LOOKING FOR A BETTER LIFE IN THE UK

The internet radio is a wonderful invention. Thanks to that I listen to the radio much more than I used to, often while cooking or doing boring stuff in the kitchen. Recently I happened to have the BBC Radio 4 on and there was an interesting discussion about freedom of movement in the European Union area. 

  They interviewed young, educated and upward mobile Italians who have moved to the UK in hope for a better life. For these young professionals Italy represented a place with no jobs and no opportunities. Unfortunately, they are right. Italy's economic growth has been very slow for many years now and unemployment is on the rise. In January 2014 Italy's youth unemployment rate jumped to 42.2 %. There are not enough jobs for graduates either (read more on www.italoeuropeo.com). Average monthly wages are very low in Italy compared to what you could earn in a fast moving, happening economy such as Britain. In Britain professional advancement is also not entirely a question of who you know or how good your parents are in networking. Wages are higher in Britain (but so are living costs). And if you can take the rain, wind and winter floods, why not use the right to seek your fortunes elsewhere. But will these young people return to Italy one day? Judging by the interviews on the BBC Radio 4, it's unlikely. 

AN AFTERNOON IN CHIAVARI

Last Saturday I had a pleasant afternoon stroll on the streets of Chiavari, only an hour by train from Brignole station with an Italian friend, Sonia. We have a little pact: she wants to practice English and I want to learn more Italian, so we combine this with visits to interesting places. This works well as we always have a lot to chat about history and architecture. Chiavari has plenty of both. There is a seaside promenade and many historical sights, including an impressive looking cathedral, Santuario di Nostra Signora dell'Orto, which has been in the same spot since 1633.

  Sadly, we only had  a couple of hours and mainly walked along the main street, Via Martiri della Liberazioni. It was buzzing with people looking for bargains at the market stalls selling food, clothes, shoes and other hard-to-resist items. One of the main attractions of this particular area are several long and narrow porticos offering plenty of  protection from the elements. Some of the heavy stone columns are from medieval times. People must have been quite short then as the porticos are quite low.

    In many places the historical shop signs have been left in place. A shop currently selling clothes and shoes may have been a pharmacy or a grocery store in the past. These signs are reminders of a different time, perhaps of an era of ladies in long dresses wearing hats and carrying umbrellas on their way to the shops.
  Some places have even tried to keep the historical interiors in tact. For example, the deliciously decadent looking cafe/bakery called Defilla with heavy golden framed mirrors on the walls and massive chandeliers should not be missed. It is worth going inside just to admire the interior of this famous cafe.

    I also could not resist taking a photo of this particular shop window. You never guess what is their main  line of business: electrical goods and hardware!!
   Not a bad way to spend a leisurely afternoon. Plenty more to discover the next time.

THE DAY IN MILAN THAT NEVER HAPPENED

I was supposed to be in Milan yesterday. Got on the train very early in the morning at Brignole station and settled down to read a book. I love travelling by train and despite all the bad publicity trains get here for being constantly late, I still much prefer trains to planes and cars. Couple of minutes later we arrived to the next station, Piazza Principe. An Italian man came to the cabin (there are six seats in one cabin) and said that I was sitting on his seat. I took out my cellphone with the SMS from Trenitalia and checked my number and it was correct.The man went to get the conductor, who arrived just when the train left the Piazza Principe station. He had one look at my ticket and declared that it was for the next day (meaning today) and therefore, I did not have a ticket. And he was right. Naturally, by this time all the other passengers in the cabin were mighty interested in what was going on. 

As this was an Intercity train, the next station was Tortona, an hour away. Luckily, the conductor did not start demanding that I should pay a fine, which would have been quite a lot (I think 80 euro). I am sure he had seen it all before and realised that this was a genuine mistake. I got off in Tortona and returned to Genoa, the day ruined!!! But I learned my lesson: when buying a ticket on the internet, check what you click on the travel date section before proceeding to pay... 

