Hello Summer: It's Time for a Grigliata!

It is summer, which means there are changes in Trieste. A new bus schedule shifts public transportation away from school and towards the beach. Nonna stops making Jota and starts making pesto and, as soon as the price for San Marzano tomatoes comes down at the mercato coperto, she will put the camping stove outside and make enough salsa to last the winter. Likewise, you may notice that your social calendar has changed. For if winter in Trieste means pizzas out with friends, the summer is all about the grigliata. 

Something for Everyone

Study the roles closely and see where you can make the best of your talents at the next grigliata!

The Organizer: This person may or may not be the host. The most pro-active of the grigliata roles, it carries two main responsibilities: 

1. Create the whatsapp group announcing the event. Find an appropriate profile photo for the group. This might be an image of an ice-cold beer, glasses clinking, a picture of a grill, or any image that communicates “it’s party time.” 

2. Circulate the List of What to Bring. Only two columns are necessary: Nome and Salato or Dolce.

Grill Maestra/Maestro:  This person throws beers in the fridge and fires up the grill. Later, she (or he, why not?) will confer with other Grill Heads about proper strategy. 

Grill Head: Anyone who stands at or near the grill for more than 5 minutes. This includes the person with a fork ready to eat cevapcici directly off the grill.

By the way, the definition of “Grill” in Italy has a wider range than in America. Almost anything can be classified as a grill in Trieste as long as it is outside and you can cook meat on it. 

Spritz Aperol Fairy: As the name implies, this person brings the ingredients for Spritz Aperol (Prosecco, Orange slices, sparkling water, Aperol) and makes carafes of it until the ingredients run out. Spritz Aperol fairies must arrive punctually as this is a before dinner aperitivo.

Torta Salata Specialist: This person brings the same torta salata to every potluck they attend. A torta salata can come pie-shape like a quiche or it may be a rectangular store-bought crust filled down the center, wrapped like a burrito and baked. T.S. Specialists favor tried and true combinations like: spinach and ricotta, potato and tuna, or Ham and cheese.

The Experimenter: This person, usually the foreigner of the group, is not bound by Italian tradition and food combination rules. In the past, this person’s dish went home untouched. Social media and global food trends have changed the tide, however, making the experimenter’s quirky dishes more attractive.  

The Principe: Every good party needs a little prince, or the cherished male child of someone who is good at making insalata russa, which is basically a fancy version of potato salad decorated with olives and mayonnaise squeezed out of a tube. If the principe has a very loving mother, she will throw in a batch of peperonata and a strucolo de pomi for dessert.

There are many other roles to cover depending on how many people are invited to the grigliata. I mention only the main ones.

A Word about Location

Possible places for the grigliata include, for the lucky ones, the back yard or, even better, the terreno, someone’s piece of land they rent for the year or own specifically for social occasions. A corner of the terreno is reserved for a vegetable garden with radicio picio, tomatoes, and way more zucchini than necessary.

Other grigliata locations include the cemented cortile, the terrazza, or even the roof.

What Goes on the Grill

While in America there are generally two choices: Hamburger or Hot Dog, the Italian grill can hold an unlimited number of meat makes and models -- the bigger the variety the better. Just remember, the Grill Heads will be able to tell if the meat has been frozen and thawed. With this in mind, it is highly recommended to go over the border on the same day and buy fresh. Don't worry about it, though. As a foreigner, no one expects you to know much about food anyway. Let someone else do the errand and contribute to the spesa.  Also, vegetables can and will be grilled. 

The Conversation

Don’t be surprised if the main topic of conversation is the food itself.  Asking for and giving recipes, commenting on various dishes and how you would have made them better differently, where in Slovenia the meat came from and, most importantly, a grigliata is not a grigliata unless someone takes a moment to complain about the fact that there is WAY TOO MUCH FOOD.

Yes, next time we will do better.    

