MARVIS TOOTHPASTE

Italian since 1958!

Ok, So I’ll be honest.  I used to travel to the States a bit when I was living in Australia and I used to buy this toothpaste because I loved the packaging so much.  I don’t think I ever even actally used it – just had it on display in my bathroom.  Isn’t the lid alone a little piece of art?

You can imagine my joy and surprise when I found it in abundance at my local supermarket here in Florence.  Little did I ever know that Marvis toothpaste or ‘dentifricio’ as the Italians call it, is not only Italian but made here in Tuscany!

There is not much information out there on the brand so I contacted the company itself to ask for more details on the history of Marvis.  Product Manager, Laura Cardelli was so kind in replying to my email but advised that they also did not know much about the origins.  She explained ;

“We do not know much about Marvis’ history.  We know it is Italian, that the first registration of the brand dates back to 1958 and was made by the Earl Franco Cella di Rivara.

We bought the brand in 1997 when it was almost forgotten. We used the original formula and communicate the positioning of the brand: Marvis the pleasure of flavour.  Marvis turns the chore of a daily ritual into a pleasure. It is a scent for the mouth, and a stylish icon for the eyes.

We do not know the brand name origin for certain: somebody says it means“the strength of marvel” (marvel + vis latin for strength) referring to the incredible strong taste of the original classic strong mint formula.

The first product created was the Classic Strong Mint Toothpaste which is still the best seller of the whole range. All Marvis product are based on a minty taste declined in 7 different flavours: from the strong freshness of the classic mint to the delicate flowery taste of Jasmine Mint”

So now I do use Marvis everyday and have tried a few of the different flavours too.  The Classic Strong Mint is obviously the favourite of most people  as in most supermarkets, it is the only flavour available.

FLAVOURS

(& tube colour)

Aquatic Mint – Blue

Classic Strong Mint – Green

Cinnamon Mint – Red

Jasmine Mint – Purple

Ginger Mint – Orange

Amarelli Licorice-Black

Whitening Mint – Silver

If you happened to be in Florence or Fiesole last weekend,  you may have noticed a beautiful parade of vintage cars driving through town.  Over 80 gorgeous cars braved the wet weather and luckily the constant downpour of the last week did ease up enough for some of the convertibles to take their tops down.

I took a few snap shots with my phone but a good friend of ours, David Glauso, who is also a keen photographer took these fabulous photos below.

Whatever you call them, they are all Delizioso!

It’s Carnival time again and for anyone in Tuscany at the moment, it’s the time to find their favourite sweets at the local bakery.  Called by many names all over Italy but known as Cenci here in Florence, these fried but light biscuit treats are just perfect with a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon.  Difficult to stop eating them once you start though and I started polishing off this tray while the photos were being taken. Just re-styling I kept telling Emiliano as he snapped away.

I was surprised to learn that there is sometimes grappa used in these babies – not that I can detect the flavour and clearly the frying kills all alcohol which is a pity because there are many afternoons like today after struggling to put an overly tired, screaming & hysterical Matteo to sleep while he was also trying to bite me and pull my hair ………… well that I could do with a bit of grappa with my cup of tea!

just tasting…..

They were also the cause of the latest contestant leaving Masterchef Italia last week.  She just didn’t roll her pastry thin enough in the pressure test and ended up with raw dough on the inside.

Yesterday I bought the most beautiful book called I Love Tuscany by Giulia Scarpaleggia and her recipe for Cenci looks delicious.  Take a look at her beautiful blog, Jul’s Kitchen for many more authentic Tuscan recipes.

I will have to wait until Matteo is out or asleep before attempting these as I don’t think that toddlers, baking and frying are a good mix!

There are quite a few variations with the recipe – some calling for grappa, vodka or brandy but in Tuscany, naturally Vin Santo is the preferred choice.   You can also substitute the orange rind for lemon if you prefer.

My Calabrese Nonna used to always make them perfectly and they always bring back memories of visits to her house when we were younger.  We always called them crostoli though.

If you want to know about the origins of Carnevale, I wrote about it in this earlier post.

