Gathering Chestnuts

Daniele's family gathers chestnuts every fall to enjoy in winter. They go to a forest-like park where they know chestnut trees grow and gather garbage bags worth of them.

This fall Daniele, his father Giulio, and I went to gather them. There has been an infection on the chestnut trees in Italy with a bug from Asia. Some of Giulio's friends failed to find any chestnuts at all, but Guilio knows all the places and brought us to a place where there were less than past years, but still as many as we could want to gather up off the floor.

I had never gathered chestnuts before, so I didn't know how it was done. We used a basket to throw them in as we went and several backpacks to transfer our hoard to when the basket gets full. The chestnuts themselves grow in little clusters, that remind me of garlic, the way they are shaped and grouped. The clusters are enclosed in a spiny shell, that is already opened and we toss aside wearing gloves.

The chestnuts covered the ground like a blanket, and the sound or more falling punctuated the quiet forest. But there are rules to which ones you take. Most obviously, you toss any with little holes in them; that means there are worms inside. It is hard to see these little holes and we had to toss many after we got home and could see them better. Once or twice we missed the worm hole and ended up with little toasty grubs alongside our chestnuts. Good news is you would never accidentally eat one of these worms. If he didn't run out of his roasting nut-house in the oven, you would see him when you broke the nut open to eat.

The second rule is you should go down into the forest farther to gather the bigger nuts. Giulio says the bigger nuts are heavier and end up collecting farther down. Daniele and I were so mesmerized picking up all the chestnuts on our way down, that we never made it as far down as him. And, in fact, Giulio had much nicer, bigger, chestnuts at the end of the day.

What do we do with all of these chestnuts? The classic way to eat them is roasted in the oven after a meal-- especially on a cold night. You cut a slit into the heard but meaty chestnut, then put it in the oven at 180 Celsius for maybe 20 minutes. They become a little darker, and soft or a little wilted looking. And then you make conversation while casually ripping them open and popping them in your mouth. You may only drink wine (red, normally) with your chestnuts, because water will swell your stomach. Chestnuts behave a bit like bread or rice in this way. In fact, chestnut flour is very common here in Italy.

We had so many, we looked up other things to do with them. Daniele made a delicious soup with chestnuts and porcini mushrooms. It was too much work to do often though. He had to roast the nuts, peal them, blend them, then make the rest of the soup.

Daniele's mother says you can't freeze them and have them still be good, but maybe it could work if you cook them first then freeze them after. We didn't try it, because we were ready for a break from chestnuts when the end of the “season” arrived. I'm looking forward to next year's though!

Some pictures from our adventure:
https://plus.google.com/photos/+KaitlynHanrahanIsidori/albums/6013737054044279473

Honeymoon in Santorini, Greece

It has been a busy year, Daniele and I married in June and then moved in September. The routine of daily life has finally returned and I am once again tackling my ever moving goal of catching up with photos and trip writeups. Starting with our honeymoon.

After the wedding on the first, the breakfast on the second, clean-up on the third (while Daniele took his father and uncle to NYC), we left for home (Rome) the night of the forth, arrived the morning of the fifth which we used for unpacking/repacking, then left for our honeymoon in Greece on the sixth.

We spent the nine days of our honeymoon (June sixth to 14th) in Santorini, Greece, grazie to my now inlaws. Because June is apparently low season in Greece, there were no direct flights from Rome to Santorini, like there are in July and August. We had to stop in Athens both ways. On the way there we had such a long layover that we ended up with a day in Athens. Not enough time to really do anything, but we did get to walk around and see a bit of the city.

We chose Santorini because it is supposedly one of the most beautiful places in the world. Also June, while a lovely time of year in the Northeast United States and in Italy, is not a nice time to go to most tropical climates, like the Caribbean or south-east Asia. Additionally, Daniele only gets so much vacation time and he spent most of it doing yard work at my parent's house before the big day, so we had a short honeymoon, by Italian standards anyway, and we didn't want to loose too much of our remaining time in transit.

Santorini is a crescent-shaped island formed by a volcanic explosion. It is famous for the views of the giant lagoon in the middle. Because it is a volcanic island, most of the beaches are black sand and different from the more tropical islands in Greece, but the beauty of the island itself makes up for the lack of powdery white sand and the water is just as beautiful.

We stayed in a beach-front resort. While our typical vacations are more sight-seeing-packed, I really wanted a relaxing, sit-still honeymoon. Which was good foresight because I was pretty destroyed by the time the wedding actually happened. Our package included breakfast and dinner (so we didn't even have to worry about deciding where to eat every night, a big time-saver when traveling with Daniele). Looking back at our pictures and remembering this trip, my tummy has been grumbling thinking of all the delicious food we stuffed ourselves with everyday there.

