Learning to repair a piano accordion?

[Tom]

Me too!!! Probably cost me less than a Gola!

 

[JerryPH]

Me too!!! Probably cost me less than a Gola!

Yea, but, but, but... ****way*** lower on my bucket list!!

 

[Tom]

Need to find a spa/cooking class/fine jewelry making course nearby! Probably not impossible…….

 

[JKJ]

It certainly is attractive to go to Italy…

Attractive for lots of reasons! We go often to visit friends and experience new places/things. My Lovely Bride likes to learn Italian cooking directly from the sources.
Although a long accordion fan but new to the owning/learning, I didn’t know about Castelfidardo until recently. It doesn’t look too far from some of the places we visit.

BTW, for those anticipating travel to Italy we can recommend northern Italy, apoarently off the beaten tourist path except for those who live in nearby countries. I was happy to visit Rome, Florence, and other hot spots a few times but the north is full of ”hidden” gems in the north. We have friends in Merano/Meran, nestled in the alps north of Bolzano/Bozen, who have shown us many wonderful things. Just the Val di Non, a massive apple producing area, is worth exploring. The language where we usually visit is Italian/German but fortunately nearly everyone also speaks English. And the food…zounds!

We often rent a car but the trains seem to go EVERYWHERE. I’ll ask my personal travel agent (my wife) to put Castelfidardo on the next itinerary. Maybe she can book a cooking class in that area!

JKJ

 

[debra]

...

We often rent a car but the trains seem to go EVERYWHERE. I’ll ask my personal travel agent (my wife) to put Castelfidardo on the next itinerary. Maybe she can book a cooking class in that area!

Ancona is an easy hop by plane from several places in Europe. There is a bus from Ancona airport to the center of Castelfidardo, but if you want to explore the surroundings renting a car is definitely a better idea. (Just be careful not to drive into a "Zona Traffico Limitato" to avoid getting fined.)

 

[Tom]

Not to mention southern Italy! Italy is like America or anywhere else. There is the “real Italy (America, Croatia, Canada, etc.)” and the “tourist Italy.” I like the real Italy, my lovely wife likes the tourist Italy. Finding a happy medium is the challenge in travel to any country. There are definitely places in the “real America” I would not recommend to a visitor from Italy, but these may be the places to find the best accordion music, Tex mex, polka or Cajun/zydeco, what have you. I mean, seriously, who these days is recommending Cleveland? No disparaging the people of this wonderful city, but is anyone recommending it?

 

[John M]

. . . I mean, seriously, who these days is recommending Cleveland? No disparaging the people of this wonderful city, but is anyone recommending it?

OKAY, OKAY Tom, enough is enough. Where else could you go to the Polka Hall Of Fame, but in Cleveland, and see the birthplace of where the Polka King (Frank Yankovic) was born? His music swept across the U.S. in the late 40's and 50's. Everyone in the U.S. knew of him and his one million seller records -- Just Because and the Blue Skirt Waltz.

 

[Ventura]

early evening as it begins to cool, you will notice people walking
and filtering down one side street or another, and there is a flow
and consistency to the movement.. once you notice it, follow that
flow and you will eventually realize many are going through one
non-descript door in a typical town building.. go in that door..

walk up the steps and into the room, a nice Italian lady will help
guide you to a place at one of the long tables.. then she will ask
you "Pesce or Carne" ? and then for the next hour or so food and drink
will appear at your table and you will share it with the other people
as they share with you

this is the Trattoria experience where resident italians eat their evening meal,
you will be glad you found it and very affordable compared to
Dining for Tourists opportunities, which are also quite nice

 

[Rosie C]

early evening as it begins to cool, you will notice people walking
and filtering down one side street or another, and there is a flow
and consistency to the movement.. once you notice it, follow that
flow and you will eventually realize many are going through one
non-descript door in a typical town building.. go in that door..

walk up the steps and into the room, a nice Italian lady will help
guide you to a place at one of the long tables.. then she will ask
you "Pesce or Carne" ? and then for the next hour or so food and drink
will appear at your table and you will share it with the other people
as they share with you

this is the Trattoria experience where resident italians eat their evening meal,
you will be glad you found it and very affordable compared to
Dining for Tourists opportunities, which are also quite nice

Wonderfully evocative!

It may be a year or two, but a trip as our annual holiday might be an option.

