Mercatino di Natale

Ciao ragazzi, come state tutti? Hi guys, how are you all? In today's blog you'll get to see Trento's Mercatino di Natale, or in English, the Christmas Market. I'll also describe our first movie theater experience in Italy and tell you about our dinner with Tyson's colleagues.

Mercatino di Natale
Starting at the end of November and continuing until the end of December, the Christmas Market in Trento is held in Piazza Fiera and is an absolute must-see. Many vendors set up wooden stands featuring local crafts, food, and wine.

Tyson and I stopped by the market on Sunday morning and it was so packed that we could hardly push through the crowds. We took a few pictures and decided to come back later that night when it was less crowded.
The market during the day:




When we came back later that night, it was still busy but not quite so stifling. The Christmas lights and trees are also prettier at night!
The market at night:












Walking through the chilly night air, we could smell mulled wine, roasted chestnuts, and homemade soap.

We saw a stand with hand crafted chocolates:




These creative chocolates were made to look like tools; I think my father-in-law would love these!




Slightly outside the market, you can find more stands selling mulled wine (2 euros), bombardino (3 euros), hot chocolate, strudel, and other tasty items:




What is bombardino? It's basically an Italian version of eggnog, made with brandy. We tried samples and I have to say they taste nothing like American eggnog but they are delicious! Tyson hates eggnog and he loved this, but I can't say why they're so different in taste. Also, whereas American eggnog is white, the bombardino is quite orange in color.

I did end up making a small purchase at the market:




Limoncello! An Italian favorite. The zest of lemons are soaked in grain alcohol and then mixed with a simple syrup. This is typically used as a digestivo, which is an after-dinner drink to aid your digestion. This was my first time trying it. Verdict? Excellent if you like lemons, which I do. It's not sour, but the alcohol content is fairly high, so it may be too strong for some. I think the taste is improved by chilling it before serving. Cin cin! (cheers!)

Another Italian drink I wanted to try was Grappa, a pomace brandy made by distilling the skins and pulps of grapes leftover from winemaking.




Grappa is also used as a digestivo. I think this particular grappa was too strong for my tastes, but I'm not sure if I bought a good brand. I may do some research and see if I might find another kind more palatable.

The Movie Theater
I wish I had taken pictures, but I didn't think of it. The movie theater we went to shows one movie at a time and only has one screen in the entire facility. They show both American and Italian movies, but all the American movies are dubbed in Italian. This didn't phase us as we're trying our best to learn the language.

Movies are a huge part of our life as well. Tyson and I had our first date at the movies and when we were in America we were well known for seeing a movie in the theater once a week or more. We won't be seeing movies that often here, but it's nice to keep some of our old routine.

Differences: instead of picking your seat, you are assigned a seat. This wasn't a problem because the theater wasn't crowded, but I could see that on a busy night it may not be ideal. Another difference is that there's an intermission during the movie so you can use the facilities. We thought our movie had cut out! In hindsight, I had experienced a movie intermission in Russia, but that was 7 years ago.

The movie prices are about the same as in America. The snacks and drinks are smaller but probably similar in price.

Our Italian was alright enough for us to basically understand the movie, but not good enough to tell if anything was lost in translation during dubbing. I'm looking forward to seeing another movie soon!

The Dinner
Ty sent me a text message that said, "We're going to dinner with (bosses' name) tonight." I automatically assumed the we he was referring to was his other colleague! I was very pleased to find out it was actually me who was invited. The dinner was at a nice Italian restaurant called Antico Pozzo, which means the ancient well. Here's the menu:




Everything was so delicious, including the different wines that they paired with each course. I think my favorite course was the lavender and rosemary risotto. Very fragrant and I had never had lavender in a dish before, quite unique.

Tyson's boss/colleague was very nice, as were all the other people who were in town attending a conference. The Armenian ambassador to Italy was also there- how cool is that? I especially liked one woman there who made me feel very welcome in Trento and gave me my first double cheek kiss! It's hard being a foreigner and it makes you appreciate all the wonderful people in the world who try to make you feel at home. Of course that doesn't mean they didn't make fun of us. Apparently Americans "put ketchup on everything" and "have none of their own cheese." We corrected them on the cheese part, have no fear. It's impossible to find cheddar here!

Addio amici,
Susie