Decorative Eggs

I have been collecting decorative eggs for a few years. It is always fun to bring them out at the start of Lent. These lovely painted Ukranian style eggs came from Berlin.

This is an alabaster egg from Volterra, Italy

This is turquoise chipped from Germany...Wait a minute! Something curious is happening! Shanoah suddenly got very interested in the eggs....

Opps! He laid one!

Street Accordion Player

The other day I was working at my computer and heard the accordion guy who roams the streets of Trani. Sometimes he shows his talents and sometimes he is looking for a handout. This day he was trying to persuade clients of the local fruit and vegetable stand that they should support his musical endeavors.

Chocolate

Here is what is left of the chocolate we brought back from England. No more chili chocolate. No more mint. Sadness.

Now all the stores are full of Mucci chocolates for Carnivale and Lent. They are made just up the street in Andria. This particular bag has candies full of liqueur. Most delicious but since I am allergic to most nuts I can't eat the other crunchy offerings. The sacrifices one must make....

This was a gift I gave to Rick for Valentine's day. The wonderful people at Bar Centrale put together this chocolate heart that opens to chocolate treasures! Nice!

Sequins in Trani

There are lots of designer shops in Trani. They give us all a glimpse of what is in fashion. This season it seems like sequins are "in". Here are some shots from one of the shops.

This reminds me of bicycle shorts...except I don't know too many cyclists who would look good in them.

Anyone interested in some sparkely sequined balloon shorts?

Nice dress!

Where Does Your Food Come From?

I am reading a fascinating book called, "Moveable Feasts" by Sarah Murray. It is about how food transportation has shaped our appetites and our expectations. I decided to show you where some of our food comes from. Under EU law it is required to show the place of origin on fresh fruit and veggies. Here is what we have:

Grapes from South Africa

Pears from Italy

Tomatoes from Italy (these were used in a delicious bruschetta)

Bananas from costa Rica

Hartford Whaler's Hat!

Meet Ivan! He is a friend of Amory and Jim's and he and his wife are visiting from San Diego. We had a great dinner with them on Friday and met up for coffee today. As we were talking I did a double take on his hat! Anyone recognize it?

Yes! It is the logo for the Hartford Whalers! They were a National Hockey League team from Hartford, CT in the 70's and 80's! My backyard! It gets funnier.... he went to high school in the town next to me! Man, it is a small world!

Olivia and Eileen were practicing some hip hop moves for a class they went to tonight. They were too cute not to film. You might have to click a couple of the play arrows but it is worth it!

Good Morning Trani!

6:30 a.m.

View toward the Adriatic.

Across the way..view south

Towards Corato

Shanoah

Here is our allergen producing machine. Shanoah! Isn't he cute?! But he also sends me to the doctors about every six months for some steroids to combat an infection his beautiful hair has initiated. I LOVE him!

Look at that regal profile!

Oops! Woke him up by mistake.

Isn't he a cutie?

What is going on at the Ewing's at 7:30 p.m.

Well it is 7:30 p.m., raining, dark and if you were a fly on the wall this is what you would be seeing at casa Ewing...

Rick paying off the last of this year's Aberdeen tuition. Notice the smile :)

Olivia continuing her culinary zeal after watching Julie and Julia. Tonight it is "Sauteed Chicken in Sherried Cream Sauce".

Eileen finishing some homework.

Shanoah sleeping...need I say more?!

Technology Immigrant

I recently heard the term "Technology Immigrant" being used to describe those of us who are not technologically savvy but are trying. It fits so well into the scenario in our house with the girls being "Technology Natives". You see, it is like language. I still have a foot in the old world and am trying to make sense of the new. They grew up "speaking" the lingo of computers, iPods, cell phones, etc. They don't have to think about it, translate it and then interact with it. Case in point...as soon as I decided to do a post about this the computer wouldn't let me upload my picture! I found it on the camera, but couldn't transfer it! I was stumped! I could have asked the girls and they probably would have figured out which key to push, which program to run, etc. but it took me two days to play with the process. Bless them when they are patient and agree to help me with my 10,000th question on the same thing...curse them when they get frustrated with me and tell me to "figure it out yourself, mom!". I totally understand what it means to be a Technology Immigrant...lost between two worlds.

