Flying in the Sky (just for fun outside Rome)

Who doesn’t want to soar through the sky at 150km/hr?! It’s certainly not for the faint of heart. But zip lining is actually something kids can even do with their parents. So I did it with a friend the first time and then with my daughter. It’s quite exciting as you launch off and see the hill disappear below you as the air rushes to your face. Then you can just enjoy flying through the sky and admire the beautiful scenery, the rolling hills covered with olive trees, the horses grazing in fields beneath you, the characteristic winding and narrow roads that lead back up the hill to the point of departure. The trip lasts a couple of minutes and covers more than two kilometers at a height of 310 meters above ground.

Where can you have this fun experience? The small hill town of Rocca Massima is located just a few kilometers outside of Rome, in a beautiful naturalistic setting which provides an fantastic background for this exhilarating activity. Tickets through www.navigamondo.it or info@flyinginthesky.it.

If you want to see Sofia and me flying through the air, here's the video: https://youtu.be/4_5tVho-ng8

Panoramic views

Sofia in her sausage suit.

Ready to be launched!

The view is AMAZING!

A big thanks to Umberto (He's the boss)!

Returning home with awesome photos from your Italian holiday

I recently met a remarkable person who told me about an interesting way of being a tourist. All new tourism trends fascinate me. As owner of Altavista Holiday Home in Palestrina, I’m always looking for new ways to make my guests enjoy their time in Palestrina, around Rome and in Lazio as much as possible. 

This revolutionary kind of tourism is especially interesting because it is suitable for professional photographers as well amateurs, even people who don’t consider themselves amateur photographers but who love to take photographs and want to have a lasting visual souvenir of all beautiful places visited. 

So there are several great benefits to photowalks. The first is, like I said, anyone can do it. Obviously the intensive (=expensive) courses dedicated to one specific use of the camera or lighting are geared toward serious professionals. But I like the fact that photowalk tours are open to any and all participants in an unbiased way. And each person is free to focus on what they want to photograph. I, for example, love clouds and flowers...

Another interesting aspect is that you can do a photowalk just about anywhere. Here in Italy we are especially lucky to have incredibly beautiful artistic, architectural and archeologic treasures literally everywhere. It’s like living in the land of cultural plenty, sometimes it can be overwhelming because you don’t know where to start! Of course the photowalk guide will indicate the direction.

One of the most culturally satisfying parts of this activity is that photowalks often double as guided tours of the area being photographed. Guides who accompany each group add so much to an excursion. Any time you can listen to the story of a place being told, it adds meaning to your experience. They might not know the origin of every stone that Caesar tripped on, but it’s fascinating to hear about the past and how it relates to the present.

I’m a big fan of efficiency and of shooting two birds with one camera, so to speak. So one of the biggest reasons why I love photowalks is because you combine your desire to take better photographs with the discovery of a new place and, drum roll please, you also get to meet the other cool people who are on the photowalk with you. The Italian lunch and/or dinner afterward is a pretty good fringe benefit as well.

So don’t miss out! My not-so-subliminal message is this: The next time you’re on vacation somewhere beautiful like Italy, don’t just settle for the big cities and spend all your time cramming in as many long museum lines as possible into your day so that you only have time to eat a sad sandwich from a lousy, touristy place. There is more to life than saying you went to all the famous places. Take the time to make some original discoveries. Leave the tourist trap map in your hotel and get into a photowalk somewhere, anywhere! It will probably lead to a significantly interesting experience that is guaranteed to change the quality of your photo souvenirs.

PS. My favorite? www.phototourism.info/en

To eat a fig or not to eat a fig?

As a child my experience related to eating European foods such as figs was limited to tasting squishy Fig Newton cookies at school, probably the result of an unfair trade at snack time. That horrid flavor haunted me for years and prevented me from tasting the fresh figs that I saw all over Italy. 

Everyone in Italy loves figs and eats them from any tree growing alongside the road or hanging over garden fences. They see them as little, sweet treasures to be picked and eaten quickly. They also make fig preserves, they eat figs with ham, they eat them dried like raisins. They even use figs figuratively: non me ne importa un fico secco=it's less important than a dried fig=I couldn't care less). 

Despite all the smiles around figs, I couldn’t bring myself to taste them. The insides of some figs are a deep red color and look like a mysterious animal that lives in the ocean or an exotic, poisonous plant that grows in the jungle. It just bothered me too much, despite the looks of ecstasy on my Italian friends' faces whenever they would eat the little, ripe fruits. 

