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Linda A | all galleries >> Galleries >> Dance me through the panic, 'til I'm safely gathered in - 2007 diary > 2nd March 2007 - Italiano
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02-MAR-2007

2nd March 2007 - Italiano

DM has this weird belief that you should only EVER buy German white and brown goods, not to mention cars. As far as he’s concerned, there is no equal to their engineering. Since he and I started living together, our belongings are gradually migrating towards German brand names. So, the Zanussi dishwasher, when it went awry after ten years or more of great service, was replaced by a Bosch (much to my dismay), the Hoover fridge freezer rapidly morphed into a Bosch too and so on and so forth.

So, when we owned a Krups machine (correct me if I’m wrong but I think that Krups are German), the bloody (and expensive) thing went wrong after a very short time, leaving us with no milk steamer and I ask you, who wants a coffee machine that can’t steam the milk in your latte? In a fit of peek, we chucked it away but have felt extremely deprived ever since because we’ve had to make do with instant or with cafetiere coffee, which is nowhere near as sexy, as I’m sure you know.

We’ve been um-ing and ah-ing ever since about what to do because the Krups machine is the best of the ‘normal’ consumer models and is expensive enough thank you very much, but we were reluctant to go and shell out on another of those when the first one spontaneously combusted a couple of weeks after the guarantee ran out.

Moving up to a better machine meant a significant price hike. We went out looking at coffee machines before Ice-fest (Christmas to you lot) because obviously it's a time when a great cup of coffee really hits the spot (not that it doesn’t at any other time, but somehow you want stuff to be ‘nice’ for Ice-fest).

We saw something beautiful, substantial and gleaming. It was a Gaggia. In fact they do a whole range of models, ranging from the very stylish, simple and solid, to the less-substantial but high gizmo:utility ratio……but the prices were nearly double the price of a Krups. We walked away. Gutted.

We went home and checked out the prices of Gaggias at online suppliers. They were no cheaper than the shop where we’d seen them. Pah. We couldn’t justify the price.

Then, at the beginning of this year, we gave up having wine with our dinner and started to save the money we’d normally have spent on a bottle of the red stuff. Soon it mounted up to be enough to pay for a Gaggia. We rushed back down to Truro and waved a great wodge of cash at two delighted shop assistants in one of the most splendidly gorgeous cooking shops I’ve ever seen. (On the last occasion we were in there, I spent half-an-hour wandering around and fondling stuff.)

We came home with a stylish, solid, simple Gaggia that has already delighted us with perfect smooth espresso coffee, topped with steamed milk to give us our own version of a skinny latte…..perfect.

And guess what? Gaggia is, in case there is any doubt, Italian. It has its instruction booklet in Italian first. Bella Italia I say!

Now let me tell you this has all been very painful for DM to accept – he thinks of Italian ‘stuff’ as Fiat (laughable in his eyes), Ducatti (beautiful but extremely unreliable) MotoGuzzi (beautiful and appealingly eccentric) and Italian football, full of passion but also full of primadonnas! However, he totally accepts that the Gaggia is in a class of its own in coffee terms.

I, on the other hand love Italy in almost all respects. I love the fact that it's the only European country where you can get a vegetarian meal in every cafe and restaurant without being made to feel like some sort of irritating weirdo. I love pizza, pasta, mozzerella, succulent tomatoes, coffee, Rome, Sorrento, Florence, the passion of the footie (I've been to a number of Serie A games, as well as the Cuppo Italia).....and too much else to go into here. (Not to mention that a bit of the Latino passion in a lover will not go amiss.

Please note that the beast is already coated in dust, not more than minutes after being pulled from its box – as is everything in our home.

The snow provided me with my shot last year.

Canon EOS 10D
20s f/11.0 at 100.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Kim 05-Mar-2007 10:03
Ahem, Being half Italian myself, Im with you all the way Linda. You cant beat their passion for food/wine/coffee!
Viva Italia :)
virginiacoastline05-Mar-2007 02:33
we just got a Bosch dishwasher too . . .I love its silence =)
Gail Davison03-Mar-2007 19:59
We have a pavoni.... Gaggia and Pavoni are the espresso makers! Look after your Gaggia and it'll look after you for years. Our Pavoni is about 20 years old and still gleams and makes splendid coffee every day. Bella Italia indeed.... and what about Alfa Romeos and Ferraris!
Enrico Martinuzzi03-Mar-2007 19:49
yes, Italian do it better!
Talking about coffee of course... ;)
Rene Hales03-Mar-2007 19:04
As long as you are enjoying a great coffee that is all that is important. I went to a party and had a wonderful coffee. I rushed out and bought the same model and brand. I am happy and soothed each day.--Rene
Guest 03-Mar-2007 09:24
Should have gone for La Pavoni, knocks spots off Gaggia!!