Cibi d'Italia

This weekend Roma is hosting the Mercato di Campagna Amica's Cibi d'Italia festival. This is Campagna Amica's first actual festival. Campagna Amica is a farmer's market in Italy that meets every weekend to sell fresh, locally grown and produced products. The Cibi d'Italia festival took place in the Circus Maximus (Circo Massimo in Italian) and highlighted local farmers and other food businesses. They had everything from fresh fruit to giant roasted pigs being carved in front of you to local viticulturists offering samples of their wares. I went with a good friend from UCSC who inspires me to become more of a foodie, Danielle Worthy.

Danielle, my food advisor.

We had so much fun walking around and sampling a lot of great Italian food. The festival was only really attended by locals, so hardly anyone spoke Italian, which was wonderful practice for us. We found a great wine tent and sampled a great red. I asked one of the employees what her favorite wine that they had was and she gave us the red. Danielle and I are normally more prone to get a white or rosé, but we were definitely open to some tasting. This wine was fantastic! It was crisp and fruity with a bit of sparkle. We both were asking each other what the unexpected flavor was, but not being connoisseurs of wine ourselves we just appreciated the taste and bought a bottle. We even talked to the sellers about which foods the wines were best paired with. Living in Roma for a month has really improved my Italian.

We found an interesting booth that was promoting Italy's version of the Biosphere Project that is happening at the University of Arizona. It is called il Parco Nazionale del Cliento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni and is a UNESCO site. They're committed to preserving the natural Italian landscape and biology. To attract interest in their booth they were handing out shish-kabobs of basil leaves, balls of mozzarella di buffalo, and fresh small tomatoes; all of which were produced within the national park. The basil was so flavorful and when I got a bite of it with the fresh mozzarella I almost died. Danielle and I just looked at each other in sheer happiness and could only make 'mmm'-ing sounds and exclaim 'oh my God!' It was the best mozzarella that either of us had tasted and the tomato was bursting with juicy amazingness. Honestly, imagine the best tomato you've ever had and then multiply the freshness and flavorfulness by at least 10. It bursted and I got some tomato juice on my white top, but it was worth it. Caprese salad shish-kabobs at an Italian farmer's market, does it get any better than that? 

Apparently it does. We found a great apple stand that had freshly picked apples that were amazing. I of course had to buy some because I love apples and fall, but they also had out tiny green fruits that looked like less transparent grapes. They were labelled as kiwis, but I assumed that the Italians just didn't really know what kiwis were. (They did as I later discovered at another stand.) So, attempting to be a bit more adventurous with my food, I popped on into my mouth not know what it would taste like or whether it had a pit or not. I was rewarded for my curiosity. It was actually a tiny kiwi without the brown fuzz outside that was actually able to be consumed whole. It was so tart and yet sweet and tasted exactly like kiwi. I was amazed and forced Danielle to try one as well and she ended up buying a kilo of the little buggers. We also ended up getting a citrus fruit that is like an orange on the inside but has a green peel like a lime. The Italians call it melanzawa and it is fantastic.

The food was great, but they hooked me with the petting zoo. There were goats, bunnies, turkeys, hens, sheep, and donkeys. I fell in love with the baby bunnies (even though the albino ones normally give me the creeps). And I got a bit sad for a moment when I saw the goats. I'm not that weird, it's just that my sister has wanted a goat for ages. She legitimately asks for one every Christmas. Honestly, what is a college student in California, let alone the desert that is Riverside, going to do with a goat? But still she remains persistent. At that moment I wished she were with me so that we could argue about how I think that goats are the devil's spawn because their pupils are sideways (really, it's unsettling) and she would argue about how adorable they are. 

And then one of the baby bunnies lunged at a little Italian boy's finger that he had stuck through the cage, and thankfully missed, and we just looked at each other and laughed, because that bunny was on speed or something. It struck like a viper! And then of course I missed my little brother because that would be exactly something he would do. I just really missed my siblings at that point, which is weird for me because as much as I love them, I think I don't show them. And I think that that impacts our relationship, they think I don't care when I just have trouble displaying emotion while at the same time I'm pretty sure they're a bit scared of me. The reasons are complicated and would take way too long to explain... I just worry because we're all living apart and I feel like we keep growing further and further apart. I miss them quite a bit and being away from them is hard, especially because as a military family that moved every which way all the time they were my constant friends and playmates. ...Sorry... wow, who thought talking about farm animals would get this deep? In apology I offer up these adorable pictures of farm animals that might just break your heart too.