My little Tiger

As I am a new mother living in Italy,  it is now my duty to make Matteo a costume for Carnevale.  I thought that this year I would be spared the pressure of costume making as he is surely still too young to understand what it’s all about, Yes?  Well No actually.   Last Saturday  I was at Matteo’s daycare with all the other parents making Carnival costumes.   We had been told to bring a T-Shirt and a head band.  We were then supplied with all types of fake fur, buttons and the Oh-So-Amazing hot glue gun!

I just want you know that group costume making is quite a competitive environment!  The race for the nicest fur was something to see and I couldn’t believe how many mums hogged the glue gun for way too long in my opinion!  Anyway, considering the limited amount of supplies, I was pretty happy with Matteo’s little costume.  I tried on his tiger ears as soon as I got home and they lasted long enough for this quick snap.  Next Tuesday I have to take him and his costume to day-care where they will celebrate Carnevale all together – can’t wait to see the photos!  In the mean-time, I’m wracking my brain to think about how I can improve his costume before the big day!  Not that I’m competitive or anything………….

Il Fiume in Piena

It’s been raining non-stop for what seems like weeks and the Arno river is flowing angrily and rising quickly.  Murky, swirling water now covers where there is usually long stretches of green banks and what is commonly known as The Beach here is totally under water.

One thing that this post doesn’t share is the incredibly loud roar of the water as it surges past.  Some points look more like a white-water-rafting location and with another week of rain predicted, it will be interesting to see how high the water rises.

The older generation who remember the Flood of 1966 are nervously watching the water level for fear of another repeat of that tragic November day.

Above is where The Beach is normally located – hard to imagine people laying out getting a tan there now!

No green river-banks to be seen.

So the holidays are over and it’s now back to work.  The Autumn Winter 2013 Pitti Uomo trade fair started yesterday and the fashion parade of visitors is as impressive as ever.  The city is full of incredibly dressed men and women and the majority of them make their fabulous appearances all look so effortless.  Not like myself who just this evening was staring blankly at my wardrobe, trying to decide what outfit to throw together for tomorrow when I came to the depressing reality that the incredible looks I was putting together in my head don’t actually exist in my wardrobe at all.

Pitti Bookswear is the  key theme for the Winter fair and as the Deputy General Manager of the event, Agostino Poletto explains,  “And that’s because reading will always be fashionable”  The Bookswear site was designed by Oliviero Baldini and below are a few photos to give you an idea of the amazing transformation that has taken place at the Fortezza del Basso this past week.

 A big highlight for me yesterday was meeting The Sartorialist himself, Mr Scott Schuman.  Although in my excitement, when I asked if I could take his photo I forgot to check the settings on my camera and the exposure was much too bright.   True sign of a star-struck amateur!

Well Christmas passed by like a flash and here we are in 2013 already!  We were very fortunate here in Florence to have had lots of sunshine and some very mild days across the Christmas break.   We spread our Christmas celebrations out, visiting Emiliano’s family in Cecina (near Livorno) on the 22^nd & 23^rd December and then spending Christmas day with my sister and her children in Pietrasanta, Versilia.  We ate a very traditional English lunch of roast pork with all the wonderful roast vegetables, apple sauce, crackling and gravy, almost exactly as my mother used to make and I must say, every bit as delicious!  Toni also cooked our mother’s cherished Christmas Cake and Mince Pie recipes for the first time and they both bought back some very special memories.  After stuffing my face with lunch and dessert, we also managed to take home a huge bag full of left-overs which unfortunately didn’t last as long as I would have liked!

We also ate our share of Panettone and still have a whole one here waiting to be opened.  Two historic bars here, Gigli in Piazza Republica and Rivoire in Piazza Signoria make the most beautiful panettone and chocolates and the packaging is so gorgeous, it seems a shame to open them.

Panettone at Rivoire

decisions, decisions……

For New Years Eve, Florence offered free concerts in five piazzas around the center.  After experiencing New Years eve in Florence a few years ago, we weren’t in too much of a hurry to return to the center.  The atmosphere pre-midnight was great but come midnight and all the delinquents seem to emerge, smashing bottles and letting off huge, exploding fireworks that don’t look like they should be in the hands of amateurs.

Being sick combined with having a toddler meant that we had a very quiet New Years Eve at home and I couldn’t have asked for anything nicer!  We live so close to Piazzale Michelangelo that we could see and especially hear all of the fireworks anyway so we got to enjoy the festivities from the comfort of our lounge room.

