Italy Recap with Davide!

6 Aug 2025 · 1 h 6 min · 22 chapters

Ask about this episode

Ask anything about it. ChatGPT or Claude reads this page and answers with the times it was said.

Connect VO and ask about every podcast you hear, including the moments you saved. Add to ChatGPT · Add to Claude

In short

A family trip recap to Italy (summer 2025) focused on parenting challenges, travel logistics, and how “community” and human relationships shape places—contrasted with increasing commercialization/globalization.

Guest backgrounds

Davide Baranchini is the co-host/partner of the speaker; he works frequently (store and Italy work) and is described as loving but less present day-to-day than the speaker. The episode also references Davide’s father and family, plus a barber in Catania and various airport/TSA staff.

Key claims

Parenting meltdowns are strongly environment-dependent; when the environment is controlled, behavior improves. Italy’s “humanistic” service (barber/coffee shop relationships) is what makes it feel like home, but Italy is changing due to tourism, fast fashion, content/platform culture, and loss of human references. The speaker argues Italy is not as open-minded as people assume.

Notable examples

Carmela’s violent plane meltdown and a “safe space” tactic on the toilet; TSA disputes over holding a child without strollers; Italian airport check-in/weight rules causing a duffel bag removal; multiple “poop moments” during travel; Carlo’s chaotic behavior at meals and a haircut at a family barbershop; discussion of Sicily logistics (air conditioning, car travel, beach access, stroller choices).

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Welcome and Initial Impressions

0:15 to 1:04

Davide is introduced and they share initial thoughts on their pets.

Parenting Challenges in Italy

1:04 to 2:12

Discussing the challenges of parenting during their trip to Italy.

“So Carmela has like once a day gets really upset and it lasts for like five minutes.”

Carmela's Meltdown on the Flight

2:12 to 3:08

A recount of Carmela's emotional response during their flight.

“And you had the correct response, which was like, we're a family and We don't leave people out.”

Navigating Air Travel with Kids

3:08 to 4:00

Strategies and struggles faced while traveling with children.

Environmental Parenting Dynamics

4:00 to 5:27

Exploring how environment affects parenting dynamics.

“That's how much he leaves here and he's at his store or in Italy working a lot.”

Emotional Experiences at Customs

5:27 to 6:50

The stressful experience they had at customs upon returning.

“And then if the environment around me requires me, it's like when we were at the, perfect example.”

TSA Interactions and Frustrations

6:50 to 11:30

A detailed recount of their frustrating interactions with TSA agents.

“I mean, it's like, I know that she's not going to jump out of that, out of there.”

Reflections on Italian Airports

11:30 to 14:01

Discussion on their experiences with Italian airports and their inefficiencies.

“What the challenge is, you know what I mean?”

Traveling Chaos: Airport Anecdotes

14:01 to 18:13

Hear a humorous account of the chaos faced at Italian airports.

Traveling Chaos: Airport Anecdotes

18:30 to 20:05

Hear a humorous account of the chaos faced at Italian airports.

“When weight loss progress stalls, it's easy to feel like you're the problem, but you're not.”
Show all 22 chapters

Traveling Chaos: Airport Anecdotes

20:08 to 20:29

Hear a humorous account of the chaos faced at Italian airports.

“That is forhers, F-O-R-H-E-R-S.com slash best, forhers slash best.”

The Reality of Living in Italy

21:15 to 28:06

A candid discussion about the challenges and beauty of living in Italy.

“So I asked, I've said this before, I'm going to say it again.”

Reflections on Family and Humanity in Italy

28:06 to 42:00

Explore the deep emotional connections and community spirit found in Italy through personal experiences.

“he said it in the most with a big smile on his face and it caused me also a full um Um, existential crisis meltdown from Dami Day over that one.”

Initial Thoughts on Italy

42:00 to 42:16

The hosts express their feelings and concerns about their recent trip to Italy.

“But that's going to, so I am a little bit concerned for all that.”

Initial Thoughts on Italy

44:15 to 45:36

The hosts express their feelings and concerns about their recent trip to Italy.

“I'm going to share a way you can make delicious dinners at home without planning, prepping, or any exhausting cleanup.”

Initial Thoughts on Italy

45:40 to 45:56

The hosts express their feelings and concerns about their recent trip to Italy.

“and you're going to get 16 free meals when you order.”

Insights on Traveling in Italy

45:56 to 55:10

The hosts share insights and experiences from their trip to Italy, including travel tips.

“Well, Italy, listen, I hate, Italy's small.”

Family Matters and Adventures

55:10 to 56:01

Discussion of family visits and experiences during the trip, including hospital visits and setting up business.

“it's almost like Because also, by the way, the first half of our trip, we're with his family.”

The Journey of Branding and Design

56:01 to 58:20

Explore the collaborative journey of branding with personal and professional ties.

“nice like a great job with um yeah but i've been working but i think it's a beautiful full circle moment because when I worked at Reformation, I was like 25 or something.”

Creating a Family-Centric Restaurant

58:21 to 1:00:11

Discuss the vision behind a restaurant that embodies family and cultural values.

“And then in conjunction, once we start getting some money from that to fund product, we're going to do a separate fundraise for the restaurant.”

The Essence of Italian Dining Experience

1:00:12 to 1:03:43

Unpack what makes the Italian dining experience unique and memorable.

“that's what I think is that's what makes me more excited We talk about Italian restaurants a lot and people will be like, what's your favorite Italian restaurant?”

Philosophy Behind Hospitality

1:03:44 to 1:04:50

Delve into the philosophy of creating meaningful experiences in hospitality.

“And that's why you can mention all the, there are only few very places, I think in hospitality and in restoration that would make you feel in a certain way.”
Hear the part that matters, and keep it.Open this episode in VO. Double tap your headphones to save a moment as you listen.
Get VO free

Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00The following podcast is a Dear Media production.

