The Footie - Italy v Germany 28/06/12

Good evening,

I'm sitting in one of our usual bars (colonnetta) in readiness for one of the most important events of the  year.  While Messrs Monti and Merkal are nutting out the economic future of the continent the Italians are more concerned with the important stuff - the footie.  As Germany and go up against the Azzuri in the European Championship semi final I'm going to attempt to blog my way through the next 90 (give or take stoppages and extra time) minutes.  Apologies in advance but I'm no football expert.  Joining me are JH, and a bar full of nervous looking Italians.

8.40 and the teams come out, the bar is filling up.  Anthem time – lights out in bar.  Unlike the English players the Italians seem to know the words to their anthem.  First impression the striking difference there is remarkably little alcohol on the tables.

8.50 and we off.- Am wondering how long it is before the commentators use the words efficiency and German in the same sentence.  Germany have possession and have already looked like they are going to score - Raji has already uttered whooooo

A free kick to Germany outside the box.  Good save from Buffon, interesting point the time is not on screen - how long do I have to sit here? No friggin idea.  

note from JH "Germany are on them like flies on shit" - Anglo language just what I'm used to.

Italians have possession for about two minutes a bit of excitement in the bar Germany retake and it's back to business as usual.

10.42 mins and my attention wavering.

11.57 and Germany nearly score in the bar they're complaining about the goalkeeper - the hero of the last game - how fickle.

15.53 - did I really just see one of the Italian coaching staff smoking in the dug out?

16.57 Italy shot on goal - brief piece of excitement and a round of applause.  Starting to look two sided for the first time according to JH and another great shot.

19.23 ITALYYYYYYYYYYYY!  photos, screams, and one nil to the azzuri!  Lots of goal celebration and hugging amongst the Italian team.  Word in the bar is if Italy win then Merkal will make sure the country pays.

24.55 and JH has gone to get me another prosecco

26.00 2nd prosecco for me and the 1st for JH who is ignoring the fact he is on antibiotics - have told him on his head be it.

28.26 nothing worth writing about according to JH

31.50 - shirt pulling on Balotelli causes some consternation amongst the Italians -  the fact that Mario Balotelli seems to have gone to the barber and asked for a Brazilian is troubling me more.

33.56 Italy endanger the German goal but player falls down in box - third whooooo from me.

35 ish another good safe from Buffon - now a hero again

ITALYYYYYYYYYY! Balotelli again looks like it's bad news for Italy and the Euro - bet Monti will have a smile on his face as he greets Angela tomorrow. In the bar the Italians are laughing at a weeping German fan on the screen.

The only German in the bar just asked JH and me if we are supporting Germany.

JH just did a mock German accent - hoping it's the only one of the night.

OK 40th minute only another five until half time apparently

JH just asked if he looks German - not sure why

Italian player on the ground cry of AMBULANCE in the bar - looks like patrons know the whole simulation thing - Note to fellow English teachers am using the technical term simulation which I learnt  in New English File intermediate lesson 1B, narrative tenses.

One minute of extra time - this is not fair

46 minutes and the half time whistle blows - mass exodus for a smoke.  We think that the Germans are not playing as well as they should - note we is JH here.

HALF TIME - Bar staff wondering just what the hell I'm doing.  JH thinking the Germans will make a comeback in the second half - can they do it?  are Italy in the final?  how many proseccos will I get through?  lets see

Players emerging,nicotined up fans returning to tables - my drink getting low

Germany has made a substitution apparently

and the second half is off!

Still no mention of German and efficiency - The germans have brought on Klose - Raji wants him to get a near miss on goal so she can type it's close from Klose.

Near miss from the Germans - not Klose unfortunately

47.50 - Italian with a face full of ball - looks painful

48.59 Germans look like they've come back with a bit of purpose - yes we may be single handedly keeping the Euro afloat but this is serious.

50.52 two empty glasses on the table - time to send JH to the bar

51.40 shouting in the bar - not sure why JH and I debating who pays for the next drink.

