Riva, what a passion!
After convincing my sister Nicoletta to write a post on my blog I am now incredibly happy to host, hear hear, my brother Lorenzo!
When we were children, several years ago, my father owned a little house in Porto Santa Margherita near Caorle, where we used to spend the summer. In front of the house there was a ‘Riva’ motorboat moored. It was an ‘Olympic‘ to be precise.
With that motoboat we sailed around all the nearby waterways, water-skiing in the river outlets (those were different times!).
The only sore point was the coming back: in fact the Riva had to be carefully washed with soft water and had to be perfectly dried with buckskin. This duty was ours, the kids, because, like my father said, it “was part of the fun”.
For all of us it was actually a big nuisance sometimes because he really made us hate it!
Time goes by, recreational activities change and the motorboat of our childhood ends up in our warehouse under a dust sheet. Until a few years ago when we decided to give it over to ‘RAM‘ in Sarnico to refurbish it. When the Olympic came back it was a real beauty, with its mahogany and sparkling metal coatings back.
It looked so good that we decided to use it for a Bellini advertising photoshoot directed by William Fornaciari.
And still now when the weather’s sunny, the Olympic is ready to cast off and wander around the Grand Canal (Canal Grande) in Venice.
I am rude
Some time ago I was told off for saying ‘piacere’ (pleased to meet you) while introducing myself to a lady. I was rather puzzled and confused because now I don’t know what to say when I’m being introduced to someone new. To be honest, since I found out about this aspect of Italian etiquette, I’ve noticed that almost everyone says it, both Italians and foreigners, and I sometimes find myself hand in hand with a stranger without knowing whether I should impolitely reply with ‘piacere’ or even more impolitely, be silent.
What’s the key to this?
I bought myself Lina Sotis ‘Classic Manners’, a guide to Italian etiquette. During a sailing holiday I read this book out of curiosity to try to understand how good-mannered individuals should behave. The funny thing is that while I was reading it I continuously kept telling my sailing friends off for their wrong behaviour (on a sailboat they obviously didn’t feel like sitting properly as if they were at a gala dinner) and I risked many times being thrown into the water!
Here’s some of the “Don’t’s” according to Ms Sotis:
- “Saying ‘piacere’ (pleased to meet you) when someone is introduced or introduces himself” (ouch, gotcha!)
- “Foreign words abuse. This is so social climber.” (I agree, I can’t stand them either so I’ll have to start translating facebook, flickr, social media and geek in Italian)
- “You can have a conversation about everything while dining but there’s one thing you’re not allowed to say which is ‘Buon appetito/Enjoy your meal.’ (Well, I’d say 80% of the people I know say this and they’re no yahoos, so if I didn’t reply, it would be worse.)
- To say ‘salute/bless you’ when someone sneezes” (this actually has a point…)
- “Leopard skin: dress, sofa, table cloth or linen are associated with silicon, ginger hair, greasy skin and glossy lips defined by a dark brown lip liner. Such a dressed up lady won’t make it until the end of the summer. She needs a check-up in the clinic until the next leopard-skin” (this reminds me so much of someone…)
I tried to put into practice some of Lina Sotis tips in every day life but when I read that ‘cin cin/cheers is an expression to be forgotten especially during toasts’ I realized that I am probably hopeless.
I love having a toast, it’s a liberating feeling and I can’t help it. I like looking people in the eyes, seeing them smiling, hearing the glasses clinking and understanding that in that moment everyone around me is having a good time.
Toasting together is happiness, fun, joy! I’ll be rude, forgive me if you can!
Canella’s billboard in the 50s
Here I am after a week in Mykonos with no wi-fi! I actually enjoyed being ‘logged out’ for a while. I swam, I did some pleasant walks, I chatted with my beloved friends from boarding school and I enjoyed the sunset sipping Bellini without checking into any social networks.
A weird but relaxing feeling.
Now that I’m back I appreciate the fact that I can be updated in real time via Facebook, Twitter and various blogs about what’s going on. I can google stuff, I can check my mailbox, I can basically go back to my daily online life.
In the occasion of the VeneziaCamp 2010 I will be taking part in my first Girl Geek Dinner tomorrow and I must admit, I’m so excited about it!
I have developed this interest in technology and the Internet for over a year, I have my own blog and the idea of finally meeting people who don’t look at me like an alien when I talk about blogs, Twitter or Flickr, makes me happy. These girls talk my language, these girls are geeks!
Bellini in 20cl bottles will, of course, be served to all the participants! I took it with me to Greece, how could it possibly be missed in Venice?
