Posts in May 2009

Gli Scorpioni in Italia

Posted by Serena
May
31
2009

I remember when I was a child seeing a film, set in the desert of North Africa, in which a man was stung by a deadly scorpion which was hiding in one of his boots. Che impressione! (how frightening) for a long time after seeing that film I always used to bang and shake my shoes before putting them on in the morning. But were my fears justified, do scorpions live in Italy?

Ma si’, ce ne sono tanti! (yes, there are loads). Euscorpius, the species that inhabits the Italian peninsula, is not the deadly monster found in Africa, yet neither is it the most pleasant of visitors to have in one’s house. Lots of beautiful things arrive with the hot weather, but try as I might I am unable to find any beauty in gli scorpioni. Descriptive words that come readily to mind are schifo, and brutto, and yet at the same time lo scorpione elicits both a primeval fear and a strange kind of fascination.

Like many things that we have a slightly irrational fear of, it often helps to informarsi meglio (better inform oneself) and therefore make a better judgment about whether our fears are well founded or not.

In fact the much feared scorpione turns out to be even more terrified of humans than we are of it, and only punge (stings) in very rare cases, such as if it is cornered, grabbed by hand, or trodden on with bare feet. The sting of the Italian scorpion, however, is not velenoso (poisonous), and can be compared in strength with a bee sting. Lo scorpione is a timid creatura notturna (nocturnal creature), avoiding the light but at the same time loving the heat. We often find one skulking under our zerbino (doormat), or under a rock on the orto (vegetable garden) where they hide from the glare of the sun. During the night however, they scurry out of their hiding places and explore their territory, hunting for zanzare, mosche, e scarafaggi (mosquitoes, flies, and cockroaches) which they catch with their chele (claws).

During our first summer in our Tuscan house, which we converted from an old fienile (barn), we used to find one or two scorpioni every evening trying uselessly to camouflage their black carapaces against our lovely whitewashed walls. When they are caught like this out in the open they seem to get paralyzed with fear into their classic defensive position, with legs pulled in, chele extended, and that nasty looking tail curled up above their back ready to strike. However, their preference is not to fight, but to run away and hide. How sensible of them! With the passing of time gli scorpioni seem to have learnt that this is no longer an old barn but casa nostra (our house), and having been unceremoniously chucked out of the window several times have decided to take up residence elsewhere. The most interesting place that we ever found a scorpione was inside the washing machine! Don’t ask me how it got there.

If you are desperate to see some pictures of Euscorpius have a look here: Gli Scorpioni in Italia

 
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I Vivai di Pistoia

Posted by Serena
May
28
2009
Pistoia is probably one of the old Tuscan towns least visited by tourists, largely because of its rather industrial setting. However, the few intrepid, or ‘accidental’ tourists who penetrate the ‘cement jungle’ of the periphery, including the extremely misguided attempts at ‘modern’ architecture which my mother described on a recent visit as “una grande schifezza”, will find an historic centre that is almost perfectly intact. Behind it’s medieval walls lie some fine, but rarely viewed examples of Pisan and Florentine art, reflecting Pistoia’s position between these two great rivals.

Pistoia has a long and interesting history, which I will spare you in this blog, but you may be interested to learn why the name Pistoia has a slightly familiar ring to it: Pistoia is the town that gave us the word ‘pistol’. Originally surgical knives were manufactured there, then daggers, and finally in the 16th century pistols. Today it specializes in trains and vivai (plant nurseries), and anyone who has traveled along the A11 autostrada between Pisa or Lucca and Florence will have marveled at the seemingly endless fields of miniature cypresses, olives, pines, and a myriad other ornamental shrubs and flowers. In fact this zone is Italy’s most extensive area of vivai.

Many of the vivai operate on an industrial scale, catering for larger contracts, but some of the smaller ones are open to the general public, and you can pop round to buy a couple of gerani (geraniums), un vaso di basilico o prezzemolo (a pot of basil or parsley), or even perhaps una palma (a palm tree).

If you regularly read my blogs you will know that we are keen gardeners, unfortunately however Lunigiana, the area where we live, isn’t noted for it’s ornamental plants. In fact the local motto could well be “se non lo si puo’ mangiare, non vale la pena coltivarlo” (“if you can’t eat it, it’s not worth growing”). So for us, a day trip to the vivai di Pistoia (the nurseries of Pistoia) was like taking a couple of kids to Disneyland. We do of course have an orto (vegetable garden) which provides us with our fresh pomodori, cipolle, aglio, zucchine, carciofi, bietole, patate, melanzane, e cosi’ via (tomatoes, onions, garlic, courgettes/zucchini, globe artichokes, leaf beat, potatoes, aubergines/egg plants, and so on). But we also have our ‘giardino d’amore’ (garden of love), as our neighbor mockingly likes to call it (ma non c’e’ niente di mangiare!), and in order to develop it, and in particular our custom built ‘block the nosy neighbors’ hedge, we need plants that we can’t get in this neck of the woods.