We also rented a motorbike to get around the island. In the end, our resort beach was actually my favorite, but we still wanted to see the famous Red Beach, White Beach, and some other reportedly beautiful beaches, as well as all the little cities.

Link to pictures below. I wont repeat every place we saw now, since I have it on the photo captions. Also, be warned there are some sappy kiss-y photos mixed in with all the sweeping panoramas.

Photo album of our Santorini and Athens, Greece honeymoon:
https://plus.google.com/photos/111221349198606775660/albums/5973240689394637297

Terme di Saturnia

Day trip with Daniele to Tuscan hot springs of Cascate del Gorello in Terme di Saturnia in the morning. Followed by visiting towns of Saturnia (Frazione di Manciano), Montemarano, and Tarquina in the afternoon.

Yesterday Daniele and I took a day trip two-hours north to some Tuscan hot springs, the Terme di Saturnia. There are a few spots, both open to the public and private pay-to-enter places to enjoy these Terme. We went to the public Cascate del Gorello (Cascate is Italian for waterfall). These are natural forming pools, similar to Bagni San Filipo, Castiglione d'Orcia also in Tuscany where we stayed in 2011. The alternative is man-built (or more likely Ancient-Roman-built) pools, like the ones in Viterbo. Where as Castiglione d'Orcia was a giant mound of calcium carbonate fit better for sun bathing as the water splashed by the smooth surface, the Cascate del Gorello were many small waterfalls each making a little pool with a whirlpool-like effect.

We headed out early (6 AM) to arrive at the Terme around 8 AM. Daniele had read it gets crowded, especially in the Summer. This is March, but it was also a Saturday. Personally, I think March is the perfect time to go. In the dead of winter I couldn't stand getting out, and in the hot summer, I don't think I would want to go in. There were only a few (~4) people already there, one other couple and some people alone who looked like "regulars".

We struggled for a little leaving our bag. We knew this moment was coming and had packed as light as possible reading that cars get broken into (like everywhere in Italy). Being there almost first we had a very good parking spot and we could choose anywhere to put our stuff, we put them on a mount of dirt I could see from almost anywhere in the waterfalls. An older couple that arrived as we were struggling with this, walked past us and put their stuff on the one hook. Clearly regulars. As more and more people arrived and everyone left their stuff more or less near ours and it felt safer.

The waterfalls couldn't have been formed better. The river flows down in a more forceful waterfall at the top, then into dozens of small and medium sized pools. The ones farther down are calmer and later on there were families with children down there. In the middle the water flowing into each pool from the one above makes it like a jacuzzi, and most people lean up against the back of that wall so the water runs over their shoulders. At the top there are a few spots where you can sit and let the more powerful waterfall pound away and your back. I sat here at the end, it was amazing.

We stayed at the Terme from a bit after 8 AM until a bit after noon. On the road down we had stopped to take a picture of the waterfalls from above at a view point and noticed there was a little picnic / rest area there. So we returned there to have the lunch we packed. You can see it is much more crowded now.

After lunch we went to check out the little town of Saturnia. These were Terme di Saturnia after all. Saturnia is pretty small, in fact it is not a city in its own right, it is sort of a suburb of another city. Italians call this a Frazione. Saturnia is a frazione of Manciano, where we did not visit. Daniele spent a large amount of the time there complaining how the people of Tuscany turn everything into a tourist sight, and how even a little town like this with nothing to see has 15 "brown signs".

View of private terme from center of Saturnia (Frazione di Manciano).

Next we went to the nearby city of Montemarano. Montemarano is really, really pretty. All the buildings here have the stone exposed, with cement holding them together, opposed to the more popular today stucco / cement siding. It was very charming. Thinking more about our water adventures (and the possibility of a car break in) than our afternoon walking around little Tuscan towns I didn't have my good camera, just my waterproof point-and-shoot. Since I use this camera less often, I didn't realize the battery was about to go dead, which it did shortly after we arrived here.

As sort of a random idea we made a quick stop on the way home in the city of Tarquina. This is just on the Lazio side of the boarder near Civitavecchia (where cruse ships come into Rome). Tarquina was the head city of the 12 that encompassed the Etruscan civilization (an important power in Italy overlapping and then consumed by early Ancient Romans). I got to know my Etruscan history staying in Volterra a little while back. The city is larger than the other two we visited today, but still charming. It had spread out beyond the walls of the historical center quite a bit, though we didn't explore that much. What was really amazing is that you could see the Mediterranean from this ancient hill town. Many old cities are on the sea, but this one didn't feel like a beach town, it felt like a hill town. We didn't have time to see the beach there, but I would like to go back. This is only an hour away and there is a UNESCO World Heritage site there we didn't get to see either.

