Mangia!

How many courses in an Italian meal? It depends…

• 1^st there is the antipasto: This is often a cold dish, each region with its own specialties varying with the season. It may be sauteed vegetables, salami and prosciutto, or bruscetta.

• 2^nd is the primi or which means first course, and is the pasta dish. It is a small portion, not the full plate of overcooked pasta covered with heavy sauces most Americans think of.

• 3^rd is the secondo or meat course, which consists of a meat, fish or poultry serving, again without heavy sauces or any side dish. Some restaurants may offer a vegetable-based secondo but it’s not common in this part of the country.

• 4^th is the contorni or vegetable course. They may be hot or cold cooked vegetables, usually what is currently in season. There is usually an insalata offered which is a leaf lettuce salad which is served with olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Again no heavy creamy dressing.

• 5^th is dolce. The sweets which is usually a pastry or gelato in warm weather.

• 6^th is the fruit. Again this is what is available seasonally and may simply be fresh melon or fruit cut and served cold.

The previous are served with red and white wines. The last two may not be considered actual “courses”:

• 7^th Caffe’; espresso coffee with lots of sugar – no milk.

• 8^th and final is the digestivo. This is a small liqueur such as grappa, limoncello or American whisky - which is very popular among Romans.

This full eight course meal is served slowly with lots of conversation and usually lasts two hours or more. Considering meals begin at 8PM or later, this can make for a long night of eating.

Daily meals and small gatherings usually do not include this full array of food – perhaps just a primo, insalata and fruit – with wine of course.

Here in Ascoli Piceno the offerings at restaurants include a lot of pork and lamb dishes, even though we are only 30 minutes from the Adriatic Sea. There are a couple places we frequent and there are some unique characteristics of these establishments that the locals prefer. First, they are located in out-of-the-way corners with minimal signage; you have to know where you are going. Second, there are no written menus; the offerings for the day are given to you verbally with usually 3 or 4 choices for primo and secondo and 2 or 3 contorni. Many will have a fixed price which includes everything: wine, mineral water, primo, secondo, contorni and caffe’. These complete meals range from €12 to €17 depending on if you are having pranzo or cena. Finally, when you are done and want to pay, you just get up and walk to the cash register, which is usually at the bar, and tell them what you had and they tell you how much. At our favorite places we usually don’t even get a receipt, just a big smile and a “Ciao”.

Ascoli Piceno - Porta di Solesta'

Porta di Solesta

For tours of Ascoli Piceno visit Panorama Italy.

Every good medieval town in Italy must have at least one porta, or gate, and Ascoli Piceno does not let you down in this aspect. I think the most characteristic porta is Porta di Solesta on the old northern access to the centro storico by Ponte Augusteo over the Fiume Tronto. This solid travertine structure was erected in 1230 according to a tablet visible on the north side. The heavy wooden doors that could be closed to prevent access to the city are no longer in place but you can still see tell-tale signs of where they were located.

If you venture just across the Ponte Romana and look back towards Porta di Solesta you get a good panoramic view of the porta, some of the centro’s towers and even part of Monte Piselli just over the border in Abruzzo. This area is well lit at night and makes for a charming walk on a cool night to listen to the birds in the trees.

Una Maratonina

Today is another holiday in Italy, Festa della Liberazione, the day that World War II ended in Italy. For many Italians this holiday started last week-end and will continue through the next holiday which is Festa del Lavoro on May 1st. This morning there was a small military ceremony in front of the Provincia offices but the big event for me was the 33rd Maratonina Cento Torri.

I try to run a couple kilometers three days a week here in the centro storico and one of the clerks at the local supermercato sees me as I go by their store. There has been talk about running several times when we go there for groceries, and about two weeks ago he mentioned there would be a marathon on April 25th. There would be two races, a 7 kilometer run, which I participated in, and a 21 kilometer marathon – no thanks.