One year a vacationing tourist made some fig preserves from the fruit he found growing around the area. I tasted the preserves to be polite and I was pleasantly surprised by the mild, sweet flavor. However it was only recently that I started eating fresh figs, and now I can’t stop! These little pods of deliciousness are heavenly!! Try them if you dare. They grow everywhere...but hurry, fig season is almost over!

Beekeeping for beginners

What can I say? I love honey. My family consumes huge quantities of honey every year. But who would have ever thought that my love of honey would have spurred me to become a beekeeper? And yet, here I am enjoying the adventures of beekeeping. I’ve been documenting it for a couple of years, reading all kinds of literature and frequenting local beekeepers, but I never thought I’d really take the plunge and get my own bees.

So, I must admit that it is thanks to my determination combined with a four-month beekeeping course, that I finally decided to get my own families. My first bees arrived last week and I have been bothering them regularly, peeking into the hive to make sure they are doing all the things that a healthy family should do. Pretty soon they are going to lock me out.

And today, with the help of my supportive husband, I caught my first swarm of bees. This morning a swarm was lingering on the roof of a home just in front of the house I rent to tourists (yes, the famous Altavista Holiday Home!). I couldn’t believe that I was so lucky to find a family of bees looking around for a new home.

The procedure wasn’t quick. They didn’t want to go into my bee travel box even though I rushed to put wax frames inside so they would know it was an appropriate place for them to make a new home. So we had to ask the neighbors for help. There is the nicest man ever who lives nearby on via degli Scacciati; being a retired man and a very capable do-it-yourself kind of person, he is always there to assist me in times of need.

My ladder wasn’t tall enough to reach the roof of the neighbor’s house where the bees where grouped together. So Sandrino lent us two long ladders and helped us tie them together and then helped us tie the bee box on top. Then he lent me a really long bamboo pole that I used to push the bees into the bee box. Most of the bees went into the box right away, for others it took a little longer. By evening time they were all in the travel box so I closed it up and transferred them to my apiary.

I prepared my apiary in town, on a two acre property that belongs to my sister in law. I’m following the good advice of an organic beekeeper in Palestrina, Mauro Marini (Apicoltura Antica Praeneste), who sells wonderful organic honey made by his many honeybees. Organic beekeepers must use certified organic wax, only certified organic products for treating bee ailments and problems like the varroa mite, and annual analysis must be made on the honey and wax to make sure that the beekeeper is sticking to the rules and using and making only high quality products. Yes, my bee families are also organic and arrived with their certification and everything. Let’s just hope they make some honey!

La Grotta del Mortale

Off we went the other day for a walk in the woods in the Monti Prenestini. I love this time of year because the woods are full of scented flowers and wild cyclamens. After driving past Castel San Pietro, we turned down the road called Via Valle Pantana, a few kilometers down that road is the entrance to the hiking area. After a quick salute from a group of adorable donkeys, we followed a well-marked path for 2km which led up hill. Along the way, we passed an old fountain and then up, up, up all the way to the cave, which is actually a Roman cistern. It was a short but lovely hike. We even passed a truffle hunter who was training his puppy dog to hunt for truffles; they had actually found some brown truffles! For those looking for an easy hike, this is definitely a good option.

 

And then I discovered artichokes

Growing up in the midwest, I didn’t have many opportunities to eat artichokes. Maybe it was just because my parents didn’t eat them. The first time I saw them, they were in a glass jar swimming in vinegar and I just couldn’t get past the idea that you have to eat the heart. But since living in Italy is all about learning to eat new food, artichokes were among those scary vegetables that I eventually learned not to be afraid of. 

Spring is a great time of year for eating fresh artichokes. In fact, I now actually love eating artichokes (even those in vinegar!), you can bake them, deep fry them, sauté them, even cook them on cinders (see photo below), but my favorite recipe is the following: 

Take off the floppy leaves from the stems, strip the stems of their stringy sides, remove a large number of outer artichoke leaves; cut a straight top on each artichoke to remove all the thorns, separate the stem from the heart, cut the clean stems into pieces. Finely chop a couple of garlic cloves and some fresh parsley (most Italians also add “mentuccia” a minty herb whose scientific name is calamintha nepeta). Put a little olive oil in a pot or sauce pan and add the artichoke heads and stems; sprinkle the garlic and parsley mixtures on top of each artichoke and sprinkle some salt (or, as I do, sprinkle some home-made vegetable bouillon). Cover and let cook for 10 minutes on a low flame, then add a small amount of white wine or water and turn the artichokes over. Cook for another 10-15 minutes...and I promise you will not be disappointed!! 

