Columbus Italian Festival
Oct. 12th, 2024 11:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadnessThis went better than I expected if I'm honest because Columbus is a NIGHTMARE to drive in and they are doing a SEVEN year road re-routing around downtown (including cutting off the beltway as I found out today but at least that wasn't difficult) However the usually mostly empty US-35 between me and Chillicothe and US 23 between Chillicothe and Columbus was a) packed b) pretty sure everyone was drunk by 1130 AM. Holy fuck.
But getting to the parking garage (mostly empty) was easy and they had plenty of school buses shuttling us to St. John the Baptist Catholic church (more on that later) where the festival is held around the surrounding streets. I'll be honest it's sort of what I expected except for less vendors. It was mostly food and some midway games (i.e. it's a street fair) This year was a celebration of Abruzzo which is where my family is from. And when I got home I saw I should have looked at the flyer they gave more closely as it explained some of the vendors and about the culture there.
I got a yummy pepperoni roll (and later some italian ice because it's a thing with me) and 20$ in over priced cookies 98% I could make myself if not so lazy (the only one worth the price was the sfogliotelle which are hard to make) They were yummy too so I don't regret them.
Most of the vendors they did have were selling things like solar panel generators (I did not win one), some junk, one with murano glass (which told me why Homegoods is selling it cheap. China bought out the naming rights) She had pictures of the Italian artists creating her stuff (in theory) and I got green glass hearts for mom and blue glass (with adventurine in it) earrings for me. They had that ceramic kitchenware (Italian themed of course) you see everywhere (at 3 times the price).
I spoke to the ladies of the Chicchi club, an Italian women's club but at 150$/year it's more than I want to pay. There were spinning wheels you can win stuff one (the one with pictures of Saints for kids was...disturbing) There was a chuck-a-luck wheel and suddenly it's 1985 when those used to be at every fair.
So the church. I used to go to this when I lived in Columbus. It was (maybe still is as there was an Italian to English prayer sheet) Italian Language and the entire church inside was ringed at the ceiling by those nearly life sized saint statues that Catholics so love (but when you have so many of them it throws your right into the Uncanny Valley as is eerie AF) The steps up have the names of famous Italians (I couldn't get a pic) It's a gothic church and after I climbed those steps (If there is a handicapped access I have no idea where it would be) I saw major changes were made. The statues are gone (You can see the platforms for them up near the ceiling vault in my pics). There are still some up at the altars but that's not a surprise.
But I was an hour too early for the church history tour and I thought okay that could be interesting. Back down the steps, go watch bocce, drink mochas sweat like I'm dying because I wore jeans. It was only supposed to be 65. It was 83. The church history was less exciting than I hoped and half of it was an explanation of what is Catholicism (transubstantiation, the stations of the cross etc) and I didn't want to leave because a) a seat even if it's wood (no being comfy in a Catholic church) b) I was over the a/c vent. It was only 35 minutes long (swore it was an hour at least) but the biggest change was the huge St. John the Baptist stained glass window (put in the year I left Columbus)
It was fun but there was more to do at night (it goes to midnight) so if I go back, it would be me staying overnight somewhere and giving it a try at night. Also it's not something I need to do every year.
Took my books to halfprice bookstore. Remembered why I stopped doing this (20 books = 4$) just donate them to the library Dana. Hit up Trader Joe's, hit up Tim Hortons on the way home (this one closed earlier than mine, they weren't happy and neither was I with that sugar free burnt- assed nastiness but at least it was caffeine.
