Category Archives: Nature

Off To Tuscany’s Island Penal Colony

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The Tuscan archipelago in the Tyrrhenian sea off the West coast of Italy consists of seven islands. These are in descending order of size:

Elba. (area: 224 sq km). The archipelago’s largest island. We visited this island in the 1990’s. Great sailing.

Giglio. (21 sq km). We visited this lovely island before the Costa Concorda disaster.

Capraia. (19 sq, km.) Not visited.

Montecristo (13 sq km). No-one is allowed to land here.

Pianosa. (10 sq km). Not visited.

Giannutri. (3 sq km). We have visited this island which boasts an extensive Roman villa.

Gorgona. (2 sq km). The smallest island in the Tuscan archipelago It is the site of Italy’s last island penal colony for hardened criminals.

The problem with Gorgona is that it’s a penal colony somewhat on the model of the USA’s Alcatraz. Until very recently the only persons admitted on the island were prisoners sentenced for such crimes as murdering their wife (or their wife’s lover), their relatives on fortnightly visits and the prison guards and personnel. The worthy point is that these prisoners were allowed on the island because of good behaviour when they had previously been incarcerated in a standard closed-model mainland prison. Here, in the idyllic scenery of Gorgona surrounded by the bluest of seas and the widest marine skies convicts were admitted a little more freedom in an open prison and could even work on the island’s farm.

The same situation continues today. Indeed, the island’s inmates have started producing a very palatable wine in Gorgona’s vineyards which commands respect and prices the best mainland Frescobaldi wines achieve. Undeniably, for some prisoners the saddest day occurs when their term of captivity comes to an end and many inmates have voted to remain on the islands as ‘free prisoners’, if such an oxymoron can be said to exist.  Plans are there for them to open a hostel and even a bar! Clearly this could be a model for more ‘traditional’ prisons and I am informed that the re-offending rate after a spell in Gorgona is virtually nil.

Be that as it may, for non-jailbirds visiting Gorgona the regulations are a little severe. Visitors must be escorted wherever they go and, most annoyingly of all, must deposit their mobile phones and cameras with the prison authorities before venturing upon the island’s shore. The penalties for not handing in one’s phone are severe. I thought that perhaps a good way to extend one’s time on the island would be to get caught for taking photographs and be forcibly detained but no-one so far has been so stupid. In any case, our escorts will be taking the photos for us in the allowable places where they can do so and they will be forwarded to us.

Yesterday we received the following message from our escorts:

“Good morning dear walkers, we are sending you the programme for Gorgona with the latest important updates. We kindly ask you to confirm (via e-mail) that you have received this message. 📍The day begins with the MEETING at 7:40 at STATUA DEI QUATTRO MORI, Livorno, (it is not the place to park the car, see further info). Here you will find a bar open for breakfast / packed lunches. THE REFERENCE GUIDE FOR THE DAY WILL BE MARTINA. ☎ OUR NUMBER, FOR POSSIBLE COMMUNICATIONS, IS: 388 1839702

🚢 The departure of the motorboat is scheduled for 8:15 and after about 1 hour and 15 ‘of navigation, we will arrive in Gorgona! Shortly before disembarking we will collect telephones, identity documents (driving license or identity card) and cameras that will be returned to you at the end of the day. Phones and cameras will be left on the ship in a place forbidden to other passengers, but without continuous surveillance by the on-board personnel who will not take responsibility for them *.

Tip: you could collect the phones in a single bag if you are friends / relatives, so that they are all returned together more quickly or put a label or something personalized on them:) Don’t worry about photos, we will be the photographers where permitted 🙂 and we will send the photos, via email, the week following the excursion.

Once disembarked in Gorgona we will go to the shop for a short break where it will be possible to use the toilets and have a snack. Regenerated and energized, at this point our excursion of about 6 km with 250 m of altitude difference will start where we will explore a large part of the island. We will talk about the history of Gorgona, its Mediterranean scrub and the still active prison. We will go to visit the Old Tower, we will have lunch (packed lunch) and then we will look out over the wonderful Cala Maestra. By 15: 30/16: 00 we will have finished our tour and we will leave shortly afterwards for Livorno (18:00), return scheduled at 19:15. (The departure time from the island can be anticipated to 17:00 in case of different provisions by the penitentiary authority and the return to Livorno should be considered, possibly, at 18:15). 👉 Having said that it is very important 👈 bring an identity document (otherwise they won’t let you disembark !!!); be punctual for the appointment.

