Tag Archive: Cesenatico


Plant powered marathon man

Filed under: Health and fitness, Italy — Leave a comment
September 19, 2017

mboy258There are no books or websites (at least none that I’ve found) written for vegan men who decide to run their first marathon at the age of 59.

By way of contrast there are plenty of guide books and blogs with photos of healthy young athletes; a fact that tends to have a de-motivating effect on mature runners like yours truly.

This post therefore has the twofold aim of plugging a gap in the market and sharing my experience after finishing the gruelling 42.195 km (26.219 mile) course.

I am living proof that you can go the distance on a plant-based diet and at my age.

I am not one of life’s natural runners. At high school I made a conscious attempt to avoid the cross-country races that were part of physical education curriculum.

I only really started seriously jogging late in my 40s when the effect of the ‘dolce vita’ in Italy was starting to be evident through a rapidly expanding waistline. Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Read More & Comment

FINALLY …AN ALL VEGAN BAR IN ITALY!

Filed under: Good causes, Health and fitness, Italy — 1 Comment
November 16, 2013

Caffe Pascucci, Piazza Trattati di Roma, 1, Savignano del Rubicone, Italy

From the outside this looks like another typical café/ bar in Italy – it has the kind of smart, stylish understated elegance that citizens take for granted. It is in a run of the mill location, situated  in the Savignano sul Rubicone shopping mall near the small coastal town of Cesenatico.

The green plant logo is the only thing that gives a clue that this is something different. Caffe Pascucci is the first 100% vegan bar in Italy! Three cheers for them!  It officially opened in September this year and hopefully will give others the courage to follow suit.

A lot of restaurants, shops and cafés are responding to the rising number of customers seeking humane alternatives to the standard carnivore diet. These, however, only take a half way house approach by providing veggie friendly food without entirely sacrificing the ubiquitous ham and salami options.

After 17 years of living in Emilia-Romagna,  it is a relief to finally find a place where there are no such compromises. All the drinks, snacks and light lunches at Pascucci are unapologetically 100% vegan. Continue reading →

Tags: , , ,
Read More & Comment

SUICIDE ISN’T PAINLESS

Filed under: Italy, Poetry — Leave a comment
July 29, 2012

The scene of the suicide- Il Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), Cesena, Italy

Yesterday I saw a suicide victim. I didn’t actually see the woman jump but I passed the scene just minutes after.

She had left her shoes and sunglasses on the wall of Cesena’s old bridge before throwing herself off.

When I drove over,  the traffic was moving very slowly. Standing by the side of the road were a young man in full cycling gear and another woman who was probably on the way to the nearby market. At first I thought they were simply admiring the view but something in their expressions told me they had stopped for some other reason.

When I turned the corner, I saw more people were staring towards the bridge from both sides of the river bank.  I pulled over and saw they were gazing at a motionless figure lying face down on the flat rocks below the bridge. Continue reading →

Tags: , , , ,
Read More & Comment

IN THE PINK WITH TRANSGLOBAL UNDERGROUND

Filed under: Italy, Music — 1 Comment
July 2, 2011

La Notte Rosa (Pink Night) is an annual summer event in Emilia Romagna that began in 2007 and seems to get bigger every year.

All the major towns along 110 km of the Riviera Adriatic coast go pink for the occasion and many revellers dress accordingly. The colour is supposed to signify a spirit of hospitality and openness. It also means that you are likely to encounter the rare, and sartorially challenged, sight of grown heterosexual Italian males wearing pink trilbies and trousers!

The commercial motives for this initiative are obvious and most shop owners are more than happy to enter into the party spirit and stay open throughout the night. Fortunately, there are also a healthy number of free events so that it isn’t just an excuse for festive consumerism.

Cesenatico was probably the most chaotic place to be with a Radio Bruno Estate concert featuring a selection popular singers and TV entertainers strutting their stuff. I was happy to leave my daughter to contend with the hordes and head a short distance along the coast for the relative calm of Cervia.

The main attraction there, was a free open air concert by Transglobal Underground (TGU). I knew this band only by reputation and this was the first time I’ve had the chance to see them live. Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Read More & Comment

ON THE BEACH WITH THE VIVIAN GIRLS

Filed under: Gender, Italy, Music — Leave a comment
July 21, 2010

The Vivian Girls look a little bemused as well they might.

Their show on the beach at Cesenatico is preceded by a 20 minute fashion show as local babes swan down a makeshift catwalk trying desperately to strike the pose at the right moment. They are modelling skimpy summer gear and mostly look self-conscious and ill at ease.

Their tanned and toned bodies are a marked contrast to the pale, waif-like form of Cassie Ramone who sits watching from a table where she and the band had enjoyed complimentary  plates of spaghetti.

Cassie sings and plays lead guitar in the sassy surf-punk trio whose thrift shop chic and prominent tattoos serve to emphasise the stylistic and cultural gulf between New Jersey and Emilia Romagna.

Beside her on stage is the sturdier form of  Katy ‘Kickball’ Goodman, a friendly redhead who tries but fails to say “We love you” in Italian.A relatively sedate Fiona Campbell on drums completes the threesome.

The free concert has been put on by the Retro Pop Club. The organiser’s name is apt since the nostalgia value of the fast 3-chord tunes is high. The Girls race through the set list like a cross between The Ronettes and The Ramones.

Songs like Can’t Get Over You and I Believe In Nothing set them on an existential plain where faith in God and boyfriends is in short supply.

Admittedly, these songs follow a predictable formula and tend to blend into one very rapidly but they play with such a raw energy you can forgive them this.

The not-so-super Italian models could learn a lot from their style.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Comment