Category: italy

Just for the fun of it, I went to Tivoli recently.

Tivoli is a charming town about 30 km from Rome. Cart couldn’t accompany me so I had to go by myself. At first, I was freaking out as I don’t think I’ve ever been out of Rome without him.

But all my fears was for naught as it was actually ridiculously easy to reach there by public transportation. All you had to do was to take the metro B all the way to Ponte Mammolo. From there, look for the counter that sells COTRAL tickets and get 2 – one to go, and the other to go back. And then head to the bus station, look for the number 2 berth and then sit and enjoy the scenery.

For an even more detailed article on going there, read this link written by Ron in Rome.

I think it’s much more relaxing going by public transportation rather than going by car (or even Sam the scooter!) You don’t have to wait long for a bus and the travel time is less than an hour. You also don’t have to deal with the toll and the traffic, plus you get to enjoy this view :

For 2.20 euro, it’s so worth it. I can’t believe that I didn’t do this sooner!

One of the beauties of Tivoli would have to be Villa D’este.

Like Villa Adriana, the gorgeous Villa D’este is listed as a UNESCO heritage site and the villa is full of majestic renaissance architecture.

When you enter the villa, you will pass through many rooms with gorgeous frescoes. The frescoes were interesting to me as the colours were vivid, as if I was looking through a HD TV.

But when you go down the spiral staircase, is when you find yourself transported in another world.

I gasped when I stepped out, seeing the beautiful garden. It was as if I was transported in a fairyland.

In the autumn, the garden looked quite magical with the rich colour of the trees, accented with the deep moss. But I think that it would be better to visit here during Spring or Summer with the fountains spouting. During colder periods, the fountains are dried out.

Nevertheless, it was breathtaking being here – I channelled my inner Lara Croft,  as if I was in a scene from Tomb Raider, the game. The only thing I felt was missing was the running sound effects 😀

From the top where you start, you’ll see the intricate builds of of the period architecture, with the town of Tivoli in the background.

And as you walk down, you’ll be immersed in the tranquillity of the garden. Apart from Tomb Raider, there is something about the place which reminded me of Secondlife as I explored inside.

One of the memorable display for me was a wall full of smaller fountains which when you looked closer has different figures each – aptly, it’s called the “Cento Fontane” or 100 fountains :

Apart from the fountains, there were interesting statues and builds to be discovered at each nook and cranny. All the pictures are taken with my Nexus 5 by the way, I find myself using my PNS lesser and lesser nowadays.

There was even a friendly little kitten that came up to me, and got so comfortable that it took a snooze. So adorable! All in all, I had a relaxing morning in Villa D’este. I don’t mind going back here again!

At this point of writing, Villa D’este is open at 8.30 am every day except Mondays, January 1st, May 1st, and December 25th. Tickets cost 8 euro but entry is free on the first Sunday of each month.

Ex mattatoio is a place in Testaccio which used to be a slaughterhouse but has been converted in the 70s into a cultural association building. There are always interesting events held here, like open air movies, music festivals and more.

Cart and I were there last weekend for the first ever Steamfest event in Rome. Steampunk, in a nutshell is a genre of science fiction meets British-Victorian era fashion. Think HG Wells or Jules Verne.

We reached there in the late afternoon and there was quite a turnout. I enjoyed looking at the fantastic costumes that many of the participants were wearing. I think takes a lot of love and dedication in creating these outfits, not to mention also time and money to find the perfect fit.

With the gazometro in the background, it gives a nice touch to the whole steampunk feel and I’ll bet that there were a lot of fantastic pictures being taken.

Apart from admiring the different costumes, there were also booths where steampunk outfits and accessories were sold. It wasn’t that expensive and it was tempting to get a costume for myself!

Apart from that, there were a lot of sideshows that I saw from our programme sheet, like,”Fighting lessons for Gentlemen”, “Cavern of horrors” as well as others. I really like how sheet was decorated.

The highlight of the show was probably the burlesque by Sweety J, the winner of the reality TV show, “Lady Burlesque“. Unfortunately the timing clashed with a dinner appointment with our friends and we’d have to give it a pass so I guess this would have to do for now.

(Not very safe for work)

Anyhow here are some of the costumes that Cart and I snapped :

She’s so cute!

Futuristic fortune teller from the past

Another cute one!

This explorer outfit was one of the more unique ones that we’ve seen.

Not sure if you could see it in the picture, but the photographer in there incorporated his iPhone on the sleeve of his costume.

I had fun going to my first Steamfest! So many interesting things to see and do. Thank you organizers! And I am definitely looking forward to the next one 🙂

Sidenote : If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy my post about Rome’s Comic Convention.

Rieti is a city in Lazio and is about 100 km away from central Rome. After an idyllic road trip accompanied by greeneries and the rolling hills, you’ll find yourself  there.

It’s such a pretty place and everywhere you go, is such a postcard perfect shot. Being near this river made me feel so tranquil.

The mountains in the background should be Terminillo, where Cart and I visited some time back.

There is a spot in Rieti where you could stand, to be right in the middle of Italy.

But apart from the picturesque view, Cart and I were here for their annual Chilli festival. This year is their 4th edition and we were excited to attend our first fiera del peperoncino.

I loved seeing the fresh and vibrant colours of the chilli. Growing up in Singapore, I was used to and  cultivated a love for eating hot food. Walking around, the thing that came to mind, was how my family would have loved being here.

Did you know that chillies actually originated in the Americas?  It then spread around the world and now India is the largest producer and consumer of chillies.

Despite what I initially thought before living here, a lot of Italians, especially those from the South, appreciate and love chillies especially seeing the sheer amount of visitors there, carrying along with them their bundles of newly purchased pots of chilli plants.

