. I remember a teacher at school saying once : “I’m Italian so I have good taste in my DNA”, well he was definitely right.

But walking in the streets , is not only a nice positive experience, it’s also about experimenting the Italian urban jungle where no rules stands (and I know Milan is nothing compared to Sud). Italians have really low awareness of the space they need to move and consequently push and bump into you on a regular basis. Sometimes, when I’m not awake and it’s the third time I got pushed in 5 minutes, I’d like simply to yell at one of them “MALEDUCATI ! Go get a training in the USA.” But unfortunately, my education tells me to keep it for myself.

One of the other thing unbelievable is the behavior of cars, or should I say people in cars… They drive like hell in narrow streets having no consideration for the people walking. I mean they don’t even break when they see you. I work in a small street and seeing those cars too big for the Italian streets, driving fast, each time, I have the feeling they’re going to bump into you, a bit as in Miami Vice City game where you drive on the guys just for the fun… So I regularly close my eyes and wonder what are the statistics in term of car accidents…

If ever you have to take the bus or the tram, you will understand that they drive the same. Basically they put hand handles so high that 95% of the Italian population can’t pick them, so the driver keeps braking in an aggressive mode and  people keep falling. I don’t remember experimenting something similar while taking the bus or the tram in France, I think they were driving more smoothly and you didn’t get the impression that you will crash into a car or someone every two seconds. The other amazing thing is that driver insults pedestrians, and pedestrians insult drivers. The first time I was really shocked and actually I keep being, cause it’s happening almost each time I’m taking a transport which is not the metro…

I tried to figure out why people who have such an attention to details in term of design and fashion could not see that they’re not paying attention to others or even their environment ? How can you notice the nice fabrics of the collar of the shirt of your friend, but be blind when it comes to respect other s’space or pollute the seaside with garbage ?  I have the feeling that at the bottom of their heart they know they’re rude, cause when you throw them a nasty look or make them notice you were first in a line, they tend to apologize or pretend they hadn’t seen. Really, I don’t know, is it only a matter of education and culture ? The only thing I know is that it’s not going to change.

People : the Italian male (the once over look & the Ciao Bella)

Since the Italian Male stands for 90% of my decision of blogging about Italy, lets stay with him for a while…

I remember reading once, I think in a Sophie Kinsella book, what they called in NYC the once over look. Basically it consists of a person A  scanning a person B in less than 2 seconds to see if that person is acceptable or not. In that case, the main criteria for acceptance were: being a size 0 and wearing Pret a Porter clothes from the year. Actually, I have to admit it's something I already experimented in Paris... 

But in Italy, the dimension is different, I can’t say it’s all about sex, but it’s definitely a matter of attraction…

I’ve been talking with some Italian friends, and they did confirm what I thought: basically, wherever you are, whatever the context is, if you see somebody watching you or  you see somebody that you find cute,  you just watch the person deeply in the eyes. Meanwhile its like if your brain was making a smart calculation to decide if there is possible match… or not. The thing is that it becomes like an automatism for them, it's like part of their DNA. Guys will do it,  I mean watching you in the eyes even when holding the hand of their girlfriend… 

Some mornings, I get up not really awake and feel suddenly  aggressed. That’s why probably I became a pro sunglasses including indoor… With them I feel less aggressed and it' s not even a problem of being rude, since Italians were them everywhere. Was so funny, cause when I went to Sweden, my friend was wearing some, the evening around 8pm and a guy came to tell her “I think you don’t need them now, apart for the moon...”

The attitude of guy towards girl does not stop only to the once over look, which is by the way dangerous, cause now each time I go back to France I do it, I’m watching people I don’t know deeply in the eyes and they think I’m flirting with them ... Ooops. 

I remember that time in France when I was able to screen the male population without having anybody noticing it. Here its over, it' s like if guys had radar, they feel a nanosecond look on them and watch you immediately… 

Anyway as I was saying that' s not the only thing you can experiment when you' re a girl in Italy. Being a girl means, walking in the street and hear potentially 50 ciao bella per day, longer is the period you walk, bigger is the “risk” to hear them. I always thought it was a stereotype, well apparently not. Regularly, I just go out, haven’t done 3 steps yet and I already feel the once over look and/or the ciao bella. This is simply crazy, the guy can be old, young, in a car, on a terrace, that does not change. Honestly, I'm not sure I spend a day without hearing something of that type.

