Living Villa Cappelli

Experience another typical week in the life of an Italian, where we talk all about the amazing flowers from Terlizzi, foraging for mushrooms, putting in new stone floors and more!     You’ll hear:   ·      Where the word “ciao” comes from   ·      That Terlizzi, our nearby town, is one of the largest producers of fresh cut flowers   ·      The florist from Terlizzi actually supply the Vatican with their flowers for special events   ·      That the Pope has extra virgin olive oil from Terlizzi on his table   ·      Just what was included in the amazing flower arrangements we had at the villa during last year’s wedding   ·      About our appearance on the reality TV show, The Pitch   ·      How we make our homemade sushi   ·      About Paul’s wild asparagus hunting   ·      All about Paul’s infamous mushroom discovery last year   ·      Our other mushroom foraging adventures   ·      Why our friend Rocky is moving from London to Italy   ·      Why we love our old stone floors that we just put down   ·      A b

It’s the Italian name game.  Paul and Steven start the episode talking about Paul’s trip to Florida, but then quickly progress into a conversation all about names in Italy.  You’ll learn all about the funny nicknames in small towns, why married women here don’t take their husband’s last name, and why there are no juniors in Italy.       You’ll learn:    ·      About Paul’s trip to Florida to surprise his mother for her birthday   ·      How the surprise got ruined   ·      Why Paul suddenly likes Florida   ·      How Italian last names can indicate the region of your family’s heritage: if it ends in an “i” they are usually from the north and if it ends in an “o” they are from the south.   ·      What it means when a person has the last name of a town in Italy   ·      A bit about the Jewish ghettos in Italy   ·      Where the words “ghetto” and “graffiti” come from   ·      How some of the orphans got their names in Italy   ·      Why the families here in Italy all have family nicknames   ·      What Paul’s

You’ll discover:       ·      Why you shouldn’t buy alcohol at Duty Free at the airport   ·      What construction is like in Italy   ·      Updates on our project that includes a cooking school, restaurant, bar, and store   ·      Just how many house Paul has renovated (Hint, it’s enough that if you need any advice, just send him an email!)   ·      The weird challenges that you face when basically renovating a huge stone structure   ·      What recycling really means to us now in Italy   ·      How guilds control some aspects of business in Italy   ·      Older Italians view of older buildings like ours, and why they want modern and new homes   ·      The cost of antiques here (due to the point above)   ·      What borage is and why Paul and Casey went hunting for it   ·      A recipe for a local Puglia specialty: Favetta   ·      What kind of trees you’ll find along the country roads in Puglia and why (NOT the olive trees in this case)   ·      Why the cuisine of Puglia is la cucina povera   ·      Our ta

It’s all about Easter and Holy Week in Italy.  Our experiences, some of which are straight out of the Godfather, and just how different and mysterious the celebrations are here in Puglia, Italy.           You’ll discover:   ·      Our experiences with the local passion play in Terlizzi, Italy   ·      The progression of the play and how they used the charming old town of Terlizzi to put on an amazing show   ·      How we, as Americans, snuck to the front of the line for the show   ·      How similar the architecture around our area is similar to Jerusalem   ·      How typical Italian communication played a part in our experience of the play   ·      The mysteries parade on Good Friday in Terlizzi, Italy   ·      Why the carrying of the statues is so cool to Steven   ·      What we cooked for Easter lunch in our wood burning pizza oven   ·      All the different celebrations in the area and our idea for an Easter tour   ·      Why we have eggs at Easter   ·      Some traditional holiday dishes from our area,

  Paul and Steven talk about all things extra virgin olive oil, a subject obviously close to their hearts.       You’ll discover:    •  How old olive trees are   •  When olives are harvested and how   •  Why Puglia extra virgin olive oil, NOT Tuscan extra virgin olive oil, is the best     •  What exactly “extra virgin” means   •  Why pungent and bitter extra virgin olive oil is a good thing   •  Why extra virgin olive oil is a fruit oil, not a vegetable oil   •  Why the old farmers used to pick olives barefoot   •  How the olives are milled   •  Why yield is important when harvesting olive and making extra virgin olive oil   •  Why we stay at the mill during the entire process   •  How many olive trees there are in Puglia — it’s probably a lot more than you think  

  It’s all about the villa and Puglia, Italy.        You’ll discover:       •  That Puglia has been called “The new Tuscany,” but why Paul feels is should be called “The old Tuscany”    •  The history of the area, more specifically the Bari area and Puglia   •  Why there are so many red heads in all the nearby towns   •  What unusual shape the cave under our garden is in — dating from 2000 B.C., no one is quite sure why it is in the shape it is   •  How old the tomb was we found about a 50 meters from the villa’s front door   •  The problem with digging in Ital.   •  Why we chose Puglia, Italy, to settle in Italy   •  The state of the villa when we found it   •  How 911 lead us to Puglia   •  What you can and cannot buy in Italy if you’re a resident   •  A bit about how the guild system works in Italy   •  What are blue cars and how many Italy has   •  What Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel and Helen Mirren have in common   •  What’s the deal with ethnic food in Italy  

  Paul and Steven give you an introduction to Living Villa Cappelli.  A bit about their lives and what the show will cover, which includes Italian culture, food, history, travel and more.       You’ll discover:    • Where Paul was born and where he grew up (hint, his accent doesn’t give it away)   • What Paul and Steven’s careers were before running a villa in Italy     •  Just how small Steven’s town was where he grew up   •  Where and what Villa Cappelli is   •  Why Paul’s family’s name in town translated to “The Suckers”