Italian Elections--The American & Italian Student 'Vote'

Not only did Italians vote in an all-important national election yesterday and today, but
American and Italian students in Florence expressed their preferences as well.  This was the result of a political conference which took place at the Florence campus of Pepperdine University involving their students as well as students from the University of Florence.

As can be seen in the photo above, the ballots in the mock election were facsimiles of the actual
Italian ballot--no names, just party symbols.  At stake are the seats--with a few exceptions--of the entire Italian Parliament, from the House of Deputies to the Senate, up to and including the Prime Minister.

Pepperdine in Florence director Elizabeth Whatley is holding the the ballot box
 containing the newly-cast votes.
As we are going to press, Italian polls officially closed an hour ago, and the entire country is waiting for the results with bated breath.  In the meantime, your faithful Beautiful Florence blogger can report
the student results:  41% support the coalizione di sinistra (the center-left alliance, including
Bersani's Democratic Party and Vendola's Left, Ecology and Liberty movements);
15.3% are for the center coalition, with lists headed by outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti,
Casini and Fini;  15.3% for the Movimento Cinque Stelle (the anti-politician, populist movement created by the angry comic Beppe Grillo);  15.3% in favor of the coalizione di destra,
the right-wing coalition run by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
(who up to now gives the impression that he was prepared to even rise from the dead in order to participate.  Forgive my unprofessional comment as a journalist).  The Ingroia list (Civil Revolution) headed by this former Mafia prosecutor received not a single vote, while five ballots were declared null and void (schede bianche).

How did the participating students arrive at their decision?  Prior to the election,
Professor Alessandro Chiaramonte of Florence University's political science department
gave an explanation of the Italian political system, including historical background (above).  His speech was followed by presentations of each political coalition or party in English by selected students.

Here a student is talking about the Movimento Cinque Stelle, whose five star logo is next to a picture of its leader, Beppe Grillo.  The audience learned that Cinque Stelle political agenda stresses ecology and energy, is strongly anti-euro, while calling for a complete and radical renewal of the political elite, in addition to promoting online bureaucracy and free access to the Internet.
Grillo himself has taken the unprecedented step of declaring that he is not running for a seat
 in the Italian Parliament.

Those in attendance learned that the Italian Parliament is composed of
the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
Although Italy has 60,000,000 inhabitants as compared to the U.S. population of 300,000,000,
the Chamber of Deputies comprises 618 members versus 435 congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives.  The Italian Senate is made of of 315 senators--excluding a handful of senators-for-life appointed for merit--versus 100 elected U.S. Senators.

Another student is talking about the left spectrum of the Italian party system, characterized by a platform that emphasizes jobs, education and sustainable development, civil and social rights (including civil unions for gays), and a United States of Europe.  Apparently what he said was convincing, as the Center-Left Alliance won the most votes in the mock election.

The gentle reader may ask why such an unusual subject is featured in Beautiful Florence?
Your faithful blogger, along with professional photographer Marco Giacomelli (on loan from our publishing company's English language magazine Vista, Florence & Tuscany), find quite beautiful as well as extraordinary the intercultural dialogue--resulting in informed political expression--organized as a joint effort by Pepperdine and Florence University.
In this way, the American students also feel part of the country they are currently living in,
 not just temporary guests.
Also, the roots of Beautiful Florence find support in the vibrant, living continuity intrinsic to the discoveries and traditions of Florence's remarkably beautiful past.

Where does Beautiful Florence go from here?

This past Friday, center candidate Prime Minister Mario Monti concluded his campaign in Florence, home of the Renaissance, to underscore that he would like to work towards a rebirth of Italy, a new Italian Renaissance.  A brave gesture in the stronghold of a strongly left constituency.
In any case, Beautiful Florence will report on the outcome of this election and compare it to the student vote.  Along the way, the Italian national vote will recount, as Professor Chiarmonte stated,
 whether the agony of the Italy's Second Republic will continue or
or if the outcome signals the birth of the Third Republic.

reporting live from Beautiful Florence 
--Rosanna

Traditional Tuscan Carnival Desserts

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday in Italy and all predominantly Catholic countries.

