October: Italian Chestnut Festivals

All throughout Italy, October marks the start of dozens of festivals celebrating a popular food: chestnuts. Italy is the fourth largest chestnut producer in the world, and the largest in Europe, producing over 50,000 metric tons of the nut in 2018 alone. Italian chestnuts are known for their sweet flavor, with notes of vanilla and hazelnut, and they peel easier than many other varieties.

Italy produces the most chestnuts of any country in Europe!

Chestnut festivals across the country usually begin in early October, and can often run until the end of November. The festival in Soriano, north of Rome, is one of the earliest festivals, beginning on Saturday, September 25, and running until October 17, 2021. These festivals often involve weekend markets selling chestnuts in bulk, as well as a wide variety of dishes made with the nut. Some even include cooking contests and parades! Each festival is unique and celebrates the local history of each town or region. While Americans may think of “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” at Christmas time, to Italians, Fall is chestnut season!

Yum! Chocolate Panna Cotta Recipe

While many of us think of pizza and pasta when we think of Italian food, Italian desserts should not be forgotten! From gelato to cannoli, Italian desserts never fail to be delicious. While those desserts may be a bit more difficult to make at home, how about an easy, cool, indulgent chocolate panna cotta? Perfect for any season and any occasion, you can “dress it up” with homemade whipped cream and berries, or eat it as is.

 Chocolate Panna Cotta

·      1/3 cup whole milk

·      1/3 cup whipping cream

·      1 oz 70% dark chocolate

·      3 Tbsp sugar

·      1 ½ sheets gelatin 

Soften the gelatin in a bowl of cold water. Bring the milk to a simmer, then add the chocolate and melt together. Be sure to keep the temperature low as the chocolate melts or it can seize. Add the rest of the ingredients other than the gelatin, stir well, and bring to a near boil. Gently squeeze the excess water from the gelatin and add it to the mixture. Stir to dissolve and then turn off the heat. Pour the chocolate mixture into two ramekins, dessert bowls, or any other small dish you choose. (If you want to get fancy, lightly grease your dishes so you can turn out the panna cotta once it has cooled). Cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. 

MITICI Adventures: A Q&A with Andrea Muti

Whether you’re an alumni who fell in love with Central Italy through Spoleto Study Abroad, a parent of alumni who has heard endless stories about this beautiful part of an amazing country, or someone who is just bitten by a travel bug…you have to check out MITICI Adventures!

A subsidiary of Spoleto Study Abroad, MITICI Adventures is the Muti family’s latest venture that brings travelers an authentic Italian experience through private group tours throughout Central Italy. Sample Itineraries are available to spark your imagination, but you can customize your own tour to create a travel experience that is completely unique to your group. Andrea Muti will be your main point of contact and together, you will come up with an ideal itinerary that best suits your group’s needs. Travelers will be able to completely immerse themselves in the region’s rich culture, learning about and experiencing its food, art, people, and more.

We sat down with Andrea to learn a bit more about the drive behind MITICI Adventures.

Q: Why did you create MITICI Adventures?

A: I created MITICI adventure because I wanted to create authentic experiences for tourists. I want them to see and experience Italy the way I see and live it. I want to share with them the most peculiar and beautiful things and products that my land has to offer but that are not necessarily always advertised for tourists who come to Italy for the first time. 

Q: What most excites you about bringing groups of travelers to Italy?

A: Something that most excites me is the idea that I am not simply taking tourists to visit iconic places. With MITICI I am excited about the idea of sharing my world with those who have the interest to explore it. The places that I include in the experience are not necessarily so-called touristic places, but they are part of my identity and they represent what I love the most of my country.

Q: What do you hope people get out of their experience with MITICI Adventures?

A: I hope that people leave having experienced something unique and with a new understanding of what authenticity means when applied to Italy. I hope they may leave thinking that there is much more history and beauty in small towns than in a big touristic city. And I hope they leave with an appreciation for truly authentic Italian food.

Visit the MITIC Adventures website to learn more about this unforgettable travel experience!

Meet Lorenzo Muti

Jill and Lorenzo Muti founded Spoleto Study Abroad in 1997 and have served as its co-directors since then. Lorenzo is a native of Spoleto, and as a celebrated maestro, has conducted orchestras from Rome to London to Washington, not to mention for both the Italian and American Spoleto Festivals. But Lorenzo has even more talents: he is an expert in music history and opera, and taught for over fifteen years at Duke University. 

