notes from Italy

Vetralla - On May 8th each year since 1432 the town of Vetralla, 68 kms north of Rome along the Via Cassia, celebrates the Wedding of the Trees, making it probably the first and most genuine festa ecologica (green or environmental celebration).

Costumed dancers cavort to the music of the town band, flag throwers perform and horsemen bearing bouquets of yellow Scotch Broom gallop around the clearing in the forest atop Monte Fogliano. After these opening acts, the Mayor in his tri-color sash performs the symbolic "wedding" between two giant oaks that are decorated with veils and flower garlands. For officialdom's sake, a notary's act attesting the union is read and signed by those present.
Who is invited to this unusual, historic wedding? On the grandstand under the giant oaks there are the town officials, some VIP guests, the Passionist priests who live in the neighboring monastery and a spattering of foreign visitors, all enjoying this authentic ceremony which reassert the town's possession – and protection - of the local forests.

Only once, in 1944, was the ceremony cancelled. Due to the Sant'Angelo Monastery's position dominating the surrounding territory, it was being used as headquarters for the German command and therefore people were forbidden to go near it.

Peony Garden near Viterbo

By Mary Jane Cryan

Viterbo - If you happen to be anywhere near the lovely Viterbo area (about 50 miles north of Rome) during the months of April and May, you will definitely want to visit this secret gem. Thousands upon thousands of Chinese peonies are all flowering at once at the Centro Botanico Moutan (Moutan Botanical Center)

Swing by and take one of their free guided tours among the blossoms, even if it is only offered in Italian. They also have a garden shop, as well as one with all sorts of peony related designer items, paintings, special gardening gear, and even cosmetic products made from the peonies. This being Italy, there is also a café of course

Torgiano, Umbria

Located near Bagnaia and the Renaissance gardens of Villa Lante, this privately owned garden spread over 15 hectares (almost 40 acres!) boasts the world's largest collection (many rare) of these incredibly colorful and fragrant flowers.

Torgiano, Umbria - Since the rediscovery of Etruscan art in the 1840's, people have admired the design, detail and workmanship of Etruscan jewelry.

The mysterious art of granulation, soldering tiny spheres of gold in an invisible way on to a thin foil to form the structure of a jewel, is alive and well and being practiced in Umbria by goldsmith Ulderico Pettorossi. This passionate student of Etruscan methods of goldsmithery after years of study, trial and error, now creates works of art of extreme complexity such as the magnificent brooches, necklaces, earrings and other masterpieces .

Collectors snap up his reproductions of Etruscan gold objects which often take years to produce and go for prices ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 euro. www.orodeglietruschi.eu

Where to stay in Torgiano? Relais Borgo Brufa on a hilltop outside Torgiano and the Tre Vaselle hotel of the Lungarotti wine estate. Don't miss out on a visit to the Lungarotti's local museums dedicated to wine and olive oil production throughout the centuries.

Bologna

Bologna - Known as La Dotta (the wise) for its historic university founded in 1088, and La Grassa (the fat) for its incredible cuisine, Bologna is also famous as the city where umbrellas are not needed, thanks to an ingenious network of covered sidewalks or porticos.
The longest and most spectacular of these porticos climbs to the top of Monte della Guardia on the outskirts of Bologna from which the circular Santuario di San Luca guards the city.

Beginning at Porta Saragozza, Bologna's south-western gate, the portico's 666 arches stretch for over two miles. The uphill leg begins at the impressive Meloncello archway and continues past frescoed chapels and numerous memorial plaques honoring patrons who helped build or restore the majestic portico . From the top of the hill there are lovely views of the city and surrounding landscape below.
Since its mention in John Grisham's "The Broker", the "Portico Trek" is fast becoming a must-do for visitors, just as the CinqueTerre trails are in Liguria.. Besides, in Bologna you'll be hard pressed to find a better way to work off all that great food!

Traditional Christmas Cards

Feeling nostalgia for an old fashioned Christmas? These quaint and colorful cards from the '50s show a lot about Italy's not so distant past. Pastel colored angels, children, and sweet scenes contrast with today's more commercial reindeer, Santas and snowmen. Baby Jesus is often featured, but not always, and loose re-interpretation of the nativity story is common, such as in the 2nd image (below), where gifts are born by three children instead of three kings.

Where to find them? Bancarelle (literally "small benches", meaning sidewalk stalls) selling ephemera, country fairs, and flea markets, and you can even find them occasioanlly in cartolerie or stationary shops that don't just stock the contemporary styles.

A nice traditional way to wish family and friends "Auguri" and "Buon Natale".

Wash day at Il Lavatoio

Wash house

Vetralla - Lavatoio simply means "wash house". Many that were built in the 1850's in the smaller towns are still fully functional. This neighborhood wash house, for example, is still used every day by the signore of Piazza del Sole (Piazza of the Sun) in the beautiful town of Vetralla, about 45 miles north-west of Rome.

The first signora to arrive gets the "upper" tub where the clean water flows in. After a hearty scrub on the smooth stone, the clothes are rinsed, then hung to dry in the piazza. During summer's hottest days the lavatoio does double duty as an improvised pool for the local kids.

Antipasti

Vetralla - Antipasti are appetizers, but the variety (and ocasionally quantity) is enormous and will please any kind of hungry gourmet - vegetarian or meat lover .

Usually in the fancier restaurants the waiter will bring a plate with tasty tidbits such as tortino di spinaci (spinach baked in filo dough), sliced pears and walnut bruschetta ,wild boar sausage, and bresaola (thinly sliced cured beef) with arugula.