0:14Davide Baranchini, welcome to the podcast. Wow, wow, wow. Can I have a little jingle too? Davide, Davide, Davide, Davide. oh my god look carlos chuchos on the floor i love when they're like you try to track him based on what it like carlo is here there's a soccer ball and uh and like one of carmelo's little so cute i love our babies of all the thing the the chuchos the lulus don't uh don't bother me of course why would it yeah no you know what i mean like yeah like um okay we went to italy day two davide almost gave up because he was losing it with the kids and he was like i don't think we're gonna make it this whole was it day two it was uh no but something happened i don't remember i mean this is not gonna work i mean this was irresponsible well you said it was this was peak like marriage parenting hilarious moment.

1:28So Carmela has like once a day gets really upset and it lasts for like five minutes. It doesn't last a very long time, but she gets really, really upset and it's a full body. It comes out of nowhere. It's not like in response to something. So it's not like we could say, Oh, don't do this or don't do that because like, it's going to put Carmela into a tailspin. She'll literally be like in the middle of laughing and having the best time ever on the beach. And then it's like a full blown and you have to carry her and she's kicking and it's dangerous. She's like long limbs. And it was bad for a second.

2:06And then it got better. And like a month before the trip, I said to Davide, like, do we think we should bring her? And you had the correct response, which was like, we're a family and We don't leave people out. Yeah. And so the first meltdown occurred on our first flight. And it was, just to put some like. Context is the word you're looking for. It was very, very, it was violent. It was the first time. And people were sleeping. I saw her almost, it was almost related to her space. She kind of also felt very. She likes being on planes usually. No, no, but she felt in that exact moment, it was a serious thing, I believe, that brought her to have the violence of a reaction.

3:05Like she really felt unsafe. she felt that you know usually if it happened in the house she has her place she loves she has places where in the house she feels more safe and and maybe it's like a the light from a window or maybe is is is a room and we went on the plane and she couldn't find comfort so we went to the toilet and and when i locked the door and i put her standing on the toilet that smaller space and she would see all the walls and yeah that was such a fucking good move on your end and and it felt like she'd re reprogrammed herself it was fascinating so here's also a real thing. Dobby day works almost every day.

4:00He's like most Sundays he has off. That's how much he leaves here and he's at his store or in Italy working a lot. He went to the store at 8am the day after I gave birth. So he is not, he is a very loving, attentive, wonderful father, but he is not around all day long the way that I am because I work from home. So he does not have the familiarity or the same amount of earned patience that I have. Also men are just impatient in general because they're just like lost and like kind of losers but like women are so women are so and moms this is this is what makes us moms is like we see clarity in the chaos and we have a level of calmness in disastrous situations because that's just what we do I couldn't agree more on both of these statements.

5:06Thank you. So Davide did not have the, he has no loops on his belt when it comes to Carmela's meltdowns. And I have many. And to Carlo meltdown too, it's not that I do distinction. It's just, this is the point. So Davide took Davide a few days to get used to. Like it's not about what they're like. and this is a good way to recap being a parent in a scenario that it's only environmental if it's the two of us if it's Carmela and I or Carla and I or Carmela, Carla and I pretty much you have everything in your control if you are in an environment that you created or you know home there is not or we go to a park or we go to have ice cream if you are in an environment that is the beginning with is a little bit of style like sometimes i have panic attack if i'm on a plane it's not nice for myself even if i am in a in a place where i'm not safe it's like a corporate office if you're sick in a corporate you know what i mean so so so So basically, here I am trying to navigate, already dealing with them one-on-one.

6:29And then if the environment around me requires me, it's like when we were at the, perfect example. By the way, to summit is, this was the first time in almost 10 years we got to Italy together.

6:44That, eight years, sorry, that you cried at departure. sorry you cried on the way back it never happened it's true um can i tell you why yes i was bringing another example like when we were at a custom perfect example is the extra reminds of what i'm trying to describe you know we landed we got to lax the flight was relatively smooth and we figured that the the cabin crew member told us that our strollers will not be we gate checked our fucking strollers and they put them in with the fucking luggage they would be at the belt for us so we had to carry both of the let's give context to this because people don't we can't let go of carmela's hand so the stroll so putting her in the stroller and makes it's necessary because it's very hard to control her and that walk to customs is very long and then carlo's heavy and we had a shit ton of carry-on bags yeah so we were fine but it was definitely fucking annoying as fuck to be like fuck deal with holding them and and then we arrived to custom and we arrived to custom after literally like 16 minutes of walking and you know making sure that they're with us and and then we do the line you know and so what i do as soon as arrive in front of the officer to make myself available to him i lifted carmela and i seated her on the counter which we do a lot because it's she's she won't jump off yeah she's it grounds her and it allows us we call baby gel and it allows us to use our fucking hands correct and we can't let go of her hand.

8:32To be available to you. I mean, it's like, I know that she's not going to jump out of that, out of there. I know that she's here. I see it. I put it, of course, not in front of the office, but it was on the corner. And this dude, look at me. These fucking TSA bitch asses. By the way, we went from TSA, I hate to use stereotype. I hate to generalize. I hate to label things. We came from TSA, the look at me in the eyes, play with my baby cheek and say to me, welcome back home and i go to a guy that wears a g-shock has a full like war gear on and he's like can she please what did he say how you articulate no can she can she get off from my he said please remove her from my counter no she said can she get off of my account okay and then i said and i and davide doesn't like when i speak for him but this but davide has no self-control and so now Davide is about to like tussle with this fucking TSA guy and this is the only time we need to be fucking cool because these TSA people fuck with him because he has a green card and I put a hand in front of you like I'm talking to this guy but I was like I gotta do this I'm like I just put the baby in here you guys that was a big dick off like I have never seen him in my fucking room the two of you because I can be 100 % available to you and I and I brought it off and I'm holding her and she's like you it's not safe to have her oh my god she said you can hold and then he said you can't hold her of course I can hold her I'm holding her no no he said you looked at him and you said it's my daughter of course I can hold her yeah because I am explaining to him I gotta hold meanwhile I'm going like hi she runs around she has she runs away autism so we can't and they didn't give us our strollers and so but this man was overly so rude to you and you were trying so hard to not fully lose it so you didn't get in trouble but you were also trying to like place your dominance over your child that it was my baby i'm like you idiot of course i can hold her it's my baby and i'm telling you that if i let it go she would run away from me oh my god this baby has no tag on this baby can't say who she is in the business airport on the planet then at one point he picks up why did he get on the phone?

