Like many of you, I’d always dreamed of living in Italy. As a young girl growing up in Queens, New York, I lived across the street from my Sicilian grandparents. It was the best blessing in my life. As Sicilian grandparents do, they taught me to love fresh food, to dress my best for all occasions, and to play a mean game of scopa.
 
But hands down, the most important thing they taught me was the love of family. I was constantly visiting them—and if I wasn’t visiting, I was calling them to get all the neighborhood gossip—and constantly learning about my heritage. When I look back now upon my formative years I often chuckle… especially because I can’t believe how I didn’t know the English word for “artichoke” until I was 12 (in my house, it was always a caccòcciula)!
 
It was that love of family that inspired me to dig deeper into my origins. Color me surprised when, during a deep dive into the history of Italy during my freshman year of high school, I discovered I qualified for Italian dual citizenship. “Wait…” I asked myself, “You mean I’m already an Italian dual citizen and I don’t even know it?”
 
Suddenly my dream of one day moving to Italy didn’t seem so far-fetched at all!
 
I immediately set out to gather all the information I could. Back in those days there was practically no information online about it. So I decided I’d become an expert. I’d pore over everything I could find in both Italian and English about the subject. Eventually, I figured it out. In order to receive recognition, I had to show an unbroken chain of Italian citizenship leading from my last Italian-born ancestor, my grandfather, back to me.
 
I could do that.
 
I gathered birth, marriage, and naturalization records for my grandparents, my parents, and me. Fluent in Italian, I translated them too (though you can hire a pro to do this for you if you can’t). I got the necessary apostilles. Finally, the culmination of 3 years’ worth of work went into a big folder and I showed up for my consular appointment ready to rock.
 
Placing a manicured finger over my folder, the lady behind the desk grimaced. “Signorina,” she said. “Your application cannot be processed. There is a name discrepancy.”
 
A what?
 
Apparently, my grandfather’s last name at birth was di Falco and it changed to de Falco in the U.S. A tiny difference of one letter stood between me and my Italian dual citizenship. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. Defeated, I thanked her for my time, took my folder and sauntered down the steps and out the door. I’d never felt so small before.
 
After consoling myself in a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream at home, I vowed to get my revenge. Two can play the bureaucracy game, I thought as I shoveled a spoonful of ice cream angrily into my mouth. And so I did.
 
Weeks later, I went back to the Italian consulate to obtain my student visa. By the time I’d readied my application, I was already college-bound and knew I was going to study in Italy no matter what. My student visa application was initially secondary to my citizenship application, but now I was going to use my student visa to get Italian citizenship. Hey—you’ve gotta be resourceful when you can! The woman behind the glass window complimented my Italian, handed me my American passport with the Italian visa, and wished me luck.
 
Months later when I arrived in Italy I marched right to the ufficio anagrafe, dual citizenship documents in hand. Mr. Bevilacqua ushered me into his office with a smile. He probably spent two minutes looking at everything but to me it felt like an eternity. The tick-tock-tick-tock of the clock on the wall mirrored my heart beating in my chest.
 
“Okay, everything’s here! I’ll take your application.”
 
“But what about the name discrepancy?”
 
“What discrepancy?” he winked. “You wouldn’t believe the doozies we see in this office. A one letter difference is nothing.”
 
You could have knocked me over with a feather. This was it—I was in! I signed my application form, shook his hand, and practically skipped out of the office and onto the streets. Exactly 2 months and 21 days later, I opened my mailbox to find the confirmation I’d so desperately wanted for 3 and a half years:
 
You’ve hereby been recognized as an Italian citizen jure sanguinis.
 
And with that, the first thing I did when I got home was make myself a stuffed artichoke in memory of my grandfather.
 

 About the Author
As owner of Get Italian Citizenship, Inc. Audra has helped more than 200 clients and their families obtain their Italian passports. Her deep love of Italy and some serious trial and error has made her one of the industry’s foremost Italian dual citizenship experts. If you would like to obtain Italian dual citizenship, please visit www.getitaliancitizenship.com today. 

If you enjoyed this guest post, you may also like to "dare un'occhiata" at these ones:
​Guest Post: Documents and Duties Required When Moving to Italy
​Guest Post: How I Followed My Dreams of Becoming a Writer in Rome
Guest Post: My Story with the Italian Language​
​THE ITALY EXPERIENCE: Canadian Expat vs. American Exchange Student

Popular Posts about Living Abroad:
​When La Dolce Vita Is No Longer Sweet and Why It's Ok to Say "Arrivederci" Italy
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​Revelations: To Think of Love in English
​Creative Writing: Call Me Baby 
​A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Hate Living in Italy
​My Hypothetical Italian Teenagers Won't Have Varsity Jackets or Homecomings
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FIVE Ways I've Become More ITALIAN in Canada
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​
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to "dare un'occhiata" at these ones or at the Expat Life or the Moving to Italy category on the sidebar. Happy Reading! 