We got home around 6 PM. Which gave us time to shower, unpack our things, clean up a bit, and heat up the frozen pizza I had specifically bought for tonight (don't judge, this is a once in a blue moon, also it's artichoke and ricotta in puff pastry, and it's delicious!). We were both exhausted (and delightfully tanned) from our four-hours simmering in the Terme.

The rest of the photos from this day trip:
https://plus.google.com/photos/111221349198606775660/albums/5859007497821517137

Coronation Pope Francesco

It was pretty big news here in Rome, and everywhere, last month when Benedict XVI put in notice. It happened really fast, he announced on 11 February that his last day would be 28 February. I was mostly excited that I would be here in Rome for the Conclave. Unfortunately, conclave takes place over a period of time and you never know when the cardinals are going to come to consensus and send out that white smoke. They happened to decide very quickly, conclave started 12 March and they decided 13 March. I missed it. I watched on TV like everyone else, as they announced Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina Pope Francis, or Papa Francesco (after St. Francis of Assisi).

I was able to plan on being in the Vatican for the coronation of Papa Francesco. They call it a coronation from when the Pope was the ruler of the "Stato Pontificio" comprised of modern Lazio, Umbria, Marche, and southern-eastern Emilia-Romania. The new pope would hold a mass, which is special because the pope almost never does the mass, he just does the blessing.

We filled into St. Peter's Square, passing through security. The square was crowded, but we were able to enter. There were walk ways fenced off separating large areas for the crowds. The round piazza is a bit bowl shaped, presumably for water drainage, however it is not the best design for a stadium-type event.

Before things kicked off, Papa Francesco took a few laps around the crowds on an open top vehicle of some sort. Everyone was going nuts trying to rush to the fence where he was. The only time I saw him get down was near what I referred to as "Campo Argentina", there were supposedly some disabled people or children there.

The first part of the mass/ceremony took place inside of St Peter's Cathedral. It was pretty short and we had big screens to view it. The procession leaving the cathedral to the altar set up just outside was rather impressive. There are a lot of cardinals. They all had on their matching robes and were just generally impressive.

The mass was pretty normal. As mentioned, there was an altar set up just outside the doors to the Cathedral. There was an amazing choir to the left, along with the other clergy. The diplomats were seated to the right. Pope Frank gave a great speech on how we are not just Christians, but humans and doing good in the world. This was also the mass of San Giuseppe (Italian Father's Day), many people had books that they were following along with the mass and songs. I didn't get one until the mass was over.

I admit I was a bit lost in the mass, as it was in Latin/Italian opposed to my more comfortable English/Latin mass, though I probably understood better than most of the crowd (minus the Italians). Where as the every Wednesday Vatican blessing is repeated in several languages, very few parts were done in multiple languages.

At one point soft yellow and blue (the colors of Argentina) umbrellas seemed to almost be floating down where I knew the fenced off corridors to be. This was shortly after the "peace be with you" bit which was surprisingly fun as no two people I shook hands with said the same thing back to me. Right around then there was also a lot of shuffling in front of me and I took the opportunity to get closer. Then I saw there was a yellow and blue umbrella just in front of us, and beneath it a priest giving communion... duh. Though not that big a 'duh' because they normally don't give communion out in the square. In fact, Daniele says he's never heard of it.

Obviously at this point the mass was almost over, but I had a really great spot now! I hung around for a little hoping that Papa Francesco might make another round and we could spend more quality time together. But as that looked less likely I asked the Swiss Guard in front of me if anything else was planed, and it was not, so I headed out.

Pictures from the mass:
https://plus.google.com/photos/111221349198606775660/albums/5857941830730346881

Our Home

I've been asked a few times to take pictures of our home in Monterotondo (Rome), Italy. It is a pretty new apartment building with a garage on the ground floor and four apartments on each of the three floors above.

We're on the “first” floor, that's a European first one floor up. We have a kitchen that opens to the living room, bathroom, a master bedroom, and a smaller second bedroom that functions as my office and a guest room. We also have a skinny balcony that goes along the whole North-West wall and wraps shortly along the North-East wall. The two bedrooms open onto that balcony. The kitchen opens to a larger balcony where we have a dinning table, clothes drying rack, and stairs to the garden below. All the windows in the apartment are doors to balconies except for the one in the bathroom. The window/doors are really interesting, they are made of double glass doors (window/air protection), a screen that slides to the side (bug protection), a plastic shade that rolls up into the wall above when not in use and could keep a vampire safe from sun when it is in use (for privacy), and an iron gate each with a unique lock (for security, everyone in Italy has these).

The aforementioned garden is the width of the apartment and right outside and below our kitchen. The building is surrounded by a ring of garden space minus the side where everyone enters the parking space under the building. The ring is sectioned into six pieces. We own one and seem to be the only ones who use ours, most the others are just overrun. It's not a huge space but it's very nice for a city. We have a patio covered with a kinda tent, a stone barbeque in the corner, some paving stones to navigate watering the plants, and another entrance in the fence from the garage. Normally it is very green with herbs, peppers, flowers, and Daniele's tomatoes, but I just took these photos now in January so it's pretty barren.