We have previously met Mara and Peter who are from New Hampshire; Mara is a professor at the University of New Hampshire program here in Ascoli Piceno. Last night we had dinner with them and mentioned the race today. Mara’s eyes lit up and she said she would be there; Peter offered to join Valerie for a caffe with the other spectators.

So this morning just after 9:15 AM about 200 people gathered in Piazza del Popolo and we set off together, Mara and I. I usually do not run 7 kilometers so this was a little test and the 3 or 4 hills the course traversed did not help, but I finished in what I would consider a respectable time (no I won’t say). Mara came in a few minutes behind me. At the finish line in Piazza Arringo there were booths set up dishing out the usual goodies for participants. However, in Italy there must be the correct food associated with every event; mortadella panini, water and of course caffe’ with optional corretto. Wanting to take in the full maratonina italiano experience I enjoyed my mortadella panino, lots of water and finished it off with a caffe including a splash of anisetta.
This is a day I will fully appreciate the Italian tradition of riposo.

*The photo of the victorious runners (Bryan & Mara) was provided by Mara's husband, Peter.

Questura appointment...in May

Today we received two letters in the mail from the Questura di Ascoli Piceno; this is the immigration office that we have to deal with for our permesso di soggiorno. Since we applied for our original permessi when we lived in Anzio we submitted our request for changing our address on this form via the Officio Postale on March 16.
       

We received one letter for me indicating an appointment on May 21 and the second letter was for Valerie for an appointment on May 29. The letters instruct us to bring the letter, our passport, four photos and our original documents to be at the questura at 9:00 AM. We plan to take everything for both of us on May 21 and hopefully they can process both of us at the same time. This should be the final step in getting our new permesso di soggiorno for the Provincia di Ascoli Piceno, and then we can finalize the process for getting our residenza for the Comune di Ascoli Piceno.

However, until we have these documents in hand I am not considering this finalized.

Family property and a meat fest

In Italy it is common for families to keep property in the family for many generations. There is not as much of the “sell-up” mentality that is prevalent in the United States. Many of the Italians we know live in cities but also have some land in the countryside where their family has ancestral roots. Our landlords, Dorina and Guerrino, also have some property nearby in Abruzzo and recently invited us along to spend the day with them.

Guerrino’s twin brother, Angelo, picked us all up in his car and we first headed off to the home in the country Angelo and his wife maintain; we needed to pick-up some homemade salsicce and vino from their storehouse, then headed off to the family homestead. It was located in a small hamlet which looked like about half of the homes were not being used- including Guerrino and Angelo’s; once inside, though, the house provided all the basic necessities needed by people many generations ago. Guerrino fired up the fireplace and we grilled some bruschetta with songa, a pork fat and peppers product, and had some salami and a little wine before heading out to their plot of land.

Our chore that day was mainly to watch Guerrino do all the work. We helped some but he is the type of person who can’t sit still and must always being doing something. After pulling some weeds, cutting some firewood and relaxing, Angelo took us to a nearby ghost town. He told us it was abandoned in the 1950’s, and shows signs of deterioration from neglect and people removing architectural items for their new houses. Angelo recalled how they used to visit this town as young kids and that nearly a thousand people had lived there. He reminisced about some of the people he’d known.

After our return Guerrino stoked up the fire so we could grill some meat. Our experience with this type of outing is that your meal consists of meat, bread and wine – that’s it. No fruit or vegetables, this is a meat fest. This meal was no different as we feasted on bruschetta slathered with sogna, grilled pork cutlets and salsicce, with bread and homemade vino.

After cleaning up Guerrino headed back to his chores and Angelo took us off to a monastery on a nearby hill - with some spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. Angelo again told us about how he remembered this area from his childhood and several times talked about all of the horses that were used, none of which are in use now.

We enjoyed the day in the sun, a little work, seeing some unique places only the locals know about and of course the culinary experience. In Italy it always comes back to the food!