Le Chiacchiere

Le Chiacchiere, or chit chat as it is literally translated, are a great Carnivale treat. They are fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar. We buy a whole plate and it is GONE in a few hours. I went and got some this morning and there is no more. What can I say? We love them.

The panificio wraps the treats in a lovely paper with a ribbon.

These are great with coffee. Gilda says they got their name because the old women in the south would sit around and "chit chat" while making them:)

DC Snow hits Italian Newspapers

Met some friends from the US in Caserta (by Napoli) over the weekend. The front pages of the morning papers on Saturday were full of stories about the record snowfall in ... DC! I remember that when I lived there from 1982-84 just the thought of snow would send panic...a few flakes would send people running for the hills...What fun a whole storm would have been.

Euro Bills

I had to pay the girl's tutors the other day so I found myself with some euro bills that are not usually in my wallet! It thought you might enjoy seeing this lovely currency. I love the varying sizes and the bright colors. The fronts are decorated with fictional architectural drawings from various historical periods and the backs have the same fictional drawings of bridges. This representation of the architecture of a period makes sense once you think of the original 12 countries vying for representation of their particular landmark on the bills.

Fronts

From top to bottom the representative styles on the fronts and backs of the bills are:
500's: Modern 20th century
200's: 19th century art nouveau
100's: Baroque and Rococo
50's: Renaissance

All of the euro bills have six things in common:

• A depiction of the European Union flag
• The initials of the European Central Bank (ECB)
  
• A map of Europe
• The name "Euro" in Latin and Greek
• The signature of the current head of the ECB
• 12 stars representing the initial members

FYI: We were living in Berlin when the euro was introduced on January 1, 2002. The change over was amazingly smooth. Shopkeepers accepted German Marks but gave you change in euro. Within six months the change was complete and the European economies were working on one currency.

If you want to find out more about the Euro this is a good explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_banknotes

Right of Way

This is a sign that you have to look for when driving in Europe. It indicates who has the right of way. Unlike in the US, if you are cruising down a major street in town and there is a smaller road entering from the right, you must look to see if there is a yellow diamond or not. If there is you have the right of way and traffic from the smaller road must yield. If not then YOU must yield.

Easy to see, right???!!!!
Oh and that little blue sign with the white arrow that is only visible once you are close to it...that indicates it is a one way street going in the direction of the arrow.

Italian Signage

Italian street signs confuse me. They list a multitude of destinations. One must stop or slow down if you are to really read and find the direction you are looking for. A friend said her strategy when traveling was for her to start from the top and read down and her husband would start at the bottom and read up. Whoever found what they were looking for shouted out! This is a small sign at what we call "the intersection from hell". It is a four way intersection but traffic is a free for all. Also, to the right of the directional sign is a lighted sign announcing that the railroad crossing is closed for a train coming through so you can take an alternate route.

I like the color coating. Green for autostrada (toll road) and blue for major intercity road...plus a little straight on for the hospital.

Another great novel of a sign.

Views of Trani from Corato

We live in Trani on the Adriatic and the girls go to school about 12km inland in the town of Corato. Twice a day I drive out to drop them off and pick them up. On the way back to Trani I come over a small hill and am greeted with this amazing view! Trani is a city that was built with marble from the surrounding countryside. It is white and shines next to the blue of the Adriatic. Beautiful.

View of Trani in the distance.

A closer look..the tall building is the tower for the cathedral. It is the tallest building.

Still enjoying the view. FYI Eileen was taking the pictures. I do not usually try to drive and take pictures :)

This view is continuing toward Trani. We are crossing the autostrada so we have a little higher view. Notice the great colors; blue and white in the sky, dark blue sea, green olive orchards.

Another view of the never ending olive orchards. As far as the eye can see in three directions are olive orchards.

SNOW IN CORATO

Little yellow flowers.

I left Trani this afternoon to head up to Corato to pick up the girls from school. There was chubby rain in Trani. Big fat lumps falling on the windshield. But as I got closer to the school the sun came out...then I noticed that between the olive trees was a blanket of white! I found a side road on which to pull over to take pictures. But wait. One side of the road was blanketed in little yellow flowers and the other in snow! What a strange sight!

SNOW