To park in Livorno: paid parking STP TOURIST SERVICES, 15 minutes walk from the meeting point OR: CECCONI PARKING in Via Cecconi, 16, 57126 Livorno LI – € 12.00 full day, with free shuttle transfer service to the port, however to book, call this number: 333 783 7777;

Fill in, print and bring the Criminal Records Self-declaration form (attached); bring 1 and a half litres / 2 litres of water; packed lunch and snacks; sneakers / trekking shoes (no sandals / flip flops!); dress comfortably (short / long pants, t-shirt and possibly a k-way you never know 😉); hat and sunscreen; backpack to store everything; forward this e-mail also to your travel companions; if someone thinks they suffer from seasickness , in the morning have a dry and salty breakfast (no liquids, cappuccino etc ..) and munch on fresh ginger or go to the pharmacy for specific products; the payment receipt will be sent to the participants in digital form, via email, in order to avoid filling in paper and therefore wast ing of paper 🌿;

🤔 A little information about the island – in Gorgona, given the circumstances of the prison, it is absolutely forbidden to land mobile phones, cameras, video cameras and pocket knives. It is not possible to move around the island alone, except for the small road that connects the beach to the shop. When we are on an excursion, we expect everyone not to stay behind and not to go in front of the guide, the prison officers often go around and absolutely do not want to see people alone or in any case far from the group. The penitentiary also requires decent clothing when going to the shop (no swimsuit).

During the excursion it is forbidden to smoke, to disturb the fauna and to remove or damage plant material (= capers and rosemary, let’s leave them on the island! 😀) – as you will have understood, the only place to buy food and drinks is the shop, managed by agents and inmates, so there are no ATMs, tobacconists … etc …! – there are no litter bins in Gorgona, so what we bring from the mainland, also has a return ticket! ; )

We give you all this information because we love working in Gorgona and if we do not respect these rules all together they could prevent us from visiting in the future. Do not forget that we are inside an active prison !!! That said, we can’t wait to take you on this beautiful naturalistic visit! 😉 Please note, as per regulation, that the Guide reserves the right not to admit to the excursion those who show up without the required equipment.

We thank you for your attention and kindly ask you to confirm (via e-mail) that you have received this message. Thanks everyone for your attention! Viviana & Martina *

We want to point out that, in six years of excursions on the island, we have never had any accidents with the participants’ phones but, if you are unsure about leaving your phones on board, we advise you not to bring them directly. For emergencies or communications you can always leave one of our numbers. Our phone number (388 1839702) will in fact be active throughout the day.”

I love island hopping, especially when landing on particularly remote places. One of the great experiences of our lives was when we were chosen for a National Trust work party on the island of St Kilda west of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. I am quite sure that our trip to the Penal Colony island of Gorgona will be equally memorable; to be able to step onto one of the last pristine natural places in the Mediterranean will be both a privilege and a joy.

PS We received this note today. We are now allowed to swim in Gorgona’s sea!

We would like to point out the possibility of swimming at the end of the excursion: given the bathing season, maybe someone would like to take a swim in Gorgona! Bring your costumes for a moment of relaxation on the beach of Gorgona! We would like to point out that the Penitentiary Police can, at any time, revoke access to the sea. The guide will point out the limits for safe bathing once disembarked. Thank you all, see you Monday, Martina & Viviana.

So there we are….

Of Local Witches and Demons

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The Mammalucco association under the aegis of Marco Nicoli has presented many events which have enlivened life in Fornoli to a very considerable extent. It is sad, therefore, that thanks to this pandemic so many of these events have had to be cancelled, in particular February’s colourful carnival.

It was thus marvellous that theatre returned to Fornoli the other night in the form of a dramatic monologue, ‘streghe’ (witches) given by Michela Innocenti accompanied by her daughter on Celtic harp and both members of the ‘Circo e la Luna’ company.

Michela’s monologue was centred on women who cure ailments through the use of natural herbs and by ‘signing’ (i.e. a sort of laying on of hands). Unfortunately, many of them have been (and some still continue to be) accused of witchcraft and some have even found their lives terminated at the stake because of this. Michela’s performance, which took place (ironically, in view of its supposedly anti-religious subject matter) in front of Fornoli’s parish church in the area known as ‘sagrato’ (or holy place), was very effective and her daughter’s harp accompaniment most atmospheric.

I worked with Michela Innocenti four years ago in an amateur production of Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Bagni di Lucca’s Teatro Academico where I played the part of Scrooge. It was a truly great experience I must admit but a little difficult to learn my lines in Italian!

Michela’s monologue was based on her own interpretation of local historical facts. Underlining her script, nevertheless, are several well-documented episodes of witchcraft in our province. In particular I noted the following instance:

In the summer of 1571 there was a trial in Lucca which caused a great sensation and much fear. The defendants, Pulisena di Giovan Maria da San Macario and Margherita di Tardino Pardini da San Rocco, had both been jailed on charges of being witches and associating with the devil. It all began when a certain Pollonia ran to the town council and told them that the two alleged witches, after having cast a spell on her by order of Bartolomea her sister, had deceived Pollonia that they could free her from their tormenting, first by pretending to remove the curse, second by treating, with mysterious ointments, certain aches that had remained with her.

Imprisoned and summoned before the civil authorities, the defendants had initially denied any charges while admitting to having, in the past, but only rarely, made medicine to cure the sick and treat children suffering from tertiary fever. These confessions led the judges to further investigate and to call several witnesses. Most of these admitted resorting to the help of the two accused who were well-known in the city for their skill in curing all sorts of illnesses and also making love potions to arouse passion in indifferent hearts. The first ones who had experienced these particular gifts were Pulisena’s old lovers, who, enchanted by her spells, admitted they had been subjugated to her caresses.

