Non è un cacatolo x Cani! Maiali!

Someone wrote this on a wall near our house. There were some dog droppings there and the graffiti was basically saying that it wasn't a toilet stop for dogs. The next day I went back, the worse of the droppings were removed. Cani = dogs. Maiali = pigs (really Italian equivalent of bitch). Please, Italian friends write me on this one. I think cacatolo should be caccatolo with two c's.

Addition: someone wrote to say it should be cacatoio. The person who wrote on the wall has bad handwriting.

We Moved In

We took ownership of the apartment on Friday afternoon. We spent a few hours with the property manager. Later we met the owner and his father. They were swapping refrigerators (long story). The dad was familiar with Seattle because we was a Italian (what else) clothes buyer for stores in Seattle. I'll just say the apartment (really a house) has good points and bad points. The good points are location location location and the fact that it is super quite (very important for us). The main bad point is that it wasn't quite provisioned the way we would have liked. But with a couple of small outings we can remedy that.

The location is here (actually a little to the right of this pushpin). It is up against a green belt. The street is so small that only scooters and smart cars can manage it. Therefore, it is quiet. Just a few click clacks a day from well-heeled Italians taking the street as a short cut.

The house has 2.5 stories. The first floor is kitchen, dining and living room. The second story has a bathroom and general purpose room with a small bed and armoire. The second story has a very high ceiling and you can see the beams and terracotta tiles. From this general purpose room there is a smaller one half to three quarter length stair that goes up to a loft with a bed and lots of storage. There is a skylight above the bed. It's a pretty good layout.

Gas Station Attendants

Outside of the big cities, gas station attendants seem to always be waiting around for you to pull up for gas. Their uniforms are pretty snappy – a jumpsuit with the company colors. There are both men and women attendants. There are self serve stations but they don’t seem as popular. Here is the web site of a popular gas station chain in Italy: Agip.

Cuccitiamo

Annoying graffiti that appears many times around central Umbria. It was typically written on road signs. Childish, even in Italian. It means “Puppy/honey I love you” – I think.

Kebab

We broke down and went to our first kebab shop this evening. There seems to be at least one in every moderately sized town. We walked by this one in Spoleto many times and decided that we wanted something quick for our last night. It was pretty good. For 3 Euros we got something that looks like a big burrito with chicken, lettuce, tomato, onions, and French fries (just a few). The place is very popular with young kids. We talked briefly with the owner to ask him about the tortilla-like wraps and he said he makes them fresh every day.

Travel, Eyewear, and Kebab

These shops seem more numerous to us now than we remember in past visits to Italy. An Italian friend said because of rising income, people have opportunities for travel and the travel agencies (usually just once person at a desk) are providing nice package deals to meet the need.

Eyewear stores are also popular specializing in very trendy eyewear - usually with thick sides and sparkles.

Kebab, well, because it tastes good and is fairly cheap and quick I guess.

Vietato Fumare

Posted in restaurants: No smoking! Or more literally, smoking prohibited. It's amazing to us because last time we were here, smoking was allowed in restaurants. For us, the eating experience is vastly improved. For more info look here.

What's Up?

We've had spotty internet connection in Bologna and now again in Umbria (Spoleto). The situation should improve when we relocate to Firenze on week's end. So far, everything has been awesome and Umbria is beautiful. The weather has been about 70-75F/sunny each day - couldn't ask for better.