 

[Tom]

OKAY, OKAY Tom, enough is enough. Where else could you go to the Polka Hall Of Fame, but in Cleveland, and see the birthplace of where the Polka King (Frank Yankovic) was born? His music swept across the U.S. in the late 40's and 50's. Everyone in the U.S. knew of him and his one million seller records -- Just Because and the Blue Skirt Waltz.

Please don’t misunderstand me John! Maybe I didn’t state it well…. Cleveland et al is a metaphor for the real America, the part that I like! Where (you are right) the real history of accordion is found (my point exactly). You will never find it in the tourist recommendations. LA! New York! The Poconos! Disneyland!

 

[Tom]

early evening as it begins to cool, you will notice people walking
and filtering down one side street or another, and there is a flow
and consistency to the movement.. once you notice it, follow that
flow and you will eventually realize many are going through one
non-descript door in a typical town building.. go in that door..

walk up the steps and into the room, a nice Italian lady will help
guide you to a place at one of the long tables.. then she will ask
you "Pesce or Carne" ? and then for the next hour or so food and drink
will appear at your table and you will share it with the other people
as they share with you

this is the Trattoria experience where resident italians eat their evening meal,
you will be glad you found it and very affordable compared to
Dining for Tourists opportunities, which are also quite nice

The real Italy! Let’s go!

 

[Ffingers]

early evening as it begins to cool, you will notice people walking
and filtering down one side street or another, and there is a flow
and consistency to the movement.. once you notice it, follow that
flow and you will eventually realize many are going through one
non-descript door in a typical town building.. go in that door..

walk up the steps and into the room, a nice Italian lady will help
guide you to a place at one of the long tables.. then she will ask
you "Pesce or Carne" ? and then for the next hour or so food and drink
will appear at your table and you will share it with the other people
as they share with you

this is the Trattoria experience where resident italians eat their evening meal,
you will be glad you found it and very affordable compared to
Dining for Tourists opportunities, which are also quite nice

My experiences also and may I add that I found wandering the lesser trodden streets of the old quarters of Southern towns and likewise observing the behaviour of locals will find many a 'variation on a theme' when it comes to commercial catering.
Even the much maligned 'Hawaiian' pizza seems to be quite popular with some residents!
I thought that I knew a bit about Italian cookery but discovered that what one would describe as 'common knowledge' falls well short of the realities of the breadth of their cuisine.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

early evening as it begins to cool, you will notice people walking
and filtering down one side street or another, and there is a flow
and consistency to the movement.. once you notice it, follow that
flow and you will eventually realize many are going through one
non-descript door in a typical town building.. go in that door..

walk up the steps and into the room, a nice Italian lady will help
guide you to a place at one of the long tables.. then she will ask
you "Pesce or Carne" ? and then for the next hour or so food and drink
will appear at your table and you will share it with the other people
as they share with you

this is the Trattoria experience where resident italians eat their evening meal,
you will be glad you found it and very affordable compared to
Dining for Tourists opportunities, which are also quite nice.

My wife and I experienced the same thing. We were with friends who took us to this place, one flight up, with a long, communal table and we had a fantastic meal. Only it wasn’t in Italy. It was in an Italian neighborhood in The Bronx.

 

[JeffJetton]

Please don’t misunderstand me John! Maybe I didn’t state it well…. Cleveland et al is a metaphor for the real America, the part that I like! Where (you are right) the real history of accordion is found (my point exactly). You will never find it in the tourist recommendations. LA! New York! The Poconos! Disneyland!

I've traveled all over the US, and while I do really love the marquee cities in this country, some of my favorite "finds" are places that people don't think of as tourist destinations. The sorts of towns that, when you mention going there, people respond with "why?" Maybe it's because your expectations are lower going in, so it's easier for them to surprise you.

That said, I always figured Cleveland would be at least a second-level foreign tourist recommendation if only for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

 

[John M]

Please don’t misunderstand me John! Maybe I didn’t state it well…. Cleveland et al is a metaphor for the real America, the part that I like! Where (you are right) the real history of accordion is found (my point exactly). You will never find it in the tourist recommendations. LA! New York! The Poconos! Disneyland!

I understand Tom. You won't find the Polka Hall Of Fame -- Euclid, Ohio in the AAA tour book.
I just had to put a "plug" in for the good old Cleveland Style polka swing music.

 

[Ventura]

well as soon as Mass is over tonight, the Rathskeller under the Kirk
will erupt with "Let's have a Party" and "Bye Bye Baby" to start Silkie's
Oktoberfest party.. first time since Covid the old crowd will be back together