Cake is for CAMA

Etruscan winged horses 

The Cake is for CAMA is the name of the event I created on Facebook about a week ago about my trip to C towns in my area. I had prepared my visit in advance as my purpose was to tour five C towns in one day. However this past Saturday I only made it to Chiusi and Cetona. The five C towns are: Chiusi, Cetona, Città della Pieve, Corciano and Cortona.  So I am dedicating some extra time to completing my visit as planned. So far I have added Corciano to the list. So I am down to three towns out of five. I must say that the trip is getting more and more interesting. Yesterday in Corciano I visited their archaeological museum that was founded in 2009 based on the findings of Etruscan tombs in the area. Indeed I am going to visit the related necropolis one of these afternoons. I have called the family that has the keys to the place and they said they will open the necropolis after 4:00pm for me. The necropolis area is called 'Strozzacapponi'. Knowing that there is an Etruscan necropolis in Strozzacapponi (literally tr. capons' strangler) was an amazing discovery, as I go by this area every time I drive from Piegaro, where I live, to Perugia. What's more interesting is that the family that has the keys to the necropolis owns the supermarket that was built there. In fact, the necropolis was found when excavating for building the supermarket. Isn't that amazing? The necropolis was totally found by accident. From what I can see what these C towns have in common is definitely their Etruscan heritage. In fact, I will be heading to Cortona next to visit their Etruscan museum. Città della Pieve is the closest C town to where I live and I want to go there to see the place where recently new Etruscan tombs were discovered. The place is called San Donnino Poggiovalle.

Chiusi was the first C town that I visited at my event. Additionally, I drove to Chiusi the Sunday prior to my visit. Just in case there was not enough time the day I planned to be in Chiusi to visit their Etruscan tombs. Tombs are located a little outside the town towards Chianciano and it's three of them. We had to make a reservation with a museum guide to visit. Visits are organized by small groups. During the week prior to my official visit to Chiusi for the event, I also visited the Etruscan Museum in Perugia and the Ipogeo dei Volumni in Ponte San Giovanni (Perugia). What was neat about my visits is that I got to talk to the museum janitors. What they all want is more visitors to their places. Museum janitors in Italy may be fine archaeologists, this is also what I found out upon my visits. The ones I talked to are in love with their studies and would like the museums for which they work to receive more visitors.

Cetona is the second C town I visited. I wish to go to Cetona again to visit the Etruscan tomb that is part of a private estate. The area is open to the public a few days a year in August/September. Therefore this is a new appointment for next year. In the meantime, I have accepted the invitation to join a yoga class in Cetona. A special host welcomed me in Cetona the day of my visit and she is a yoga teacher. We had a glass of white wine together sitting outside the local coffee shop and then I headed home for lunch. In Cetona I felt like being in the main piazza in Siena. In fact, the town belongs to the province of Siena. What a great feeling!

So now I have two C towns left to visit: Città della Pieve for its new Etruscan findings and Cortona for its Etruscan Museum. I hope to be back with more news about my Cake for Cama event soon. Thank you for following my journey. It's fun to be in touch. With much fondness, Roberta

"Cake Stands for Cama" is a series of short blog posts
regarding all things I like starting with 'C' like 'Cama'.
I have also thought of adding towns to my favorites list.

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Inspiration Comes When...

One of the landscapes I will be traveling through upon my event on Saturday, November 14th called CAKE IS FOR CAMA

I can feel that moment when I get inspired to write my blog posts. Writing posts is not easy at all. It has to do with something true that is being expressed at the right moment. For me being true comes from establishing enthusiastic connections with friends sharing the same interests and love for something I am experiencing. When that enthusiasm gets to the point of creating something together, that's the best of all. It turns my experience into something beautiful to share with others. That's where the best inspiration comes from.

Additionally while thinking of my posts I have to be careful not to be flattering or try to make other people happy. It does not work. Everything to me in order to work has to be authentic. That's one of the reasons it has taken me so long to get where I have arrived upon my journey with Cama. It all depends on the connections I am establishing upon my revival journey.

I am now busy dedicating time to a follow up to my first traveling event that I have created inspired by the C of Cama. This is something my armchair friends in the world who are in love with Italy will enjoy. If they wish they can participate in the event by interacting with me through questions and feedback about the places I am visiting. Indeed this upcoming Saturday I will be traveling to five different places near where I live whose towns' names start with C like CAMA. Despite this appointment has still being to come, I am already envisioning a follow up to my first traveling event.  The thought of it is boosting my energy.