For dinner tonight…

Every year in the spring friends of ours have an artichoke party and cook over one hundred artichokes over cinders…

A Walk on the Snow

As everyone knows, there is quite an array of winter sports to please any enthusiast. In Italy skiing is probably the most popular sport of the season, however a growing number of Italians are experimenting with snowshoeing. Today I went out with my favorite association “Tesori del Lazio” to explore the lower Apennine Mountains around Campo Catino, about 90 km east of Rome. Fantastic weather, warm sun and the absence of wind made the day perfect for trying out the snowshoes and exploring the mountains in the silence of the snowy slopes. What a fantastic day in the fresh air, making new friends and enjoying a healthy walk while feeling high enough to touch the sky!

Happy Epiphany

La Befana: a cross between Halloween and Christmas

When my husband was a young boy, the only holiday gifts most children received were those on January 6 for la Befana, or Epiphany. A stocking full of goodies was given to Italian children (coal was put in the stocking for those who misbehaved). The main character of this tradition is la Befana, a witch who rides a broomstick and fills the children’s stockings during the night. In Rome’s Piazza Navona, every year there is an enormous outdoor market where pre-filled stockings, candies, toys and Befana dolls are sold. It is the main place where families go to choose a surprise for their children. Buona Epifania! 

FARMER’S MARKETS

Local trends in Italy indicate that farming is on the rise, and alternative farming methods are being used more than ever to preserve the environment and guarantee high quality produce. A couple of years ago I jumped aboard the “eco” bandwagon and have been buying and growing organic and biodynamic food ever since. The area around Rome is perfect for agriculture: lots of sun, winter rainfall, moderate climate. That doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges, but it does make for an idyllic setting where we can all plant seeds (even the metaphoric kind).

A local bio-dynamic farmer in Labico provides my family with chemical-free vegetables; an organic beekeeper in Palestrina sells various flavors of honey; an organic, free-range chicken farm produces our eggs; an extensive farm in Rome raises 100% organic, grass-fed beef; a local, organic purchasing group provides us with everything else like fruit, yoghurt, bread, pasta, whole grains, flour, sweeteners, cheese. A year ago I took a short class on how to make bread and now I make my bread every week using a home-made starter and organic, stone-ground flour.

And one of the most enjoyable aspects of local life around Rome is the presence of farmer’s markets. At Zagarolo’s Sunday morning market there is a vast array of stalls manned by local producers (many are organic or bio-dynamic) who bring their fresh products to the piazza. The friendly atmosphere and low prices are reason enough to come and meet the people who toil to make sure we all have the ingredients for Sunday lunch. There are hand-picked herbs, meats, milk products, flowers, freshly baked bread, eggs, fruit and vegetables, hand-made baskets, home-made soaps and cosmetics, organic honey, mushrooms, and much more. I love to stroll through this open-air market and taste the local products. My favorite stand is one where sheep farmers sell their organic cheese. Pecorino, anyone?

Useful apps for traveling in Italy (or anywhere)

I just returned from a long journey through Georgia and Armenia and wish I had downloaded these apps before I left. My husband and I did the classic, foldable, bulky paper map and carried around the Lonely Planet guide book for a month. It has it’s charm up to a certain point. According to “Wired”, here is a good selection of useful apps for travel savvy world voyagers:

TRIPIT-- (for android, apple, blackberry and windows phone)

It works like a personal secretary, so this is good for long trips, because it helps keep everything in order from flights/trains, hotel bookings, events, pre-purchased tickets, maps. The price ranges from free to 89 euro cents.

mTRIP-- (for android and apple)

This is what I could have used as an alternative to the paper guide book which I constantly held for a month. It’s cooler to use your phone and even cooler not to pay large roaming fees. Using the mTRIP travel guides gives you the chance to download maps and guides before you leave, so you already have everything on your phone when you go abroad. The application will suggest itineraries depending on the length of your stay in each place. It gives additional info on your surroundings and you can also write reviews of each place. Price varies from € 3.99 to €4.49.

CITY MAPS 2 GO-- (for android and apple) 

Choose from over 7000 maps which you download before leaving and can consult for free once you’re abroad. The maps also indicate restaurants, shops and businesses, places of interest, banks. It’s also connected to Wikipedia which gives additional info on 500,000 attractions and places throughout the world. From free to 89 cents.

BAN.JO-- (for android and apple)

This app uses social networks to find out about interesting happenings: events, concerts, shows, exhibits, photos and more. It’s free.

