Wednesday Anime - Axis Powers Hetalia - Italy (North and South)

A couple of my personal favorites are these guys~

Basic Statistics:
Name (Human name): (North) Italy Veneziano/Feliciano Vargas
Age (by physical appearance): 20
Gender: Male
Birthday: March 17
Hair Color: Brown/Auburn
Eye Color: Brown/Amber
Height: 172 cm (5’7.7”)

Appearance:

He has short brown hair and brown eyes, with a curl sticking out from the left side of his head, which acts as his erogenous zone when stroked or pulled. He wears a blue WWII military uniform, a black shirt and tie, and black boots. As a child, he wore dresses and was often mistaken by others, especially Holy Roman Empire, as a girl. 

When not in his uniform, he can often be seen wearing a white sailor suit-style top (with blue collar, necktie and sleeve bands) and blue shorts.

Personality and Interests:
Italy is a cheerful, energetic and dopey man, who went from being a kin of the once great Ancient Rome to an irresponsible crybaby. He loves pasta, pizza, gelato and cheese. Although he relies on Germany a lot, Feliciano doesn’t really listen to what he says and just daydreams or wanders off to someplace. His hobbies include cooking, siestas, painting and singing.

In the webcomic and the 1^st Drama CD, it is noted that he frequently gets a lot of stomach pains due to his overindulging on gelato. Feliciano has a compulsion of wearing his birthday suit for his daily 3PM siestas, and usually (almost every time) forgets to put his pants on, causing Germany to have to lend him a pair of his own. His public display of his...er, birthday suit has become notorious enough that Switzerland will fire (or most likely shoot) upon him if he’s caught streaking through Swiss territory.

During one point, he would easily surrender and wave his white flag around (It was said by Germany that Feliciano manufactures those white flags from thin air) and almost at every time he’s caught in a pinch, he would wave his flag around and start whining thing about he’s too young to die or he still hasn’t eaten his pasta yet or even more, he doesn’t taste good…(*sigh* I feel bad about those nations who had him under their care…)
He also has the verbal tic of making a ‘Ve’ sound and in the anime, he also makes other onomatopoeic sounds as well, his most notable chant being ‘*herahera’.

(Note: *herahera is a Japanese onomatopoeia which means “acting foolishly” or “frivolous”. Herahera~)

Though he was relatively weak and timid as a child, he was able to take on Turkey single-handedly at one point in time. According to Germany, when Feliciano’s hands and legs are bound, he seemingly…dies. And apparently, he also has a brother who is just as pathetic and weak-willed as him.

And the character I’ve grown fond of (well, one of the guys I’ve grown fond of over time…):
Basic Statistics:
Name (Human name): (South) Italy Romano/Lovino Vargas
Age (by physical appearance): 22-23
Gender: Male
Birthday: March 17
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Green/Hazel

Appearance:
Romano has dark brown hair and has more of an olive complexion unlike his younger brother but in later artworks, there is almost no visible skin tone difference between the two. His eyes were originally supposed to be green but were later changed to hazel or dark brown in later colored works.

Like his brother, he has a long wild curl (that also acts as an erogenous zone), though it rests on the right side of his head, as opposed to the left. He is shown wearing a khaki uniform in a different style than Feliciano’s (but more similar to Spain’s), with ¾ length sleeves.

As a child, he didn’t necessarily wear a maid dress like his brother but simply just an apron, however, in some strips, he is depicted wearing a maid dress and apron just like his brother’s, though the colors are unknown.

Personality and Interests:
Romano is typically friendly, sweeter and kind to women, but instantly reverts into being strict and less social towards men. Despite appearing to be tougher than his younger brother, they both are equally cowardly and ineffectual, if not even more. He’s stubborn as they come and has been described as being quite timid. Though he isn’t skilled with his hands (always fumbling or sorts), it is said he is a good pickpocket. He also has the habit of speaking in profanity, often towards his brother, Germany, France or Spain.

As a child, he often slacked off and slept when it came to doing chores, though he was rather clumsy when he actually bothered to do them. In certain strips concerning Spain’s control over Southern Italy, it was revealed that the young Romano had a bed-wetting problem and often had trouble finding the toilet due to the vast size of Spain’s mansion. Also as a child, he had the disease Chorea as a child, and that sort of played a part in his clumsiness (if not, it’s just lazy old Romano…). Spain attempted to heal him by making him dance the Tantarella; Romano appeared to recover from the disease, whether due to those efforts or not.

When using grenades, he seemingly has no clue of the correct way of throwing them (throwing the pin rather than the actual grenade, a habit he sadly shares with his brother…). In another strip, it’s shown that he is often controlled and led around by his own Mafia. It’s partially due to the long influence of the Mafia that Romano’s view of the world is solely biased and bleaker than Feliciano’s.

While Feliciano eats a variety of food other than pasta, Romano refuses (I dare say.) to eat foreign food, especially if it happens to be cheese or potatoes. He has the verbal tic of saying/making a ‘Chigi’ (or even ‘Chigigi’) sound when he’s agitated or when his hair curl is pulled.