Where to get your groceries...

There are a variety of stores for buying groceries here in Italy. The basic shops which are most prevalent in neighborhoods are the fruttivendola where you buy fresh fruits and vegetables; usually locally grown and what is in season. There are also separate stores for meat, macelleria, and bread, forno. These establishments are usually rather small but the owners are friendly and helpful to their customers.

The next level of grocery stores in terms of size and selection is the alimentari which may carry fruits, vegetables, bread, milk, and some other items – but especially cured meats and cheeses. These shops are usually family run with very knowledgeable proprietors. Service is the key to these shops, not variety, while they will primarily have local products.

The chain stores tend to start at the supermercato level, neighborhood sized grocery stores that have a greater variety of items but are still small in comparison to an American grocery store.

Then there is the ipermerato, the Italian rendition of the Wal-Mart Superstore. They are enormous and carry a little bit of everything yet lack the personal one-to-one service you will find at the neighborhood establishments. These stores tend to give me a head-ache, both here and in the US; probably from the poor lighting and sensory over-load.

We can collect everything we need at the small shops here in the centro in less time than it would take to drive to the ipermercato to buy the same items – so no reason to subject ourselves to that misery!

Ferramenta

I always enjoyed a trip to Home Depot when we lived in New Mexico, even if just to browse the aisles. Valerie said I could spend an hour in the hardware store and not even buy anything. The past few years I preferred the customer service provided at locally-owned franchises like True Value and Ace Hardware and made most of my purchases there. This practice is easy to continue here in Italy as there is a similar hardware store here that are family-run operations, called a “ferramenta”.

These establishments are small businesses with many items crammed into a small space; there are no wide aisles for carts. Employees greet you to ask what they can get for you. They may carry everything from screws to kitchen utensils to office supplies. They generally do not carry building supplies such as lumber or bricks.

Looking around these stores you would wonder if they would actually have what you want, but when you ask for something they always seem to pull the part out of some hidden drawer. My forays to the ferramenta have usually been preceded by a search through the dictionary for the words I will need, then with a combination of these words and hand gestures I am able to convey to the employees what I need. This is one of the establishments in Italy that really does seem to focus on customer service.

There are large home improvement type stores outside of the centro storico that are called “brico” which is an abbreviation of “briccolage” which basically means to repair or rebuild. These tend to have the same impersonal service you would experience at a big box store in America; I prefer the personal service of the locally owned establishment.

Caffe' Pretoriano

Italian internet

The closest bar to our apartment is Caffe Pretoriano which is owned and operated by our friends, Gianluca and his wife, Roberta. Gianluca is a native Ascolano while Roberta hails from Napoli and recently gave birth to their first child, Leonardo, which means that Gianluca now runs the bar mostly by himself.

Gianluca is always patient with my Italian language skills and we usually discuss the things that are different between Italy and in America. It is interesting, and sometimes scary, the views that Italians have of America, which are based mostly on what they see in movies or on television. Gianluca is also a good source of information for us as to what is going on in town and what events might be upcoming.

About a month ago Gianluca announced that he was going to have wireless internet for his bar and we looked forward to the possibility of a high-speed connection nearby. Here in Ascoli Piceno there are several internet points where you pay by the hour to use their computers but there is no free wireless service. In Albuquerque I frequently used the wireless available at various coffee shops and restaurants to check email while traveling around town during the workday, but here that is not as prevalent.

We kept asking when the wireless would be ready and Gianluca each time explained where he was in the paperwork and tax stamp process to get the necessary comune approval. In Italy when you go to an internet point you must provide documentation such as your passport and they record when you where there and for how long. This is the same process Caffe Pretoriano is going to have to use. This is part of Italy’s anti-terrorism efforts.