10:59he got on the phone remember that? he made a call he was like excuse me and then he looked at your passport and he was like call the 51 yep okay and I was like why are you making a fucking call are you trying to make us the only reason why he didn't put us in secondary is because we had the kids and one of them has autism. He would have put us into secondary for sure, pulled you in and I would have had to wait there. And only because she has autism and he knew that it would, that I didn't have the strollers and I couldn't do it by myself. That's why I didn't do it. That was the perfect example.

11:32So I found out yesterday. What the challenge is, you know what I mean? I found out yesterday. That's what I was trying. The point I was trying to bring is that. I found out yesterday that from a cop, that TSA people. You talk to cops? No, the girl who did my The girl who did my vitamin drip I didn't want to say from the girl who did my vitamin drip Because it sounds very fucking LA And very fucking embarrassing As a married woman, I knew from a cop No, her brother's a cop

12:05I was with a cop yesterday

12:12The girl who did my vitamin drip yesterday's brother is a cop again i know from a yoga instructor your pilates is jack that tsa agents are cops who are are tried to be policemen but failed yeah it's like a service dog it can be military dog because they're too too friendly basically so yeah but this is the opposite because these guys aren't fucking friendly i know we send them to each other all the time i love it i want adopted so there's like a bitterness there anyway i'll i'll i can just yeah i don't yeah dude you want to be a tough guy go get it go be tough and literally my favorite part of going to italy is when we arrive because it's just when they tell you every time they touch our children and oh and they and they welcome and they welcome you home naples and i put her on his counter yeah You remember that?

13:08You put Carlo on his counter because we didn't have the fucking. I did the same thing. And he played with Carlo's toes. Thank you. Because I had Carmela. And I was pulling the pad to free one hand. I put Carlo on the counter. And you know what he did? He reached his hand out talking to the microphone. It's just, that's the easy way I don't get it. That's why I don't get it. But we always do feel very nice coming back to America. We get into an air conditioned fucking airport. Everything operates. We know there's fucking directions. Flying out of Palermo that had no... This is Italian. This is the video that I posted of that fucking hilarious comedian who always makes videos about how useless people at Italian airports are.

13:57She drove me crazy too. I almost forgot about her. Yes, we almost didn't make our flight. It took us 45 minutes to check in. I've never seen anything like it. it's not my responsibility you go buy a light i'm like are you serious no that was crazy and then you're supposed to pay for the extra luggage but she didn't have the fucking machine to swipe the card so like some woman who was like eating pasta somewhere on her fucking three hour break had to like walk over here it was so it was exactly here's what i said when i said traveling is crazy traveling is insane and what a privilege to be able to travel absolutely but italian airports we never go through this at Malpensa like it's always because that's a busier airport but these small Linate is great but these small airports Italian airports are and I told you that they make no fucking sense and everybody has their head up their ass what about the floors we go to the elevator and it's like departure floors 2 so we go with the luggage floor 2 but the departure was on floor 1 but you gotta check in the luggage so then it's level one we get to level one and then we check the it's like but what about um are you flying like no then that's level zero i'm like i'm coming from level zero why do you guys send me to level it's like that it's like a it's like a it's like it feels like that it's it's ridiculous anyway you remember that i lost it i'm like sorry you send me to the world no but you gotta board the life i see but you see that that woman that does the reenaction the reenactments the comedian should be like ah i found your luggage it is in the middle of the water off the meritorranean ah okay i found your luggage you want the luggage in person i'm selling it to dublin oh you want to take your luggage on the plane no

16:01she looked at me and she said crazy i mean it's not my responsibility i said sorry you so we have four luggage usually experience we don't need to over explain the luggage they will weight all of them and if the weight you know a few kilos is like just redistributed with the other luggage and so i can board all of them no she booked she she sent all of our luggage already down it's already on the plane and there's one luggage left and it was two kilos over two kilos over and she goes you need to buy another luggage it's not my responsibility it's the european protocol i cannot board the luggage so then david had to take out his fucking what did you have to take um duffel bag um thank god you had those jackets in it he just had to take out one duffel bag and then it was just fucking fucking ridiculous i'm sure you've seen a million ads for hair growth products and thought, okay, yeah, but there's just like no way that works.

16:56And I did too. Until I asked one of my girlfriends who has the thickest, longest hair, we were like at a restaurant and like a crowded restaurant and we were like washing our hands. And I was like, you got to tell me that this isn't your natural hair. It looks incredible. And she said, I take Nutrafol. And this was years ago. So Nutrafol is not like the rest of them. It's physician formulated. It's clinically tested. It's dermatologist recommended. If you're dealing with hair issues like thinning or shedding, but you feel totally stuck on what to try next, I totally get it because there are a million products.

17:31But Nutrafol is the number one dermatologist recommended hair growth supplement brand. And it's trusted by over one and a half million people. You can feel great about what you put in your body since Nutrafol hair growth supplements are backed by peer-reviewed studies and NSF Contents Certified, which is the gold standard in third-party certification for supplements. And while many supplements rely solely on ingredient studies, Nutrafol clinically tests their final formulations to ensure their efficacy. You're going to see thicker, stronger, faster growing hair with less shedding in just three to six months with Nutrafol.

18:05I saw it truly at the three-month mark. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners$10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com and enter the promo code BEST. Find out why Nutrafol is the best-selling hair growth supplement brand at Nutrafol.com, spelled N-U-T-R-A-F-O-L.com, promo code BEST. That is Nutrafol.com, promo code BEST. When weight loss progress stalls, it's easy to feel like you're the problem, but you're not. That's where HERS comes in. HERS offers access to personalized weight loss plans designed to help you move forward for good. HERS is transforming women's healthcare by providing access to affordable weight loss treatment plans.

18:52They connect you with a medical provider, and they're going to work with you to determine the best treatment option for you personally. If you're prescribed, you get medication as part of a doctor developed weight loss program. It's complete with ongoing care, amazing check-ins, dosage and medication adjustments, and access to 24 seven online support at no additional cost, no hidden fees and no membership fees. I mean, this is a truly personalized, incredible program. Weight loss by hers is realistic. It's not restrictive. It provides access to affordable weight loss plans built around oral medication kits and GLP-1 injectable options.

