Prehistoric Mists

Posted on November 4, 2020 by Francis

We are really looking forwards to a spot of sunshine. For almost a week now our valley has been immersed in thick mist from which the silhouettes of spectral hills occasionally appear.

It’s a bit reminiscent of those pictures one sees of the Colombian rainforest or of the plateau of Roraima, Conan Doyle’s lost world. Will dinosaurs perhaps peer through the vaporous horizon?

Will pterodactyls beat their huge bat-like wings above our heads

or sabre-toothed predators enter our bedroom?

The valley is truly atmospherically locked down here in the Lucchesia. Friends have told us of a similar situation in their part of the area. Indeed much of Italy appears submerged under a vast cloud. Anyway, let’s look towards the end of this week when things should brighten up a bit… I bet there will be a splurge of woodland mushrooms everywhere! There might even be a rainbow bringing promise to our skies like there was last week over our village…

Villa Vrindavana

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Francis

Italy has sometimes been described as a halfway station between northern Europe and the Indian subcontinent. Certainly, geographically both India and Italy have certain broad features in common. They are both peninsulas. They have large mountain ranges defining their northern borders. A long river runs through an extensive alluvial plain below these mountains. A considerable island lies below their feet and both areas have an extensive range of hills going from North to south. Of course, this is a very superficial comparison. Although both the Alps and the Himalayas were formed around the same epoch, the Western ghats and certainly the Deccan plateau are much older rocks geologically than the Apennines.

More constructive is to compare the main religious culture of the two nations. Roman Catholicism with its multiplicity of saints worshipped in their special shrines and, especially, with its religious processions compares favourably with the pantheon of Hindu gods and particularly with the great festivities of Ratha Yatra, or the chariot festival when the temple divinities are taken out of their sacred abode and paraded through the streets on chariots or palanquins. The purpose of the procession is two-fold: to enable excluded persons to view the deity and to bless the area around the religious centre.

Ratha Yatra refers especially to the annual festival at the temple of Jagannath in Puri, Orissa (Odisha) state, India. Here a public procession with deities Jagannath (an avatar of Vishnu the preserver), Balabhadra (his brother), Subhadra (his sister) and Sudarshana Chakra (his weapon) carried on giant chariots (ratha) are hauled by hundreds of devotees through the town’s streets. Indeed the chariots are so massive that the name Jagannath has been transmuted by western culture to mean any large HGV!

Jagannath (right), Balabhadra (left), Subhadra (centre)

I have visited Puri but as a non-Hindu was only able to view the temple from the terrace of a nearby public library. I hope, therefore, as an ‘excluded ‘ one to participate one day in the procession.

Pulling the chariot is also seen as a metaphor for pulling the God-head into oneself. Indeed there are occasions when worshippers have thrown themselves under the wheels of the chariot and immolated themselves by being crushed. There was a recent incident of this happening reported in the Times of India. It was unfortunately an accident: a chariot-hauler, pulling just behind a wheel slipped, lost his footing, fell down and, in the absence of any brakes on the vehicle, met his maker.

The beach at Puri was fabulous. We rented a house near the sea for a whole month. This was my travel companion on that occasion. I wonder where she is now and what the beach looks like now?

Trudi on Puri beach

Today one does not have to venture to India to witness a chariot festival. Thanks to the Indian diaspora and, especially, to Shrila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness who, with just a few books, a bag of cereals and eight dollars, landed in New York in 1965. Within a decade Shrila achieved a widespread following including the likes of George Harrison and, moreover, gathered a great respect among scholars for his exemplary translations of the Puranas and other ancient Sanskrit texts.

Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad

Krishna, Vishnu’s eighth avatar or earthly manifestation, is at the centre of Viareggio’s summer celebration of the Ratha Yatra.

We have enjoyed participating in it on several occasions and have loved the way the festive oriental procession melds in with the Italian religious culture right down to the fine Maremman oxen which pull the chariot.

The oxen, raised on a farm which is part of the Villa Vrindavana, have won several prizes at agricultural shows and it’s lovely to see these animals, once an essential part of Italian country life, back at work again.

