Market shopping in Italy

One of my favorite things about Italy were all the markets that would be held at least once a week in even the smallest of towns.   Cities, of course, would have several neighborhood market days during the week.

This tradition started hundreds of years ago and you'll still see mention of it or illustrations in old story books and in art work from the past.

It was a way to bring other items for sale to the smaller towns and also for the farmers and other handicrafters to be able to sell what they had made.

For me?  It was a way to get the very freshest fruits and vegetables to eat.

This particular market was on the road between where I lived and the US Army Post where I worked.  It was only about a mile from my rental house.   This particular day was a rainy day.

There will be several people selling fruits and vegetables and often they do not have the same thing-- and sometimes the crowd will be very thick in front of a particular seller's space and that always made me stop and look to see what "I" might also need to notice that they were selling.

You can also buy fresh flowers at a very reasonable price.  I would often do this in the spring time and buy some tulips. The people selling fish and/ or meat had special enclosed cases that were either heated (if the dishes were already cooked) or refrigerated and/or on ice as you can see in this photo of one of the fish vendors. In my little town, of Lerino, every Friday night there was the 'very nice fish man' that was selling a large variety of already prepared fish dishes.  I often bought food from him.       Blood oranges!   My absolute favorite oranges.   This is a different variety than I usually see, because even the outside skin turns red on the sweetest type that I enjoyed every year that I lived  in Italy.  This photo was taken during the spring and towards the end of the blood orange season. The prices are for PER KILO and are in EURO. And, oh my goodness... I never even liked asparagus until I had the bianco (or white) asparagus.   It is covered up by straw/etc. so that the sun doesn't turn it green and the flavor is so delicate and wonderful.  When asparagus season rolled around every spring, the local restaurants and small family owned 'trattorias' would start putting out special signs, in Italian, of course, advertising their special WHITE ASPARAGUS spring dishes. One of my favorite foods is the fresh asparagus risotto.   So good.   And in the spring, at this particular market, were always a couple of vendors that sold plants for the yard or flower pots.  I always bought some from both of them and put them in the hanging balcony rail flower pots.   Guess what is in this bucket? Already 'soaked' beans so that you can start cooking them immediately!   Another one of my favorite foods!   One of my favorite pizzas had olives, marinated artichokes, and prosciutto ham.     And the springtime tulips.

Portofino, Italy

 

When, I lived/work in/at Gaeta, Italy, I often signed up for the MWR (morale, welfare, and recreation) trips on the tiny Navy Base.  However, they would also be cancelled because there wasn't enough participation.  I found out later that some of this was 'because' the military spouses had their own group and would sponsor their own trips-- which simply meant that there often wasn't enough people to support the base hiring a bus/diver to do the weekend trips.

 

After signing up for a few trips and then find them cancelled, I finally went to the local travel place on base and I asked them if there were any areas that I could go to by train.   So, she got me train tickets to go to Postofino, Italy.   I had to take the city bus to the next town to catch a train and off I went, on an adventure, to Portofino, for the next Saturday.

 

It was only about an hour or so away and often there would be views of the ocean out the train windows.

 

When I arrived, I discovered that the train station was above the town.   I disembarked the train and I followed the few passengers that also got off the train.  The views were breathtaking... an Italian harbor town laid out in it's own private cove, different levels of the town as it flowed down to the beach and the ocean.   You could see the sandy beaches, laughing children, ocean waves splashing against the rocks along the edge of the harbor, and there were many sailboats and a few yachts were docked.  

 

 

*I found out later that this is a 'very' expensive, popular place with the rich and famous too.

 

This is the harbor from the water and all my time was spent 'above all' of this area.   I went back to Portofino another time and I arrived by Ferry to the harbor.  I spent the day there and I only stayed in this area. 

 

 

 

 

We walked down steep, narrow steps from the train station area and eventually ended up in a level area, full of places to eat, gelato stores, and amazing hand painted ceramic shops.  It was very difficult to decide what to purchase.   Some of that was because there was JUST SO MUCH to choose from and every shop had their own different artist and styles of painting.  

