Just one of the surprises you might find once you leave the main street.
Experiencing Italy
Just released, an Italian vegetarian cookbook by Ylenia Sambatii
Italian cuisine may be one of the most popular in the USA and if you are part of an Italian family you have enjoyed traditional dishes as well as special treats on holidays.
Although fresh vegetables are a mainstay in Italian cooking, a vegetarian diet is now achievable with the new book by Ylenia Sambatti: Italian, Simple Vegetarian.
A lifelong vegetarian, Yle says she learned to cook from Nonna Antonietta, her grandmother. “I loved watching her being fully immersed in making pasta, she had this amazing art for making pasta.
For years Yle has organized travel adventures in Puglia that included food experiences. The increased interest in the regional cooking of southern Italy, led to creating Cook in Puglia cooking school. With a platform to demonstrate farm to table specialties and the increased interest in vegetarian dishes or a healthier diet, she decided to share recipes she has cooked for her family and at her school.
For years Yle has organized travel adventures in Puglia that included food experiences. The increased interest in the regional cooking of southern Italy, led to creating Cook in Puglia cooking school. With a platform to demonstrate farm to table specialties and the increased interest in vegetarian dishes or a healthier diet, she decided to share recipes she has cooked for her family and at her school.
Thirty easy to follow recipes feature soups, main dishes and even deserts. The ingredients are often already found in your kitchen and the step-by-step instructions are simple and clearly listed.
After months of cooking at home, now may be a perfect time to follow Yle’s suggestion about cooking: “rethink some ways of living and go in a healthier direction when possible, not a drastic change but gradual”.
Available on kindle at Amazon
author contact: info@cookinpuglia.com
Why I can NOT move to Italy……….
Of Course I love Italy, visiting any small town, village or city via train routes.
Returning Home to Italy 2 or 3 times a year confirms with each visit, that I must spend time in Italy.
So why can’t I just pack up and move home? I did this for my first 3 month ‘sabbatical’ in 2008 to test if I could live in a city where I had no contacts, not speaking more than basic Italian (equivalent to a 3 yr old) and no plan to be a tourist, just to live in Sorrento and try to be Italian.
Because I would never leave……………….
How can one country have so many interesting, unique and even sometimes strange places to explore? Festivals to attend. Century old traditions to learn about.
Living in Italy I might NEVER travel to any other country. And there is so much to see in the world.
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| The best part of each morning! |
So for the next year I shall try to see beyond Europe. I will return to Asia. This time it will not be a business trip. It shall be a trip to try to see some local life: meeting a geisha in Japan, taking a mini walk about in Australia, learning to make noodles in China and learning where saris are made in India.
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| A common view as you walk a cobbled street |
After traveling the world will I finally move to Italy? Who knows but I will always go Home to Italy.
Although I appreciate your comments, promotional links will not be posted. For international visitors, please send comments translated to English.
Italian contacts are like beads on a necklace ………………
My Italian beads
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| These are NOT the beautiful beads you find in Venice! |
Many people collect beads as a reminder of a place they visited, a special event or something they are fond of.
I think of the wonderful Italians I meet in Italy or follow on line as my beads of Italy.
Many of my contacts in Italy have become friends. Americans make ‘friends’ quickly and often consider everyone they meet more than once a friend. Not all Italians feel the same way.
I may never have an opportunity to meet some of the established Italian bloggers but I can be inspired by their description of towns and hidden parts of the cities they live in. Over the years I will add new ‘beads’ as I meet new ‘friends’ on my trips Home to Italy.
This list changes as I meet more and more wonderful Italian artists, business owners and my favorite group: anyone over 70.
Everyone has a story to tell if you will only listen.
One of the saddest changes I notices on a trip a few years ago, was how everyone was glued ot a cell phone. No longer will locals chat at the bus stop or while waiting in line at the mercato. I miss that even when I only understood some of the conversation.
However, I do follow several Italy savv posts that always tell me about small towns and cities I may have never heard of. Most first timers or even after 15+ trips I usually do the big 3 or 2 of the 3: Rome, Florence and Venice. There are always places to discover, revisit and now friends to see on each trip Home To Italy.
the bloggers I read I may have never met in person, but feel they are my Italian ‘friends’
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| Ada in Venice welcomed me to her home for an interview |
May Jane Cowan http://50yearsinitaly.blogspot.com/,
Michelle Fabio at Bleeding Espresso http://bleedingespresso.com/ ,
Anne Riband in Assisi www.annesitaly.com
My new friend Tina who worked with DND in Naples showed me parts of her city I would never have found, ie the three sisters who continue their fathers umbella company.
and Browsing Rome http://www.browsingrome.com/ are only a few of the many as I consider them in country posting what I look for
http://www.ItalianNotebook.com
The Italian Notebook, sends me short snipts of Italian life every week. I keep connected with many of the practices/places I have lived with all my life but now know the origin.
