Hot and tepid water

Hi guys,

as you noticed I've been writing about my PhD studies. I deliberately decided to use this blog as my notebook with advice for new Phd students or candidates, hopefully to help you out in somehow.

When you start your PhD studies (aside from recognizing that you must be quite crazy :) the first thing that you should realize, it is to update your knowledge about your research topic as soon as it is possible. Fill the existing gap between your current knowledge and the state of work. In other words do what you are supposed to do before writing your paper, check the "related work" and then think out of the box!!

In my city we have a common byword: when you find or propose a well established solution to a problem, we say "you discovered hot water". During these last days I've had many "tepid" ideas that turned to be hot as the water, not extraordinary.

In hopes that my tepid ideas turn into cold ones :) I wish to all PhD students good luck for their careers.

have you a "dog park" ?

Naples is a fun place and nobody can tells otherwise !
Have your city got a place to park your dog ? We have it !!
A friend of mine took this picture outside of shop located in the Vomero borough, I'd like to remember the street's name...

My neighborhood

Every suburb of every city brings its own history, I think.
By looking at them you know the dirty and lousily side of the city.
My neighborhood are grey, like the old asphalt with pits, sometimes white like the colors of the houses or the fear upon the face of them that reach my neighborhood, or black like the color of the wheels pile near the dumps or the bereavement for who has been killed or dead in a senseless incident.
In my neighborhood you see the black people drive an expensive car with gold necklace as big as a chain, or you'll see other waiting near a roundabout for someone who give a day work...a black labor market.
In this damn neighborhood every dumps is burnt because of the recent wast management disaster or simply for fun.
Fun ? Yes, here fun is to run on the street as fast as it's possible by car or by motorbike, it doesn't matter if there are children that are playing at football or crossing the street.
At night you had better not take a walk on this wild side you can run a risk, which risk?... someone will make off with your stuff..no!
You can become a witness of something that it's better not to see or it may happen you hear what you mustn't hear.
There is something that you can hear without any problem, it's the rowdy sound coming from the boosters of those flaming cars.

A museum to be touched !!

Now I want to make you know about an interesting thing happened in my city newly.
We have one of the most important Italian museums, "Museo Archelogico Nazionale" situated in the city centre. Like other museum, it hosts several finds belonging to different ages. The news is that some of them have been chosen to allow the sightless people to touch them and get an image with their fingers.
Indeed this gallery brings the name "Il museo tra le dita" (The museum among the fingers).
The finds which are possible to touch date at Roman era.
Have you never heard of such a thing?

From the rubbish to the coffee

In my last post I spoke about the rubbish emergency in Naples. At this time I want to be optimistic and show you a worth noticing idea that might help us to get rid of this situation.
A friend of mine, Gigi, advised me about the possibility to recycle the half litre bottle (made up of PET) and the common can.
You can go to Filangieri street and there you'll find a recycling machine, it is still an experimental version, indeed it can't compress your bottle and you're forced to put them in without shaping otherwise the machine isn't able to recognize that a bottle got in.
In addition to this model others which should be more sophisticated are expected.
How does it work?
Simply you have to fill the machine in with thirty bottles of water and it gives you in turn a bill whose value is about 1.5€ with it you can buy a good Neapolitan coffee (the machine is near a bar ;- )
I read that other similar machines are coming up and they are likely to be placed in public places like cinema, in this case you receive a ticket for the cinema as prime for your well behaviour.
In some European countries this kind of machines are widely spread, for instance when I was in Stockholm I saw some of them out of the supermarket.
This is just the first attempt to get people recycle their wastes, grow in our conscious a new thought towards the environment.
Here's the video, unfortunately it is in Italian I didn't manage to find an English version.

Naples is a dirt sheet of paper...

