I’m in this Italian cafe in Ivanhoe after a huuuuge psych session this morning, when I say Italian it really is an old school tiny cafe with 90s signage, zero attempt to look trendy or have vibey music, there are homemade Sicilian donuts, the proprietors speak Italian and look like they came out of the 1950s, and most tellingly, they asked if I could pay in cash first (but they did accept eftpos too).
The coffee is a proper damn espresso, too. I didn’t intend to get a donut but I might now
e: ahhhh an ancient nonno and nonna shuffled in and ordered everything in Italian (or maybe Sicilian I wouldn’t know). They must be in their late 80s. It’s a glimpse of a Melbourne that is disappearing
Old Med migrants speaking the language are literally dying out and with them a certain way of life that, from my understanding, was once very prevalent in Melbourne. Newer generations of migrants from those areas are very different, as are the descendants of the old migrants. Wouldn’t expect most of them to be primarily monolingual in an Italian language, and very different education levels/attitudes/life experiences
I’m in this Italian cafe in Ivanhoe after a huuuuge psych session this morning, when I say Italian it really is an old school tiny cafe with 90s signage, zero attempt to look trendy or have vibey music, there are homemade Sicilian donuts, the proprietors speak Italian and look like they came out of the 1950s, and most tellingly, they asked if I could pay in cash first (but they did accept eftpos too).
The coffee is a proper damn espresso, too. I didn’t intend to get a donut but I might now
e: ahhhh an ancient nonno and nonna shuffled in and ordered everything in Italian (or maybe Sicilian I wouldn’t know). They must be in their late 80s. It’s a glimpse of a Melbourne that is disappearing
tre fontane?
Seems like it has a reputation!
Curious what do you mean it’s disappearing?
Old Med migrants speaking the language are literally dying out and with them a certain way of life that, from my understanding, was once very prevalent in Melbourne. Newer generations of migrants from those areas are very different, as are the descendants of the old migrants. Wouldn’t expect most of them to be primarily monolingual in an Italian language, and very different education levels/attitudes/life experiences
Oh I see the 1950’s italian crew.
It’s quite incredible a fair few managed to remain fairly insular language-wise.