View from our lunch table at Villa Sant Andrea, Taormina, Sicily
A Very Happy Mother’s Day to everyone! And, especially to my wonderful Mom,
who is undoubtedly cooking and baking in her loving kitchen in the sky! Thank you, Mom for all you did to inspire my love of all things in and around the kitchen – and for your beautiful, devoted, tireless and generous faith and spirit – I will always marvel at the person you were in the face of such adversity, and personal challenge! I will use today to reflect upon the gifts which were deposited upon me genetically by my Mom and try to indulge in my perceived responsibility to maximize all that has been given to me in this way, and through the examples of her life to take all the good impulses given therein and improve upon their expression in my very own way. Thank you, Mom, I miss you so…….
I’m back in New Jersey after 13 glorious days in Italy. I have never been out of the country for this long – wow, it feels different. I have to tell you that the weather in Italy was, in two words, GLORIOUS and SPARKLING! Sun shining and dry and fresh air – a wonderful and uplifting gift! Yeah, love it!
First of all, let me say I can’t believe how much my yard has changed in two weeks. Yikes – everything looks slightly overgrown and unkempt. I guess I know where I will be spending the week.
I spent almost 10 hours on a plane yesterday flying back from Rome. It is now 4:37 am and I have been awake for over an hour. I am happy, right now anyway, sitting at my desk, in the dark and typing away. I only had my ipad and phone with me on the trip and since I haven’t loaded word onto my ipad, I used my Notes app to begin typing away to try to catch some immediate thoughts to share.
It will undoubtedly take me a few days to get all my photos in order to sort, select and share. Today, I will just try to get something meaningful down “on paper”, a page 1 of sorts, as a first stab at the memories. This will takes a few days to get all together in my mind’s eye.
First let me just say that this year, 2013, so far has been such a gift of happiness to me – with all the travel that I have done. Ryan has been in London for the semester, as many of you know, and we used this as “justification” to really splurge and take some great trips to Europe in a very short timeframe. What a thrilling experience it has been for me – to visit three places I adore in Europe and to get to soak up such sensorly-fulfilling memories! These trips have been so greatly inspiring for me – sorry if I overuse that word here, but I guess I picked the appropriate word for the name of my blog early on, didn’t I?
This trip? Rome, Positano and Taormina, Sicily. First, some general thoughts about the entire trip and my first reflections on Rome, a “first taste” as it were. Here goes:
ROMA*:
Ahhhh, the spectacle which is Rome. Where to begin? I hadn’t been in Rome for just about 7 years. It all returned to me very quickly. The last time we were there was right after Christin’s high school graduation, June 2007, and we went to meet up with Ryan who was traveling with his school choral group who had been singing in northern Italy and were due to sing Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Father’s Day and then at the ancient church at Piazza del Popolo.
As with my earlier visit, I immediately felt this quizzical feeling about Rome – this is a city which is at the same time dirty and gritty, an earthy melange of bustling mumbo-jumbo life, oddly juxtaposed with some of the most amazing ancient ruins in the world. It makes me wonder, at once, about how the Romans could be so brilliant and prolific in their heyday and now have allowed so much of their splendor to fall into relative disrepair. There is much graffiti, dust and litter all about and the crowds of people are amazingly swollen – particularly for the end of April and early May – not what I expected. It just takes a little bit to “adjust oneself”. I don’t mean to be critical here, I just found it confounding that the city with this much priceless spectacle, isn’t kept in sparkling condition……
The city’s infrastructure and environs are definitely not being well cared for – a complete mystery to me, especially when comparing Rome to London and Paris. The “greenery” which is woven into the landscape is ragged and in some cases worn down, the “edgings” and adornments on the streets and walls neglected and sad. Really? What does this say? I pushed through this and, as with the last time, took it in stride in order to maximally enjoy it just the way it is……..
The strains of the economy as well as Italy’s “curiously” dysfunctional current government are, sadly very apparent here. Either London and Paris have a great deal more of evident pride in their city or their resource allocation is much more effective. With the number of tourists here spending all their Euros, either someone is doing a great deal of skimming or something else serious is awry. Is it possible that the Roman citizens don’t realize this? In spite of these puzzling conditions, Rome’s main attractions still dazzle, no matter how befuddingly they are arranged around the subsequent growth of the city. I must say I did not notice as many well-dressed and proud Roman residents as I did last time, those lovely young and mature ladies strolling in their cashmere cardigans, pencil skirts and designer flats, and some of the grand in-city villas seemed a little more run down. I did spot Ivana Trump strolling down in the cream of the shopping district at the bottom of the Spanish Steps with who I believe to be her husband. Somehow, she doesn’t fit my description of the idyllic Roman matron, still belying her New York personna.
