Well, actually it’s more and more common to see piazza places that caters to celiacs with gluten free products and freshly backed pizzas. One of our favourite pizzeria around us recently renovated and created a dedicated gluten free pizza oven with fully separated workflow. Also, in the bigger town nearby there is a “pasticceria” dedicated to gluten-free sweets (like cakes and such), and the main “focacceria” (place where you buy focaccia, a kind of different pizza but to-go only) has a dedicated gluten free shop next door.

So i would say that Italy has evolved quite a lot and support celiacs pretty well.

I don’t know about pasta, but given that in every supermarket the gluten free aisle for pasta is usually well stocked, i guess that should be also available in at least some restaurants…

As a person that also lives in northern Italy, and that have a girlfriend with a series on food intolerances, I can confirm with what OP already said. If you are celiac you can find options now days (obviously much more if you live in a city). If you are lactose intolerant you can also find options (Italy is also a place where lots of cheese is consumed, and many recipes involve some kind of cheese or cream). If you are both at the same time, well that’s where problem starts appearing.

If by any chance you also got a vegan in the group well it’s better to just cook yourself (obviously exaggerating but still your options of places may be very limited).

All this to say: you can find options now (when I was a kid it was unheard of), either with big restaurants/pizzerias that have a double kitchen, or with dedicated places that are fully gluten free.

I love the places around Val Chisone, Val Pellice and Valli di Lanzo. A bit less renown, but nonetheless beautiful Check out the Rifugio Lago Verde near Prali for example…

I also like Rifugio Città di Ciriè at the Pian della Mussa. You can reach it by car in summer, but you can sleep there and do lots of hikes. For example, you can hike to the top of the Ciamarella, which is a 3900m top. There is a small (highly melting) glacier to cross, but it’s really just an hike. No crevasses. The main difficulty is the altitude.

Also, there is a hiking loop i just love in the valley of Prali (inside Val Germanasca, inside Val Chisone) you can actually hike the entire valley starting from Gigo di Prali all around the mountains on the north-east side. You hike up to 2900m first, passing Rifugio LAgo Verde, then following ancient military roads, keep at around 2000-2500m for over 20km until Rocca Bianca, passing the beautiful basin of the 13 lakes on the way. Overall the entire loop is 35km. When i was 25 i did it in 11/12 hours. LAst summer when i was training for a few trail runs, i did it in a about 5h 30min.

Did they have white stars on them? Maybe the Bucaneve from Doria? https://www.doria.it/prodotti-dolci/bucaneve

I believe i never seen that Family Guy episode, which one is it? i could watch it out of curiosity.

As for the mafia… We lost the war long ago. Mafia (camorra, andrangheta, whatever there are many, you call them) is everywhere specially in the north. The more money, the more mafia. Mafia is also in the government (remember Berlusconi? also our current government is full of mafia related people) but do not think of the mafia from the movies. This mafia is a business organization, they care for stealth and profit, not for public executions and bombings. That was a broken strategy from decades ago, mafia evolved…

Actually, fun fact on mafia, the allies where able to land in Sicily in 1943 because they supported mafia giving money and weapons to overthrown the fascist government, which alway tried to destroy mafia. So we actually have mafia today thanks to the US meddling and winning the war.

Actually, mafia would have come back anyway also under fascism i guess,its more a way of thinking and a way of life, like helping your friends and thrusting your kinfolks. But i am no expert, and this would be a different post anyway.

He said Northern Italy ;-)

We have euros of course, and I am paid in euros as well. Wages are kind of low… Compared to germany Switzerland and even france, we make less buks for the same job.

But cost of living is also less, so overall… We are still poorer than many other Europeans… But life is still expensive. We make a good income, and free education, free healthcare and such amnenitoes do compensate.

Retirement is contribution based, so the more you work, the more you save in your retirement (state funded us company fundrd plus yourself funded). You cannot retire before 68 (maybe 70 nowadays) and usually need 40y of work, or maybe 45 nowadays.

Of you are a foreigner, I guess you need your retirement from whatever country you come from.

Anyway you can live with some 25k euros gross per year, but I recommend 50k or more at least. We are above that, but also have two kids four dogs two cars and a nice house (… In the woods)

Dollars? Not even in Liras anymore.

Well, for what is worth i voted to have the citizenship timeline reduced in the last referendum on the matter.

Currently, you need to be born from italian parents (at least one) to become italian, there is no ius soli (however you write that, i might be italian, but my studies of Latin dates back long ago), but you can marry or civil-marry somebody and get citizenship after some 10 years (IIRC). That referendum was trying to lower that time to 5 years. Which means that you pay taxes, but cannot vote or get a passport for that time. Actually, in some cases you can vote for local elections i think (not 100% sure which ones) but not political, european or state wide elections.

I believe that if you contribute to the country, live here with plans to stay forever (or for a reasonably long time) and elect Italy as your country, you should be allowed citizenship.