 

The other factor in purchasing items was... I was going to have to carry it all back up those narrow steps, onto the train, and back home. 

 

 

 

 

I bought this blue serving platter. 

 

 

This was in a gelato shop... this is the front panel of where all the gelato flavors are displayed.

There were a few shops that sold the hand painted tiles that were to be put together like this.  I bought one with the intention of using it 'somehow' when I finally moved back to the states.   I did use it and I had it placed in my guest bathroom, when I had the shower retiled and updated.

Lots of lemons were on the hand painted ceramics... this is an area that grows and produces a lot of lemons.  

 

I enjoyed my visit so much - especially with the unexpected find of all the shops with hand painted Italian ceramics, that I went back another Saturday with a friend before we both moved to new locations in a few weeks.

 

Blaze, the cat who doesn't want her photo taken

During the 27 years that I was living/working overseas I never had a pet.   Once I moved back to the states, I decided that I would get a cat.   Little did I know that this event would happen sooner than I had expected.  

I was staying with my good college friend, in Durant, OK, while I was waiting for the closing on my house.   A stray cat lived in her yard and she had 2 wild grey kittens that had been born a few months prior to my arrival.   One was mostly grey and the other one was grey with more white along her face and she had a 'white blaze' along her back that actually looked like the letter J.

They were wild and there was no way of knowing the sex of these kittens.   So, we just referred to the kittens as 'grey, grey, and Blaze'  ... we are nothing if not original.  lol

The mostly grey one was SUPER WILD.   When you opened the back door, for any reason, she would RUN out of the yard and not return for over an hour.  Meanwhile, she was missing the food, that was being put outside for the 'yard feral cats'... because, it would be all gone when 'grey, grey' finally returned to the yard. 

Blaze, tended to run when the door was opened, but, she would return and hang around with her mama cat.   My friend and I were able to trap, 'grey, grey' in a live trap.   I tried, but she was not at all interested in becoming tamed.   We took her to a vet and got her spayed so that she would have a better life.

I kept working on taming Blaze, and while she would eat meat from my fingers- it was a month before she would let me touch her.

She is a sweet cat... a little shy.   And, most certainly does not like her photo taken.  Most of the time, she looks down, looks away or gets a weird look on her face.   I totally identify with the cat about the photo taking situation.  

"What, are you doing with that camera again?" 

This is the way that almost every photo of her looks.

They both had so much fun with the packing materials from my move.  I left a corner of the dining room full of packing paper for them for a few weeks.  Hours of fun was experienced by both cats there.  You can see 'Henry' hiding in the distance.

She is snuggling with her best buddy Henry.  Of course, Henry looks like he is 'begging' for mercy... or has just figured out the murder plot and fears for his life.   Actually, he heard the camera click and woke up.

They are not siblings but, we suspect that their mothers were siblings.

 

She's actually holding onto Henry's paw while she is sleeping.   Sweet.

She loves, LOVES to be outside.   She kills snakes too and has also killed 2 squirrels.

And, now for a couple of photos of 'the weird' looks that she often gets on her face when you try to take her photo.   Poor thing.   (lol)

"Why won't she stop taking my photo??"

Gaeta Italy

The second time that I lived/taught in Italy was at Gaeta, Italy.  It was right on the ocean about halfway between Naples and Rome.  It was where a tiny USA Navy base was stationed.   The Navy used the Navy Ship in the harbor for most of their needs and the actual 'base' consisted of one small two story (or was it 3 story?) building up the hill/small mountain away from the Navy Ship.

On this 'base' was a bank, the post office, various military offices, and a small shoppette that was the 'commissary/military uniform sales/etc. everything' type of shop.  I bought my groceries at the Italian grocery stores and markets. 

 The school for the American children of the military was not on the little base- it was instead about 3-4 miles away in a small 2 story rented school building.  I taught 3rd grade when I was at Gaeta.