19:37With oral medication kits are starting just at$69 per month with a 10-month plan paid up front. It's not cookie cutter care that forgets you in the waiting room. It's your health goals put first with real medical providers, making sure you get the results that you want all from the comfort of your couch. So if you've been struggling with your weight loss journey, it's time to find the best option that works for you through hers. Whether you want to lose weight or grow thicker, fuller hair or find relief for anxiety, HERS has you covered. Visit forhers.com slash best to get personalized affordable plan that gets you.

20:10That is forhers, F-O-R-H-E-R-S.com slash best, forhers slash best. Weight loss by HERS is not available everywhere. Compounded products are not approved or reviewed for safety effectiveness or quality by the FDA. Prescription required. See website for full details, important safety information and restrictions, actual price depends on product and plan purchased.

20:36Hi everyone. I'm Peyton Sarton, host of the Note to Self podcast. Note to Self is a space to embrace your unique qualities, get grounded, and ultimately have honest conversation. No topic is off limits. I began doing social media seven years ago, and since then I've started a clothing line and this podcast. Note to Self is a place where people from every stage of life can come for advice, new perspectives, and to feel a little less alone. Whether I'm recording by myself or bringing along a friend, we will explore topics ranging from relationships and mental wellness to social media and entrepreneurship.

21:08Tune in to Note to Self every week for the sisterly advice you didn't know you needed and raw conversations you've always wanted. So I asked, I've said this before, I'm going to say it again. I keep getting all these questions about like, why don't you guys move to Italy? And I need to give like a, I think people, I'm going to say this you we it sounds we need to be realistic about this fantasy of what it's like living other places because Italy on vacation is obviously absolutely fucking incredible and I'm sure there are many expats who live there who will tell you how lovely it is to fucking have us you know slow life there and blah blah blah blah blah and I'm very happy for them and that's great but Italy is also, and I hate to generalize, but I'm always too scared of people getting mad at what I'm saying, but this is fucking true.

22:04Italy, this is the most elegant way I can say this, is not the most open-minded country. And they currently have a very right wing, some would say fascist president. So if you want to flee America because of Trump, you're fleeing to the wrong place. You're not going. If you're doing this for the moral standpoint, if you don't stand for what your president stands for, you are going to the wrong country. OK. And it's just not a place. So will we retire there one day? I don't know. I am available to love places for what they are, understand the good and bad of certain places, and be grateful for where I currently am.

22:55You know, if it makes sense for us at some point to move somewhere else, then we will. Do I have a hard time reading the news every single day about what's going on with our president? It makes me sick to my fucking stomach. But is this a country that allows us to start businesses and allowed my immigrant husband to move here and start businesses, even though he could get thrown into a van by a masked man at any given time? You know, you weigh the options. There is a chance of me to get deported. Not that it's fucking funny. What a fucking name where we're living in. But anyway, we take advantage.

23:37So we had a great trip. This was summer 2025, Barangini family trip. Now there's four of us. There was a lot of poop everywhere. Lots of poop. When we, where was the first poop that happened? And I was like, oh my God, where was it? When we got to the Cayman, when we brought the kids to Cayman, Davide took Carlo's diaper off. And then walked away. and I was using the restroom and I walked into the living room and now we can say it. Carlo, we've been sitting on this. You can say life. Carlo shit. And then, and then was just playing, stomping, crawling in it. And, um, that was within, that was like, we had just put the luggage down and I went to use the restroom and he got the kids like, and so there was poop all over the room.

24:31I had to roll up the carpet. Like it was a fucking dead person and put it on the balcony and like, didn't know how to dispose of it. And like, was all my family group chat. Like, should I bring this thing to a dumpster? But like, obviously there's going to be cameras everywhere. So they're going to catch me. Like I was horrified. So there was a lot of like poop moments on this trip. Cause you know, Carmel is not potty trained yet. And, um, so between her like random meltdowns, but we have a, we have a system for her meltdowns. which I have Miss Rachel downloaded on my phone. And so it's just like a matter of not telling her she needs to calm down.

25:12Like you can't say anything. Same thing as any kid having a tantrum. You're not, you can't poke the tiger. You have to say, I'm sorry, you're feeling this way and put on music or something that soothes her. And then I got to give her space. And then when she gets out of, I mean, I do that when we're here, if she's like out of control and like getting dangerous i put her in her room i put on a song i closed the door she knows how to open her door obviously and so i'm like let me know when you're ready to you know join the rest of us that i'm here for you if you need me and 10 out of 10 times she i can hear her taking deep breaths i'll count with her to 10 a couple times because that always soothes her so you know we're able to get her out of it carlo on this trip turned into a fucking bandit out of fucking nowhere criminal he's a criminal full delinquent he's a delinquent full delinquent I don't you know he I have a theory that he was the haircut to give him the macho felt very strong about himself after that yeah he's just a bad he's number one bad boy right now so he you know he needs to feed himself with the fork I can't there's no we were with these people at one point in the trip and she was like oh your son has the fork like she's like I'm not a mom but I but that is that dangerous and I was like you take it from him I was like what like I take try to take the fork from him like I don't know what to tell you like he has a fucking fork and I can't take it and he has to feed himself and if I take the fork it's a meltdown the goddamn high chairs in Italy don't have seat belts so it's like if I took my eye off him for one second he's standing up covered in food fork in one hand bread in the other hand going hey hey across the roaster.

26:53Ha! Ha ha ha! Hey! He's a dick. Oh man. We did, you know, we posted a reel of him getting a haircut in the little barbershop where Davide's been getting his haircut his whole life and his dad and his brothers and the whole family. And that was so special. It was. And I'm really happy we were able to do that. We got there. It was closed. this is this is so fucking a time we get there it's closed nobody really has like hours posted anywhere uh it was four o 'clock and so david i called his dad and he's like oh he's having lunch like he'll be back let me call him calls them uh calls back he's like yeah he'll be back at five like he's got a couple people like come back around six or whatever so we go back and in the middle of the haircut which was so fucking cute he looked the man looked at me and said in italian your husband your davide is turning 37 this year that was and he said it with pretty that was pretty he said it in the most with a big smile on his face and it caused me also a full um Um, existential crisis meltdown from Dami Day over that one.

