Procida Island becomes the capital of Italian culture in 2022!
It's about this time of sad news, but happy news has arrived in Campania!
Procida Island in Campania was selected as the "2022 Capital of Italian Culture" by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities of Italy. (Official website of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities of Italy → https://www.beniculturali.it/)
The Procida project is "La Cultura non Isola". In the sense that culture is not isolated, it is also called Isola, which means island in Italian.
Instead of isolating the island, make it a place of exploration, experimentation and knowledge!
44 cultural projects, a 330-day program and 240 artists will be attending next year!
Procida Island has many maze-like paths. It's fun to walk around the city without hesitation, but Procida isn't just about colorful and cute buildings.
Unlike the resort areas of Capri and Ischia, the island's people have a rustic and laid-back atmosphere with a sense of life.
It is a place where you can enjoy the "life feeling of the islanders".
Houses drying laundry are lined up, islanders gather on the terrace with a view of the harbor, grandfather sells vegetables from the fields on the road, fishermen clean nets and boats It is a heartwarming island that cannot be seen in urban areas that are famous for sightseeing.
The beautiful coastal streets have become the setting for several films. Among them, the 1994 movie "Il Postino" "Il Postino" is famous.
Maritozzo seems to be booming in Japan in recent years, and that is also the news in Italy.
It's a fashionable presentation at a trendy cafe, it's in a plastic container at a supermarket, it's frozen, and Maritozzo is written everywhere in Japan !! I think it's nice and strange to hear that sober guys like eating for breakfast are popular.
The name Maritozzo is made up of Marito (husband) + ozzo (suffix that gives a funny tone), and it is said that it was given to a woman who was loved by a man once in a while.
Italy is a country where the food you eat changes depending on the region. Maritozzo is a traditional Roman dessert, so it's hard to see it in Naples. Meanwhile, I finally met at a cafe in the Vomero area.
The brioche was moderately moist and the cream was light and delicious.
There are various versions of fruit, pistachios, chocolate cream, etc. in the show window. The upper row is Maritozzo ⁉︎ of Cornet (Italian croissant)
When you come to Naples, compare it to Maritozzo in Japan and in Rome.
Rome deserves to be called "Caput mundi" = the capital of the world, and fragments of various countries can be found. There are obelisks in Egypt, London-style neighborhoods, etc ... and even Japanese cherry blossom trees.
Why are there Japanese cherry blossoms in Italy, where there is no custom of cherry blossom viewing?
Its roots date back to 1959.
That year, Italy was developing a district called EUR on the outskirts of Rome for the Rome Olympics ahead of the following year. It was a district developed by Mussolini for the Rome Expo, which was supposed to be held in 1942 (EUR stands for Rome Expo), but it was not realized in World War II and the defeat and was left unattended. Was there.
The facilities have been refurbished and reworked to create a venue suitable for attracting athletes and spectators from around the world.
Through this Olympics, it was very important to show a new Italy that survived the tragedy of fascism and war.
Against this background, many high-ranking officials from overseas visited Rome during this period.
The then Prime Minister, Nobusuke Kishi, was one of them.
Four years after Rome, Japan, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, has the same desire as Italy, which was an ally during the war, to "make the Olympics a success and appeal to the world how it has recovered from the defeat." is.
Prime Minister Kishi presented 2,500 cherry tree saplings to commemorate his visit, and these were planted around a pond in the EUR district, which is the venue for the Olympic Games.
Every year when the cherry blossom season comes, many Romans, style lovers, oriental culture lovers, and of course Japanese also come here to take a walk along the cherry blossom trees named "Japanese Promenade" and have a picnic. I spend a relaxing time relaxing.
Due to the corona wreck, we couldn't see the cherry blossoms in EUR last year and this year.
However, vaccination is gradually progressing, and nuvola (a cloud-inspired convention center by architect Fuksas) in this EUR is the largest vaccination site in Rome.
Hope you can resume cherry blossom viewing in EUR next year!
The excavation work that began in 2019 at the Pompeii ruins has created a new "fast food" store counter. It will be available from next year!
I was really thrilled when I saw it on the documentary show last night. It's been a while since I was so excited.
The archaeological site manager said, "This is the first case in which we were able to excavate the exact same thing (at that time)."
This counter is called "Thermopolium".
The extraordinary features of this discovery are the excellent preservation of the pictorial decoration of the room and the food debris found along with the human bodies and animal bones of the two victims of the eruption.
The two ducks hung upside down would have been used for the dishes on the menu.
At the bottom of the dorio (wine container), the presence of ground broad beans in wine to change the taste and color was confirmed.
The dog tied to the leash was probably used as a guard dog, like the famous Beware of the Dog mosaic, which is a symbol of Pompeii.
This latest discovery shows that the archaeological site of Pompeii still tells a lot about 2000 years later.
We are waiting for you at this wonderful fast food restaurant.
May the day come soon!