When, I first moved there, I stayed in a hotel in the new part of town.   Across the street from the hotel was a small fruit/veggie store.   They also sold the amazing Gaeta Olives.  Trust me, they are the best that I have ever tasted and are only grown in this area.  I really could take or leave olives until I moved to Italy and got to have the fresh olives to eat.   Now, I love olives.

This is the very HANDSOME Italian man who owned the fruit/veggie store.  He was very NICE too.

In the main shopping area was one of my favorite Pizza places.   I loved it because you could buy the pizza by the slice.   See the one in front with the salad/lettuce on it?  That was a summer type of pizza.  I loved it and my other favorite one was the one that had small cherry tomatoes, basil, and olive oil drizzled on it. The other pizza places sold the traditional round pizzas- but, this was perfect for me-- just get a slice of pizza and walk and eat.   Of course, they might not have your favorite pizza-- but, you could wait or just get another type because, the pizza is very good in Italy.     The red star shows where Gaeta was located.   I would take the local city bus to the town of Formia to catch the train to go to other locations.  Unfortunately, I was only there for 10 1/2 months.   The school was tiny and got smaller and several teachers including myself were excessed and sent to another location.   It was the most beautiful place that I have ever lived.   Or visited.  I would suggest Gaeta as a place to visit- you can easily get there by train from Rome or Naples/etc.  However, do yourself a favor and do NOT visit during JULY or AUGUST.   Expensive and too many people plus probably not any hotels available anyway?       Gaeta had 2 intact castles and they were still being used by the city/government. One is near the water in the sunshine- you can see the tower, and the oldest one is in front of that one, away from the water, and is in the shadow.      Gaeta also had a huge swimming beach.  This is only about 1/3 of it.  In the summer, the place was packed with Italians on their month long summer holiday.  Here are the US Navy Ships.   Another HANDSOME Italian man.  He was also very NICE and he spoke excellent English because he was married to an American.  He made my wrought iron baker's racks.

Han River, Seoul, South Korea

While I was teaching overseas, I moved all over and I returned to Seoul, South Korea to teach on the USA Army Post (Yongsan) several times.   The last time that I lived there, I was in a fairly new high-rise apartment building, that was only about 4 years old, that was very close to the base.   I selected it because, there were many 'traffic lights' on the route that I would drive to get to the base/to work.  This made it a 'safe' driving route and I also lived close enough that I could walk to work in 30 minutes if I needed to do so.

That is very important in Seoul, South Korea.  I was also only about 1 1/2- 2 blocks away from a subway stop, lots of places to eat, and I have a lovely view from all windows of the Han River.  

This is the long hallway of my apartment building.   The open door at the far end of the hallway, straight back, was a guest bedroom and there was another one on the right hand side (can't really see it in this photo).   The guest bathroom is the door frame on the left side at the far end of the hallway-

The door frame on the left side (closest to the viewer) was the little entrance area to my bedroom. 

The 'no doorway' entrance, far back, on the left AFTER the standing open door... was the open area to the doorway to the lobby.   You stepped down into this tiny room.   My favorite part was the floor to ceiling storage cabinets (lovely woodwork) that was floor to ceiling shoe storage!   In Asia, you take your outside shoes off at the entrance to the door (or usually outside the apartment door in the hallway) they are not worn in the house/apartment.  You could tell if someone had lots of company or a party- there would be lots of shoes in the hallway outside their doorway.

 If shoes are needed inside- there are 'inside' only shoes to wear.  I also used these shelves for holiday storage/etc.  This area was big enough that I had a small bench along one wall.  

The door that you see on the far right (closest to the viewer) went to the dining room/kitchen area.  It was a huge room.   The areas that you don't see was the entrance to the master bedroom/bath/walk in closet area and the living room. 

I had bamboo floors throughout the apartment.   The key was a magnetic key that you scanned at the outside door panel or you could impute a code and the door could be opened that way.   Some apartment buildings had 'fingerprints' used for entrance.  My favorite part of the apartment were the views and the HEATED FLOORS throughout the entire apartment.   The underground parking and fast elevators were nice too.

