Over and over, we hear visitors to Rome complaining that there’s just nothing to buy in the Eterna that you can’t find elsewhere in the world as well.  We’re mostly in agreement: increasing globalization means that the Italian standards, whether Barilla pasta, Fendi bags, or balsamic vinegar, are almost as widely available in the US, Canada, Japan, or Sweden as they are in Italy themselves.

So what to bring family and friends from Rome?  You can make pilgrimages to tiny alimentari and to farms in out-of-the-way places hoping to find some divine food product produced only regionally and not distributed by way of cargo ships and 747s (such a task is not so difficult as it sounds).  But, should you be looking for something else – an object that’s funny and playful and as likely to appeal to a kid as to a grown-up foodie – then we think we’ve found a fabulous solution!

There’s a little store on the last block of Via dei Serpenti, just before the street intersects with Via Cavour, where you can pick up a couple of bobble-headed gladiators and a bobbing Roman Emperor that will make almost anyone giggle.  Various inhabitants of the eCool Compound have reason to walk by the store regularly and these swaying and nodding figures crack us up every time.   We ourselves haven’t purchased yet, but we warned that we’re going to start hoarding these babies soon.  Even better is the fact that they’re on sale: 1 goes for 15 euro while you can get 2 for 25 euro.

Oh!  Are we ever digging these classical column candles!  Gotta order some now so we can do our own Great Fire of 64 thing here in the Compound.

These are made by Goody Grams and sold by MollaSpace.  We’re told that “Even after usage, the candle will only burn 1/3 of the top, creating an original piece as wax will melt over to drip down the column base.”

Come on baby, light our fire! Scheduled to ship in late November, these will make the perfect holiday gift for the Neronian in your life.

A few weeks ago, we were hanging about the Ara Pacis Museum, admiring that lovely Altar of Peace created for the Roman Emperor Augustus in the first century BC.  Upon leaving, we browsed our way through the museum store and came upon a couple of Rome-inspired rings that set our hearts a’pounding.

The SPQR and She-Wolf rings are just a couple of the brilliant Rome-inspired products designed by Luca Lunghini and Monica Kobiakov, founders of Tre Tigri design, a new creative lab based in the Eternal City. Visit the Tre Tigri website to see other products, including flocked iron-on transfers that depict pasta shapes and iconic Roman street sights like the Fiat 500 and the nasoni (or little drinking fountains scattered throughout the city).

To our mind, these little plastic rings are the perfect souvenir for anyone visiting Rome, but they also make a fabulous little gift for anyone who has an undying love of the Eterna.  You can pick yours up at any of the following museums and bookstores:

• Musei Capitolini
• Ara Pacis
• Museo Carlo Bilotti
• MACRO
• Museo di Roma in Trastevere
• Mercati di Traiano
• Museo della Civiltà Romana
• Libreria Fahrenheit 451 (Campo dè Fiori)
• Libreria Odradek
• Libreria RGB 46 (Testaccio)
• Libreria Gocce d’Inchiostro (Trastevere)

A few days ago, for the first time this January, the sun broke through the clouds and some of us here at the eCool Compound scurried outside for a stroll through the city.

Our walk, of course, made us hungry, and we felt in the mood for something a bit over the top, so we ducked into Gelateria Della Palma for a scoop or two of their baroque ice cream.  Why did we choose Della Palma, when San Crispino is now just around the corner on Piazza della Maddelena?  No idea.  Della Palma certainly doesn’t hold up in comparison to the much-acclaimed “best gelato” in Rome.

Our spell of questionable gelato judgment led to a wonderful discovery, however.  As we were licking our cones and marveling at the candy selection in Della Palma, we came across the ultimate souvenir and/or gift for the folks back home: the Lolli-Pope!  As seen above, they come in both John Paul II and the Benedict XIV varieties.  And, there are various sizes as well, ranging in price from 3,50 euro to 5,50 euro.  You’ll want to stock up on these.

We’ve put a little guide together that will help you celebrate your holiday Roman style.  Each of the items shown above is crucial to celebrating an Italian holiday season.  Working our way through from Christmas to Epiphany, here’s how to do as the Romans do:

1)  Begin by putting up a nativity scene–the more elaborate the better.

Some believe that the tradition of creating Nativity scenes originated with St. Francis of Assisi in 1223, when he constructed a nativity scene out of straw in a cave in Greccio in central Italy and used the scene as the site of his Christmas Eve mass.

Carving figurines for Italian nativity scenes started in the 13th century and it’s an art that’s still popular, especially in Naples, where presepe aren’t limited to the usual cast of characters, but include such everyday figures as pizza-makers, watermelon-sellers, fish mongers, blacksmiths, and even Roman soldiers.

2) Buy yourself some eel.