A hidden village or town, I thought how it will take me years to see all the wonders that is Italy…. I may not see them all but the towns I visit and the people I meet become a bead on my bracelet.
Each town leaves an impression or memory on my mind, a bead on my Italian bracelet. I may meet a local vendor in the market or talk with a shop keeper who may leave a lasting memory. The woman I met at the bus stop on the Amalfi coast who helped me find the next train station when the bus NEVER showed up. The artist in Spello. Her shop/studio is on the left as you climb the hill, who spent a half hour chatting with me in my terrible Italian. http://www.ornelli.com
The head nun at the convent hotel I stayed in, in Spoleto, or the elderly member of the order who spent a long time asking about what I was doing on my laptop, ALL IN ITALIAN!. My Spoleto bead.
Each visit is another bead on my bracelet. One that lets me remember the incredible events of each visit: Nonna Vata and making pasta, Mama Gilio who greeted me with a handshake and when I left with the kiss of an amici, the taste of the BEST tortellini ever in Bologna, meeting Ada in Venice
Recently I added a Tina bead. Tina showed me Naples as a native, inside treasures I could never find on my own: meeting a famous artist, the last family run glove manufacturer, stooping at hidden spots with a history NOT in tour books.
my new friend Tina
And some beads have changed my life: Yle with Yltours.com helped me propel my blog in 2012 with guest posts. You can see many posts on my blog about Yltours. But Yle introduced me to Mamma Anne and shared lunch with me. Not the typical day a tourist finds in Italy.
Monica who offers cooking lessons and wonderful tours and cooking classes in Venice.http://www.monicacesarato.com. Others: Santa Anna Sorento Lingue language school in Sorrento, Sheila in Florence offers fast paced photo walks, Kelly in Rome: painting and sketching tours . My list is endless….. This is why I go home to Italy every time i can.
I look forward to ADDING beads every year.
Italian street shrines
Pietre Dure: the art of hard stones
Florence offers a view into the ancient art of
Pietre Dure
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| Not a painting. Stone Art |
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Museo Opificio delle Pietre Dure |
Perhaps more familiar are the artistic techniques of mosaic, using small pieces of cut stone or marquetry, applying pieces of wood veneer to form patterns and pictures, but Pietre Dure is celebrated in Florence.
The museum is housed in a renovated, historic building that wraps around a central garden. The traditional floor plan was altered exposing a 2 story gallery from the entrance of the museum.
Without the large crowds in other museums, you can enjoy your visit at your own pace. There was no tour offered and the signage is mostly in Italian. However, in every room there were laminated information sheets for visitors to use as they examine the pieces in each room.
But you may be too busy marveling at the colors and intricate designs on the tables, bowls and vases to read the descriptions supplied. The walls are covered with stone ‘paintings’. From a distance they appear to be painted figures, animals and lush forest scenes. But everything is created with very thin pieces of stone that fit together like a puzzle.
Some of the typical motifs used
The second floor houses the ancient machinery and tools that are used to create Pietre dure art. A film explained the process simply and described how designs are created, patterns made and stone cut to fit exactly into each pattern. The museums’ You Tube posts gives you close up, color views
For details on this detailed process another You Tube video covers the process from selection of each stone, cutting and fitting into the intricate pattern to the final touches.
You get see the tools employed in the cases as well as stone samples.
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| This wooden vice holds a very thin slice of marble. A wire saw will cut out the next design piece that will be added to the outline |
Most walls are covered with works that appear to be paintings but are ALL completed with different colored stone to create each piece. The work is seamless with no indication that it is not one single piece of stone.
Check with the museum for open days and times. http://opificiodellepietredure.it/
Museo Opificio delle Pietre Dure Via degli Alfani 78 – 50121FFirenze
Museum of the Liberation of Rome
Museo storico della Liberazione, Rome another unique experience to discover- beyond the tourist sites.
The museum recording the liberation of Rome from the Nazi occupation is housed in a non descript apartment building not far from the Basilica of St John Laterna.
Here you will find records of the Italian Resistance in 1944 during the WWII German occupation of Rome 9/11/1943 to 6/4/1944.