Since the defendants denied all accusations, the town council decided to ‘show them the instruments’ and subject them to torture. Pulisena began to make a few confessions which certainly could not worsen her situation. She spoke of remedies made with herbs and certain prayers to be recited at the bedside of the sick. Margherita, on the other hand, who had been hung up with her arms tied above her head and was being hard-pressed by the Inquisition’s questions, began to confess and what she said inexorably sealed her and her friend’s fate: Margherita admitted she was a witch and that she had seduced children to obtain from their tender flesh the fat needed to make an ointment which she spread over her body and enable her to fly to the witches’ meeting-place. Margherita was thirty when she first joined the witches. It was not her own choice but she was persuaded to do so by her dying grandmother who was also a witch. Tortured first with the rack, then with fire and finally subjected to the “vegghia” Pulisena ended up by giving blood-curdling screams of agony under duress.

The ‘vegghia’ or ‘veglia’ is also called the ‘Cradle of Judas’ and is another torture instrument of the Holy Inquisition. Here one was suspended above a sharp-tipped object. By means of a system of ropes the victim was shifted around so that the object’s tip penetrated their genitals or anus. In reality the real torture consisted in the permanent wakefulness of the condemned who was not allowed to relax or sleep given the underlying penetration. The battered person, surrounded from the abdomen by a metal ring and connected to the ceiling and walls by the ropes, was dropped, more or less violently, on that pointed wedge held by a tripod. An example of this instrument may be seen in most museums dedicated to torture like the one at Lucca.

Margherita admitted that every time she heard the witches’ call she would ride on a magic goat and fly to the Prato Fiorito (the mountain behind our village) where she had sex with devils and dance until dawn. All agreed she was a witch: she had bewitched her husband, killed children, stolen the Church’s Blessed Hosts and even denied her own baptism. Margherita’s devil, the one she had sex with on the nights of the witches’ Sabbaths, was called Calcabrino. He was a huge and passionate demon, very handsome even though his feet were like cloven goat’s hooves.

There was enough evidence for exemplary punishment. Declared witches the two poor women, exhausted by constant torture, were condemned to die at the stake in Lucca’s main square. Luckily, Pulisena and Margherita are the only two Lucchesi witches to be condemned to the flames of the stake but they did contribute to the myth of Lucca as a supernatural city full of mysteries.

At least we should be grateful that only two witches were burnt in Lucca! This compares favourably with the thousands burned in the great witch trials of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in other European cities. Of the estimated 100,000 witches burnt in Europe the majority were in Germany and Switzerland. In Italy the worst place for witch-burning is the town of Triora, Liguria where between 1587 and 1589 at least ten unfortunate women were consigned to the flames.

Incidentally, the reason for condemning the poor wretches at Triora was that they were found guilty of spreading an epidemic through magical charms and witchcraft spells. I cannot help thinking that there has to be some similarity between what happened then and what is happening now throughout the world. The conspiracy-theorists in the pandemic believe that the current Covid-19 pandemic is being spread by a sinister internationalist cabal and point to evil malefactors. Part of this arcane plot is the use of vaccines which have not yet stood the test of time. So far no-one has today been burnt at the stake or even punished for spreading this contemporary plague. However, there are several instances of people accused of spreading the infection by coughing, spitting, not wearing masks etc. and, no doubt, in some of the more primitive parts of the Earth there may be accusations of witchcraft.

It was, therefore, truly interesting and very relevant to attend Michela’s performance. I just hope that dark shades from the past won’t re-emerge in our so-called ‘modern’ age and that primaeval instincts won’t come out from the murky depths of the subconscious to create a new far-reaching witch-hunt today. If this seems far-fetched or wild imaginings to some I would like to remind my readers of two recent instances in the Lucchesia. First, one of our local policemen, now transferred to another town, was specially sent to Chicago for training in uncovering satanic cults. He informed me than there are several such cults operating in our area although so far no arrests have been made for any serious crimes. Second, a churchman from our comune, a person very much appreciated by locals for his initiative in getting the parish together for music and sports events especially among younger people, was glad to be transferred to another parish as he found the proliferation of satanic cults in our area rather disturbing.

If anybody still doubts what I have written then I’ll just point out to them Borgo a Mozzano’s Devil’s Bridge and that town’s Halloween festival. And this is coming from someone who too has been a participant in witchcraft rituals including walking on fire as you may read at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/06/19/a-walk-on-the-wild-side/

PS perhaps a less scary event will happen at the end of this month with Fornoli’s evening market and vintage car show, again organised by ‘Il Mammalucco’:

Poetical Flowers

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The Prato Fiorito, that mountain presenting its grim fortress-like appearance in the Lima valley

shows a completely different and gentler look on its northern face.

It’s the difference between a scarp and a dip slope: gone are the steep rock buttresses known as ‘le ravi’ and, instead, a wonderful Elysian field spreads out containing the most varied collection of flora found anywhere in Italy.

