Get Lucky in La Spezia

We have a friend that just opened an Inn/Rooms called "Il Quadrifoglio", which means four-leaf clover in Italian. It is less than a five minute walk from the La Spezia Centrale train station, which takes you to the Cinque Terre in less than 10  minutes and to Lerici and Portovenere by bus in under 30 minutes.  Her rooms are clean, colorful and brand-spanking new! The rooms are climate controlled, have flat screen TVs, mini-fridge and free Wi-Fi all included for an unbelievably low price! I have tried to tell her to charge more for such nice rooms, but she prefers to under-sell her competition.

Clean bathrooms are at the top of my list for staying somewhere and I can vouch for these sparkling new bathrooms (also because my husband helped build them).

Pretty nice, huh? With all the amenities, its fantastic location to the Cinque Terre, Lerici and Portovenere and prices from 60-80 Euros a night, there is no reason to stay elsewhere!

Giusi does not speak English, so for more information, or to make a reservation in English, contact me.

Il Quadrifoglio                                                                                       
Via Agostino Oldoini 45                                                            Tel: 346.2126.797
La Spezia                                                http://www.affittacamereilquadrifoglio.it/

Festa di San Guiseppe

 

Each year on March 19 is the Festa di San Giuseppe, the patron saint of La Spezia. For the weekend leading up to the day, a large part of the city is covered with tents selling everything imaginable. I took a stroll through festival to give you a glimpse of how Italians celebrate with festivals.

 Every festival always has stands representing the different regions' typical food fare. Above, there are the cheeses of Sardinia, known for their particularly strong ricotta salata. 

Below are the bounties from Puglia, known for their olives, terralini (cracker-like rings, often flavored with fennel seed), sun-dried tomatoes, and lots of pickled items like fava beans, onions and capers.

One particular specialty are olive dolce (sweet olives), which are large, green olives that are preserved without a salty brine, just many, many changes of plain water. The result is a very bright green, firm and delicious olive that is not salty in the least bit. I had never tried these "sweet olives" before, but I really enjoyed them. 

I do have to make a comment here about Italians' use of the word dolce, or sweet--even after speaking Italian for years, being offered "sweet" olives made me expect them to be "sweet". But, just as they use the term acqua dolce for 'fresh water' (or non-salty), they use olive dolce to describe non-salty olives--not that they are actually sweet. After being teased by my in-laws and laughed at for making such a silly error, I learned my lesson!

Here we have the most popular food at the San Giuseppe festival--La Porchetta, a Tuscan tradition of a stuffed whole pig, roasted on a pit over an open flame. There were more stand and trucks with whole roasted pigs than I have ever seen in my life! I have never tried it--I'm not against it--it just tends to gross me out a little seeing the shriveled cooked head. 

The Sicily truck was quite popular with all their fried foods and ricotta desserts. 

Here we have the stand from Umbria, known for their sausages, cheeses, il cinghiale (wild boar), and most of all:

Tartufo nero or black truffles!

  
The other very popular food, found on almost every corner were these amazingly fragrant sweet chips made with anise. The machine you see above was constantly stamping out these thin wafer chips into large piles that were then bagged up still hot, fresh for the taking.

There was a little bit of everything at this festival, all kinds of trinkets, all kinds of food, 

and all kinds of desserts!

 They even had the newest novelty--Caramelle Americane (American candies).

The Jelly Belly stand was extremely popular!

But there was a lot more than just food. They had everything

from the home linen outlet stand to clothes, to hats, to house pets for the kids.

Artiginal jewelry

Hand carved olive wood

This is the area that I refer to as "infomercial row" where they have slicers and dicers, steam cleaners, magic mops and microphoned demonstrators to show off the goods!

 And more of those divinely anise scented crispy cookies.

The festival took up a large portion of the city and it was still packed with people!

Be sure to check out the Festa di San Giuseppe in La Spezia, every year during the weekend leading up to March 19.

Il Palio del Golfo

Siena is world famous for it’s annual Palio, a neighborhood horse race around the piazza. But in La Spezia, every first weekend of August for the last 86 years, they have had their own Palio. But this palio doesn’t involve racing horses—it’s a rowing race.

