The Pisan Mountain, that range of hills separating Lucca from Pisa, offers a variety of excellent walks several of which we have done in past years. A couple of days ago we revisited the highlight of one of these walks, the ‘Passo di Dante’ or ‘Dante Pass’ since this was the route Italy’s foremost poet took when travelling from Pisa to Lucca. In those days, of course, there was no road tunnel so this was the standard route between the two often –warring city states and the main way connecting the towns of Santa Maria del Giudice on the Lucca side and San Giuliano on the Pisa side.

Dante’s presence is commemorated by a somewhat stern looking bronze bust (replacing a former stone one) placed on top of a plaque on which are inscribed some rather weathered verses in which the poet mentions the two cities:

Questi pareva a me maestro e donno, cacciando il lupo e ‘ lupicini al monte per che i Pisan veder Lucca non ponno.”

(Trans: “He seemed …to be chasing a wolf and cubs on the mountain placed there so that the Pisans would not see Lucca.”

These lines from Canto 23 of his “Inferno” are where Dante tells of a dream he had where someone he knew hunted on the Pisan Mountain ‘because of which the Pisans cannot see Lucca’.  It’s rather like saying ‘out of sight out of mind’. As a barrier is placed between two Thai fighting fish in order to stop them tearing each other apart so this mountain has acted as a ‘cordon’ sanitaire’ to prevent Pisans and Luccans from massacring each other to the last man. This possibly unfortunate situation is encapsulated in that Lucchese saying: “meglio un morto in casa che un pisano all’uscio” which translates as ‘better a dead body in the house than a Pisan at the front door.”

Of course, this saying is often said as a way to put down Pisans and in this respect it is used in other parts of Italy where next-door neighbours are not Pisans but Bolognese or Marchigiani and so forth. However, perhaps the real reason for this disparaging remark is that men from Pisa were once the main tax collectors in the area. To hell with the Inland Revenue then!

All these stories were forgotten, however, when we reached the top. The view was absolutely splendid stretching all the way from the Pisan plain to the spa town of San Giuliano Terme, beloved of Shelley, to the sea coast we were heading for at Marina di Vecchiano. On this abnormally hot day, more like the heat wave much of Italy is put under by July, a soft breeze waved the wild grasses and skylarks chirruped their heavenly tweets in the bluest of skies.

Of course we did reach the seaside later on – a shore thankfully still free from the hordes of beach-combers who will no doubt soon descend by the Tyrhennian waves.  Despite a red flag Sandra was able to enjoy her first summer splash in a sea which sadly drowned Shelley (but then he could not swim!) but which she was able to enjoy thanks to our float ‘Pippo’.

No visit to Florence would be complete without checking out the current exhibitions at the Palazzo Strozzi. Some of our most satisfying art-moments have been spent in this majestic excellently curated building.

Our recent visit to the Strozzi was no exception: an exhibition dedicated to one through whose creativity renaissance sculpture came of age. by shedding its late gothic formulae and producing some of the first works truly representing the flowering city’s new learning. That person was Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (1386 –1466), better known as Donatello.

David and his victory over Goliath is the city’s symbol par excellence representing new youthful life with its fight for liberty against the dark forces of brute and antiquated repression. Michelangelo’s statue of the Old Testament hero is, of course, famous throughout the civilised world but its macho muscularity and proud, almost arrogant pose comes after at least three previous sculptural incarnations of the Judaic King. Donatello portrayed David twice. The first time was in marble and was to crown a buttress of Florence cathedral, except that it was considered too far up to see properly. It is this statue which is the first exhibit we come across in the exhibition. The upper half of the sculpture is shown in stiffer, almost gothic form whereas the freer lower half depicting the hero’s drapery and his flexing body breathe the joy of the early renaissance with its rediscovery of the classical world and its dumping of formulaic gothic art.

With the second David cast in bronze Donatello reached remarkable heights of renaissance art. The statue, the very first free-standing nude sculpture since classical times, depicts a graceful youth nonchalantly delighted with his victory over the forces of barbarism represented by the giant Goliath. It forms part of the exhibition in Florence’s old town hall, the Bargello, and one must go there to see it.

