I bumped into an odd regulation the other day: http://www.padovanet.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=12606 Basically, the meat of it is that between April 15th, and October 15th, you may not use your heater for more than 7 hours a day, unless by special permission from the town government.  And even those 7 hours a day are dependant on "climatic…

Spring is my favorite time of year, and in Padova, it has its own unique sights, sounds and smells. Whereas fall clings to the last bits of light and heat that slowly drain away, spring is full of promise, and even if it’s not that warm out yet, after a long, cold winter, those first…

You’ve heard the stereotypes about Italian drivers, right? Well, there is more than a grain of truth to them. Many grains. Driving in Italy is not something that this Oregonian is much of a fan of. Of course there are plenty of good drivers, and plenty of people who do not view pedestrians as worth…

Like fall, winter is not particularly a season I care for.  You get sick a lot, and there’s less light, and therefore less time for outdoor activities like cycling, which I love. That said, winter in Padova isn’t so bad.  Well, conceptually, at least; if I could skip it, I would.  That said, though, it…

I think the “ass.” stands for “assorted” or something like that, but the end result is pretty funny:

Italy, like much of western Europe, considers television a “public good” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good ) and to pay for it, taxes every household with a television to the tune of 100 Euro a year. No, you don’t get ad-free television. And yes, you get plenty of all-singing, all-dancing, celebrity special guest spectaculars, with scantily-clad showgirls and…

I have never cared much for fall, as seasons go. The last of the warmth and sunshine from summer are slipping away, which means no more big, all-day outdoor adventures, no more relaxing outside without worrying about rain or cold, and the thought of a long winter ahead before it’s spring again. Summer is easy…

This is a funny one: Acerra, autista Ctp salta una corsa e ferma il bus sotto casa per cenare: sospeso The police found a bus running, with no one in it, along the side of a street.  It turns out that the bus driver had popped in to his house for a quick dinner and…

One of the things that I really miss about Austria is how civilized the drivers were at crosswalks.  They’d slow down, wait for you to cross, and then go on their way.  In Italy, it’s basically a game of "chicken": I have fantasies about taking a crack at one of the ones that refuses to…

This first one is “American Wheat” (complete with stars and stripes)… labelled “Manitoba”.  Weird, as I’m sure everyone knows, Manitoba is a province in Canada. This second one is one of a huge variety of clothing with completely nonsensical English labels and phrases on it.   Having driven through it, I really don’t think Fresno…