Month: June 2010

Olivia Lott and Jon Ernest have been following in the footsteps of legendary pittori italiani as they create a fresco from the ground up – or, really, from the wall out – with Professor William Pettit. The pair began by learning the complex technique required to apply the various layers of sand, lime, and marble dust required to create a workable surface and have since spent nearly two weeks on their final project, which they estimate to be about halfway finished. They were inspired by several frescoes that they saw on a day trip to Rome with Professor Pettit and have since been recreating it piece by piece in the Umbra Institute fresco studio.

Summer in Perugia presents a dramatic question: where to get ice cream. This vital query is made all the more difficult by the fact that one can’t simply exclude the “bad” ice cream places…because there just don’t seem to be any. We can start out with Gambrinus in Via Bonazzi: it’s stuck back in that little alley but has nothing to hide, with large servings of rich gelato. Fontana Maggiore, back int he far corner of the main piazza, has Rino Pinguino, a mix of chocolate and vanilla with chocolate chunks, and, (get this!) free correzione panna (whipped cream on top). Grom, a national chain, has made a splash with lines every evening outside their store at the corner of Piazza Matteotti and Via Mazzini. Finally, Augusta Perusia in Via Pinturicchio (near the Stranieri) brings their chocolate-making experience to gelato making. It’s a hard life, but someone’s gotta eat it!

Cold coffee, that is! Yesterday afternoon was the much-anticipated Coffee Safari that Umbra offers each semester as part of its food-engagement extracurriculars. Students studying at Umbra’s Summer Session took a break from the books and headed out on a short traipse around the center, learning about the various “personalities” of the center’s cafés (sleek perugini here, Bohemiens there) before sitting down at Bar Turreno for the coffee itself.

Staff member Zach Nowak ordered a variety of caffeine-filled cups –caffè macchiato, marocchino, caffè freddo, caffè sciakerato, latte macchiato freddo — that students sipped on; meanwhile Nowak explained the location of each coffee in Italy’s “social geography”: cappuccino for Italians is a morning drink, for example, and ordering it after lunch will raise eyebrows of Italian waiters, while an espresso in a little glass vup (caffè in vetro) is a touch of elegance. Because of the heat, most of the coffees were cold, though, like caffè freddo and caffè sciakerato. This last delectable treat is made of two shots of espresso shaken with ice and a little sugar in a cocktail shaker, then poured, foam and all, into a cocktail glass!

Perugia is perhaps best known internationally for (other than its baci chocolates) the Umbria Jazz Festival, which begins every year on the second Friday in July. A local favorite as far as music, though, is the Onde Rock festival, a three-day rock-in of the best of central Italy’s homegrown rock bands. “Not too heavy, not to light” seems to be the leitmotif of the weekend. The venue is the Casilini fair ground, near Panicale. Interested? Do a little Google research or ask any staff member how to get there with public transport. Onde Rock 2010 takes place on June 18th, 19th, and 20th.

Last night was the Umbra Pizza Workshop…but with a twist. As part of Professor Robert Proctor’s “Intensive Italian Through Culture” program, students got a brief history of pizza from staff member Zach Nowak, made pizzas with the direction of headpizzaiolo Felice, and ate their handiwork while chit-chatting in one of Perugia’s most quaint pizzerias, but all in Italian. Proctor’s innovative program–intensive Italian taught not only in the classroom (grammar, pronunciation) but also outside the classroom, in museums and pizzerias–seeks to immerse the student in both the Italian language and the Italian culture. Round Two of “Workshop della Pizza” is tonight at 7:15pm (or is it 20:15?): meet at the Fontana Maggiore in the main square.