What's more, is that the action of traveling is very meaningful to me. Basically, I am transferring into reality something I have done in these past years through an ideal journey with Italian Renaissance Art. In this blog, I mostly describe Italian Renaissance Art curiosities and things I like.

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"C is For City"

There are a few small towns in central Italy whose names start with 'C'. I have always thought it would be fun to establish a connection with them. I would start with Cortona, the most visited town by Americans in Italy. It is a very nice place for shopping. Then I would select Città della Pieve which is interesting as a stage and then Chiusi which is easy to reach by train and is a strategic place for a meetup as an example. I have always known Chiusi for its train station in fact. However, I have discovered Chiusi a few weeks ago for its professional ballet school I didn't know of. There is also an archaeological museum that I have planned to visit. Cortona, Città della Pieve and Chiusi are all at hand from where I live and in a small area including three different provinces and two regions: Umbria and Tuscany. I am discovering this area with you as I moved here a few years ago. Italy is like a continent in miniature. You are never done with exploring it. Don't you agree?

"Cake Stands for Cama" is a series of short blog posts
regarding all things I like starting with 'C' like 'Cama'.
I have also thought of adding towns to my favorites list.

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook to receive updates!

www.facebook.com/friendsofcama

www.twitter.com/FriendsofCama

'C' For 'CHERRIES'

Fede Galizia (Italian late Renaissance woman artist 1578-1630), Silver compote with cherries and a butterfly, oil on panel, private collection

In Italian we have a tasty tanslation of 'one thing leads to another'. We say 'one cherry leads to another'. The reason for reinventing the word 'thing' for this saying is that in Italian the word thing translates COSA. On its turn the Italian word for CHERRY, ciliegia starts with 'C' and that's where the substitution comes from.

I noticed this interesting curiosity by translating this Italian saying into English. I could not find such an involvement of cherries in English like we do in Italian. So I did a little research. I found out that German and French adopted the Italian saying's literal translation:  'Eine Kirsche zieht die andere' for German and 'Une cerise tire l'autre' in French. Other languages in Europe translated the original Italian saying literally: 'One cherry leads to another', which is so true for cherries. I can't wait for cherries to be back in season. I love cherries!

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This is my second edition  of short  stories entitled "Cake Stands for Cama": stories about my favorites starting with the letter "C".  

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POMO: Pomodoro, Pomo d'Adamo, Pomarancio!

An orange tree, a symbol of nobility. It was named at one time
Pomarancio. 

The Italian word 'pomo' is usually an affix to words such as 'Pomodoro' (tomato) and is in use in expressions such as 'pomo d'Adamo' (Adam's apple).

'Pomo' describes fruits that are round and our first thought goes out to apples. That's true for the expression 'pomo d'Adamo' (Adam's apple), which commonly describes the prominent part of a man's throat. According to popular tradition, it's Adam's throat's point where an apple's piece got stuck while committing his sin.

Regarding our common knowledge of the apple as being the original sin's fruit, I recently read that Adam and Eve's apple of discord was most surely a pomegranate instead. Indeed it is said that the pomegranate is the most ancient fruit that we know of in the world.

Additionally, a pomegranate's etymology is an apple with seeds (from Latin: malum granatum) and it makes more sense it was a pomegranate. It's interesting to notice how English kept the original affix 'pomo' for pomegranate. Also, the pomegranate is the symbol of fertility and much in use in the renaissance time for wishing fertility to married couples and for describing plenty.

Of all Italian words, 'Pomodoro' (tomato) is such a beautiful word. It literally means 'golden round fruit'. Finding tomatoes in America for the first time must have been a great discovery.
Tomatoes are definitely an essential addition to tasty Italian recipes. What would be the world without a tomato sauce for the perfect pasta dish or a pizza without a delicious fresh tomato sauce on top of it?

Another beautiful word including 'pomo' is Pomarancio. 'Pomarancio' is the name of a famous Italian Renaissance artist who was born in the small town of Pomarance in the province of Pisa. The locality name Pomarance comes from the fact that once in this area they grew orange trees. Therefore the word 'Pomarancio' means orange fruit tree. The affix 'pomo' adds much fascination to this word, too. Pomo stresses the image of the orange as a round-shaped fruit. Like we all know, beauty has much to do with round-shaped things.