The shepherd-turned-warrior’s hat (modelled on ancient Greek pastoral head-wear) could so easily provide a model for a chic summer hat for a lady today (indeed, my mother told me she was so taken by it as a girl that she had a friend make an copy of it for her.  I wonder where it is now. Regrettably I have no photos of my mum wearing it).  

My wife found the second Donatello David statue somewhat effeminate (but then aren’t we all used to seeing the Florentine David par excellence, Michelangelo’s?) There are contemporary allusions to the artist’s propensity for young male models and assistants in his studio but so what? Are we still bogged down by jaded stereotypes of ‘the love that cannot be told?’ The renaissance clearly showed that one’s sexual orientation could be free from gothic aesthetic and moral strictures.

For me the most startling examples of Donatello’s virtuoso technique were in the bas-reliefs he carried out, especially those done for Florence’s cathedral and baptistery doors. I was quite bowled over by the astounding vividness of this panel depicting Herod’s banquet. Wow!!!

Other examples included this joyful panel which the artist discarded from his complete project for the external pulpit of Prato cathedral used to this day to show the public the city’s most precious relic, the Virgin Mary’s girdle.

Donatello’s Madonnas and child are exquisite and it was good to see them placed in the context of his contemporaries’ efforts in this type of religious art.

Donatello travelled to other city-states in fifteenth century Italy to carry out commissions for the rulers there. Pisa and Padua all have works by him.  Another achievement of the artist was the creation of the first free-standing equestrian statue since ancient Roman times, Gattamelata’s monument in Padua:

The exhibition had these two fine equestrian heads from an uncompleted statue on display:

When we were at the Strozzi tourist crowds were luckily not much in evidence. It is good that we are now coming to the tail-end of the most devastating pandemic experienced in our lifetime and it certainly is marvellous to be able to return, even if cautiously, to the social freedoms we could enjoy up to early 2020 but I shall miss those once-empty streets and galleries of Florence!  

The exhibition is on until the end of July. Information on admission times and ticket costs are to be found here: https://www.palazzostrozzi.org/en/archivio/exhibitions/donatello/

There are so many ways of travelling between Florence and Lucca. Of course, if one is in a hurry one takes the autostrada or the train. However, the route is replete with so many interesting sites that it seems a pity just to make it a quick dash from A to B.

We’ve taken the chance to visit the art cities on the route like Prato, Pistoia, Pescia, Empoli and San Miniato. However, in addition to these there are many delightful little villages or ‘borghi’ which are only a small detour away from the main route.

On our recent return from Florence we stopped at Montemurlo which is just a handful of miles from Prato. Above Montemurlo’s main centre on the Arno plain is the Rocca or castle. It’s not normally visitable being in private hands but its owner opens the castle gardens on special occasions. For example they are open the third week of November during the Olive Oil festa.

The Borgo has a sweet little parish church on one side of its little square.  Built between 1085 and 1096, the pieve was partially rebuilt in the 13th century and is faced by an elegant architrave portico with late medieval terracotta pillars.

We were amazed to come across a fully working presepe in the adjoining oratory which reminded us that in just seven months it’ll be Christmas again!

By the church is a restaurant and bar. We just had a coffee there so can’t say anything about the food served . The trip adviser site for this place is at https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1924383-d939808-Reviews-La_Taverna_della_Rocca-Montemurlo_Province_of_Prato_Tuscany.html

What is outstanding about Montemurlo, however, are the incredible views one gets from it of the Arno valley stretching east towards Florence. It was a relatively clear day on our visit and we were able to make out the Brunelleschi cupola and the Giotto campanile. I noted, however, an obstruction in front of the cathedral nave and then realized it was the ghastly mass of the new city palace of justice inaugurated in 2012. Sadly the architect has since died so he can’t be brought to the courts he built to face charges of vandalism and spoiling an otherwise stupendous view.

After our brief stop we continued to Pistoia and then up and over the Apennine hills leading to our place near Ponte di Serraglio. We were so pleased to note that on our return to our little farmhouse our three cats immediately turned out present and correct.

After bird-watching at the Padule wetlands we came across this memorial dedicated to the 174 civilians massacred by Nazi soldiers in 1944 in the Fucecchio area.