I am already tired of Winter…………. Having all of my Australian friends continually posting their sun-filled summer beach photos doesn’t help much either.  One of the best things about this time of year though is the food and I have been consuming quite a lot of my favourite Tuscan bread soup, Ribollita, with a generous drizzle of new olive oil – Olio Nuovo – this really is the best Comfort food around and also quite easy and cheap to make.  I’ll try and make some this week and share the recipe although as I just commented on facebook that updating my blog while Matteo was awake is proving to be nearly impossible, let’s hope I get the next post written before the seasons change!

To finish off, I just have to share the above photo of  the beautiful windows of Valentino, one of my favourite designers. Such classic, simple elegance.  Love the Christmas colours too!

In the last month, I’ve been to Verona, London twice and New York.   London is so beautiful at Christmas and I felt really privileged to be there at this time to admire the Christmas lights.  My travels have not finished yet as next week I have to go to Amsterdam for a conference.  Travel has always been a part of my job but now that I’m the mother of almost 15 month old Matteo, it brings many new emotions.  Luckily for me and especially Matteo, last week while I was in London he had a little holiday with my sister and his cousins, Annabella and Joseph so I did not feel so guilty about leaving him again.  I must say that I do love coming home and have enjoyed a very cosy weekend with my family  in our beautiful city Florence.  The temperatures have dropped and the not-so-distant mountains have a picturesque sprinkling of snow.  It actually snowed in Florence last Friday morning but not enough to stick and even though it does look so beautiful, Florence is not the most practical city when it comes to coping with snow!

We have been enjoying our delicious new Olive Oil / Olio Nuovo fresh from the Olive harvest a few weeks ago.  Emiliano’s Nonna gave us a five litre bottle of oil along with two pigeons, one rabbit, a large chunk of parmesan cheese and some fresh honey.  She loves loading us up with food when we visit and we certainly do not object!

I also love this time of year for the Porcini mushrooms, ‘Vino Nuovo’ and of course,  Castagnaccio, the chestnut slice made simply with chestnut flour, water, pine-nuts, olive oil and rosemary.

Since I last wrote, Florence has been very busy with many events, exhibitions and food markets.  At the moment the annual German Christmas market is on in Piazza Santa Croce.  Here you can buy lots of delicious food, crafts and Christmas decorations.  A few weeks ago the same Piazza was transformed for  the Cultural and Environmental Heritage week, Florens 2012 and tonnes of marble were brought in for an art installation by Mimmo Paladino.  Huge blocks of marble made up an enormous cross and the whole ground surface was covered in marble pebbles.

Piazza Duomo was also transformed and surrounded by olive trees.  The new greenery really did make the piazza look even more beautiful and I think it would be lovely if they could have been permanent.

The Florence Marathon was held on the 25th November with nearly 10,000 runners.  We were fortunate to have the race wind along the river past our house but even more fortunate that we didn’t have to go anywhere that day as the surrounding streets were closed for the race for the whole morning.

We are still undecided as to what we will do for Christmas but it will be a time for catching up with our families and we are excited about seeing what Matteo thinks of Christmas morning, the tree and of course, his presents!  Who knows, if this weather continues, we may even have a white Christmas!

Below are some photos taken today of some of the Christmas lights in Centro plus a mix from over the last month or so. (excuse the quality – all taken with the phone and not my lovely Canon!)

On this day, the 4th of November in 1966, Florence was literally underwater as the worst flood in the city’s history caused major damage and destruction.  Our local fruit and vegetable shop’s owner, Simone sent me some amazing photos of our street and the surrounding neighborhood with me so I thought I would share them here.

5,000 families were left homeless by the storm, and 6,000 stores were forced out of business. Approximately 600,000 tons of mud, rubble and sewage severely damaged or destroyed numerous collections of the written work and fine art for which Florence is famous. In fact, it is estimated that between 3 and 4 million books/manuscripts were damaged, as well as 14,000 movable works of art.

With the combined effort of Italian citizens and foreign donors and committees, many of these fine works have been restored.  These volunteers were given the name of Angeli del Fango (“Mud Angels”).   The Angels cleaned the city of refuse, mud and oil, and retrieved works of art, books and other materials from flooded rooms.