Siena é famosa nel mondo per il Palio che si svogle ogni anno, ma anche La Spezia da 86 anni ha il proprio Palio che si svolge nel primo weekend del mese di agosto. Ma, attenzione, questo Palio non si svolge con i cavalli perché si tratta di una regata. 

The festivities begin on Friday evening with a fashion show and parade where each Borgata, or neighborhood, presents their own handmade costumes to the theme of the year. This year, the theme is the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. Costumes started with the King of Italy and Garibaldi (circa 1860), the unifier of Italy and moved across each era of fashion. 

La festa comincia venerdì sera con la sfilata nelle borgate. Ogni anno c’é una tema e quest’anno, ovviamente, era il 150° anniversario dall’unità d’Italia. I costumi che per prima hanno sfilato sono stati quelli del re d’Italia e di Garibaldi; ogni borgata ha fatto costumi di questo tipo per concorrere al premio della sfilata attenuto dal costume migliore. 

Saturday continues with technical matters in preparation for the race, like weighing the boats and checking in the rowers. Saturday night is the cenone, or big feast, where a long, continuous table is set up along an entire pedestrian street (over a block long), serving well over 100 people!

Il sabato prosegue con tutti i preparativi per la gara: pesare le barche, controllare i remi, etc.. La sera c’é il cenone per più di cento persone, tutte quelle coinvolte nel palio, e per questo viene allestito un tavolo lunghissimo che viene messo nella strada pedonale. 

Sunday is the day of the race. Each of the 13 borgate have their own colors and flags and they root for their team to row 1500 meters the fastest. Everyone lines the pier walls with their neighborhood flare displayed proudly. Just before it starts, all the boats in the area blow their horns and with a shot fired, the race begins.

La domenica c’é il palio. Le tredici borgate hanno i loro colori e le loro bandiere. Tutta la città si mette lungo il molo con indosso i colori della propria borgata per esultare la propria squadra. Prima che inizi la gara, tutte le barche nella zona suonano le trombe e con un colpo di pistola, si parte! 

Each boat must row through a makeshift slalom of buoys, going back and forth four times.

Ogni barca deve remare facendo slalom tra le boe, avanti e indietro, per quattro volte per conseguire 1500 metri totali. 

The race is not the only attraction though…

Ma la regata non é l’unica attrazione… 

There are tons of stands and tents selling food, clothes and trinkets. There is a Tuscan specialty truck with la porchetta, a whole roasted pig that is sliced into sandwiches.

C’é anche la fiera con i banchi di vestiti, souvenir, e cibi tipici. Qua c’e la porchetta Toscana. 

And there is even a Sicilian specialty truck, aptly named "Il Padrino" or 'The Godfather', with arancini, cassate, doughnuts and cannoli.

Non può mancare il banco siciliano, addirittura chiamato ‘Il Padrino’, con le arancine, cassate, spince e cannoli. 

But back to the race--as soon as the rowers make their final pass towards the finish line, all the boats in the area rush in behind them, blaring their horns. 

E certamente, tanti palloncini e lo zucchero a velo per i bambini. 

And the winner is...  Muggiano!

Quest’anno ha vinto la borgata Muggiano, una frazione nel Golfo dei Poeti. 

After the race and the festivities, the night ends with a spectacular fireworks show. I was invited to go up into the hills to a friend’s house with a view of the whole bay and watch the fireworks from afar.

Dopo il palio e tutte le festività, la notte si conclude con un spettacolo di fuochi d’artificio. Io fortunatamente ero stata invitata in una casa che gode della vista di tutta la baia ove si possono guardare i fuochi. 

Don't miss next year's Palio del Golfo!

Non mancate il Palio del Golfo l’anno prossimo…venite a La Spezia! 


Il Palio del Golfo
First weekend of August
Primo fine settimana d'agosto
La Spezia
www.paliodelgolfo.it

Castello di San Giorgio

Tonight I was invited to an art exhibit and saxophone quartet concert at the Castello di San Giorgio in La Spezia. This ancient castle is a lovely venue, perched atop a hill overlooking the entire city and bay of La Spezia.

Stasera sono stata invitata ad un concerto di sassofoni al Castello San Giorgio di La Spezia. Questo antico Castello é un posto bellissimo, situato sopra una collina, offre un meraviglioso panorama, esso consentendo di vedere tutta la città e la baia di La Spezia.