Niccolò Circignani (1530-1599) known as Pomarancio, Music Concert, circa 1594,
Palazzo della Corgna, Città della Pieve, Italy 

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A visit to the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria on a very hot summer day

Entrance door to the GALLERIA NAZIONALE DELL'UMBRIA, 
Perugia, Italy 

I am writing this post as I promised one of my best Facebook friends I would write a dedicated post about my recent visit to the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria. In this blog post, I would have explained a concept I had originally written in Umbrian dialect on Facebook. Indeed my friend commented that the explanation for the picture at Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria I had posted didn't get translated. The reason for disabling an automated translation is that I wrote in Umbrian dialect indeed. Dialects are codes that in Italy belong to family and friends only. That's why dialects are not listed on international translators. They are like handy communication short-cuts.

I also write in Umbrian dialect as part of my Facebook friends are Italian and I feel like using dialect in Italy makes people come closer to each other. This said I am going to try and 'translate' what I originally wrote in Umbrian dialect, namely Perugino dialect. In general, the most difficult part is translating idiomatic expressions and play-on-words from dialect to any other language but I will try to do my best. 

Benedetto Bonfigli, Angels offering roses, 1466,
Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia, Italy

In my Facebook dialect post, I meant to say that last Sunday I would have met friends at the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria downtown Perugia. 

On the first Sunday of the month admission to the Italian public museums are free and we had a mission to accomplish. Therefore we thought of free admission as an invitation to accomplish our goal. Then I added that if beauty will save the world, it is most important to cultivate beauty. I also said that I don't mind at all nourishing beauty. I used an Italian idiomatic expression that goes: buttarsi a peso morto, which means 'to fling oneself into something'. However, in Italian peso translates 'weight' and the idiomatic expression 'buttarsi a peso morto' visually communicates the image of someone investing all his/her body weight into something. Right now I am a little overweight, therefore the play-on-word was that by being pretty heavy, my flinging myself into beauty would be a more efficient contribution thanks to my weight indeed. 

Giovan Battista Caporali, Saint Jerome's altarpiece, 1510-1515
Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia, Italy

I have no idea if this explanation would make sense to an English speaking reader. I do not even know if I was the only Italian who enjoyed reading my post by making some self-irony. Therefore I continued my post by saying that because I used all my body weight to fling myself into cultivating beauty, there is no way I could benefit from this action of mine. One of the immediate benefits is that I can refine my body's inside, which is in my mind and soul. As a second step, I will be able to refine the outside which means losing weight. However, I wrote I can do one thing at a time only. Therefore for the second refinement, there is still some time to go. I hope I will still be on time to recover my ideal weight. Finally, I apologized to beauty if I was too much of a burden on her, still referring to my weight. The irony won't save the world, however, it helps feel much lighter! 

This is not the end of the story. I will write a new post describing the reason why we visited the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria last Sunday. What our mission was. It's a story that for the time being I have shared only with my new Facebook friend who has just become our new contributor to the Friends of Cama page on Facebook.  She is very knowledgeable and passionate about art. Follow our page and share it with friends. Help us keep beauty alive!

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Friends of Cama: the intangible heritage of a much loved Italian ceramic workshop

Translation of the article published by L'Italo-Americano on August 18th, 2014 available online in the original Italian edition: 

DERUTA talking coat of arms with the castle (Deruta)
and the Gryphon (Perugia) protecting the city. On top of the
tower a plant of rue, the herb of grace, a symbol of
good luck 

The history of the brand name “Cama” has its roots in Deruta, the most important ceramic production city in Italy. It is also linked to California and to most areas of the United States by a common thread. 

The name “Friends of Cama” was originally created by a group of American customers from the Bay Area, who in 2010 came together to raise a “crowdfunding” in order to save the ceramic factory from imminent closure.  They wanted their favourite artisan workshop to stay in business as for 30 years they had become collectors, and closure meant they would not be able to acquire any more genuine Cama pieces.  

This sincere initiative for the workshop, visited by many people, was “Cama” which is an acronym for Cooperativa Artigiana Majoliche Artistiche (Majolica Artistic Handicraft Cooperative), founded in the fifties specializing in hand-painted Renaissance dinner services.