We are honored to have Lorenzo to lead and teach our students every summer in Spoleto. Over the past several years, Lorenzo has been passing his knowledge onto his nephew, Andrea, who is also from Spoleto! So, students who attend our intensive programs have the unique opportunity to not only learn Italian music and art history from an expert, but also to learn about the beautiful city of Spoleto from two native Spoletini. This local expertise and connection through generations is one of the many things that makes Spoleto Study Abroad so unique from other summer abroad programs!

Book recommendation: The Path to the Spiders’ Nests

Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno or The Path to the Spiders’ Nests is a 1947 novel by Italian writer Italo Calvino. Set in World War II Italy, this coming-of-age story follows Pin, an orphan in a town on the Ligurian coast in northwest Italy. Pin spends his days at a seedy bar where he amuses the adult patrons. But after he steals a pistol from a Nazi sailor, Pin falls in with a partisan group. This story tackles complex and serious topics through the eyes of a child.

“I enjoyed this coming-of-age story because of Pin’s perspective,” says Spoleto Study Abroad board member, Anna White Hosea. “He is a child striving to make it in an adult’s world, and Pin shows up as a rascal and imp.”

Author Italo Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 to Italian parents, who moved back to Italy when Italo was two-years-old. The Path to the Spiders’ Nests was his first novel, but Calvino would go on to write over a dozen more, along with numerous short stories. At the time of his death in 1985, Calvino was the most translated contemporary Italian writer.

Brief History of Spoleto

Spoleto Study Abroad has been around for 24 years, but the beautiful, ancient city of Spoleto has existed far, far longer, with the first historical mention being in the 2nd century BC. Just 78 miles from Rome, 39 miles from Perugia, and 28 miles from Assisi, Spoleto has long been a strategically located city. As such, it has changed many hands over the centuries, from the Romans to the Holy Roman Empire to even the French under Napoleon’s rule. 

Through Spoleto Study Abroad’s various programs, groups will get to see many breathtaking historical sights throughout Spoleto, thanks to the city’s long and rich history. The Ponte delle Torri is a 13th century aqueduct that anyone who has ever visited Spoleto will surely remember. The Rocca Albornoziana overlooks the whole of Spoleto; though now a museum, it has served as a fortress for a 14th century cardinal and as a prison.

Just as important as its historic architecture is Spoleto’s rich culture of the arts, one of the major draws of the Spoleto Study Abroad programs. Across Italy, you can find museums that pay homage to talented artists and sculptors and composers. But in Spoleto, the annual Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of the Two Worlds) has become an extremely important cultural event. Started in 1958, the Festival brings together music, theater, and dance for three full weeks of celebration of the arts.

This is so much more history you can learn about Spoleto when you attend one of Spoleto Study Abroad’s programs, and we can’t wait to have you back very soon! 

Do you know your Spoleto history?

Head over to our Instagram Story and test your Spoleto knowledge!

Take the Quiz!

#1: When was Spoleto Study Abroad Founded?

a.     1990

b.     1995

c.     1997

d.     2000

#2: Which of these cities is NOT relatively close to Spoleto?

a.     Perugia

b.     Assisi

c.     Rome

d.     Venice

#3: Which of these empires/nations has NEVER ruled Spoleto?

a.     Spain

b.     France

c.     Roman Empire

d.     Holy Roman Empire

#4: What is the name of Spoleto’s historic 3-week long art festival?

a.     Festival of Umbria

b.     Festival of the Two Worlds

c.     Spoleto Art and Music Festival

d.     Festival of the Rocca

#5: What would you be most excited for when visiting Spoleto?

a.     Visiting historical architectural sites

b.     Witnessing the breathtaking scenery of nature

c.     THE FOOD!!

d.     All of the above

Head over to our Instagram Story for the answers!

Missing Italy? Try this easy, fresh tomato sauce recipe!

What a year! All of us at Spoleto Study Abroad have greatly missed welcoming to Spoleto the many students and adults who attend our summer programs. We cannot wait for next summer, when hopefully our programs can resume with gusto, and we can share just how special Spoleto, Italy is with so many people.