Goats for Chels!

Look at their sibling bonds! 

They just love each other unconditionally

Bunny kisses are the best.

I loved the farmers market and Danielle and I found a lot of great things to make a delicious dinner with! It was a great day.

Local wine from the market

Ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach 

Tomato sauce from the market

That's my kind of party.

Danielle adding pecorino romano 

Perfection was achieved.

The Hunt for Bernini

First off I'd really like to thank everyone for reading my blog... I have over 450 hits since I began. So, thanks Ma for obsessively checking this to make sure that I'm alive!

So I haven't been writing much lately because my life has been a bit boring... I know, boring in Rome? But in my defense I am finishing a whole quarter's worth of Italian in 3 weeks and my final is in 2 days. So I'm busy in a very boring way.

Today I decided to change that up and head out to find some of the less obvious Bernini pieces in the city. (Yes, I know I'm obsessed.... but the way this man makes marble look fluid and alive is just... I don't think 'amazing' can cover it.) So I left my flat and began the long trek to Santa Maria della Vittoria. 

Before I even got close I accidentally walked past Sant'Ignazio de Loyola and had to go in to take some better photos. (I covered this church here) So I had to take some good pics of the 'dome.' Because the building's ceiling is flat Andrea Pozzo painted a dome that is really a trompe l'oiel - french for a trick of the eye.

The painted dome by Pozzo

The illusion from the wrong angle

So now I'm just going to give you all of my pictures of Sant'Ignazio de Loyola...

I love how they entomb and display holy bodies!

Soon I was on my way to find Santa Maria della Vittoria. I had checked my map before I left my flat so I wouldn't have to look like an ignorant tourist while hunting for Bernini and getting lost. But let's be honest here... I ended up at two of the churches mentioned in Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. I was bound to get a bit confused. Also, Via del Corso, the massive shopping street that runs through the center of Rome, can be a bit chaotic. So when I reached the Piazza di Spagna I knew I had gone too far. Santa Maria della Vittoria managed to be ridiculously far and up a rather large hill. But I found it! 

Santa Maria della Vittoria

It was rather small and unassuming, but inside was one of the world's greatest treasures (at least in my eyes): Bernini's L'Estasi di Santa Teresa - the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. St. Teresa had visions and believed that a seraph had come to her and repeatedly stabbed her in the heart with an arrow of flames that was painful yet beautiful which helped her to understand the true nature of sin. Sure, the story sounds a tad bit extreme, but no one can deny the beauty of Bernini's sculpture. Honestly, I am constantly awestruck by what he can do with marble. You can feel the arrow just by looking at her face and the way that her toes curl. My mind cannot comprehend how Bernini executed such amazing works of art and so many!

L'Estasi di Santa Teresa

After succeeding in my quest I headed over to the much easier to reach, but equally as far Santa Maria del Popolo. I was looking for the Chigi Chapel which was designed by Raphael and holds Bernini's Habakkuk and the Angel and David and the Lion. Unfortunately, my luck would have it that only that specific chapel was undergoing restorations.

Chigi Chapel

I did get some great pictures of some of the other works of the church which include frescoes by Pinturicchio and paintings by Annibale Carracci and Caravaggio: The Conversion on the Way to Damascus (Paul falling off of a horse when the Holy Spirit descends upon him) and Crucifixion of St. Peter. More bad luck... no photos were allowed to be taken of the chapel that held the Caravaggio works. I tried! But I did have a whole conversation in Italian with one of the guys who worked there (and was being rather uppity about the 'no photos' rule) and he informed me that he believed Chigi Chapel to be opening in October.... possibly. But that's Italy for you. Schedules are simply suggestions, as are traffic signals!

Santa Maria del Popolo nave

Pinturicchio

Piazza del Popolo

On my way back to my flat I saw a really cool line of Ferraris driving down the street. It was like a sort of car show was rolling into town or they were just having a Ferrari parade. I have no idea. But there were at least 30 cars in a row with a police escort. So I took pictures! Here's a special 'Ciao from Roma' for my little brother and car aficionado, Erik!

 

My closing thought... I loathe tourists. Walking anywhere in this city is unnecessarily obnoxious. They all walk so slowly and stop in the middle of the sidewalks impeding anyone and everything. My advice: look at your map before you go out, if you get lost stop somewhere like a piazza and then use your map (not the middle of a street), get lost because you never know what you'll discover, and don't join one of those tour groups created to make tourists look like idiots that swarm upon monuments like locusts. Be a traveller! Experience the culture, don't just observe it.