This is part of the #DolceVitaBloggers Linkup. Add any Italy-related post to the linkup party below and join the fun. Our goal is to connect over our shared love of Italy. Thank you all who have participated before, and those who join in the future!
​
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below!
​
Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #17 June 2019
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #16 May 2019
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #14 March 2019
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #13 February 2019
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #12 January 2019
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #11 October 2018 – Hilarious Travel Mishaps
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #10 September 2018 – Favourite Italian Recipe
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #9 August 2018 - Culture Shock
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #8 July 2018 - La Dolce Vita
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #7 June 2018 - Hidden Gems in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #6 May 2018 - Five Italian Words
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #5 April 2018 - The Perfect Day in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection

Dear Curious Co-Worker,

All I had to do was read up until the second paragraph and I can already tell you that your intriguing Italian co-worker is most definitely interested (although whether he’s single is another thing to be investigated!). The key is that you keep catching him looking over at you. Italian men are all about the eyes and the eyes never lie, Chico. They keep the kind of eye contact during conversations that makes you squirm in your seat and you will almost always lose a staring contest with them. They flirt with their eyes and every time you catch him is most likely completely intentional. You asked about whether Italians think all foreign girls are "easy". Let's be honest, it's pretty damn hard to keep your clothes on with that deadly combination of accent and bedroom eyes and many, many a foreigner has fallen into the trap and I judge NONE OF YOU. However, I must disagree that this makes Italians think we are not "girlfriend" or "wife" material and I have the evidence to prove it in the form of NUMEROUS Love Stories, read them. Moving onto the part about whether you should ask him out or not, I personally took the liberty of polling all the Italian men that follow me on Instagram as well as asking my husband in a completely non-subtle manner. My husband just laughed at me for asking the question which I basically translated as such: as long as you both get what you want, who cares who initiated! The results of my survey are below (I asked- Italian men: do you like a woman who makes the first move?):

So that's a pretty definite GO FOR IT from the peanut gallery. Since he's from a small town, this love interest of yours might be more on the traditional side but why not let him show that off by opening doors and complimenting you and paying for dinner while you get the ball rolling on this? Sometimes, part of the appeal of mixed culture relationships is that you end up surprising each other and it might just be that stereotypical American forward-ness that he finds both scary and sexy. The next move is ask this guy out, maybe something low-key and casual...after work drinks perhaps? With regards to sex, I wouldn't give away the cookie too early on in the game. I'm a big believer of Steve Harvey and his cookie theory (if you don't know what I'm talking about, go get yourself the book "Think Like a Man, Act Like a Lady" STAT). He has a 90 day rule. In my opinion, it's a tad on the long side and you could shorten that down as you see fit but I do like the concept and I think Italian men do as well. In the end, it's not about sex per se, but about making him work for it and believe me, an Italian man will put in the work like he's getting paid overtime. So hold out a bit and relish in what you thought was long lost nowadays...COURTSHIP. Bring on the flowers, love notes, midnight texts, and extended eye contact! Let me know how it goes!

P.S. You might also be interested in this post from ages ago: Asians and Italians…The Perfect Cross-Cultural Cocktail? ​

Quick Note: this is a new Category I'm testing out as a means to answer some of the e-mails or comments that I receive. They are modified or edited slightly for grammar and clarity purposes and the names made anonymous and any other identifying names or features have been changed. If you have a question, please write to Dear Jasmine at questadolcevitablog(at)gmail.com or leave me a comment. I hope my answers can be helpful and if they're not helpful, at least humorous. 

If you enjoyed this guest post, you may also like to "dare un'occhiata" at these ones:
​Dear Jasmine: City Love
​Dear Jasmine: Something to Hide
Dear Jasmine: Navigating International Waters
Dear Jasmine: Fast and Furious
​Dear Jasmine: Only Fools Rush In
​Dear Jasmine: College Crushes
​Dear Jasmine: Foreign Boys and Accents

This is part of the #DolceVitaBloggers Linkup. Add any Italy-related post to the linkup party below and join the fun. We are looking forward to another year of this wonderful community. Our goal is to connect over our shared love of Italy. Thank you all who have participated before, and those who join in the future!
​
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below!
​
Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #16 May 2019
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #14 March 2019
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #13 February 2019
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #12 January 2019
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #11 October 2018 – Hilarious Travel Mishaps
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #10 September 2018 – Favourite Italian Recipe
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #9 August 2018 - Culture Shock
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #8 July 2018 - La Dolce Vita
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #7 June 2018 - Hidden Gems in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #6 May 2018 - Five Italian Words
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #5 April 2018 - The Perfect Day in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection

​I couldn’t believe the summer was ending. Just a few weeks ago, I remember holding my passport and a dog-eared dictionary in my hand as I waited impatiently for my backpack. It was easy to spot, covered in patches that I’d hand-sewed from every city I’d ever visited. Usually I would sit on a hostel floor, armed with the needle and thread and as if it were some kind of ritual, I would sew on the newest one the last night in a country. The Canadian flag patch was by far the dirtiest but also in the best spot on the backpack –  front and center, the right-hand corner was peeling off and the maple leaf was just barely distinguishable due to one too many snags on a bus, plane, train, or rickshaw. It may have also fallen off a donkey at some point or a Mongolian wild horse, I can’t quite remember. There was a tiny, free spot right under that patriotic patch for the one country that I was missing, the country that I had just landed in.
 
I was in Italy for the first time. I told myself that I was saving the best for last and it turned out to be true. This was the end of my around-the-world trip, one that I had booked with a broken-heart and an overdrafted bank account with the sole idea of leaving both behind on the runway as the first plane took off. Three days prior to the purchase of a plane ticket, my high school boyfriend told me was no longer happy. He stopped at “happy”, as that would prevent me from imagining how that was actually supposed to end. I half-expected him to give me the dreaded “it’s not you, it’s me” speech, but we both knew it wasn’t true. It was me. I had become complacent, not just with us, but with life. Everything I had was exactly what I had worked so hard to have and I found myself in my late-twenties wanting none of it. I would stay up at night, wide-eyed and fearful of something that I couldn’t put a finger on, a monster in waiting that somewhat resembled my future and it was terrifying.
 
And that’s how I found myself one sunny August morning, downing a caffè corretto to calm my nerves and help my rusty university Italian. I was staying with a friend in a town I couldn’t pronounce the name of, a friend that coincidentally had been in my university Italian classes until he met a fabulous Italian queen with the best eyebrows I’d ever seen and the two of them strutted onto a plane with a one-way ticket back to the queen’s hometown in Tuscany. It was the scandal of the century at first, but now they are, fittingly so, town royalty, and I was to be the guest of honour this summer. They literally laid out the red carpet for me and suddenly this foreign country felt like home. I spent the first week in a shameless Chianti-fuelled daze by the turquoise pool overlooking an expansive olive grove.
 
I ventured into town the second Monday, dripping with sweat and chlorine from the pool, my hair in a messy bun falling off one side of my head and the straps of my yellow sundress falling off both shoulders. They say fate has a sense of humour and that afternoon confirmed it. I was such a state: bare-faced, shiny and boasting the biggest sunglasses known to man and of course it was in that moment that I ran into him. Him with a capital H. I had been warned beforehand, a detailed physical description of the one man I had to be sure to avoid at all costs was given to me my first night in Italy. The description was drilled in my head and his photograph (conveniently fished off social media) was burned in my memory: tall, olive skin, dark eyes and even darker hair, and a jawline that looked like it could injure someone. He looked like a group of single foreign women had convened to provide one of those police sketches and that their prompt was “sexy Italian man”. Yet after almost a year of travelling solo as a female, I had met my share of attractive men the world over. From blue-eyed Danish models to hip-swaying Latin Americans, I was immune to seduction by the time I arrived in Italy.  I remember laughing out loud, thinking how absurd it all was because how dangerous could one small-town Italian man be? Famous last words. 

To be continued...
Read ten very short stories which are now available as a cute collection in my first eBook: This Sweet Life. You can download it for FREE in my store! Or read the individual posts in the Creative Writing category.
​
This is part of the #DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #16 May 2019. Add any Italy-related post to the linkup party below and join the fun. We are looking forward to another year of this wonderful community. Our goal is to connect over our shared love of Italy. Thank you all who have participated before, and those who join in the future!
​
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below!
​
Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #14 March 2019
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #13 February 2019
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #12 January 2019
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #11 October 2018 – Hilarious Travel Mishaps
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #10 September 2018 – Favourite Italian Recipe
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #9 August 2018 - Culture Shock
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #8 July 2018 - La Dolce Vita
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #7 June 2018 - Hidden Gems in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #6 May 2018 - Five Italian Words
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #5 April 2018 - The Perfect Day in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection
​

Most recent posts:
​Creative Writing: Magnolia
​Creative Writing: Acqua e Sapone
​Creative Writing: Screw Soulmates
Creative Writing: The Romantics (Non-Fiction)
Creative Writing: All the Sunsets
Creative Writing: Happier
​Creative Writing: Whiskey 
​Creative Writing: The Perfect Day in Italy 
​Creative Writing: Call Me Baby 
​Creative Writing: The Butterfly Effect 
 
