This tree towers over the Carabinieri, across from their HQ in our quartiere, Parioli.
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Cross-Cultural Experience
9 DecLast night we attended
As is tradition in Scandinavia, a girl is chosen to play Santa Lucia and wear her crown of candles and red sash.
…a Swedish children’s concert in celebration of Santa Lucia (whose feast day is Dec. 13)
…sung by a children’s choir from La Chiesa di Svezia (The Swedish Church), which is Roman Catholic
…held on the day Italians celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
…in a German Lutheran Church (the only Lutheran Church in Rome)
Half of the service was in Swedish, half in Italian. It was sweet! I recognized a lot of the music from my Minnesota Swedish Lutheran upbringing.
Not your average Lutheran Church…. This one is German, the only Lutheran Church in Rome, built in the early 20th century.
The chorus ranged from 4 or 5 year-olds to teenagers,both boys and girls.
The Swedish ex-pats here, both from the diplomatic community and those who have married Italians, support a lively Swedish language program to keep in touch with their heritage. There was a Swedish Christmas market last weekend at La Chiesa Svezia.
La festa del ringraziamento
23 Nov
This is before we had the grappa.
I’m a little drunk right now (10:30pm). It might be because of the grappa the Swedes at the next table insisted we needed to try. We decided a few weeks ago that we could not recreate the usual American holiday spent with family and friends (you know who you are: Jonnie, Veronica, Barry, Derek, John, Susan, Debbie, Eddie), so we chucked it all and decided to embrace a different sort of Thanksgiving. We decided to continue our exploration of this marvelous city. Ric has to work tomorrow, and I committed to a couple of hours on Saturday, so leaving Rome was not an option. We embarked on an urban hike up Monte Mario.It was a lovely fall day in Rome. We can see Monte Mario from our windows in Parioli and for
The green path up Monte Mario. Only 450 feet high!
the 6 months we have lived here have said, “We need to go see what’s up there.” So today was the day. Monte Mario is officially the highest peak in Rome at 450 feet. (Yes, Oregonians, it is a lightweight. Even Minnesota has a higher peak at Eagle Mountain. People here are always asking us how we manage the “hills” of Rome. To an Oregonian this is flatland.) Monte Mario was lovely! Rome is spread out at your feet, and the hoards are left far behind as only locals make the trek, often with their dogs. There is a magnificent vista from a cafe where we indulged in espresso and croissants. (Pictures from the top were less than stellar due to haze, but it was really quite stunning in person.) In 2 1/2 hours we covered Monte Mario and the Foro Italico (site of the 1960 Olympic Games and current soccer stadium). Great exercise. Va bene. In fact, this reminded us so much of our Portland “urban hikes” it was amazing!
We could be in Portland or in Rome, at this point.
So we explored a bit of Rome we had not seen before and worked off our dinner before we ate it.
We thought briefly about cooking a turkey. Very briefly. It’s a lot of work for only two people. Once we discarded that idea of cooking, it was easy to decide what to do. This evening
Best melanzane al forno anywhere. If you come to visit I will take you here, blindfolded, I don’t want everyone going here.
we ventured to our favorite trattoria, where we were warmly greeted by the staff as we go here often (and have for two years now). With Australians on one side and Swedes on the other, we feasted on mussels, melanzane al forno (eggplant parmesan), and trippa. (Ric ate the trippa. I’m not having any part of that!) The mussels here are sweet and delicious. I could eat them all night. We also indulged in dessert and the Swedes insisted we needed to try the “good” grappa. My it was good! But it was also a good thing we weren’t driving! Every time we go to this restaurant we end up in conversation with wonderful people: Italians, Aussies, Swedes, French. (Not often Americans.) There were toasts to our American holiday, and reminiscing about favorite holidays in our respective countries. How lucky we are to have this experience in international living!Much love to you, our American friends and family. We’ll “do” turkey and all the trimmings with you again one day, but for 2012 this was our celebration. Hope yours was festive and that you were surrounded by love.
Election night in Rome
7 NovPrior to coming to Rome, it did not occur to me that our American election would be of such great interest to the Italians. Even more surprising to me was the phenomenon of the Election Night Party held by American embassies worldwide. I was fortunate to attend the event last night and (ahem) work. (Grazie il capo mio!)
There is passionate interest in the election on the part of our Italian friends. Had Italy voted, I daresay the popular vote would be for President Obama.
The event started at 22:00 and by 23:00 there were about 2000 people in attendance. There a was Tex-Mex buffet (yum!), trays of donuts were passed by tuxedo-clad waiters, wine flowed freely, and I was almost trampled in the rush of people clambering for the 1000 hamburgers MacDonalds delivered. (All donations, my tax-paying friends. The U.S. Government does not foot the bill.) Here are a few shots taken with my phone.
Ambassador Thorne addresses the jubilant crowd. Election results were broadcast throughout the venue.
Mr. Romney stands alone as Mr. Obama attracts a fan.
An attendee strikes a pose with Mr. Obama’s cut-out.
What an opportunity this was! I voted by mail weeks ago and was able to celebrate the American democratic process in a way I never have in the U.S.
Girovaga 