Happy Birthday and Anniversary to Me in Dublin

On June 17, 2023  I celebrated 20 years of living in Italy. It was also my 50th birthday.  I didn't spend it in Italy, though. Instead I had the brilliant idea, which is not sarcasm because it was literally brilliant, to buy concert tickets to see Depeche Mode in Dublin on June 14 and invite my twin brother to meet me there. It took him a while to get back to me so I spread the word a bit and by the time June came along I had convinced my husband and daughter (that was easy), my Bestie from college who lives in Geneva (easier than I thought, I'll have to do that more often), as well as my sister and, finally, my twin brother (they traveled together) to come. The Cherry on top was getting to see my friends who live in Dublin, too. 

My husband, who is the default Cruise Director at our house, thought I should make a plan for our time in Dublin. He said it was only right seeing as it was my birthday and my idea. He wanted to teach me a lesson: get a feel for how much work it is, understand first hand all that time and effort, appreciate him for all those past trips he masterfully designed. It was the least I could do, and as a teacher I could not turn down an opportunity to get schooled, so I got to work.  

Like a DJ carefully preparing that winning wedding playlist, I put together a range of activities, balancing culture and personal growth with crowd pleasers, dinners in interesting venues, and Ukulele Tuesday at the Stag's Head pub.  I liked everything. It was amazing. I did not make one plan that I hated doing. I did not complain once during the entire trip, except when I got mad at Google maps, but I had not clearly communicated my expectations. Other than that it was awesome. 

The party was a blast, too, but that was because I didn't have to plan it. My bestie chose the place, made the reservation, ordered a cake for us plus the entire pub plus breakfast for the next two days. It was marvelous. Maybe not everyone had the time of their life, but, now that I am fifty, I know that each person creates their own happiness, and it is not my problem if they do not. 

In case you're curious, here were the best things about my trip besides being with humans I love. These are in no particular order. 

1) Staying in an apartment in Temple Bar. 

2) A day trip to Belfast. (Giant's causeway, dark hedges, Titanic museum). 

3)  Depeche Mode Concert at Malahide Castle, After-party at Crowbar in Temple Bar. Plus there was a raffle and I won a DM Flask!

4) Dinner at a converted bank. 

5) Lunch at a converted Church. 

6) Lunch at Gravedigger's Pub.

7) National Portrait Gallery.

8) Windmill Recording Studios tour.

9) Ukulele Tuesday at the Stag's Head.

10) Wandering aimlessly and finding live music everywhere. 

There are cheap direct flights to Dublin with Ryan air from Trieste or Venice. As far as prices in Dublin, food and drinks are comparable to what you would pay in Trieste, but hotels and apartments are roughly double. With that in mind, I recommend a visit even if it's for a long weekend.  Just go. I'll meet you there.  

A Pandemic Trip to the U.S.

I know we all have ants in our pants and want to travel, but I just got back from the U.S. two days ago and, well, I have some mixed feelings about the endeavor. 

General Pros: 

1. I saw my family after something like two years (I would have to check my tax forms to say for sure, that is how long it has been).

2. I got to smell Pine Lake (not quite Proust's Madeleine, but a whiff of a Wisconsin lake does bring me back).

3. I ate all the food I missed*. 

General Cons: 

1. I gained 5.5 kilos in two weeks and felt physically horrible most days because I ate and drank everything I knew would make me feel like crap and I did it anyway. Hopefully this situation will correct itself quickly. 

In case you are interested, this is a partial list of the food I consumed while I was in America. When I say I earned those 5.5 kilos, I mean it! Never mind the fact that before and after my trip I was following a vegan diet. In America, my brain  goes into another mode that I cannot control. I never eat meat, but somehow cheese (especially nacho cheese), eggs (over medium), sour cream, and fish (especially canned tuna) make their way into my face. I hope this is something I can change in the future. It is not something I am proud of. Let's just say one reason I live in Europe is to save myself from myself!

