Zucca in Parigi...

This post is a little bit overdue considering that my Paris vacation took place almost a month ago.

But as most ladies over the age of let's say 20 know (and some 17 year old girls whose mom may just be running for vice president of the US find out the hard way)...better late than never!!!

Honestly, Paris is probably the most romantic city I have ever visited. There is just something about the city that gets you in the mood for some lovin the moment you see the skyline.

I stayed in Paris with the lovely Miss Tracey, a very good friend from NYU. Tracey has a thing for boys with an edge, definitely not easily impressed, has one of the best laughs around (truly) and the girl I want right by my side if I ever get in an actual physical fight. Yes. Chances of me getting in a physical fight are slim, but it never hurts to know who you want to have your back just in case.

The weather was spectacular the entire week I was in Paris...and basically I spent my money on food, wine, entry into museums and some obscenely expensive cocktails at a super trendy joint called Cafe Chic (i.e. 20 euros for 1 mojito...which converts to roughly $28 at the moment). Obscenely expensive may be an understatement.

Regarding Cafe Chic. Little advice. If you go there with a somewhat large party, it definitely makes sense to get a bottle of vodka, gin...whatever your poison.

But if your party consists of 3 girls who happened to drink 2 bottles of wine beforehand, buying a bottle just leads to a tab of 270 euros, some drunk texting, possibly stuffing roses down the front of your dress and a slight "mal di testa" (or headache) the next morning.

- Zucca

Karezza in estate...

Still waiting for the photos from all of the unofficial wedding photographers...so unfortunately my follow-up post with some more pics and details on Alberto and Giulia's wedding is kind of in a holding pattern.

Luckily I managed to swing in a quick 2-day excursion to Karezza in the meantime, took some photos...and discovered that Karezza is a pretty spectacular place in the summer, as well as the winter.




Smaller crew in comparison to New Years. Just Chiara, her mom Giovanna, Giorgio and I. But it was perfect.










Our 2 days basically involved...doing a little walking, playing cards, lunch at a random spot in the middle of a field where we were treated to a live accordion performance, an unsuccessful attempt at finding mushrooms (a first for me), eating lots of red meat (visual references provided) and drinking a decent amount of red wine.


















Ok. More accurately...I drank a decent amount of red wine and actually had to apologize for finishing off the bottle at dinner - what can I say? Giorgio was too busy talking to drink, Giovanna was in too much shock listening to the stories Giorgio was telling to drink, Chiara was laughing too much to drink, the bottle was placed strategically right next to me...and apparently I was the only multi-tasker at the table.

- Zucca

A Coffele Wedding...a little preview

Unfortunately all of the photos from the wedding of Alberto Coffele and Giulia Pastori have not been fully assembled from the 3-4 unofficial wedding photographers (all friends or relatives of the bride or the groom).

But here is a sneak peak...

Alberto & Chiara pre-wedding...and just a tad bit nervous.











Beppino Coffele (Chiara's Dad)...looking very wise and dashing, as always.














Me and Davide, Alberto's best man. The best man duties for an Italian boy basically include...well, showing up to the wedding and buying a slightly more expensive present for the newlyweds. Ta Da!












The view of Lake Orta (or Lago D'Orta) from the church. Lake Orta is a little bit north of Milan, absolutely spectacular and apparently quite a popular spot for weddings.










More photos to come...and the reasons why they also, shockingly enough, do weddings better in Italy!

- Zucca

A White Trash BBQ in Castelcerino...

Now this is what I call a bbq.

Shirtless men manning the largest grill I have ever seen...and cooking up an obscene amount of tasty pork products.

To be exact, enough of the following pork products to feed roughly 30 people:
- Costine di maiale (pork ribs)
- Salsicce (sausage)
- Bistecca di prosciutto (basically Italian ham steak)
- Pancetta (Italian bacon)

The bbq took place at the Coffele Agriturismo, or "bed and breakfast."