The types of chillies that I saw came in a variety of strength or the level of capsaicin, from the mild, to the very hot. This level even has it’s own measurement called the Scoville heat units or SHU. For example :

• Bell Pepper – 0 SHU (Not hot at all)
• Jalapeño – 2,500-8,000 SHU
• Habanero – 100,000–350,000 SHU (Hot!)

Cart and I managed to try some Trinidad Scorpion, Bhut Jolokia and Naga Viper at a friend’s house the other day.  Each one of these are more than 1.4M SHU. At first bite, you don’t feel it so much but the heat intensifies and grow bigger as time passes by and your eyes will tear up and your nose will dribble and you’d question yourself about the meaning of life.

Non chilli eaters would probably ask why torture yourself and inflicting self pain to yourself, but after you get over it, you get the blissful feeling of euphoria. Kind of like a jogger’s high.

When we reached there, there were a number of award winning chillies for sale and you could get for yourself, your own pots of chilli plants from 5 euro and above.

There were so many varieties that it boggles the mind that after a while, I just could not keep track of the kinds that I saw but there were a number which was unique to me, such as the purple chilli as seen in the picture above, as well as these white, round ones. Something that I’ve never seen before.

These are called “Capezzoli di Scimmia”. Ask your Italian friends to translate what it means in English 🙂

As we walked past a restaurant, and while we didn’t eat here, I was amused to see the menu. Chilli in at least one of the meals, even the dessert!

In the end, Cart and I got two pots while our friend Stefano went all out and got I think 4 big pots altogether.

There was hardly any space in the car as the chillies instead took more space than me! Haha

All in all, I had a most lovely time exploring beautiful Rieti as well as enjoying the chilli festival with our lovely friends.

What other festivals will we go to next?

If you like this post, you might enjoy :

• Artichoke festival in Ladispoli
• Gelato festival in Rome
• Medieval fair in Bevagna
• Infiorata in Genzano
• Chestnut festival in Bracciano

Cart and I were with a group of friends in Orvieto during the weekend.

This place is like a dream, the view from up was so breathtakingly beautiful with rolling hills and teeny tiny houses from far away.

The buildings look so charming and every where you go here is a picture perfect view.

In the heart of the town, there is a church here which reminds me a lot like the one in Firenze, mostly because of its black and white stripes.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to spend too much time here as we had to rush off to other places, but I’d love to come back here again and explore the area in a calmer manner 🙂

P.S. All the pictures in this post were snapped using my mobile phone by the way. Either my pns camera is getting obsolete or phones are getting so much better!

Today, the 15th of August, also known as ‘ferragosto’ is a holiday in Italy. It was originally introduced as a celebration for the end of a long and intense farming and a good harvest.

Traditionally horse races was organized and farm animals had a day off and were decorated with flowers.

Nowadays Italians would typically just go for a beach holiday or a vacation in the mountains. While Cart and I would normally just stuff our faces with food in a restaurant somewhere in Italy 😛

So happy holidays to all and have a lovely weekend 🙂

Cart, Juli and I headed to Genzano during the weekend intending to only have lunch there before heading to the lake when I noticed that there was multiple road closures towards the the entry of the of the town.

We had such a challenging time trying to find parking, but when we finally got to the heart of the town and saw all the throngs of people, I finally realised what was going on. There was the yearly infiorata festival there!

I felt very lucky that after 5 years of living in Italy, I finally managed to catch the infiorata at Genzano. It has always been something that I’ve wanted to see, but we seem to always miss it for some reason. This time round it was extra special as we got to share this with my beloved friend. 🙂

An infiorata is a decoration on the floor made of flower petals. It was similar to the one that we saw in San Pietro, but it was vastly larger. You can see the size of the pedestrians as a scale against the infiorata as it stretches all the way out a good 500 metres to the church.

From what I’ve read, each colours of the petals are natural – Like Brooms for yellow, Carnations for orange and Roses for red.

It takes about two days to complete the infiorata. Saturday afternoon, the artists start by sketching on the floor. The petals will be arranged on Sunday morning and the 2000 metre square decoration will be complete by the afternoon.

At least 350 000 flowers are used in creating the infiorata each year. And there are different themes for the infiorata in Genzano each time.

For me, I was struck at the amount of time and dedication that was put in to create this spectacular works of art. I myself take ages just to draw a cartoon so cannot imagine that it would be easy to do!

By the way, the infiorata is an old tradition was started right there in Genzano in 1778 to honour the Patron Saints of Rome. I imagine that it started out as a small one which just got bigger throughout the years.

We had a nice stroll looking at the different pieces and I really enjoyed seeing the infiorata in Genzano. It was so beautiful and I feel blessed to finally be able to see it in person.

That’s another tick off the things I want to see in Italy and there are still so many other things to be seen and experienced. 🙂

By chance I was wearing a flower printed dress too so it was so perfect that I was in the flower theme. Heh heh heh. 😀

 

Each year, 50 days after Easter, there is a celebration called the Pentecost where there is a feast to commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus.

Photocredits : RetroblogRome

Last Sunday at the Pantheon in Rome, after the Pentecost mass there was the spectacular tradition where thousands of rose petals were dropped down the oculus – the top opening of the pantheon.

Photocredits : RetroblogRome

How it was done was with a group of firemen climbing up to the top of the dome, each carrying bags of rose petals with them – not an easy feat at about 40 meters height. And at the right time, the petals are dropped down.

Photocredits : RetroblogRome

It’s such a enchanting sight to behold with the red petals fluttering down under the the stream of light from the top of the dome. As the rose petals drops down, it’s a form of a symbolism of the Holy Spirit’s descent to Earth.

Personally for me, I think that there is something romantic and captivating about it all.