This was the view out the laundry room off the kitchen. The following are views out the living room windows (my bedroom views were just a little further to the right of this photo). This is a rare clear day.  I thought that this was a nice photo of the sunrays.   The US Army helicopter is a nice touch. There was a big park area right below my apartment building.  You can see some of the green park at the bottom of this photo. You can see the effects of the air pollution here.   Many days, the air pollution (mostly from China's uncontrolled air pollution) made it impossible to see any of these buildings. To the far right of the buildings on the right side of the photo was a huge 6-8 lane interstate looking highway.   Lots of traffic.   My apartment complex was owned by the LG Corporation.   There were 10 buildings in our apartment complex, beautiful grounds, and it was very quiet. Across from my building was a building that was fairly close to me- not so close that you could see the residents inside.   Most of the newer apartments in Seoul have balconies that are actually along the outside glass walls.   It helps keep the cold and heat out- because, they are about 6-8 feet wide and big enough that you could use them for storage, a small office, a laundry room (that's where my laundry room was located off the kitchen in one of the balcony areas.)  It also keeps people from looking directly into your apartment.   Yet, while you are in the apartment- you have a clear view of outside since everything is glass.   You could keep the sliding glass doors to your balcony open to add extra space to the actual inside living areas if you wanted to do so.  The building that was the closest to me, had an apartment that was about 42-3 stories below my apartment and I would often see a Korean man working with a lamp, in the early morning hours, on his 'balcony turned into an office'... I also had a private balcony off all of the bedrooms.   The actual glass windows would slide open for air breezes on the balconies - but, they were tilted outwards for safety.   The rooms had floor to ceiling glass which gave you great views.   I did sew some 'light blocking' curtains for my bedroom that closed off the master bedroom balcony- I didn't want the sunlight to wake me up on the weekends when I could sleep in a little later than on school/work days. No problem finding the fabric because all I had to do was go to the 5 story fabric building in Tondaemun Market.     I enjoyed every location that I lived in while I was teaching overseas for 27 years.  I always enjoyed being in Seoul, South Korea.   I was there, I think 4 different times? I made many good friends, dated some really nice military men, taught wonderful students, and the shopping was always great.   It was also fun and challenging to live in a city of 16 million people.   I enjoyed the subways and I knew my way around markets very well.     It was quite an adventure living there.   I think also because it was SO DIFFERENT from the states- that it helped forge bonds of friendship with other Americans associated with the base?  The base also did a great job with activities for those deployed there.   I have many good memories of being there.   I will continue to add photos from my time in Seoul off and on.     Farewell, Seoul, South Korea...  you and my friends, from my time there, will always be in my heart.

Look at what I have now...

It's my first pet that I've had in over 27 years!   I never thought that it was fair to try to take care of a pet and moving/living all over the world.   So, I waited until I returned to the states... which I have recently done.

This little guy was from a litter of 4 kittens that were born in my friend's backyard.  I was staying with her while I was waiting for the closing on my house.  Unfortunately, their mom (a wild stray) died when they were only 3 weeks old.  I had to step in and take care of them with bottle feeding/etc.

I brought them to my new house (well, it is an old 1932 era house- but, new to me) when they were only 4 weeks old.  I kept them all until they were 3 months old and I found good homes for the other siblings.   There were 2 boys and 2 girls.   All sweet.

I actually have 2 cats.   The other one is a female that is about 5 months older?  She was wild (also born in my friend's backyard) and it took me a month to tame her enough so that she would allow me to touch her.

This is Henry.  He was only about 3 weeks old and just learning how to turn over.

His eyes were the baby blue color that most kittens have, then they turned grey and they then turned a nice green color when he got older.  See the blue paint on his nose?  He was helping me paint the outside bench. This is Henry's brother.   If I could have afforded to take care of 3 cats- I would have kept him too.   He was the sweetest cat that I have ever known and he was very attached to me.   He and his sister (they were bonded together) went to the same home together.