Corn on the cob, Nachos with everything (cheese, onions, beans, salsa, guacamole, sour cream), Bagels and cream cheese (one bag each of: Everything bagels, Onion bagels, Plain bagels), Oreos (normal, double stuf-- my niece, Bridget, reminds me that these are vegan), Doritos (Nacho Cheese, Cool Ranch), Tortilla chips (regular, black corn), Combos (Regular, Pretzel), Lee's Deli (tuna with Onions, lettuce, tomato), Racine Pizza (Infusino's, Derango's), Panera soups (Tomato, Cheddar broccoli) and sandwiches (tuna with onions, lettuce, tomato), Culver's (fried cheese curds, onion rings, fries), peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's, every I.P.A. beer made in Wisconsin (and Michigan and Indiana with special accolades to my old friends and neighbors at Lakefront Brewery in Riverwest in Milwaukee, and Zombie Double I.P.A. that Ed's friends turned me on to), breakfast at Derango's on West Boulevard/Washington Avenue repeatedly, Meli's once (I would call these meals "Brunches" except I also ate lunch every single time), grilled haloumi, and taco dip (Pick n' Save and Home Made).  

2. I had forgotten that Wisconsin people are passive agressive and never say what they think or want. It takes a couple days to get used to. The main trick is knowing that when they (we) say: "YOU must be/think/feel/want/need _________," they (we) actually mean: "I am/think/feel/want/need __________," and when they (we) stop talking to you for an extended period of time, don't worry. There is nothing you can do except ride it out. In Wisconsin, we believe that if something bothers us or offends us, it is our fault for being too sensitive or thin-skinned. We take our time to get over it. When we talk to you again it means we are all cool like nothing happened. 

              

3. Everything was expensive. Wow, even in Racine, Wisconsin. 

Travel Considerations:

Booking my flight to the States was cheap but...

1. My trip got cancelled twice and changed once. The final trip went from Venice to Frankfurt to Montreal to Chicago, each with its own rules (see below). 

2. Baggage was not included and cost an additional 70 dollars per checked bag per direction. 

3. My outgoing trip went through Canada when the U.S./Canada border was closed which complicated things A LOT. 

Covid Rules were different wherever we went: 

1. On the way out, Germany was cool with a vaccine, but I had to get a Covid test anyway because the U.S. did not recognize vaccines. Kids not vaccinated were required to have a Covid test for Germany, Canada and the U.S. 

 

2. Coming back, Germany no longer required a Covid test for children below age 12 (the rule changed the day of our return) but Italy did. Germany started requiring  a Covid test for vaccinated people (again, the rule changed the day of our return) but Italy did not. You are expected to keep up with these changes by checking every few days. 

3. Both the U.S. and Italy required lengthy digital forms with tons of details about Covid tests, flights, intentions, etc. that could not be filled out on the fly and were difficult to fill out using a cell phone. Worse, they did not save your information during the process so if you were missing anything and the website timed out you had to do the entire form over again.  

 

4. In the States it was almost impossible to get a Covid test without being a resident. They wanted insurance information or the government would pay for it if if you were considered an "uninsured resident." They did not allow you to pay for the test, which just felt wrong somehow. At any rate they couldn't guarantee they could get me the results in time (for a molecular test they said "24-48 hours" but the results are only valid for 72 hours). 

The easiest way we found was to make an appointment for a rapid test at the airport (validity 24 hours minimum, 48 hours max depending on the destination country)  and get there 30 minutes before you were supposed to check in (which was extended from two to three hours because of Covid documentation). That way you pay online at the time of reservation, take the test and get results via email within 15-20 minutes, go to your gate and you are good to go. 

When I arrived in the States on July 14, few people wore masks in stores and restaurants. There were signs everywhere saying masks were "optional for vaccinated customers" but the non-vaxxed were not masking up as far as I could tell (something about personal freedom?). By the time I left, people were "encouraged" to mask up again (and those who believed Covid existed did it) because of the Delta variant, which was hitting even fully vaccinated young and healthy people and putting many of them in the hospital. According to a nurse friend (my mom's next door neighbor), there were 12 people in the hospital in Racine the day before I left, and they were all vaccinated. She mentioned that she and her colleagues were scared. The week before there were zero cases in the hospital. 

