Festa della Donna

also known as "International Women's Day"...took place on March 8th.

While the history and story behind the "Festa della Donna" is sobering and significant, as it started off as a day to commemorate the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City, it has turned into a holiday that some would describe as a combination between Mother's Day and Valentine's Day.

and in Italy...apparently it is a day when women traditionally get together and go to a strip club.

Instead of hitting up a strip club, Chiara and I celebrated the "Festa della Donna" on the ski slopes in Carezza. I think we may have been the only two "single" girls skiing on this day...and that was just fine.



Quite appropriately, we started off our day on the slopes with a bombardino. A bombardino is a popular drink in Italy during the winter...and is perfect if you are in the mountains. There a few different types of bombardinos but all are served warm and usually with whipped cream. My preferred bombardino is "vov con panna," which is an egg-based liquor with a little marsala and sugar. Visual reference provided. Cheers!



I highly highly recommend ordering one of these if you ever find yourself skiing in Italy. As I see it, a ski day in Italy just isn't a ski day in Italy without at least one bombardino.

After our first run, of course it was time for bombardino #2. We stopped at this refugio (place on the mountain to nab a bite, a drink, etc.) for a grappa della pruna. Before I could raise my concerns about having grappa made with prunes while skiing, the two small shot-like glasses garnished with a sliced prune were served up.

This refugio is where we met a fantastic group of older gentleman from Rome enjoying a ridiculously large plate of mixed cheeses and salumi and a bottle or two of lagrein. Chiara couldn't resist and told the guy working at the refugio that we wanted a plate like these gentlemen. And that is all it took.



45 minutes later, we were back on the slopes after stuffing ourselves with speck, downing 2 glasses of lagrein, 2 more grappas, a weisbier...and trying some "acqua di Roma," very kindly provided by the eldest Romano of the bunch, who was probably bordering on 75.

It would have been more fitting for this home-made "acqua di Roma" to be served in a flask, as opposed to a plastic water bottle.

The Italians have a saying when it comes to people from Rome: i romani hanno una marcia in piu.

This literally translates to "the romans have an extra gear" or "have one more gear." It refers to their true zest for life, and their super friendly and sociable nature. If everyone in Rome is remotely as friendly and hospitable as these gentlemen were...I definitely need to plan an excursion to Rome in the near future.

So not only did Chiara get in some skiing, but also were thoroughly entertained by these wonderful Romani and were nice and toasty prior to 11 in the morning.

Buona Festa della Donna indeed!

- Zucca