Many of the buildings in the historical center have a marble plaque showing the height that the water reached.  There is one on the San Niccolo Church (above) and another on the Tower in Piazza Poggi.  Our apartment would have been underwater so let’s hope that history never repeats!

There is a really interesting website, The Florence Flood dedicated to the flood where you can find many more fascinating photos

GETTING MARRIED IN ITALY I had intended on posting this back in May when I celebrated my wedding anniversary.  I wrote most of it then and well, now it’s nearly November and this little post was starting to gather dust so thought I had better publish it for anyone out there thinking of planning a wedding in Italy.  I thought it was a good idea to explain the procedure that I had to go through as a foreigner wanting to marry in this beautiful country.

Please keep in mind that I am writing from my experience as an Australian citizen who married an Italian citizen so the requirements may be different if you and your spouse are from another country.

We chose to marry in a civil ceremony in the Comune  (local Municipal town hall) which luckily for anyone wanting to marry in beautiful Florence, is in the spectacular Sala Rossa (Red Hall) in Palazzo Vecchio.

Exciting news announced last month advised that now you can also marry in some other very special locations in Florence……… for a price of course!   For example, you can now marry in the Sala di Lorenzo in the Museo Bardini surrounded by Vasari frescos for €1,250.00, The Giardini delle Rose for €2,000.00 or go all out in the Salone de’ Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio for €5,000.00!  This is the room that is apparently hiding the mysterious Da Vinci painting, Battaglia di Anghiari.  As amazing as this historic room would be to get married in, it is clearly not going to be in everyone’s budget.

It now costs €620 to get married in the Sala Rossa unless you or your partner are a Florentine resident, then you don’t have to pay anything as fortunately was the case for us!  So after all the excitement of the proposal had subsided, it was time for me to get serious about getting all of those documents in order. I’ll try to make it as straightforward as possible because it can all seem a bit overwhelming, especially if you haven’t dealt with any public offices in Italy before!  The first two documents that I needed were an ‘Atto Notario per Matrimonio’ and a ‘Nulla Osta’.

1) Atto Notorio – The Atto Notario is basically a sworn declaration stating that you are free to marry and can be obtained by appointment only from the Tribunale Civile. You must attend in person, with your ‘fidanzato/a’ and with two witnesses who are not related to you to swear that you have the legal right to marry.  If you don’t speak Italian, make sure you also have a translator with you. I was given much conflicting advice about this document as was told that I could get it at the Italian Consulate in Melbourne which I did organize while in Australia, only to find upon my return to Italy that it was not accepted here in Florence.  Also, make sure that you plan ahead as when I called the Tribunale Civile to make the appointment for the Atto Notario, the first available appointment was six months from the date I was calling! In the end, when we called the marriage office in Palazzo Vecchio to book the wedding date and time they advised that they could do the Atto Notario for me but I would need four witnesses. So do check, double check and check again with the local council where you are intending to marry to make sure that you understand all the documentation that is required before the big day! You must take the following to your appointment : Passport Birth Certificate Divorce or Death Certificate (if applicable) Marca da Bollo for €14.62.  This can be obtained at any Tabacchi All certificates must be Original and not older than 6 months.  They must be translated by a certified translator into Italian and be certified by an Italian Consular Officer.  This means they must have an Apostille Seal. The Atto Notorio expires after 3 months.

2) Nulla OstaThe Nulla Osta, a Certificate of No Impediment can be obtained from the Australian Embassy in Rome or the Consulate-General in Milan.  This literally also states that “there are no impediments” or that one is free to marry.  The document is only valid for six months and costs €50.00 for Australian Citizens. This Italian document is different to the Australian Certificate of No Impediment, which is currently not being accepted in Italy.

Once the Nulla Osta has been obtained at the Australian embassy, it must be authenticated or legalized by the Ufficio Legalizzazioni of a Prefettura prior to the wedding ceremony.  The legalisation fee for the Nulla Osta consists of a duty stamp/Marca da Bolla for €14.62 which has to be purchased before taking the Nulla Osta to the Prefettura. You should probably confirm the cost of the duty stamp with the Prefettura beforehand just to be sure that the prices haven’t gone up since I was married.