28:20Yeah. Because he could have said to me, I've been cutting your husband's hair since he was a baby. Or your father-in-law, blah, blah, blah, the family. But he looked at me with a sweet smile and wanted and with a loving smile and was proud to tell your wife that he knew the year that you were born. And that's what I think some, somehow, like, I think is a great, like, and I think I said in the past, but that's, that's when you say like, we're always happy to come back home. and we are we are always happy to go to Italy and it's a privilege to be able to call it home it's a privilege to have our babies with us and it's beautiful we are so fortunate, we are so lucky it's people in your context that make the difference people make places, people make places and that's at the end of the day is what I try to bring, we try to bring in our environment.

29:37So him looking at you that way with my son and my legs. And by the way, you, you went to his, is one of the first places they brought you when I brought you home. Yeah, I've been there before. Also for context, which is really sweet, is he has a mentally disabled son that goes to work with him every single day and sits in there. and it's so sweet to see like that element of the experience because his son is non-verbal but but the dad obviously communicates with him it's really sweet it was really sweet so then if we go going back to what we said a minute ago of course when you experience that or when you experience episodes like that or when you experience something on a human level that, you know, and you never had to be, you, sorry, you, you have, you have been also in hospital.

30:30You have been, uh, we were in the hospital on this trip, obviously didn't post about it. You already had, you know, experiences in, in, in where, in where like the people of that, every institution, like in everywhere you go, you know, you've been with me at the passport of, it's like, there is this pattern or of of humanity there is this line that the link all of all of the italians and then and that makes it that that's what makes it to me so do we live in a beautiful place yet do i do i miss italy paisagistically no i love california i love where we live i love looking at what is out of my window i still miss these days that feeling of they could go from a barber a coffee or by the way i i feel that i think it's the the the word that it's not even good enough to describe it but the word that i think that you would use to describe like you know that feeling is like is community there's also like a nostalgia to that but i feel that on the east coast it's something of there's something about california this is not all of this is not all of california but there's something about los angeles where like people look at you like they know who you are or they like every time you enter a restaurant in la the whole restaurant looks and like stares you up and down they do it to everybody who walks into a room but nobody's like kind it's this like is it i please forgive me this is the far west yeah but it's true so when i say that places hold you know we were on the beach and we are on the beach actually with with the new yorker we were with frank and nino and the muslin and we are looking at the we're looking at this beach next to us is is it was a temple an actual greek time temple like the place has more greek ruins and we are we are all quiet we're all grown up we are eating we are looking outside the restaurant we look each other and it's like it was civilization here like thousands years ago.

32:54The same way, so imagine how many people stop in those coasts. So imagine how that builded. Yeah, energetically it's unbelievable. Correct. Not only existentially, but energetically. And then if you compare that to, I don't know, Scandinavia or South America or Asia, like China let's say, of the Asian country or America, In this case, West Coast, California, a state that is known to be like, basically the human activity that happened here, the opposite of what we experienced. Yeah, absolutely. It was about tracking your land. It was about killing for your land. It was about protecting your thing.

33:43It was about your own family. It was about what's yours. That's stolen land and then people protecting the land that they stole. It's just bad. Correct. I've talked about this with my, I can't say her name, but the woman, my like psychic woman I always talk about. Because I talk about this energy stuff all the time and she's like, you're on land that's like fucking gnarly. So that carries. Yeah. As much as we don't believe it, it carries. The same way you being a parent carries on your kids and eventually it carries on their kids. And it lasts forever and it's for a very long time. so like we've i've born and raised in pasadena for 40 years i mean i lived away for 10 we don't davide doesn't have like a coffee shop that he goes to here and it's not because i'm a dick sorry if i use a strong term no no because then you want to also contextualize thing is like it's not about you know we're going to this cafe and i hate to use we've gone to so many trying to find our place Day two we get to this cafe, right?

34:44We go to this cafe and it's actually a fancy place. It's not a family necessary. The guy understanding of us as a family was spot on. And he treated us spot on. And he's like, the next day, he already, not only understand, it's much better. It's better. Wait, can I tell you what I think the difference is? It just hit me. Go ahead. it takes me a lot of words to articulate it takes me to a lot of articulation but what you just said it just hit me but because of what you said you're articulating well people who work at coffee shops here don't want to do that job not i mean they love they've many people love their job but it's not what they do it's a means to an end they want to do other things if you're a barista in italy that's your job for 40 years literally the guy that we went when we went to katania cafe the guy that there that hugged me at the end he's been working there since you were a baby right so it's a humanistic job but that's what it means it means that if you already right already we say the tsa we say the hospital we say the bar we say the barber the police guy and you say something that i love that when when you when we were almost at the end of our trip and and we never talk about for instance another thing i'm very happy when we share our experience we never talk about food we never say how good the food it is we never say how beautiful it is a bee or a crystal the water was or a hider of a gem one place no we say actually if we will all put some effort on being better people for each other in the place we already live everywhere you are in the world the world is a better place our joke on the trip was like anywhere can be italy if you believe in yourself enough and you and you create a community and listen i understand people go to italy we all do and we're like what this is the fucking it's never gonna be traveling or going anywhere going to how i feel in mexico it's never going to feel the same as where you live people it's normal but my life on a daily basis would be better more enriched more fulfilled if i had a place i could go in the morning with somebody who remembered my name and touched my child thank you and asked her how she's doing at school and remembered my mom's name in my order and then if i went to my guy for my fucking groceries i feel this way at the farmer's market with the guy who remembers us or whatever.

37:23And like, if we had restaurants we were continuing to go to, and I had a lot of that growing up here when I was little, there were like restaurants that we, they're gone now. What? Perfect. Stay wherever. The point is this, what we're witnessing here, which I'm pretty sure, and I hate to say it this way, and I hate to say something strong, I can see already Italy changing. Oh, it is big time. And it's changing through fast food. It's changing to fast fashion. It's changing through content that people have available. It's changing through social media. It's changing through platform communication.