In the first eBook:
​Creative Writing: The Letter R (Explicit)
​Creative Writing: Dear Italy (A Love Letter)
Creative Writing: Airport Arrivals
​Creative Writing: Tanqueray and You
​Creative Writing: A Thousand Lives
​Creative Writing: A Sunday Kind of Love
​Creative Writing: Perfect Strangers in Switzerland
​Creative Writing: Rooftops and Rome
​Creative Writing: The Morning After in New York
​Creative Writing: Mulberries in Sicily

This blog that I started way back in 2014 has basically heard it all, as have you dear readers. It's part hate mail and part love letter and in so many ways, I think that's how my relationship with living abroad and living in Italy will always be. Italy is like that super sexy Silicon Valley genius (actually not sure if those exist so let's scratch that and put Wall Street) who volunteers and rescues stray kittens and is scratch-your-eyes-out arrogant about all of it. He's the guy I'm immediately drawn to and then two weeks later want to punch in the face until I get a glimpse of his genius or sexiness or volunteerism or something of the like again and the cycle starts all over. Yes, it's essentially a cycle of abuse and any expat in Italy, I can tell you right off, is a sadist-masochist. The topic for this month’s linkup is “What Italy Is Really Like” and oh, if I only had 10 centesimi for every #ThisIsItaly moment, I would be living in a Tuscan villa drunk on Brunello all freaking day long getting back massages from a pool boy named Pierfrancesco while Dario Cecchini grilled me the perfect fiorentina.

Sadly, this is not the case but I do have an instance to share for today’s blog post that is a searing example of what someone who looks like me (by this I mean not-white) encounters on a daily basis. Now don’t think this is a whining post. It is not. I am completely cognizant of the fact that I live in Italy and that this comes with the territory but I am writing this post to show you what the territory looks like because I don’t think many people actually do get beyond the confines of Chiantishire or past the literal yet metaphorical square box that is Piazza San Marco.

Today I went to the post office. There was a kind older man there and I smiled like a polite person does. He smiled back and I was thinking that this post office experience was off to a rather exceptional start. Well he continued to smile and stare and smile and stare and smile and STARE and I just knew what was coming. The dreaded phrase “di dove sei?” (where are you from?). One of these days I swear I’m going to say from Mars. I responded back with the truth, that I’m Canadian. The conversation trickled on with small talk about how cold it is (for God’s sake people, learn a new fun fact about Canada) and then moved to the part where I have to hand over a document which almost 90% of the time ends up being your carta d’identità, an identity card, that conveniently has your “job” listed right on it. Mine says “insegnante” (teacher). So the man, understandably so, asks me what I teach. I tell him in English.

​And here’s the punch line, here is WHAT IT IS LIKE TO LIVE IN ITALY. He says “ah certo, perché sei quasi madrelingua” (ah of course, because you’re ALMOST a mothertongue). Yes folks, because I am Asian, that means I cannot possibly be an English native-speaker, it is completely unfathomable. And you might be thinking, come now, you’re over exaggerating but let me ask: how would you like to be automatically put into a category, compared to a very fixed set of rules and assumptions on what it means and what it looks like to be from a certain country or of a certain background and then made to fit into a different one that you don’t identify with at all? I’ll tell you the answer, you wouldn’t like it. And it might be alright the first, second, and even the twentieth time but it sure as hell is not cute or laughable or entertaining the hundredth time. And then you might be faced with the need to “explain yourself”. As in, I often have to explain how I was born in Canada and why my family moved there and when and what generation grew up there. As an Asian-Canadian, this is what it’s like to live in Italy, you are berated with questions that are unanswerable because people are not accepting of your answer. Why is your English so good? You can’t answer because it’s your native language. You have to say it’s because you studied hard in school. Why do you call yourself Canadian if your family is Chinese? You can’t say it’s because you were born and raised in Canada, nope, you have to say because your great-great grandparents moved from China to Canada in a year you can’t even remember.

This is my Italy, a place that looks at me with furrowed brow and inquisitive glances and most (worst) of all, suspicion, and asks where I’m from and why I’m here and the underlying question under all of that is this: where do you belong? To be successful at this expat thing and really this life thing, I’ve learnt that there’s only one answer to that question- WHEREVER THE FUCK I WANT. 