Why is the mountain not wooded like so much of the Apennines?  Clearly there was a time when trees covered its slopes. They were felled centuries ago for fuel and construction and the cleared land given over to sheep and goat grazing thus preventing the regeneration of new forests. Instead, the calcareous soil has given birth to hundreds of flower species including some of the rarest orchids.

In May the Prato Fiorito’s slopes are covered with myriads of ‘Narcissus Poeticus’ or the ‘poet’s daffodil’.

It’s a most apt name for not only does it bring to mind the Greek legend of Narcissus and Wordsworth’s lakeside golden host but also Percy Bysshe Shelley’s own visit to the mountain while staying at Bagni di Lucca, which inspired his poem ‘Epipsychidion’ (trans: ‘concerning or about a little soul’) especially those lines beginning.

 Of flowers, which, like lips murmuring in their sleep
Of the sweet kisses which had lulled them there,

(For more of the Shelley connection see my post at

https://longoio.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/the-elysian-fields-of-prato-fiorito/)

I had meant to go the Prato in mid-May to see the wonderful display of Narcisi but was told that everything was late flowering this year, particularly on the Prato. May was so full of rain that I delayed my visit until yesterday and then it was a little late for the full display which only lasts around a week. It was a slight disappointment, perhaps, but still a gorgeous morning to spend in this paradisiacal place.

As with all lovely things there is a dark side to Narcissus Poeticus – as Shelley’s contemporary Keats writes ‘Ay, in the very temple of Delight Veil’d Melancholy has her sovran shrine’. All daffodil species are poisonous but this one is more poisonous than any other and eating it will give rashes, vomiting and severe headaches. However, just sniffing its perfume remains seductive and in the Netherlands and southern France Narcissus Poeticus is cultivated for its essential oil used in the making of perfumes where it combines the fragrances of jasmine and hyacinth. Two perfumes brands, ‘Fatale’ and ‘Samsara’, are based on this oil.

Recently, Narcissus Poeticus has returned to many gardens as part of the search for heritage horticulture. Its simple form, contrasted with the standard rather showier common daffodil, has produced a hybrid known as ‘Narcissus Actaea’ which has won a Royal Horticultural society award and can be now found in several garden centres such as this one:

https://www.rhsplants.co.uk/plants/_/narcissus-actaea/classid.2000008267/

Of course, even in Italy there are several mountains brimming over with fancy waves of this beautiful flower in May and June. Monte Linzone in the Bergamo Pre-Alps is famous for its crop of Narcissi and is a favourite excursion spot for those staying in Milan (as I used to do). Monte Croce which is near us, in the Garfagnana, is even called ‘Monte delle Giunchiglie’ (jonquils) and has what many regard as even more spectacular displays of this delicate flower.

You can read my post on Monte Croce at:

Elysium on Earth

And more of the Prato Fiorito at:

A Perfect Shelleyan Day

Narcissus Poeticus has even helped save a heroine and her pet from the depth of Outer Space where ‘no-one can hear you scream’. It was the spacecraft ‘Narcissus’ which enabled Ellen Ripley (acted by Sigourney Weaver) to escape with her cat Jones in that cult film ‘Alien’

and I managed to get off the Prato Fiorito in time yesterday morning before rumbling thunder proclaimed another afternoon of dramatic cosmic storms.

Scummy Scams

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As a former teacher of information processing, I have often warned my students of the dangers of computer scams and have been lucky enough to have largely avoided these often dangerous nuisances. 

Recently, however, I became a victim of a scam. It happened this way. I trusted that an email I received from an acquaintance was sent by her to me. The email requested me to purchase a google play gift card to the value of $100 for her nephew as she was unable to purchase it herself because of a hospital appointment. I was to scratch the back of the card off and send the PIN to her. I did not go out to purchase the gift card but bought one online and duly sent her the card’s number.

The person I received the email from was someone I had complete trust in. Since N. was also very kind and generous to me I had little hesitation in responding to her request.

However, a couple of hours later, speaking to my wife and telling her of the email I suddenly realised that there was something very odd about it. It just didn’t seem to follow and was quite out of character with the person I knew. I began to doubt N. sent me the email. It was, indeed, a scam and I had fallen for it.

Shortly after I received this email from N. I did not doubt that this email was genuine!

‘Three days ago I inadvertently opened a phishing email which set off an avalanche of phoney emails to dozens of people in my address book.

These emails invited the recipient to help me out financially and caused them and me a great deal of trouble and distress.

I am very sorry that this has occurred and urge you all to be ever on your guard against opening or responding to any email which looks at all doubtful like this one.

I urge you also to check the likely authenticity and the RETURN ADDRESS. Had I checked the return address I would have avoided the scam.

The scam email appeared to be from my email provider and looked legitimate: It read :

From: Mail Support Subject: Retrieve Now
Your mailbox account failed to synch and returned 6 incoming emails. Synchronization was unsuccessful because your mailbox could not be validated.’

