Alex's Video B'Day Card from Norcia, Italy

We're in Norcia...a small Umbrian hill town known for it's wild boar, truffles and pork products. We recorded this video birthday card for Alex...we really miss you and wish you could be with us here.

SO MANY FLAVORS...SO LITTLE TIME

I’ve posted about the great food (coglioni di mulo notwithstanding), aperitivos, digestivos, wine and grappe but I have somehow managed to overlook Italy’s second greatest gift to humanity…GELATI (Italian Ice Cream)! I’m not talking about the commercially packaged supermarket stuff or the stuff made from industrial mixes sold to the unwashed masses. Nope, I’m talking about the artisan “made-from-scratch”, frozen orgasmic gelati that only true aficionados know and love. Italians are as loyal and fanatical about their favorite local gelato makers as they are about their beloved soccer teams…perhaps more so.

Our search for the ultimate gelato experience is an ongoing quest. Everywhere we go, we sample, compare and debate the merits of each gelato vender’s product…many are noteworthy but none have as yet transported us to gelato Nirvana. So the search continues.

Beyond assessing the quality of each gelato is an equally daunting challenge of choosing the right combination of flavors. At any given time there are dozens of flavors to choose from which makes selecting the right combination all the more difficult. So, being a linear thinker and analyst, I have developed the following gelato theory:

• Time of Day - Like ordering cappuccino only before 11:00 AM, certain gelati are “morning” combinations; others should only be consumed between 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM; and, others eaten after dinner (late into the night). I am very curious if other gelato fanatics share my theory.

• Morning Flavors (Before 11:00 AM) – Any combination of fruit flavors (fragola, pesca, melone, fruiti di bosco, etc.) with plain vanilla or cream (panne) flavor); Caffe and/or cappucino are also fine. No Chocolate, nuts or “complex” flavors.

• Midday Flavors (11:00 AM to 7:00 PM) – Any combination of chocolate or hazelnut with caffe or vanilla; fruit with vanilla; or a single “complex” flavor. A note of caution…some of the complex flavors will seem strange, so ask for a small taste before tackling a whole cup.

• After Dinner Flavors (After 9:00 PM) – Anything goes…but if you can’t handle caffeine at night, stay away from the caffe and cappuccino gelati.

Now it’s quiz time. Raise your hand if you’re old enough to remember:

“Sometimes you feel like a nut…sometimes you don’t!”

That’s an old TV commercial for Mounds and Almond Joy candy bars;. Mentioned by another American tourist recently, she inspired me to try something new. Next time out, I’m going for the Mounds gelati combo (chocolate and coconut) or, if almond gelato is available, the Almond Joy combo (chocolate, coconut and almond). Of course, I may exercise a little Italian artistic license substituting nocciola (chocolate hazelnut; a.k.a. Nutella) for chocolate with coconut…but only after 7:00 PM. Rules are rules…but in Italy, rules are made to be broken.

P.S. – Please don’t make the same embarrassing mistake I made a few years back. Don’t confuse pesca (peach) with pesce (fish)…you might be served anchovy flavored gelato.

BRICKS, CONCRETE & ROOF TILES

Bricks have been around for about 10,000 years…they’re even mentioned in the Bible. The Romans used fired clay brick to build most of Rome and the rest of the Empire. Roman bricks varied in size and were often stamped with the mark of the legion that supervised their production. We recently visited Ostia Antica (Ancient Rome’s original port city) which was almost entirely constructed of brick.

Apparently the Romans used fired clay bricks to construct walls, columns, arches and vaults to create enclosed buildings. The buildings were then covered with wood framed roofs. Only the major temples and government buildings received the expensive marble veneers. Over the centuries, much of the outer marble and many of the old bricks were removed and recycled for other projects.

Romans also developed concrete (opus caementicium) that was used to construct the incredible dome of the Pantheon (my favorite building in Rome). Around 25 B.C. the architect, Vitruvius wrote “The Ten Books on Architecture”, containing descriptions of different concrete aggregates and lime mortars…sorry, too much detail.

In my humble opinion, the most interesting Roman building material was the tapered, curved clay roof tiles (often called Mediterranean Roof Tiles). By alternating the fired curved tiles on a sloped roof and holding them in place with mortar, gravity directs rain water down and prevents roof leaks…pure genius. Somewhere I read or heard the legend (entirely lacking historical facts) of how those roof tiles came into existence.

For centuries Roman brick makers also made flat rectangular tiles for the floors of buildings. As the story goes, the youngest son of a successful Roman brick maker fell in love with one of his father’s beautiful young slave girls. In the heat of passion, the young man caressed the young girl’s shapely thigh with his clay stained hand which gave him an idea. He took a few of flat soft floor tiles and shaped them over her thigh forming the perfect roof tiles. The next day he demonstrated to his father how the tiles could be arranged making a leak-proof roof. As a reward, the son was allowed to marry the slave girl and they lived happily, ever after. To this day these curved roof tiles are sometimes called “maidens’ thighs” or “coscia da ragazza”…a total fabrication but a cute story.

QUARTIERE COPPEDE

Carol and I will be walking down a street, pass a beautiful ragazza and she’ll say something like “Did you see that beautiful girl?” to which I’ll respond, “No…I was admiring the façade of that old building.” It’s not that I don’t appreciate all the beautiful Italian women; but almost everywhere we go in Italy I fall in love again …with the architecture. Architecture has been my passion…no, an obsession since I was a kid. Only other architects understand this; and my dear wife has tolerated it for over 38 years.

Recently we took the train into Rome and I was blown away by what we found. Tucked away in the northeast corner of Rome, away from the tourists and souvenir vendors, we discovered Piazza Minco in the Quartiere Coppedè. The neighborhood is named for the architect who originally planned and designed many of the buildings, Gino Coppedè (1866 to 1927). Begun around 1912 and completed after Coppedè’s death in 1927, the villas and large apartment buildings employ architectural elements of Imperial Roman (as was dictated by the governing commission that hired Mr. Coppedè).

That’s enough of an architectural history lecture…enjoy the photos and music.