  

To get there can be quite a hike! From centro, or downtown La Spezia, there are a number of scalinate, or stairs that take you to the hills above. It is a beautiful way to get there, just make sure to have some walking shoes on when you go.

Per arrivare in cima alla collina si deve fare una bella camminata! Dal centro ci sono numerose scalinate che portano sui colli; si tratta di un percorso molto bello, ma consiglio alle ragazze di indossare delle scarpe base. 

But don't worry if you have any problems with stairs, they do have an elevator that takes you from the base of the hill to the top and runs all day, with the last ride at 8pm.

Non preoccupatevi se avete problemi nel fare le scale perchè, in alternativa, c’è anche un ascensore che dal centro porta in cima alla collina tutto il giorno fino alle 20.00.

  

The original structure was commissioned in 1262, but there is very little of that remaining thanks to various conquering and sacking through the ages. The side of the castle facing the sea was built in 1443, but they say that most of what we see today was finished in the early 1600’s.

La struttura originale fu costruita nel 1262, però di questa é rimasto ben poco a causa di varie conquiste e saccheggi che hanno interessato la storia di questo posto. Il muro che si affaccia sul mare è del 1443, mentre, la parte restante oggi visibile, si dice, sia del 1600. 

   

The views from the top are amazing and although anytime of day will provide fantastic panoramas, sunset is a magical time to visit.

La vista dall’alto è straordinaria e a qualsiasi ora si può ammirare panorama fantastico, in particolare al tramonto si può osservare qualcosa di magico. 

   

Castello di San Giorgio now houses the Ubaldo Formentini Museum of Civil Archaeology, a museum for Roman artifacts discovered locally and the prehistoric statues of the Lunigiana, an historical region of Italy known for its castles. For more info on the Lunigiana, click here.

All’ interno del castello si trova il Museo Archeologico Ubaldo Formentini che mostra gli artefatti Romani trovati in zona e le statue preistoriche della Lunigiana. Per più informazioni sulla Lunigiana, clicca qui.

   

These statues are from around the Iron Age and show the existence of an advanced, artistic people of this area. The half-moon shaped heads are characteristic of these statues, which are fairly unknown outside of Italy, but here they are quite famous.

Queste statue provengono dall’età ferro e dimostrano l’esistenza di un popolo avanzato e artistico. Le teste a mezzaluna carattezzano queste statue che ormai sono famose in tutta Italia. 

But what keeps bringing people back are the summer night shows. Throughout July and August they have concerts, films, poetry readings and art performances starting at 9:15 and lasting until around midnight.

Ma quello che fa ritornare la gente è il programma chesi svolge nelle notti d’estate. Nei mesi di luglio e agosto vengono fatti concerti, film, mostre di poesia e spettacoli che cominciano alle 21.15 e finiscono verso mezzanotte. 

   

   
The Saxophone quartet was fantastic, playing a wide mix of music from Bach to Gershwin to Spanish and French jazz.
    
Il quartetto di sassofoni era fantastico, offriva una vasta scelta di musica da Bach a Gershwin, oltre che jazz spagnolo e francese. 
   

    

Nothing is nicer on a hot summer evening than sitting atop this castle, with the cool sea breeze blowing, views of the tower lit against the sky and sounds of live music.

Non c’e niente di più bello in una calda notte d’estate che stare in un castello con il vento fresco proveniente dal mare, con una meravigliosa vista della torre illuminata e con il suono della musica al vivo. 

  

Make sure to check out Castello di San Giorgio when you are in La Spezia! It's not only great for seeing Roman Ruins, but it will give you the best views of the city. They now also rent it out for private events like weddings.

Il Castello di San Giorgio è da non perdere quando sei a La Spezia! Non è solo bello per quanto esposto all’interno del Museo, ma lo è anche perché si può ammirare la vista più bella della città. Adesso si può anche affittare il castello per eventi privati come i matrimoni. 

Castello di San Giorgio                              Istituzione per I Servizi Culturali
Via XXIV Marzo                                       www.laspeziacultura.it
La Spezia                                                www.turismocultura.spezianet.it

Tel. 0187.751142                             Wednesday-Monday 9:30-12:30, 5:00-8:00