But, the good part is, once you understood they will never ask you for more, they're not stalkers, that it’s just an attitude, it suddenly makes your day and boosts your ego. Actually since I’ve been in Italy, I do feel more attractive. Thank you guys...

PEOPLE: the italian male (metrosexual or... freak ?)

I think most of foreigner girls will tell you, at first glance, Italians are physically attractive. One of the first reasons that pos into my mind is that they are simply not scared of following fashion or wearing something different. I remember my French friend when she arrived, she was keep telling me, shit they re all gay, well I can tell you, it’s not because they dress well or care about themselves they re ALL gay. Italy is not France. In Italy, I already noticed a man checking the fabrics of the collar of another guy without being scared of being considered gay. Whereas, the other day, my bro told me that when he arrived at work with a pink polo, he works in a french construction company, they all made fun of him. France is a bit boring for that, it’s like if for a man wearing something too special was a risk of getting noticed whereas you should not. Like if, only the gays had the guts to do it...

In brief, for a French girl, Italy is not only a shoes paradise, it's also a men paradise... 

Just do the experience : take someone, quite common, make him wear nice clothes, expensive sunglasses, spend some hours in palestra to be gonfiato (work out), give him the confidence of the Italian male, and he will turn into an attractive man even if I admit it’ s completely artificial. 

I bet the challenge for Italians, stands only in the proportion: what makes a metrosexual Italian turn into a freak; cause at the end there is a real risk of having more freaks than chics… When the guy reaches the threshold of having the legs shaved, being orange cause of the tanning lotion, and having his eyebrows done better than a girl, stupidity pops into your mind… If you add the fact most of them are small and walk showing off their pecs... then watching them becomes a pleasure of everyday and a joke to tell to your French friends when you’re going back home.

Like the other day, I went to Mc Donalds. A guy arrived, business man look, but really young. He arrived, and started standing just 10 cm behind me, cause, it’s a fact, Italians don’t know anything about PROXEMICS RULES, the closest you are, the best is it !!! Well guy, you need to understand that us, foreigner girls, we would prefer if we don’t feel your dick on our butt, so please step back. Anyway, so basically that guy, was keep looking for my eyes, but he was such a joke that I was not  even daring giving him a look back. Well he was so craving for an eye contact that he was starting to be hyper,  the most hilarious thing being, he was constantly stretching his arm in a Tourette disease manner so he could have his sleeves going up leaving me the possibility to admire his "bling" golden watch. At one point, I could not do anything else than laugh at his face, the situation was completely ridiculous…

PEOPLE: the Italian male stereotype

This week, I met the perfect Italian stereotype. I went into my new office and immediately noticed that guy around 40's, you could not not notice him as he was so loud. Everything in his attitude was loud and big, he was like an aggression for the eyes. After one day, I got the opportunity to take a coffee with him and the team. He told me, watching me deeply in the eyes: “ME, I’M THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GUY EVER”. Then he continued with : “ME I' M THE BEST SALESMAN EVER”, he’s the sales director of the new studio I’m working for.  Even if I’m sure he was joking in the way of saying it, he was truly convinced.

He asked me then: “Do you have a boyfriend?" In another country he would have been probably already accused of sexual harassment.  He’s attitude was a bit naughty even if I’m sure it’s a style he was giving to himself. Anyway, when I replied yes, he told me: "OK, so tell me, the most important : is he Italian or French ?" When I said he was French, he fixed me with his big blue eyes and told me : “leave him immediately, Italians are better and more “coinvolgenti” . He had such a serious face, I could imagine him pulling out a gun in a cowboy movie or a cartoon and I just wanted to laugh. 

And when at the end he paid the coffee for the full team and I tried to refund him, he told me: “The man is meant to be  a man, he has to pay for the woman”. Well it was a bit like being in Stone Age, I could not think more about the image foreigners usually have of Italians, including the role of women in the society, the Berlusconi scandals and the velline on TV show.  I would say I was quite surprised cause until now, even if Italians have definitely their own style and I will talk about it later in that blog, the ones from my generation were quite modern and respectful. 

Advertising campaign from Sisley during Berlusconi scandal

MESS IS STILL MORE ? The public transportation experience

This weekend I decided to go outside Milan for a day. Let’s say after a nice month of vacations, I was kind of refusing to stay in the city, above all knowing the sea is so close.  It was a bit like being on a rehab program, last swim before winter time. Well, it turned I took 5 trains in a day and it left me at the end a not so nice “souvenir”. Recently, after my trip in Sicily and my constant search for a job in a country where you don’t get contract and paid, it’s true I get a bit nervous about all the gridlocks of the italian system. Going to the post office or buying a train ticket are always a “potential” ordeal/nightmare. Well taking a train is a good illustration.