Have some pictures
pipe organ
St John baptizing Jesus (see the platforms. now imagine those stuffed with saint statues)
The altar (and St Joseph's side altar)
San Prospero, apparently big in Abruzzo
Mary's side altar
the annunciation
Saw a woman in the church was interesting. She had an Australian style 'walkabout hat' with a braided leather band covered with enamel pins but not fandom pins. They were saint pins (they were on her purse too) which I had no idea existed (but now I have ideas for my fandom ones) She had a shirt with Mary on it stepping on a snake reading I tread on thee (I'm assuming a riff on the don't tread one me flag) and Mary is often depicted stepping on a snake (the one in the picture here isn't but the one from the church I grew up in had it) This is a person who might make it into a story
But getting to the parking garage (mostly empty) was easy and they had plenty of school buses shuttling us to St. John the Baptist Catholic church (more on that later) where the festival is held around the surrounding streets. I'll be honest it's sort of what I expected except for less vendors. It was mostly food and some midway games (i.e. it's a street fair) This year was a celebration of Abruzzo which is where my family is from. And when I got home I saw I should have looked at the flyer they gave more closely as it explained some of the vendors and about the culture there.
I got a yummy pepperoni roll (and later some italian ice because it's a thing with me) and 20$ in over priced cookies 98% I could make myself if not so lazy (the only one worth the price was the sfogliotelle which are hard to make) They were yummy too so I don't regret them.
Most of the vendors they did have were selling things like solar panel generators (I did not win one), some junk, one with murano glass (which told me why Homegoods is selling it cheap. China bought out the naming rights) She had pictures of the Italian artists creating her stuff (in theory) and I got green glass hearts for mom and blue glass (with adventurine in it) earrings for me. They had that ceramic kitchenware (Italian themed of course) you see everywhere (at 3 times the price).
I spoke to the ladies of the Chicchi club, an Italian women's club but at 150$/year it's more than I want to pay. There were spinning wheels you can win stuff one (the one with pictures of Saints for kids was...disturbing) There was a chuck-a-luck wheel and suddenly it's 1985 when those used to be at every fair.
So the church. I used to go to this when I lived in Columbus. It was (maybe still is as there was an Italian to English prayer sheet) Italian Language and the entire church inside was ringed at the ceiling by those nearly life sized saint statues that Catholics so love (but when you have so many of them it throws your right into the Uncanny Valley as is eerie AF) The steps up have the names of famous Italians (I couldn't get a pic) It's a gothic church and after I climbed those steps (If there is a handicapped access I have no idea where it would be) I saw major changes were made. The statues are gone (You can see the platforms for them up near the ceiling vault in my pics). There are still some up at the altars but that's not a surprise.
But I was an hour too early for the church history tour and I thought okay that could be interesting. Back down the steps, go watch bocce, drink mochas sweat like I'm dying because I wore jeans. It was only supposed to be 65. It was 83. The church history was less exciting than I hoped and half of it was an explanation of what is Catholicism (transubstantiation, the stations of the cross etc) and I didn't want to leave because a) a seat even if it's wood (no being comfy in a Catholic church) b) I was over the a/c vent. It was only 35 minutes long (swore it was an hour at least) but the biggest change was the huge St. John the Baptist stained glass window (put in the year I left Columbus)
It was fun but there was more to do at night (it goes to midnight) so if I go back, it would be me staying overnight somewhere and giving it a try at night. Also it's not something I need to do every year.
Took my books to halfprice bookstore. Remembered why I stopped doing this (20 books = 4$) just donate them to the library Dana. Hit up Trader Joe's, hit up Tim Hortons on the way home (this one closed earlier than mine, they weren't happy and neither was I with that sugar free burnt- assed nastiness but at least it was caffeine.
Have some pictures
pipe organ St John baptizing Jesus (see the platforms. now imagine those stuffed with saint statues) The altar (and St Joseph's side altar) San Prospero, apparently big in Abruzzo Mary's side altar the annunciation Saw a woman in the church was interesting. She had an Australian style 'walkabout hat' with a braided leather band covered with enamel pins but not fandom pins. They were saint pins (they were on her purse too) which I had no idea existed (but now I have ideas for my fandom ones) She had a shirt with Mary on it stepping on a snake reading I tread on thee (I'm assuming a riff on the don't tread one me flag) and Mary is often depicted stepping on a snake (the one in the picture here isn't but the one from the church I grew up in had it) This is a person who might make it into a story
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