The news continues to say "Breakout cases" are rare- This may be the case. My feeling that they are more common than we are being told may be a result of the Availability Bias, but I still don't know. It makes me a little scared, too, I admit.  

All in all, I am happy I went to the States, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else right now (too much hassle, high risk) unless they have a good reason that does not include tourism. The preparation to get your documents in order before you leave takes a lot of time and effort even if passport control and customs are much easier in transit. 

Planes are full because there are less flights, you have to wear masks at all times (and different countries require different types of masks!), airports do not keep people distanced. Once you get to your destination, you may find that your favorite places and people are not available because of Covid restrictions. It's just not a happy time to travel. 

Other than that, I hope you are having a good summer! 

When Writing is All We Have

I have been spending a lot of time in my journal over the last few months. The writing is mostly scattered and mindless, but sometimes what we need is a little "sfogo," as they would say here in Trieste. Today seems like as good a day as any other to give you an update of our Covid Status.

1. Cases are higher than ever, variants are more serious, businesses are opening.  

2. People are either for the vaccine (we want to travel) or against it (we are the government's guinea pigs). It's hard to get whether you like it or not (unless you have age on your side or you work in health care or you are a teacher). 

3. We can leave our municipalities (I think) without a permission slip, but not the region. At some point it was okay to travel to Spain, however. 

4. You don't have to wear a mask when you run on the bike path.

5. If you need to get your bike fixed, good luck. Everyone in Trieste has a bike now (that needs fixing). During the lockdown you could leave your municipality if you walked or rode a bike. People really wanted to leave their municipalities. 

We are on day 4 of a downgrade. We are now Yellow instead of Orange. The only problem is that every time they change our color (and therefore what we can and can't do), they also change the definition of what that color means. When I say They, I can assure you that I have no idea anymore who They are. 

Is it the head of the region? The Prime Minister? 

The whole thing is a little confusing.  

Life in Trieste after Covid

There is a certain serenity that comes with getting over Covid, and getting on with life afterwards. Luckily my case was not dramatic. It sucked, yes, but I did not end up in the hospital. Now that it's all over, I realize that I had been operating with a baseline stress level that was through the roof, but I had no idea. 

Now that the guilt of maybe someday infecting someone else or inadvertently creating a Covid hotspot single-handedly is past, I can finally relax and get back to work on what is really important. I'm done being busy being busy. 

Now it's time to concentrate on doing the real work that brings more peace, more serenity, more joy, and less of the rest of it. 

No more fear, no more stress. Time to move on.  

Dear Reader I have Covid

 Yes, Covid has come to get me. I could feel the circle tightening around us for several weeks before it actually got here. While the first wave seemed far away, this time we were starting to know people who had it. Most claimed to be "asymptomatic" almost to the point of suggesting that getting Covid was not the big deal it was hyped up to be. 

Let me clear things up for you.  Covid is no fun, or at least not for me. 

For the first week of it, my husband and I were in denial. We were mostly in bed, incapacitated by intense body aches and a pounding head. "Take the tachnipirina and rest" was the advice we were given by our doctor, so that is what we did. My husband had a mild fever, but I had none, so there was not one part of me that suspected it was Covid. In fact, the sneaky thing about Covid is that it changes the rules as it goes along and depending on whose body it inhabits. In our case, my husband and I had completely different symptoms. While my Covid decided to invade my lungs during week two, my husband never even got a cough. While his colleauge (who was also diagnosed) had a high fever for several days but no other symptoms, there was only one day where I had anything even close to a fever. It was at such a low level that in the old days I would have gone to work.

After one full week of feeling like crap, our doctor ordered a test for us. The call came the next day and we were told we had an appointment in 30 minutes at the drive-thru testing site in the Park of San Giovanni. I was teaching online at the time and had to scramble to get someone else to cover my classes. Apparently when they call you, there is no negotiating. My husband took the call. 

During week two we kept our daughter home as well, even though there is no written protocol covering parents who are sick but not yet diagnosed. This was a personal decision. We had been sick too long for it to be an ordinary flu. In the end our doctors said we did the right thing. Our daughter has still not been tested and she continues to have no symptoms. 