It is thanks to the artist Elena Niccacci that the classical Deruta patterns reached their perfection, a quality much appreciated by her American customers. Elena’s style became a fashion statement on the dinner tables in many American homes, also in Starbuck’s cookery book entitled “Passion for Coffee” and in films (“Mrs Doubtfire, 1993).

In 2010 Elena Niccacci celebrated 60 years in the world of ceramics, as well as being the first woman entrepreneur to revive the Deruta classical patterns.  As a young girl, she believed passionately in her work, at a time when the art of pottery was reserved for the elite.

During difficult times for Cama, a bridge was created between the US and Italy but it needed more time and resources in order to envisage new horizons.  Reopening the workshop as it had been operating before was unprofitable and attempts to merge with another factory in Deruta were in vain.

Therefore the members of Friends of Cama began to take on a supportive role in the company’s transition and innovation. Starting from a common sharing and a great relationship with Cama’s customers, the daughter Roberta Niccacci took over the intangible heritage of the company in the search for new paths.  So far it has taken five years.  A challenge that has changed Roberta’s life.

“It has been a journey that I never imagined to do.  As each door closed I went forward.  I learnt not to give up;  to fight and to stay focused.  I became very strong because having a vision makes you resilient” said Roberta Niccacci.  “It’s like living a dream.  And I want this dream to come true.  I’m ready to celebrate with my many friends all over the world starting from the United States.  Thank you to all the friends and customers of Cama, and the people unknown to me, for supporting me in an impossible mission – never attempted in Deruta before.”

In Deruta Roberta was the face of Cama;  she took care of the clients with considerable talent together with her brother Andrea, who supports the project to make Cama revive in an original way. With the help of her Italian mentor, who believed in her potentialities, Roberta has moved from sales assistant to innovator.

Roberta Niccacci writes about her journey on the Cama Facebook page www.facebook.com/FriendsofCama and on the blog www.friendsofcama.blogspot.it.

Overcoming the vicissitudes in Italy, where she experimented, researched new methods, knocked on doors;  this year Roberta finally visited the Friends of Cama in the Bay Area returning to San Francisco after twenty years.  She has never forgotten her love for the city and her long-standing friendships.

Now Roberta’s project is ready to take the plunge, possibly with an American business partner, and make her dream come true:  to revive Cama and once again serve the loyal customers who patronized her family’s workshop. 

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ONLINE MAGAZINE --- HEALTH & BODYCARE TIPS FOR MY RESTART

Back to the Friends of Cama's blog after 10 months as of today.
Good morning from Italy!

I am back to my blog after exactly ten months as of today. I can't believe that I have let all this time go by without posting. I am feeling like I can't figure out how posting works anymore. Indeed I have spent much of my time on Facebook, interacting with new friends on interesting groups such as Italian Renaissance Art Lovers; researching and posting more than 1,000 twits on Twitter, which is also the number of likes I am heading to on my Facebook page. I wish to celebrate the 1,000 likes milestone by selecting an Italian genuine product for shoppers around the world who wish to celebrate with us. For this purpose, I have created a group on Facebook with close friends who are expert shoppers and are my sounding board.

Today I am resuming posting on this blog by writing some tips I am going to use for myself to get back in shape after winter months at home in Italy.

A benefit of taking walks is admiring the beauty
of nature and being wrapped in its perfumes

Doctors recommend taking a walk every day for about 30 minutes in order to burn unwanted body waste. That's what I have to focus on starting today. New technological tools such as a pedometer will encourage me much especially if walking alone. Also, I will have to cut on refined sugar, sweets, pasta and bread. I especially love pasta and unsalted Italian bread. Giving up on them will be a difficult thing to do. However, I'm considering them as treats when going out for dinner. The original rule said to cut on wine and alcoholic beverages, too. However, I do not drink but with friends and with my fiancé when going out to restaurants. I would go for a glass of red wine. I followed this diet last year and lost 5 kilograms (=11 pounds) the first month. In the months to follow, I kept losing weight on a steady basis. I could be persistent for a total of six months in a row and I was back in shape without exercising.

So healthy eating will be my body care and walking my personal training to be back in shape again. Walking is the new addition to last year's health program looking forward to getting back in shape sooner than last year. Therefore performance-enhancing is my goal in the next few months.

Being in shape is important if we wish to be
efficient and happy

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--->NEW! --->ONLINE MAGAZINE COMING SOON!

Italian Renaissance Art lifestyle magazine coming soon. Sharing here Italian lifestyle tips. New posts coming soon! 

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