The other day Gianluca announced he finally had all the necessary approvals and that his wireless is now available for public use. Friday I took my laptop and went down for my post-pranzo caffe at Caffe Pretoriano and tried out their wireless connection which is much faster than the cell connections we have to use at our apartment. I was also the first to use Gianluca’s wireless and my name is #1 in his record book for customers.

So if you are in Ascoli Piceno and looking for a place to connect your laptop to the internet and enjoy a caffe or apertivo be sure to stop in at Caffe Pretoriano on Via Pretoriana just south of Piazza Roma. While you are there be sure to ask Gianluca about his son Leonardo.

Pavimenti della strada

Piazza del Colosseo, Roma

In Italy they have been paving roads for several thousand years going back to the time of the Roman Empire, and parts of these roads still exist and are being used everyday. Concrete and asphalt paving are used on new roads and the highways but here in the centro storico of Ascoli Piceno many of the roads are stone, laid by hand one at a time. This can make for an uneven surface when subjected regularly to heavy loads and can make for tricky walking, definitely requires that you look ahead at the road in front of you while walking.

These stone roads are laid with round stones, square cut stones and combinations of both. The square stones are actually cone shaped and are set on a base of sand and can easily be pulled up for subsurface work and relayed. I have seen this done several times where only enough of the road surface is pulled for the work required. Unfortunately I also see many places where the stones were not replaced with much care as they do not blend with the existing road or the repaired area has begun to sink.

Still this is a much more appealing way to surface a road in this medieval city than asphalt.

The start of the tourist season

We went to Roma for a couple days at the end of March to meet some friends from Corrales who are in Italy for a couple weeks. We always enjoy a trip to Roma and it was fun to spend a day with Wayne and Evey talking about New Mexico, Italy and our mutual admiration for Italian food. On this trip we tried a new way to get into the centro storico by parking at the end of the Metro line on the east side of the city and taking the Metro into the centro, fortunately our car was still there unharmed when we returned after two days.

There was a group from The Ohio State University architectural school here in Ascoli Piceno for a couple weeks as part of their spring quarter in Italy and one of the students, Adam Davie, is from the same area in Ohio as Valerie and we connected with him for a Sunday pranzo. Since then we saw other members of this group around town, including one student whose family now lives in the same suburban development where I grew up, Wyoga Lake Estates in Stow.

There has been a definite influx of tourists here in Ascoli as they are evident by a camera in one hand and a map or guidebook in the other hand. The newspapers have had stories that Easter is the official kick-off for the tourist season in Italy and we have seen several articles where this country is still considered one of the top destinations for Europeans and North Americans. According to the news outlets the past weekend is used as a gauge for what to expect for the coming year for the tourism industry and from what we saw around town it looks like this will be a busy year in Italy.

Pasquetta

I think the Italians have figured out a better way to celebrate the two major holidays of the year, Christmas and Easter - they have another holiday the day after. Natale, or Christmas, is followed by San Stefano which honors the first martyr in the New Testament. Pasqua, or Easter, is followed by Pasquetta (little Easter) which is simply a day where families and friends go into the country to enjoy the spring weather. This allows people to enjoy the Natale and Pasqua holidays without worrying about going back to work the next day.

Here in Ascoli Piceno the centro storico was busy both Saturday and Sunday nights with the piazze and streets packed with people out strolling, people watching or gathering for drinks or gelato. Today Ascoli Piceno looks deserted, there are few people on the streets and in the piazze and even the parking areas, which are normally always at a premium, are mostly empty.
We took advantage of the warm weather and drove into the hills north of town and found a spot in a field with some olive trees where we had a view of Ascoli in the valley below and Monte dell’Ascensione behind us to sit in the grass and have a picnic. The vista included the snow capped Monte Sibillini to the west and Gran Sasso to the south.

Buona Pasqua

He is risen!

