PAPIER D’ARMÉNIE

I recently received, from one of my favorite people, a lovely gift of papier d’arménie from France. Papier d’arménie and its Italian counterpart, carta d’armenia, are strips of paper coated with dried sap from styrax trees and when burned are used to freshen indoor air. In use since the 19th century, there is for me something so mystical about these papers. My box of carta d’armenia from Santa Maria Novella also came from a dear friend. I love the packaging so much that it has actually been sitting in my desk drawer for some fifteen years, inspiring me each time I open it. 

BALLET BEAUTIFUL

Although I am an ardent devotee of ballet class, I have found it increasingly difficult to get there over the past year because of my busy work and family schedule. Every part of me misses it like crazy — my mind and my body. Imagine my delight when I recently discovered Ballet Beautiful, a comprehensive fitness program inspired precisely by ballet. Created by Mary Helen Bowers, a former dancer with the New York City Ballet, Ballet Beautiful can be experienced via live online classes, private training in the Soho studio, custom workouts and DVDs. Bowers has also written a rather terrific book of the same name. I have found it remarkably transformative and empowering. And her “Swan Arms” workout…WOW!

www.balletbeautiful.com    

MODERN AT THE VATICAN

Mimmo Paladino, Sorgente, 2011, Vatican Museums

When I think about my first visit to the Vatican Museums, just two months ago, the word that immediately comes to mind is, in fact, MIND-BLOWING. Everything about it. The plethora of galleries and the vastness of space, the countless works of art and the massive scale of many of them, the history, the huge crowds, the gilt and marble. The very last galleries in the Vatican Museums that one encounters before entering the Sistene Chapel are those containing modern and contemporary religious art, a collection of some 800 works. In addition to numerous pieces by Henri Matisse, hundreds of artists are represented in these most serene spaces. They seemed to be the least considered by the throngs of visitors who passed them by, but for me, they were perfect and exactly what I was looking for in my cultural pilgrimage to Rome.                 

ART UNDERFOOT

The most breathtaking mosaic floors that I encountered in Rome were at the Vatican Museums. Along with the remarkable artistry and handwork of the mosaics, I love the integrity of design and powerful means of storytelling within this ancient tradition.    

But what I really treasured most, in my view from above, were the marble steps, once carved and now beautifully worn, by the countless visitors that have tread upon them. A mark of their own history.   


GIOLITTI

After an enviable amount of taste-testing, I think my favorite gelato in Rome was from Giolitti. Pear and chocolate with the thickest scoop of whipped cream on a cone — absolute perfection. Giolitti has a remarkably long history in the city. It is still run by the Giolitti family and is still located in the same spot on Via Uffici del Vicario where it opened in 1900, quite near to the Pantheon. I love the authentic, elegant tea room and shop where, in addition to the countless gelato flavors, you will also find lovely pastries and candies. It doesn’t get much more Roman than this.

Giolitti, Via Uffici del Vicario, 40, Rome

giolitti.it/en 

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