FIELD TRIP--(for android and apple)

The app tracks your location and lets you know about the most interesting places in your vicinity: museums, monuments, bars, coffee shops, restaurants and the like. It’s free.

TRIPOSO--(for android and apple)

Almost every travel guide in the world (with contents in a Wiki style) which you download and then consult while off line. It’s free.

WORLDMATE--(for android and apple)

Everything for the world of work: itineraries, agendas, weather, time change. It’s free.

OsmAnd--(for android and blackberry)

Fantastic navigator gps which uses all open source documents in the world from the OpenStreetMap project; vocal assistance, places of interest, you can modify maps if there are imperfections. No connection needed to consult the maps after downloading. It’s free.

Corpus Domini

One of the most beautiful festivals held in Italy takes place each year in June. Corpus Domini is the Catholic celebration of the belief in the body and blood of Christ and his real presence in the Eucharist. What it means for townspeople in Palestrina is a long preparation of picking flower petals in the hills around town, selecting a central theme and choosing designs which are later drawn by hand on the cobblestone streets through the old part of town. The evening before the procession, townspeople gather and dedicate the entire night to making the drawings and filling in the designs with fresh flower petals, seeds, soil, and sometimes colored wood shavings. An intricate floral tapestry is created for the Sunday procession. In Italian, the floral tapestry is called the “Infiorata” and if you’re traveling through Italy in June (this year it’s on Sunday, June 2), make your way to a town where this religious festival is celebrated. Near Rome, the largest floral tapestry is made in Genzano; the tapestries in Palestrina and Genazzano are also worth a look. Pray for good weather!!

Here is the link to the photos: http://youtu.be/PI5w76eHRrY

Ninfa Gardens

Ninfa Botanical Garden

What could be more relaxing than a stroll through the colorful, botanical garden in Ninfa? The gardens were created in 1920 on the ruins of the medieval town of Ninfa, after battles destroyed most of the original structures hundreds of years ago. Today you’ll find that roses and scented climbing flowers have taken over the stone buildings and now gracefully decorate the fallen arches and bridges. It’s a perfume-filled visit with colorful surprises around every corner. Rare plant varieties and scented beauties everywhere. Highly recommended for those who don’t like to rush, for those who love a great photo opportunity and for plant and flower enthusiasts. Definitely an excellent day trip for also viewing the cyclopian masonry of Norma, the town of Sermoneta, the Abbey of Valvisciolo, the Caetani Castle...

There are some great photos accompanied by historical and practical information on the Ninfa garden’s official website: www.fondazionecaetani.org.

Here is a video of some of my photos: http://youtu.be/qNsOIP882sw

Walking in the woods near Rome

So I've been in Italy for quite a while and I've gone hiking in the woods quite often. But last Sunday my husband and I went on a hike with the cultural association called "A Refera" and had a fantastic time. It might have been the first time we didn't get lost! Or end up fighting about who knew where to go... It was a beautiful, sunny day and we passed numerous refreshing waterfalls and pools as we followed the stream up to the Cannucceta Nature Reserve where there are important Roman aqueducts. Then up we went toward the hill town of Rocca di Cave (where there is an astronomic observatory housed in the town's castle), we passed the road where you can find fossilized sea shells in the rock, and then we went back down to the town of Cave, through scented fields and wooded areas with amazing views.
Here is the calendar of events for future 2013 excursions organized by A Refera's leader Alessandro Sapochetti. Here is his email: associazione.arefera@gmail.com, for anyone interested in joined the group for a hike in the woods near Rome!

Excursions in 2013 with "A Refera"


24 March
Cave – Mon. Nat. “La Selva” di Paliano
7 April
Cave – Mon. Nat. “Valle delle Cannucceta” - Rocca di Cave
21 April
Ciciliano - Santuario della Mentorella
5 May
Monteflavio - Monte Pellecchia (M. Lucretili)
19 May
San Vito R. - Monte Calo (Capranica P.)
2 June
Cona Selva Piana (Carpineto R.) - Monte Malaina (M. Lepini)
16 June
Poli - Guadagnolo
30 June
Camerata Nuova - Camposecco (M. Simbruini)
14 July
Valle Caprara (Castel Madama) - Guadagnolo
28 July
Pian della Faggeta - M.Erdigheta - M.Semprevisa (M. Lepini)
25 August
Piani di Pezza - Rif. Sebastiani (Parco Velino-Sirente)
8 September
Parco degli Acquedotti (Gallicano nel Lazio)
22 September
Cave - Rocca di Cave - Fossa Ampilla - Genazzano
6 October
Fiumata - Sorgenti Aniene - Monte Tarino (M. Simbruini)
20 October
Laghetti di Percile (M. Lucretili)

And here is a slide show of my pictures from the day...

