Easter in Italy

In this episode we talk about Easter in Italy - the food, the events, and the way we've experienced it here over the years. 

Among other things, you’ll hear about:

- what an exploding cart has to do with Easter

- what was the nicest Easter gift we've received since living here in Italy

- how a dove is made into a cake.

Want to know more about us and our travel services? Find us at: 

www.LittleRoadsEurope.com

www.facebook.com/LittleRoadsEurope

We craft small-town driving itineraries for travelers to Italy, Ireland and Scotland.

And our "alter-egos" as musicians:

www.OrsiniVirtuosi.it

Transcript

Easter in Italia podcast notes

Note: This is not a complete transcript, but rather the show notes we write in advance to prepare for the episode. 

INTRO: 

Welcome to Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond

Today we’re talking about Easter in Italy -

Among other things, you’ll hear about…:

- what an exploding cart has to do with Easter

- what was the nicest Easter gift we've received since living here in Italy

- how a dove is made into a cake

[music up then down to 20%]

This is Matt Walker          …and I’m Zeneba Bowers - 

We’re recording while sitting on the terrace of our tiny home in Italy - so you’ll get a sense of the sounds of life in our little town. We want this to be more like a casual conversion with us, rather than a scripted studio session - complete with church bells, cats meowing, motor scooters and trains and the town’s daily siren, and maybe the occasional clink of our drinks. 

“ … we’ll be talking about Pasqua, in today’s chat - here on Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond.”

[Music up then fade out]

For those of you who don’t know us: We are professional musicians and also travel writers and consultants, living and working here in Italy for the past 6 years. 

If you want to learn more about us and our lives, you can find us on our website LittleRoadsEurope..com, on our socials, and now here on our new podcast, which we’re going to do unedited, as if you’re sitting here chatting with us - 

…and by the way, we hope you like our intro music - Matt arranged it, and we recorded it right here in our house! Since we’re musicians working here in Italy, we thought that would be a fun and sensible addition to our show.

So let’s get to talking about Easter here in Italy!

Pasqua / Pasquetta, very expensive time to be here, higher lodging rates 

Meal reservations a must, often fixed menus at restaurants, unlikely to have ala carte… 

Some things (shops, restaurants, sights) are closed, but other things have extraordinary openings instead

Some restaurants closed Mondays will open for Pasquetta

Food: Many different Easter foods and celebration traditions, depending on the region

Some traditional and ubiquitous Easter items: seasonal veg: strawberries, peas, asparagus, fava beans

Always find: Giant chocolate eggs - football-sized; filled w candy toys, etc, wrapped in fancy shiny paper, fun to bring home for kids

Colomba, symbolic of Easter - Colomba vs. panettone

— “ASK US ANYTHING” BREAK —

At a recent gig, we were asked: What’s the difference between violin and fiddle?

… So anyway, where were we?

Florence in Easter. First time we were there in 2007 - Buondonno winery lodging

No smart phones, only paper maps

Walked in, across totally empty Ponte Vecchio

Trumpets & drums in parade, medieval costumes

Scoppio del Carro at Piazza de Duomo: cart is 9-10 meters (~30-35 ft)

"La Donna fa male" Mosh pit, could not reach into my own pocket because we were pressed so close together, every photo was people holding their arms above with cameras. 

Matt couldn’t stand it, said we’d never come back unless we had some big fancy balcony place

But next time (2019) we rented an apartment with a balcony and we actually made La Repubblica! (We talk about the hotel on our Visiting Florence episode!)

And now this has become a thing we actively look for... to experience special big events that draw huge crowds. But we’re sitting pretty up above, with plumbing! 

Total contrast to huge Firenze celebration: 

Our first Easter living in Italy: we were in lockdown. 

Balcony concerts: ViceMayor asked us to take a 4-day break, and we were so grateful. (We also wondered if they were saying “It's not me It's you.”) 

But then we came back for 30 plus more shows 

Next Easter in our friends Olive Grove, with her whole family. Playing games among the Olive trees, giant tab full of antipasti, pasta course (cannelloni w meat, sometimes lasagna), fried lamb (and other fritti)

Our friend puts together a little easter egg hunt in the yard for the children, with little rhyming clues - (the kids are running around trying to decipher and uncover the treats) 

Even if you are not religious, it is a nice time to be here, even though it is more expensive as a tourist. We work with clients on whether they shoudl come during this time or not, depending on their wishes and goals. 

Definitely worth it to be here at Easter, if you’re interested in participating in some of the festivities People are full of hope after a long cold winter. 

And there are no mosquitoes! 

OUTRO: 

I think that’s a good place to wrap it up here - we hope you enjoyed joining us for our talk about Easter in Italy!

If you enjoyed our little chat here, please give us a like or a good rating on your favorite platform, and tell your friend about us…

We’ll be talking about a wide variety of topics here on this podcast, from travel tips to slice-of-life stories - we’ll post a new episode every Tuesday. 

So catch us next time - we’ll see you down the Little Roads… CIAO!