Vermont Italian Cultural Association

VICA Scopa

11/27/2019

On Sunday afternoon November 17, twenty-two VICA members joined together at the Ridgewood Clubhouse in South Burlington to learn how to play Italy’s most popular card game “Scopa”. Most players were new to the game but fortunately some experienced players joined to guide the group in playing and scoring.
Everyone had the opportunity to play and a good time was had by all. Everyone suggested that we hold more Scopa events and expand it to include other popular Italian card games like Briscola. Future opportunities to learn and play popular Italian card games will be announced to members through email “On the Spot” and on the VICA website (www.italiansinvermont.org)

Aiming High in the Dolomites—-by Nicole Librandi, 2019

11/19/2019

The Olympics are coming! The Olympics are coming…in 2026! Let’s have a
party and celebrate!!! This was the mood in Cortina D’Ampezzo in June when the
highly anticipated announcement was made. And—lucky us—my grand-daughter
Maddie and I got to celebrate along with the locals!

After days visiting ancient monuments in Rome, soaking up the balmy
Mediterranean sun and waters, gazing at the Renaissance beauties of Florence,
sampling fruits of Tuscan vineyards and olivetti (olive groves), tasting cicchetti
(tapas) across the canal from the Squero (Venice’s historic gondola workshop), we
leaned back and enjoyed a comfortable bus ride into the dramatic landscape of the
Dolomites, aiming for Cortina. (www.dolomiti.org)

As we discovered, grazie to internet sources: “Cortina d’Ampezzo is located
in the Province of Belluno between the regions of Veneto, Trentino and Alto Adige,
at 1,224 meters (4,016 feet) above sea level and has almost 6,000 inhabitants. It
lies in a vast valley surrounded by the spectacular Ampezzo Dolomites. Considered
one of the most beautiful places in the world, this ‘Queen of the Dolomites’ has
also been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

In Cortina we expected streets to be clogged with chi-chi tourists, and out- of-sight prices. Instead, we met by friendly, laid-back locals sharing free libations and tasty snacks in honor of the Olympics announcement. Also on hand were an open and enthusiastic welcome in Alpine-style accommodations and typical Tyrolean specialties in the restaurants—all at reasonable prices.

Departing from the center of Cortina, we rode smoothly via the Tofana-Freccia nel Cielo (Arrow in the Sky) cable car to the Cima Tofana (3244 m/10,643 feet). On the wide terrace we savored a stunning 360 ° panorama of the Dolomites; the view is unique, spectacular…some would call it a "spiritual" place.

And the best was yet to come….from Cortina, we took a short taxi ride to
Passo Falzarego, then a heart-stopping gondola trip up to Rifugio Lagazuoi, an easy, fascinating stroll with a WWI Austrian Re-enactor. In the Rifugio, we enjoyed a convivial dinner with hostel companions, followed by sogni d’oro (sweet dreams) in rustic, cozy overnight accommodations.

The old adage is true…those who come to Cortina and the Dolomites return again and again. I certainly plan to!!!

Bova Marina Calabria, Italy

11/17/2019

Here we are on the beach at our last week long stop in Bova Marina. This was the southern most part of Italy in Calabria. The water was the perfect temp, weather in the 80's. Had the beach virtually to ourselves. No undertow in the area. Our doorway was 100 feet away and across the straits of isthmus we could see Siciliy and the volcano Mt. Aetna with its two or three plumes of smoke. It was breathtaking.
Every morning Steve and I would walk about 2 l/2 miles down the lovely beach to get a pastry and capucchino.. Prices so reasonable--this beach apartment was only $ 57/night for the four of us. Food also was so inexpensive. And the Italians loved talking to us and treating us to cafe, olives.

We did so much walking on the trip, extremely steep roads in a couple of hill-top towns and long beach walks, that my knee has improved so much that stairs are hardly a problem anymore.I had been avoiding lifting my leg because it hurt but out of necessity began using it so much that I must have strengthened muscles that compensated for the knee problem.

Did I mention that for one month, we lost all contact with the news! No way to describe how whole and cleansed it made us feel!

The trip was divine!