As with most Italian holidays, eating is a very important part of Christmas.  Traditionally, the Catholic Church asked Christmas Eve be kept as a day of fasting and abstinence (the Code of Canon Law eliminated this fast in 1983) and thus the traditional Christmas Eve meal in Rome is one of fish rather than meat. The prized Christmas Eve seafood treat is a capitone or eel. Shoppers in the know search for a big female eel and serve it roasted, baked, or fried (it’s also preferable to purchase it alive and and conveniently kill it in your own kitchen sink in order to insure freshness).

3)  Get a red tablecloth.

That’s the traditional color for table linen at the Christmas Eve meal.  We’re going with this one from Williams-Sonoma.

4)  Break out the tombola set.

Tombola is a game like bingo that’s popular with all ages.  In Italy, it’s traditionally played on Christmas eve before going to midnight mass.  Sometimes tombola boards are simply numbered, but each number also has a nickname, thus  boards are sometimes illustrated with images representing the nicknames–number 77, for example, is “legs of old women.”

Get yourself a tombola here.

5)  Buy a panettone (or make one).

Panettone is a typical bread of Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year.  Distinctively fluffy, panettone usually  contains candied orange, citron and lemon zest, as well as raisins, though many other variations are available such as plain or with chocolate . It is served in slices, vertically cut, accompanied with sweet hot beverages or a sweet wine, such as Asti or Moscato.

You can get a panettone at Williams-Sonoma too.

6)  When New Year’s rolls around, put on some red underwear:

At New Year’s, the color red is of great importance is the color red, for it’s a symbol of life and prosperity, and therefore the luckiest of all colors.  Across the Italian peninsula, New Year’s Eve tables are set with red decorations, red napkins, and red place markers. And though less immediately apparent, it’s worth knowing that many of those sitting around New Year’s Eve tables will be sporting red undergarments! Meant to insure love in the new year, red underwear and red lingerie adorn store windows in the week between Christmas and New Year’s.

Of course, Victoria’s Secret is just a starting point in the quest for the perfect red underwear. (Guys, you’ve got to get some too.)

7)  Uncork the prosecco:

That’s what you should be drinking when the bell chimes midnight.   If you need a sip or two even before midnight, we’re OK with that.

If you need some prosecco, click here.

8)  Shoot off fireworks:

Nope, they’re not safe but everyone’s doing it.  Fireworks  light up Rome’s sky on New Year’s Eve as they’re set off from every rooftop, bridge, and piazza (this in addition to the city-sponsored firework extravaganza). But along with such explosive “Roman candles” it’s absolutely necessary that your New Year’s table be lit with candlelight, for the use of candles insures a bright future. And because the New Year’s holiday falls in the very chilliest and darkest days of winter, there’s yet another light-producing tradition that survives in Italy – the burning of a Yule log during the twelve long nights between Christmas and Epiphany.

We’re not telling you where to get fireworks; you’ll have to figure that out yourself.

9 & 10)  Eat some lentils and zampone:

Since we are what we eat, the Italians also have traditional foods that are eaten on New Year’s Eve. Legend suggests that the eating of lentils will insure prosperity, perhaps because of their suggestive coin shape. In Rome, long and elaborate New Year’s meals end with a serving of lentils that is accompanied by boiled zampone (stuffed pig’s foot). It’s also a good practice to eat a pomegranate on New Year’s Eve as the hundreds of seeds inside the fruit means an association with fertility and abundance – a symbol that is often seen in Renaissance painting.  Buy a zampone here and get some fabulous lentils from Castellucio here.

11)  Be good for Befana:

After New Year’s, the next big holiday is Epiphany on January 6th.  Epiphany, of course, is celebrated as the day that the Three Wise Men visited the Baby Jesus, bestowing upon him gifts such as frankincense, gold, and myrrh. Thus, Italians have traditionally given one another gifts on Epiphany rather than on Christmas Day (though that practice is changing).

Just as American children are taught that they must behave in order to insure a visit from Santa Claus on Christmas Day, Italian children have traditionally been told that they must comport themselves nicely in order that Befana, the grandmotherly house frau who failed to accompany the Wise Men to Bethlehem (click here to read her story), might distribute gifts at their house on the feast of Epiphany.

What does Befana bring to children who haven’t been good? She brings Carbone Dolce (sweet coal), a type of black candy that looks ominous but is sugary and sweet like rock candy and delights children by leaving teeth and tongue a frightening shade of black.

Sometimes Befana figures are really ugly but we’re digging these cute ones from 9 Mile Schoolhouse.  Get yours now.

12) Make Rome a part of your life every single day in 2009:

You can do that with a Rome With A View calendar featuring photographs by Susan Sanders, of eCool Photo Friday fame.  There are three different calendars to choose from.  Get one now or get them all.