52.50 - if anyone's interested it was me

Note from JH "Germany are just falling to pieces" - not looking good for the efficiency quote that I'm after.

56.53 close up of Italian player and I notice what a terrible stripe effect the Italian shirts have - looks a bit 80 woman's office casual - not sure it's the look the Italians are going for.

58.40 Mario that really is a stupid haircut

60.00 and yellow card for an Italian defender - Bonucci - he looks suitably pained.

62.18 - all the players are sporting black armbands - it's an anti racism thing according to JH.  Raji is wondering if the Italian cartoonist who portrayed Balotelli as King Kong got the message.

63.50 - Italian player just easily gave possession away and Raji just felt affronted

67.56  Balotelli down - cramp JH informs me - time for the magic sponge.  Di Natale ("of Christmas" which makes me like him all the more) on for Balotelli

70.12 all those proseccos are beginning to hit, thinking of food.

70.52 from JH "Germany are out of this match"

71.32 JH informs me that the Poms say two world wars, one world cup when the English play Germany - and I'm remined why I don't barrack for any team.

74.54 - what's wrong with just passing it!  two Italians in the box German defender trips over his feet and they don't score - should have passed instead of going for glory for yourself - teamwork people!

77.29 - lost concentration and am laughing at funny posts on facebook

79.27 "the Germans are playing rugby"  JH 10.25 28/06/12

80.00 brief bit of excitement undermined by about 30 players slipping, tripping and generally falling down -yes it's keystone football

82.15 - Raji surprises herself by knowing and understanding the offside rule - where did that come from?

84.00 need to pee, can I hold out for 6 minutes plus extra time?

85.47 - JH off on another prosecco mission

87.27 camera cuts to fans dressed as super Mario - nice way to break the stereotype!

89th minute don't see the Germans coming back from this - Monti can start getting his gloating face on

90th passed 4 mins of extra time - seriously need to pee

Penalty to Germany - Handball in the box apparently.  Germany score! suddenly game is on again

Balotelli with hoodie on and head in hands - yes I would too if I had that hair

20 seconds victory in the air, this bar is about to errupt - YESSSSSSSSSSS!

Italy are in the final = bar playing we are the champions and a guy I don't know just kissed me.

Post game - you would not believe the queue for the bathroom - cazzo

Ah Tuscany!

Morning view

Sunday and once again I found myself on a freccia heading back to Treviso.  I didn’t expect to be on one of Italy’s rather efficient (yes I did just use the words Italy and efficient in the same sentence) trains this weekend.  Little did I think on Friday as I was making the weekly trip to the armpit of the Veneto that I would be spending the evening having dinner with Melbourne friends in a restaurant garden in the Tuscan countryside. 

My friend R and her husband B have been in Italy since May, they come to Italy every year for the warmer months – escaping the Melbourne winter and call the town of Lucignano home for this period.  Between lessons at the mineral powder company R called and suggested that I come down to their little town in Tuscany for the weekend and I couldn’t think of any reason not to.  After lessons T rushed us back to Treviso (J couldn’t face any more trips to Werhnam Hogg so Fridays are now on the road with T and Raj.)  I ran home threw a few things in a bag and jumped on a train.  By early evening I’d made it to Arezzo where there was a grand reunion with R and B before a drive to their small piece of Tuscay. 

Contrada colours

Driving through the Tuscan landscape I felt a world away from the Veneto.  Seemingly endless hills filled with olive groves or vinyards.  Tall, feather like cypress trees that act as absurdly picturesque exclamation marks to the beauty of the place.  Lucignano sits on top of a hill overlooking a valley; the town is tiny (perhaps 200 inhabitants) and like every other medieval Italian town utterly charming.  Being so small the place takes about 10 minutes to walk around, physically that is.  R has been coming here for many years now and is a quasi local which means any walk around the town involves stopping and chatting with everyone you meet.  Lucignano like all of the towns I visited over the weekend was festooned with flags in the contrada colours.  The town is divided into different quarters called contradas.  In times gone (not too sure what the situation is now) the contradas would have their own church, take care of the young and sick in their quarter etc.  This period sees many festivities culminating in a contrada dinner where each quarter hosts a street party.  Wandering around the towns of Tuscany covered in a multitude of flags I began to think about the loyalty people must have not just for their region, country or town but for their neighbourhood.  With this fierce loyalty is it really a surprise that national unity is so often questioned in such a young country? 