As a song by Pino Daniele say, at that time, when Pino wrote this verse couldn't imagine that one day our city would have lived stark and difficult moments like the ones we are living now.
Every body knows about the dreadful emergency linked to the rubbish issue in Naples, a lasting problem which still lacks a definitive and reasonable solution.
At the moment our prime minister have forced the local administration (majors) to build up new dumps and landfills and given off punishment (up to one year in jail) for the protesters, but the people don't give up.
Surrounded by the rubbish and with the summer coming up it will be hard to get rid of this situation if we don't make a decision, we'll be up against the wall.
The city is currently cleaned up because we 're sending our rubbish to Germany, there has been an agreement signed up on the fly.
In the meanwhile some public officers are arguing whatever or not build new landfill in Chiaiano.
Chiano is a small neighbourhood of Naples in which it might be possible to create a landfill but the local people reject it arguing that the place where the landfill or dump should be built up is in front of one most important hospital of Naples.
The rumour says that besides this there is, as usual, the hand of "sistema" (names of Neapolitan mafia) who would use those areas to build new houses, in other words it prefers the black market of house building.
Since I was born, I've never seen a such upsetting situation and sometimes it seems no real; yesterday my father told me about his holiday in Tunisia two years ago, where he saw rubbish piles everywhere, he wasn't surprised about this, in somehow he expected that unhappy spectacular but he can't believe the same thing is happening in our city.
Where should we dump all this rubbish? Every time a new place is designated as feasible candidate but the local people and researchers struggle against the building of landfill.
It's no longer the time to protest, we can't keep on burning tonnes of refuse every day (do you know that dioxin in the fly ash is more dangerous than the rubbish from which it comes after burning?) we have to find a solution and vow for a clever waste management system.
I leave you with Napule' è by Pino Daniele, the famous song from whose verse I was inspired to write this post... I wish we would be better

Tales about bad luck

In the morning while I was studying I heard my mother say: be careful with this mirror !
Handle it with attention ! because if it falls down we have to expect seven years of bad luck!!
These words reminded me of the unusual platitudes and traditions that we have about bad luck.
For instance we are also afraid of walking under a ladder or a black cat which crosses the street while we are driving our car.
I think that all of them come from old and scary tales.
For example concern about the black cat's story I suppose I know its origin.

In the Middle Ages, people used coaches pulled by horses. At night the horses weren't able to see the black cats but could feel them pass near their feet so they got scared and started to make trouble as consequence the people seated in the coach got frightened.
I don't know if these stories are widely spread only in Naples or in the other Italian cities too, but I'm quite sure: the bad luck is everywhere :)
Do you know similar stories?

Thanks to Zsofia for correcting me

Where is puntino ?

Hi folks

I haven't forgotten of you, but in this period I'm really busy with my studies.
I promise to write back soon, in the meanwhile enjoy this movie (with English subtitles) about my city.
See you soon :)

Thanks to Gigi for this video

A day trip to Pompei

Last Sunday I went on a day trip to Pompei, close to Naples, it was an important and lively Roman city in the past, up to 79CE when it was buried by the lava coming out from the volcano Vesuvio after its explosion.
We, my friends and I, had a fun time there and thanks God it was a sunny day which allowed us to look at every single corner of this ancient city and tan our faces!
Along with us there was a girl from Germany to whom I talked for a long time only in English!! poor her! I was really talkative.
I hope I was helpful to her and managed to give her the right information about Pompei since we didn't join any guide.
I wish to show you some pictures that I took

In the following photo you can see a big pond whose real name is impluvium where the rainwater fell down through a special hole(compluvium) in the roof.




The photo on the left displays a wonderful mosaic on a wall of a house named the Venere in the shell, indeed it shows
Venere one Goddess praised by the Romans.
I'm really impressed when I saw its excellent
conditions after lots of centuries.


In the next pictures two mosaics are shown but they were part of the floor ! I didn't expect this but I suppose they were put up only in the riches' houses.












Evidences of Pompeii's final moments were buried and and preserved by the volcanic debris.
Archaeologist reconstructed the victims' bodies by filling the rock cavities left behind after decomposition with plaster, it gives us a frozen time picture of that scaring moment!



Other ruins of Pompei
Anyway we can't live tranquil because the threat of a possible blast, eruption keeps alive and our scientists say that it will be much more intense than the first one !
I'm really scared of hearing this because i wouldn't like at all if someone, in the future, built a statue showing my last breath !

