A Sunday in Rome

As the Eucharist began at Caravita, the priest's white vestments were an announcement that it was the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of Ordinary Time. Next Sunday would be the beginning of Advent. (I have to remember to get purple candles.) The congregation of about 50 people was smaller than usual. Was it because of the Thanksgiving holiday or the consistory this weekend when Pope Benedict XVI created new cardinals?




After Mass, Vincenzo and I each had a panino for lunch and then set off together for a little exploring. We found a store that sold water from around the world. We browsed around a bookstore, Vin looking at psychology books while I checked out children's books and art books.

Our wandering took us to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the four principal basilicas in Rome and one of the seven medieval pilgrimage churches. (Many have heard of my New York City seven church pilgrimage on Holy Thursday. This tradition is based on the pilgrimage to seven churches in Rome.) Santa Maria Maggiore has long been famous for the acheiropoieton (not created by hand) picture of the Madonna, the relic of the holy crib, and a precipio that was described by English pilgrims in 721.

The best part of the afternoon was visiting the small Basilica of St. Prassede, down the street and around the corner from Santa Maria Maggiore. Georgina Masson is her "Companion Guide to Rome" describes St. Pressede as "one of the most moving and appealing of Roman churches. It is rich in art treasures, but on entering it is not so much this that strikes us, as the sensation of being in a well-loved parish church, where for the last eleven centuries people have come with their load of cares and sorrows, and gone away refreshed.° The small side chapel of St. Zeno has some of the most amazing mosaics I have ever seen. It is an intimate space and we were captivated by this beautiful expression of faith created in the Ninth Century. This church should not be missed when one visits the city of Rome.

Thanksgiving at Home

Vincenzo and I celebrated Thanksgiving together at home. Because there was a turkey lunch at school, I decided to cook an "All American" meat loaf. We had cranberry sauce, too, that I was able to find at a store on the Via Flaminia. When I got home from work, Vincenzo had prepared a turkey antipasto plate. He wrapped shrimp, artichokes and olives in thin slices of turkey from the market. They were very tasty! Here is a picture of our turkey platter.

Thanksgiving at School

We celebrated Thanksgiving at school today with a special assembly and a traditional "Thanksgiving" lunch of turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin ravioli (we are in Italy!) and apple pie. It was served with table cloths, cloth napkins and nice centerpieces. Here are a couple of my students enjoying their lunch.

Pines of Rome (and Palms!)

When leaving the home of one of my students, his mother remarked to me: “Isn’t Rome a wonderful place? Where else can you see pines trees and palm trees together?”
This is a photo of pines and palms outside of my classroom window.

Ottorino Respighi wrote a symphonic work called “Pines of Rome” in 1924. Each movement portrays the location of pine trees in the city during different parts of the day. (It doesn’t seem that he paid any attention to the palm trees.)

The first movement portrays children playing in the pine groves of the Borghese gardens. The music depicts children marching and playing.

The second movement represents pine trees close to a catacomb. Lower orchestral instruments represent the subterranean feature of the catacombs. The three trombones chant like priests.

The third part, a nocturne, is set at night, near a temple of the Roman god Janus on the Janiculum hill. A nightingale is heard, giving Respighi the opportunity to include real life bird sounds in his work, a feat unachieved before. (I understand that the score mentions a specific recording that can be played on a phonograph.)

The final movement portrays pine trees along the great Appian Way at dawn. A Roman Legion advances along the Via Appia in the brilliance of the newly-risen sun with the sound of trumpets.

Weekend Celebrations

On Saturday we were at dinner in the apartment of friends as they celebrated 32 years together. There were eleven people at the dining table and it seems like there were eleven courses of food! On Sunday afternoon we traveled about 30 km south of Rome, near the sea, to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday. Everyone contributed song to the evening. I was asked to sing "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and a song by the Beach Boys.

Naples

This past weekend we went to Naples for an overnight visit. In July we were there to catch a ferry to Sicily, making my view of Naples one with lots of traffic and a bustling port. Walking the streets and strolling the piazzas as we explored the center of Naples has given me a very different feeling about this city.

On Saturday afternoon we made our way to Via San Gregorio Armeno for the Christmas Market. This long narrow cobblestone street is filled with little shops and bancarelle (stalls) that are filled with terra cotta and plastic figures Nativity scenes.
There are stables and empty village scenes for people to buy and fill with the Holy Family, angels, shepherds, wise men and animals. The street was crowded with tourists and Neapolitans who have come to buy new pieces to add to their precipio displays at home.



Several years ago I started my own small precipio with parts I bought in New York City. In 1990, while visiting Mexico City, I got an Italian made figure of two children with a mother, representing my two kids and their mother. Two years ago in Rome, I added a musician for Vincenzo and last year I added a small rabbit for his pet, Zic. This year, on the Via San Gregoria Armeno, I have added figures representing three special people in New York. My friend Paul is a nurse, and I found a figure holding a touch, making me think of Florence Nightingale. I found two figures as images for John and Michael: a young shepherd for John and a slightly older shepherd for Michael. They are a very caring couple, like shepherds. (And then for me, I found a chubby guy sitting down with his pants rolled up.)



Dinner on Saturday night was at a fun restaurant.I have never seen so much buffalo on a menu. Our appetizer was buffalo mozzarella served with sliced cherry tomatoes and basil. My main course was a buffalo fillet with a mixed salad and potatoes. I ended the meal with a dessert of buffalo cheesecake. (It was not a New York cheesecake, but with the buffalo ricotta it was delicious!)



On Sunday we made our way to the Church of Santa Chiara. For me the cloister behind the church is a real jewel of Naples. It was built in 1740 and was part of the enclosed convent of the Poor Clares. The columns and benches are covered with colorful majolica tiles. While the frescoes on the inner walls of the cloister (from the 1600's) show scenes from the Bible and the life of the Franciscans, the tiles in the cloister represent what happens outside the monastery.

On the benches and walls there are rural countryside scenes of hunting, work and play. There are also mythological episodes depicted on some of the tiles. The tiled columns that are decorated with vines, oranges, lemons, bananas and figs enhance the restful nature of the cloister.





Let me close with an Italian song from the 1940’s. In the refrain an immigrant talks about the Santa Chiara monastery. He says that his heart is sad and heavy because every night he thinks about how his city used to be.
Go to: http://www.italiamerica.org/Munasterio_'Santa_Chiara.htm
It reminds me of the American song "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano."

Tomatoes and Kiwi

One morning while shopping in the open-air market I counted nineteen varieties of tomatoes!

Did you know that kiwis are grown in Italy? The farming of kiwis started in Italy in the 1980’s. Today, Italy is the world's largest producer and exporter of this fruit. The average Italian supply figures are around 380,000-390,000 tons per year, followed by New Zealand (280,000-290,000) and Chile (150,000). Source: The Italian Institute for Foreign Trade