This is part of the #DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #14 March 2019. Add any Italy-related post to the linkup party below and join the fun. We are looking forward to another year of this wonderful community. Our goal is to connect over our shared love of Italy. Thank you all who have participated before, and those who join in the future!
​
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below!
​
Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #13 February 2019
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #12 January 2019
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #11 October 2018 – Hilarious Travel Mishaps
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #10 September 2018 – Favourite Italian Recipe
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #9 August 2018 - Culture Shock
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #8 July 2018 - La Dolce Vita
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #7 June 2018 - Hidden Gems in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #6 May 2018 - Five Italian Words
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #5 April 2018 - The Perfect Day in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection

Dear readers and fellow Dolce Vita Bloggers, I apologize profusely for the tardiness of this post. As many of you know who follow my Instagram or my Facebook page, I was away these past two weeks in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii. I do hope you'll forgive me! This is the second month of the 2019 edition of our Italy lovers linkup and as it is February, the (optional) prompt was "romance in Italy". Well goodness me, I could write an encyclopedia on that topic if you gave me the time. Love, romance, dating, and relationships as they play out in Italy or with Italians is pretty much my favorite thing to talk about. From Love Story Lunedì to the Kiss and Tell series to foreigners asking for dating advice with Italians through Dear Jasmine, I have certainly contributed a fair share of first-hand experiences to the ever-popular conversation. And yet, it comes up time and time again, another person that has fallen for an Italian, another soul readying themselves for a move to Italy, another ding in my inbox asking me for advice. Why is it that the Italians are doing everything right and the rest of us look like toddlers scrambling around in this game called love? Well the first thing is that gender roles still take the driver's seat which is often not the case over the Atlantic. We want so much to be considered equal that nowadays it's common to go Dutch or have the woman pay for a date. I have absolutely zero qualms about this, I don't see any reason why a bill can't be split or why a woman shouldn't pay BUT I have to state that the old-fashioned expectation where men pay and open doors and bring flowers and ride up to your house on a white horse is still very much alive and well in Italy and we, as women raised on romantic comedies, eat it all up. We eat that right up and lick the plate when we're done. It's such a stark contrast from what many of us are used to that we're often besotted after the first date. Italians tend to be very forward and flirtatious as well, they are raised to praise beautiful things and run after what they like and are persisent until they get what they want. This attribute goes both ways as some of us find it flattering and others find it overwhelming and overly intense. Personally, I find this quality endearing and a breath of fresh air from North American dating tactics that include avoiding eye contact with someone until you're both too drunk to even focus by the end of the night followed by one person waking up in a stranger's bed and doing the walk of shame home. The courting stage is integral too as Italians on the whole, love to be coddled and I think a majority of them have Words of Affirmation as their primary or secondary love language (although sex is obviously the primary for the men as it is for most of the XY chromosome). They are really good at staying in touch with the person they are currently trying to woo, sending messages and reminders that they're "pensando a te" (thinking of you) throughout their day. Another thing that Italians are really into is PDA, public displays of affection. They make out all over the place, any time of day, in every age range. You'll have noticed this if you've travelled Italy. I have literally seen teenagers making out with tongue while standing over a grave (presumably a family member's) in a cemetery on a Sunday morning. You'll also notice that both boys and girls alike are very public with their romances. Instagram accounts are full of kissing shots with Rome in the background or those birthday dedication posts with captions of "auguri amore mio" followed by hashtag-the number of months or days the couple has been together and a string of heart emojis. Of course Italy has a part to play as well, the country herself is the ultimate mood-setter. Italy is more of an aphrodisiac than that stint that Kanye did for Kim with the standing single roses blanketing the floor of a room where Kenny G was playing his sex-o-phone. Oops, I meant sax. Sax-o-phone. So when it comes to the preliminaries in love, the first six months to a year, the Italians are steller. I do, however, have to mention that they don't have the best fidelity rates. Italy constantly scores terribly in any survey or research ever done on cheating. This is one area where perhaps they could make some improvements...! I'm curious if any of you readers might have thoughts on this so please leave a comment and thanks for reading my little addition to the Dolce Vita Bloggers for the month of February.

This is part of the#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #13 February 2019.
​We are looking forward to another year of this wonderful community. Our goal is to connect over our shared love of Italy. Thank you all who have participated before, and those who join in the future!
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below!
​
Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #12 January 2019
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #11 October 2018 – Hilarious Travel Mishaps
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #10 September 2018 – Favourite Italian Recipe
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #9 August 2018 - Culture Shock
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #8 July 2018 - La Dolce Vita
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #7 June 2018 - Hidden Gems in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #6 May 2018 - Five Italian Words
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #5 April 2018 - The Perfect Day in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection

So today is January 21st, the so-called "saddest day of the year", otherwise referred to as Blue Monday. But, ladies and gentleman, you've come to the right place at the right time because it's Love Story Lunedì and I've got something rather unique in store for you. This story I'm about to share was not submitted to me, but rather, it is the real-life love story of author Malena de Blasi. The 66 year old American writer and chef was born in New York and was living in Saint Louis when a routine trip to Venice would change her life forever. On November 6th, 1993, she would find herself sitting with friends at a local bar, sipping Amarone when a stranger called asking to speak to her. The stranger ends up being a Venetian named Fernando who had noticed Malena not only on this trip, but on a past occasion that she was in Venice nearly a year ago. She speaks mainly culinary Italian, he speaks even less English but yet eighteen days after their fated meeting, Fernando arrives in Saint Louis, USA. The two are now married and living in Orvieto, Italy.  She writes about their meeting and her eventual move to Venice and their wedding in one of my all-time favorite books about Italy: A Thousand Days in Venice. The photos I've included are of my actual book, it's been read probably a thousand times and every other page is dog-earred. This book is particularly close to my heart as it in many ways "accompanied" me on my own journey in preparing to move to Italy, I even gave it to my husband to read. As all of you probably know, I'm a sucker for a love story and this is without a doubt, the ultimate grown-up love story. Read on lovers. 

NB: I did not interview Malena for this feature, the answers come from what you, as a reader, would be able to divulge from her book. I thought it would be a fun twist on the prompt for this month's Dolce Vita Bloggers linkup which was "your favorite Italian book or book about Italy". For more information about the linkup, click the LINKUP option in the Top Menu. To add your own link, scroll down to the bottom and click the blue button and follow the instructions. 

​Where are you from and where is your significant other from? 
I am from Saint Louis, Missouri and Fernando is from Venice, Italy. 

Where and when did you meet your significant other? 
We met in November 1993 in Venice. He called me multiple times at a Vino Vino, despite always being there in person, he could never work up the nerve to approach me face-to-face. Instead, he would leave the restaurant and call and ask to talk to me. He would ask me in very studied English something along the lines of " Is it possible for you to meet me tomorrow, alone?". I would always respond no but on my last morning in Venice, I finally decide to meet him and it was magic. I found out that he had seen me in Venice last December in Piazza San Marco when he described to perfection my long white winter coat. 

Who made the first move? 
Fernando did of course, with all the persistence of a typical Italian! He absolutely wouldn't take no for an answer and luckily that was the case otherwise we wouldn't be where we are today. 

Where did you think he was originally from?
I knew he was Italian due to his extremely formal and almost school-like English he used on the phone with me. 

What was your first impression of him?
That he looked like Peter Sellers! I really noticed the blue of his eyes and how he is all at once, both shy and familiar to me. 

Dish on the first kiss!
Five hours have passed since I left the hotel. I call my friends who are still waiting there, and I vow to meet them and my baggage directly at the airport. The last flight to Naples is at seven-twenty. The Grand Canal is improbably empty, free of the usual tangle of skiffs and gondolas and sandoli, permitting the tassista to race his water taxi, lurching it, slamming it down brutally onto the water. Peter Sellers and I stand outside in the wind and ride into a lowering, dark red sun. I pull a silver flask from my purse and a tiny, thin glass from a velvet pouch. I pour out cognac and we sip together. Again, he looks as if he's going to kiss me, and this time he does- temples, eyelids, before he finds my mouth. We're not too old. 

(excerpt from Chapter One of A Thousand Days in Venice)

Where do you live now? 
We live in Orvieto, Italy. 

Have you learned each other's languages?
Yes we have, although we tend to speak in Italian when we're together. 

Any advice for mixed/long-distance couples?
Close the distance as quickly as you can, if you hearts are in it, you will find a way to overcome all the difficulties. There will be doubts and doubters. I left my children behind in America and it was one of most heart-wrenching of decisions. "I knew the difference between going off to university, knowing that home is few hundred miles away, and having one's mother dissolve that home to go and live in Europe. Now home would be six thousand miles away, not accessible on long weekends.". 

For more information about Marlena de Blasi and to check out her numerous books about Italy, check out her Amazon author page. 
​

This is part of the #DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #12 January 2019.
​We are looking forward to another year of this wonderful community. Our goal is to connect over our shared love of Italy. Thank you all who have participated before, and those who join in the future!
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below!
​
Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #11 October 2018 – Hilarious Travel Mishaps
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #10 September 2018 – Favourite Italian Recipe
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #9 August 2018 - Culture Shock
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #8 July 2018 - La Dolce Vita
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #7 June 2018 - Hidden Gems in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #6 May 2018 - Five Italian Words
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #5 April 2018 - The Perfect Day in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to "dare un'occhiata" at all of the  Love Story Lunedì. 
There are so many amazing stories to read so make sure you're all caught up. And should you want to share your own story or know of a couple who would, please get in touch. The majority of these stories have been brought to me through word-of-mouth, so let's keep spreading the love. 