Villa Vrindavana, a few kilometres south of Florence in the locality of San Casciano, is a beautiful sixteenth century villa saved from utter neglect by the Hare Krishna community in 1976.

We have been frequent visitors there in the past, especially in the 1980’s when their spiritual leader came across from America. These were truly large gatherings with talks, spiritual exercises and delicious Prasad all held in a giant tent.

That tent has today become a hay store and such heady counter culture activities have quietened down a bit. Instead, there are on offer several interesting courses and sessions on meditation, yoga, herbal medicine and the study of the great Hindu texts. More details can be had on Villa Vrindavana’s web site.

The name Vrindavana comes, of course, from the great religious centre south of Delhi, associated with the childhood of Lord Krishna. Here ISKON have started building the tallest Hindu temple ever, a veritable skyscraper…I prefer to reach for the skies in more modest ways. In particular, in delving through and restoration of my old photos I have come across these of a village religious gathering in Himachal Pradesh I attended in the 1970’s. Instead of being transported on giant chariots or housed within lofty shikaras the God is carried on a palanquin where he (or she) is consulted on important subjects like when will it rain again.

With regard to important subjects I just wish I could have such firm answers regarding who the next POTUS will be….

One thing is sure: Krishna and Christ have more than their similar sound in common: they are both sons of God as they were divinely conceived. Their coming on Earth were both foretold in the relative scriptures. They were both born in humble places, one in a prison cell, the other in a stable. Christ is seen as a shepherd, Krishna as a cowherd. And….most importantly both emphasised love for one another and peace in the world.

(San Cassiano’s big triennial Holy Cross religious procession in 2017)

‘Et tu Brute?’

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Francis

As I wake up to the following gloriously expansive view from my bedroom window with its clear blue Mediterranean sky and autumnally tinged forests it’s easy to momentarily forget that the world is living through some cataclysmic crises: climate change, species extinction, covid-19 for starters, and that so many countries, in addition, are having to face wars whether they be arms or trade ones.

As I write this large areas of our planet are being devastated by fires, by sea level rises, by military destruction and…by a new Kentish lorry park, digging into the idyllic landscape of the North Downs, in preparation for the impending brexit deadline of January first 2021. (To be suggestingly named, according to some wags, the ‘Nigel Farage Memorial Park’).

I just wonder how many New Year’s eve parties will be celebrated at the end of this year what with the strictures imposed by pandemic rules and the growing doubt among believers that what they voted for might have all been a con and that they were sold a pup.

I have sadly come to the view that there is a close relationship between those people who still deny climate change, those who are against any form of vaccination, those who affirm covid-19 is a hoax and those who believe that brexit is the best thing since sliced Hovis. Of course this is not to say that these belief systems completely tally one with the other but there is a far more intense overlap between them than between their opposites.

OK, we have earned the essential privilege, after centuries of feudal oppression and crass totalitarianism, of individual freedom as encapsulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We have evolved considerably from being the huddled masses exemplified in the hierarchical ideology of so many societies – from the caste system in the Indian sub-continent to the class system still prevalent in the British Isles – towards the individualism which has arisen out of it.

However, if we all continued to behave in a highly individual manner as before – refusing to wear face masks in prescribed areas or failing to differentiate our household waste – then many of us will be in the same position as those inhabitants of German towns, just after World War 2 had ended, who were escorted into the remnants of concentration camps to witness their own country’s version of man’s inhumanity to man on a scale never before seen. I doubt there could have been any holocaust deniers left after these visits to their local extermination camp.

Yes, regretfully there’s also a connection, in my mind, between pandemic deniers and holocaust deniers. Perhaps visits to the local intensive care unit (where I was a denizen earlier this year) might be organized to dispel this belief if health restrictions did not permit it.

In Bagni Di Lucca I have come across people who blatantly remain mask-less in the middle of the Saturday morning market. They don’t even seem to carry one on their arms. I just wonder if they ever step into a store for their shopping; shop-keepers would never let them in for they too are subject to hefty fines for breaking anti-virus regulations. Other people have asked me ‘do you know anyone who has died of Covid-19?’ Sadly I do now and tell them so. They still appear to remain unconvinced, however.