The first evening and I was introduced to the small yet established expat community of the town – Americans and Brits who have somehow found this little town and either make annual visits or live here permanently.  It seems to me that there are two kinds of expat: those like R and B who engage with the locals and become part of the community and those who don’t learn the language and live in a sort of bubble only socialising with other English speakers.  R is certain that the bar where they drink makes its entire year’s profit in those three months when the expats are in town!      

Saturday morning and after coffee overlooking the valley we headed out to visit some of the other gorgeous towns in the area.  Cortona, our first stop, sits prettily atop another high promontory over looking yet more rolling hills.  Cortona itself is a beautifully preserved medieval town with winding streets and steep gradients.  It was this town that an American woman bought a rundown old villa, restored it and wrote a book called “Under the Tuscan sun.”  Evidence of the book’s success can be seen in the number of tour buses pulling up, the real estate prices and the new American University in the town.  Next on our little tour was Montepulciano – another picture postcard hill top medieval town.  Walking its steep streets I couldn’t help but think of the feet of engineering and labour it must have taken to build these towns.  Although of the same era Tuscan medieval architecture is a world away from the Venetian.  With its large windows and half Middle Eastern half Romanesque arches Venetian buildings feel light and delicate as opposed to the solidity of the Tuscan buildings.  The fact that almost every town had its own imposing tower and heavy walls is an indication to the uncertain times that people were living in. 

Tower and Cypress trees, where else but Tuscany?

That evening after yet more glorious food with B watching 22 grown men kick a ball around a field R and I sat on the terrazzo drinking beautiful Tuscan wine and watching the light over the valley fade into night we both talked of our Italian adventures and ruminated on just how ridiculously enjoyable our Italian experiences are.  Often while going about my day to day activities I have a moment when I think to myself how nice life is and it’s good to know I’m not the only one who finds it so.  Sunday came around all too soon and after a lazy morning coffee with the expats, a couple more ridiculously scenic towns and lunch it was time to say our goodbyes and for me to head back up north.  Getting back to Treviso I felt like I’d been away for days.     

In praise of idleness

For most of the year my weeks have been full of lessons, if I wasn’t teaching I was planning lessons.  If I wasn’t planning lessons I was going between lessons in school, in state schools, in companies or in student’s homes.  There wasn’t much time to catch up with friends and colleges.  If we could manage to synchronise our diaries for a coffee it was invariably a quick rushed affair before having to head off for the next lesson.  Over the last few weeks exams have started and courses have begun to end and we’ve found ourselves in the strange but not unpleasant situation of actually having time.  After months of running around like a blue arsed fly to suddenly find myself with free time is a welcome change.  Such is the novelty of time that I don’t quite know what to do with myself.  I have this constant feeling that I should be doing something or going somewhere but there is little to do and going anywhere generally requires forward planning and a bit of organisation. 

So how have I taken to filling my days?  Well for J and I coffee has become a long, leisurely and pretty much daily event.  At some point in the day one or other of us will send a message and a cafe or piazza chosen and a time appointed.  There over coffee in the warm sun we will spend a good amount of time shooting the breeze.  Despite speaking to each other practically every day we never seem to run out of conversation.  Sometimes T or J will join us but more often than not it’s just the two of us.  Together we talk about the past, plan our future endeavours, console each other when the trials of the Italian experience get to us and laugh – a lot. 

