Eating in Italy or: Eataly

A few years ago, during our stay in the Piemont, a region in the North of Italy, we visited Torino. A city with tons of history, including the car factory with their test driving circuit on the roof top: Lingotto. On top of the building the Agnelli family, who founded FIAT in 1899, now runs an art gallery. Of course we had to see the exhibition. The truth is: people (like us) visit the gallery, because it allows you an easy access to the rooftop. I don't know how it is today, but a few years back we walked all over the roof and beyond.

In case you wonder what this has to do with Eating and Eataly, please be patient. I am developing an arc of suspense here. Or: I just love to show you these photos which date back to 2009.

 Around the old factory you see housing districts where the factory workers used to live. 

  Now that the car production is no longer situated in the Lingotto, the building has been transformed to a hotel and a shopping mall.

 This is the Agnelli gallery on top of the Lingotto, in the back you can see something interesting which is close to a heliport.

This is the turn for speed!

This is how I remember me on top of the Lingotto: casually chique, very classy and cool. Taupe T-Shirt, some Silhouette-shades, navy blue capri pants. Not so bad, my memory over all, I mean, this looks damn cool, right?

 ... until I see the whole picture:

  Those sandals! Oh my. Sorry for that! 

Btw: it is almost impossible to find a cool posture while standing in the steep turn. So I won't excuse for akward posing. I did my best not to fall over!

 *SIGH* What a beauty!! 

At both ends of the building ramps led the cars to the testing circuit.

I don't know about you, but I find these structures absolutely breathtaking!

I have never been to Detroit, but this is probably the better version of a past time. In Detroit many structures have been abondoned and destroyed. I am so happy, the decided to look after the Lingotto.

 They probably had no eyes for the view.

Torino underwent difficult times, due to the changes in the automobile industry during the second half of the 20th century.
Today other, new industries offer jobs. Retail is big in Torino.
Which brings me to Eataly! Back in 2009 Eataly was exotic, something new, something exciting. Today it is still exciting, less exotic and not new anymore.

For those of you who have never heard of Eataly before: It is like a high-end IKEA fo food. Ok, maybe not the best picture. But it explains a lot.

The Slow Food movement originated in the Piemont (please correct me if I am not well informed=wrong). On a former vermouth factory now a supermarket for Italian food offers only the best products which can be found in the different regions in Italy.

When we chose our apartment in Rome (oh no, Rome again! Yes! :-)),  I deliberately chose an area close th Ostiense, because that's where Rome's Eataly is located.

"Our" street in Testaccio, walking distance from Ostiense

The living room windows

You could not enter the building without walking past the concierge. I call this authoriatrian architecture.

While being in Rome we visited Eataly probably three times!? I did not just enjoy the best pizza Marinara during our stay, but also enjoyed a lot of people-watching. Italians love food. Sunday afternoon the place reminded me a lot of IKEA. Crowded with people all ages, united by their passion for food. Slow food.

This shelf offers a range of Risotto rice. Not "rice" overall, only the risotto rice. Italians who shop at Eatly must be world-experts for Risotto. 

The photo above only shows a small part of the rice section. Inside Eataly the same effect set in that affects me while eating: I can not take food photos. So I asked Mr Paula to take photo for me. I was simply way too excited, walking up and down all the aisles. 

I see these photos for the first time. Mr Paula probably took them because the cans and bottles look really nice. I agree!

 I have spotted these honey jars in a posh grocery store in Hamburg last year.

 In the back you can catch a glimpse of the overall atmosphere: relaxed, cool, it does not look like a supermarket at all.

 Could be Mr Paula fell for the Italian word "intero"?

Next the the cowmilk they sell soy- and rice-milk. The Italian soy milk was delicious.    

The prices are no bargains. But people line up at the cashier stations. In the end it's all about priorities. Of course Rome does not exist of Eataly alone. There is Vanni ...

 And then there is Giolitti ...

 Ad incredibly tasty bread and pizza of all kinds from the Panificio ...

Wooden boards outside the bakery invite the clients to stop here and eat their fresh pizza. 

You could say the experience in Italy educated me. Today I had the choice between conventional lemons from Spain or organic lemons from Italy. Guess which lemons I brought home. Not these from the Villa Borghese:

It is time to leave Rome. We are moving on. All except this little gem, who loves to return every single day:

Do you notice? This time I left out the worms. de-grossing the content so to say.

I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen recently. One, because it is THE place for bird watching. Two, because love cooking. The label "vegan" is going to grow larger soon.