Nothing really changes from this perspective. I can tell you that in small places people are not very keen to give cirizenship easily, while in big cities people are more open, like mostly every where i guess.

Anyway, without citizenship you need a “permesso di soggiorno” (permit to stay) which is kind convoluted, annoying and short lived to get. It expires often (yearly?) and it takes months to renew, so you cannot leave the country for big chunks of the year a time, and you get accomunated to “illegals” because well, you are one of them until you get your permesso renewed. I have friends who needs one, and it’s kind of annoying. Longer work contracts of study could help with some 3 years long “permesso” but it’s hit and miss i am told.

Now I live in Piedmont. Local food is not really an highlight I guess.

“Bagna caoda” is an anchovy and garlic dip eaten with fresh vegetables. Meh.

“Fritto misto” is a mixed platter of fried everything, from liver to vegetables. Meh.

“Albese” is raw minced meat with olive oil and parmesan, this is actually pretty good.

“Vitello tonnato” is sliced beef, cooked, with a sauce tuna based, kind like Mayo but with tuna, this is also pretty good…

In Piedmont, there is also a very famous local race of cows called “fassona”, the meat if pretty great, specially steaks.

But if you like wine, well, search Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, Nebbiolo… and also “Erbaluce” di Chivasso. Piedmont is great on wines. Barolo is kind of the king of wines… My father has a few very old bottles still. We opened a bottle from the year i was born, when i turned 40. And it was amazing… (other bottles of the same age where meh, so it’s hit and miss, but still 40 years???)

Nope! None of my kids got sky lessons from school. We took them to the slopes to get lessons tough.

None of them currently lime skying too much actually. My wife does, but not the sky with the slopes, what we call “scialpinismo” where you put skins under the sky and go also up without lifts

I live 30min from the Alps, but still at 300m elevation. We get cold winters, a few weeks of freezing as minimums goes, but rarely stays freezing at noon. We get once or maybe twice a few cm of snow per year (last winter, zero).

Summers are pretty hot and humid (32-38°C, with minimums sometime above 30). Its definitely getting hotter tough, two years ago I installed AC units on the bedrooms, and we now use them a few nights in summertime.

Adding to that, for example yesterday morning we had a low of -2°C, and a high of almost 18°C in the same day…

My house is an independent almost 100 years old building, and i need about 4ton of wood pellets to heat the house from 1 october to 1 may, more or less.

Guess what? Idon’t drink coffe! And they have not yet cancelled my citizenship…

My wife like Kimbo coffee. Using a moka of course…

Personally I don’t, but indeed it’s quite absurd. Like a cheeseburger with a donut inside probably…

Anyway yes, expect to be made fun of and yelled if you order one.

Sorry… Not hiring… :)

But DevOps are needed, and I guess you could find a job… Who knows

Whoa, one reply at a time.

Italy, like many places in the world, is beautiful. As a first trip ever, i would visit history and culture, as it’s indeed what set Italy apart. So visit one or two famous cities (Rome, Venice, Florence…) if you only have one week… For prolonged stays, don’t miss smaller places like anywhere in Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Marche, Abruzzo… rent a car and get lost in the smaller villages and town, discover churches, castles, medieval towns…

There is lots of nature as well, like snow and skying in the alps in winter, lakes everywhere in the northern Italy (Lombardia specially), as well and amazing coastline in Apulia and Calabria.

Don’t forget Sicily too for architecture, culture, landscapes…

Well, as for MY favorite places, Rome is a unique city but you need time and get out of the tourist traps. Visit Villa Borghese, the roman villas outside the city center for example. Also Torino is a often ignored city that feels totally different, since it has a late 1700+ vibe that it’s uncommon in Italy where medieval or ancient vibes are more common. I would avoid all over famous and touristic places and visit anywhere else, it’s so much better and even more original and worthwhile. Any specific are in your mind?

I find people very welcoming and also conservative, at least since i moved to this small town. I have been welcomed a lot, and become friend with the major and other prominent people. I am white and italian, so that helps. But still i am not one of the locals, after ten years. Actually they have two different words for people who have grandparents born in this very town, and anybody who just live here even since 20 years… It’s kind of funny, but sad.

But in general, everybody is helping and very open to chat and exchange opinions, if you are willing to put yourself in the game, you are welcome to play. Actually, it can be difficult to pull out after you volunteered for any kind of work or help for local events ans such… :)

In general, they try to “fit you in” with parents, where you are from and who you are friend with. Political color, race or ideals don’t really count, “belonging” is more important. After all, on a pizza and a good wine, we are all the same… But you need to like the local wine or it’s not good starting point…

Bigger topic has been the constitutional referendum on which the government (right-wing thugs with love for populism and veterofascism) tried to change 7 articles of the constitution to bring the judicial system under the control of the government. They failed, but the most important point is that the vote proved that the government lost popular support and the current chief of the government (often translated to prime minister, but not literally the same) Giorgia Meloni is struggling to keep the government in power until next year general elections.