Lent is a time of self-examination, of mental spiritual and physical cleansing

that ends with Easter, symbolized by the Resurrection.

Yet, here in Tuscany, a respite can be obtained by
indulging in typical pre-Lent Carnival desserts that continue after Mardi Gras to be available
 in local cafés and bakeries.
One is schiacciata alla fiorentina (above), whose golden color comes from locally grown
saffron, which is mixed with flour, yeast, eggs, vanilla and sugar.  Always dusted with powdered sugar,  a more decadent version is layered with whipped cream.
 As its name implies, it is a speciality of Florence.

While every Italian housewife (including my later mother) also makes these at home, this sweet varies in name according to the Italian region.  In Tuscany these scraps of dough composed of flour, eggs, a little sugar and usually a touch of alcohol--either Vin Santo, rum or sherry--are known as cenci (rags).  Locally they are also called chiacchere (talk or gossip) as in pre-TV Italy, it was the custom that friends would gather at home for hot cenci, coffee and conversation.
 Cenci are best served just at the moment when they are deep fried (peanut or olive oil), cut with a pastry wheel and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
A simple dessert that is soul-satisfying.

As mentioned, schiacciata alla fiorentina and cenci provide warm respite during the pre-Lent Carnival period as well as most of Lent.  Towards the end of Lent, fritelle (above) appear.
Again, many an Italian housewife makes these at home especially on Sunday.
Fritelle herald the arrival of the Feast of St. Joseph (March 17), a sort of unofficial Italian
Father's Day.  Boiled rice enriched with milk, eggs, golden raisins and grated lemon zest are shaped into balls, deep fried and brought to the table hot with a dusting of granulated sugar.
Fritelle are richer than cenci and just as irresistible.

When in Tuscany, blog photographer Bree Chun and I suggest you stop at a café and enjoy these local winter specialties.  And, before you know it, the local Italian parish priest will ring the door bell, sprinkle holy water and bless your home, afterwards waiting quietly for the expected donation.
 Yet another pre-Easter tradition here in Beautiful Florence.

Time & the New Year--An Antique Clock Repairman in Florence

Tempus fugit--a Latin motto meaning in Italian
il tempo volo or time flies.
Your faithful Beautiful Florence blogger is at home at the beginning of a
New Year.   Above left is a Morbier clock from France, which has been keeping count of the flight of time and the New Year since 1830.

Like its faceless companion, it strikes every 15 minutes.  Upon my request, antique clock repairman Franco Lisi placed the missing face on the clock to reveal another

Morbier, this one from 1860.

I and photographer Bree Chun were in Lisi's workshop on via Romana, in Florence's Oltrarno neighborhood.  Lisi revealed that during the 1970s he had studied at Porta Romana's Art Institute and wanted to become a goldsmith.  Through word of mouth, however, he heard that a master of antique clock repair, Gino Mori, was seeking an apprentice.  Mori's former space is now
Lisi's shop.  It still bears Mori's name, and Lisi continues to answer the phone by saying
"Gino Mori."

Tradition knows not time, it would seem.

Here we are back at Vittorio Lombardini's antique shop, subject of the Beautful Florence 2012 Christmas blog, found directly across from my office on Borgo degli Albizi.
It was here that my quest for an antique clock began.  I had caught the bug from my
cousin's husband Antonio Gerardi.  His passion is reflected in a house in Policoro filled with antique clocks.  As a guest, I became fascinated with their sound.

Visiting Vittorio's, I felt an attraction to a 1930s reproduction of a 19th century clock (below).
One day I noticed, however, that the pendulum was moving too fast--it almost made me dizzy.
A metaphor for my fast-moving lifestyle, I would discover.
Did I move to Florence only to live like an American?

2011 faithful Beautiful Florence photographer Carly Vickers came to the rescue.  At the back of
Vittorio's shop, she discovered a mute 1910 German clock from the Black Forest.
It was love at first sight.  Vittorio was dubious.  "It will never tell time again," he said.

Here is my clock, at Gino Mori's.  I had discovered where the clock could be fixed by walking down via Romana one day on my way home by foot during a bus strike.