38:04And it's a small process, of course. We're not going to probably witness it in the next... But it's changing. And that's what... Carmela's walking up the stairs. It's almost like a globalization issue. Yeah. Means that the same way we say, oh, if you actually pay attention to how you behave or if you treat people nice and you can be in Italy, you can be anywhere, right? It works also the other way around. If we started to... Not go to Italy and be like, I don't eat like this. Can I have this? To forget that. If you're starting to forget that, every place pretty soon is going to be... The same.

38:46Is going to be the same. Yeah. Because that happens in Mexico too. You see that like... Correct. So we talk about like, oh, I don't know, people want it to be, you know, I want to talk about an Italian restaurant. Okay, dude, what's the link with it? Nothing. I like it. Okay. It's great. And God bless you. But what I'm trying to say, we cannot flatter this world. We cannot make it that everywhere we go, we eat the same thing. everywhere we go we win is a the same we we cannot level the world that way so i love the phrase that anthony bourdain said being a being a traveler being a tourist is is some perfectly i think what we're trying to say and he's i miss him every day no but you know like what i miss i miss people you know what i'm starting missing pp and it's funny you say that about him i'm started missing reference that we used to have.

Read the full transcript

39:50I don't like to call them leaders or no reference humans. They will give you a reference that were able to say things or to express concept, even in a strong way, but that they marked something that you will be inspired by. And generationally that is changing too. We're starting losing those reference. We started losing people like Anthony Mollet, there is no more. Think about it. It's a tragedy. It's not about being popular or successful or rich. It has nothing to do with that. It's how you occupy a place in your system, in the world, and how that could eventually spare somebody else. I know that Italy will change because the new generation are changing.

40:37I don't mean to be pessimist, but I know that the habits and the way people behave is slowly going to change. And that's why I brought the example of the movie that I love, Hair, with Joaquin Phoenix. I watched the movie when it came out. It was 2017. What movie? Her. Her. H-E-R. Hair. Her.

41:04And I watched the movie in 2017. I was almost triggered by that. It was almost like it preoccupied me. I watched it last two weeks ago and it wasn't too... Yeah, it's not too off. Off. I'm like, we are almost there. People do therapy with LGBT. It's great. But the moment I get to a remote village in Sicily, where I remember 10 years ago, the guy didn't have a phone. And now I see a barcode to scan. Yeah, what? the barcode thing was so fucking annoying that was crazy no but that tells you david got really irritated a lot of times they were taking out the humanistic aspect of a lot of these beach clubs that was like because i know yeah i know and i it's because of the inflexive tourists well actually this is what he said to me they had like margaritas and shit they had it was crazy It was a mango.

42:01I'm like, who came out with this? You're an idiot. But that's going to, so I am a little bit concerned for all that. Thank you, Cotton, for sponsoring this episode. You should feel confident about what you put on your body. So whether that's clothing or your sheets, you want something that is soft and natural. And that's why I just love cotton. Who doesn't love cotton? Who doesn't? I mean, denim and a white t-shirt. I mean, to me, it's just like the American uniform. Cotton is gentle on your skin. It breathes. So it keeps you cool. It's hypoallergenic. And what is better than putting on that perfect t-shirt that you've had forever or getting into a perfect, cool, yummy cotton bed on a spring or summer night?

43:01I always choose to wear cotton when it gets warmer out. And I don't know if you know how many different cotton fabrics there are. Again, we have denim, corduroy, and flannel. It's such a versatile fabric. You can wear it with any style, season, or occasion. Cotton is also so durable. It's easy to wash and care for. It keeps its shape. And listen, I love cotton for a multitude of reasons. One of them also being, you know, financial, but on top of that, the nostalgia that comes with wearing an item that you've had for so many years of your life, like my favorite jeans, the jeans I'm wearing right now.

43:39I've had these since before I had my daughter and I've worn them through two pregnancies. And my favorite, favorite, favorite white t-shirt I've had through my 20s. So I always think about when I put it on, like how many places I've worn it. Davide wears one of my dad's t-shirts, this cotton shirt that he loves so much that he wears every single time we fly for good luck. If choosing quality fabrics is important to your family, make sure that you look for the cotton tag. Cotton truly is the fabric of our lives. Learn more at thefabricofourlives.com. I'm going to share a way you can make delicious dinners at home without planning, prepping, or any exhausting cleanup.

44:24Suvi is a smart countertop oven and a flexible meal delivery service. It can save you hours in the kitchen each week. So get this, the Suvi kitchen robot has built in refrigeration so you can set up dinner in the morning and sous vide will keep it cold until it's time to cook. You literally don't even have to be home. It just starts cooking it. It has tap to cook technology so you can prep dinner in just a couple minutes. You're going to load the meals into the sous vide cooking pans, tap the card to your appliance and set what time you want the food to be ready. We literally, this is like the Jetsons.

45:03There are Chef crafted meals are delivered right to your door. You choose from over 50 meals with new options added each week. You get to pick your meals, how many you get and how often they arrive. And then the sous vide kitchen robot fits on the counter and it has 15 cook modes, including air fry and slow cook. And you use it to cook any recipe. So don't spend hours in the kitchen. You're not going to spend a fortune on takeout and delivery. Sous vide is the simple solution that takes all the stress out of planning dinner. Sous vide offers a hundred day risk-free trial. You have literally nothing to lose.

45:36You're going to go to suvie.com slash best, and you're going to get 16 free meals when you order. That is suvie.com slash best to get 16 free meals with your risk-free trial. Save time and eat better with Suvie. Well, Italy, listen, I hate, Italy's small. It's the size of California. And by the way, Americans aren't the only people that go there It's filled with Germans, it's filled with Swedish people It's filled with Danish people, it was filled with Australians So it's a lot It's a small place to have that many people You know, and so It's just going to be really interesting to see What the next few years Would be like, I know I mentioned That You know, I'm not Going to talk, I have no There's one place that we go That I'm just not going to mention because I am going to gatekeep it because it's not for other people um it's there's a thousand people there so you know it just it says it's not necessary and by the way because you won't enjoy it because there's no hotels it's not a place that functions well for tourists by any fucking means um but you know for everybody asking like what we did on the trip it's super also hard for me to recommend The place where we spend time, it's fair for you to say that it's actually not designed.

