I'm back from Rome! It was unbelievably fantastic. The weather was perfectly sunny and warm, trees were in bloom, oranges hung heavy on the trees, and I sampled a small selection of the wonders of Rome.
The Spanish Baroque dance workshop was also fantastic--- I even knew a few people there from my The Fairy Queen days (and I was so happy to see Deda, as always). I am going to have to practice and practice before I can play castanet rhythms and dance at the same time without terrifying amounts of concentration. And Ana Yepes was a fantastic teacher-- we all learned so much in only 2 days.
The painting seen above is Jacopo Zucchi's Amore e Psiche-- I went all gaga over the Florentine Mannerists at the Borghese Museum (you would too, I bet). I had to look up the myth on Wikipedia: Psyche is carrying a lamp and knife because Cupid never revealed himself to her (and asked her never to use a lamp). Some nasty girls told Psyche that her lover was a giant snake who would soon eat her, so Psyche decided to find out-- the knife is for hacking the snake to bits. Of course upon seeing Cupid, Psyche was totally smitten, but she clumsily spilled a little oil on Cupid, waking him. He angrily fled. The story has a happy ending for our lovers, but not until a jealous Venus tries to drive Psyche insane and send her to the Underworld.
On yesterday morning, I went to the famous Testaccio market to stock up on treats to bring back to Germany. The first stop was the prosciutto guy-- he had a special on hand-cut mountain-style (much darker, a little saltier, and more dried that regular prosciutto). We chatted a bit. He even said my Italian was good (ha!! Those lying flatterers). Then I stopped at his wife's stall for some buffalo mozzarella. I also brought home some sun-dried tomatoes, olives, wine, and olive oil, but I decided to leave all of the gorgeous fruits and vegetables behind in Italy.
More later, with pictures!
1 comment:
Sounds like you had a good time in Italy. Yummy treats!
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