I asked Lisi whether it was an impossible task to make an antique clock tell time again.
He answered, "it is impossible not to fix a timepiece."
He immediately classified my clock as one with a trappola mechanism, made of wood and not of metal like his French clocks.  After all, it was created by a craftsman in the deep of the Black Forest.
And unbeknowst to me, in the course of a century, it had attracted hungry termites.

No problem.  Next door to Lisi at Gino Mori's is the workshop of carpenter
Nello Fancelli.   He possesses a gas chamber to kill temites, a trick of the trade.

Here he is with his hand-lettered sign advertising his services--tarli means woodworms or
termites, preventivi gratuiti means free estimates.  After getting rid of termites, Fancelli brings antique wooden furniture back to the original time period by careful restoration.  In the case of my Black Forest clock, it was returned to Lisi, who made it keep track of hours once again.

He reminds me of a surgeon--in fact, Lisi wears a white smock, while most Florentine craftsmen wear
either green or blue smocks.
Like a surgeon, his is fine, precision work.

Ogni orologio è particolare e ha la sua bellezza ("Every clock
is distinctive and has its own beauty,")  he explains.
"Each has its own movement, and sound."
Over time, Lisi has restored life to 17th, 18th and 19th century
French, Italian, English and German clocks, even a Breguet pocket watch from 1700.
He taught me to pull the chain of my Black Forest clock once a day in order to rewind the mechanism.
How ecological is that?  Antique clocks run on their own renewable energy.
Another thought for the New Year...

"Clock makers of the past had capabilities that today would be
unthinkable," says Lisi.  "Every clock piece was constructed carefully by hand, and the result was precise to the second.  It is my job to restore that as it was."

"Are you ever in a hurry?,"  I asked the craftsman.
"Sometimes," he replied, "but the job of repairing antique clocks
doesn't allow me to hurry much."
Mio lavoro non mi concede di avere tanta fretta.

When I was on my way to via Romana, I saw
Guido Giannini, master bookbinder craftsman, just outside
his shop in Piazza Pitti, founded by his ancestors in 1856.
This too, is Beautiful Florence.  Guido inquired where I was going.
Of course, he knew fellow craftsman "Mori,"
"So you are going to interview the man who works with time," said Guido.
As you can see, I did just that.

As timepieces can be repaired, so can our concept of time.

I learned that time stops, and moves, and above all...

has its own pace.

No small lesson.

Happy New Year from Beautiful Florence.
Buon Anno!

Christmas 2012 in Florence

It is Christmas Eve day here in Florence, a moment when your faithful

  Beautiful Florence reporter sends greetings of the season and personally delivers them
to friends in downtown Florence.

As I am about to lock the office tight, here is a special Christmas card from our Borgo Albizi
address.  During the holiday season, the above Nativity scene graces the window of the small antique shop directly across the entrance to the Renaissance building where we are located.
Owner Vittorio Lombardini explained to me that the scene is a
18th century presepio (Nativity) from Lucca, an hour and a half from Florence.
The fact that Lucca was a flourishing center for silk production from the 12th to the 18th centuries
is reflected in the rich garb of a crowned Mary and a more humble Joseph.
Golden stars twinkle on a soft, early night sky backdrop,
the same color as Baby Jesus's silken blanket, perhaps indicating His divine origins.
Many thanks to Beautiful Florence's faithful blog photographer Bree Chun and...

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Buon Natale!

50 Giorni Festival--Art on Film

50 Giorni di Cinema Internazionale a Firenze is exactly that--

50  Days of International Film screened at the Cinema Odeon.
Comprising numerous festivals dedicated to various film genres, 50 Days includes
new French releases (France Odeon) and documentaries (Festival dei Popoli),
as well as movies focusing on women and women's issues
(Festival Internazionale di Cinema e Donne).

Above is the cocktail party which inaugurated 50 Giorni in piazza Strozzi.

Pictures of this event were taken by faithful Beautiful Florence 
photographer Avigayil Kelman.
Through Sunday, 50 Giorni is showcases Lo Schermo dell'Arte
(Art on Film), examining the relationship between cinema and contemporary art, with a specific
focus on artists and artistic films.