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Julia Ely

The Baiettis and The Catalanos in Calabria

11/17/2019

One of the high lights of our trip to Calabria was meeting Karen in Badolato. For 11 years she has cared for the stray cats in this most beautiful hill-top town of Badolato where we stayed for one week. Right now, 18 cats of all shapes and sizes walk down the steep, narrow roads at exactly 8:30 AM and 6 PM to dine at Karen's.. Part of their agreement is that they have all been spayed, but it's worth it--a scoop of dry and a big tablespoon of wet at each meal awaits them. She has no pictures of them dining al fresco, but it reminded me of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs--18 assorted china plates lined up in a row and 18 polite cats enjoying their meals.

No need to look for iguana meals anymore, so next to her house, many of her friends nap in little suspended flower pots or stretch out in the sun. (They sure don't want to miss a meal--though anyone who lives with cats knows that actually never happens!)
Now that we're back in Vermont, I'll visit my 18 friends and Karen on the website Gatti di Badolato.

I want to make sure I don't miss the adventures of Bob (nickname for Cowboy Bob because he is bowlegged.

Julia

La Parnada

3/10/2019

La Panarda in Abruzzo

Campo di Giove is a small village in the Majella mountains of Abruzzo east of Rome near Sulmona. It is Carol Usher’s ancestral village on her father's (Sciuba) side. We visited a few times over the years meeting her cousins and attending a wedding.

On one visit many years ago we were invited by her cousin, Sergio Vella, and his wife Dora to a birthday party for her brother. In late April we were driven to a mountain restaurant high above the town at noon on a Saturday and walked a path still covered with winter snow in the woods to get there because the driveway was not passable. We expected a nice Italian lunch, cake, cookies and we'd be back in town by mid-afternoon.

It was midnight when we left and had consumed more Italian food than ever before or since. Had we realized we were attending a panarda we would not have filled up on the first three courses of an Abruzzo tradition since medieval times. Often 20, 30, or as many as 70 courses are served over the course of several hours. In this case on long tables like a banquet. There was music, karaoke solos, wine, many children and communal singing all celebrating the birthday and family and community. It was a fantastic unexpected experience.

At 6 o’clock, a priest came to say Mass, then the eating and festivities resumed continued until midnight. We had been to la panarda but did not know that until later.

(A most interesting Abruzzese culinary tradition is la panarda, a multi-course feast of gargantuan proportions. A legend holds that la panarda was born when a young mother, gone to fetch water near her home, returned to find her newborn in the mouth of a wolf. Desperate, the woman prayed to Saint Anthony of Abate, and the wolf let the baby go. The grateful young mother promised to prepare a feast for Saint Anthony, starting a tradition that would be passed down from generation to generation for centuries to come. Most panarde consist of 35 to 50 courses and last all night, thus enabling guests to partake of every dish at a leisurely pace.)

Change is Coming

3/9/2019

Change is Coming: I would like to bring you up to date on some changes that we are making in how we tell you about VICA activities. For more than 20 years we have published the quarterly newsletter, Il Messaggio. For the past five years Adrienne Donohue has served as the Il Messaggio editor. During that time, the newsletter has developed into a colorful collection of interesting stories from our members about their experiences in Italy and with Italian culture. Over the past year, Adrienne had forewarned the board that she was ready to pass the baton to another individual or team. The time has now come for her to retire from this commitment to pursue other interests, including more extensive travels with her husband Tom. Over the years Adrienne has promoted and advanced VICA’s mission to promote knowledge and appreciation of Italian culture. She was instrumental in establishing the Scholarship and Grants program which has developed into a signature program for VICA. We will miss her day-to-day involvement and patiently await her return. Mille grazie Adrienne!

While we were looking to replace Adrienne as editor, we learned that there have been a number of improvements in the technology used to communicate with members of organizations like ours. There are ways to communicate with members without having to wait for the next quarterly newsletter, there are ways to integrate alerts and other information to the membership and, very importantly, there are ways to share in the development of articles and updates without the burden falling to any one person. We are looking into various options and the board, the publicity committee, and the membership committee will determine which technology tools are the best fit for our organization. If you have an interest and/or expertise in this area and would like to help, please drop me a note (mcna8841@msn.com). The more eyes we have on this work the better.

Author

This blog has various authors and includes many VICA members who love to travel and often travel in Italy to places frequently “off the beaten path”. We want to capture their stories to share with other members.

We’d love to hear from you if you have a story you would share. If you have a brief story about an experience you had travelling in Italy, please let me know (mcna8841@msn.com). We are going to call this section “Storielle”. (little stories).