Here are our past Love Stories in no particular order: 
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Sherry and Andre
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Faith and Valerio
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Bianca and Luca
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Paula and Pontus
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Alicha and Dennis
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Arachi and Ciro
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Genia and Mattia
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Amanda and Michelangelo​
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Carmela and Paolo
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Evelyn and Fabio​
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Margarita and Andrea​
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Viki and Que
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Athena and André
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Rosa and Rocco
​​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Hayley and Mike
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Philippa and Nick
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Camie and Marco
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Alannah and Eros​​
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Cheyenne and Giulio
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Jade and Daniele
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Chloe and Andrea
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Coral and Riccardo
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Rachel and Riccardo
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Daria and Francesco
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Briana and Dami
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Kayla and Luca
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Sarah and Michele
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Bailey and Carlo​
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Gregory and Stefania
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Sofie and Emilio
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Isabel and David
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Jasmine and Massi
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Tiffany and Adam
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Angela and Davide
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Kristie and Graziano
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Brittni and Alberto
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Maddie and Gio
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Jennie and Davide
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Lauren and Luigi
LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Rebecca and Leonardo
​LOVE STORIES by Questa Dolce Vita: Jennifer and James

This October for our 11th #DolceVitaBloggers link up we are sharing our hilarious travel mishaps! Mine has an Italy-connection of course and funnily enough, all started with a missed connection (and not the romantic kind!). I've decided to share it as written in Chapter 3 of my inaugural novella. Enjoy!

​CHAPTER 3
5 years ago
 
There is a saying, “see Naples and die”. One night, nine years ago, I thought this saying would become a reality. I was wearing cowboy boots like only an Albertan would and I was literally shaking in them. My friend Sunmi and I had just landed in Naples. It was midnight and we arrived late because we had missed a connecting flight somewhere along the way from Edmonton to Italy. I never had the intention to land in Naples in the pitch black, two petite Asian girls in denim cut-offs speaking English with North American accents was exactly my idea of how to best get robbed in the southern Italian night. Sunmi is a Canadian-born Korean with legs for days and the kind of innocence you can’t even find in a church pew on a Sunday. We met in first year of pharmacy school, she reminded me of Elle Woods incarnated with jet black hair and you would never know her smarts because they were the kind that didn’t belong on the streets. Now, the two of us, Korean Elle Woods and I, were in Naples with twenty minutes to catch the last ferry to our destination: Ischia.  We burst out the front door of the airport and I tried my very best to act authoritative and as if I knew exactly where we needed to go, as if I had taken an illegitimate taxi in Naples a million times in my life. No big deal. It’s important to note that the Napoletani can hear your non-Napolentano accent a mile away if you’re an Italian from the next city over, nevertheless a Canadian trying to speak Italian as a second language. So my cover was blown immediately. I tried to negotiate the price beforehand, seeing as the meter was “broken” but our driver was not having it. All I wanted was to arrive at the port on time to catch the ferry and in one piece, in no particular order.
 
The car whipped through the narrow streets, exactly like in a film, as Sunmi and I held on to each other for dear life. I started regretting telling the driver I’d give him a tip if we got there on time, I was starting to doubt we would get there alive as I was sure we had left a trail of carnage in our wake. Suddenly a screech of the tires was followed by “raga', siamo arrivati” (gals, we’ve arrived), and I couldn’t hear the rest on account of my heart that was pounding in my ears at this point. Or maybe it was Sunmi’s heart. I looked over at her and her face was glistening with what I hoped was sweat and not tears, although they could have easily been tears of joy! Needless to say, we hopped on the ferry with time to spare and made it to Forio, Ischia at 3am after having taken two planes, a taxi, a ferry, and a bus. There was actually some walking and a car involved because the bus dropped us off in the middle of a street which we walked up and down about twenty times before desperately calling the hostel owner, Giuseppe. He showed up in a beat-up old Fiat Panda and for whatever reason, I ended up sitting squashed in the front between Giuseppe and Sunmi, the three of us laughing hysterically from pure exhaustion all the way to the hostel. There was nothing more blissful than the moment my head hit the pillow that night. 

BUON VIAGGIO October Dolce Vita Bloggers, see you at the next one!  Please leave a comment and then go and check out the other amazing posts.

This is part of the #DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #11 October 2018 – Hilarious Travel Mishaps

Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #10 September 2018 – Favourite Italian Recipe
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #9 August 2018 - Culture Shock
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #8 July 2018 - La Dolce Vita
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #7 June 2018 - Hidden Gems in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #6 May 2018 - Five Italian Words
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #5 April 2018 - The Perfect Day in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection
​
If you enjoyed this snippet, make sure to check out more of my (mis)adventures in my eBook, This Sweet Life: Beginnings, available now in the Store! 