My wife learning of this scam wrote to me:

`Francis this is terrible. N. went to the shop to get the computer de hacked and I. said it happened also to him last year. Imagine! You are not the only one they tried to see if you were gullible. I suppose many others were hit. Anyway, they thank you for your kindness. However, it was and is a hack. Hopefully, you did not send your Bank details to their email address.’

Fortunately, Amazon realised the discrepancy and refused the transaction. So I was saved even if I did feel a bit of a fool. (You may remember the saying ‘a fool and his money are soon parted.’)

I wonder if you too have been the victim of a computer scam. In this world where it is hard to believe anything in the morass of false news and tempting hoaxes, we must always be alert and, if, in doubt, question the validity of any email received involving money by double-checking the sender.

Anyway, one thing which is not a scam and is certainly the opposite of falseness is the lovely weather we’ve been having here in the Lucchesia which has stirred nature into action in readiness for the spring equinox.

 

 

A Protecting Veil?

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The other morning I observed Archie, our youngest feline family member, now approaching his second birthday (which brings him to the equivalent of twenty-four human years in age..a young man in fact!) having fun with something. It turned out to be a mouse, that ‘wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie’ beloved of Robbie Burns. One part of me said ‘let him have his bit of fun – it’s his instinct anyway’; the other part felt sorry for the teeny rodent and so, after a few minutes and a few extra paw strikes from Archie, I took the petrified thing, which was playing dead, into my palm and transported it to a safer part of the garden and let it scurry off into the adjoining wood’s undergrowth.

I just wonder what happened to the poor creature; at least it had a couple more hours added to its brief existence.

I thought about how we too are placed in that tiny field mouse’s situation for a larger part of our lives than we care to remember. We too are being watched by predators and our greatest spots of vulnerability are carefully noted. Are they the body-snatchers ready with their pods to clone us and produce our equivalents in everything except for the individuality of our personalities?

Are they the tripods striding on their ungainly telescopic legs across the rural landscape to a little village where inhabitants are celebrating with merry-making the capping of their sons and daughters who have reached their sixteenth birthday so that they might become less rebellious and have all traces of original creative thought extinguished in them?


Are they the alien beings who regularly hover above Garfagnana’s Monte Palodina in their flying saucers eager to abduct incredulous humans living in the surrounding villages? Newspapers in our part of northern Tuscany have indeed reported a significant increase in UFO sightings around that mountain whose extra-terrestrial qualities I have already described in a post here https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/01/25/ufos-return-to-garfagnana/

At the same time, these sightings have been linked to the current pandemic situation which, in Italy, shows little sign of abating and threatens to turn the whole peninsula into a red zone worthy of a Martian invasion.

We are being watched. That is for sure. Whether it is the epidemiologist investigating probably the biggest news story since the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima or whether it is the conspirer ready to proclaim it is an internationalist plot to reduce the world population and to place humanity under big brother mind-control the fact is we are all being watched by unknown beings. They are not like the great cat paws toying with the lives of small mice. They are quite the opposite: invisible viruses ready to launch themselves on unsuspecting giants…us!

Many can, of course, deny this scenario. Flicking through often irresponsible social media I noted a video posted by a right-wing Italian staying in the UK. It showed the Brighton seafront filled with crowds enjoying the sunset and, as he was proud to point out, with only a handful wearing protective masks.

Of course, there are still heated debates about wearing masks or ‘mascherine’ as they are called here in Italy. But then there are debates about the wearing of compulsory seat-belts and bicycle helmets. Health and safety increasingly control our lives even in the more relaxed milieu of that corner of Tuscany where arguments are now raging about the impending imposition of safety barriers on Lucca’s walls. If somebody’s kid falls off the city’s imposing but unprotected sixteenth-century ramparts then whose fault is it? The city council or the unvigilant parent?

One thing is certain: there will be no protecting hand to save us from the perils of the world’s present nightmare as the mouse was saved from Archie’s razor talons and sharp teeth by my intervention. As to the vaccine let it remain our personal decision.

It is clearly up to us to decide where and what we are and if we cannot decide then I truly believe in the protecting veil of the Mother of God as so wonderfully evoked in John Tavener’s inspirational piece of music.

An Alpini Chapel

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At the top of Bagni di, Lucca`s volcanic hill providing the thermal waters feeding its baths is the charming hamlet of Colle.

From Colle, a narrow path leads through a grove of holm oaks.

One passes by an old stone cabin which, as two local vineyard keepers informed me, was where the German poet Heine, during his stay at Bagni, used to meet up with his ballerina girlfriend.

One then arrives at a circular building called “Rotonda del Colle”.

On this building is a plaque stating that it marks the site of the former castle of Corsena which was slighted (purposely demolished to put it out of action) by the Florentine army.

After the “Rotonda del Colle” one reaches the Chiesina degli Alpini built-in 1951.

The Alpini mountain infantry regiment with their characteristic black raven cap feather was founded in 1875 to protect the newly unified Italy`s northern alpine borders against the Austro-Hungarian empire.

In the First World War the Alpini distinguished themselves by fighting in an intransigent Alpine terrain of ice and snow. Indeed, to this day, especially with the results of global warming, frozen bodies of soldiers from that war are regularly being uncovered.