The conspiracy theorists spread far and wide into that dark area of persons known as members of Q-anon who apparently are now considerably influencing the forthcoming US elections.

How does one relate to those who believe in these conspiracy theories? Bertrand Russell said that tolerance is necessary in any human relationship. All well and good but then are we to tolerate FGM, Suttee or legalised lethal injections? The other thing Russell said was ‘confirm the veracity of the facts’. That is clearly more difficult to handle and that’s where conspiracy ideology finds an easy way to worm itself into the collective subconsciousness.

Whatever happens in all this mess one thing is clear. Unless British residents in Bagni Di Lucca confirm their residence permission documents, obtain their Italian medical cards, exchange their UK drivers license for an Italian one and ensure their now European-citizenship-less passports are up to date they are going to find that discovering any brexitian benefits will be as difficult as locating the proverbial needle in a haystack. I just hope they will at least wear their ‘mascherine’ (as sanitary masks are called in Italy.)

Or you could sleep your way through all this…

From Power Stations to Hospital Trains in Tuscany

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Francis

This autumn FAI, ( Fondo Ambiente Italiano), the Italian counterpart to England’s National Trust, is organising special openings to several unusual places. In Tuscany thirty five sites from Florence to Livorno and from Lucca to Grossetto, will be open (with booking recommended) to the public.

The places it will be possible to visit include the thermal power plant of Santa Maria Novella station in Florence, a fine example of twentieth-century architecture, the maze of underground passages in the New Fortress of Livorno and the little theatre of Vetriano, in Lucca, the smallest historical public theatre in the world.

There is also a natural monument, the oak of the Checce in Val d’Orcia (also known as the oak of the witches), as well as a train-hospital in Massa used as the set of the ‘English Patient’.

The dates for these special visits are Saturday 17, Sunday 18 October, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October 2020. Booking is recommended as entry is not guaranteed and the locations can only be visited if there are free places left.

Because of an agreement National Trust card holders are admitted free to the sites. Otherwise a minimum contribution of three euros is required (paid by credit card or PayPal). Children under six enter free.

Anti-Covid rules obviously apply: during visits it is mandatory to wear a mask, keep a safe distance and wash your hands often.

Near us at Bagni Di Lucca the following places will be open:

Church of Santa Caterina, Lucca

(Described in my post at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/luccas-baroque-flower-blossoms-anew/)

Oratorio degli Angeli Custodi, Lucca

Little theatre of Vetriano, Pescaglia (Lucca)

San Cassiano di Controne (Lucca)

Village of Vico Pancellorum, Bagni di Lucca

Carlo Niccoli marble sculpture workshops, Carrara

Centoporte Hospital train, Massa

Further details are available including how and where to book at:
https://ilreporter.it/sezioni/eventi/giornate-fai-autunno-2020-toscana-firenze-luoghi-aperti/quote

See you there?

Home Sweet Home

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Francis

Just a bit of catching up now that I’m able to get back to my laptop. In case my blog readers were wondering what happened to me regarding medical matters, the coronarography at San Luca hospital Lucca did not go well. There was too much calcium in the heart arteries and to force one’s way through with a stent would have been tantamount to pushing a passage through a bottle with a very thin glass wall.

I was returned to Castelnuovo hospital and told to prepare for a major operation. I could choose between various hospitals for this to be carried out but chose Careggi hospital in Florence as it has a very good reputation and because I have some relatives who live close by. The ambulance came for me on the 3^rd of January and I was almost immediately wheeled into the operating theatre. It was a very cold evening and the auxiliary staff had to keep warm in an adjoining room when not on duty.

I clearly cannot remember anything about the operation except to be informed, when waking up, that it was completely successful and that I was now fitted with four aortic by-passes and two heart valves. I was wheeled into the intensive care section where I felt like an accessory to that classic film ‘Alien’ since various tubes appeared to emerge from my body, which I could barely move, I remember feeling very thirsty but I was not in any particular pain. I was not very hungry and, indeed, managed to eat just enough of the ‘cibo’ bianco’ (white food i.e. semolina, rice, fruit pulp, ricotta cheese) to keep going.