Art on Film features events and screenings categorized in different sections, including:
Sguardi (Viewpoints), international films on contemporary art;
Cinema d'Artista, artistic documentaries by artists; and
Mobiles, works by an international artist who works with moving images and new media.  The latter is
set at the Cango--Cantieri Goldonetta in via Santa Maria,

Above is not the part of the Mobiles installation but another event within
50 Giorni's inaugural party.  Students from Florence's photography school
Studio Marangoni were taking pictures of invited guests on an open set
in the Odeon facing piazza Strozzi.  If the man to the right look familiar, it is because
he is Giorgio Bonsanti, an art historian formerly the head of Florence's world-renowned restoration laboratories at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure.

Tomorrow (Nov. 24), Focus on, a new section of Art on Film will debut
 (6 pm), spotlighting the cinema of Isaac Julien, who will be present.
Above is a shot from one of the works that will be screened:  Baltimore (2003).
The recipient of an award at the Cologne Biennale, Baltimore is a tribute to African-American
actor and movie director Melvin Van Peebles, who in the film follows in the footsteps of an
Afro-Cyborg (pictured)
through museum spaces in Baltimore.

This image is from another of Julien's short films on Saturday's program.

True North (2004) is the story of the African-American Matthew Henson,

among one of the first to reach the North Pole along with Robert E. Peary.

On Sunday (Nov. 25), the recipient of the 2011 Schermo dell'Arte award will be shown at

the Odeon at 9:45 pm.  Titled Per troppo amore:  Incompiuto Siciliano (For Too Much Love, Unfinished in Sicily), it examines the impact of 

too many construction projects on Italy's environment.

Another problem Per troppo amore takes a look at are the many unfinished and abandoned building sites that deface the Italian countryside.  The phenomenon is notoriously most evident in Sicily (see Mt. Etna blowing steam in the picture?).  I, too, remember seeing many "eco monsters"

driving through Sicily years ago with my heart family, the D'Orazio-Pergolizzis, who were visiting from the States.

Beautiful Florence has give you an antipasto; for the full 50 Giorni program (through mid-December), visit www.odeon.intoscana.it

Buona visione!

Devil & Angels, Halloween 2012 in Florence

Even Italians know that today is Halloween.  Accessing the automatic vending machine in the Florence station, a jack o' lantern glowed under the Italian for "Buy your ticket here," and a witch's hat 

suddenly appeared, placed atop the usual self service ticket symbol.

Italians haven't always known today is Halloween.
The festivities accompanying the original Celtic holiday All Hallows Eve,
when the dead visit their former haunts on earth,
have gradually become familiar only in the last 10 years or so.
I wrote the first Halloween column in Italian for the local Florence section
of La Repubblica during the '90s.  It was a real challenge to translate
"trick or treat."  I finally decided on dammi un dolcetto o ti faccio uno scherzetto
(give me a treat or I'll play a trick on you).
Looking at articles published later, I found that I was close to the mark--
my Italian colleagues now write dolcetto o scherzetto?

It is trick or treat time at the Children's Lending Library's
 annual Halloween party, a pure piece of America in Florence.

Above is Kathy Procissi, one of the library volunteers,

epitomizing an appropriate wicked party spirit in the company of her vampire grandchildren.

They are posing in front of the Haunted House.

This good witch is Karene Moser, who made the spectacular ghost cupcakes.  The spider and pumpkin themed cupcakes are the work of Sally Thompson...

...much appreciated by these angelic witch guests.

Besides refreshments and the Haunted House, there were also games for children.

Tinker Bell, aka Charlotte Kerignan, is playing one.

Towards the back of the party room, faithful Beautiful Florence blog photographer 

Emilia and myself walked into the actual library.

Founded in 1973 by a group of mothers, the Children's Lending Library is a primary source of

books in English for expatriate resident families.  Volunteers staff the library (open 10 am to 12 noon on Wednesdays, 4 pm to 6 pm on Thursdays, 10 - 10:45 am and 12 noon to 1 pm on Sundays).

It is located in a section of the St. James Episcopal Church undercroft (via B. Rucellai, near the train station).  Volunteers make donations to the church for the space, hold readings, and buy children's books and games.  The necessary revenue comes from annual membership fees (15 euro per year), fundraisers such as the Christmas party, the Easter egg hunt and the Halloween party.

