Beverages in Italy- Beer

When you think of Italian beverages, beer isn't the first thing that comes to mind. However, there are several Italian breweries that have been perfecting their craft for over 150 years, as is Peroni's case. Peroni is the largest Italian brewing company. Their two main products are regular Peroni and Nastro Azzuro, with the later being the more popular. The Peroni popularity is likely derived from its long history and affordability. You can pick up a 32 oz. Peroni or Nastro Azzuro at the grocery store for about 1 Euro. Other European beers such as Heineken and Becks sell for about 1.50 Euro for a 32 oz. bottle. And for the price, neither aren't bad at all.
Another Italian beer is Birra Moretti. Birra Moretti is a cheaper beer that sells for about .70 Euro for a 32 oz. in the grocery store. Personally, I did not enjoy Moretti all that much as I found it pretty bitter. For me, I found it fairly apparent that this beer was of lesser quality than any of the Peroni's. However, opinions do vary. Fellow CAS Rome 2008 student Dom Cifelli happens to really enjoy Moretti.
Lastly, I realize that for many who visit Italy, wine would be the desired alcoholic option. And I couldn't agree more. However, if you are in the mood for a brewski, don't be quick to write off the Italian beers just because they are overshadowed by their vineyard counterparts.

Pictures credited to: http://www.bud.co.uk/lager/nastroazzurro.jpg
http://www.facogel.it/public/356.jpg
http://www.lemarkbbc.com/images/bottles/391_Peroni.JPG

Campo de Fiore- Daytime

The Campo de Fiori, located along Via di Giubbonari, is a piazza located about a 5 minute walk due south of Piazza Navona. In the daytime, this square is transformed into an open air market. Vendors line up in aisle to sell everything from produce to freshly baked goods. The Campo emits a pleasant aroma of fresh food, but don't stop to enjoy it too long, market is very fast paced with people jostling around, trying complete their shopping errands with what little time they have left on their lunch break.
Purchasing goods is quite a task in itself. At any given stand you are likely to find old Italian grandmothers, selling the same vegetables that they did 40 years ago, and that their own mothers did 40 years before that. Theses women only speak Italian, so don't be bashful about breaking out your pocket dictionary, I wasn't. And what obstacles you might have to overcome are worth it. Fresh vegetables, a newly baked loaf of bread, thinly sliced prosciutto and a low price to boot reminds you why you did it.

Beverages in Italy- Juice

There are many differences one can observe when shopping for beverages in Italy. Let's start with the juices. Perhaps the two most common juices in America are orange and apple. Having shopping at a couple different grocery stores already, I am quite suprised to find that they sell no apple juice, and the organge juice they sell is a red-orange juicy similar to an orange/grapefruit mix. I was pretty suprised by this. Instead they sell a lot of mixed juices with more exotic flavors like pear, pineapple and mango. Also, almost all of the juices I have seen sold aren't in plastice bottles like most in the U.S. They are packaged in some sort of paper product. Also, most stores don't sell their juices out of a refridgerated shelf. One should make sure to read the label on the juice boxes too. Few that I have seen are actually real juices. Most list sugar and water as the main two ingredients.

Sporting Culture in Italy- Soccer

All you really need to know about sports in Italy can be summed up in one word- Soccer. Or, as the Italians call it- calcio. Sure, there are other sports in Italy, but soccer is by far the most popular. And soccer is at a fever pitch high in the city of Rome, where they have 2 teams in the top Italain League- Serie A. Serie A consists of 20 Italian teams that play weekly every Sunday afternoon from September- May. The two Roman teams are SS Lazio and AS Roma. My blog entries will be primarily on AS Roma, as they are the more popular and successful of the two city teams. Here is the club's website: http://www.asroma.it/. In Italian soccer there are 3 yearly competitions, the 38 game regular season where a league champion is declared. There is also a year-long tournament called the Italian Cup where every Italian soccer club, no matter which division they are in participate. The third copmetion is the European competition where only the top 6 Italian clubs have a chance to compete. The two European competitions are the Champions League and the UEFA Cup, with the Champions League the more prestigious of the two. Hopefully, this gives you a brief understanding of Italian soccer.

The hidden hassles of traveling

When you are getting ready to travel all you can think about are all great things you will do and see while on your trip. You don't have a care in world. And why should you? You are taking a break from everyday life, what could go wrong? Well my friends, the very sneaky TSA agents at Pittsburgh International Airport managed to remove my laptop without any thought of mentioning that to me. So, as you can imagine I was more than surprised to find it missing when I was going through my carry-on luggage at JFK airport. The ended up shipping my laptop from Pittsburgh to Milan, where I am now at the mercy of the beurocracy of the Italian government. Apparently, they cannot send me my laptop without 3 forms of documentation which is needed to be faxed to Fed Ex in Milan. And, as of now, we are experiencing technical difficulties with the fax machine here at the Sede. It is unfortunate that this one item seems to cast a dark cloud over what has otherwise been a very positive experience in Rome.