Thanks Zsofia for correcting me

Easter foods II: Pastiera

Hi folks,

I gave you my word to speak about Pastiera...

Pastiera is a Neapolitan dessert and there are many tales around this delight.
One of them says that this sweet was born in the quiet of a nunnery. An unknown nun wanted to make a dessert which was able to bring the scent of the orange trees planted in the garden of the nunnery to the people.
She mixed the white and soft sheep milk cheese with a bit of brown seed corn which grows from the ground and points toward the sky, then added the eggs, symbol of a new life and in the end some orange flower water and eastern spices.
In Naples there is a funny challenge among the housewives, every one wants to be the best and thinks to have the unique and original Pastiera recipe !!
I like it very much and these days have been literally fattening days I have been eating loads of things from tortano, through the chocolate eggs to the Pastiera...
I'm scared to check my weight :-) but How can I resist ?

Thanks to Zsofia for her corrections

Easter foods I: Casatiello and Tortano

We make a very tasty food called in our lingo "casatiello" or "tortano", it is a ring shaped salt pie, heavily filled with pieces of salami, boiled eggs, sheep milk cheese and bacon.
It is a delicious salt pie but I suppose you'll get fat easily if you eat it every day because its dough is based on lard !!
The rumour says its name comes from the word "caso", which means in our lingo "cheese" that you can find in a huge amount in it.

This type of food carries out different Easter symbols, indeed among its ingredients there are sheep milk cheese and eggs, the first is made of sheep milk as its name suggests but the sheep milk also is the primary nutriment of lamb which is an Easter sign at least for Catholics.
The eggs are the symbol of birth, and Jesus after his death is born again.
In the end, there is the shape, I said like a ring because the ring should remind us of the torn crown which tied Jesus' head.
Between casatiello and tortano there is a delicious difference the first has some eggs upon it covered with a cross (as you can see in the picture) made of the same pie's dough, these crosses reminde again of Jesus' cross.

Next time I'm going to speak about the casatiello counter part : Pastiera

Thanks to my dear Zsofia for correcting me

Neapolitan lifestyle: A cup of coffee

Do you know the widespread habit of drinking a cup of coffee in Naples?

It's rather ritual than a simple habit, indeed we consider a cup of coffee like a clock which ticks our main daily moments.
We drink it at least twice in the morning and other cups in the afternoon, some Neapolitans are so addicted to it that they sip the last daily coffee drop at night, before sleeping.

Yet, the first thing we offer when someone visits us is a cup of coffee, for us it is very easy to get together in front of a cup of coffee.
I could say as the British are tea lovers and the Irish beer lovers we are coffee lovers !

The first step to make a flavoured and tasty coffee is to use the proper coffee machine, like the one in the picture (my grandmother's), fill it with water and coffee (not too much) put the machine over middle heat.
In the meanwhile take a little piece of paper and shape it like a small cone, what is it for?
Now you'll discover, when the coffee starts to boil you should cover the machine's spout with it in order to avoid spreading of the coffee's aroma coming up from the spout.

Then leave the machine on the fire for a while.
This is the traditional recipe but this method to prepare the coffee is no longer used and
the modern coffee machines have replaced the old ones, new recipes have come into usage that enrich other ingredients like chocolate flakes, liquor, cacao...

After these loads of words I have to confess ... I feel like a black sheep because I don't like it at

all :D

Thanks to Zsofia for her corrections

Giants in my garden

Now I'm going to speak about one of our typical
fruits...

Amalfi is renowned for its outstanding lemon variety called Stufato, but there also grows another kind of lemon which isn't as famous as Stufato.
These lemons, whose name is unknown to me even after loads of researches on the web, have an odd feature which makes them really different from the Stufato, indeed their size is very large as you can understand by looking at their pictures.
One of these lemons can reach the extraordinary weight of 1.5 kg, I'm not teasing you ! trust me.
For example the one in the pictures weights about 1.1kg.
Besides their size, other characteristics are: a strong bitter taste and a very rough skin.