In the present day, the two brothers don’t really get along very well: Romano refuses to acknowledge his brother’s mere existence, though Feliciano is more than eager to be around his dear big brother. As a child, Romano often felt jealous and inferior to his younger brother, due to Feliciano inheriting their grandfather’s talent for art, while he could barely draw anything. Even though he’s like that, he’s shown to have at least a subconscious care for him. Usually when it’s mentioned or hinted that he cares about Feliciano or even his previous caretaker: Spain, something always happens that angers him and he instantly reverts back to being in an angry state. 

-Arice215

Buffalo's Milk

I love eating cheese. They say, the stinky the cheese, the better. So, I get my dosage of much needed calcium by eating various kinds of cheese.

I just learned that a certain fine kind of mozzarella is produced in Italy where the main ingredient is buffalo's milk. It is a prized kind of mozzarella that it enjoys Europe's Protected Designation of Origin label. It means that the buffalo mozzarella undergoes strict criteria and can only be made of buffalo's milk.

I Love Rome - Part 3

More pics on our wonderful trip to the eternal city of Rome.

I Love Rome - Part 2

Here are more snaps taken on the lovely and historical city of Rome. Enjoy!

I Love Rome - Part 1

Here are some photos taken in the holy and historical Vatican and St. Peter's Square.

Just a tip - wear a very, very comfortable shoes or sandals. When visiting the Holy place of Vatican, do not wear shorts and sleeveless or any revealing clothes. I have seen a lot of tourists wearing skimpy clothing (I wonder why they even have to wear anything at all...) and was not admitted inside. Like most religious places of interest, one has to respect and conform to their norms.

Bienvenuto Milan! Part 3

More snaps from Milan! Didn't get to go out much because we only have 1 free day... too bad. Next time...


Below, near the Galeria - Leonardo da Vinci statue

Parini statue

Tutto gelato, tiramisu flavor!

Castello Sforzesco - castle in the middle of the city

Bienvenuto Italia! Milan - Part 2

Here's the next installment of some snaps taken in Milan.

This place is called Vittorio Emanuele Galeria. It houses posh and known boutiques.

The dome in the Galeria.

My favorite LV (which I still cannot afford...harharhar!)

Checking out some souvenirs. I left empty-handed because the stuff were costly.
A simple fridge magnet costs 8 Euros.

Bienvenuto Italia! Milan - Part 1

Bienvenuto Milan! Here are some snaps taken during our recent trip to Milan, the fashion capital of the world!

The plaza at Duomo.



The Duomo - the 2nd largest cathedral after the St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican.





See the vast nave and pillars. Simply breath-taking!


Going around Milan by train...

Murano Souvenir

During our recent trip to Italy, my daughter was presented with a small "murano" glass collection of bears, 1 big mama bear and 3 small cubs.

Murano glass is known for its uniqueness and the way it was crafted using techniques trusted for centuries. It is quite expensive because of the way it was produced and handcrafted. Murano is an island off Venice, Italy. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we were unable to visit Venice and Murano. There are Murano glass blowers in Venice and they offer a walk-through in their factory.

Back Home

We're all back! It takes so much to say this but, "it's good to be home." The trip to Munich, Germany and Milan and Rome in Italy is worth taking and every money spent because we have had a good time.

Munich, Germany is such an amazing place to visit. I love the weather prior to the change of season. It was cool and breezy even at noon but quite cold at night as the temperature dipped to 15 degrees Celsius which for us was already cold (considering the weather here in Dubai, anything below 18 degrees Celsius is considered cold!). We joined the Hop-On Hop-Off city tour bus so we saw much of what Munich has to offer in a day. I'll be posting pictures here later.

Our stay at Milan was just 2 days and had limited time to roam around. We went to the Duomo (Mariae Nascenti church) and the Vitorio Emanuele Galeria which housed the luxurious boutiques. We posed at some of the statues around the area like Leonardo Da Vinci's and Parini's.

Roma...the glorious city of Italia. I love this place a lot. We walked around to reach the various scenic and famous tourist spots of Rome. The weather was hot and humid just like that of Dubai. I had an instant tan!

All in all, the vacation was great and we will surely be back in Europe. We are eyeing Greece before our visa expires this November... or Venice...or Vienna...or Amsterdam. We're still undecided as we will plan this when the long Eid holidays come. Ciao!

A Trip in the Offing

We have this yearly tradition in the family to visit other countries and soak in their culture and bask in the wonderful sights. We have chosen Germany and Italy this year for our annual family trip. I'm glad to know that this time we have been granted multiple-entry for 3 months unlike the first time, we were just given 10 days entry. We may visit again in November when it's almost winter! Oh, we can't wait!

The first stop will be Munchen (or Munich as we commonly know). We will be staying there for 3 days only and then off to viva Italia!

Guten Tag Germany! Buon Giorno Italy!