So today, I left Milan for Genova, quite easy, Milan being known to be organized for public transportation compared to Rome. I prefer not to imagine the tram system in Roma knowing that in Milan, you have to guess where are the bus stop and when it’s written 4 minutes wait, it can turn into 45 minutes, anyway that’s not the point of the discussion. When I arrived to Genova, I had to change station to pick a friend, we checked the time tables (a poster) and went to a hidden underground “binario”. There the time indicated was wrong and the bill board was changing the binario every second due to an electric problem. No need to say the train never arrived… The beauty of those kind of things in Italy is that everyone is looking at each other and asking to the other if he knows what to do. Basically, you always start a conversation and end hearing Italians complaining about their non organized country….  Still, I finally managed to get to the sea and even enjoyed some foccacia.

When  it’s been time to go back to Milan, I was happy to be with an Italian that knew that you had to buy the ticket in a special office in the town and not in the station as you would expect. Once in the station, we tried to check which binario to pick. The funny thing was that the tv screen was indicating binario 1, the paper time table binario 2, an A4 sheet was stick on some random walls and it was written in Italian that "all the trains should leave from binario 2". In this kind of scenario, you’re more prone to trust the tv screen but in that case, it was contradicting 2 other indications. We wanted to ask, but the station was simply desert, no office there to confirm. So basically, we just kept wondering where the train will arrive and observing people going from one binario to the other one, not knowing where they should go, creating a perfect mess. The speakers were kept saying “please do not cross the rails”, but honestly I could understand if, at one point, some people would have crossed the rails instead of taking the tunnel. We finally reached a group agreement that, the persons on the right side will block the train in order to have the people on the wrong side time to get in. I had the feeling of being in a game theory experience when analyzing the people following other people depending on who suddenly was taking a decision and consequently the leadership...

I just came back home and honestly, I have the feeling of having spent 10 days on the roads, those kind of experience without mentioning the train with no seats left, the fine I had to pay, still not sure why, makes you seriously consider moving to a country like Germany… This morning, after experiencing once again  rudeness of Italians, it came to my mind that God granted them so many nice things that he could not give them everything, otherwise it will turn into perfection. I think I was quite right… I wish one day, when I' ll have to go back to France, I wont have to spend 2 hours in a queue to take a ticket but get the upfront opportunity to order it online  and get it refunded if they ever decided to go on strike (thing they usually don’t do).

SCENDERE GIU or the Sicilian Experience

I think going to Sicily has just been one of the most interesting idea I got recently.

All my Sicilian friends always told me that Sicily is the best location in the world and one author, I don’t remember which one though, said: “we can die once we saw Sicily”. I know that Italians from the South “suffer” from chauvinism but still, I have to admit I started to be really curious… Having one month vacation in August, plenty of time to spend and the low cost  airlines to Sicily being at the end the less expensive option, I finally decided to go there and check.

After long discussions with myself to know if I should start with the Eolian Islands and the North East Side, probably the most visited area, I finally decided to go for the West side.

Before deciding to go there, I didn’t have a lot of culture about Sicily excluding cannolo and Sicilian boyfriends…  I had no stereotypes in mind and honestly no idea of what to expect, probably because I hadn’t seen any movies about Mafia, including the Godfather... I was just wondering what a location that has been invaded by so many people (French, Normands, Spanish, Arabic, Greek and so on) could look like. Well the truth is that, if you consider the richness of the architecture and the landscapes, in 5 days I had the feeling of visiting something like 10 different countries. One minute I was imagining me in Lake powell, the other one in the Carribeans, without mentioning Greece, Cuba or even Morocco. This is simply incredible to see how each civilization left a mark and how you can feel the various influences everywhere. Knowing that, it’s really funny to think that Sicilians have such a strong identity; at the end they’re a salad bowl/melting pot as we used to learn kid during American history class. Sicilians pastries is one of the best illustration, everybody talks about the Sicilian cookies with mandorle or pistachio, but I’m sorry to inform you, when you eat them, as good as there are, you simply have the feeling of eating north African cookies, exception made for the ricotta ones …