Being stuck in the house has not been too dramatic, although our dog has definitely suffered from a lack of long walks. Our daughter has been the main dog walker since we have been home, so that can't be fun for her, either. 

People have been calling to offer help getting groceries, which we appreciate, although most of the people who have called have been more concerned with whether or not they should get tested because they were in contact with someone who had contact with someone who had contact with soeone who was maybe in contact with us. We just tell them to talk to their doctor about their concerns. 

If all goes well, we should get tested again sometime next week, but if we don't, apparently we are free twenty days from onset of symptoms. I'm not sure this will change anything. Trieste is going into lockdown again starting Monday, so we may be free just in time to enjoy more time at home. 

At any rate, this is our story. Stay safe, everyone!

Guest Post: Trieste Staycation

Today's post is the second in a series of guest posts that explore Trieste by the people who live here.  It was inspired by the lockdown period during the first wave of Covid-19 and the idea of the "Staycation" and looking at our city from a different perspective. 

The following post is by Susanne Seghayer.   

When I attended college, I studied literally every single day. In the best-case scenario, I had only one week to rest and charge my batteries. During that week I did not make exotic travels, I just tried to relax and explore as much as I could my hometown, Trieste. Staycation was my routine during my college days.

When I was a sophomore, during the last days of July, I was enjoying my staycation with my sister. We decided to have lunch at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants in town but when we were near it, we realized that it was not lunch time yet. I offered her to visit my favorite museum in Trieste, the Revoltella museum. It is the modern and contemporary art gallery of Trieste and one of the most prestigious museums in the city. I’ve visited this art gallery several times and I have many personal memories linked to this place. For instance, when I attended elementary school, I went to visit this museum with my class, and I started to love art thanks to those visits. I had a strong desire to return to this place again especially because I was finally able to appreciate contemporary and modern art, my favorite ones.

The museum is built in the house of an important figure in Trieste history, the baron Pasquale Revoltella. He was crucial in the economic growth of Trieste during the 19th century and was an art and science lover too. The museum is divided into two parts. In one part, you can explore the house of Revoltella and in the other the art gallery. The latter is developed into 3 floors in which there are mainly paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries but the most important and relevant works of art are from the 20th century. On the top floor you can find paintings and sculptures made by some of the most prestigious and talented contemporary Italian artists such as Pomodoro, Fontana, Casorati and Vedova. 

When I was in the museum with my sister it was like being miles away from home. We were totally captured by the beauty of the place and by the amazing works of art that were exposed. It was like entering in a pyramid where your perception of space and time are completely different from the rest of the world. Contemplating art gave me a sense of peace and the feeling that I was on a completely different planet.

On the top of the building there is a panoramic terrace where you can see the gulf of Trieste. During summer evenings they often organize happy hours and concerts where you can relax and elaborate all the beauty that you watched during the visit.

I think that the secret of a rewarding staycation is trying to see your town through the eyes of a tourist, of someone who visits your city for the first time. You need to look at things that you have seen for years with a new glance, trying to observe details that you usually miss and surprise yourself with the beauty that every city hides inside. Every town has angles and places that you usually don’t visit and discovering them gives you the feeling of exploring something new and exciting. From my experience we tend to visit more other cities than ours. I know people who are born and raised in Rome that have not visited important galleries and monuments in Rome such as the Saint Peter church! Monuments that people from distant parts of the world come to Rome to see.

Another trick for an exciting staycation is exploring your city with different friends and members of your family. Each of them has particular interests and passions and they will open your mind showing you the sights that they love and are interested in. For instance, if you have a friend who is fond of science, you can go with him to visit the Immaginario Scientifico in Grignano and take also a swim there. If you have a relative that loves art you can go with him to visit monuments, churches and palaces that you usually do not look at with attention and interest. In Trieste there are palaces of different architectural styles and visiting them with an expert of art is such an incredible experience. Try it to believe!

So this year, explore your city, spend time with your friends and family, take photos and make new memories in YOUR town! Enjoy!