Attila Hildmann is the author of vegan cookbooks, which helped me to not only change my diet to vegan, but mostly to ENJOY the vegan diet. His books have been translated to English recently and I will feature some of my all time favourite recipes here. Sharpen your pencils!

xo
Paula

Finally: the keyhole view of St.Peter's basilica

Our apartment in Rome was located at the foot of the Aventine hill. This left us with plenty time on our hands on our last half-day to explore the Aventine and even take a peek through the famous keyhole at the priory of the Knights of Malta. 

Here you can see why the keyhole is a celebrity. I took the photo through the keyhole.

Queuing up was already part of the spectacle. You could not oeverhear the wo German girls who appoached the queue. They argued really loud: "But I tell you, this is not the place. It is a window! 

The view is from a window, I have seen it on google!" Too many espressi maybe? 

So in case you googled this photo: Please be aware that what you see here is a view through a keyhole, there is no window involved.

It was acceptable to take a 2nd turn and queue up again for more shots. In case you wonder: Yes, I am very content with the outcome of the photo(s) I took. :-) And yes, it was me who invented the 2nd turn and no, it did not take long, until other visitors also started to take a 2nd turn. Hm. I get the feeling as if the queuing is getting too much attention.

I can not imagine how it must feel queuing up in the summer sun. I yes, I can imagine ... horrible!

Notice the couple to the right? They must be Romans. They rate sun over views. 

When you are already on top of the Aventin, don't miss the other attractions:

The garden with orange trees and beautiful view.
 You can see the same St. Peter's basilica from the terrace, but it's just not the same without keyhole.

Human nature's greed never ceases to amuse me. All the oranges from the lower branches had been picked by visitors of the garden. Here you see some oranges high up in the air:

 The visitors pick them, only to find out they don't taste good at all! These oranges are probably bitter oranges. You find the remains scattered on the grounds and grouped around fountains:

Orange trees is not all the Aventine has to offer.

 The Santa Sabina church next to the garden is very inviting. I am fond of modest ceilings.

Pastels form the Roman colour spectrum.

Old and new urban design side by side: Fiat 500 and a smart.

The Aventine hill is probably one of the most touristic spots you find in Rome. Still, the overall atmosphere was very relaxed. Apart from the two hysteric espressi gals :-)

The low hill is highly recommendated!

Oh, please, don't get tricked by the "finally" in the posting title. Rome is not coming to an and yet. I plan to stretch it until it is thin like a Roman pizza. 

On top of Il monumento aka the typewriter

It feel as if you readers deserved to see why people come to Rome in the first place. Not for broken smart cars, that's for sure!

One afternoon we strolled around, having no goal and ended up on top of the "typewriter" as the Romans nickname the huge, somehow disproportional monument. We enjoyed the scenery in the very bright late afternoon sunlight, as did the seagull next to me:

Lets crop the bird!

 

Backbags are in fashion in Rome. Not save but very comfortable. btw: We did not experience one single akward situation, where I feared to be pick pocketed.

The bright light makes such a beautiful contrast to the shade on the antique walls of the forum.

 Between two rain showers the sky opened up.

Forum Romanum

Oh, this is where we are!

Now that I have laundried all my clothes including the coats from the trip, I plan to dedicate one posting to the big question: How to pack light for a week in Rome in March.
You will surprised. The photos don't show it, but we had heavy rain for the first half of your stay, light rain during the second half and no rain on the day of our departure. No wonder the grass in the Roman Forum looks as green as the grass in an Irish Kerrygold commercial.

Good night!
Paula

The beauty within: Piazza Farnese and Campo de' Fiori

When you stand in front of a famous fountains in Rome, with your camera in your hand, you are fully aware that thousands of photos of the exact same fountain already flood the internet. So there is no use in taking such a photo. This thought - or should I say conclusion - withdrew any possible magic between the Roman fountains and me. I just could not devote myself to them.

I tried, you must believe me, I did my best, so I could bring home at least this beautiful souvenir:

The fountain on the Piazza Farnese, as seen through the eyes of a tourist:

Meanwhile  Mr Paula got slightly distracted ... 

... and I immediataly followed his eyes and went into details:

 It did not take long until the fountain was blanked out and I had only eyes for this:

Matrasses in the centre of Rome!

Inside there is a man sleeping, he hangs from the ceiling!

How peculiar, how nice, how interesting! 

This was by far not the worst photo I brought home from the trip to Rome.

You find the worst photo at the end of this posting. It is my souvenir from the "Campo de' Fiori".

It somehow forms an antithesis to all the Campo de' Fiori pictures that flood the internet. I strongly oppose to the image a typical Rome tourist bears in mind, when thinking about the famous market in the historic centre of Rome.

