FICO!
FICO!
When September comes, for many Italians it's a moment of fresh new start because of students coming back to school after summer vacation, companies running at full capacity again, and new leisure activities that are to be scheduled.
Excitement is everywhere all Semptember long, and that's something I deeply love about Autumn being in the air!
But to me September also means the taste and smell of autumn gifts from Nature, and above all the unique sweetness and tenderness coming from one of my favourite seasonal fruits: fig!
In Italian we use the word FICO (n. m.; pl: fichi), which in my opinion is so appropriate for this deliciousness since the very same word is also used as a surprise and approval expression in conversational language. We could translate the Italian exclamation "FICO!" with the English colloquial "COOL!".
Around one year ago (in 2017 on November 15th) the largest agri-food park in the world was launched in Bologna (Italy): its name is FICO!
The actual name is FICO Eataly World, where the acronym FICO stays for "Fabbrica Italiana Contadina" (Italian Farmer Factory) and Eataly is a wordplay from the union of the verb TO EAT and, of course, the name of our gourmand country, Italy ;-).
If you happen to be in the neighbourhood of this amazing and dynamic Italian city (Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna region, not far from where I currently live), make sure to plan at least half a day in order to visit this incredible tasty place! Admittance is for free and a curious walk all around is denitinely worthy in case you have for genuine and local food the same passion I have!
I can guarantee you that from the first step in untill the last one out you'll keep saying "FICO! " for as long as visiting the food and farmer exhibit!!
And the funny thing is that you can choose whether to walk the 9000 square meters market or ride it with the rental Bianchi bikes that you'll find there at the disposal.
If green 🍏 is your life-style colour, that's the perfect occasion to add it to your Italian trip!
And here's a list of things that you could include in your visit (practicing a bit of Italian vocabulary in the meanwhile 😉) according to my personal experience.
Enjoy it! And if you'll visit it, make sure to tell me all about your experience when you'll be back home :-D
- PASSEGGIARE LUNGO IL MERCATO DI PRODOTTI TIPICI --> have a relaxed walk along the local products marketplace
- ASSAGGIARE SPECIALITÀ DELLA CUCINA TRADIZIONALE ITALIANA (LA MIA OPZIONE PREFERITA!) --> taste Italian traditional food specialities (my favourite option!)
- ACQUISTARE PRODOTTI TERRITORIALI DI QUALITÀ E ANCHE IN EDIZIONI LIMITATE (IMPERDIBILE!) --> buy local quality products, even on limited edition (not to be missed!)
- OSSERVARE DI PERSONA COME CIBI E PRODOTTI DI ARTIGIANATO SONO REALIZZATI --> observe face-to-face how foods and crafts are produced
- SCOPRIRE QUALI VARIETÀ ANIMALI E VEGETALI FONDANO LA CULTURA AGROALIMENTARE ITALIANA --> discover which animal and vegetal variety is at the base of Italian agricultural tradition
- DIVERTISTI CON I PROPRI FIGLI NEI 6 LABORATORI MULTIMEDIALI SUL TEMA DELL'AMBIENTE --> have fun with kids thanks to the 6 multimedial workshops with regard to environement
- PARTECIPARE A EVENTI E MANIFESTAZIONI STAGIONALI --> take part to seasonal events and demonstrations
- and last, but not least... SCATTARE UNA FOTO CON UN FIGO GIGANTE! --> take a picture with a giant fig!
Fico! 😀
Isn't it?!
27 settembre 2018