The antipasti buffet like the one above set up in a garden of Vetralla by chef Antonio (below) is a delight to behold as well as to devour. The standard loaded plates such as this one taken from an open antipasto buffet in a local restaurant will often include bruschetta, prosciutto, fagioli (beans), supplì (deep-fried rice balls), fried zucchini, frittata, roasted peppers, and parmigiano. Buon appetito!

antipasto

Days of Remembrance

Italy - On Tutti i Santi, All Saints Day, Nov.1st, and La Festa dei Morti, Day of the Dead, in Italy Nov.2nd, the dead are remembered by visiting their graves. Over these few days many families make an outing to the large cemeteries on the outskirts of the big cities (the traffic jams are legendary!).

Chrysanthemums

During this long weekend (the 1st is a holiday), an all-Italian tradition is to decorate family graves and war monuments with yellow, white and other colored chrysan- themums, the bigger and fluffier the better. So although these flowers are colorful and lovely, be sure to NEVER bring them as a gift to someone's home. Your host or hostess will not want them in the house, and not knowing what to do with them will probably invent some feeble excuse to place them outside the front door.

Local Wine - Cheap and Cheerful

Gas prices might keep on rising, but at the pump of a cantina sociale (communally owned wine press and storage facility), you will really get your euro's worth of energy: liters of hearty red or white local wine.

A visit to one of the many local cantine sociali will not only save you money but you will be sure to meet some interesting characters. Bring your own empty bottles, better if they are 5 liter size. Costs vary but usually the sfuso, or unbottled, simple table wine can be purchased for about l euro per liter . . . cheaper than gas for the car! (Bottled wine is also available, but more "expensive" . . E.1.50 per bottle!)

North of Rome we recommend the cantine sociali at Tarquinia, Montefiascone and Vignanello, where you can buy local wine directly from the producers.

Wine Festival mercato

Several towns (Vignanello and Montefiascone are famous) also hold wine festivals during August. In Pianoscarano, a neighborhood of Viterbo for example, the 13th century fountain flows with free wine on the second Sunday of October and the local lads compete in a race pushing wine casks uphill.

Perfume of Winter

Winter in Italy means the perfume of wood burning, sausages sizzling on the spit and quiet evenings gathered around the fireplace . . . both a pleasure and a necessity in the older homes that don't have central heating.

“Spendi in lana cio' che non spendi in legna," goes the old Roman adage. (You spend in wool what you don't spend in wood.) Even newly built homes will have a fireplace or two, but there are chores involved before you can enjoy the perfume of burning wood and the warm, smoky comfort of a crackling fire. Wood needs to be bought, cut, stacked and dried for several months before use and even homes without gardens and woodsheds are set up for wood storage beneath the stairs.

Preparing and setting the fire may seem a simple task, but for city dwellers it can be a nightmare, or a science to be learned from those with years of expertise (crumpled paper below, small pieces, large pieces on top). An extra bonus : as the ashes and cinders are scooped up and the fireplace swept clean each day, one intimately understands the childhood story of Cinderella.

Italian Notebook

At the Butcher Shop

Vetralla (VT) -. January is the month when Italian pigs make the commitment . . . tons of pork meat gets prepared in country homes, farms, and macellerie (butcher shops) all over Italy.

Visiting the local macelleria this month you will find an even greater than usual choice of the entire range of delicious traditional Italian pork products . . . beginning with still warm porchetta, (rosemary and pepper cured, spit-roasted), often available directly from a to-go glass case on the sidewalk outside the shop.
Here master butcher Sergio shows off the dark sausages he's prepared and strung like garlands along the shop's marble wall. The Furia family prides itself on the variety of fresh and cured meats they offer such as salsiccie con peperoncino (spicy sausages with red pepper), bianche (light colored), and al fegato (dark sausages made with the addition of liver). All the butchering work is done on site and they are so proud of their herds raised in the wild that they even had a portrait painted of them and placed over the counter!

Italian Notebook

Lenten Lunch on Lake Bolsena

On Ash Wednesday in the tiny town of Gradoli on Lake Bolsena in Northern Lazio, members of the Confraternita del Purgatorio (roughly the Purgatory Religious Brotherhood) serve a seated luncheon for more than 2000 people, as they have been doing for the past 700 years.

Bundled up against the cold, diners find their numbered places at the long trestle tables that stretch the length of the unheated wine warehouse. Crockery, glass, fork and knife are carried from home as are the many bottles of wine that are shared with others at the table . . . homey hospitality is the main ingredient of this festa.

Old and young members of the confraternity (70 strong!) become cooks and waiters for the day preparing the Pranzo del Purgatorio (Purgatory Meal) . . . no women

allowed in the camp kitchens. The young waiters zip among the tables carrying huge platters emblazoned with the confraternita's coat-of-arms while older members toil over gigantic copper cauldrons bubbling over open fires, ensuring that the closely guarded recipes are prepared according to tradition. The menu, of strict Lenten fasting, has remained unchanged through the centuries and includes beans, fish broth with rice, fried whiting, pike and baccalá (cod) . . . and for desert - an apple.

Archaic music and serenades break out as the ruddy-faced guests finish the last courses and the empty bottles multiply. The noise level rises to a pitch as the confraternita's drummer and standard bearer march around the hall soliciting cheers and offerings that will be used for local charities throughout the next year.

Italian Notebook