10 things Marilyn said...

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I don't know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot.

I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself and for my talent. 

I have too many fantasies to be a housewife. I guess I am a fantasy.

I'm very definitely a woman and I enjoy it.

I've never dropped anyone I believed in.

I am invariably late for appointments - sometimes as much as two hours. I've tried to change my ways but the things that make me late are too strong, and too pleasing.

I've been on a calendar, but I've never been on time.
(she must have had Italian genes...)

It's often just enough to be with someone. I don't need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You're not alone.

No one ever told me I was pretty when I was a little girl. All little girls should be told they're pretty, even if they aren't.

What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.

***

piazza vs. patio

Sitting outside while enjoying your coffee, drink or meal in summertime is part of almost every country's culture. Italy and Canada are no exceptions and again, it's the "how" that differs a great deal.

Thanks to our industrious and a little megalomaniac ancestors in Italy, there's a romantic and beautiful piazza around every corner in Italian towns. Typically these piazze show glorious monuments of noble men, facades of the wealthy family's splendid recidences which overcame the centuries and opulent fountains. Tourists come from all over the world to snap pictures of every little detail and ornament so that the most famous ones are usually more than overcrowded. But, as said, there are umpteen in every city so you can always catch a free table and live la dolce vita.

Piazza Navona, Rome

Piazza San Marco, Venice

Piazza Erbe, Verona

 

But what does a folk without ancestral construction-mania do? Right, they create their own, brandnew places to meet friends and live the life called patios. Every house, restaurant and bar has its own outdoor area, furnished to attend the guests' needs of relaxation and party hunger.

private patio 

Toronto, Canada

What's your favourite piazza or patio?

***

The issue with the kissing

Italians are affectionate and passionate people. No doubt about it, you can tell for example by the way they talk (look here). And they're not afraid of some physical contact, I've already mentioned it here. But how are folks from other, less exuberant countries affected? And even more interesting, how do these victims of Italian heartiness react?

With some malicious joy I introduce North Americans to Italians. That's one of the best examples for the vast cultural discrepancy and it's like a classic Charlie Chaplin sketch: so old and predictable, but every single time amusing! As you probably know, Italians kiss each other on the cheek when they meet for the first time and every single time they run into each other afterwards. It's more like a touch of the cheeks than a smack, but still, for our Canadian friends it's a shocker. The feelings you can read off the kiss-attacked person's face usually range between terror, bewilderment and sheer incredultiy. Those who dont get used to it, come up with the most ridiculous schemes to avoid the kissing. And some learn to love the custom (think of guys, all of a sudden introducing themselves to every pretty girl). 

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 Berlusconi vs. Bush

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Live Italian: How to use Italian gesture!

Part 2: A dialogue in pictures


"Everyone but me is totally birdbrained."

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"C'mon! We have to pull it together!"

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"No, YOU have to pull it together."

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"And don't call me, when you need help."

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"What the f***?!"

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"Take that, b*****s!"

(Obviously, Berlusconi used this very inappropriate
gesture at a political gathering in South Tyrol)

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"Oh God, help me!"

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"Basta! It's enough now!"

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Whatever you say, Silvio...

:-[===0

Live Italian: How to use Italian gesture!

Part 1

Italians like speaking a lot. They say what they think and feel as often they can, and as loud as they can. They express emotions pretty much every moment, they are awake. And if not by speaking, they have developed a unique body language. The most flamboyant facet of this body language is the typical Italian gesture. And who would demonstrate that better than our jolly politicians:

In the following picture, people "are putting horns" on Silvio Berlusconi, he is "cornuto", which can mean, that he is being cheated on, or simply that he is an imbecile.

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Umberto Bossi from the political party "Lega Nord" is an angry man, and makes that very obvious with his gesture saying "Go f*** yourself!"...isn't he charming?!

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Beppe Grillo from the "Movimento 5 stelle", an oppositional party to everything, tells them: "I'm gonna take you down!"*

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*literally it means "I'm gonna make your ass this big" with the hands referring to the size of...well, let's not be that literal!

:-[===0