Italian Easter

Easter season in Rome has prompted a transformation of shop windows. Local bakeries, candy shops and even corner coffee bars and take-away food places suddenly filled with gloriously wrapped egg-shaped delicacies of all sizes and themes. Some dangled from the ceilings like pinatas, as depicted below....


And others crammed the display windows...accommodating all tastes and all budgets

This & That: Carnivale & Garbatella (an interesting part of Rome)

Although this year's Carnivale in Venice drew record-breaking crowds, Carnivale in Rome appears to be primarily child-oriented. For about ten days before Lent, neighborhood children could be seen at our local Piazza San Cosimato playground tossing confetti and sporting Carnivale costumes (boys mostly in superhero garb & girls mostly princesses). A few children in Daniela's class had Carnivale parties: [below]

Bakeries displayed special seasonal Carnivale treats (cream puffs or fried pasta dusted in powdered sugar), and some other shops and trattorias adorned their display windows with masks or confetti. But overall, for those of us not oriented towards the neighborhood's nighlt clubs, Carnivale in Trastevere was decidedly low key. On Fat Tuesday, Daniela's class wore their costumes to school and paraded over to Piazza Mastai in the afternoon, along with their teachers and older schoolmates (which I missed since I was teaching). However, the previous Sunday we'd visited Rome's Garbatella neighborhood for a birthday party and happened upon a lively little Carnivale parade:
Some watched the parade from the sidelines, while others opted for the comfort of their windows:

The parade ended in a neighborhood square where costumed children threw still more confetti while parents caught up with friends:

The Garbatella neighborhood where the parade took place is a fascinating pocket of Rome. Originally constructed in the 1920s as a planned community for workers and immigrants, its now considered a neighborhood ripe for gentrification. Lead architects Sabbatini and Giovannoni designed low rise buildings with large gardens and public spaces where they envisioned diverse community members could mingling harmoniously. Here are some images:


Many of the buildings have little flourishes that one would not expect to find in workers' housing-- sculpted drainpipes, wrought iron balconies, and decorative urns.

Precepe in our Neighborhood (esp. Santa Maria de Trastevere & San Crisogono)

Some of my favorite precepe in Rome went up in the churches & schools in our Trastevere neighborhood. On Christmas day we took a mid-day walk to Santa Maria de Trastevere Church & admired the precipe in the portico of the church--a replica of the church itself, featuring scenes of the neighborhood-oriented activities the church coordinates (work with handicapped, immigrant-oriented skills classes, etc.). These are some of the scenes depicted on the S.M. de Trastevere church's nativity scene:

One of the sides of the S.M.de Trastevere nativity scene depicts the annual Christmas day meal that is served inside the church for the poor, homeless, elderly or others in need without somewhere to go on Christmas:

Here is a video that shows more of the church's nativity scene:



The nativity scene at another Trastevere church featured historical neighborhood photos as the backdrop: (click on the image to see the detail)

Daniela's elementary school in Trastevere had two nativity scenes, one a traditional affair and a second display highlighting the historic school building: (click on the image to enlarge)

Finally, the latest in nativity-ware from a little farther afield: the latest trend in Naples appears to be Obama Nativity figures.

Images of Tunisia

Tunisia is only an hour's flight from Rome, but worlds apart...

Scenes from Tunis' medina:



A quiet neighborhood of Tunis:



Sidi Bou Said, a small coastal suburb of Tunis popular with tourists:



Sousse, a thriving coastal city with a spectacular medina:




El Djem, one of the three largest Roman amphitheaters and UNESCO World Heritage Site:

Outside the Em Djem amphitheater shops target both local consumers and tourists:


Kairouan, one of the oldest Muslim settlements in North Africa (also a world heritage site):


The mosque at Kairouan is an important North African pilgrimage site:
Entry to the Kairouan mosque at dusk:

Treats for sale in the Kairouan medina (the entire medina is a world heritage site):

Hammamet medina rooftops (a medina that throngs with tourist shops):

The sea at Hammamet:

Christmas In Rome: Creches (presepe), Carpets, and La Befana

About two weeks before Christmas, our Trastevere neighborhood began to transform. Glittering lights and blue stars were strung across the Medieval streets and merchants adorned the sidewalks in front of their shops with red "Queen's Carpets." The windows of bakers filled with decorative breads and creches popped up in all sorts of expected and unexpected places, from public piazzas to school hallways.

Christmas creches, or presepe, are a veritable folk art here. Most families assemble their own Christmas creches, adding to them gradually each year with a piece or two. Piazza Navonna's annual Christmas fair is one venue for creche shopping. Here you can find all you need to make your own creche or, for those less creatively inclined, you can purchase ready-made creche figures. Visiting the crowd-filled Christmas fair at Piazza Navona on a weekend afternoon in December, one would never believe the news reports that Italian presepe practices are now threatened traditions, under assault by an invading army of American Christmas trees.
[Above: Piazza Navona's Christmas fair]

Some of the creche items sold at Piazza Navona show particular Roman twists. note the Roman soldiers and marble columns for sale alongside the creche Madonnas below.
For some families a manger scene is not enough: many construct villages alongside their creches. While some of these villages are oasis-esque, replete with palm trees, most are more Medieval and depict everything from meat vendors and potters to gamers. [See below].




The Piazza Navona Christmas fair is not limited to creche supplies, one can also find multitudes of images of La Befana, the old woman who gives good Italian children sweets on January 6th and poorly behaved children coal (candy coal is also sold at Piazza Navona, as well!).


Venders also supply children's toys...

After a morning of browsing creche items, we did what most Roman families do this time of year--took a break to eat freshly roasted chestnuts.

Not only do families display their own creches, but they are also displayed in most churches and in some piazzas. The piazza and church-based Christmas creches arrived in Rome later than I expected--in mid-December, and the mangers remained empty until Christmas Eve, when baby Jesuses get added.