The hospital staff in all this was absolutely brilliant, even coping with that first night when I felt like I was in some ghastly endless quite nightmarish scenario. Around the third day I received my first visitor, who had to be clad in protective clothing. It was my wife’s Florentine cousin and I was sure glad to meet her! A couple days later I was transported out of intensive care into a ward I recognised as the one I had first been wheeled into when I was ambulanced to Careggi. Here Sandra finally reached me and it was so wonderful to see her again. (I think she must have been more concerned than I was about the whole palaver). It was not long now that my journey back to Castelnuovo Hospital began. Here I stayed in a ward until the doctors decided that I was in a safe enough condition to be discharged.

It’s now a week that I am back home but the tough work begins! Already I’ve had a week of physio with two gym sessions and two cycle ones in good company with three other similarly afflicted patients and supervised by two very efficient lady psychotherapists. Today, it being such a sweet, almost spring-like day, I’ve managed my second walk down to the little local church and also indulged my first session on my laptop keyboard.

I praise the Supreme Being for being where I am and with who I am now. I do feel really lucky and promise I shall regard each new morning that greets me with ever more gratitude.

Liberating Lucca

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Francis

September is the most important month for Lucca; the ‘Luminara’, the great religious procession of the Holy Face commemorates the crucifix, traditionally supposed to have been carved by Nicodemus and bearing Christ’s features. This year the candles adorning the city’s streets were substituted by LEDs to some disappointment. However, attendance and the spectacular fireworks finale were as good as ever. To know more about the Luminara do read my post at:

Lucca by Candle-Light

The other important event commemorated in September is the liberation of the city of Lucca from fascist-nazi oppression. On the fifth of the month Allied forces entered inside the walls of Lucca and, last Sunday, we were privileged to meet one of the soldiers who was a member of the army freeing the city seventy five years ago.

Ivan J. Houston has written about his experiences in “Black Warriors: The Buffalo Soldiers of WWII,” the Second World War’s first Black combat team under the 92nd Infantry. He says of the Lucchesi:

“These were white Italians and we were black Americans, but they made us feel like heroes. We were never treated like that in our own country where we were still second class citizens.”

Ivan was amazed to find that the holiest image of Lucca, the Holy Face, has a black complexion.

We met up at San Giusto di Brancoli and were taken round the fortifications of the German defensive Gothic line. We visited bunkers, tunnels and look-out posts around Monte Pittone.
Ivan Houston’s division arrived in the area of Morianese and Brancoleria on 15 September 1944. The Allies found strong resistance from the Nazis at the entrance to the Serchio valley in the bottleneck created between Monte Pittone and Piaggione, Monte Castellaccio in Aquilea and the Monte dell’Elto in Domazzano, in front of defenses from which the enemy could cross-fire and control all forces entering the valley. These clashes continued until September 19, 1944 when the Allies managed to break through the enemy lines and conquer these strategically placed hills, helping to free Bagni di Lucca.

We returned to San Giusto just in time to welcome Ivan Houston.

We joined the procession to the church where a most moving ceremony took place honouring Houston and remembering all who died in the campaign to free this part of Italy. We were so glad to meet the youthful 95 year old veteran who has since become an icon for afro-americans wishings to progress in the world of business.

The buffet lunch was up to the high standard expected in Italy.

We visited the interesting collection of uniforms, armaments, military equipment and photographs housed in the newly opened museum.

The day was truly memorable and we are thankful we were able to be present in the company of a soldier who fought that we might be free today.

Spectacular Environmental Art at Villa Celle

Posted on September 13, 2019 by Francis

Villa Celle and its grounds contain a gloriously varied display of environmental art – art which is inspired by its surroundings whether by acceptance or rejection. Of course, it might be stated that all art is environmental: those Madonne lining the walls of a gallery once formed the centre of an altarpiece and many statues, in particular, were designed for a grand landscape scene.

