With the amount of Catholic influence on Italy, it is no surprise that Easter is a heavily celebrated holiday here. Having never celebrated Easter before, Rome has been an exciting place to experience during this time. The shops, grocery stores, and bakeries began preparing weeks ago and the beautiful pastries, giant eggs, and religious symbols have been popping up everywhere!
In my Italian culture class, we learned about a few of the traditions that Italian families observe during the holiday. As with most holidays, many have to do with food.
The Easter egg is a staple in most places around the world and is usually synonymous with the holiday, but in Rome the Easter egg is GIANT! I was very excited because I won one of these eggs in a raffle that my study abroad program put on. many different chocolate companies make these giant eggs, and inside of the hollow egg, it usually contains some sort of small present or trinket. As tradition has it, you give these eggs as presents to family members and on Easter Sunday, the egg is eaten for breakfast! Chocolate for breakfast doesn't sound like a terrible idea to me. I was very curious to see the egg and what mine had inside of it. As I unwrapped the blue paper of my egg, it revealed a VERY large hollow dark chocolate shell. I could hear that there was something inside of it so I opened it up to reveal a small plastic container. In the container there were 4 Baci balls( a very yummy Italian chocolate) and a small key chain which had a quote from John Keats in Italian "Le note dell'amore fanno la gioia piu grande." which means "The note's of love make the greatest joy". There is more chocolate than I should be eating in a month here, so I carefully put the pieces of the egg's chocolate shell and the Baci balls in the refrigerator for another day.
The Italians also have other food traditions on Easter. It is very common for lamb to be served for lunch. The pasqual lamb, or the lamb of god, is supposed to represent the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Along with the lamb, Italians have various cold cuts of meat with traditional breads. Finally they conclude the meal with a special cake called colomba. Colomba is a bit like panettone. It is shaped like a dove and represents peace and a new beginning. If you get the chance to try it, it is absolutely delicious.
The family is very important in Italy and Easter celebrations are meant to be celebrated with them. Friday and Monday are holidays here, and everything is closed for the entire weekend. Which means, one must prepare early for the entire weekend ( because NOTHING is open) and that people are given time off to celebrate, eat, and enjoy time with their families. It really is nice to see large extended families walking together on the streets and in the parks, just enjoying each other.
Of course, going to church is another tradition here and in Italy there is never a shortage of churches to go to. The Vatican has their own celebrations, and Catholics flock to the eternal city to hear a church service led by the pope. Tickets need to be booked way in advance, but St. Peter's square is packed with people.
Many students went away for the long weekend that we had off from school, but I am so glad that I stayed in Rome to experience Easter here. It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the celebrations and although I do not celebrate Easter for the religious reasons, the traditional and cultural aspect of the holiday have been a lot of fun to see, and taste :).
here are some pictures of the giant eggs in the stores and what the colomba cake looks like!
Looks delicious
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