Everything in this photo is wrong: there are no flowers anywhere. The bakery is closed. There should be dozens of people gathering and queuing up, buying Budini de Riso, still warm from the oven. Instead two trash cans and two phone booths are the centre of attention.  

No Budino di Riso for me. My face and my posture should say it all: I am heavily disappointed.

This is the only photo I brought home from the Campo de' Fiori and it only exists, because at the time we got there and took the photo, the bakery was closed. Every other time, there was sugar and grease on our fingers from the most delicious Budini di Riso which can be bought at the Forno Campo de' Fiori, which hindered my from touching my camera.

I love this photo. It was a special moment during our vacation, one of the moments you want to keep, because it makes you smile. Maybe because of the pointlessness of being there. Maybe because by that time we knew what we loved about the Campo de' Fiori and why we wanted to come back.

On that very Sunday morning we knew what we were going to be missing, because we had the chance to get to know it. Isn't this what getting to know a place is all about in the end: to know what you are going to be missing - before you've even left.

A close look at the Vatican: Vatican Museums

Which photo to choose as an introduction for the Vatican Museums?
 
This one fits perfectly, because it delivers the right atmosphere: RUSH

You rush ...

... until you are stuck in a crowd

It does not take long and you become Vatican-smart and find your way around the crowds.

Nothing is going to stop us ...

... except for:

Etruskan Gold!

°:°

During our first visit at the Vatican Museums, a few days before, we had been way too rushy to care for the Etruskan collection. How foolish!

How lucky we were to get a 2nd chance and correct that ignorant mistake. The Etruskan collection turned out to be a if not THE highlight. imho.

I had no idea know how cute and funny the Etruskan society was - from looking at their pieces of art I get the impression that they were adorable.
Visiting this collection was absolutely refreshing! 

Since one one else was caring for the Etruskan collection, we had all the space around the show cases and fooled around the magnifying glasses on display in the show cases:

You find the Etruskan collection is on the top floor in the museum. Turn your head by 180°,  and you see this:

One of the many hills, one that we climbed with our bikes a few days alter

This looks nice, too: If I am not wrong, then this must be the Prati-district. 

 Can you see the laundry hanging on the washing lines?

Another soothing view:

You remember, at the same time, the rest of the museum looks like this:

Group + group + group  crowd

Everyone is here for the same reason: the Sistine Chapel. In the museum's gardens, tourists from all countries group in front of the sign poles, where the paintings in the chapel are on display. In every corner of the garden you could find a group with a guide, getting trained for the chapel.

The golden "ball" was a good piece of art. I am not sure how it works for the artists and for the Vatican: artists make a piece of art and propose it to the Vatican. The pope either accepts or refuses the piece of art.

The Vatican once refused a piece of art by Joseph Beuys. It came with some empty blood bags.

The artist of the "Death Star" (I know, an el cheapo comparison) was successful. His masterpiece became a big attraction.

A tiny detail, next to a window:

There is so much to see, you will never manage to see it all. 

And if it hadn't been for Mr Paula, I would have missed Sir Peter Ustinov's ancient bust:

What did shock me was the obviously very, very relaxed approach towards climate control. The guards opened windows rather mindlessy, no matter if rain or sun or wind, they even opened the windows in the "Raphael rooms"  - it was raining outside!

Ok. They seem to have a relaxed approach in general.

To calm my nerves, I decide to return to the place where it all begins: The hallway at the entrance of the museum. 99% of the visitors take the escalator and skip the slope.

We walked up the slope and on our way we did discover a quite peculiar little piece of beauty.
They have ancient boat models on display along the slope, like a walking gallery. 

This one got our attention:

This looks quite familiar, no? like an ancient iPad.

Lets not forget, why we are here in the first place. Back to the track. The Sistine Chapel.

All over the Vatican Museums signs remind you why you are here:

"Shortcut to the Sistine Chapel" 

"Alternative way to the Sistine Chapel" 

"Sistine Chapel via Stanza di Raphael"  

etc etc. You get the picture, right?

Right before you make it to the Chapel, this gets in you way:

Modern art!

Paul Klee, Dali, ... you can not not look at it. We stopped, took thorough looks and discovered good details:

Enough with modern arts. I'm almost there, just a few more steps ...

tadah ... there we are.

NO PHOTOS! 

NO PICTURES! SILENCE PLEASE! SILENZIO! NO PHOTOS!

This was the Sistine Chapel. Hundres of tourists, penned up inside the chapel. A weird, almost gross situation. It is worth to go there twice, because facing the absolutely soulfree atmosphere hurts less when visiting it the 2nd time since you know by then what to expect.

What's next?

It looks quite promising outside. Spots on: time to mee some walls and stones. More to come!