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…

Anyone who knows me well enough knows that one of my long standing complaints about life in Italy is the lack of decent Mexican food.  Oh, there are a few places here in Padova, and once in a while I get desperate enough to go back to one, but then I remember why I never…

Italy is a rapidly aging country, and sclerotic politics, that much is widely known.  Once again, however, I was to be surprised by an election billboard posted near our home: This is for the “Partito Pensionati” or, translated literally, the “retiree party”.  Their motto is “get off our lawn, you damn kids”.  Not really, I…

Immigration to Italy is a relatively recently phenomenon.  Until very recently, Italy was a country that sent people abroad, rather than accepting immigrants in search of better jobs and lives.  Unfortunately, however, like everyone else in Italy, the immigrants have figured out that the consequences for misbehaving are hardly ever very serious, and so the…

We recently moved back to Padova, Italy from Innsbruck, Austria.  Here are some various, random notes: Moving truck rental in Europe stinks compared to the US.  It’s something like 3 or 4 times as expensive if you want to rent a truck in one place and drop it off in another, and those two places…

Between Berlusconi and the opposition, there is plenty of silliness to go around in Italian politics, but I don’t like to write about that too much, as it just gets depressing and is covered better elsewhere.  What is occasionally interesting to report are the odd bits of local news that are, at times, particularly crazy…

For those wondering what has become of the "new Alitalia", it can best be described as hurtling down the runway, but not gaining a lot of altitude.  The "sale" has been closed, although there is still a lot of union activity going on that’s quite disruptive – apparently a number of people missed their Christmas…

As if the Veneto didn’t contain enough variety in the towns between Verona and Venice, it also has a stunning set of mountains: the Dolomites, and reaches as far as a short section of border with Austria. The "Queen of the Dolomites" is Cortina d’Ampezzo, an expensive ski town that hosted the 1956 winter olympics…

Many Austrians seemingly know how to ski before they can walk.  In this part of Austria, with all its lofty peaks, skiing is practically the national sport, and it seems that ever other little mountain town has its own ski run.  Unfortunately, I don’t know how to ski, and don’t have the time or money…

The doorbell rang, which was odd – we weren’t expecting anyone, and mail and that type of thing shows up in the morning.  We click on the speakerphone to see if it’s someone outside.  Nothing, so I open the door and look out.  You can imagine my surprise when I saw the individuals in this…