Unlike Stufato, you can't use this type of lemons for the flavored Limoncello and to tell the truth I don't know any recipe for using them, some say that you can serve them seasoned with oil and oregano like a "lemon salad" or you can dust some sugar over the cloves.
Where did I take those pictures? try to guess....
I took them in my garden though I don't live in Amalfi but in Naples !
My grandfather planted them many years ago, hopefully to yield another kind of lemon sometimes the destiny of the plants, like the people's, is unpredictable :)

Thanks to Zsofia for correcting me

Discover Naples with Tom & Jerry

With this blog I've always wanted to make you discover my city: Naples.
Sometimes, I write some short topics but this time I don't want to bore you with my words and I'll let Tom and Jerry take you for a brief trip in my city.
Enjoy movie

Thanks to my "Swedish" friend Nunzio for this link

A neapolitan Braveheart: Davide Imberbe

Davide Imberbe, 35 years old, is our Braveheart who has decided to struggle "O' Sistema" (name of the criminal organization in Naples, a.k.a. camorra) by rebelling to the racket.
Davide and his family, currently, live under the Italian police protection because they have been threated of death many times, nonetheless Davide keeps on speaking out about O' sistema both at TV programs (LE IENE) and in square.
He revealed how the criminal organization headed by Vollaro family forced him to pay an extortion, if you own a shop with ten rolling shutter, you must pay 10.000€ for three times (Christmas, Easter and mid-August holiday) a year without arguing! the poor bosses need money for their holiday and gifts!
Davide lost his old friends and now the guards who protect him are his best friends, Imberbe's life has dramatically changed, but he still fights.
He remarks that Italian government helps who denounces the racket and invite other business men to join him in order to defeat O' sistema definitely, if we are tens, then hundreds, then thousands; who can kill us? Davide says earnestly.
I hope other people will follow Davide Imberbe's suit and all together will beat O'sistema, because they can...

Good luck, Davide

Thanks to Selma for her corrections

The Carnevale day

On 5Th February, in Italy we celebrate Carnevale.

On this day every child masks themselves with a costume, and makes tricks to the people, indeed a famous byword says "E' carnevale ogni scherzo vale" (It's Carnevale day every trick is valid).

Some masks worn this day belong to our ancient tradition and symbolize a specific city, for example in Naples we have the funny and poor Pulcinella, in Bologna there is the fat and rich Balanzone and so on.

Just a few words about Pulcinella; he is the symbol of the poor side of Naples the tale tells that he is a negligent worker, always angry and looking for someone to cheat by selling his fake swills, but he is also kind and sensitive.
For some aspects, Pulcinella represents what Neapolitans are.

Going on
To celebrate this day we also make some sweets: the crispy chiacchiere, the cold sanguinaccio and the round castagnole these are their name here, but in other cities they could be named differently, for example in Liguria the chiacchiere are also known as "bugie".

Chiacchiere's recipe needs few ingredients: eggs, butter, flour, lemon skin
flakes. After making the dough, roll-out it and cut into narrow strips, then fry them. In the end, dust them with icing sugar.



Castagnole require the same ingredients of chiacchiere but you have to add rum for cooking too, make the dough and shape it in little balls which will be fried.
Like for chiacchiere dust them with icing sugar.

Finally the sanguinaccio, in the past, lots of years ago, it was made with pig's blood, but today we no longer use the it (disgusting...how could they eat it? madness).
To prepare it you need: milk, sugar, flour, cocoa, cinnamon.

Put them into a pot, keep the fire low and mix the cream slowly for a while.
Let it get cool and then take some chiacchiere to dip into it... what do you think I'm doing now :)

I was going to forget migliaccio ! which is the one I like the most....
take some sugar, milk, butter, seed corn, eggs, ricotta.
Place the sugar, milk and butter in a saucepan over low heat, when it stars boiling add ricotta and seed corn, stir them for a while then let it get cool.



Since I'm really busy with my exams I can't help my mother and sister in making them thus I play the tiring role of taster :)

Thanks to Zsofia for correcting me

Bye

Dumps? Not in my backyard !