Until then, as we all surely long to travel, we want to bring a small taste of Italy to you. Try this delicious and simple recipe for fresh tomato sauce (only 5 minutes of cooking!) and let us know what you think!

Fresh Tomato Sauce (serves 2-3)

•  500 gr or 1 lb San Marzano or plum or cherry tomatoes (we prefer San Marzano)

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or mashed with a garlic press

• 5 basil leaves

• 300 g or 10 oz pasta (spaghetti or fettucine would work best)

• A pinch each of sugar and salt

If using plum or San Marzano tomatoes, pop in the microwave or in boiling hot water until the skin splits. Peel and chop roughly. If using cherry tomatoes, chop each into two to four pieces. Using a shallow pan, sautée the garlic in olive oil over low heat. Do not brown the garlic. Add some chile pepper if you want a spicy sauce. Increase heat, add tomatoes, and sautée until they are warmed through. Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar and salt. Switch heat off and add basil leaves. Meanwhile cook the spaghetti until al dente, strain, and transfer the pasta in the pan that holds the sauce. Turn on the heat and quickly stir so that the juice of the sauce is partly absorbed by the pasta. Drizzle 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and serve with parmesan or pecorino cheese on the side.

Enjoy!

Faculty Spotlight: Karey Walter

"I strive to capture moments of beauty and magic."

Karey Walter is a fine art photographer whose work resonates with images that depict a peaceful coexistence between humans and nature. Her photographs vary from traditional black & white photography, historical photographic processes, classic color film, and digital photography documenting people and the landscapes from across the United States, Mexico, South America, and Europe.

Her photographs are on display throughout the United States, Mexico, Italy, and France. In addition to creating photography, she has taught a variety of different workshops. Savannah College of Art & Design, The Rocky Mountain School of Photography, Spoleto Study Abroad, The Pozos Art Project, Atlanta Celebrates Photography, MediaNOLA, The Global Online Academy, The Society of Photo Educators, Art and Science in the Ecuadorian Rain Forest, Clemson University, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and The High Museum of Art. She has curated unique exhibitions working with The Library of Congress, The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, and the Tubman Museum. Published photographs are in Shots Magazine, Square Magazine, Focal Plan Magazine, Don't Take Pictures Magazine, and a book called “Inspired Georgia."

Karey Walter has a Masters of Fine Art in Photography from The University of Utah and a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art Photography and Painting from Western Carolina University.

She was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where she directs the photography department at The Lovett School.

Karey is the Photography Intensive faculty for the Spoleto Study Abroad 2021 summer session.

www.kareywalter.com

Remembering The Sights & Sounds of Spoleto

Close your eyes and imagine that you’re sitting at one of the tables at the “Bar degli artisti.” How many times did you sit there during your stay in Spoleto either working on your computer or having breakfast, sipping a cup of coffee or having a fun conversation with your friends!? Do you remember what was all around you? The beautiful fountain source of fresh water both for thirsty tourists and clouds of pigeons alike. In the morning the vegetable vendors with their little truck filled with luscious fresh tomatoes, peaches, plums. Then the tens of restaurants, pizzerias and bars that have come to crown the entire piazza with their little tables and their wooden chairs. Finally, the noise of the people” living” in the piazza: the usual group of older men who would arrive early in the morning and leave only at lunch time, spending their morning discussing soccer, politics, and gossiping. The ladies with their shopping bags running from one store to the other. The kids running after each other, riding their bikes and filling their mouths with a piece of pastry or some ice cream. Well, everything is still there…with the exception of the people.

The beauty of the place is still stunning, the shining sunlight still covers a golden patina on all of those beautiful buildings. However, the noise is gone and so is the energy, the vitality that was so much a part of the landscape. It reminds me of one of those Renaissance paintings depicting the ”ideal city” - beautiful streets, gorgeous squares, fantastic buildings, but everything empty, muted, silenced by the luck of ordinary life.

What is happening in Piazza del Mercato is no different than what is happening all over town. Piazza Duomo is empty, the Corso has seen more and more shops close because there is no business and lastly the increasing amount of families who now have a terrible time putting food on their table.

Still there is hope. Italian people are resilient and in this case, they have behaved really well. After the initial shock they have observed the “lockdown religiously” and with humor and now there is a general feeling that life is slowly coming back to some sense of normality.

