Category Archives: Humor

Como, Food, Food and Drink, Happy Hour, Humor, Wine

Happy Hour – Although This One Was Unhappy!

What a wonderful tradition happy hour is!  A time when friends can gather and join in a few post-work drinks and perhaps a little nibble to eat.  We’ve always known happy hour to be a 5:00pm – 7:00pm (ish) time to partake in a few cocktails at a discounted price.

Caffè Mazzini – Our favorite Happy Hour in Como

We were pleased to find that the tradition of “happy hour” also exists in Italy and it’s even called the same thing (just imagine saying it with a funny little accent… drop the sound the “h” makes).  However, it’s a bit different here.

Instead of discounted drinks and food, you usually pay the same price for the drinks (which always tends to be low anyways… between $4 – $6) but get a big bonus.  ALL YOU CAN EAT heavy hors d’oeuvres – Italian style!!!  Imagine a bar full of pasta, pizza and other wonderful treats.  If you’re not to embarrassed to fill a plate – you can easily have enough for dinner.

Since eating and drinking are two of my favorite things to do thus far on this trip, we have explored a few of the best happy hours the city has to offer (literally every place that serves drinks or coffee puts some sort of food out after 5:00pm).

However, on this particular day (after exploring the markets of Como), we encountered our first bad happy hour experience.  We came across Specialita` Apretivi – a place where the food looked better than any we had seen before.  The combination of a desire for a good glass of wine, a hungry baby and my grumbling stomach drew us in like a magnet.

Jen and Julia out front of Specialita` Aperitivi

Since we’re still a bit embarrassed to just start eating the food after ordering a drink, we also ordered two panini’s to feign the appearance of reputable patrons.  This did not impress the waitress. She gave us more attitude than a teenage girl with a limited texting plan.  My perfect command over the pronunciation of our hard-to-pronounce Montepulciano and Nero d’ Avola did nothing to win her over either.  Attitude = Strike ONE!

While we waited for our wine to come, I kept glancing over at the delectable spread presented before us and decided which treats I’d try first.  The wine came quickly and it was the smallest pour we had seen in any restaurant this entire trip.  Cheap = Strike TWO!

Some of the food at Specialita` Apretivi

Nevertheless, I shrugged these things off and made a beeline for the tomato and mozzarella panini.  Insert screeching halt sound here.  Wait a minute, these treats are only for people that ordered an aperitif, not a wine (even though they’re priced the same).

ME: “OK… well, can I have some of your free food anyway?!”  
WAITRESS: “No… you cannot!”

While my family that reads this shrieks in embarrassment… I did not actually say that.  But my body language sure suggested it.  And still, the answer was “no.”  Strike THREE – we’re out of here!

Some more images of the tasty food we couldn’t eat…
…all because we ordered the wrong drink!

So… we headed home to much better meal, prepared by Jen (pasta in a pesto sauce and a finnocio (fennel) salad with fresh bread and wine).  Also, don’t feel too badly for us after the crushing happy hour experience.  Since we believe in controlling your own destiny, we stopped and got ourselves a “pick-me up” to make up for it!

Pastries from a pasticceria (pastry shop)
Delizioso!
Cheers!
Como, Family Stories, Humor, Markets, Shopping

Saturday Market in Como

Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday there is a market on the north side of Como.  It exists just outside the old fort wall that surrounds the original city.  There is a collection of over a hundred vendors, most which arrive in their vans and vend from open doors.

Vans – vending on the other side

We strolled through and decided there was nothing we needed before moving on to a late afternoon snack (more on that in a subsequent post).  Below you’ll see a collection of the random items you can purchase if you so choose.

The Market
Some “fine” jewelry
Snacks
Books
Shoes
Anything you can imagine
And of course… even the dogs show up in high fashion

Now you see why we didn’t need anything.  But of course, it was still fun to walk around!

Humor, Sipping Espresso

Fourth Time’s the Charm – Our Cell Phone Experience

Whoever said the “easy-going” Italy lifestyle is “easy” was pazzo (crazy).  Take for example our experience in obtaining cell phones.

We thought it would have been simple.  We both have unlocked iPhones that only required a TIM card (the same as a SIM card in the U.S., you just have to slide it in… batta-bing, batta-boom).  We had been briefed that there are no cell phone plans; you simply pre-pay for the week, month or year.  We had decided to get plans with voice, data and text – just enough to help us find each other if separated and maybe find a good trattoria (restaurant) if we were in a new city.

So one nice day (maybe 3 days into our trip), we decided to walk across the street to the local TIM store.  The woman did not speak any English and we didn’t feel comfortable picking a plan blindly.  So we did what we always do… we asked Jen’s uncle Franco (who lives upstairs) for his help.

His reaction surprised us a bit – he told us we should not have gone to that TIM store.  Why… oh, because it’s mafioso!  I kid you not… we are now going to have to consider whether or not to give mafia-runned businesses our patronage.  Incidentally, the bakery and restaurant in that strip mall are also mafioso and should be avoided!

We were instructed to go to Como, to a nice reputable TIM shop.  So the next day, we packed Julia up and parked in a lot that gave me exactly 1″ clearance on each side of our vehicle.  When we walked into the store, we were relieved to discover the young lady spoke a little English (enough to get by).  So when we settled on a plan, we prepared to commit to our new plans.  Until she asked for our passports. Ohhhhh… we need passports for phones??  Of course we do!

Our reputable TIM Store – Franco Approved!

So, the next day – we tried again, this time with Passports in hand and a plan picked out.  So we went to another local TIM store in our favorite grocery store (Bennet).  This time, a cranky baby refused to wait the 30 minutes it was taking to help the previous customer and we tabled the task once again.  We later discovered that TIM store was ALSO Mafioso and should be avoided too (but the grocery store that it’s in is perfectly fine).

By now, everyone seems a bit shocked that we still don’t have phones – but what more can we do?!!  We decided to go back to the Bennet a day or two later (despite the Mafioso tag) and get it done.  We waited and waited and waited, but finally found someone that can help us and GOT OUR PHONES ACTIVATED!!

A little bonus… cell phone plans are super cheap!  For just six euros a week, we have more than enough voice, data and texting capabilities.  Unfortunately the salesman couldn’t explain to us how expensive it was to call the U.S.  Judging by his shocked expression and hand gestures, we gathered it is not cheap!  Good thing there’s FaceTime!

Humor, Just a Little Different Here

All Things Are Just a Little Different…

I think this will be a recurring theme… most differences are charming, some can be frustrating and all of them can be humorous when looked at in the right light.

A perfect example of some of these differences that “welcomed” us to our new life in Italy was our own house key.*  There are normal keys right next to it so that you can get a proper scale.

Didn’t know we were living in a bank vault!

*When we say “our house,” we really mean Dominic and Diane’s beautiful home that they have so graciously allowed us to live in for the next year.  We’ll do a separate post with pictures of the place as well.