This lake seen here at the base of Seekofel Mountain in the Südtirol. I couldn't find the exact Spotlight image. Seekofel Mountain is part of the Dolomites.
The Pragser Wildsee, or Lake Prags, Lake Braies (Italian: Lago di Braies; German: Pragser Wildsee) is a lake in the Prags Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy. It belongs to the municipality of Prags which is located in the Prags Valley.
In recent years, the lake earn the nickname of "Pearl of the Alps" due to its increasing popularity among tourists.
Seekofel Mountain, Sudtirol
*************************
Note: I'm backdating this from August 28, 2022. I'm currently living in Sonoma, California. I'll explain in detail later.
A post from the International Monetary Fund suggests that it would be a good idea to base your credit score on your browsing habits.
If the idea is followed, it could mean some serious changes in the way credit is obtained and mean you could be denied a mortgage based on what you were viewing.
Four researchers presented their findings from a working paper that examines the current relationship between finance and tech and sees the possibility of using the data from your browsing, search, and purchase history to create a more accurate mechanism for determining the credit rating of an individual or business.
The concept of using your web history to inform credit ratings is framed around the notion that lenders rely on hard-data that might obscure the worthiness of a borrower or paint an unnecessarily dire picture during hard times.
I recall seeing a bumper sticker once that read "LEGALIZE FREEDOM." Unfortunately, it keeps going in the opposite direction, and those whom we may believe would be against it are often in full support of it. Shills in many of these various global institutions, foundations, and think tanks have been discussing issues like this since the mid-90s that I know of. After 911, some of the things they discussed were outrageous, and few of it actually came into being. Super-insider Zbigniew Brzezinski used to be a really good source for this type of "futurism" because it actually ended up happening, but he's gone now. Often the strategy is for them to ask for much more power than they actually want, while other times it's to test the waters to see what they may be able to get away with.
The Church of the Gesuati, the largest convent complex in XVIIIth century Venice, was built between 1726 and 1735 for the Dominican Order to replace the smaller church that still stands beside it, which had become too small to hold all the parishioners. The Dominican Order took over from the Jesuates (from whom the church took its name) in 1668, when the order was suppressed. Giorgio Massari was the architect who designed the church and the decorations in the interior, with the help of two great artists of the time: Giambattista Tiepolo and Gian Maria Morlaiter. The three definitively established their fame in the city thanks to the remarkable work they did on the church. There is a beautiful harmony to the interiors, with the striking ceiling frescoes by Giambattista Tiepolo, featuring three splendid frescoes representing “The Virgin Appearing to St. Dominic”, “The Institution of the Rosary” and “The Glory of St. Dominic”, surrounded by a number of monochrome medallions.
Santa Maria del Rosario (St. Mary of the Rosary), commonly known as I Gesuati, is an 18th-century Dominican church in the Sestiere of Dorsoduro, on the Giudecca canal in Venice, northern Italy. The classical style building has a well-lit interior and is exceptional in preserving its original layout and Rococo decoration intact. The church and almost all its sculpture and paintings were created within a thirty-year period: construction began in 1725, the church was consecrated in 1743, and the last sculptural decoration was in place by 1755.
The Baroque is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1740s.
Baroque came to English from a French word meaning "irregularly shaped." At first, the word in French was used mostly to refer to pearls. Eventually, it came to describe an extravagant style of art characterized by curving lines, gilt, and gold.
Since cow milk isn't really necessary for an adult diet, as it was intended by nature in order to help a calf to gain a ton or two, the various almond, walnut, and other "milks" can work fine for diet and for recipes that ask for milk. Also, cow milk has a lot of sugar; 13 grams per cup on one label that I looked at recently. Last week I purchased some walnut milk, which has only 2 grams of sugar and is not a GMO food. I didn't even look at the producer, which I saw today was the Mariani Nut Company (or Mariani Family Orchards) in Winters, California; founded in 1906.
From the container/label:
Meet the family
For five generations, the Marianis have been farming the land in California. Enjoy our family's labor of love any time of the day for a simply better way to live the good life.
I would venture a guess that the Mariani family, who were originally from Croatia, was either "Istrian Italian" or "Dalmatian Italian." For example, the famous race car driver Mario Andretti was born in Montona, Italy; however this town is now part of Croatia. There were a lot of Venetians who had lived in those regions going back centuries, particularly in Istria. I don't claim to know who has the better irredentist claim to Trieste or Istria, but it has long been in intellectual and historical dispute. In any case, the Mariani family has an interesting history: Our Family Story. There has also historically been a large Croatian-American population in San Francisco and the greater bay. The Mariani Nut Company is located in Yolo County, east of Napa County and north of Solano County. I purchased the "Original Walnutmilk" at Safeway.