The Second World conflict brought even greater hardships (if that is possible) during the disastrous campaign against Russia. Sent to fight in the Caucasian mountains the Alpini found themselves instead in the Don river basin with inappropriate and inadequate equipment. Two Alpini regiments were completely wiped out and of a third only a tenth managed to return.

I had previously visited the little Alpini chapel to attend a service and remember meeting an Alpino who had taken part in that Russian campaign.

Once an Alpino always an Alpino. When soldiers leave active service they do not retire but remain `on leave` to form part of the ceremonial tenth Alpino regiment.

Today the Alpini continue their legendary presence by forming an important part of peacekeeping forces in such disturbed places as Afghanistan and the Middle East.

On the chapel, I noted a plaque with the Alpini prayer written by colonel Gennaro Soro and sent in a letter to his mother in 1935.

Here my translation of this prayer which is recited when Alpini gets together to socialize and commemorate their glorious history.

`On bare rocks, on perennial glaciers, on every crag of the Alps where providence has placed us as a faithful defence of our country, we, purified by dangerously fulfilled duty, raise our souls to You, O Lord, who protects our mothers, our wives, our distant children and brothers, and help us to be worthy of the glories of our ancestors.

Almighty God, who governs all elements, save us, armed as we are with faith and love. Save us from the relentless frost, from the whirlwinds of storms and the force of avalanches. Let our footrest safely on vertiginous crests, on precipitous mountain walls, on insidious crevasses. Make our weapons strong against anyone who threatens our homeland, our Flag, our millenary Christian civilization.

And You, Mother of God, whiter than snow, You who have known and experienced every suffering and every sacrifice of all fallen Alpini, you who know and gather every yearning and every hope of all the Alpini alive and in arms, bless and smile on our battalions and our groups. Amen.`

It was a lovely day for my walk; the peaceful atmosphere, the scattering of woodland flowers, the singing of the birds created a perfect haven for remembering those Alpini soldiers who have done so much to help preserve the peace of the troubled world we live in.

Infernal Snows

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Yesterday it was water, water everywhere and nor any drop to drink! But we were not stuck in the Sargasso Sea surrounded by slimy things that crawled with legs upon the slimy sea. With all the rain and sleet we’ve been having Longoio suffered a burst aqueduct pipe and so we had to fill up our bottles from the local spring. Fortunately Gaia, our water company, proved very efficient and after some drilling the burst pipe was located and duly mended.

In the meanwhile I decided on a morning ride with just a sprinkling of rain to have a look at the snows which have fallen over our local mountains-

The otherwise very green Prato Fiorito, the haunt of Sabbath witches and the graveyard, through its landslides, of at least one village in the past, looked very snowy indeed.

My replacement scooter, this time a Honda after the old Aprilia Scarabeo had finally given up the ghost, managed the watery roads rather well.

The Refubbri river, normally so placid, had turned into a raging torrent with some spectacular waterfalls appearing.

There was a slight hint of sunshine this morning but who wants to go out in this weather now? I’m told that Abetone, our nearest ski centre just under an hour’s drive (or scoot…) away, has received another half metre of snow but regrettably ski centres throughout Italy are still closed as a result of the health emergency.

Which brings me to a very confusing linguistic point. The Italian government is now talking about its ‘recovery plan’, after the pandemic has finally gone away. It uses the term written in English. However, there is a similar sounding word in Italian, ‘ricoveri’, which translates as ‘hospital admissions’ – quite the opposite of the English ‘recovery’. So I never quite know when the news is good i.e. the ‘recovery plan’ is receiving increased funding, or whether the news is bad the ‘ricoveri’ are ever increasing!

I just wish Italians would be prouder of their beautiful language instead of importing foreign terms all the time into news items in the mistaken opinion that these have somehow more ‘authority’. Yes, they use that English word as well instead of saying ‘autorità’. This year it’s the seven hundredth anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death. The ‘sommo poeta’, who laid down the guiding principles of the Italian language, would surely not have approved. Of course, there’s nothing very funny about the ‘Divine Comedy’ especially when Dante finds himself in the Inferno (now I am using Italian when I should say ‘hell’…but the brits have appropriated themselves in revenge of an Italian word to better describe certain ghastly conditions – like the one the world finds itself in right now). The word ‘comedy’ is used here to mean that Dante is writing in the low ‘vulgar’ or ‘comic’’ language of Italian instead of the high ‘tragic’ classical language of Latin.

The term ‘comedy’ can also mean that this wonderful poem, perhaps the greatest literary work produced in western civilization according to T. S. Eliot (who placed its themes of universality even above those of Shakespeare’s plays) does not, indeed, have a tragic end but rather culminates in that last line expressing the transcendental joy of the love that moves the sun and the other stars:

‘l’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.’

It is this line, and other quotes from Dante, which Lucca has sensibly turned into festive decorations for its city as these photos taken by a friend demonstrate.