During this trip, I experimented another cultural shock:  we had decided to rent a car and make a loop. I was planning to buy a roadmap at the airport but I kind of forgot it. Probably linked to the dog looking for drugs in our luggage when we arrived, the guardia di finanza guys with non smily face and big guns… It was a bit like being in Cuba airport or in a bank in Santo Domingo. So we kind of got out of the airport quickly and forgot the map. Immediately, we’ve been focused on finding our way up to the renting area, not a simple task. Actually we didn’t know that this quest would illustrate our constant objective of finding our way in this country during the next 5 days… Once outside the airport, it had nothing compared to pick a renting car in Germany. Finding the small board with the inscription autonoleggio was already a blessing, without mentioning the 20 minutes walk trying to guess where could be the place. This is what is amazing in this country, you have a road sign and suddenly nothing, or a succession of contradicting indications. It s a bit like if a Mafioso had paid for having his signs put on the roads but had not enough money to produce convenient ones. A bit like if they have an excess stock of white arrows with blue background and they had decided to put them everywhere… Basically, we’ve been simply driving using the sun and the sea during 5 days even if the one way roads everywhere were putting some barriers to our strategy. Honestly I still don’t understand how we managed to find the center of Palermo without a GPS or a roadmap. I don’t understand how it’s possible for a city of 600 000 something inhabitants not to have decent road signs indicating the center…

One of the other funny thing about driving in Sicily, it’s that you don’t feel like in a European developed countries. They don’t have road lines even on the access to bigger cities. I guess putting road lines is putting a limit and a risk of blocking the traffic whereas if you don’t put them, you decide which way has 2 or 3 lines and you pass wherever you want. We understood quickly that it’s a bit like the magicobus in Harry Potter: whatever the number of cars lines created on the road, you'll always pass, or like in a James Dean movie: the one that is scared is the one that will let the other one pass. This works for everything, just put your car in front of another one and they will let you pass. Never stop to a STOP or the guy behind will bump into your car…

Besides, we’ve been experimenting that everything is about invisible rules that you have to guess in order to respect them otherwise you ll get a fine. Being a foreigner is being ready to be screwed just cause you’re not Italian, but as soon as you guess those invisible rules and start negotiating them, you can go everywhere and have discount everywhere. The rule: ASK, if you don’t ask you’re SCREWED. There is always someone that knows someone that will give you a tip, make you find a parking lot or something similar… Honestly talking the language was a blessing, I cant imagine how you manage when you don’t speak italian… well yes, you pay and loose your car, lol.

I remember as well some moments where the  rented fiat panda was drifting in the laces while the fire was on… Because this is something else we need to mention about Sicily, everywhere you look it’s burning, you always have 4 or 5 smoke areas in the landscape. At the beginning you re really impressed, at the end you don’t even pay attention, except when the flames are on the road… I assume the access to the mountain is so complicated and the risk of having a dangerous fire with the non luxurious vegetation is so low, at the end they don’t  stop the fires.  

During this trip, I often wonder how many couples turned their honey moon into a nightmare after their roadtour in Sicily… When you have centro indicated on the left but as well on the right or the flames are on, the misunderstanding in the car is simply awesome :-)

Talking about couple, I remember the author of Odissea Siciliana mentioning that men were kind of bored when she was talking to them instead of her husband (that didn’t speak so well Italian). I guess, I can say I did experiment it as well, each time I asked for gas, parking, checkin or food, I had the feeling the guys would have preferred talking to my friend. Even the girls have this behaviour, I remember asking my way to the lady of the B&B and her trying to catch the eyes of my friend as if it was impossible for a woman to understand road indications…

Being in Sicily, is also about seeing newspapers talking about Mafia. As foreigners, we don’t really understand the impact it has on the local economy, but seeing highway bridges never finished or skeletons of buildings on the beautiful seaside, you understand that the bribing system is still active. Seeing those brand new constructions never achieved is really impressive.  Even more impressive when you see aside buildings not occupied anymore, giving you the feeling everybody tend to leave Sicily. Yet, I was quite surprised to see that towns in Sicily were so big, I definitely had a different image where you would arrive in small villages and see only 2-3 persons. In fact, there are a lot of cities of 50-80k inhabitants and you need to know that all the tourists areas are made to make the tourists pay. But, between those areas, it’s a bit like the desert. I remember watching the landscapes and wondering what kind of job people living in Sicily were doing, and, when between Trapani and Agrigente, we've been trying desperately to find some food (grocery store, bakery, anything), I suddenly had the feeling to be back to Utah where you only have a tacobell in 100km area or in Morocco Atlas during Ramadan. Ending on a touristic beach in Siculiana Marina to eat a sausage and french-fries sandwich at 4pm was simply unexpected...