Not many shopping experiences can give so much pleasure for so little expense. In fact even if we had spent nothing and come away empty handed (apart from a few leaves of sage and mint that just happened to come off in my mother’s hands) we would have been quite content. A warm sunny day spent strolling amongst rows of brightly colored multi-formed plants, bathed in a stream of almost narcotic scents, the pungent flavor of gelsomino, caprifoglio e rose (jasmine honeysuckle and roses), what more could one ask?

So what did we buy? well, three lovely bushes for our ‘anti-neighbor’ hedge: un oleandro (an oleander), un lauro ceraso (a waxed laurel), and un pinco pallino (a flapdoodle, i.e. we can’t remember the name of the last one: in Italian we use the fictitious name ‘pinco pallino’ to mean ‘Joe Blogs’ or someone whose name we can’t remember). We also bought three stunning gerani for the wooden plant trough that my husband made, and elicriso (curry plant). And we still had change from 40 euros!

By the way, if you are interested in finding out about Pistoia, and what it has to offer, have a look at the following web sites for a start, the first is in Italian and the second is English: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistoia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistoia 

 

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Lucca: Villa and Palazzo Guinigi

Posted by Serena
May
25
2009

A couple of weeks ago we went to my hometown, Lucca, to visit my parents, and while we were there we decided to take the opportunity to visit one of Lucca’s many historic buildings. We opted for the Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi (National Museum of Villa Guinigi), which we hadn’t been to for many years, and I must say that it was an extremely pleasant rediscovery, not least because it was very quiet and tranquil after our previous day’s frenetic visit to Firenze, in fact we were the only visitors! The Museum houses artifacts ranging from the prehistoric to the late Roman period, and a collection of art works dating from the Middle Ages (Romanesque, Gothic and early Renaissance periods), up to the 18th century. These works were all created either by local artists or by artists who worked in Lucca, and they have been gathered from churches, palaces and private collections. Amongst others there are works by Jacopo della Quercia, Donatello, Matteo Civitali, Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, Guido Reni, and Giorgio Vasari. Of particular interest are the fine works in inlaid wood by Cristoforo Canozzi da Lendinara (15th century), which were originally the doors of a cupboard from the sacristy in Lucca’s Cathedral. These multi-colored intarsi (marquetries) are a kind of trompe-l’oeil of views from various Lucchese windows depicting the town as it appeared in the 15th century.

The Museum is housed in Villa Guinigi, the house that Paolo Guinigi, Lord of Lucca, ordered built for himself at the beginning of the 15th century outside the town walls. The villa was intended as a ‘country’ alternative to their town dwelling, the Palazzo Guinigi, in Lucca. Whenever I think of the Villa Guinigi I have this image in my mind of the Guinigi family getting ready to move out to their ‘country house’ for the summer holidays: multitudes of servants covering all the furniture with white dust sheets, packing numerous crates with clothes and personal belongings, everybody getting into the carriages, and finally starting the journey out to the countryside, a journey that lasted probably … less than 10 minutes! In fact Villa Guinigi is situated only about a kilometer from the Guinigi’s town palace! and although it was originally located outside the Medieval town walls, it was later enclosed within the 17th century town walls thus becoming a ‘town house’. This magnificent villa was built in red brick, which was very expensive at the time, and has a portico on the ground floor, and trefoil mullioned  windows, supported by slender white marble columns, on the upper floor. The architectural style of the building is the typical Romanesque-Gothic style, which was fashionable in Lucca at the time.

The same style also characterizes Palazzo Guinigi, the splendid town palace built by Francesco Guinigi, father of Paolo Guinigi. A corner of the building is dominated by an imposing tower, now a symbol of Lucca, standing out as it does against the town skyline, with its crown of lecci (holm-oaks). Our Cicerone (guide) at the museum explained to us that, due to the fact that Lucca is built on a water table, at the time of Paolo Guinigi there were strict laws that prevented the construction of very tall and potentially unstable buildings (like the tower of Pisa for example). To overcome the problem Paolo Guinigi, Lord of Lucca, had trees planted on the top of his tower to make it taller, and thus demonstrate his wealth and power. Tourists who don’t suffer from vertigo can now visit the top of the Torre Guinigi (Guinigi’s Tower) and enjoy spectacular panoramic views of the town, making it well worth the effort of the climb. You can find some photos of the tower here: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_Guinigi 

Buona visita a Lucca!

 
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Parole Onomatopeiche, the solutions, and a poem.

Posted by Serena
May
22
2009

It’s always exciting to launch a little quiz on the internet and wait for the answers to come rolling in, so first of all I’d like to say thanks to the people who replied to Parole Onomatopeiche, well done both of you!