Our biggest surprise was visiting the convent. No students, no pilgrims, no visitors. Just the two Philippine nuns and the “eternal” Suor Chiara. But the garden….! Not having anything else to do besides praying, the nuns dedicated all their free time to their garden! Melons, flowers, lettuce, grapes, it is stunning! A speck of light in a world of grayness and frustration.

Convent Garden

Spoleto Study Abroad is eager to once again share the beauty of central Italy through an immersive experience for students of all ages as soon as it is safe to do so. We cannot wait for you to help fill the streets with life again!

- Lorenzo

Wish you were here!

An update from the streets of Spoleto in the time of COVID-19

For 23 summers, high school students from around the world have filled Spoleto’s streets during our Spoleto Study Abroad program. This summer, for the first time since our start, the streets are a bit quieter.

On one hand, it’s a rare blessing to be able to walk through the once busy tourist attractions and enjoy the art and history without the crowds. But on the other hand, the silence is loud. It’s hard not to acknowledge that many small family-owned businesses that are the life and character of our town have been hit the hardest from the COVID-19 pandemic and have closed their doors for good. Many families now struggle to buy food to last them through the end of the week, and our hearts hurt for them as we seek ways we can help out.

Walking the familiar cobblestones through the Piazza Mercato, passing the bars and gelaterias, life here feels somewhat “normal.” Little by little businesses here have opened their doors and locals have started to get back to their day to day, now with a common accessory - the face mask. The beauty in the landscape here is still as breathtaking as ever. We wish you were here to see it!

As the country that was seen to be hit the hardest at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Italians are showing us a glimmer of hope that we can all breathe a breath of fresh air soon. Life is slowly moving toward a new normal here and it leaves us with a sense that we will all get through this.

We are sad you couldn’t join us this summer, and we cannot wait for the day you can travel to Spoleto once again. As you continue to navigate these strange times, we’ll leave you with these charges to reconnect with yourself, your surroundings and take in the beauty in this world, despite the trying circumstances. 

1. Put your phone and devices away for the day and see where your mind takes you. To disconnect from technology is to allow yourself the space to observe yourself and the world around you. Give yourself the time to lean into the new headspace and creativity that can come from disconnecting.

2. Sit outside and look closely at the tiny details that surround you. Change your perspective and observe the bugs working in the grass below. Sit in a hammock and watch the birds flying above. Listen to the wind blow through the trees. Just stop and observe how we are all connected to the world around us and take in the natural beauty right outside your door.

3. Breathe. The busy world has slowed down a lot these days because of the pandemic, but the chaos can still be there in our minds and in our bodies. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply with your eyes closed, fill your lungs with fresh life, let out the rest, and repeat.

4. Create! Whether you are a painter, singer, photographer or just someone interested in any art form, give yourself time and space to play, practice and create just for the fun of it. Creativity does wonders for the human spirit.

5. Daydream about your study abroad experience in Spoleto with us. Follow us on social media as we bring some of the sights and sounds to you since you can’t be here in person just yet. 

We wish you all good health as we make our way to the new normal everywhere, and we can’t wait to see you in Spoleto again soon!

A presto!
Jill & Lorenzo Muti

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““If the sight of the blue sky fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive” ”

— Eleanora Duse

Final Day!

Saturday, we had a full day of culminating performances for each of the respective artistic areas. We began with voice and strings in the morning at the chapel, continued with photography and visual art in the afternoon at the school, and creative writing at Palazzo Leti. It was so wonderful for everyone to get to hear and see all of the different pieces and elements of the program that the students have been working on throughout these past few weeks!

It was sad to see them go so early this morning, but safe travels to all!!

Grazie mille.

Spotlight: Music

Our Spoleto Study Abroad music students enjoying the view from Monteluco before an evening concert for a very appreciative crowd, where the choir sang “Va, pensiero” from Verdi’s opera Nabucco.

This coming Saturday marks the culmination of three weeks of preparation: the final concert! Ainslee and Sarah have shown remarkable dedication to their craft, and both have achieved significant milestones in their playing. The students will be playing movements of their solo concerti, along with a selection of chamber pieces. It will be a thrilling performance. Bravi tutti!