At this location the SS detained and tortured captured members of the Italian Resistance. Since 1955 the former cells and offices preserve original leaflets, posters and documents that create the record of events during the occupation. Photographs, recordings and some films from this time are on display throughout the museum.
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Historical Museum of the Liberation Struggle of Rome Prisons |
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| The staff member on duty the day I visited. What stories he may have to share |
The museum layout uses the original apartment floor plans Your audio guide takes you through the rooms on each of the 3 floors. Tour at your own pace there is much to read and learn in the 19 rooms.
What goes through your mind if you have been captured by the Nazi’s
and brought to this stark building?
The rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors during the time the SS occupied the building, ‘housed over 2,000 citizens, soldiers, partisans, who were detained, interrogated and tortured’. 1 In several cells you can see the prisoners faint messages scratched on the walls.
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Many of the rooms have documents, photos, posters and art work from the occupation. Most of the descriptions and details are in Italian but often there are short notations in English.
Photos and details of detained prisoners are carefully displayed.
Their ultimate fate is listed for many of the detainees. These are all sad rooms.
Several examples of prisoners’ clothing and
personal property are on display
Bread, Peace, Freedom
Black and white photo from public events and a few of mass gathering
for Hitler or Mussolini were fascinating
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Not far from the Termini train station, close to the basilica of St. John Lateran |
The museum offered free admission and welcomes donations.
Several books and publications are available for purchase.
Check with the museum on access to the research room and materials.
Consult the museum’s web site to confirm days and times open.
museum web site http://www.museoliberazione.it/
Phone: +39 06 700 3866
Address: Via Tasso 145, Rome
Sources for statistics and dates: www.itww.museoliberazion; Wikipedia; the Museum Narrates by Antonio Parisella
1. http://www.museoliberazione.it/en/information.html
Made in Italy, a guide to artisans throughout Italy
We all may be arm-chair travelers this year, but we can still travel throughout Italy in the pages of Made in Italy.
Part Italian history lesson, part insider travel guide this compact volume takes your inside the towns and villages of Italy where traditional handmade traditions flourish.
An award-winning author of Art-historical fiction and writer of a guidebook series, Authentic Arts guidebooks, Morelli has updated her popular series for the third time and gives the reader up-to-date suggestions on how to experience Italy via the people who make the Italian items recognized all over the world.
Covering 5 regions in Italy from the North to the tip of the boot, including the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, this is a wonderful exploration of towns and cities a traveler will be enticed to add to their next itinerary.
Sample of the map for the NE region
Helpful maps of each region assist planning the cities to explore while traveling between regions. Each chapter includes the history of an area highlighting the particular handcrafted and artistic items each region is known for, often detailing how a product is made. In addition, Morelli includes detailed information on specialty food items, vinegars and wines you can discover on your travels.
Not only shopperswill enjoy this easy read, but travelers may find new ways to ‘experience’ Italy by interacting with locals, visiting a studio and leaning about skills perfected over decades to create items that are truly ‘Italian’.
“One of the many things that make Italy great, is their traditional handmade items that join the past with today.” a quote from her book
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Finely crafted violins from Cremona |
You know about the lace makers in Burano, but have you seen the pupie marionettes in Sicily or the paper makers in Amalfi.
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| Sicily: pupie |
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| Amalfi hand made Carta (paper) |
You can watch women in Sardinia hand weave certini or admire the carved stone in the shops in Lecce, Puglia. Some of the many skilled passed from one generation to the next
In a world filled with mass produced products it is refreshing to find craftspeople creating stunning jewelry, fine leather goods, pottery, carved wood, nativity pieces for the Presepe, perfumes from ancient recipes and so much more.
On your next trip to Italy support a local artist. All the new places you can experience on a trip Home to Italy!
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| Wood carving in Legno |
The author has compiled a list of recommended artisans and shops, Artisans of Italy, available to readers of Made in Italy, available on Amazon
Morelli has a PhD. from Yale, has written for National Geographic Traveler, USA Today and Italy Magazines and has published award winning novels including The Gondola Maker and the Painter’s Apprentice. Her new work, The Giant, is available now. www.lauramorrelli.com all photos are the property of Laura Morelli
Italy: closed for months but locals became very innovative!
Italians Became Creative during the shut down
Italians have stoically followed the directives of their regional governments to stay at home since early March and finally have started to return to what will become the new normal.