Now for the solutions:

2. Tic… tic…    e’ il ticchettio    dell’orologio    (is the ticking of the clock)

3. Bee…bee…    e’ il belato    della pecora    (is the bleating of the sheep)

4. Sc… sc…    e’ il fruscio    delle foglie al vento    (is the rustling of the leaves in the wind)

5. Tin… tin…    e’ il tintinnio    di un brindisi    (is the chiming of a toast)

6. Trin… trin…    e’ il trillo    del telefono    (is the ringing of the telephone)

7. Sssss… ssss…    e’ il sibilo    del serpente    (is the hissing of the snake)

8. Uuuuu… uuuu…    e’ l’ ululo    del vento rabbioso    (is the howling of the raging wind)

9. Gra… gra…    e’ il gracidio    della rana    (is the croaking of the frog)

10. Gru… gru…    e’ il grugnito    del maiale    (is the grunting of the pig)

11. Frr… frr…    e’ il frinio    della cicala    (is the ‘song’ of the cicada)

 

I bet you didn’t know that Italian sheep go bee… bee… instead of baa… baa… did you?

Although this quiz might seem a bit trivial, having a knowledge of words such as these starts to bring language to life, in other words it moves your vocabulary beyond the practical and prosaic. Which doesn’t mean that you’re going to start writing poetry, simply that your language becomes more descriptive and interesting.

However if you do decide to take up writing poetry in Italian perhaps you can draw some inspiration from the following poem by the Nobel prize winning poet Eugenio Montale.

 

Cigola la carrucola del pozzo,

l’acqua sale alla luce e vi si fonde.

Trema un ricordo nel ricolmo secchio,

nel puro cerchio un’immagine ride.

Accosto il volto a evanescenti labbri:

si deforma il passato, si fa vecchio,

appartiene ad un altro…

                                           Ah che gia’ stride

la ruota, ti ridona all’atro fondo,

visione, una distanza ci divide.

 

The pulley of the well squeaks,

the water rises to the light and merges with it.

A memory trembles in the overflowing bucket,

in the pure circle an images laughs.

I move my face towards vanishing lips:

the past looses its shape, becomes old,

belongs to someone else…

                                   Ah, the wheel

screeches already, it draws you back to the dark bottom,

vision, a distance divides us.

 
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Il Giro d’Italia, part 2

Posted by Serena
May
19
2009

Now don’t start getting the idea that I’m mad about cycling. Well I have got una bici (a bike) in the shed with two flat tires, and it gets an airing once or twice a year. When we lived in a fairly flat region in England we cycled to work, to the shops, and also for leisure. But now we are montanari (mountain people), we’ve got strong leg muscles from all the walking we do, but we hate cycling uphill.

Nevertheless, even if I’m not about to cycle 1000 meters up to the pass, there is no escaping the fact that cycling is una passione (a passion) here in Italy, and so I’d like to mention a couple of curiosita’ ciclistiche (cycling curiosities) from the history of the Giro d’Italia.

 

Una donna al Giro! (A woman in the race!)

The Giro d’Italia is a men’s race, women having been granted their own race, Il Giro Donne (The Women’s Tour), which has taken place every July since 1988 .

However, I recently read an interesting article in an Italian magazine about a female cyclist called Alfonsina Strada (Strada, hmm what an appropriate name) from Emilia Romagna, who in 1924 was accepted as an entrant in the Giro d’Italia. Alfonsina didn’t manage to win any of the tappe (stages, see my previous blog) but did nevertheless beat a lot of the men. You have to remember that 1924 was the era of Fascism in Italy, and for a woman to beat men in a race was not acceptable, so a clause was found to exclude poor Alfonsina from the classification of the competition. She was not however deterred, and carried on to complete all the tappe. Only thirty one of the competitors managed to finish the grueling race: thirty men and one brave woman called Alfonsina Strada.

 

La ‘Maglia Nera’ (The ‘Black Shirt’)

Almost as prestigious as the ‘Maglia Rosa’ (’Pink Shirt’), which is given to the winner of the Giro, was the ‘Maglia Nera’ which was awarded from 1946 until 1951 to the competitor who arrived last!

Luigi Malabrocca wasn’t a great champion, he had won 138 cycling races, 15 of these as a professional cyclist, yet it was for his ability to loose, not to win, for which he became famous! In 1946 and 1947 Malabrocca managed to ‘win’ last place in the Giro d’Italia by using the tactics of wasting time between tappe, hiding behind hedges at the side of the road, spending as much time as possible in bars along the route, and even puncturing his own tires to slow himself down. In 1949 however, his tactics backfired on him when the timekeepers and judges, annoyed and fed up with waiting for him, went home before he arrived at the finishing post and awarded Malabrocca the same general timing as the main body of cyclists. That year the ‘notorious’ ‘Maglia Nera’ went instead to his co-competitor Sante Carollo. From that time  on Malabrocca abandoned his rather singular corsa all’ultimo posto (race for the last place). Malabrocca died at the age of 86 in 2006: for his ultimo viaggio (last journey) his friends dressed him in the ‘Maglia Rossa’ the famous ‘Pink Shirt’ which he’d probably never even dreamed of wearing.

 
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