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On Sunday we went to a Barbecue at our friend Roxana and that marked the end of the vegetarian month. Before starting this experiment we thought that getting rid of meat from our diet would have caused some sort of problems. I am happy to report that this wasn’t the case at all. The truth is that from a physical point of view I noticed no changes whatsoever, my body didn’t feel any different and my energy levels were the way the used to. Moreover my training hasn’t suffered a bit by going veggie!
The practical side of things is something one needs to get used to. In other words you’ll have to start looking labels a bit more and inform your friend about your dietary requirements.
This is key because omnivorous that would eat more or less everything (like myself) are not normally asking too many questions about ingredients. So the only time when we unknowingly ate some meat was because we didn’t ask the content of the filled pasta (tortellini) and these ended up containing some Parma ham
Well, all in all this was a brilliant experience, during the month we went to a couple of vegetarian restaurant in the city. Additionally we learned some new recipes that we’ll certainly going to cook again.
Are we vegetarian now? Well no. The truth is that we like food variety
altogether but we are going to limit our meat meals to 1-2 a week and only buy organic.
It’s your time to test if this could work for you. Come on! select a month and go for it.

The short article recited something like “Veggie Month is a time when people are encouraged to find out more about the many benefits of switching to a meat-free diet.”
Nothing clicked instantly but after a bit of thinking it made sense: I like food in its wide variety but for the sake of the environment I can go veggie for a month. I am not ready to give up meat all together but do it 1/12 of the year is perfectly fine.
To be completely honest the website and initiatives acted as catalysts but I did find them particularly useful. First of all the original Veggie Month was March – not a good time for us.  We went on holiday a couple of weekend last March and would have been difficult to say no to meat. Secondly the initiative is organise by Animal Aid, and of course it focuses on animal welfare. Nothing bad about this but this is not our mayor concern in this area.
We are really doing this for the environmental impact of being carnivorous.  More on this in the next post.

The book review

There are two main reasons behind our decision. The first happened just by chance but together with the second made me really think about the environmental implications of being carnivorous.
(1) I was reading a book about global food economy and the certain possibility of food shortage in the near future.
(2) At the same time I was flicking through a magazine were I found a wee article about March being a Veggie Month.

So after discussing this with Manu we decided a suitable month without a lot of commitments (sport/travel/meals out) and May come out winner!

Concern for the way in which we are treating our planet has always been at the top of the agenda. Manu and I always thought of doing our bit by recycling/reusing, not owning a car and boil only the water that we need in the kettle. But this doesn’t seem to crack it anymore. Unfortunately the rate at which we pollute planet Earth is ever increasing. So this time we went a bit further – no no don’t worry we wont be moving to a tree in the middle of a forest! We decided to go VEGETARIAN for one month.

It is time to travel up North, Turin is the regional capital of Piedmont. This used to be capital of Italy at the time of the monarchy. The Royal link to the city is clear in its architecture grandiose palaces, big streets and squares. And everywhere the Royal coat of arms.
Torino is the surrounded by the Alps in the North West of the peninsula. Is far away from any sea and the only geographical thing to notice except the mountains is that the river Po crosses the city. Another fact to mention is that here FIAT has its headquarter, yes all these Italian cars are designed here :-O
During the summer people tend to fled this metropolis of 1m inhabitant, the reason are different but certainly the lack of a beach and the high temperature are top of the list. After the first night
sleep there I cannot blame the people going away. Is surreal see the snow on the top of the Alps but suffer from warm weather.
Wondering around the imposing Via Po or Piazza Castello is simply characteristic. Everything here is bigger that anything else in Italy. Some streets have two additional driveways on the side so while in the central carriageways you can only go straight, the laterals are used to turn.
The place has a big tradition of caffeterias and traditional filled pasta. Every time I visit I discover another piece of this incredible place. This time we went for a Circus style show in the Moncalieri Castle were skilled artists run a shows that ended up with a fire “manipulator”.
Another highlight was dining at a newly opened delicatessen/supermarket/restaurant Eataly. There you can find all speciality from the region and not only and also eat some of the tastier meat and fish freshly cooked in front of you. All in a friendly surrounding with also the possibility to buy some of the most amazing products available. Only one warning, prices here are aligned with the quality.

Eataly Torino

After missing for a long time things are bound to change, but my homeland has a pace of its own. Mammuthal shopping centres and new glass and iron buildings give you the idea that things are moving faster than it is. The reality is that key behaviour and cultural habits are unchanged. Priorities are exactly the same and even if the Italian dictionary adopted more and more English words this shouldn’t fool visitors; Italy isn’t going any faster than it used to.

During the summer Italians are slowing down even more. Not their fault at all – the heat is incredible. After lunch at more than 35.C it is difficult to drag yourself to the beach People are more nervous and things take forever to be completed.

During my breaf visit the first stop was the costal city of Rimini. This is very well known for the summer night life, hence the total number of people grows five fold in this season. This is possible thank to
one thousand hotels that dot the coastline.

Life there is very much taking place around the beach. Locals and tourists alike are engaged in this daily migration to and from the long stretch of sandy beach. Nobody seems to be in the hurry to get anywhere, most locals will use their bike while tourist will slowly stroll toward the warm Adriatic sea.

Things important when travelling to Rimini are; beach towel, swimsuit and sun cream. It is also important to decide if you fancy some nightlife, because if you do arrangements need to be book in advance as the club scene develops itself in the hills surrounding the city.

If you are neither a lizard nor a reveller, Rimini also offers some cultural highlights. Once an important Roman centre, Ariminum still includes the Thiberius Bridge, the Cathedral and two important squares with the council building and local museum. Just an hour away there’s also San Marino the smallest republic in the world.

Food wise the variety on offer cannot be bad – at the end of the day we are in Italy. The local speciality/snack is called “Piadina” a sort of local tortilla that is filled with local ingredients including cottage cheese, parma ham, salad etc. Simply the best lunch you can get!
More speciality include the usual homemade pasta and pizza, these are available more or less everywhere but my suggesting is if possible to try to avoid the coast and look for a ristorante inland, La Greppia is certainly a good choice.

It was time to go back to my homeland, yes Italy. This time though is different, while in the past I went back for some event or festivity – this time is just to get back in touch with my roots. I know it sounds a bit of a common place but I felt that I wanted to go back just for the sake of going back, seeing familiar faces, smells and sights.
I am sure that some of you will understand this; once you live abroad for a bit of time you forget some bit and pieces of your culture. The only way to trigger the memories is to soak yourself again in it. And this is what I did.

Canals are one of those things that I link very much with the British Isles. In fact here is where I saw the first canal and realised its purpose. These waterways were used in the past (end of 18th century up until mid 19th) as a modern motorway to transport goods between cities and towns. So across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland several were built and now that all the freight transport is done on wheels they are more or less disused. Not totally tough.

After years of neglect, several projects re-opened a number of canals
across the country making them perfect place for leisure sailing (with flat barges) or a good training ground for rowers. At the same time swans and ducks seem to be liking these flat waters too.
Scotland’s central belt has its own canal, the Union Canal. An impressive strip of water that links Edinburgh to Glasgow (via Falkirk). Every year the local group organises a festival to show people this incredible part of town sometime forgotten.