Category: Travels

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 🙂