I arrived in Baltimore for Spring Break after an 8 hour train ride, with no AC and a loud man on the phone (the whole ride!) beside me. When my aunt and uncle picked me up from Baltimore’s Penn Station, they asked if I had any school work to complete over break. My answer, as it is every year was yes, but this year I had an especially exciting assignment. I needed to get some content for my Italian Cuisine and Culture blog, meaning I needed to eat some Italian food for “educational purposes”. They both looked at each other in the front seat and blurted out “Little Italy!” in unison. My uncle turned the corner and we drove into the magical neighborhood of Piccola Italia.
Little Italy came about when a large wave of Italians immigrated to Baltimore in the 1800s. In search of better opportunities in America, the Italian immigrants landed in a neighborhood near the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Irish, Jewish, and Italian immigrants banded together in the neighborhood due to shared experiences of homesickness and discrimination. Overtime the neighborhood was filled with a majority of Italians and the shops and streets were filled with Italian restaurants and groceries. Saint Leo the Great Italian Parish was built and the neighborhood earned its name, “Little Italy”. Little Italy is still a strong cultural neighborhood, filled with restaurants, and many proud Italians and Italian Americans. The neighborhood even survived a large fire that stopped right at the edge of Little Italy, and the residents claimed it was Saint Leo who saved them.
When you first drive into Little Italy you are immersed in a community full of row houses, murals, and restaurant signs. There are flags flying in the breeze, lights strung across the streets, and a feeling of pride and heritage that is never felt in the suburbs where I live. When we got out of the car to start walking around, I saw the beautiful Saint Leo’s Catholic Church, which was wedged right into the neighborhood. I stopped by the neighborhood Bocce Court (which was closed for winter), and I admired all of the murals and Italian flag colored fire hydrants.
The incredible amount of restaurants and shops that lined the streets make Little Italy feel so culturally rich and isolated from the wild happenings in Baltimore (I won’t get into the details). You can’t help but feel the love for all things Italian when you step into the neighborhood!
After we had some margherita pizza and the sun had set, we walked outside and I was awestruck by the glow of the string lights hanging around the buildings. Some of the lights were in the color of the Italian flag and some of the lights were inside of little painted milk jugs, which my aunt informed me were made during an art festival they have in Little Italy each year.
It felt like a little escape from the aggressive driving and the busy Baltimore Inner Harbor when we wandered around Little Italy. It was fun to go to Little Italy, but I am ready to go on to the real Italy next!
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