Palestrina, closer to Rome than you think

Here are some pictures that I've taken in Palestrina where I rent my holiday home "Altavista".
I've been in Italy for 16 years (that means 16 years of marriage to an incredible and extraordinary Italian man). I met Umberto while I was working as a volunteer in Africa, teaching English in the Peace Corps. Meeting him was the strangest thing that ever happened to me. I had obtained my college degree and left a month later for Eritrea where I was teacher trained and language trained and enthusiastically jumped into a new role. One that seemed important because I was helping so many students, yet at the end of the day, I was the one who was taught some of the most important life lessons. And when I met Umberto in Asmara in 1996, I could sense he was someone special. Someone whom I couldn't just let slip through my fingers and hope to see again some day. He brought me to his home-town, Palestrina, where a drafty apartment without furniture in a 500 year-old building became my first Italian home. A lot has changed since those days, including two kids, various travels, a 5-year stint in Florence and...
Have a look at my photographs of Palestrina--its' a beautiful place to visit and closer to Rome than you think!

Canale Monterano, Lazio

I would highly recommend a day trip to Canale Monterano, located in the province of Rome, near the lake of Bracciano. Enter the Riserva Regionale Naturale di Monterano (http://www.monteranoriserva.com/wp/?page_id=563) and immerse yourself in a spectacular naturalistic setting. Hike through the woods and follow the flow of a sulphur water spring with its waterfalls and cloudy pools; you’ll come across various Etruscan aqueducts along the way, as well as volcanic rock deposits, sulfur gas spouts in the ground, an abandoned sulfur mine and copious sulfur deposits. A short walk up through the Etruscan staircase carved into the rock wall, and you arrive at the abandoned city of Monterano with it’s enormous aqueducts and the fascinating convent of San Buonaventura. Back down through the forest you’ll pass Etruscan tombs, and up through the countryside for many more Etruscan tombs (many still uncovered, other partially covered or uncovered and used over the centuries as homes and stalls). Beautiful park, especially if you enjoy hiking. We hiked for a full day, however there are various paths of different length to suit anyone. Here are some of my pictures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cj2xrLXoVc

All Roads Lead to Rome

From Palestrina we have the Via Prenestina (formerly via Gabina because it passed through Gabii) which leads to Rome and also goes in the opposite direction toward Fiuggi. This ancient road is still uncovered in some places where the original polygonal basalt stone blocks can be seen. The roads were built to last, and 2000 years later you can still see them (where they haven’t been covered or dismantled), at times still smooth and flat, at times uneven from tree roots pushing through, other times with rut marks from the various carriage and cart wheels that passed over engraving their voice in history. For those of us who come from far away lands and find our way to Italy, the site of those Roman roads can be touching: it’s the combination of perfect workmanship, practical construction, and the beauty of smooth basalt. The age-old question comes to mind: why don’t they still make things the way they used to?

For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_roads

Tivoli, I love it!

This is a town I end up visiting quite often because it has three important tourist attractions which can be easily visited in a day trip from Palestrina or Rome: Villa d’Este, Villa Gregoriana and Villa Adriana. 

Villa d’Este is the most spectacular of the three, as the building’s frescoed rooms and the magnificent gardens and fountains are truly breathtaking. This is a place for people who don’t have problems with steps. (Entry 9:30am to 7:30pm daily from April to October.)

Villa Gregoriana is the perfect place for a walk through nature to visit caves and a waterfall. (Entry 10:00am to 6:30pm daily from April to October.)

Villa Adriana is a UNESCO world heritage site and is an open-air archeological site full of ruins of baths, theaters, imperial buildings of noteworthy interest. It’s naturalistic setting is perfectly beautiful. If you don’t bring a snack, the hotel in front of the villa’s entrance provides delicious meals. (Entry 9:00am to 5:30pm daily from April to October.)

Wear comfortable walking shoes and bring plenty of bottled drinking water; even though these sites are heavily visited by tourists, they are not always prepared to have bottled water and other food/beverages available in large enough quantities.

A Day in Collepardo

Eastern Lazio is home to the “Ciociaria” area and has several towns worth visiting, in particular one called Collepardo which is an interesting place for a day trip from Palestrina, especially for families. There are three main sites to visit: the cave, the sunken cave and the Monastery of Trisulti. 