It is sited at Castelmartini, a ‘frazione’ of Larciano and the start of the road leading to the Padule di Fucecchio bird sanctuary. Together with Sant’Anna di Stazzema what happened in Fucecchio area remains one of the most appalling of war crimes committed against Italian citizens during World War Two.

Looking at the names and ages of the victims on the adjoining board is sobering. Why on earth decide to also shoot babies? For so much of my life I thought this kind of mindless reprisal was the darkest of histories in Europe, only discoverable when viewing documentaries on the Second World War or searching library archives and yet we s sadly know this is not true as, in the comfort of our homes, we view the latest atrocities in our 21st century continent of Europe.

A commission of inquiry regarding the massacre was one of the few cases in Italy in which the investigations were carried out by the British. Unlike the Americans the British created a special investigation branch to examine the alleged war crimes committed by the Wehrmacht against the Italian civilian population. After having ascertained the facts, the commission instituted a trial in Venice, with the aim of condemning the biggest war criminals. Among the sentenced, in addition to Crasemann who was accused of having master-minded the massacre, was Field Marshal Kesselring, since it emerged that the reprisals were not carried out by platoon commanding officers’ orders but were organized from above. Of the forty-five wanted people, only two were condemned by the Venice trial. These were Captain Strauch and Commander Crasemann. Both were sentenced to prison terms for a period not exceeding six years. Kesselring was instead tried by a British military court in Mestre. Initially he was sentenced to be shot for all war crimes committed, including the massacres of Sant’Anna di Stazzema and the Fosse Ardeatine, but later the sentence was changed to life imprisonment. In 1948, however, the sentence was reduced to 21 years, until in 1952 Kesselring was released from prison for health reasons.

Kesselring died in a sanatorium  at Bad Nauheim in West Germany, in 1960 aged 74 and was given a quasi-military funeral. Members of his battalion acted as his pallbearers and fired a rifle volley over his grave. His former chief of staff spoke for the veterans and described Kesselring as “a man of admirable strength of character whose care was for soldiers of all ranks”. ..

To this day the real, fully discoverable, reasons for the massacre remain uncertain. For example, it was not for any reprisal against partisan activity and killing of German soldiers by them for none happened in this area.

Will it be the same old story for what is happening in Ukraine now? How can the appallingness of war crimes ever be really punished? For isn’t war a crime in itself??

Meanwhile the birds in the nearby wetlands are preparing for their annual migration.

*

The Italian word ‘Giglio’ translates as ‘Lily’. The flower is the symbol of the city of Florence but actually it is an iris which is represented!

In the 1950s the city’s mayor, the noted Florence historian Piero Bargellini, offered a group of enterprising keen lady gardeners a site to set up an Iris garden on the left of the panoramic Piazzale Michelangelo.

We have loved visiting this lovely spot in previous years and were lucky enough yesterday to catch the garden shortly before it closes down to await next April’s blossoming season.

The organisers informed us that this year the sudden spell of above average temperatures in May had spoilt a lot of blooms. However, there were still enough beautiful examples of this graceful flower around for us to enjoy:

We were bird-watching yesterday at Padule di Fucecchio. Placed between the Albano mountain where Leonardo’s birthplace Vinci is situated, it is the largest inland wetland area of Italy. It was so wonderful to revisit this peaceful area after a long absence and to have the whole place, including the bird hide, to ourselves. Soon the birds will be preparing for their annual migration. We wish them luck especially from the hunters!

The ‘Prato Fiorito’, that largely tree-less, whale-backed mountain dominating the Controneria on the northern side of the Lima valley, has always fascinated me whether it be wrapped in winter’s coat of snow, mantled in spring’s lushest green or bathed in torrid summer’s russets.

There is, however, one part of the year which constantly insists on taking me to its paradisiacal slopes: the middle of May, a time which most accurately describes the mountain’s epithet as the’ flowering meadow’.  

I always look forwards to seeing the Prato Fiorito’s jonquils, more correctly known as the poet’s narcissus (Narcissus Poeticus) and which are to be identified with the narcissi of classical times.

In the Netherlands and Southern France the flower is cultivated to extract its oil which is used in 11% of all high fashion perfumes (‘Fatale’ and ‘Samsara’ included). Its fragrance is a sort of mixture between jasmine and hyacinth and is utterly intoxicating as poet Shelley found out when he trod its slopes when resident at Bagni di Lucca. As he rather accurately penned in that ecstatic poem ‘Epipsychidion’:

violets and jonquils peep
And dart their arrowy odour through the brain
Till you might faint with that delicious pain.

