GB
La Tosa
Milan, LombardiaPorta Vittoria (now gone, just a piazza) was so named after the battles that took place there during the Five Days of Milan, the violent conflict which saw the Milanese finally victorious in ridding the city of the Austro-Hungarian occupation and army. So far, fairly standard name and naming practice. Prior to this, however, this… (more)
Carciofi, Artichokes
Rome, LazioYes, ’tis the season for artichokes. The market abounds with them, everyone is eating them, and if you want to decorate the home with them you can even buy them in bouquet form. Quite different from the ones available outside of Italy, these can be eaten whole (stem, “choke” and all) without the need to… (more)
Multi-purpose Atrium
Pisa, TuscanyTake a stroll Lungarno (from lungo l’Arno, lit., along the Arno) and you really get an idea of Pisa’s military and mercantile power back in its heydey. Palazzo after patrician palazzo formally stand post, side-by-side, lining both sides of the river for most of the centro storico. Palazzo Gambacorti however, never served as private home… (more)
Via dei Sediari – The Chair Makers’ Street
Rome, LazioAlthough there are not many chair makers left on and around Via dei Sediari which is just behind the senate house, the few botteghe there that practice this old trade still do a brisk business, especially wicker furniture. Ask this sediaro about his trade however and he will admit that small shops like his are… (more)
Auguri di Pasqua
ItalyHardly an interaction with someone occurs today without a heartfelt exchange of wishes. Auguri di Pasqua (Easter wishes, pronounced ow-GOO-ree dee PAS-kwa) are exchanged across the board. Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Pasqua, and then Pasquetta (little Easter, on Monday) make this a long holiday weekend, meaning everything closes, which means you won’t be running into… (more)
Easter Eggs
ItalyDespite a united front of your best efforts and New Year’s resolutions, at a certain point during the weeks leading up to Easter in Italy you simply throw in the towel and give up resisting. It is impossible to fight the rising tide . . of chocolate eggs. Most everyone (Persians, Muslims, Celts, Jews, Christians,… (more)
Extraordinary Maintenance
Venice, VenetoManutenzione ordinaria (ordinary maintenace) and manutenzione straordinaria (Extraordinary Maintenance) are two legal terms often used in Italian leases. However, the second of the two is used for any out-of-the-ordinary maintenance task. For example, ongoing cleaning at the Colosseum in Rome would be manutenzione ordinaria, while the re-pointing of its blocks of tufo would be manutenzione… (more)
Quota Hora Est?
Rome, ItalyOne of the better ways to get the answer to the above question 2000 years ago in Rome would have been to head over to the large marble paved area (twice the size of the St.Peter’s square!) located in the Campus Martius (Field of Mars), west of Via del Corso. Here, all you would have… (more)
The Ides of March
Rome, ItalyThe ides (in Latin pronounced Ee-des) fell on the 13th of all months, except March, May, July (named after Julius himself, this month was previously Quintilis), and October, when it would take place on the 15th. Thanks to the ancient writers we all know what happened on the Ides of March near Pompey’s Theater (not… (more)
The Towers
San Gimignano, TuscanyLong gone was the need for protection against the barbarian hordes. Yet at the height of the craze in the 13th century, there were 72 towers in San Gimignano. What gives? Perhaps it was because the town was well located along the main trade routes, and due to its saffron trade became extremely rich. Perhaps… (more)
Festa delle Donne
ItalyAuguri alle signore! (Best wishes to the ladies!) Yesterday was la Giornata Internazionale delle Donne, aka Women’s Day. Celebrated in quite a few countries its tone varies widely, from having a strong emphasis on women’s political, social, and economic rights at one end of the spectrum, to a celebration more akin to St.Valentine’s Day at… (more)
Problema, Officer?
Rome, LazioOccasionally something happens to you in Italy and you begin to think that Fellini was not a great surrealist film-maker, but just a simple documentarian telling it like it is. A few days ago I walk into the alimentari (deli) after squeezing through bumper-to-bumper traffic on the tight cobblestone street, people standing by their cars… (more)
Acant-who?