Underneath the town of Collepardo you’ll find the main cave which is full of stalagmites and stalactites that make shapes that resemble children or dolls. The small, illuminated cave is easily visited in 30 minutes. A guided tour, included in the ticket price, allows visitors to hear the story of the cave’s formation. It’s best to visit the cave in the morning and allow the other sites for the afternoon.

A winding ten-minute drive from the valley under Collepardo to the mountainous panoramas above Collepardo, leads visitors to the Monastery of Trisulti, hidden among a vast, wooded area. It’s frescoed pharmacy and topiary gardens are delightful. You can sample their home made liqueurs, and even make a purchase and bring the elixirs back home. Attached to the monastery is a small restaurant with good, traditional food at moderate prices. The Monastery is closed from 12:00-3:00pm which allows enough time for a proper Italian lunch and stroll through the pinewood. For the more active visitors, there is a 1km hike down (and back!) to a small hermitage built on the side of the mountain called “Madonna delle Cese”. 

In the afternoon, when driving back down the hilly road which returns to the town of Collepardo, you can take a short detour in the direction of the “Pozzo d’Antullo” which is a cave with a sunken roof. The area is open to the public in the afternoons and has been fenced to prevent people from accidentally falling in. You can observe the old stalactites along the edge of what appears to be a huge hole in the ground. 

Basic Info:

Grotte di Collepardo: Open from 10:30am to 4:30pm

Tourist Information Phone: 0775 47065

Dolina d’Antullo: Open from 3:00pm-5:00pm

Certosa di Trisulti: Open from 9:30am to 12:00pm and 3:30pm to 5:30pm

Monastery Phone: 0775 47024

www.collepardo.it

Medieval Dinners for the Palio

In Palestrina each August two weeks of festivities are dedicated to the Palio of Sant’Agapito. Many of the activities revolve around each quarter’s efforts to prepare their horses and riders for the main competition events. To finance the support of each team, the rioni or neighborhoods organize a week to ten days of outdoor dining called taverne in various places throughout town.

There are four taverne in Palestrina: Porta San Biagio, Porta San Cesareo, Porta San Martino, Porta San Giacomo. Depending on the neighborhood, the outdoor dining experience often means that you are likely to walk into a park where there is a reconstructed castle full of Medieval ambiance where everyone is dressed in costume. Stories are told to illustrate how people lived 500 years ago, songs are sung, games are played and even prizes are won (my personal favorite is Porta San Biagio, as it offers the most entertainment and even a children's play corner for the youngest components of your family). 

The dinner itself usually has a fixed price (this year 15 euros for adults) and includes a full meal (appetizers, two plates of pasta, meat, potatoes, salad, dessert, coffee, wine, water) and the menu changes every evening. Guests typically arrive at 8:30pm and stay past midnight enjoying the music, wine, games, fun and good company that the taverna offers. It’s best to make a reservation, as each taverna fills up quickly! 

For information: Comitato Palio di Sant’Agapito, Tel. 3385823551

A Stitch in Time

A very special tradition in Palestrina has to do with embroidery stitches. Sewing has always been one of the most important and useful handicrafts, and embroidered clothing and linens have been a popular cultural tradition in Italy for centuries.

Around the end of the 1800’s in many schools opened to satisfy the market’s request for embellished and prestigious clothing, wall hangings, home furnishings and linens. As women began to study and work they were no longer obliged to stay at home and prepare their own dowry of linens; they therefore looked to the local schools to have such handmade pieces prepared for them.

One very interesting technique used in embroidery is the Palestrina stitch (called the punto Palestrina in Italian), which is similar to an upraised knot. The stitch is often used on borders and for decorating long lines in the fabric and it adds a special touch to any embroidered work. It was created over one hundred years ago by Marquis Ferdiando Ulivieri who was working at the time in Palestrina.

Today the best examples of embroidered pieces and handiwork are done by Stella Chiapparelli, who not only exhibits and sells her work locally (Palestrina’s “Sagra del Giglietto”, Zagarolo’s fair “Tramando Tessendo” www.associazionesinergie.com), but also at many important international sewing fairs. Stella Chiapparelli has a cultural association through which she promotes local cultural heritage through sewing and embroidery.

WEBSITE: www.stellachiapparelli.135.it

E-MAIL: stellachiapparelli@virgilio.it

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/pages/IL-Ricamo-Prenestino-di-Stella-Chiapparelli/126902710696124

VIDEO: www.http://vimeo.com/26505410