Flashcards: 21 Century Style

In a few minutes I'm leaving to catch the bus for the airport.   But before I go I thought I'd point out the intersection of modern technology and my best intentions for reviewing Italian while I'm away - without the books or the big dictionary.

 I have an Ipod Touch.  Most everybody else I know has one of those fancy Blackberry phones or an Ipad.  Yesterday I downloaded the 24/7 Tutor for free.  It's got quizzes and games and an audio component for words that are hard to pronounce.

The Game of Cheap

A few months after I fell in love with Michele I decided to quit my job.  My timing was based on two important factors:  My "fidanzato" was a night person and I could not show up for normal American business hours with a clear head.   But more importantly I'd met someone who could teach me how to be happy without spending a lot of money, an area in which Southern Italians have a great deal of expertise.

Last summer we toured the most famous spots around Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera, an area that attracts tourists from all over the world.  We were staying at a friend's house in Camogli and could use the kitchen, but every day we'd take the train to yet another charming town by the sea:  Portofino, Santa Margherita Ligure, or Riomaggiore at the end of the Cinque Terre walking path.  That's when we adapted The Game of Cheap (which is the normal way we live) to find the best places to eat.

The Rules

1.  Great food.
2.  Charming location. 
3.  A ridiculously low price.  
4.  Table service.
5.  Preferably with a tablecloth.

After a little bit of practice, we got to be pretty good at spotting bargains at lunchtime. The secret was to get away from the sea and off the main streets.  Normally these places aren't the ones with outdoor seating on the piazza.  The common denominator of our best "finds" was a hand-lettered sign with very little English.

The fancy menu at the top was in Santa Margherita, known for its handmade lace and a harbor full of yachts.  This restaurant offered a meat choice for 13 Euro (about $18) or a fish choice for 17 Euro.  That included the primo (pasta course), secondo (meat or fish with vegetable side dish), water, wine, and coffee.  The food was fantastic.  We had to wait for a table and nobody spoke English.  Even though we were stuffed afterward, we couldn't resist dessert from an incredible bakery down the street with the most beautiful display window we'd ever seen..

The second menu was in Genova, Christopher Columbus' hometown.  In the middle of the maze of alleys in the oldest part of of the city we found this gem for 10 Euros each, all inclusive:  3 choices for primo, 3 choices for secondo, wine and water.  Once again, the food was amazing and we were the only tourists there.

Of course, pizza is always a good alternative for a lost-cost meal.  But most pizzerias don't fire up the oven until they open for dinner in the evening.  If you're scouting around at lunch, make sure you find a place like this restaurant where the pizzeria is "aperta anche a mezzogiorno" (also open at noon).

Outstanding food is not difficult to find in a country known for excellent cuisine.  But the sport lies in the ability to ferret out memorable culinary experiences without wincing when you open the Visa bill after you arrive home.  Once you get the hang of it, it's hard to lose in The Game of Cheap.

36 Hours in Rome

 It's rainy and cold in the Midwest, time to do a little armchair traveling and add to the list of not-to-be-missed places for the next time you're in Italy.

I love this six-minute video from last month's New York Times, 36 Hours in Rome.  It's always fun to see places I've been before, but after six or seven visits to the Eternal City I was surprised by all of the new ideas  (like the contemporary art museum designed by the same architect who did our building in Cincinnati!!!  I can't wait.).  There are lots of interviews with native speakers sprinkled throughout the piece and if you close your eyes you'll almost feel like you're really there, especially if you don't read the English subtitles.  How's that listening comprehension coming along?

Buon Viaggio a Tutti.

Italian Wine of the Month by Marty Piazza

The Wines of Le Marche

One of the most beautiful regions of Italy is Le Marche. Located to the east of Umbria, it is as beautiful as Tuscany but with fewer tourists and lower prices. These lower prices also apply to the wonderful wines of this little known region.

The whites are produced from the grapes Verdicchio, Pecorino, Passarina, and Trebbiano, and they are most appreciated for their refreshing simplicity. The reds are dominated by the two grapes San Giovese and Montepulciano (which has nothing to do with the Tuscan town of the same name). The blends of these two grapes vary by name around the region, but the most famous and impressive is known as Rosso Piceno. This is a Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) wine that comes from the southeastern half of the region with the blending requirements of 35%-70% Montepulciano, 30%-50% San Giovese, and up to 15% of other local red varietals.  The word Piceno must come from the town of Ascoli Piceno, which is the capital of the province, my favorite in all of Italy. And Rosso, of course, means “red”.

Tenuto Rio Maggio

One of the most enjoyable winery visits I made in Italy last month was to the property of Simone and Tiziana Santucci that is named Tenute Rio Maggio. What gracious hosts they were, and we spent a few hours together trying their wines and touring the estate. In true Italian fashion a few of their local friends stopped by to join us, and the conversation widened to life in general.

Rio Maggio is located in the new province of Fermo, north of Ascoli Piceno but still within the DOC. They make many fine wines, but only two are available in Ohio: a white blend called Telusiano, and their very special Rosso Piceno Vigneto Contrada Vallone. It is the 2007 of this red that I am recommending to you. It is a blend of 70% Montepulciano and 30% San Giovese from the Contrada Vallone vineyard. Relatively low in acidity by Italian standards, this is a soft rich red with deep notes of dark cherry and a long finish. It pairs well with most Italian meats and tomato based pasta sauces, and is particularly good with rabbit, a local specialty. And all of this for around $20 a bottle. Enjoy!


Marty Piazza is recognized as one of the foremost experts on Italian wines in southwestern Ohio.  Last spring he captivated a sold-out crowd at School Amici's Salute! class, a three-part series on Italian wine at the Mercantile Library.  Feel free to call on Marty's expertise anytime through-out the year at Piazza Discepoli, the Madiera location.

A 12-Step Program for Italian Language Addicts

Talk about a small world. Here we are, land-locked in the middle of Ohio and we can rub elbows online with foreign languages almost as easily as they do in Europe.

One of my favorite sites for extra Italian practice is the British Broadcasting page for languages.

There's a simple placement test, videos, great links to Italian television and radio podcasts, cool Italian (the kind your husband and Amici instructors will never teach you) and a twelve-step course for beginners delivered weekly to your inbox for free. Most of the material is practical vocabulary for travelers - and I plan to watch a lot of these right before my next Italian adventure. Why can't I ever remember to pay for my coffee before I order at the bar???????

Stretch those Italian language muscles as many ways as possible and before you know it, you'll be enrolling in Advanced Conversation with all the really smart kids at school.