Fast food, street food, slow food, show food – it’s difficult to sum up Mi ‘Ndujo in a couple words. The sandwich shop is a Made in Calabria original. With multiple locations, it’s also referred to as a catena, but for me, a chain denotes a level of industrialization that doesn’t have anything to do with this unique eatery.
Apollo of Krimisa, Acrolith Sculpture in Italy
Modern man has the tendency to think of himself as more evolved and cleverer than his predecessors, but things aren’t always what they seem. Perusing the pages of history books and visiting museums can lend a bit of perspective with regard to ingenuity over the ages. Take ancient acrolith sculpture, of which several noteworthy examples still exist, amongst them, the …
Mid-August Lunch, A Favorite Italian Film
PRANZO DI FERRAGOSTO I was utterly charmed the first time I saw Pranzo di Ferragosto just after its release in the early fall of 2008. I remember seeing it in Rome at the multiplex in Piazza Barberini with friends from Rieti, where I was staying. The film wasn’t expected to be a huge draw and hadn’t been programmed in Rieti, …
Reflection: Reading in Rome
A ROME VACATION My feet were killing me. It was a brisk Tuesday evening in late November. After a harrowing experience on Rome’s overcrowded public transportation system during the morning rush hour, I had decided to walk back to my apartment that overlooked the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano.
The “Tavola Calda” – Part 1
BEFORE THE TAVOLA CALDA My father likes to reminisce about the wonderful meals he ate while living in Rome in the 1950s. Perhaps surprisingly, one of his favorite lunches consisted of a big plate of cooked spinach on which he drizzled olive oil and squeezed a lemon. He would lap it up with several slices of a hearty, crusty bread …
Christmas Eve at St. Peterʼs
CHRISTMAS EVE TICKETS Arms pinned to my sides, neck craned, strobe-like lighting accompanying a vertiginous din . . . the memory of my visit to the Sistine Chapel many summers ago. An unfortunately negative experience that featured hordes of unruly tourists and their flashing cameras left me with a less than favorable association with the Vatican. So when my friend …