Napoli has been facing a dirty and demeaning situation since last summer, I'm speaking about the rubbish spread everywhere due to the dumps lack.
The emergency has become so strong that the European Commission has alerted Italian government to possible fines if Naples will not get out of its rubbish.
At the moment the Campania region government (whose Naples is the capital city) is looking for places where to build a temporal dump, and as you can imagine the people who live there refuse the building of any dump even for a short time, and I think they are right because we need an effective solution, we mustn't put it off anymore.
In the meanwhile the rubbish heaps grow day by day and the people frustrated by unbearable stench have got to torching the rubbish pile.

Who is responsible for this upset situation?

The mayor of Naples, Rosa Russo Iervolino, says I haven't the power to sort out this problem and pass the ball to her friend and region president Antonio Bassolino who has been saying nothing, Where is Antonio ?
I read some articles (mostly by BBC journalist) and no one of them mention the word criminal organization.
Behind all, there is the criminal organization's paw which, for a longer time , has taken over the rubbish collection system.
An example in Naples there was a dismissed petrol station whose fuel cisterns were completely
full of rubbish, it isn't a fantasy story.
I'm laughing and crying at the same time...In the rest of the world the people are discussing "the going in green"... what a shame

For the series "Delicacies from Naples", now on air : Struffoli !

Last time I spoke about Baba, which I called the "King of the sweets" now I'm going to write about the little princes of the sweets, Struffoli.

They are homemade sweets cooked only at Christmas time and their recipe is easy and needs few ingredients: eggs, honey, flour, strong liquor (e.g. limoncello).
After making the dough, you shape it in little balls which will be fried.
At the end of the process you'll get little gold tasty balls that you'll wet with hot honey and dust with colored confectioners' sugar.

The rumor says that their origins are Greek and their name means "cut as little balls".
Listen to me, after you pick the first Struffolo, you will not be able to stop eating them and sooner or later you'll pick another one, another one yet and so on.... your fingers will be covered with honey and you take pleasure in licking them...I love them

Thank Zsofia for correcting me

My little Presepio

We start decorating the inside of our houses on December 8th with the Christmas tree and objects with Christmas motives, but for us, I mean the people of Naples, it's very important to
show in our houses the Presepio (Christmas nativity).

Naples is very famous for its long Presepio manufacture tradition, we have an area in the city centre, called S.Gregorio Armeno, dedicated to the developing of the Presepios, there you can see and buy every kind of Presepios you want, little, big, with lights, with an artificial river with classic and new characters...
Some people, here, who are good at shaping woods, make their Presepio on their own.
When I was a child, helped by my father, I made some marvellous Presepios that I rebuilt from the beginning every year .
This year, my father had a very original idea... He developed a small and nice Presepio into a coconut skin which symbolizes only the holy family, the nativity, look at the photo, he added a little light into the coconut too!!.
So you can understand how creative the people are here.

The Frozen side of Naples

On the 21 November 2007, in Naples, the world's first permanent museum of ice sculptures, the Ice Art Gallery was born.

Sponsored by Municipality of Naples in association with Erbavoglio association, the museum is an idea and a project of Amelio Mazzarella, the president of the "Associazione Italiana Scultori Ghiaccio", who has carried out the concept of "Made in Naples" by using as raw material water coming exclusively from Serino.
The gallery covers an area of 120mq, with two floors encompassed by a great refrigerator
room, which allows the ice sculpture artists from all the world to create either ice landscapes or objects and show their creations.

The average temperature in the museum is about 3 degrees below zero, warm and comfortable fur coats will be available on the superior floor.

The Ice Art Gallery is a "dynamic" lab, as well, and every season will show a new face: for its first year of life the use of 300 tons of ice is foreseen so it will be possible to change the issue of the art exhibition many times a year.

The visitors will be able to enjoy a cocktail during the visit and sit on an ice sofa while they are
playing chess on an ice chessboard.

Ice Art Gallery, Padre Francesco Denza n.6 street