Now that leads me to consider that my mum had a Dante exquisitely illustrated by John Flaxman, the neo-classical artist.  I wonder where that volume is now.

(Dante meets Beatrice)

 

 

Of Vines and Olives

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It’s not been the easiest of times for us two – indeed for all of us; a personal health crisis at the start of the year merged with the world health crisis brought by covid19. Even more disturbing is how time’s winged chariot seems to be pulled by ever faster steeds.

Difficulties in getting back to Italy have meant that we don’t have very much to show for in our field. Yet there are two crops which will ever survive – two items which sum up so much of Italy for me: grapes and olives.

Our vines climbing up the annexe to our house have been truly prodigious this year. Yet we have just been picking on them as a sort of dessert: we’ve never gone into wine-making although we have contributed to friends’ vendemmie (grape harvests).

When I was a kid and had already been on a couple of trips from the UK to Italy I tried to find the main reason why two European countries could have such differences between them. I suddenly blurted out ‘Italy has wine!’ ‘That’s right’, confirmed my mum. Of course, today England has some good vine growing areas particularly in Kent and Sussex but my childhood revelation continues to have some truth in it. Wine remains an essential tradition of Italian life in the way that it is not in the UK.

As for Olives several of those saplings I first planted in our field over ten years have matured into fine trees and carry their fruit with abundance this year. This is particularly heartening as it needs ten kilos of olives to produce one litre of oil.What more could one wish to have: a deep blue sky and truly warm sun around mid-day and one’s own little supply of olive trees while all around the warmth of late autumn colours embrace and the lenticular clouds above fascinate with their patterns.

It takes very little to make one happy in this world. Truly the best things in life are free – or rather they are impregnated with freedom, far away from those horrible restraints that the world (and oneself) is constantly trying to impose upon life’s essential being, particularly during this year. Liberty is there, truly, for the gathering, for the choosing….

It’s that time again in our part of the world: olive-picking time. In Longoio we are near the top height for growing olives (and vines) – 1750 feet. This year at least we’ve got something worth picking in our miniscule grove of twenty-odd trees.

If those of you living in northern climes think all this is irrelevant think again. There are now olive groves in southern England (see http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-18551076 ) and, indeed, some London streets are lined with them (ever been down Islington’s Fife terrace?). Whether the fruit will be as succulent as that coming from the deep south of Europe is another matter of course…

Plant you own little olive tree and wait and see. The olive is a sacred tree redolent of peace and harmony and everything that can be said to be positive in our disquieting times. We’ll be back during the following weeks to collecting the fruit from this sacred tree whose oil was used to anoint kings and athletes in ancient Greece and which remains holy to this day for so many of life’s ceremonies.

Bagni di Lucca’s Doctor Vito with ‘A Space for You’.

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The animal medical centre at Ponte dell’Ania where I have taken stray cats for free neutering, has moved to Gallicano and its former premises are now a centre for alternative and holistic medicine.

The centre is called ‘Uno spazio per te’ (a space for you) and this is its programme for 2020:

A couple of evenings ago we attended a seminar on psychosomatic medicine given by our family doctor and iconic Bagni di Lucca personality Doctor Vito Valentino

Vito combines learning with fun and vividness. His talks are almost like theatrical monologues and he manages to make his audience easily aware of things they might not even have considered.

Psychosomatic medicine has been around since at least ancient Greek times and the saying ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body’ encapsulates the essence of what it’s all about. The problem today is that with all its specialisms the field of medicine has become so dissected that doctors of physical treatment may ignore the knowledge of psychological therapies and vice versa. In fact, all states of health and well-being depend on a complex interaction between mind and body. To give a very basic example: walking is encouraged as a means of improving both psychic and physical health. Too many people today just don’t do enough walking. Since taking this aspect of our well-being more vitally I have tried to keep up my daily intake to a minimum of ten thousand paces using my phone’s pedometer app to monitor this. I have found that my own periods of feeling low seem to coincide with those days where I am just ‘lying about’ and do a minimum of steps. Of course, this also adds a physical aspect in that one accumulates weight and most of us get somewhat upset when we pile on our kilos!

Vito clearly distinguished between external and internal self. Our external self is what everyone else notes about us: our appearance and our behaviour. This become public property and in many cases almost depersonalises us since in so many social situations we only act out our interaction with others using a constructed persona. Furthermore, we may even become intimidated by the apparent ‘possession’ of others into our private person.

The truly private ‘self’ is our interior being which no-one but us can have any really deep knowledge of. Indeed, we often become very upset when others create an image of our inner self which is at complete variance to the one we know and believe to be ourselves. It’s here that the trouble starts. When the inner self becomes confused with the outer self then personality disorders really start forming themselves. Only if one has complete faith in one’s own inner being can one vanquish those daemons of the outer world – daemons which can be embodied by people who, through their own delights or, rather, their insufficiencies, enjoy placing their fabricated image of our inner selves tormenting us no end.