For me environmental art also has a ritual dimension; as Stonehenge is both a ritual centre and a supreme sculptural statement, so the Angel of the North transforms itself from an artistic creation into a ritual declaration.

Villa Celle dates back to the 15th century and is located in Santomato, near Pistoia. Starting in the sixties Giuliano Gori, a dynamic entrepreneur from Prato, began to build a rich collection of contemporary art.

Dissatisfied with the traditional way in which works of art are exhibited, and inspired by the museum of Catalan Art in Barcelona and the Venice Biennale, Gori thought about the possibility of creating works of environmental art in the vast area of the villa’s romantic park and transformed it into a laboratory open to artists wishing to create works influenced by nature’s spaces and rhythms.

Gori’s Villa Celle has been described as one of the most evocative collections of contemporary art in Italy and I concur with that statement. The collection is private and is open only by invitation: (see web site at http://www.goricoll.it ). We were privileged to visit it the other day in the company of friends.

The curator led us on a wonderful voyage of discovery through the varied landscapes of the villa’s grounds. The trek, lasting close to four hours, took us through bosky woods, olive groves, wide lawns, dark ravines and past shimmering stretches of water. Round each corner artistic creations sprang up to delight, amaze, bemuse or puzzle us.

Here are some of the installations we saw.

Magdalena’s Abakanowicz’s ‘Katarsis’ (1985):

Daniel Buren’s ‘La cabane éclatée aux 4 salles’ (2005):

Fabrizio Corneli’s ‘Great Extruded’ (1987):

Fusto Melotti’s ‘Theme and variations II’ (1981):

Hidetoshi Nagasawa’s ‘Hyperuranium’ (1996):

Marco Tirelli’s ‘Excelle’ (2009):

Anne and Patrick Poirier’s ‘La Morte de Efialte'(1982):

Robert Morris’ ‘Labyrinth’ (1982):

Robert Morris’ ‘The fallen and the saved’ (2000):

Here are further views of the panoply of environmental art and features in Gori’s estate:

The Villa Celle’s collection is certainly enjoyable and it makes a pleasant change to combine a country walk with an art gallery at the same time!

Led By Donkeys

Posted on May 29, 2019 by Francis

No we’re not talking about the now-disclosed group protesting against the absurdity of the brexitisis plague still afflicting the British Isles. (Hasn’t a vaccine been discovered yet to protect one against this national self-mutilation?)

ledbydonkeys-20190121041938685

There are real donkeys involved in Querceta, the ones with lovely furry ears.

An inordinate amount of rain prevented us from attending the scheduled date of the ‘Palio dei Micci’ at Querceta, one of Tuscany’s major events; a pageantry of mediaeval and renaissance costumes with flag-waving acrobatics from the ‘sbandieratori’ announcing the six-lap race of the ‘micci’, the local dialect term for donkeys. Indeed, the Palio is an elaborate Italian take on the traditional English ‘donkey derby’. Regrettably, the rain almost washed away one full year of preparations and we then could only enjoy the Palio dei micci by viewing the film made by our local station, NOI TV, last year.

Here it is:

https://youtu.be/buhrKZL7WkM

The good news is that the Palio dei Micci was only postponed and it took place the following Sunday from 10.00 with the main race at 16.00.

We managed to catch the tail end of the event and decided that, although the costumes and displays of the various troupes and sbandieratori (flag-wavers) of the various rioni were impressive, it was not quite what we expected from a traditional Italian medieval pageant and palio.

This was because the event was staged in a sports stadium used on other days for football matches and political rallies.

The beauty of mediaeval pageants in Italy is that they take place in a picturesque medieval town setting. Siena’s Palio and Arezzo’s ‘giostra Del Saraceno’ owe their fascination partly because of the historic palaces and mansions surrounding them and the fact that the spectators truly merge with the competitors.

Clearly the inhabitants of Querceta are very proud of their Palio dei Micci but we felt it was very much their event and the somewhat cold setting of the stadium (the weather was also very dull) also didn’t help very much.

However, on another occasion when the sun comes out I’m sure it will please many to attend Tuscany’s own Donkey race.