It is a hill ‘twixt Heaven, Air, Earth and Sea,
Cradled and hung in clear tranquillity;

These sweet flowers truly seem to fall in love with each other. Who doesn’t know the myth of Narcissus who, gazing at his own reflection in a pool of water, fell in love with it, tried to capture it and was punished by the Gods by drowning and being turned into a Narcissus?

(The legend of Narcissus as painted by Waterhouse).

At the same time, however, although they possess medical qualities, the blossoms are poisonous and should not be eaten. They should also not be picked and kept in a room. Their perfume is so strong that one could very well swoon to unconsciousness or at least get a bad headache!

The narcissi truly made my heart leap. They are brave elfin flowers and their presence all around filled me with an intense warmth and joy. They seem to breathe true love and their perfume was quite inebriating!

This year, I have to admit, I was a little disappointed by the number of poetical narcissi when compared to the profusion of previous years. However, to make up for this the display of gentians was awesome!

The trumpet gentian (Gentiana acaulis) is a native of central and southern Europe and grows particularly in mountainous areas, such as the Alps and Apennines. Indeed, this exquisite flower has even made its way onto the Austrian one euro coin!

Orchids and violas also made their welcome appearances:

An absolutely elated time was spent by all including our walking partners’ two dogs The beauty of the Prato Fiorito, suffused by  warmest sunshine and fanned by gentle zephyrs embowered in an extraordinarily vivid setting surrounded by the Apennines and, across the Serchio valley, the Apuans was totally irresistible. Who could wish for more in life?

PS I have written several other posts on the Prato Fiorito. here are some of them:

Flowers are not just lovely to look at; many of them are also good to eat. From the times of Odysseus and his visit to the land of the lotus-eaters to the present day flowers may not only be deliciously tasty, they can also have therapeutic value and cure a variety of ailments ranging from stomach disturbance to head-aches.

At this time of year in our part of the world we have two plants that are particularly more-some: wisteria and acacia! Their flowers make yummy fritters and we are lucky to have an abundance of both varieties.

Sandra tried her dexterous hand at picking them fresh from the boughs and serving them up yesterday. Delicious!

The fritters are quick and easy to do. Just collect the flowers and wash them in cold water. Then roll them into a batter made with flour, water and a dash of milk. Then fry, if possible, on a skillet, and eat preferably when they are still warm and crunchy.

Many flowers can also be added to enhance salads and some will make the most relaxing infusions.

If one is not lucky enough to have wisteria or acacia blossoming nearby then surely there must be at least one variety of these to add that’ je ne sais quoi’ to an al-fresco lunch:

• Allium: all blossoms from the allium family (leeks, chives, garlic)
• Angelica has a liquorice-like flavour.
• Anise hyssop flowers and leaves have a liquorice flavour.
• Arugula blossoms have a peppery flavour much like the leaves.
• Bachelor’s button. 
• Basil blossoms with a flavour similar to the leaves, but milder.
• Bee balm: the red flowers have a minty flavour.
• Borage blossoms taste like cucumber.
• Calendula/marigold is a great flower for eating with a peppery and tangy taste.
• Carnations.
• Chamomile has a sweet flavour and is often used in tea. Excellent for insomniacs.
• Chervil is anise-tinged.
• Chicory.
• Chrysanthemum is a little bitter.
• Cilantro flowers share the grassy flavour of the herb.
• Citrus (orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, kumquat) 
• Clover flowers are sweet with a hint of liquorice.
• Dandelion.
• Dill.
• English daisy is somewhat bitter!
• Fennel has a subtle liquorice flavour like the herb itself.
• Fuchsia.
• Gladiolus is an interesting salad garnish.
• Hibiscus as used in hibiscus tea.
• Hollyhock makes a showy, edible garnish.
• Jasmine is often used in tea;
• Johnny jump-up, or wild pansy,  is delicious; the flowers have a mint flavour which is excellent for salads, pasta, fruit dishes and drinks.
• Lavender is sweet, spicy, and perfumed.
• Lemon verbena is brilliant for teas and desserts.
• Lilac blooms are pungent but flavoursome.
• Mint.
• Nasturtium is one of the most edible flowers with a sweet and spicy seed pod.
• Oregano flowers have a similar taste to the leaf.
•  Pansy.
• Radish.
• Rose petals are good for floating on drinks or scattering across desserts and also for a variety of jams. Darker coloured roses have more flavour.
• Rosemary flowers can be used as a garnish on dishes that incorporate rosemary.
• Sage blossoms have a flavour similar to their leaves.
• Squash and pumpkin blossoms are wonderful for stuffing, each having a slight squash flavour. Courgette flowers in batter are the ultimate!
• Sunflower petals. The buds can be steamed like an artichoke.
• Violets are another very edible flower. Sugared violets, for example, are used to decorate marrons glaces.