This is why volunteers Alice Kenney, Ann Young and Barbara Maraventano

are collecting a 4 euro admission fee at the door.

They were also selling raffle tickets for the Welcome Great Pumpkin Cake 

(inspired by the Charlie Brownie TV special),

made by Italian volunteer Maurizia Pizzi.

The admission didn't deter devilish Hilary Scott and her angelic 17-month daughter

Ellie Calonaci from attending the Halloween bash.

Both were attracted to probably the only authentic

jack o' lantern in all Florence.

Happy Halloween!

Florence's International Market

Faithful readers of Beautiful Florence probably notice that many of the posts are about food and art.

Together with fashion, that's what Italian culture is about.

Those familiar with Florence are probably also familiar with the city's food markets,

Sant'Ambrogio and San Lorenzo, each specializing in 0 km farm produce.

But for a taste sensation a little more exotic to the palate,

those in the know as well as passing tourists, flock to the

International Market, held every two years in Piazza Santa Croce (above).

The International Market opened today, and will run through Sunday, October 7

(hours 10 am - 10 pm).

Beautiful Florence blog photographer Avigaykil Kelman and I headed over today at high noon.

Temperatures are still summer-like in Florence, but not hot enough to melt the chocolate

displayed by this proud chocolate artisan.

His speciality is cremino, he explained, white chocolate and milk chocolate  

layered with chocolate hazelnut cream.  

He gave us a sample.  Wow!

The only puzzling thing was the chocolate master's name is Fabrizio, and he comes from a town near the northern Italy city of Verona.  Perhaps Florence already considers Verona as "international."

Fabrizio was actually the only Italian we found, except for David, who is noticeable thanks to his 

"I love Finland" tee shirt.  He is in charge of a booth with  Finnish crafts,

 including woolen hand-knit woolen sweaters, scarves and hats.

David also showed us pukki, steel blade knives with raindeer bone or moose antler handles, as well as 

kuksi, handmade carved cups of silver birch that Lapps traditionally use.

"The winters are cold and dark, but the summers with their 'white nights' are one big festival," said David, who admitted living near Helsinki but wouldn't tell us how he ended up there from Italy.

Next, we came across Robert from Amsterdam, with his handcrafted briefcases and wallets.

"I didn't know that the Dutch created leather goods," I commented.

"Ah, yes, many," said Robert, "especially in South Holland."

"It is a strong industry since we have so many cows."

Ah yes, Dutch cheese, I thought.

"Florence is a city of leather," he said, "but our specialty and trademark is natural cowhide."

Beautiful.

Next, Avigaykil and I came across a Frenchman who could not speak a word of Italian or English.

From the reaches of my memory, I accessed my high school French.  He understood enough to tell us  he was from Gascony, in southwest France,

 a culinary haven.

"My onions are the violet variety, easier for 

 digestion, the red peppers are biting hot, and 

French garlic is marvelous," he told me.

Viva la cuisine francaise!

I wonder if any of the Frenchman's garlic and onions ended up in this authentic Spanish paella.

Looking closely, I saw mussels, shrimp, pieces of squid and peas in this version from 

Barcelona.

Besides the option of take out, nearby tables and benches offer a place to sit down and savor 

the national dish of Spain.

From pungent southern Europe to cool northern Europe, I thought, 

when catching a glimpse of this fairytale stand. 

 Italian, English and French left this attractive couple mute.

Finally, the artisan handed a ceramic token engraved with his name--Romas McKisa--and 

country of origin, Lithuania. 

 All of their crafts are made of the lightest and most delicate ceramic

 that I have had the pleasure to come across.

My high school French came in handy once again with Thierry from Savoy.

Ever the careful journalist, I asked Thierry if the cheese for sale at his stand came from his dairy farm.

Mai non, this honest vendor answered, communicating that he was the proud maker of various French salamis and sausages displayed alongside the cheese.

Salami made from asino, donkey meat?!  A delicacy, Thierry assured me.

I began to wonder what attraction, beyond ceramics, that the self-proclaimed International Market--

which did not wander beyond the borders of Europe--could offer the vegetarian and the vegan.

The answer came from an explosion of color....

Dutch flowers and bulbs in bloom.