Delicious Italy

Where's Christmas?

What's happened to the Christmas spending binge?

You have never seen the shops of Rome so empty, at least away from the main historical centre.

The final Saturday before Christmas felt like Boxing Day in terms of the number of people milling around.

Things seem so desperate for the department stores that we were literally taken in hand by the Clarins sales lady in the Rinascente and begged to buy some perfume. We accepted the free samples and said we might come back.

What are doing well are the book shops and the 'pile them high' bargain stores, even the 99 cent shop was buzzing.

Perhaps it is due to the holidays falling mid week, as the sensation is that most people have taken a 'mega ponte' and cleared off for 10 days.

Our barometer of Christmas is, of course, the annual appearance of the zampogne musicians from Abruzzo/Molise.

Checking out this blog from a year ago, we registered their presence from the 24 November.

This year we saw a lone player in Via Alessandria at 7pm on Saturday 22 December. All very low key.

More milk, less alcohol

This week Manchester United were playing in Rome in the final match of the Champions League group stages.

To stop any trouble between rival fans, a total ban on the sale of alcohol swept the city.

From midday to 8pm it was officially impossible to buy a bottle of Gotto d'Oro from EUR to Prati Fiscali in your local supermarket.

Not that it stopped 6 Manchester supporters, reportedly drunk, being assaulted by thugs claiming to be Roma fans outside the Stadio Olimpico.

So the rest of us watched the match on television perfectly sober with friends.

But at least the Comune di Roma can say they acted decisively to stop any trouble in our house.

The government also acted decisively recently to allow fresh milk to be sold directly to the consumer from special dispensers.

There were some problems for the go ahead, mainly due to the supermarket brands being undercut as the producers have removed the middle man.

Nevertheless, it is now possible to buy a litre of milk across Italy at two thirds of the standard price, unpasteurized and delicious.

Alitalia Walz

Christmas and New Year is always a good time for a walz.

This year Alitalia has been swapping potential partners like Princess Sissi in the ballrooms of Vienna.    

As the music stops lets see who is still seeking her expensive hand.

Well, the suitors are Air France/KLM and Air One and within the next 48 hours we should all know which of the two is likely to consummate the marriage.

A business reporter on SKY television last night was asked who he thought should win. He simply stated that the profits of Air France/KLM were twice the turnover of their rival.

Yet, the political pressure in Italy to go with Air One is tremendous, with the unions and Confindustria leading the call.  The Italian PM Romano Prodi and the union of pilots (ANPAC) favor Air France.

But who else wants Air One? The answer lies somewhere between Torino and Milan and aren't they happy it's not Lufthansa.