This aspect is, of course, well represented in ‘natural’ cultures i.e. those societies which have not entirely capitulated to western concepts of economic prosperity, artificial reality, somatic pharmaceuticals and psychological pseudo-jargon. The witch-doctor may release a person from possession by the soul of another as equally entrap that person into an image of their inner selves completely at odds from the  one they truly know to be themselves.

This situation happened to me in an instance when a particular person did, indeed, attempt to ‘possess’ me. The physiological effect of this was to make me suffer a painful attack of shingles – an event which re-occurred until I had rid myself of the ‘possessed’ spirit – one of the closest situations I have ever had of experiencing powerful psychosomatic symptoms.

Vito illustrated his talk with various objects, including a set of spheres, and interspersed his ideas with a variety of points one of which relates to a Native American tribe who were wondering whether it was going to be a hard winter or not. They consulted the wise man of the mountains who said that indeed it was going to be one of the hardest winters on record, upon which they went to the forest and started chopping down loads of trees for firewood. Later on they returned to the wise man of the mountains and asked him ‘are you still sure it’s going to be a very severe winter?’ ‘Yes it is’ he answered. ‘But how do you know?’ ‘Because when I look down on the forest I see lots of people manically felling trees for firewood…’

To one side of the chair where Doctor Vito sat was a notice proclaiming: ‘Vis Sanatrix Naturae’, meaning ‘the healing strength of nature.’ I’m sure that Wordsworth had this in mind when he penned those immortal lines:

Let Nature be your teacher…

 One impulse from a vernal wood

May teach you more of man,

Of moral evil and of good,

Than all the sages can.

 

There are many other activities covering a panoply of themes listed on the centre’s programme.

For further information do consult ‘Uno spazio per te’ facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/ASD-Uno-Spazio-per-Te-155262395135360/

 

Benvenuti!

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We are back in Longoio at last. We were meant to be here in March but something called covid19 came along and we had to miss the bus…or rather the plane. Finally, after various cancellations we managed to get O’Leary to transport us to Pisa. The journey, despite our fears, was quite safe with a whole seat row to ourselves.

Landing in Italy we were immediately set face-to-face, or rather mask-to-mask, with a clearer and more distinctive approach to the health crisis. So many more people, officials and public, were donning masks, hand sanitisers were placed everywhere and public information notices were prominently displayed. I, somehow, felt safer although I think anyone would feel the same after leaving the worst affected borough in London, Brent, with over two thousand deaths so far.

The Italian summer does help. The temperature difference from our place in the UK and our place in Italy approached 20 degrees! Mediterranean cafe society, with its open air arrangement of socially distanced tables and chairs, is a palliative too.

We took the train from Pisa di Bagni di Lucca where our Panda 4 x 4 was parked. Trusty as ever it started, after lying idle for over four months, at the first turn of the ignition. Of course, I had disconnected the battery before leaving Italy in February.

We found our house in very reasonable shape. No major storm had damaged the roof and no surrounding trees were down. Most of our geraniums were again flourishing although the lawn left something to be desired; rain had been lacking.

 

Most important of all we found our quintet of cats, Carlotta, Cheekie, Corneglia, Nerina and our latest arrival Archie in excellent form and still able to remember us! This happy fact was clearly due to the efforts of two friends, one from Guzzano and the other from Longoio, who visited, cuddled and, most importantly, fed our feline family.
It’s been hot, though not intolerably so, since our arrival three weeks ago.

 

However, there has recently been one day when the heavens wreaked their wrath upon over us with the strength of a breached sky-dam: a typical ‘bomba d’acqua’ or water bomb, as they are called here, worryingly reflecting the alterations in weather patterns today. This is what I said about it:

“As I write a terrible storm is pouring its vengeance upon the normally blue skies of an Italian summer. The wind is angry upon the hill our little village is poised. The rain is pelting down at a rattling machine gun rate. It turns in an instance into hail. Hail just when the season is heading towards its warmest holiday patch,’ferragosto August the fifteenth. The whole earth is rumbling continuously. It’s almost like an earthquake (we’ve had a few of those here too…).

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There’s no respite. The soil breaks asunder. The birds and cicadas are no longer heard in this pandemonium of the elements. Like searchlights in a concentration camp flashes of lightning follow the incessant noise reverberating round and round our usually peaceful and verdant valley. If any wonder at the violence of the storm sequence in Vivaldi’s Summer from his ‘Four Seasons’ then here is the proof. The heavens are terrifying. The wind is blowing the branches and transforming them into the hands of supplicating victims begging for mercy. When will it end? When will the catastrophic interlude end?

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When will we have our festive sunny season back? Why now! In an instant the irritated giants whose gnashing scared both the living and the dead have retreated. The clouds are parting to reveal a timid pallid blue and are shedding their menacing dark grey pallour. We can at last see and relive the harmony and the heat of this country’s summer without temerity, without dodging the lighting flashes, without hiding, like our cats, into the comforting folds of a bed. Yes this is Italy: a country that breeds extremes, that justifies them. For for every beam of golden light clearing its way through the azure skies there is the warning of the elements, For every invitation to love and caresses there is the terror of darkness, and violence breeds in the very heart in this land of fables and desires.”

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