Pasqua in Ascoli Piceno

After all of the activities that occurred here in Ascoli Piceno leading up to Christmas and for Carnivele we have been a little surprised by the lack of activity leading up to Easter, or Pasqua in Italian. There is a small mercatino on the east end of Piazza Arringo but only a few booths and they set-up a carousel in Piazza Arringo which the children and young at heart are enjoying. We have heard of other towns in Italy that have colorful processions during the week leading up to Pasqua but not so here.

Valerie has written about the candy assortments available at the local stores and Thursday she brought home one from our local chocolate store. I look at this hand-crafted delight and wonder why one would opt for a mass produced confection.

Friday, being Good Friday commemorating the trial and crucifixion of Christ, there were two processions in town marking the stages of the cross. The first one was for the children and took place in Piazza del Popolo with some of the kids dressed as Bible characters as they walked around the piazza stopping at each stage for a brief reading.

Friday night there was large procession that started at the west end of the centro storico at Porta Romana going down Corso Mazzini, up Corso Trento e Trieste and into Piazza Arringo and finishing at the steps of the Duomo. At each stage there were four youngsters, who looked like they were wearing Scout uniforms, who had candles and a large painting depicting a scene for that stage. There were people carrying loudspeakers along the route as along Corso Mazzini the line stretched almost 100 meters and there were probably 3,000 people involved.

Sunday and Monday most of the shops will be closed for Pasqua and Pasquetta (little Easter) which is tradionaly a day for families to go into the countryside for picnics. The sun has been shining and the temperatures rising for past few days so we expect beautiful weather for Pasqua.

Ascoli Piceno - Bridges

Ponte Sant'Antonio

Ascoli Piceno has a centro storico that is situated at the junction of two rivers, the Fiume Tronto and the Torrente Castellano. These two rivers form a triangle as they meet and Ascoli Piceno sits on the bluff above this juncture, this provided a good defensive position for the city as these rivers form ravines twenty to thirty meters below the surrounding countryside. To leave the city in all but one direction you must cross a bridge, some of which date back to the time of Roman civilization.

There are five bridges connecting the centro storico for vehicle traffic and an additional bridge for foot traffic only, all of which are made of stone. The oldest bridge is Ponte Augusteo which enters at Porta Solesta on the northwestern part of town over the Fiume Tronto. This is a Roman era structure with an internal passageway under the current road surface. Farther east along the Fiume Tronto you come to the wide Ponte Nuovo which overlooks the much narrower Ponte Sant’Antonio which is accessible by Porta Tuffila.

Along the Torrente Castellano is Ponte Cartaro on the south side of the centro storico and at the eastern end of town is Porta Maggiore connecting the centro storico to the newer town and industrial areas to the east. Located between these two bridges is a stone foot bridge called Ponte Cecco, reputed to have been built by Cecco d’ Ascoli in the 13th century but actually has Roman roots. This bridge has a small stone gatehouse in the middle with a charming view of the river beneath it.

Most of these bridges were destroyed in 1944 by the fleeing Nazi occupation troops but have been carefully reconstructed with original materials. They stand as a testimony of the engineering genius of their builders, as some having been standing for two thousand years.

For tours of Ascoli Piceno visit Panorama Italy.

Italian Palm Sunday

Domenica delle Palme…con le olive

Today is Palm Sunday which is the celebration of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem before Passover (Mark 11: 1-11), leading up to His crucifixion and resurrection which is celebrated next weekend. Here in Ascoli Piceno there was a slight twist to the service from what we were used to America, instead of palm branches all of the churches had olive branches.

In the Bible some translations just say that the people spread “leafy branches” on the road as Jesus rode into Jerusalem and I always pictured this as palm branches as that is what you saw on Palm Sunday in America, hence the name. However with a Mediterranean climate in Judea it could just as easily have been olive branches that were used as olive trees are mentioned in other sections of scripture.

Charitable groups were offering olive branches at the entry to the churches, some the natural green and other with a coating of gold paint; I opted for the natural green. The piazze where full of people with their olive branches after each service enjoying the sunshine while talking to their family and friends.