Warning: if you don’t know what you’re picking or if the flower is too near a busy road side don’t eat! Some flowers are high poisonous….like these!

• Water Hemlock
• Deadly Nightshade
• White Snakeroot
• Castor Bean
• Rosary Pea
• Oleander
• Tobacco

The re-opening of the Terme di Bernabò (Baths of Bernabò) which we attended last month has proved an unqualified success for our spa town of Bagni di Lucca and the first weeks have already been fully booked up.

Before the official opening there was a morning dedicated to talks about the history of this establishment and some costume displays at the Casinò.

The Terme di Bernabò goes back to at least the fifteenth century with the present building dating from the nineteenth century. Its foyer has exquisite ceiling decorations:

The original marble baths are quite elegant, particularly the octagonal one:

The unfortunate thing about the Bagni Bernabò’, however, is that after their restoration in 2006 there was no-one to maintain and encourage visitors to use them. Hence they were, once again, beginning to show signs of dilapidation. Now it’s great that the baths have been spruced up and are once again open for use by the public. Let us assure ourselves that, under new management, it won’t be another false start this time.

The views from the Bagni Bernabò’s terrace are especially charming.

We fully intend to make use of the various therapeutic thermal treatments available at the baths including the massages. From friends who have tried them out we gather they are worth every Euro.

Here are the treatments (and their prices) on offer:

Further information on what’s available at the newly refurbished Bagni di Bernabò may be had here:

https://www.tripadvisor.it/Attraction_Review-g644271-d11548611-Reviews-Centro_Bernabo-Bagni_di_Lucca_Province_of_Lucca_Tuscany.html

It’s May time! For the start of the year’s traditionally merriest month we found ourselves in Fornaci di Barga where the first of May was celebrated in style after an absence of two years due to the wretched pandemic. Street markets, lots of flowers for sale, agriculture equipment and… preparations for the wedding season!

Treated to a glass of prosecco and a crepe by one wedding company I enjoyed looking at the vintage cars (and, of course, the wedding-dresses…).

The first of May this year has a special significance for the whole of Italy in that it’s also the first day of national liberation from the more stringent regulations regarding mascherine wearing and the green pass, both brought in to regulate Covid-19. Now one can enter a restaurant or supermarket and no longer have to wear a mask and it’s also farewell to the “green pass”. Hurrah!

It’s wonderful to see people’s faces in public places and to observe expressions of happiness in just being able to be together in a crowd again. We might even see unrestricted shaking of hands and embracing again!  Truly we have been so deprived of normal human contact these past two years. Let’s trust we never have to pass another pandemic like this one again…however, discretion remains the better part of valour.

Other towns had their own Primo Maggio celebrations. Passing Borgo a Mozzano I was surprised at the newly refurbished ‘Museo Della Memoria’ commemorating another liberation struggle, this time taking place during World War II between the Allied army, helped by the partisans and Fascist-Axis forces. The museum had previously been housed in part of the town’s railway station. This time its new location in a former chapel was spectacular and the tableaux informing us of that tragic period of history and the exhibits shown were very well done. I was particularly taken by the instructions on the mobile radio transmission sets and was reminded that Sandra’s father was chief radio operator in his (Italian) battalion in North Africa with his own van in which to carry and repair these sets.

Again I could not help thinking that liberation is still long way away from the people of Ukraine although the escape of a part of the martyred population seeking shelter in the catacombs of the giant wrecked steel plant at Mariupol gives some glimmer of hope.