Another important point is that your name must be written in exactly the same way on your passport, Atto Notorio and the Nulla Osta! If you have been previously married, you must produce evidence of the termination of your marriage so ensure you have the original divorce or death certificate.

Once you finally have all of your lovely documents translated, certified and legalized, it’s time to make two more appointments.  The first is for your Declaration of Intent to Marry / Promessa di Matrimonio, and the second is for the actual civil marriage ceremony.  For the first appointment you must be accompanied by witnesses and if the parties to the marriage do not speak Italian, once again you will need your interpreter.

Again, confirm these details when you contact the Ufficio Matrimoni to book your appointments. If one or both of you are Italian residents then your wedding announcement must be posted publicly at the town hall for two consecutive Sundays.  Four days after the second Sunday you are free to marry.  This was actually quite exciting and it was very special to see our wedding announcement on public display!

It’s Official

With all the paperwork in place it takes anywhere from three to four days to get permission to marry in a civil ceremony held at a town hall.

Weddings are celebrated in Florence on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays by special request.  The Saturday ceremonies last about 20 mins while the weekdays are not so busy so they last for 30 minutes and as there was no other wedding directly after ours, we were allowed to stay and take extra photos in the gorgeous Red Hall.

It can seem very daunting at the start and if you are planning on coming to Italy just for the wedding, then it would probably be much easier to hire a wedding planner to organize all of the documents and other details for you.

Our wedding day would not have been such a lovely memory if not for the following …………

My hair and Makeup was effortlessly done by Edi Rossello

Our beautiful photos were taken by Gerrardo of Italian Wedding Photography

We celebrated with a beautiful cocktail lunch at the Villa La Vedetta

We spent our wedding night at Hotel Home

And I almost forgot to mention the incredible cake made by my sister Toni.

Useful Addresses & Contact Details

FLORENCE

Civil Status Wedding Office

Contact: Loretta Burdassi
Address: Palazzo Vecchio – Piazza Signoria
Telephone: +39 055 2768518 – 2768299 – 2768211 – 2768575
Fax: +39 055 7472091

e-mail: matrimoni@pec.comune.fi.it       l.burdassi@comune.fi.it

Hours: Monday through Saturday 8.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.

Tribunale Civile

2 Piazza San Martino 2nd Floor

Telephone : 055-27461

Italian Prefecture

Via Giacomini, 8

Tel: 055/ 27 831.

- open Monday through Friday from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. Thursdays from 2.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m.

Bring a € 14,62 marca da bollo revenue stamp of with you. Stamps may be purchased at any local tabacchi).

ROME

Tribunale Civile di Roma
Office for “Atti Notori”
Viale Giulio Cesare 54/B
Nuovo Edificio, 1st floor, Room 523 and 524
00192 Rome ITALY
Tel: +39 06 357 7547

For Australian Citizens, A Nulla Osta can be obtained from the :

Australian Embassy
Via Antonio Bosio 5
00161 Rome, ITALY
Telephone: +39 06 8527 2246
Facsimile: +39 06 8527 2300
Email: consular-rome@dfat.gov.au
Website: http://www.italy.embassy.gov.au

Or Australian Consulate-General
3rd Floor
Via Borgogna 2
20122 Milan

Telephone: +39 02 776 74200
Facsimile: +39 02 776 04242

*Please note that payments can only be made in cash in Euros, or with an Italian bank cheque.  Credit card facilities are not available.

Prefettura di Roma
Viale Ostiense, 131L,
2nd floor, Scala B,
00154 Rome

Marriage Office in Rome
Via Petroselli, 50,
00186 Rome
Tel: +39 06 6710 3066

 But First!

I can’t start this post without mentioning and congratulating my very talented sister who had her first book on cakes published here in Italy.  It hit the book stores last Wednesday and I’m sure it will be a huge success!

It’s called La Torta Perfetta di Toni and available also on Amazon.   I’ve carried my copy around for a few days showing everyone who crossed my path.  So incredibly proud of Toni!

September was a very busy month and we are now already in the 2nd week of October.   Autumn has arrived – well kind of…… The temperatures have dropped and the mornings and evenings are much fresher but It is still very warm and humid, especially for this time of year.