A few days ago, we weighed in with the Gladiator Gift Guide, offering shopping suggestions for those in your life who are seduced by the glam and glitz of the gladiator or the sparkle and spectacle of the Colosseum.

Today we bring you a list of gifts for Saints, Sinners, and Superstars.  What to get those who are pious, prayerful, or penitent?  Here’s a list, straight from Rome:

1)  After Rapture Mints:  For those of us who aren’t going anywhere, After the Rapture Mints are deliciously strong peppermints in a reusable tin.  Affordable too!  Supplies guaranteed up to but not including the moment of rapture.

2)  St. Peter’s Book from the Wonders of the World Series:  Keith Miller’s study of the great baroque basilica offers a stimulating perambulation around this vast expanse of sacred space in the company of a sophisticated guide.

3)  Good Shlepherd Luggage Tag:  As you walk through the valley of unclaimed baggage, be confident that you have given your bags the extra edge of protection from above. Anthony, the Patron Saint of Lost Objects, has you covered. Never travel without him! The Good Shlephard luggage tag is sewn from genuine leather with a heavy cast metal figurine of St. Anthony and foil-embossed prayer.

4)  Wash Away Your Sins Lip Balm:  Cheap red wine flavor in a deluxe, non-petroleum lip balm base.  Reapply frequently, especially during prolonged sin exposure.  It’s the handy ointment for the sinner on the go.  SDF 18 redemption in a tube is church lady approved.

5)  Patron Saints: A Feast of Holy Cards:  From the thousands of Catholic saints, authors Barbara Calamari and Sandra DiPasqua have chosen more than 120 beatified figures, all beautifully portrayed on antique holy cards. The book is organized into five sections, with representations of patrons of nations, occupations, health, states of life, and nature, so that readers can find a saint with personal relevance. Each rare holy card is accompanied by a brief text explaining the connections, both allegorical and visual, between the saint and the patronage.

6)  Jesus!  Look at the Time!:  How many times a day do YOU look at your watch and utter those immortal words “Jesus! Look at the Time!” Well, we would like to help you manage your busy schedule in his own modest way. Just wind this classic watch in the morning, and you’ll see Jesus all day, wagging his wrist just a little impatiently, checking his watch, and sending you the message, “tis time to geteth a move on, my child!”

7)  Holy Toast:  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it can also be the most miraculous. Push this plastic miracle maker into your piece of bread, remove it, then put the bread into the toaster and “presto,” instant amazement and awe! As it cooks, the distinct outline of the Virgin Mary will appear in the bread. When you serve it, they won’t know whether to eat it with some grape jelly or sell it on eBay.

8)  Forbidden Fruit Sour Apple Candy:   A taste of the original sin.

9)   Moses Little Thinker Doll:  Comes complete with crooked staff and a plush copy of the Ten Commandments.

10)  Wash Away Your Sins Breath Spray:  Handy spiritual refreshment in merciful mint.  Administer mist lightly for foul mouth and generously for bigger transgressions.  Exhale and comune with confidence.

11)  Buddh-Its Notes:  Booklet with assorted sticky notes for enlightened thoughts

12)  Antique Chinese Hell Money:  These Chinese Hell Bank Notes were designed to be burned as an offering for your relatives in the afterlife (for more information, click here). This set includes an assortment of 10 notes of varying sizes and currencies. Each printed with different kinds of paper and ink. Very limited stock!

Remember the moment in the movie Gladiator when Maximus (aka Russell Crowe) commands his fellow combantants by saying, “At my signal, unleash hell!”? If you feel subject to the powers of the underworld every time you venture into a crowded shop or mall this holiday season, then eCool is here to help!

Today we bring you the Gladiator Gift Guide!  Are you not entertained?!

Here’s the top 12 things that every modern gladiator (or Colosseum lover) is wishing for this holiday season:

1) The Colosseum Board Game by Days of Wonder. As commanded by the Emperor, Rome is in the midst of a 100 day celebration commemorating the opening of the greatest public arena ever conceived by man – the Colosseum. Earn wealth and glory as one of Rome’s greatest impresarios by producing grand spectacles in the hopes of attracting the most spectators to your events. Great for ages 10 and up.

2)  Gladiator. Three Disc Extended Edition.  Best swords-and-sandals flick ever.  Set in Roman times a banished general fights his way back as a gladiator. The only power stronger than the emperor is the greatest hero in all the empire.

3)  Gladiator Nutcracker.  Hand-carved and hand-painted.  Traditional holiday nutcrackers are soooo boring in comparison.

4)  The Colosseum by Keith  Hopkins and Mary Beard.  Part of the Wonders of the World series published by Harvard University Press.  Great for the smart traveler who wants to know more than the average guidebook tells.

5)  Gladiatrix Costume.  We’re always partial to dressing up here at eCool and we can’t imagine why the gladiatrix in your life wouldn’t think this outfit worth fighting for.