Our Spoleto Study Abroad choir made huge strides this week. Singing in a small choir is an incredibly daunting task, because the singers feel much more exposed than they would in a large choir. Each musician is critical to the learning process and the group sound as a whole. The choir has learned some difficult and widely-varied repertoire in a short amount of time, and their group sound and confidence has developed dramatically during this final week.

In the final week, the voice students moved into the polishing phase with their repertoire. Although they continued to have some one-on-one lessons with Terry and Laura, they spent much more of their time together performing for one another. It has been wonderful to watch the opera and musical theater scenes come to life this week, from the early stages of trying to remember words, notes, and blocking to the final stages of fully embodying the different characters and connecting with their duet partners. Today’s dress rehearsal bodes well for a beautiful final performance tomorrow morning.

Creative Writing Blog

Since last week’s update, the creative writing students have focused their energy on their final

projects. First drafts were due early this week, and students will spend much of their remaining

time producing a heavily revised second draft.

The title of Friday morning’s essay brilliantly sums up the excruciatingly difficult but necessary

nature of revision: Surgery without Anesthesia. We spoke about the need to put aside one’s ego

in order to revise effectively, to let go of our attachments to our original ideas so that new,

exciting and surprising ideas can present themselves in the next draft. We discussed the necessity

of time, something we have so little of now in Spoleto, and the usefulness of workshop in

gaining an objective perspective on one’s own writing. To illustrate these points, we read two

versions of what is essentially the same story at its core: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark,

and Miranda July’s contemporary remix simply titled Birthmark. 150+ years separate the

publications of these two stories, as well as a mountain of personal, generational and cultural

differences.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week we workshopped each other’s drafts as a group. The

workshop environment is crucial not only for the external feedback the students receive, but also

for the practice students obtain in turning a writer’s critical eye toward works-in-progress. The

hope is that with enough of this practice, students will then be ready to turn that same objective,

critical eye toward their own work during revision.

Today students are once again meeting with me individually to discuss their second drafts, and

tomorrow we’ll be wrapping everything up in anticipation of Saturday’s final reading.

To Mai Ly, Maddie, Drew, Ruby, Wickie, Sasha, Riley and Leo – thank you for your focus,

effort and participation in class these past 3 weeks. It’s been an absolute pleasure teaching this

group, and I wish everyone the best of luck in their future projects!

- AJ

A Day at the Beach and a Pizza Dinner!

We spent today at the lovely beach club, Rivabella, in San Benedetto del Tronto. Students took advantage of swimming in the beautiful Adriatic Sea, reading under a beach umbrella, eating at the club’s restaurant, playing beach volleyball and ping pong, and soaking up the sun!

From the beach we went directly to Il Caminetto, a pizzeria in the country of Spoleto. We enjoyed an amazing dinner of pizza, french fries, and Nutella!

Students played on trampolines and had balloon sword fights throughout the evening!

Visual Art - Blog 3

Our final week and we are making the most of our time here!

Monday we experimented with egg yolk, using it as medium for pigment in the same way that Giotto painted during the early Renaissance. Students completed a small painting using a clay board panel to absorb and support the paint.

Naomi making her tempera painting! (self-portrait foreground)

Elinka with her small egg tempera painting + starting a new idea working with oil bars

Students have continued to make their painted diaries/ or reflection after each trip. So they each have completed a painting representing, Assisi, Sienna, Tivoli, Orvieto / Todi and Florence.

The class has experienced the issues of working out in the landscape and on site, such as carrying materials, selecting a good spot, setting up the painting or drawing, dealing with the heat, mosquitos, traffic and on lookers!

Landscape painting at Ponte del Torre!

This past week the students have sketched in the streets of Spoleto and on a beautiful Monday evening class time was spent on location, making oil pastels at the Ponte de Torre.

On Thursday we made a visit to the The Museum of Palazzo Collicola Arti Visive, where the visual art students enjoyed viewing The Collection Carandente, which includes Italian and international artists of worldwide fame, such as Calder, Henry Moore and Sol le Witt.

Individual portraits are completed and the students are now focused on their final pieces.

Students are asked to consider all that they are drawn to here in Spoleto, be it urban or landscape and to select their appropriate medium and surface to work on while developing an art piece of personal meaning, representative of their time spent in Spoleto.

They are asked to consider, the development of their individual idea, the medium, composition, use and relationship of color, scale, depth of field (if necessary) and the quality of execution.