Suburbicon is an excellent 2017 American crime thriller black comedy film directed by George Clooney and co-written by Clooney, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, and Grant Heslov. The film stars Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Noah Jupe, and Oscar Isaac, and follows a mild-mannered father who must face his demons after a so-called home invasion …
Come for the funny/dark content, stay for a recreation of the 1950s!
…when moving to Italy.
For example: Internet infrastructure is a big issue in Tuscany, specially Florence. The city regulations and archeological sites make it very hard to dig and build, and the narrow architecture messes with wireless signals.
Generally speaking, I can’t complain about my internet or phone connections in my apartment, but then I live on the top floor of my palazzo (large building), where there isn’t, I would assume, as much interference. But the second I step outside, all bets are off.
Still, it’s a lot better than it was even a few years ago. A small price to pay to live in such an incredible place.
2 thumbs up for Molly’s Game! Catch it if you can.
From how to order your coffee to which pasta shapes to pair with which sauces, from hand gestures to using ‘tu’ and ‘Lei’, trying to fit in with the Italians can be a minefield.
And one of the customs with the highest potential for embarrassment is the cheek kiss.
Newcomers are faced with the ‘to kiss or not to kiss’ dilemma each time they meet someone new, and unfortunately there are no hard and fast rules as in some other countries. That means there’s a strong likelihood of accidentally kissing someone on the lips, bashing noses, or otherwise marking yourself out as an awkward foreigner.
Photo: pio3/Depositphotos
In general, Italians are more touchy-feely than their more northern neighbours, and kissing as a greeting has a long history in Italy.
The Ancient Romans are credited with spreading the kiss throughout Europe and North Africa, though they certainly didn’t invent the custom. Writings from the time discuss kissing at length and reveal the Romans had three distinct categories: a passionate kiss was a ‘savium’, a kiss to the lips with the mouth closed was a ‘basium’, while a kiss to the hand or cheek was an ‘osculum’.
READ ALSO: 12 mistakes foreigners make when moving to Italy
At that time, kissing wasn’t as strongly linked to love as it is today, so it would be used as a mark of respect; slaves, for example, would kiss their masters.
Romans also used the biblical concept of the ‘holy kiss’ or ‘kiss of peace’, and today, priests often kiss the altar during Catholic Mass while some Catholic pilgrims kiss ancient statues such as that of St Peter in the Rome basilica, as well as the Pope’s symbolic Fisherman’s Ring. Kissing the feet is a sign of deference, so many religious people kiss that statue’s feet, and on Holy Thursday, the pope washes and kisses people’s feet.
A 16th-century painting of Saints Peter and Paul performing the kiss of peace. Public domain photo.
Understanding the long history of the kiss might give some idea as to how ingrained it is in Italian culture, but it doesn’t necessarily help you understand what to do when faced with the greeting – so here are our tips.
The general rule of the cheek kisses is to give one or two light kisses, one on each side. Your lips shouldn’t touch the other person’s cheek unless you are extremely good friends; instead, aim to lightly touch your cheek to theirs. As to which side you approach first, leaning right is usually more natural, but pick up on cues from the other person to avoid bumping heads.
When it comes to deciding when to use the kiss, cultural norms vary across the country, but the decision rests first and foremost on the context. That includes the social situation, yours and the other person’s gender, and whether or not you’ve met them before.
Photo: Jason Hargrove/Flickr
It’s an informal greeting so don’t lean in when meeting your boss for the first time, or when your waiter for the evening introduces themselves. The kiss is less common at business and networking events and usually reserved for informal social gatherings – even then, some people just prefer to keep their personal space.
The greeting is most commonly used between two women, or a woman and a man, while men will generally shake hands with each other instead. In some areas though, mostly in the southern part of the country, man-on-man cheek kissing is the norm.
Consistency is key. If you’ve kissed someone at a previous meeting, or used the kiss when you said hello to them, make sure to do it again when you next meet them or say goodbye, otherwise they may wonder what they did to offend you.
But the main thing to remember is to follow other people’s lead: if you’re in a group and everyone else is doing the kiss, feel free to do likewise, but if you’re unsure, it’s best to err on the side of caution and give it a miss. Just because you’re in Italy doesn’t mean you have to adopt every single local custom, so people are unlikely to mind if you opt for a handshake or hug instead.
1860s, Russia
Court dress belonging to Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna
Silk, tulle, metallic thread, artificial flowers
State Hermitage Museum
Small but strong. The Women’s March took place all over the world this weekend. We had a small but vocal cohort in Florence and I felt proud to be a part of it.
We met in the Piazza in front of San Lorenzo. I thought about this important church and its history within the story of Florence, and felt honored to be there and to be living now, and to be a part of this beautiful city’s fabric.
My new friend, Jen, kindly knitted me a pink hat for the occasion!
Please, let there only be one Trump term.
I love a pretty garden, even in the winter. I was in Arezzo recently and paid a visit to the Vasari Casa museum. If you know Vasari’s monumental book on Italian artists (the first of its kind, published in the 16th century), you know how important he is for more or less beginning the field of art history. As such, he is sort of my patron saint, with lower case letters.
So I was delighted to visit Vasari’s home in Arezzo, and ponder how it was his refuge from the busy life he led in Florence. But, as often happens for me, while I found his modest palazzo to be interesting for it’s structure and fresco decorations (much of it Vasari himself), it was the garden that drew me like a magnet.
And in his garden I spied this beautiful, ancient persimmon tree. I love how the tree looks without any leaves: only brown bark, branches, and the fruit that look like Christmas decorations.
I’m delighted to report that there is (are) no Starbucks in Florence. I have nothing against Starbucks in general, but Italy has an old and established coffee culture of its own and I am so happy that no New World influence has not been able to change that, at least so far.
Once in a while around Florence I see college co-eds walking around with a to-go coffee that they purchased in the handful of bars that will sell their brew in a styrofoam cup. There are a couple of New World type coffee houses here, but they don’t seem to be very popular.
Why is that? This video tells the story:
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-42750584/why-italians-are-saying-no-to-takeaway-coffee
If you’ve ever been to Florence and walked around the city enjoying architectural masterpieces, you have no doubt spent time appreciating the gorgeous green and white marble exterior of the church of Santa Maria Novella.
I was meeting a friend recently and we agreed to rendezvous in front of the center door of the church. I got there early and had time to study the high-quality marble carving of the panels to either side of the main door.
These white marble panels were clearly carved by a master sculptor, for the quality of the carving is very high. A variety of leaf types are depicted in the stone, as well as many recognizable fruits and even some vegetables. The background of each grouping of edible plant parts is a grouping of fasces, tied with a ribbon to create the bundle of rods, a symbol utilized in the Roman empire and reused ever since.
In the grouping above you can clearly see oak leaves, plums, and apples.
The relief above looks like laurel leaves are depicted as well as what look like potatoes. Potatoes? I’m not sure.
I think the fruits above might be peaches?
In this picture, I think I see acorns, oak leaves, and apples. Perhaps those are poppy heads at the top?
This picture seems to include grapes.
I hope you will tell me what you see. I’m sure I’ve missed many things!
get back, lauretta! 
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