6)  Colosseum.  Road to Freedom. For Play Station 2.  Takes you to the time after Caesar’s death and follows the life of a gladiator in those trying times. Travel back in time to the height of the Roman Empire circa 190 AD, to see the brutal reality of life-and-death fights in the Colosseum. Narcissus the Gladiator saw his village burnt to ashes by Roman soldiers. On his quest for revenge, he is captured and sent to the arena, to entertain the Roman citizens by shedding blood. Win over the crowd, impress them with your skills and stay alive — and you might just earn your freedom. Survive massive multi-person battles where up to 20 men fight for their lives Manage your money wisely — you will have to pay for your own medical expenses and equipment.

7)  Colosseum Planter.  Think of it as your very own romantic overgrown ruin and you’ll start wanting one too.

8)  Make Your Own Colosseum Kit.  Calling all amateur architects! Experience the fun, excitement, and pride of building your own amphitheater brick by brick! Mix the special mortar in the mini-sized wheelbarrow, then follow the step-by-step instructions for building this spectacular structure with real kiln-fired bricks!

9)  Playmobil Gladiator.  Cute.  So very cute.  If you want to spend big, spring for the Playmobil Arena so the gladiator has a place to fight.

10)  Spartacus.  The rebellious slave Spartacus (played by Kirk Douglas) leads a freedom revolt against the decadent Roman Empire in one of the best of Hollywood’s grand historical epics.

11)  Victory Wreath.  The winner takes all.

12)  Colosseum Bookends.  Add a bit of grandeur to your library and remember that “while stands the Colosseum, Rome shall stand; when falls the Colosseum, Rome shall fall; and when Rome falls – the World.”

There are days around here when we need a bit of visual cheer and so we find ourselves surfing on over to the Wooster Collective for a dose of sprayed or stenciled street-art happiness.  Imagine, then, our happiness when yesterday–amidst rain, cold, and almost constant hail (since when does it hail 3 or 4 times in a day?–the Wooster Collective published an interview with our favorite Roman stencil man, Sten, who cites Giotto, Gentile da Fabriano, and Raphael as being among his favorite street artists.

Wooster’s interview with Sten reminded us of a special surprise that we’ve been saving for the holiday season!  It’s another Rome with a View calendar by Susan Sanders, this one filled with street art from the Eterna.  Packed with images you’ve seen here on EternallyCool.net (and some that you’ve not seen before), the calendar makes a great gift for all the Rome-antic hipsters in your life.

Click here to order.

For those of you who enjoyed our Wudi and Wupi post (and we never could have guessed how very many eCoolers are interested in Italian hot dogs!), we bring you one more installment in the series.

Yep!  It’s the Wudy.  And now we’re forced to admit that we deliberately withheld these from you.  That’s because they bring us to our knees — with laughter!  Where is your mind.  And there’s nothing like delayed gratification.

So the next time you’re shopping for that special someone in Italy, be sure to peruse the cold cut section in the grocery store.  Pick up some Wudys.  They’re the best of the wurst.

The cosmetic company Zirh has just introduced their new Warrior line of shower gels for men.  Their enticing website invites you to choose the historic warrior with whom you most identify and then to purchase the corresponding scented shower gel.

Are you witty and cunning like Ulysses?  Then you’ll enjoy the light, exotic smell of a shower gel empowered by sesame oil that moisturizes while it cleans.

(OK, reality check.  We’ve done a little survey here at the eCool Compound and we don’t think any of these famous warriors ever smelled very good.  Ulysses: sweaty and smeared with Trojan blood – you’ve gotta be kidding!  Charlemagne: wrapped in all those medieval furs – ugh!  But we’re willing to go along with this fantasy because we love the idea of men rubbing Julius Caesar- or Alexander-scented gels across their bodies in the shower every morning.)

Maybe you’re more like Caesar — a bit ruthless and utterly ambitious?  The gel for you has a refreshing citrus scent and includes almond extract that will soften your hardened shell.

Or, if Alexander the Great’s your man because you pride yourself on determination and resilience, then there’s a empowering spicy wood scent that’s been designed with your needs in mind.  With added olive extract, this gel has anti-aging properties and is a natural moisturizer.

Prefer the exotic east?  Then maybe you’re benevolent and considerate like the Persian ruler Cyrus.  You can express that side of your nature with a sensual smooth scent infused with carrot extract that will help you maintain your soft smooth skin.

Finally, if the Middle Ages are more your thing, then you’ll want to pick up a bottle of Zihr’s Charlemagne scent.  Its cooling icy smell will leave your subjects with no doubt about your pragmatism and intelligence, while the chestnut seed extract acts as a natural astringent that will envliven your senses while it opens your pores.