ItalyThe official name is acanthus. Seems to grow pretty much everywhere, along (the Mediterranean) coastal areas, up to 800 ft. above sea level. Dry, rocky or humid soil, it does fine wherever, flowering in late spring/early summer. So what of it? Well, the plant was “used” extensively throughout the Mediterranean throughout the ages. The Greeks… (more)
Messing with Pasta Perfection
Rome, LazioClass-A Amatriciana, the favorite Roman tomato and pork pasta, is rare. (Exhaustive research since the early ’80s has uncovered very few restaurants.) Places will either use pancetta (pork belly, aka bacon) instead of the finer guanciale (pork jowl). Or use rigatoni instead of bucatini. Or have chefs who are members of the deranged “Amatriciana sauce… (more)
The writing on the wall
Spoleto, UmbriaSpoleto’s walls were built, torn down, re-built, demolished, repaired, and re-placed many times over the course of history. Umbrii, Romans, and Carthaginians to name a few were either the reasons why the walls went up, or down, and in some cases they were both. And that was before the Ostrogoths and Visigoths were running rampant… (more)
Bramante’s Cloister
Rome, LazioThere is more than a lifetime of things to see wandering the streets of Rome, yet one often forgets that there is a whole other city inside the building walls that is just as interesting. This is one of those spots that is perfect when you’re overwhelmed by the city, have sore feet, and just… (more)
Money money money!
ItalyLentils begin their official parade on the Italian menu on January 1st. Everyone eats lentils that day, the idea being that they represent coins, and the more you eat on day one, the more you’ll have coming your way that year. In fact, it’s not a surprise to find a cauldron of them served up… (more)
Here’s looking at you, kid . . Rome, ca. 1598
Rome, LazioAmong the other incredible works of art visible at Palazzo Barberini is one (below) by Michelangelo Merisi, aka Caravaggio (in self-portrait here). While it might not be one of his most famous pieces, its impact upon viewers today (as well as those 400 years ago!) is really no less than that from his major canvases.… (more)
Gardens of Ninfa
Ninfa, LazioThese incredible gardens and ruins are what remains of the ancient city of Ninfa, now long gone. It got its name from a small temple dedicated to the nymphs of the headwaters of the aptly-named Nymphaeus River. Situated along the old Via Pedemontana, (lit. “Foot-of-the-mountain Road”), Ninfa held a strategic position in Ancient Rome and… (more)
View from the Top
Montepulciano, TuscanyUp… up you go, along il corso, past the colonna del Marzocco, past the many patrician palazzi, past the churches, the Torre di Pulcinella with Montepulciano’s favorite character up top, past the Fortezza… ..and if you are willing to deliver a pre-emptive strike against the soon to be absorbed calories from yet another fantastic Tuscan… (more)
City (Re)-Planning
RomeWhile certainly not pervasive throughout Italy, in some of the larger cities less encumbered by shall we say strong moral adherence to the laws, rules, and regulations that govern the body politic, it is not uncommon to find that some citizens often take urban planning into their own hands. Literally. While walking home in Monti… (more)
Untouchable?
RomeYou don’t mess with perfection, right? There’s a reason they’re called “masters”, no? As in, the be-alls end-alls of Renaissance art, key figures in the development of all western art, immutable… Wrong! Take this painting for example. The photo is of the painting as it appeared until 1934. Until then, it was just a painting,… (more)
Polenta
ItalyWinter’s cold is an ugly thing, especially when the houses are built to stay wintry cool in the summer heat rather than the other way around. The Romans might have invented central heating 2000 years ago, but little has been done to improve the system since. Enter polenta…. The quintessential winter meal, this dish is… (more)
Omnibus Salutem Plurimam…
ItalyApologies in advance, but with an image like this one it proved difficult to invoke the more reverent and holy aspects of the holidays (which are of course in no way less considered). In light of this, it has been decided that a more lighthearted but by no means less heartfelt final note for 2011… (more)
Recent Comments