October: HILARIOUS TRAVEL MISHAPS
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Has your suitcase ever taken the train to Naples without you, while you got off in Rome? Have you ever tried to order a glass of wine in Italian, and instead got a carafe? (There are some happy accidents, after all). This October, the #DolceVitaBloggers want to hear all about your hilarious travel mishaps!

WHEN: Add your link to this post between October 7-14, 2018!

WHY:
Connect with other content creators who are crazy about Italy too! Be part of a fun, supportive, engaged community. We all comment on posts, and make an effort to share them across our social media on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook & Twitter.

HOW:
For instructions on how to join, click here.
For an instructive video on how to join, click here.
​
The link up will be open from October 7th to 14th. You’ll be able to add your blog post or vlog below as always by clicking the BLUE BUTTON. ​
​

If there's one thing that we are drowning in at our house (besides Lambrusco wine), it's BREAD. Italians love to have fresh bread at every meal, they even like the excess carbs with pasta because you need it to "fare la scarpetta" which we all know by now, means to sop up every extra bit of sauce on your plate with a piece of bread. As much as I love this habit and its shoe reference, if you took a peek into our pantry it would look like an episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive...in bread. That's why I love the Tuscan cucina povera that calls for whatever leftovers you have and turns yesterday's scraps into today's dinner. Sounds gross right? But put the right magic ingredients together and you can literally create magic in a bowl like David Rocco does. This recipe for his Pappa al Pomodoro can be found in his cookbook entitled "David Rocco's Dolce Vita". In case you don't know David, he's Canada's favorite Canadian-Italian! I know this seems like a strange choice for the topic "your favorite Italian recipe", there's so many to choose from and literally EVERY dish is my favorite, so I thought I'd share one that in it's own way, essentially revolutionized the way I thought about cooking. I think that's the beauty of Italian cuisine, it's ability to take what you have hanging around either in the kitchen or in the garden, swirl in some good quality olive oil, and make a damn good meal out of it!

David Rocco's Tomato and Stale Bread Soup

Ingredients
250mL extra virgin olive oil 
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
stale bread cut into pieces
2 cups of vegetable stock (homemade or bought) 
salt and pepper
1 kg plum tomatoes with juices
basil leaves 

Fool-proof Instructions
Basically you start off by making a soffritto using the bolded ingredients. In case you don't know what this means, it's your base for lots of sauces and soups. You cook all the ingredients until the onions are clear and the other vegetables are soft. Then add the bread. Add some of the vegetable stock and stir, seasoning with salt and pepper along the way. Then add the plum tomatoes, crushing them with your spoon. Cook for 30 minutes and add the remaining stock as you see fit. ​

BUON APPETITO September Dolce Vita Bloggers, see you at the next one!  Please leave a comment and then go and check out the other amazing posts.

This is part of the #DolceVitaBloggers Linkup – #10 September 2018 – Favourite Italian Recipe.

Past #DolceVitaBlogger Link-Ups:
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #9 August 2018 - Culture Shock. 
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #8 July 2018 - La Dolce Vita
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #7 June 2018 - Hidden Gems in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #6 May 2018 - Five Italian Words
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #5 April 2018 - The Perfect Day in Italy
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #4 March 2018 - International Women's Day
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #3 February 2018 - A Love Letter to Italy
#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #2 January 2018 - Favourite Italian City
​#DolceVitaBloggers Linkup - #1 December 2017 - 'The Italian Connection

September: YOUR FAVORITE ITALIAN RECIPE 
​
​It’s time for our TENTH #DolceVitaBloggers link up and we couldn’t be more excited for September’s topic: your favorite Italian recipe!

Kelly wrote that she might be biased, but this is also one of  my favorite topics, which leads me to believe that anyone that loves Italy kinda loves food by default right? 

So now’s your chance to share your favorite dish with your fellow Italophiles, whether it’s a re-creation of your favorite dish from an agriturismo or you want to spill the beans on a secret family recipe, we are ready to feast our eyes (and then of course make your recipe!).

You’re more than welcome to write your recipe in Italian as well, since this is a bilingual link up! Head over to Mammaprada.com to read the Italian version of this #DolceVitaBloggers link up invitation!

Looking forward to your favorite Italian recipes! The link up for this topic will be open from September 7-14. A presto!

HOW TO JOIN OUR LINK-UP:
For instructions on how to join, click here.
For an instructive video on how to join, click here.
​
The link up will be open from September 7th to 14th. You’ll be able to add your blog post or vlog below as always by clicking the BLUE BUTTON. ​