Anyway, we made our way around quite well, Ryan and I on Monday and Tuesday and then George joined us on Wednesday. We visited the Pantheon, Forum, Colusseum, Trevi Fountain, St. Peter’s, our fav Trastevere, the grounds of the Villa Borghese, Campo de Fiori and did just a bit of great shopping – prices in Rome are very good for items you can also buy in New York. We had tea twice at Christin’s favorite place for eggs benedict, Babington’s Tea Room, at the foot of the Spanish Steps. Sadly, this famous cafe also looked a little tired.
Here are just some of my memorable photos – more to come over the next few days as I sort out all my thoughts and pictures…..
Classic Roma, the spectacles:
the chestnut vendor at Piazza de Spagna 
Growing at the Colosseum:
fun with food:
At Campo De Fiori:
much more to come!
As with my earlier visits to London and Paris, I was again appalled at the amount of smoking in Italy. I must say we are indeed much farther ahead in abandoning this dastardly habit, and it made me wonder about the weight upon the EU’s medical budget and toll upon overall morbidity here. But, I did observe that this is just so definitely a part of the European lifestyle – it is just the contrast (and the irritating smell of smoke everywhere) that shocks you.
Anyway, sadly, the food in Rome is not amazing, generally speaking – unless you know exactly where to look. Peaks and peeks of excellence still are there, but this is not the heart of great Italian food offerings in restaurants. People seem to have just settled for, well, mediocrity here, I am surprised to say. (Can it really be that we Americans do a better job at showcasing great Italian food than the originals?) We did have a couple of very good Scallopine luncheons with the veal tenderly cared for and slightly hinted with fresh sage and prosciutto. The one restaurant that we really loved last time was sadly gone. We did have an unexpectedly good dinner at the Hotel Regina Baglioni and an excellent wine, which I must obtain the name and vintage of.
Of course, one of my favorite highlights in Rome was our morning visit to the market at Campo De Fiori. The weather being splendid, we, or should I say, I roamed happily for a long while, while Ryan and George sat in a cafe and tolerated my oogling activities. I thoroughly enjoyed photographing the vendors, their offerings and the great spirit that is the market – even though this is relatively early on in the season. One of the specific challenges I went to Italy with was to pursue the perfect apricot – sadly, I did not find one. But, I tried.
Sadly, I observed a lack of great pastry in Rome, the likes of which could compete with the “so totally inspired and interwoven with life in Paris”, quality and ubiquity. Perhaps this is unfair? Pasta is clearly the food offering of choice everywhere in Rome and the specialties are greatly woven around this flexible and relatively inexpensive tradition. Chicken is relatively scarce but there is an abundance of veal and seafood.
Following my recent blog about Prosciutto, I had a lot of fun seeking out and stepping into a variety of markets featuring wonderful Charcuterie and all vintages of Prosciutto and seeing the vendors who devote their lives to these provisions. No question, the quality of Prosciutto far surpassed what we get in the US, but of course this is no surprise. This applies to the quality of most foodstuffs there. The mentality around food in Europe is so different than the general attitude in the US as highlighted by the article in the International Herald Tribune on Friday which I re-posted on my Facebook – this basically sums up two things for me: a. why I love and adore the European mindset, and b. why I respect what we have lost and are working hard to regain (I’m referring to the artisan food people and farmers, of course).
Courtesy: International Herald Tribune:
Amalfi Journal
This Business Is a Lemon, and a Family Wants to Keep It That Way
Amalfi’s Legacy of Lemons: Along Italy’s Amalfi Coast, one family struggles to carry on its heritage of lemon cultivation.
(Gianni Cipriano, I am coming for your job!)
Anyway, you get what I mean.
I hate to compare to Paris again, but sorry, the bread in Paris is on its very own level – no comparisons here. Sorry to my ancestors – will you try to prove me wrong here?
More reflections on Rome, Positano and Sicily will follow in subsequent posts, but for now, I am going to have my Mother’s Day breakfast with Christin and George.
Everyone have a wonderful sunny, Mother’s Day!!!!
* my very favorite resource in/on Rome – Katie Parla – www.parlafood.com