MY LITTLE POT OF ESPRESSO

People, I know what you think. "This woman has been in Italy for well over a year and not - repeat - not made a cup of espresso at home yet." Iknowiknowiknow. But I have owned an espresso pot for well over a year and that counts for something. Today was the day I decided to use it for the very first time.
  In the beginning, I actually did not like espresso much. Too dark and bitter coffee for my liking. But the coffee culture in Italy is so addictive. At 10 am every morning I either want to go to a coffee shop and have a shot of espresso, often with a cornetto (brioche) - or I make coffee at home, usually an instant...
  Naturally, there are now very fancy coffee making machines in the market and capsules with different flavours so that you can be your own barista, but I like the shape and size of my espresso pot and prefer to make coffee this way. Especially now that I know how easy it is. 

I found excellent step-by-step instructions from this blog  www.thehungrymouse.com - so well worth checking it out, if you want some re-assurance on the actual process of making a decent cup of espresso. 

  There are couple of things to be aware of. An Italian friend told me that when making espresso in a never before used pot for the first time, you have to throw away the first cup of espresso because it often tastes bitter. Did that. The other thing is to make sure that you do not boil the water too fast or on a too big flame of gas. Again, the espresso will become bitter very quickly. You are also not supposed to peak inside the coffee pot all the time. Leave the lid on and the little pot will do its job. So, all this advice in mind, I set to make  a shot of espresso.

   I put cold water on the bottom part of the pot, up until the little screw mark. Then I added 3-4 teaspoons of coffee to the second part, enough to fill the small container. All that was left, was to tighten up the top part in place and set the pot on a moderate flame of gas on the stove.

 After couple of minutes, there was a bubbly sound. When that finished I took the pot off the flame and took a peak inside: there it was, my very first home made espresso. It tasted very good, too!!! Success!!

THE DIFFERENT SIDES OF EDWARD M

It is incredibly expensive to bring in an art exhibition featuring an international star. Decisions are made years in advance. Then it is the actual transportation of priceless paintings across borders and setting up the whole exhibition. In this light, it is exciting that  the city of Genoa and the Foundation of Palazzo Ducale have decided to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the most famous Norwegian artist, Edward Munch, at Palazzo Ducale where 120 of his paintings and lithographs are on display until April. 

  If there ever was an artist who has suffered from over exposure of one piece of work, it has to be Munch's painting "Scream". Thankfully, the original painting is not on display among the works selected for this exhibition, however, it is featured in the parallel exhibition of Andy Warhol's works titled  "After Munch". These are on show for the first time in Europe. 

 I have recently read Munch's biography by Atle Naess. Munch had a very stormy life full of dramatic events, such as being involved in a shooting incident where the other participant was his over jealous and totally obsessed girlfriend who would have been classified as a stalker, if it would have happened today. Munch's life story fresh in my mind, I was curious to see the works. 

  But I have to say, the exhibition left me lukewarm. There was a whole room dedicated to portraits of the family of Max Linde, Munch's supporter and someone who commissioned him when nobody else would. These were sweet and presumably the likeness was praised by everyone, but a whole room of these portraits? In general, there were a lot of portraits. There were very few works from his early years. Most of the lithographs did not speak to me at all. 

   If I compare this to last year's blockbuster at Palazzo Ducale, the Miro exhibition, it was not half as interestingly put together as the Miro was. There was one particularly delightful surprise at the end though: music by an English composer Frederick Delius, who met Munch in Paris around 1896. We are told that they both influenced each other and wanted to collaborate by creating a work which would combine painting with music. This never happened. We can only guess what kind of a painting would have accompanied the beautiful piece of music by Delius, "Aqvarelles". In any case, it is a very fitting tribute to Munch. 

OLLI MUSTONEN SHINES AT CARLO FELICE

If you love classical music, there is one particular place you cannot possibly miss in town: Teatro Carlo Felice, the local opera house and concert hall ( www.carlofelicegenova.it ) conveniently located at the Piazza de Ferrari. 