The most important event that took place in September was of course Matteo’s first birthday!  We had a lovely little party in the Giardini della Carraia and Matteo was very spoilt by all of our friends and family.  My sister, Toni made an amazing cake which luckily didn’t all get eaten so I got to indulge for quite a few days after the party.

This first year of Matteo’s life has really flown and when I look back at photos of Matteo since his birth, I can’t believe how much he has changed and grown.   Being a foreign mother here has been interesting and I have been inundated with lots of well-meaning advice on how to do everything the Italian way.  Weaning and Matteo’s diet being the most popular topics of expertise!

My lovely pediatrician gave me a little ‘menu’ for Matteo at 6, 8 10 and 12 months which I’ve included below.  In Italy, the ‘Minestrina con Pastina’  is the most common of first foods and I was given many strange looks when I advised that Matteo was not eating the minestrine but instead was eating puree fruit, veggies and rice cereal.

Here in Italy, Olive oil and parmesan are added generously to nearly every baby meal as soon as they start on solids.  They are a diet staple from the very beginning!  An Italian baby’s diet also wouldn’t be complete without Plasmon biscuits, usually dissolved into their bottles of milk to ensure that their tummies are nice and full before they go to bed at night.  I swore Matteo did not need these biscuits and then one night when he wouldn’t sleep, out of exhausted desperation, I tried some of this magic formula.   Typically though, my answers to Matteo’s sleep problems were not going to be found in a bottle of Plasmon and milk!

So now my maternity leave is well and truly officially over and Matteo is at day-care.  Most Italian families rely on their parents, the Nonni to look after their children when the mother returns to work but as Matteo’s Nonni all live far away, we had no other option but to send him to the Asilo Nido.  I have to say though that it really is a wonderful place!  The ‘teachers’ are all lovely, take their job very seriously and give me a detailed report at the end of the day on how much Matteo slept, ate and even pooed!  He has a very impressive organic lunch and morning and afternoon snack provided for him each day but so far, he has not been eating much lunch at all. I think his teething combined with a yucky cold may not be helping.  Hopefully the lunch chart will soon have something other than NO written on it next to Matteo’s name!

Matteo’s Monthly Menu at Day-Care

Matteo’s first day at day care was only for an hour and I sat in the room with him.  Each day, he gradually spent more time there and this is called the  Inserimento at the Nursery (Asilo Nido).  It lasted two weeks and it probably would have lasted another week if I hadn’t pushed for the full days to start asap – not that I was looking forward to being away from Matteo for most of the day but I kind of have a job, a full-time job and as much as I like this half day routine, I had no more maternity or holidays to use.

Following is the amount of hours Matteo spent at day-care each day during his ‘Inserimento’ (love the way this word rolls of the tongue!)

Day One – ONE HOUR!  With me sitting in the room with him

Day Two – One hour and a half – Me in the room for half an hour then sent to the room next door where he couldn’t see me.

Day Three – One hour and a half – Has figured out that it’s not all fun and games and that Mamma actually leaves so they had to pry his arms from around my neck this morning.  Then he fell asleep in the teacher’s arms – snoozed for 40 minutes

Day Four – Two hours – Emiliano’s turn and I went to work for the day. – Matteo had another morning nap.

Day Five - Two and a half hours – Had morning snack

Day Six – Three and a half hours  – Had morning snack

Day Seven – From 8.45am – 3.00pm – First lunch but didn’t really eat anything.

Day Eight – From 8.45am – 4.00pm – Threw his lunch across the table spraying his little class mate sitting next to him. :-/

Day Nine – From 8.45am – 4.30pm

Day Ten – From 8.45am – 4.30pm

We have now survived two weeks of full days and Matteo is doing very well!  He doesn’t cry any more when I drop him off and today I finally saw the word Tutto next to his name on the lunch chart, meaning that he had eaten everything!

I have my first overseas trip coming up in a few weeks so it’s going to be interesting for both Matteo and me, not to mention Emiliano too!

As I write this, I am sitting on my bed, it’s 11.30pm and we have  two members of the council here measuring the noise levels of the night club / bar that backs onto our place.  Fingers crossed the music is loud enough tonight to get the place closed and we can finally have peaceful nights.  Will keep you posted!