Coffee is often followed by galato, a stroll around the town and most dangerously shopping.  Now I have never considered shopping a pass time – it’s more of a necessary evil and I’ve always wondered how people can name shopping as an enjoyable activity but of late I have been alarmed to find myself enjoying the experience.  In our afternoon rambles J and I have tested perfumes, looked at clothes and bought make up together.   Just yesterday we made an unplanned purchase of sandals.  While it’s fun to have someone to indulge in girly pursuits (something I have never really allowed myself to do,) J and I often laugh about our afternoons.  How a world away they are from a few weeks ago and we wonder if we have begun to live up to the stereotype of ladies who lunch!  Ok we are more likely to shop in OVS (think Italian H&M) than Gucci but there is a definite shopping as entertainment vibe about us. 

So, long almost empty days, warm sun, good coffee in a picture postcard piazza, conversation, gelato and retail fun we really are living la dolce vita – I mean just substitute the Veneto for Tuscan setting and we could almost write the book about unsatisfied Anglos heading off to Italy, getting to grips with the different culture and learning the joys of life.  The only difference is we do have to worry about where the funds for all this are coming from and as much as I’m enjoying this I’m well aware it can’t go on forever and soon I’m going to have to put my head down and find something that will see me through the summer.  

NB This post is dedicated to J, a person who makes life in Italy so much better than it already is.     

The living in Italy days

Generally living in Italy is a whole sack load of fun but there are things to get used to and little idiosyncrasies to overcome.  The best way to look at these things are as a challenge – where else can you live where going to the post office  is a challenge or getting the internet connected an achievement.  Having said that there are those days when the challenges wear you down and every now and then there is a little break down – we call these the “I’m living in Italy” days. Days when you want just one thing to be easy or efficient, days when you long to be able to talk to someone who shares your experience, days when all you want is a hug from a loved one. When these days hit the only thing you can do is remind yourself that you chose to be here and get on with things.

It was in this mood that J called me on Sunday morning and we convened over coffee to talk.  Talking is about all you can do in these situations – Italy will be what it will be and none of us are arrogant enough to demand that it change to suit us but it is good to know that it is not just you who has days like these.  After talking through our various living in Italy stresses we had to think about just what to do for the rest of our Sunday.  Given that we were both less than enthusiastic about life at the time. On a whim we decided to hit the beach.  T joined us and after a rush home to grab togs and towels it was on the road to Jesolo.

 

Having been blessed with Australian beaches for the best part of a decade Jesolo comes as a bit of a shock to the system.   It boasts that it is one of the longest beaches in the world and I’m sure it would have been beautiful once.  Today it is over developed with ugly beachside hotels so much so that it actually makes Benidorm look picturesque.  Like many a European beach the acres of sand are covered with almost fascistly neat rows of sun loungers which cost a pretty penny to use.  The water is shallow and way to warm for me who has got used to swimming in the ocean but as it’s the most accessible beach from Treviso it serves as the default hang out for the summer.

Back in Treviso and feeling pretty shiny

As the season is not yet in full swing the place was mercifully empty after a walk along the beach it was time to do some serious lazing in the sun.  Snoozing and chatting in the warm sun watching T’s pale Scottish beauty turn to an angry shade of lobster red our souls began to revive and life began to seem beautiful again.  Like almost every seaside town Jesolo is filled with cheap souvenir shops selling tacky items that for some reason are the most desired objects for children – knock off sunglasses, animal figures made entirely of shells, paper thin sun hats and novelty ashtrays.  While I never want to make a purchase I love exploring the tackier side of tourist life.  A final stop at a bar where the Asian style sofas went part of the way to disguising the fact that you are actually situated at a busy roundabout in Italy then it was back to Treviso with our souls revived and newly purchased sunglasses on our faces. 

 As we got back to Treviso the sky darkened and the heavens opened.  Treviso was the same as we left it but our moods were up and ready for the next challenge that Italy will inevitably send our way.