I recently went to a concert there by the Finnish pianist and conductor Olli Mustonen. 

 The concert started with one minute's silence to honor the much loved Italian conductor Claudio Abbado, who died last week at the age of 80. Abbado performed at Carlo Felice only last year and Mustonen's concert was dedicated to his memory. 

  I especially loved Mustonen's own composition Three Mysteries. Not sure, if the Italian audience was totally convinced of its qualities though: an elderly lady sitting quite close to me made her feelings known by saying loudly "I don't like it" in Italian. I choose to believe that she was in the minority, judging by the very warm and long applauds Mustonen received at the end of the concert, which also featured Mozart's piano concerto 20 (K466) and Tsaikovski's symphony number 4. Mustonen is one of those very few musicians, who can conduct the orchestra at the same time as performing the concerto as a soloist. It was quite fascinating to watch Mustonen in action: he lives the music with his whole body. 

  For many years Carlo Felice has been in financial difficulties and last year there was a real threat of bankruptcy. There was a lot of talk in the papers about the possibility of Carlo Felice being closed down altogether. But luckily they seem to have survived the rocky waters. It is worth keeping an eye on their current programme. You can even try to get a cheaper ticket one hour before performances, if you are not too bothered where your seat is. There are some free concerts on offer on Sundays and aperitivos with jazz on Thursdays or Fridays. Stuffy place it isn't, this Carlo Felice. 

NO SALT PLEASE, THIS IS A MICROBIOTIC MEAL

For the first time ever, I was asked to present an ID when I went out for lunch with a friend this week. We had agreed to meet at the macrobiotic restaurant in Nervi  (Via Commercio, close to the end stop of bus #17). I was not aware about this in advance, but this restaurant is for members only. If you want to eat there, you have to become a member. That is easily said and done, there are no particular requirements for becoming a member, but you have to have your ID when going there for the first time so that a membership card can be issued.
  The restaurant is run by volunteers. The menu is written on a board and you get what is available on that day - not from a long list of dishes. Around lunchtime the place was full of Italians enjoying a different kind of an eating experience and many of them had brought containers to take food home as well, in case there is too much to eat. Wasting food is strongly discouraged. There was also a notice on the table that cellphones must be switched off. Another first in a restaurant. 

   I had never tasted microbiotic food before. My friend explained that microbiotic diet is based on a whole philosophy about how you should eat food that is in season and locally grown, mostly grains and vegetables and avoid anything that is processed. It is all about balance, ying and yang. This balance can be achieved by eating whole grain cereals (brown rice, barley, millet, oats, quinoa, spelt, rye) together with cooked or raw vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and fish. So, not totally vegetarian then. But not all vegetables qualify as microbiotic food. For example, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, spinach and eggplant should be avoided altogether. But on the other hand, using cabbage and carrots is a highly recommended combination. 

   As a starter, we were given a vegetable soup with small pieces of wholewheat pasta in it. I am not wild about pasta in a soup, even though it is common in a minestrone. The soup was quite thin and there was no salt. Good news for those who suffer from high blood pressure (as I do) but I could not taste any other spices either, such as herbs. The main meal consisted of a tasty risotto, which had olives in it (very good) and a nice relish made out of cabbage and carrots combined with cooked beans and a wholewheat pasta with a sauce. The risotto, veggies and beans were tasty and nice, but I have to say that the wholewheat pasta was totally overcooked and did not look very appetizing either. All this was washed down with a glass of warm japanese bancha tea. 

  Afterwards we went to the macrobiotic shop, which is right next door to the restaurant. I stocked up with honey, bisquits, cabbage and the bancha tea. There was a good selection of all kinds of organic and natural products, including freshly baked whole wheat bread. 

 Would I go back? Perhaps. I felt really good for many hours after the meal. However, I don't think that I would be able to follow a totally microbiotic diet - too restricted. And I do need some salt. Tomatoes also appear on our dinner table every day.  But every now and then, why not?