47:02No, it's not designed. It would be unfriendly for somebody to go on a place like that. You would have a horrible hotel. You would have a hotel with no air conditioning. Factory, factory. No, it's just like... Yeah, people don't even speak any... The streets are not designed for... Yeah, it's not. Anyway, so we always start in Catania because that's where Davide's from, that side of the island. And again, like I also don't ever want to give recommendations and someone was like, oh, you're trying to gatekeep the whole island. I'm not. I don't know. I have stayed places that people have recommended and have hated it and vice versa.

47:38So I don't want you. I need you like whatever type of trip you want is like you got to find that. But I'll tell you, if you're going to rent an Airbnb or a VRBO, make sure you know how far away you are from a beach, if it's walkable or not, if that beach has a beach club, and if that place has air conditioning. Because places in Sicily in particular are not designed to be on the water. A place we stay on the water was an old, it's where they used to fish tuna. So rich people lived up high. They lived away from the water. So a lot of the places where you go, if you want to go to Noto, which is super beautiful.

48:24If you want to go to Siracusa, Ortizia, super beautiful. These places are not, there's one beach in Ortizia, but you have to walk down a bunch of stairs and it's rocks and it's the rocks go into the water. So it's like slimy. You need water shoes. it gets very crowded so my advice for you if you want to go to Sicily is that you need a car and go like all the different squares at night all have different vibes and so if I were you I would just like explore you know you're not gonna stay I had a friend who just went there who said she had the best time ever and then she loved it more than Portofino but she was at a hotel that was, you know,$2 ,500 a night and didn't leave like that area.

49:10And if I were you, if you're going to go to Catania, you have Tarmina, which if you've never been there before, it's going to be so beautiful to you. It's like the Amalfi, but nothing is as beautiful as Amalfi. Unfortunately, it's one of the most beautiful places, but it's, it's at the top of a hill. So you got to figure out how to get up there. And if you're staying up there and there's like a little gondola that takes you up and down, which is really pretty. And then you definitely want to go up to Aetna to wine taste. If you want, you know, like it's beautiful and it's cold up there. That's why like I made a video being like, Oh, going from the sea to the mountains.

49:47And someone was like, you should still see in your bathing suit. And I was like, it's fucking freezing up there. Even in the summer, it's cold. You need a sweater up there and there's ash everywhere from the volcano. So So it's just like a beautiful, more interesting place. But, you know, in between these places, it's like really rustic. And then, you know, you have the other side of the island, which is the Palermo side, which has Cefaloo. There's like one fancy hotel over there. This girl just made a really crazy TikTok video about how horrible that hotel was. I've stayed at that hotel. I get it.

50:24It's the only nice hotel over there. So they're charging a lot of money for it, but it's definitely not worth the price. Like the rooms aren't, you know, it's like you work really hard for these trips and this shit's expensive. And so, and then also it's not in the town of Cefalu. So the hotel is beautiful and it's on the water and there's like beautiful rocks and that whole vision. But then we walked with Carmela to the town, but most people didn't want to, cause you walk through a very desolate, like closed port. It's like kind of sketchy or you can drive like, so the best thing to do would be to have a car.

51:06I have a lot of people asking me like, what is it like to travel to Italy with a three month older? It's the same is traveling anywhere. They sell diapers. So you can buy diapers and wipes and all those things. The, so, you know, it's not, it's the same as anywhere. I would just say, you want a duna if you can. I know dunas are so expensive. I've been trading my duna around my group of friends. I had Carmela in our duna for a really long time. I remember somebody being like she's too old to be in the duna she she carmela has always been very tall for her age and we just went by the weight requirement so we had her in there for like a year and a half i mean carlo's a year and he still fits in the duna no carmela no carmela was there for a minute also because the duna back then was probably i don't remember other version of the duna there's no other version of the duna that's what i'm saying so like it was the most efficient so we bring a duna for the we how we do it is we bring a duna for the little we bring a fold up travel stroller this year we brought the silver cross i said man we need to do a review of all that i know we should and then we rent a car we drove to sicily from naples like we are we i've driven with davide from milan to sicily i drew from san tropez to to marseille from from marseille to sis yeah we've different from marseilles to cisco we're we're road trippers so we rent a car no but also because in terms of logistic the morning i went to the airport in let's say from capri already to to naples is is a trip then you go to the airport the airport was another small town with a small airport that wasn't designed to receive this many people billion visitors per year we went to the naples airport to we landed there we went to capri for our wedding god getting there is a fucking pain anyway we got we went back to the naples airport to rent a car it was ridiculous we went back to the naples airport to rent a car and I waited.

53:29Thank God. The driver was really nice that we had who picked us up from the port to go to the airport. And he was like, I'll wait here, which he was like navigating dude, the way he was like stationary, but then he would move. Then he would come back and he's calling Davide. I'm here. I mean, that was like Davide. So we went into the airport for just a second to go to six where we rent our cars from and he came out and he was like that airport is fucking crazy so if you're taking flights like in between Italy and the large you get lost those little airports and the little flights by the way be careful if you're booking like if you book a cheap airline there's so many amazing affordable flights but they don't let you check luggage so check for that because for us it was like Ryanair would let us check luggage, but our flight from Naples to fucking Catania was like$2 ,000.

54:23And I was like, fuck that. We would rather just drive the six hours, the seven hours. I put all the family in the car and we drove out of Naples.

54:38And that itself on its own is already great because you get lost somewhere, you stop for lunch, whatever.

54:47and and there is this this yeah man it's also subjective you know now that I'm trying to recap where we were and what we did it is there is no such you can't say oh you know what don't go here experience what kind of trip you want to do but it's like it's almost like Because also, by the way, the first half of our trip, we're with his family. Like, we went to, we were in the hospital with his niece who had a brain fucking aneurysm. So I arrived to Qatar and we went to the hospital. And then we were at, we know. It was the first stop. We forgot about it. Yeah, it was. And then we went to, no, first we went to see your mommy.

55:30Yeah, the same day. And then we went to the hospital. So there's a lot of like normal stuff that we do when we're there. We went to the farm. uh we visited vendors you know we we did a lot of work when we were there because we're setting up all of our vendor situation for baron cheney which i will be fundraising for next month so hey you want to know what's cool what emmett's gonna do the branding for baron cheney that's nice like a great job with um yeah but i've been working but i think it's a beautiful full circle moment because when I worked at Reformation, I was like 25 or something. And so was Emmett because we're around the same age.