Be right back
Following Pablo Neruda’s advice contained in ‘Who dies? (Ode to life): “Dies slowly, he who does not travel, who does not read, who doesn’t listen to music…”.
I’ve bought myself a book, I am wearing my ipod earbuds and I will be leaving for a short trip. How could I possibly disagree with him?
I probably won’t be able to connect to the Internet for a few days but please, do send your messages anyway! As soon as I find a wi-fi connection, I’ll get back to you!
Bye everyone!
How did the Bellini peach orchard begin?
It all started when my brother Lorenzo and his wife Carola spent a holiday in South Africa.
Carola, who’s now a famous food blogger (you should check her incredible recipes out!) describes this new ‘adventure’ in her blog as follows:
“The idea came to us suddenly. After visiting Warwick wine estate in Stellenboch and tasting their wines, we were invited by the company owner Norma Ratcliff, into her house as if we were her closest friends. That was awesome! We had the feeling of being one of the family and not just the next customer….and this is the way we wanted it to be for our customers too….On that same evening there we were making projects for our land around our house. The time needed to have the soil analyzed, the design of the orchard and the little house: in one year’s time the peach trees were planted. And this is how the peach little house started: a place to host our clients and friends in the same friendly and cosy way we were welcomed during our wonderful trip to South Africa.”
This is exactly the way it went: we got carried away by Carola and Lorenzo’ s enthusiasm and we preferred to check the growth, the ripening as well as the picking of the Maria Bianca for Bellini directly instead of going to Forlimpopoli where all the production of our peaches had been concentrated until then. Furthermore, by changing the areas we reduced the ’storm’ problem; the white peach harvest takes place between mid July/beginning of August and in case of hail we wouldn’t have been able to bottle Bellini for a whole year!
When the D-Day arrived for the peach trees to be planted, Lorenzo gathered the whole family and gave each of us a spade and some ridiculous yellow clogs. Then, starting from birth year, from my father to Marco, the youngest grandson, each of us planted a Maria Bianca tree to celebrate that moment. Every family member has their own peach tree and every year we compete with one another to see which tree has the biggest and juiciest peach.
ps. I wore white pants on that day: how smart can you get?
thepeachtree.it for iPhone
Starting from today you will be able to connect and post on this blog which is now optimized for iPhone!
Your party gets pink with Bellini!
There are people who always complain about their job and people like me who simply love it. I’ve been superlucky since the beginning because I have always had my father’s company behind me. Back in the 80s, when the wine business was in crisis due to the methanol scandal, my father had the brilliant idea of bottling the already popular Bellini cocktail.
Bellini is my one true love (not literally, of course), it’s the kind of cocktail you can have with your friends after a hard day at work maybe in front of a breathtaking sunset on the sea or after a golf match, to refresh yourself.
This summer together with Elena and Giuseppe Ceschelli, the enthusiastic ”Bellini team“, we will keep you entertained with competitions, social gatherings, parties and exhibitions that will all be featuring our Bellini.
Here’s some of June’s appointments:
June 2nd, Jesolo: Giuseppe will be serving Bellini at the ‘Festa dei Fiori’ (Flower Festival)
June 5th-6th and 12th-13th, Rome: Bellini Happy Hour at the International Beach Tennis World Championships
June 6th, Mogliano Veneto: from 10am until 7pm Bellini tasting at the ‘Golf and Gusto’ competitions at Villa Condulmer.
June 7th, Rome: Happy hour with Bellini at the Taormina Film Festival Press Conference.
June 10th – July 12th, Jesolo: Jesolo Mundial Village, a ‘village’ on P.zza Brescia beach where you could follow the Football World Championships on large display screens while sipping Bellini with your friends.
June 11th-12th, Rapallo: All the members of the Rapallo Yacht Club will receive a Bellini.
June 12th- 18th, Taormina: Happy hour with Bellini at the Taormina Film Festival.
June 16th, Duna Verde: Bellini event at Maxim restaurant inside San Francesco Camping.
June 22nd, Circus Studios, Milan: Happy Hour with Bellini at the photo exhibition ‘Brevi Racconti’.
June 25th, Jesolo: Bellini Party at Mare Chiaro.
June 21st- June 27th: Happy Hour with Bellini at the Phi Beach, Summer Weekend in Porto Cervo.
Lastly, you will find Bellini throughout the summer at the Chioscofaro beach kiosk in Jesolo, my favourite kiosk where we’ll be organizing a Bellini
party on the beach soon.
Now do you get why I am totally in love with my job?
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