Where Leonardo Da Vinci was Born

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Francis

For Italy, and for much of the world, this is Leonardo da Vinci’s year – the five hundredth anniversary of the death, as treasured guest of King Francis I at the castle of Amboise, of perhaps the greatest polymath genius the world has known.

Leonardo_self

We had already visited an exhibition on Leonardo’s first teacher, Verrocchio, at Florence’s Strozzi palace, described at https://longoio3.com/2019/05/14/leonardo-da-vincis-first-teacher/ and were keen to revisit his birthplace among the lovely hills of Monte Albano.

Vinci is easily reached from either Florence or Lucca and makes a truly pleasant break on one’s journey between the two cities. The old town is built around the eleventh century castle of the Guidi Counts which contains an excellent collection of models based on the master’s drawings and shows the multiplicity of his interests whether they be directed towards communications (canals, bridges, helicopters and other flying machines) defence (machine guns, tanks, or mechanics (pulleys, gears.)

Of items actually by Leonardo’s hand we came across this beautiful sketch.

landscape-drawing-for-santa-maria-della-neve

It’s the earliest known drawing by him, dated August 5, 1473 and is on loan from Florence’s Uffizi Gallery. It shows the valley of the Arno and Montelupo Castle so well-known to the artist as the scene of his childhood walks and explorations. It also happens to be the first purely landscape drawing of any western artist.

During these walks Leonardo collected a profusion of items from flowers, leaves, fossils, oddly-shaped pieces of wood and animals. One case presents items Leonardo had picked up and which he drew.

The castle’s courtyard has a garden in which a wood sculpture by Mario Ceroli of Leonardo’s celebrated take on Vitruvian man is displayed.

Incidentally, there is another sculpture of Leonardo’s Vitruvian man displayed in London’s Belgrave Square near the Italian Institute of Culture where my wife’s father was Secretary-General.

And here is Leonardo’s original drawing:

the-vitruvian-man

Our museum ticket included admission to the farm-house where Leonardo, an illegitimate child, was brought up by his wet-nurse. It’s a short distance uphill from the town. Here we met the man himself in holographic form reminiscing, at the end of his life at Amboise, on his life and thoughts. Leonardo’s last words were about how much he missed his native hills and his beloved Florence which he would never see again.

For it was in Vinci that Leonardo was baptised at the font of Santa Croce parish church.

Also comprised in our ticket was an exhibition in a nearby aristocratic villa on Leonardo’s paintings. Although no actual pictures from the artist’s hand were on show the reproductions, particularly of his masterpiece of the Last Supper, painted for Milan’s convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, were very well done.

It was truly lovely to be once more enfolded by the beautiful landscape of the Monte Albano hills which were dramatically enhanced by the magnificent clouds these days of tormented meteorological conditions have given us.

Gliding over Tuscany

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Francis

The hobby of a friend in an adjoining village is gliding. In 2010 he was part-owner of a two-seater glider which had the facility of a motor to fly it to a required height where it could catch the thermals necessary for a satisfactory flight path.

The glider was housed in a hangar at a gliding club in Valdera which is south of Pisa. This is a good place since it avoids the difficult and restricted area around the Galileo Galilei airport.

I had never been on a glider before and was slightly hesitant at first. I need not have worried. At least, if anything went wrong with the glider there was a lever operating a giant parachute: something not available in one’s standard airline flight!

The silence of traversing some of the most beautiful landscapes of central Italy was awesome. A giant map unravelled itself below us, It was Google earth in real-time!

We flew over Montecatini (the one in Maremma), the area round Volterra and the Etruscan coast.

One of the highlights was gliding over Siena’s main square, the Campo. I could see distinctly the humans below having their caffè and children playing in the streets of this beautiful town.

Since that time the friend has graduated to other forms of gliding with or without motor, whether it is petrol or electric. As an electronics engineer he has also developed a special glider control panel.

However, I shall always remember that glider flight taken in May 2010 as a clear highlight of my time in Italy.

Here are some photos I took of that flight.

Recognize Siena and its campo where the famous Palio horse race is run?