56:19Emmett had a company called Gin Lane. I've had Emmett on the podcast. Gin Lane was the street he grew up on in the Hamptons. Gin Lane had an office on the Bowery and he had a neon sign in the window that said surf the web. And it was a, it was a wave in the shape of like the little like um oh my god like a like pixelated wave and he built the reformation he did all the big like d2c branding and websites like i remember him doing which is like so cool and then he's done so many things he just did the new outdoor voices branding and our deck is almost done and i went over it this morning and i was like god we're kind of like still using the same, like the Barancini is one logo and then Import & Co.

57:07is in like a different logo that sits under it, but they don't really, I don't really like how they don't like communicate together at all. No, but the name of the brand was Barancini Import & Co. I know, but the Barancini has a line around it and then Import & Co. is in cursive. Ah, they're not integrated individually. That's great. I'm very happy about that. Well, it's a really beautiful situation because I've known him for so long and the dream is that you everyone comes up together right and then on top of that my references for the brand are from these antique sicilian magazines that we have been looking at since we met nine years ago magazine but it's this one it's this it's this it's these four magazines that are you can't find them anywhere they're like from a yard sale in sicily and they're fucking nuts and it has the most beautiful I took this is like what I studied at Parsons you know so it's like I it's it's my reference for everything is these magazines and so I sent it over to him today and it's just a really beautiful like culmination of like our life into this like one thing which I'm really really excited about.

58:23Same. No because because you're right it is is the materialization of of our our relation and our family and my my background and and hopefully my side of family and you know when when we get to the point like the first fundraise is just for product and you know uh 3pl and distribution you know all of the marketing a product development and all that stuff, right, is the first fundraise. And then in conjunction, once we start getting some money from that to fund product, we're going to do a separate fundraise for the restaurant. And what I'm most excited about that is to have a physical space that makes you, I'm already envisioning people being like, I don't like the pasta because pasta doesn't taste.

59:17I don't care about that. I want people to have, to feel how we feel at an Italian restaurant, like a real Italian restaurant. But also, I think the mission is not even, it's about, it's literally about us. And it's about our family, it's about, of course, the place I'm from. And it's about the place we are. it's about the place where we live it's about our family hope our kids before hoping people will like sorry I don't mean to sound like I don't necessarily care about that I care more about what it stands for and our family our family name is our kids caring it's a family business it's the true definition of a family business so that's what I think is that's what makes me more excited We talk about Italian restaurants a lot and people will be like, what's your favorite Italian restaurant?

1:00:21I think food is so subjective. At this point, it's fair to say also that you can have a great plate of pasta in where we were. We were traveling. We were talking about traveling. And we had the Italian restaurant. I was like, wow, they did a great job. I forgot. We were at some remote place in America. I think anyone should open up whatever they want. No, no, no. But what pisses me off about people opening Italian restaurants? Is that they don't try at all to give you that fucking experience. It's about a product. It's about results. It's about like how good can I get to make you pasta so you can have great pasta in Tennessee.

1:00:59What I'm trying to say is more about a container that will make you feel in a certain way. Yeah. More than, and I think like everything we do, we are very focused on the emotional reaction we're generating you. That's how we create things. We, we, I think it's fair to say that at your store, Like you people hang out there. Business oriented. 100%. I'm zero business oriented. So if, if everything we do is, is, is designed and concepted and, and, and, and, and created to make you feel in a certain way. Otherwise, you know, there's so much. And that's why there's like a restaurant in LA that we've 86ed off our list, even though it has great food because like we're consistently treated.

1:01:51It's like a horrible fucking experience. Like we went to an empty fucking restaurant on a Sunday at five o 'clock when it first opened, there was not a single person in the restaurant. I walk up, it's Davide and I and another couple. We have two kids. That couple has two kids. So we pull up and we say, it's two adults and four children and she said we don't seat parties of eight i said the eighth is a high chair that's not doesn't really count as a person she said that's our policy i said there's nobody in your restaurant she said we don't sit tables we only sit tables of seven literally lick my fucking yes we it's so crazy and these are people that we've had conversations with who talk extensively about how much they love italian culture an italian restaurant would never ever tell you at an empty what to an open is back to no but let me finish but that's so that's the only thing that bothers me about hospitality in general ultimately because japanese people have ultimately is the summit of what we've been saying during human experience it's about that so we ultimately wanted to bring you as to your experience and the people that will want it to work in that in that environment because because that you think about it all the magical places or all the magical experiences or all the magical things you happen to do in your life are linked to other people.

1:03:38And people wanted to experience, people wanted to feel that. What people love about Italians and Italian culture in Italy is when you go and you see how a micro system, how a microcosmo, how a micro place works so perfectly, still so organically and so naturally and so humanistically so so that's literally what the goal is the goal is not about to to be the best it's not about to be the most popular it's not about to be the most hot or no it's about us making you feel something through ourself and the people that will work with us. And that's why you can mention all the, there are only few very places, I think in hospitality and in restoration that would make you feel in a certain way.

1:04:39Most of them that are memorable don't really, it's not about what they do or how they do it. It's why they do it. On that note, love you. Thank you.

1:04:54Thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure. Do you want to go out to dinner or you want to eat dinner at home? The way. If we go out to dinner, we got to go now. I'm happy the way. Okay, love you. Ciao, ciao.

1:05:10And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes this week's episode of Everything is the Best. I hope you enjoyed it. Please rate, review, subscribe, all that stuff. Maybe leave a comment. Go ahead and follow me on Instagram at Thea Barancini, and I hope you have a fabulous, fabulous rest of your day. Love you. Ciao.

1:05:37Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.

From the publisher

In this episode we recap our trip, but not where we went or what we ate, but mostly the experiences we had. We discuss traveling with two kids but mostly we talk about how people really make places. Enjoy!


Produced by Dear Media

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

More from Everything is the Best

All 71 episodes
Italy Recap with Davide!Everything is the Best · 1 h 6 min
Listen in VO