I'm backdating this from October 21. I'm not going to be posting much for perhaps five or six months, as my mother's passing has taken an unexpected legal turn. Things are very uncertain for me as of now, and I have to address it.
Last week I purchased an item at the supermarket chain Safeway called 'Italian Cheese Board'. Not that it was particularly fancy, but they were very tasty cheeses; four little stacks of northern cheeses which are well known in America, stacked on top of a hard waxed cardboard backing. There are other cheeses a bit off the beaten path of course, but I thought it significant that these four are so well-known worldwide. Of course Parmesan--originating from Emilia and Lombardia--would be the equivalent to Swiss, feta, gouda, muenster, cheddar, etc. Aged and in slices, it was very adequate in this product. Officially, the name is Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Aged and delicious Asiago cheese has increased much in popularity in recent years, and is similar to Parmesan, but it also seems to be a bit like aged gouda. It originates in Veneto and Trentino, and is very adequate in this product. Provolone cheese should be well-known to any cheese lover, and originates in the Po Basin of Lombardia and Veneto. It's somewhat like white American cheese, but is also a bit like Helvetica cheese from Switzerland. Now "provolone valpadana" is not the same as "provolone del Monaco" originating from the Naples area.
Fontina cheese, which originates in the Aosta Valley, is similar to Swiss cheese. In the Alps or Apennine Mountains, some cheese is traditionally stored for six months or so in a cave for aging. Although well packaged, the damp conditions are perfect. Some of these caves are fancy, but many are just small rural caves where individuals or families can age home made cheese. In Lombardia I saw the name for these caves once from a book I have, but I couldn't locate it; I want to say a "cave grotto," but I think it was another word that starts with a "g." It showed a small cave with a heavy old fashioned door. This method goes back many centuries. In more urban settings, cheese is stored in deep cellars to age, although I think the cave method seems to be more effective for the best results. The dampness is probably the key. There are also special wooden boxes constructed for aging cheese, some very small for a family home.
Abarth has always been a fairly niche proposition, so what exactly is the difference between Abarth and Fiat?
In this short edition of Car Facts, we take a look at the differences between Fiat and Abarth.
The History Of Abarth
Abarth was founded in 1949 by Carlo Abarth, who had always had a passion for Motorsport and vehicles since a young age.
Carlo Abarth with some of his weird and wonderful racing creations
In its early days, Abarth produced both custom vehicles built for racing (starting with the 204 A Roadster based on the Fiat 1100) as well as producing tuning kits for existing vehicles to improve their power and performance.
A big breakthrough for Abarth came in 1958, when Fiat released the original 500.
Abarth developed a modified version (the ‘595’ – as per the modern 500 Abarth, and later the 695) that had substantially more power and performance prowess.
This is perhaps Abarth’s most famous creation.
An example of the original 595 Abarth
Over the following years, Abarth continued to develop and release performance kits as well as their own race cars and modified variants.
Yesterday I parked next to a little Abarth hatchback, although I didn't notice it until I had already parked. Small and sightly, it had the old Abarth scorpion logo. As the article, which I couldn't publish in full, went on to state... Abarth is a subsidiary of Fiat. It can be ambiguous, as some cars can have the Abarth logo but not be a genuine Abarth. The old days of an automobile manufacturer being associated with a city, or additionally even a heritage, now it all to the highest bidder. However, Abarth is still headquartered in Turn as it has been since 1949.
Abarth & C. S.p.A. (pronounced [ˈabart]) is an Italian racing and road car maker and performance division founded by Italo-Austrian Carlo Abarth in 1949. Abarth & C. S.p.A. is owned by Stellantis through its FCA Italy S.p.A. division. Its logo is a shield with a stylized scorpion on a yellow and red background.
Type: Subsidiary (S.p.A.) Industry: Automotive Founded: March 31, 1949; 72 years ago Founder: Carlo Abarth Headquarters: Turin, Italy Area served: EMEA Key people: Olivier François, CEO; Alfredo Altavilla, COO Owner: Stellantis Parent: FCA Italy S.p.A. Website: www.abarth.com
[Featured now on Windows 10 Spotlight; I'm back-dating this from July 30]
The town of Verucchio isn't large—it ranges over just ten or so miles of hilltop—but its elevated position means this location has long been strategic. The spot has been inhabited for some 3,000 years and was once ruled by the Etruscans. Later, the town was named Verucchio (or Vero Occhio) translating to 'True Eye' in reference to its peak position: It affords sweeping views over a wide swath of coastal countryside in the Emilia-Romagna region of northeast Italy. Besides cozy winding streets and charming tiled-roof houses, Verucchio boasts the magnificent Malatesta Castle and an early 13th-century Franciscan convent. Legend has it that eight centuries ago, Saint Francis of Assisi planted the cypress that's still growing outside of the convent.