It's only 11 photos, so I will just link to the album rather than re-placing them here. Most of them are rough cut panoramas because I couldn't get much even on my wide angle lens in the space.

https://plus.google.com/photos/111221349198606775660/albums/5836701962471254273?authkey=CLHzp77w4_bBcw

I've started to make the place my own, but most of the décor was chosen by Daniele, his mother, or was just handed down when he first bought the place two years before we met. So don't expect it to really scream “me”.

Rome at the Holidays

This year I came back to Rome right after Christmas. This allowed me to spend New Years with my sweetie and to see the holiday decorations in Rome that I normally miss. They strictly take them down after Epiphany. They put trees up in most of the big piazzas but their big thing are the Nativity scenes.

We started with an old special Nativity that was made by the garbageman. It is called the "Presepe dei Netturbini". It is actually open all year long, so coming this time of year when there is a line to get in may not have been the best idea. It is made to look like Jerusalem and incorporates pieces of rock from all over the world.

Next we went to Saint Peter's Square (the Vatican) where they had both a beautiful tree and nativity. Different countries in Europe alternate donating the tree to the Vatican. This year the tree came from Southern Italy. It was lit during a ceremony on December 14th. After the holidays the wood is donated to several groups that manufacture toys for children in need.

The nativity at Saint Peter's Square this year was modeled after Basilicata in Southern Italy, from where it was made and donated. It was very impressive. It had just been revealed Christmas Eve.

The city of Rome also decorated most of its streets with lights. Including a ribbon of lights down Via Del Corso and lamps down the high-end shopping street Via Condotti. Different shops alternate sponsoring the lamps on Condotti, this year they were from Mercedes who also put up a tree at the head of the street where it intersects Via del Corso. Fendi, who have their giant store at the location also have a tree there made of baguette bags. Most of the little side streets in the historical center are decorated as well.

Ribbon of lights down Via Del Corso

Mercedes lamps down the high-end shopping street Via Condotti. That's the Spanish Steps at the end.

Mercedes tree at Via Condotti and Via del Corso

Fendi tree at Via Condotti and Via del Corso

Piazza del Spagna (Spanish Steps) was probably the most impressive. The church at the top was all lit up and there was a giant tree with a nativity below. Approaching it by way of the sparkling Via Condotti made it all the more magical.

Nativity under the tree at Piazza del Spagna

We didn't think there was anything at Piazza del Popolo, but walking through there on our way home we found another tree!

We came back for another round on Saturday, January 5. We still hadn't seen all the big piazzas and that night they would be having Epiphany celebrations in Piazza Navona, so I could check that out, too.

We started with Campidoglio Hill. They had a tree and a small detailed nativity behind glass. They were also setting up another life-size nativity that would be revealed the next day as part of the Epiphany celebrations along with a concert I gathered. But we weren't free Sunday to come back.

We went next to the Colosseum. I just can't get used to turning a corner and seeing the Colosseum no matter how long I'm here.

From there we headed to Piazza Navona where it was full of people. Full. Navona is possibly the largest piazza in Rome. It is the ovular one with the three fountains, the middle one is themed after the four great known (at the time) rivers. It is the one they used to flood and stage naval battles in-- a big piazza. Along the sides there were vendors selling donut-like sweets and cotton candy, as well as toys and La Befana dolls.

A side note on the history and Italian traditions of Epiphany. While in the United States the Christmas Season is unofficially observed from Thanksgiving to Christmas day, in Italy on the other hand it is very officially observed from Christmas Eve night through Epiphany (January 6). These “Twelve Days of Christmas” are a celebration of the period from Christ's birth through the visit of the Magi / Three Kings / Three Wise Men. While you may have a Christmas party with coworkers or friends before this 12 day period, generally Christmas and its decorations and hoopla don't ooze too much out of it. This period is almost immediately followed by the start of Carnevale celebrations, which we in the US are completely lacking or think of as a single Tuesday. Perhaps that's why we like to make Christmas a month long.

Italian Epiphany traditions are largely aimed at children, and having grown up in the US I can't describe them first hand. What I have gathered is there is a type of witch named La Befana who is neither good nor bad. She enters children's homes from the chimney and leaves them candy or small toys in their stockings; bad children get coal.

A few days later we happened to be in Saint Peter's Cathedral and we saw they had a Nativity set up inside besides the one set up out in the piazza. It was so crowded and the photo can't do it justice, it was the most beautiful we saw.

The complete album:
https://plus.google.com/photos/111221349198606775660/albums/5836296191021293377