ItalYINZ Abroad
Our motto is “American Made...Italian Roots”. We recently connected with those roots on a family trip to Florence & Venice. Our family had been to Italy before, but this was a different kind of experience. We were less like tourists - being shuffled through the hot spots and whisked away after a manic-paced afternoon - and more like out of town family staying for a stretch. This was the case for several reasons that ultimately helped inform our “roots” in a way that hadn’t before.
Breezy (Charles III) had been studying in Florence for a Semester abroad, so he got to know the language, customs, & culture more than anyone in our family had before. He was an excellent guide, especially in restaurants, making food suggestions (like this truffle burrata) and educating us on meal structure. I never considered bread to be a “palate cleanser” between dishes. His host, Marco, was thanked with a dinner at La Giosa (see pic below).
Being there for a week opened our eyes to a lot beyond the dinner table. We couldn’t help but notice how everyone was always outside, never ate on the run, & took time for a warm greeting. We didn’t see any real fights/hostility and there was almost no police presence. There were myriad stops for cheese, paninis, & gelati, but we saw a very fit populace. Alcohol was sold everywhere and you could drink on the streets, but I witnessed an absence of intoxicated, over-indulgent folks. There’s countless theories on why things are different in the U.S., but we (myself included!) have a lot to learn from Italian lifestyle.
In Florence, Mom (Sally) secured an Air BnB apartment that was close enough to points of interest, but still on the outskirts in a predominantly artist community. We saw numerous custom clothiers & painters on strolls to the local market or grocer for Tuscan produced goods. In our neighborhood, locally made foods and cuisine was so abundant, so affordable, and so tasty that we often ate at the apartment.
I don’t have the economic chops to understand this difference, but the U.S. has catching up to do with local, artisan products (which Cucina Calabrese is hoping to address!). Though there wasn’t the level of diversity with products, there was great pride in their land. The Chianti region wineries we visited went beyond government DOC product regulations to create their own seal of authenticity (the “Black Rooster”, see pic below)
to further distinguish themselves as regional, quality wine makers. Farm to table has been an institution in Italy, not a hip fad.
Beyond the local pride in Florence was also a thriving challenge to the establishment. Florentines who were prideful, but also willing to take a skeptical view of their magnificent city. We saw subversive street art (see pic below), observed a noticeable social justice movement, and met musicians who made highly controversial art.
My wife & I spent two days in Venice, staying in a another apartment off the beaten path. Venice showed me how Italian history has not solely been about national pride, but growth through being open to new ideas. This city helped connect East & West with its political alliances and Asian trade along the Silk Road. We stayed in a historically Jewish neighborhood, which still had thriving Synagogues and Kosher restaurants and celebrated it’s influential residents with museums (that also depicted dark side of the enforced Ghetto from 1500s to 1700s).
The buildings' architecture often embraced the geometric patterns of Islamic art. Venice is characteristically an Italian city, but one that progressed by its embrace of the non-Italian. Being a proud Italian, like a proud American, means balance between loving your country and wanting it to be better.
The week in Italy seemed to rub off on us. We were healthier and got along better and more consistently than many other family trips. It reinforced our ideals of taking time for a slow meal with your family/friends, of making quality, local foods, and of being open to new ideas/flavors to improve our products.