Some worker were able to tele-commute from home while
non-essential businesses, hotels, restaurants, cafes, museums, historic sites and even the Vatican closed.
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| Not a tourist in site, Florence Photo credit: Sheila Ford |
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| Photo by Sheila Ford |
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| Photo by Sheila Ford |
Businesses depending on tourism and critically hurt when the world stopped traveling, hotels closed, restaurants and cafes only offered take away.
A substantial part of the Italian economy is dependent on visitors and even international students. Without the constant flow of travelers to fill hotels, enjoy the restaurants and cafes or book tours, it became financially difficult for businesses to remain open.
Italians have become very resourceful during the stay at home order, creating new ways to market their products, connect with clients and promote future projects. Some of these new business ideas may become a permanent part of future marketing.
Zoom has quickly become the go-to method to remain relevant to clients and reach new prospects in the virtual classroom or showroom.
Instead of a palazzo outside of Lecce, Cook in Puglia offers live interactive cooking lessons via zoom. Students obtain all ingredients prior to the meeting and prepare dishes along with the instructor Yle Sambati from their home kitchens.
Wine appreciation classes with Michele Passero offers 10 live zoom sessions You can learn about wines and how to enjoy then, from the comfort of your home. Register with Cook in Puglia.
You can also register for Italian conversation classed the will cover travel, food, cinema, music and shopping. The 60 minute classes are kept small, 10 per class and offered in morning or afternoons. Private groups can also be arranged. Contact Yle for all details.
The Beehive in Rome has been welcoming visitors to the ancient city since 1992. Expats Steve and Linda offer boutique hostel accommodations near the central train station. This not the typical hostel and appeals to all ages.
The in house cafe is often the site for cooking events and family style dinners during the week. Pizza and Pasta making classes have been offered as well.
Linda offers insider tours to share her in depth knowledge of Rome. Ask a local if you want to know about a city, you can learn much more than a tour book ever offers.
Due to the worldwide pandemic the Beehive temporarily closed, and offered Gift Cards for future stays. A unique program that some other hotels adopted. Guest would prepay for a future stay, helping the beehive with cash flow while the city was closed. When travelers can return to Italy again guests will enjoy a stay during a future stay.
During the closure of the Beehive you could follow cooking lessons by Steve on You Tube.
The in house cafe is often the site for cooking events and family style dinners during the week. Pizza and Pasta making classes have been offered as well.
Linda offers insider tours to share her in depth knowledge of Rome. Ask a local if you want to know about a city, you can learn much more than a tour book ever offers.
Due to the worldwide pandemic the Beehive temporarily closed, and offered Gift Cards for future stays. A unique program that some other hotels adopted. Guest would prepay for a future stay, helping the beehive with cash flow while the city was closed. When travelers can return to Italy again guests will enjoy a stay during a future stay.
During the closure of the Beehive you could follow cooking lessons by Steve on You Tube.
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| The cafe at the Beehive serves meals and often does cooking classes. |
MailboxEtc #212 is accustom to tourists dropping in to ship their treasures home as well as the countless students who study in Florence each year. With the closure of most if not all international study programs in March quickly followed by the suspension of most travel to Italy, the partners found new ways to
keep shipping packages.
Collaborating with other stores in Florence, Mailbox Etc will pick up the items you select from the online offerings of olive oil, cookies, candies, pasta and other treats package your items and ship them direct to your or as a gift.
keep shipping packages.
Collaborating with other stores in Florence, Mailbox Etc will pick up the items you select from the online offerings of olive oil, cookies, candies, pasta and other treats package your items and ship them direct to your or as a gift.
If you cannot visit Italy now, you can easily have your favorite treats shipped direct. Contact via email: mbe212@mbe.it
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| Do you miss any of your favorite Italian products? |
Italian Storiesarranges visits with artisans throughout Italy for visitors to experience how Italian fine products are created. Experiencing Italy through her crafts and art takes you beyond a tourist.
While Italy was closed, Italian Stories brought craftsmen and artisans to world wide audiences through a series of online
video visits shared by Eleanor Odorzzi .
You can tour many studios and learn about the people who create fine Italian products on the Face Book feature:
Il Caffe in Laboratorio
You can tour many studios and learn about the people who create fine Italian products on the Face Book feature:
Il Caffe in Laboratorio
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Large numbers of travelers may not return to Italy until later this year. Until we can return to Italy, we can find innovative ways to assist their recovery. This may be the perfect time to shop online for an authentic Italian product, take an online virtual tour or book a future stay with a local business.