Many people are unaware that the Etruscan civilization went right up to southern Lombardy, and after the Roman conquest they migrated into the Alps and merged with several other ancient peoples to form a particular Rhaetian state BCE, which itself was later conquered by the Romans.
In Italy, they're historically very good at not scaring a landscape; not blocking out views of mountains, lakes, etc. All of those towns and villages; the sightly old buildings of tan and orange, amid the plains of green, the blue skies, and white clouds. The landscapes are like works of art in of themselves.
In a town just south of San Francisco, California, resides a city unknown to many: Colma. Colma, also known as the “City of the Dead,” is home to 17 cemeteries that occupy 73% of the city; in other words, the dead outnumber the living 1,000 to one. This tiny, yet unique town is home to V. Fontana & Co., my family’s monument business that has been in existence for 100 years come this April. The business was established in 1921 by my great-grandfather, Valerio Fontana, who emigrated from Italy to the United States in hopes of finding masonry work—the skill and livelihood of his ancestors. Since Valerio’s death in 1961, the family business has been passed down two more generations. What makes V. Fontana & Co. truly unique is the fact that it represents one century of service our family has provided in the U.S, all of which can be traced back to when Valerio originally established the business in 1921.
V. Fontana & Co. is specifically recognized for its custom manufacturing of all types of granite and marble products. Blocks of granite and marble are imported from quarries all over the world where they are transformed into products in our factory to meet customers’ needs. Valerio set the standards high for the business immediately when it first opened, using only the finest quality materials that would literally stand the test of time. Over the past several decades, the business has diversified beyond monuments as the demand to incorporate granite and marble in commercial and residential design has skyrocketed. V. Fontana & Co. is the successful business it is today because of Valerio’s determination to overcome both geographical and cultural boundaries to become accustomed to the American culture and to achieve the “American Dream.”
It all began in 1887, when Valerio was born in the small-town of Saint’ Andrea, located in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. He was one of six children and was born into a destitute family. Valerio’s father required that all of his children work at a young age to lend support to the family’s struggling financial situation. He and his siblings did work that included various kinds of physical labor, one of which was stone cutting. Valerio not only had a knack for stone cutting, but also developed a passion for it. No matter how much work the children did, however, it barely made ends meet. Growing up with a close-knit family, Valerio took matters into his own hands and decided to leave Italy to seek job opportunities to provide a better life for his family. Valerio’s childhood in Italy instilled a strong work ethic in him, which was able to transcend the border with him when he came to North America.
San Bruno Mountain can be viewed directly behind downtown, not to be confused with the north Santa Cruz Mountains in the far background
I only occasionally post an entire borrowed article, as I know the concern would want their site to be the one cited in any instance. I hope they don't mind me posting the image. At one time, Colma WAS Genoa, Lucca, Bologna, etc; generally a "little northwest Italy." Even today, it represents at least some semblance of a geographical community for our people. Another way of looking at it, historically-speaking, is the whole area surrounding San Bruno Mountain. Crocker Amazon was once more Italian than North Beach, then there's the Excelsior, Bayshore and Hillside in Daly City, Broadmoor, South San Francisco, Colma, and generally all around the perimeter of the mountain.
In the many aerial images of San Francisco's skyline facing southward that we've seen for decades, San Bruno Mountain just stands there in the background like a phantom that nobody really notices. It's 1,319 foot peak is taller than the tallest building in San Francisco (the Salesforce Tower, designed by the late famous Cisalpine-Argentine architect César Pelli, is 1,070 feet). One of the best kept local secrets is the little parking lot at the top of Radio Road on San Bruno Mountain. If anyone hasn't been there, you should wait for a nice day, and bring a camera!
A brief customer intro to the outside and inside of Rocco's Cafe San Francisco CA.
Rocco's Cafe South of Market 1131 Folsom St. (between 7th & 8th) San Francisco CA 94103 415-554-0522
************
My mother passed away this past week (I'm predating this from June 18), and for some reason one of the things that came into my mind recently was a memory of a particular day long ago when my mom took me to eat at Rocco's back when it was located on Geneva and Mission in SF. She loved the sandwiches there. Coscarelli is actually of Calabrese origin. There's no longer a great enthusiasm for Italian food in San Francisco. Of course, the hipsters have their places, other communities prefer to stick with their own food, and it's just sort've hit and miss now... a few sporadic places for the most part... a few of the old legacies still. I can't vouch for Rocco's now, but I'll probably make my way there sometime in the next few weeks.
My friend Kenneth Sproul is a San Franciscan who worries that the city is losing its soul. He scours the town looking for old-school restaurants, which serve plain but honest meals with a splash of nostalgia sauce on the side.
