Treasures of Umbria
Italian Friends Visit Manhattan
By: Philip Kampe - Nov 06, 2014
It reads like a Hollywood movie script.
Two young lovers from Umbria, work hard for several years to save money to visit New York City, their land of dreams. They have friends near the city who give them shelter as they venture into the Manhattan on a two-week dream holiday. From ‘Shake Shack’ hamburgers and fries to street vendors, the duo from Umbria live, breath and feel like they are New Yorkers.
Dressed in Halloween garb, the couple attended the annual parade in Greenwich Village, then rush to the best theatrical experience in Manhattan, Fuerza Bruta Wayra at a theater adjacent to Union Square.
Living like New Yorkers, the pair, Marta Petriachi and Gianluca Rubeca, both 24,attend what all New Yorkers do, a New York Knicks basketball game at Madison Square Garden., The day before they saw Shaquile O’Neil on the street, tonight they will see Spike Lee and his band of famous Knicks followers.
New York is exciting.
New York is a way of life and these kids are displaced New Yorkers. Their DNA says ‘New York’.
Marta Petriachi is a law student and Gianluca Rubeca is studying engineering. The two met in Perugia, a college town in Umbria, where they were both in school.
Many of us dream of living in Italy and the Italians dream of living in New York. We always want what we don’t have.
Umbria is known for its gastronomic treasures, beauty and people.
The wines from Montefalco, the cheese of Umbria, specifically pecorino (sheep’s milk), the truffles and all that the only land-locked province of Italy has to offer the world is within this small province.
Umbria is considered the ‘greenest’ province in Italy, only a mere hour and a half north of Rome. The inhabitants do not have a big city attitude.
Gianluca and Marta are different. Their attitude is like a New Yorker, one that I admire.
When they arrived they showered Maria and I with gifts. Four bottle of wine from Umbria, cheese, a beautiful pocketbook and a cashmere shawl. These were great gifts, all unnecessary, but much appreciated.
The wines were the top wines from Umbria. They are my dream in a bottle.
Well, as time passes, so did the departure of Marta and Gianluca. They are now, certainly dreaming of their days in New York City. They have only been away for 24 hours and we miss them dearly.
Maybe Marta can work at a law firm in New York after graduation and Gianluca could finish school at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, only a hop, skip and jump from the ‘Big Apple’.
Stranger things have happened…