Spotted at the local festa patronale - patron saint fair, the American Show (I was assured it has been a staple of fairs for years). Much like a funhouse ride at our county fairs!

What’s the largest chocolate Easter Egg you’ve seen for sale?

Happy Easter e Buona Pasqua

UPDATE: I knew provoking you would bring out some bigger eggs – here’s a 10 kilo chocolate egg down in Campania:

I actually saved a longer skeleton key from a previous apartment – I thought I’d take a picture of it so you can see just how big they are compared to regular keys. The blue-topped one is the one that I use to get into my current apartment.

Have you had any exposure to skeleton keys?

Now that I can get movies easier wherever I am, I don’t rely on the theaters for my movie fix, but I still enjoy going to the cinema. Lately, we’ve discovered some Italian movie theaters do an early-morning Sunday viewing for 1/2 the price of normal tickets (4.50euros instead of 9.50) – half price and no crowds? Yes, please. We’ve been in theaters for 600 people and the only ones there and loved it!

On Sunday we went to see a film, Manuale d’Amore 3, the third in the series of films about love. Not all movies were available for a matinee, so we tried to pick something light and uncomplicated and this is what we ended up with. I spent most of the film scoffing and laughing at the plot, which seemed very male-centric. I don’t want to ruin the film for those who haven’t seen (or want to see) it, but the film is broken up into three main parts and several stereotypes I see in Italian movies were present: the temptress, the temptress, and the temptress. Ah those poor engaged/married/pure Italian men. Those temptress women just won’t leave them alone. Manuale d’Amore 3 was written and directed by a man, and I believe it shows.

If nothing else, you may want to watch just to see Robert De Niro speak Italian, and not just a few lines, but an entire part and (spoiler!) get it on with Monica Bellucci (I’m sure the reason he decided to do the film in the first place).

The good thing to come out of today’s movie were definitely the previews – I’ll be looking forward to La Vita Facile with Stefano Accorsi & Pierfrancesco Favino – two of my favorite contemporary Italian actors. If you’re into Italian cinema, you won’t want to miss this past week’s Eye on Italy podcast episode where we talk about non-sucky Italian cinema – you’ll find a bunch of films to add your various movie queues!

Seen any good Italian films lately?

First a definition:

“Fashion victim is a term claimed to have been coined by Oscar de la Renta that is used to identify a person who is unable to identify commonly recognized boundaries of style” source: wikipedia

“It’s a person who crosses the boundaries of fashion and style, like taking a fad too far, or wearing too many trends at once and therefore taking the look from the glamourous to the ridiculous” – “Instead of looking chic they will look “over the top” because they have no real taste or style” source: urban dictionary

Not a good thing. People make fun of fashion victims. They pity them. They feel superior to them and they don’t want to be them. It’s not something to aspire to or a label to be proud of.

Which makes the following two examples very perplexing. Italian journalists and copywriters, listen up – you’ve been delivered a definition smackdown!

And the examples I saw:

“It’s hard work being a fashion victim.” (I bet it is)

And: “At only 11 years old, the young actress from Mad Men is already a fashion victim.” Poor thing, only 11 years old and already a failure.

[source: Vogue.it]

As this blog is titled, “It isn’t all Pretty – Life in Italy beyond Food & Travel Photography,” I believe that Italy is a lot more than wine, gorgeous men, and extra virgin olive oil. And where I currently live, Milan, has never been one of my favorite cities in Italy. In fact, after living in Tuscany, Rome, and spending a lot of time in Puglia, as well as having visited almost all of Italy’s regions, it has slid down the rankings quite a bit. (Before you ask why I live there, which I’ll answer in a more detailed post, just know most people are in Milan for work reasons).

But some days I’ve very glad to live here, like today.

Since I got back from London for business in mid-January, Milan’s weather has been completely sunny, clear (though quite smoggy) and completely atypical for this time of year. To say I’ve been enjoying it is an understatement.

Today was blindingly sunny, and I luckily got to spend a few minutes walking through the center.

Sunny day in Milan’s center: +1

I received a package from one of my favorite brands, Moleskine, who is actually headquartered here in Milan. That one on top is the Passions Journal for Wine, and S has already claimed it for his own.

Moleskine being headquartered in Milan and receiving a surprise package: +1

And it’s no surprise how much I love aperitivo – Italy’s pre-dinner drink culture, that I wrote a whole Guide to Italian Aperitivo. So when Campari asked me if I wanted to check out the new Aperol Spritz, I said, heck ya! And this cool Aperol Spritz party box arrived today, too.

Campari based in Milan + sends surprise aperitivo drinks: +1

All in all, a good day. I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on Milan.

(And yes, I know by the sheer fact that I’m writing about this means that it will rain tomorrow.)

I’m not sure why more Hollywood films don’t reflect these period fashions – perhaps directors go out of their way to choose films that skip over this particular fashion trend.

Hit me with your best caption!

Whatever you do, and I’m warning you, do not Google codpiece – especially the images. Your eyes will not recover!

I Like Football

only for Men

I thought they were pretty sexist.  Football is only for men?

But then when I read the writing again, they turned out to be sexist in the opposite direction. I like football….only for (the) men

What do these slippers say to you? (And no, I didn’t end up buying them…did I make a mistake?)

This is some of the beauty I can see in and around my neighborhood:

At one point, I could count more than 20 cranes visible from my bedroom window.

And until recently, the evening was blissfully dark and those cranes were hidden. Until someone got the bright idea to “decorate” the cranes for the holidays. Going beyond the simple blinking red light at the top so a plane or low-flying aircraft doesn’t run into them, they’ve decorated them in blue of all colors. So the evening skyline now is this:

Lovely.

Luckily, there are some beautiful decorations around Milan around Christmas time (it is a great time to come visit if you’re thinking about it!), and I especially liked the use of these large wine jars to hold blinking lights – I would love to do this one day.

Even my butcher got into the spirit – you can hardly see the “Auguri” in the window with all the cotecchino and meat in the window.

I like nature’s decorations, too

I’ll be posting some of my other holiday decorations and announcing the winner of the Italian chocolate giveaway on the main Ms. Adventures in Italy blog later today.

Happy Holidays!

Behold, the absolute dirtiest ugliest toilet seat on a train….ever.

And the answer to your question is yes. I really really had to go.