Most people know about Sam’s, the Tadich Grill, the Swan Oyster Depot, Original Joe’s and the Hang Ah Tea Room. But Sproul has introduced me to places like the Gold Mirror, out on Taraval, the Seven Mile House, just over the county line near the Cow Palace, and the late, lamented Bonanza, which used to be next to a defunct bakery in an industrial district in the southern corner of the city. They all have a certain style, hard to define — the city as it used to be.
“I know another great place,” he said the other day. “It’s Rocco’s Cafe, on Folsom Street between Seventh and Eighth. It’s Italian. It’s South of Market before it became SoMa.”
Rocco’s is in the seam among two or three different versions of San Francisco. Eighth and Folsom is the eastern boundary of the Leather Belt, celebrated at the Folsom Street Fair, which describes itself as “an-only-in-San Francisco event, where 400,000 fetishists gather every year.” Seventh Street is another frontier: an emerging tech neighborhood where nerds are king. An industrial remnant of another time is still there, too.
If it sounds confusing, that’s because it is. “I’m old-school in the middle of a new city,” said Don Dial, the owner and head chef at Rocco’s. “I’m North Beach in South Beach.”
Dial has owned Rocco’s for 27 years now.
“I was a kid, 25 years old, when I started here,” he said. “I’d been in the business, and I wanted my own place.”
He looked all over until he found a broken-down joint on Folsom. “There were no customers, all the windows were broken, and the place was a wreck,” Dial recalled. “The owner wanted $125,000 for the business. I offered him 25 grand, and he threw me out. But I looked up his record with the health department, and it was awful. So I got it for $43,000.”
He named it after his grandfather, Rocco Coscarelli, who was born in Italy, came to California in 1920, worked as a waiter at the Fior d’Italia in North Beach, and eventually opened the first Rocco’s at Geneva Avenue and Mission Street.
Dial’s family was all cooks, waiters, owners, restaurant people. His aunt owned the Monte Carlo in the Bayview, and his uncle ran the food operation at the Italian American Social Club just off Mission in the Excelsior.
“My father and mother met over a roast beef sandwich at the original Rocco’s,” Dial said. “We’re talking about 80 years of my family in the restaurant business.”
Dial is a big man, 53 years old. He has a bluff manner, and no one would say he’s shy. He cooks in the open kitchen most days. Like most Italian restaurants of this style, it’s a show — flames flaring up, steam from boiling water, the cook whirling from one task to another. Some customers like to sit at the counter and watch — a good idea because it’s only a 40-seat place and the tables fill up at busy times.
“We do all right,” Dial said, and he’s happy to tell you why. Hard work is the key.
“I had to do it all myself,” he said. “When I first started, I worked from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. No kidding. At first, when things were slow, I went outside, in my chef coat, like a barker at a girlie show in North Beach. ‘Come on in,’ I said. ‘Spend 20 bucks. What have you got to lose?’”
It was dangerous on Folsom back then. “Underground sex clubs, meth labs,” Dial said. But the area turned around. The Giants ballpark did it, he thinks. Now this part of the city is SoMa, with “garden apartments” in formerly dank alleys selling for close to $800,000.
“They are building luxury condos across the street,” Dial said. “A million and a half bucks each.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t like what’s happening to this city,” he said. “It’s the tech capital of the world. People are coming here from all over. Pretty soon it will be a cross between New York and Hawaii.”
Though many of his customers are techies, Dial refuses to put in free Wi-Fi and scowls at laptops. “I think people should put down the computer and enjoy each other’s company,” he said.
So how’s the food? The portions are large, the dishes are hearty, the kind of meal your Aunt Josefina would like. But maybe not your foodie cousin Jennifer.
I had ravioli and meatballs for lunch the other day. My companion had minestrone soup and a side order of calamari. “How’s the lunch, honey?” the waitress asked. “Good,” he said. “Old school.”
Italian-Argentines are largely of Padanian descent, and make up a huge portion of the country's population. 9 seem to have Padanian surnames. The name "Alfano" is generally Neapolitan, but she looks Padanian and may have some of that ancestry as well. I like that 70s-80s looking magazine cover. Magazine covers were the "fancy websites" before the internet.
_Nave_ceiling_by_Tiepolo.jpg/1426px-Santa_Maria_del_Rosario_(Venice)_Nave_ceiling_by_Tiepolo.jpg)
_Nave_ceiling_by_Tiepolo_-_The_Virgin_Appearing_to_St_Dominic.jpg)
_Nave_ceiling_by_Tiepolo_-_The_Glory_of_St_Dominic.jpg)
_Tiepolo_-_The_Virgin_Appearing_to_Dominican_Saints.jpg/604px-Santa_Maria_del_Rosario_(Venice)_Tiepolo_-_The_Virgin_Appearing_to_Dominican_Saints.jpg)
:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/RLS6J2Y6QJBSXFL57RXU3ZN4AQ.jpg)
