what to pack when i'm bound for italy
By diana on Sep 23, 2011 | In capricious bloviations
This marks the end of my second TDY in Italy in the last four months, and I've come to realize that I need more than just a change of underwear when I visit. Here are the accessories I need to pack.
1. Corkscrew. Italy thrives on very nice wine. It's a different culture. By that, I mean this: when you order dinner in a restaurant, they don't offer wine by the glass. They offer it in bottles. House wines--which are usually excellent--come in half-carafes. I prefer to sip wine as I surf the netz and such, and I like to sample some of the unique varietals Italy offers, so I buy bottles in stores. This, in Italy, necessitates a corkscrew.
Or tweezers, with which I successfully removed a cork--a plastic one, no less--at one point. Someday, I'll try the shoe trick.
2. Fork and knife. I like vegetables a lot, and they agree with me far more than most of the other food groups. However, getting veggies in Italy is more difficult that getting real veggies in the Southern states. I swear, if these people had a food pyramid, it would go something like this....
The bottom level, the huge one, would easily be pasta. Also, types of coffee.
The next level, slightly smaller, would be gellato and pastries.
The next level, fairly small, would be meat.
The last--the "only eat occasionally" level--would be vegetables.
They sell fruits here, but I don't like most fresh fruits. They either have a texture I don't care for or they're just too damn sweet.
Thus, I've found that I find happiness is frequenting Italian supermarkets for salad supplies, and "cooking" at "home." Hence the need for a fork and knife.
3. A few Ziploc baggies, whether or not they are actually "Ziplocs." This goes hand-in-hand with my desire for salads. I don't want leftover veggies to go bad before tomorrow's meal. Also, it would be nice to take such snacks to work/class with me.
4. Mosquito repellant. Italy breeds mosquitoes that would put Texas to shame. Mosquitoes love me, and I mean they love me. Men--known to be more attractive mosquito targets than women--will go unscathed in my presence while I get eat up.
5. Hydrocortizone cream, for when the repellant doesn't work.
I'm trying to find a way to bring a space fan with me, but that just doesn't seem practical yet. Still working on that one.
d
3 comments
Ugh, mosquitos!!! You would not BELIEVE the ones we have here in FL! They are brutal, and they loooooooove me (and my younger son) too. My legs look AWFUL, like I have chicken pox or something. They don’t bother my husband at all. Bastards.
Diana,
Another vote for the corkscrew. I used to scoff at people who’d buy a Swiss Army knife with one, until an engineer I met told me her most common use for her knife was a wine and cheese lunch with her husband. (Her company apparently had a different alcohol use policy than mine did. Drinking at lunch was verboten.) Now when I travel I carry a lever corkscrew in my shaving kit.
For travel-friendly utensils, have you considered a titanium spork?
If you ever do find a good fan for traveling that doesn’t sound like a turboprop airplane, please let me know. That’s become a lifelong quest for me. (I could really use a quiet fan at work.)
Dave
I’ve been looking all over my kitchen for the corkscrew I KNOW I had a few years ago. Usually, I buy my wine with just screw-on lids, but the last one I bought (about two weeks ago) has the cork—–and I can’t find the corkscrew! Thanks to Hinermad, I now have an idea of how to get it open!
Love you! Take care of yourself!
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