Well, more accurately...the Coffele "bed & breakfast to be served sometime in the near future."

The bbq was in celebration of my Dad and his lady's visit to Soave (the lovely Linda)...as well as the upcoming birthday of my Dad and that of Giovanna, Chiara's mom.



A friend from Boston, Paul Christophersen, was also in attendance..and I would be fooling myself to think that the driving force behind his postponing his flight to England to stay for the bbq was to spend more time with me and not the lure of the Fred Flintstone sized hunks of meat.

The menu also included guacamole, fresh tomatoes and basil and a cold rice dish.

And of course, Coffele wine was served in abundance.


Luckily the weather held up and we were able to end this fabulous day with an excursion through the Coffele vineyards to pick some fresh cherries...led by the fearless Giovanna (pictured with me below).


It was a real treat introducing my Dad and Linda to all of the wonderful people that I have met during my stay in Italy. All of whom have made my experience here truly unbelievable...and even better, more entertaining and definitely significantly crazier than I could have ever imagined.

All of whom have also contributed to the re-enforcing of my belief that they do everything just a little bit better in Italy.

- Zucca

Soave wines getting some press in the US...

Eric Asimov, chief wine critic of The New York Times, recently wrote an article about Soave wines after conducting a tasting of 25 different Soaves.

In addition to himself, the wine panel consisted of Florence Fabricant, Fred Plotkin (author of a number of books on Italian food, wine and music) and David Lynch (co-author of “Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy”).

I wanted to pass along the link to the article to anyone who may be interested in learning a bit more about Soave wines...and the different POVs from the tasting panel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/dining/14wine.html?ex=1211428800&en=3fc210dba0c1f2e8&ei=5070&emc=eta1

I have also added the link under "HMM...INTERESTING" on the left.

And am very happy to report that the Coffele Soave Classico Ca'Visco 2006 was #5 on their list...and described as:

"Fresh, tangy and refreshing; cries out for seafood."

Just like the producers!!

- Zucca

Gambe d'oro...

This is a new addition to the list of nicknames that I have been given over the years (some previous ones include stretch, skinny bones, red and carrot top.)

The translation...here's a little clue.

"The Golden Compass", the first novel in Philip Pullman's trilogy "His Dark Materials," translates to "La Bussola D'Oro" in Italian (which was actually the first movie I saw in an Italian cinema).

D'oro = of gold

Gambe = legs

So I am now referred to as "Legs of Gold" or "Golden Legs" by one of the regulars at Enoteca Drago.

and I am just fine with that.

- Zucca

From Russia With Love...

Ok...think I received my first ever proposition for sex from a Russian businessman last week.

I have had a number of interesting exchanges/experiences over the past 6 months in Italy...but this definitely rates at the top of the list.

I was at Matley's (a local bar outside the walls of Soave) with Laura, a close girlfriend of Chiara and I.

I was approached by this Russian man dressed in a suit...He kept repeating the same line over and over again in Russian but noone in the bar could understand a word he was saying. Hand gestures were then utilized, which unfortunately did not help very much.

Having realized the hand gestures weren't working, he then started to pull out a good amount of euros from his wallet (to the utter shock of basically everyone in the bar, who of course had all been watching this exchange with complete amusement). It was pretty obvious based on the amount of cash he pulled out that my Russian was not just offering to pay for drinks.

Now, I am not a smoker but have been known to take a drag or two off of someone else's cigarette after a few drinks.

It was at this point that I decided a drag or two would not do and that I needed at least one whole cigarette all to myself...so Laura and I exited the bar.

We re-entered the bar briefly to pay for our drinks. It appeared that my new Russian friend wanted to escort us home, but Fabio (the bartender) put his foot down...and let's just say that the Russian may not have understood Italian, but he understood Fabio completely and remained inside the bar.

Of course upon arriving at home I attempted to find the Russian translation for "What is your hourly rate?," "How much for the entire night?" and "How do you feel about bondage?" online.

Anyone by any chance familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet?

- Zucca