The Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta on the road from Pienza to San Quirico d'Orcia

In 2001 I came to live in Italy. I had some fun, wrote a journal and this is the blog of my story...

"Tuscany is a state of grace. The countryside is so lovingly designed that the eye sweeps the mountains and valleys without stumbling over a single stone. The lilt of the rolling green hills, the upsurging cypresses, the terraces sculptured by generations that have handled the rocks with skillful tenderness, the fields geometrically juxtaposed as though drawn by a draughtsman for beauty as well as productivity; the battlements of castles on the hills, their tall towers standing grey-blue and golden tan among the forest of trees, the air of such clarity that every sod of earth stands out in such dazzling detail. The fields ripening with barley and oats, beans and beets. The grape-heavy vines espaliered between the horizontal branches of silver-green olive trees, composing orchards of webbed design, rich in intimation of wine, olive oil and lacy-leaf poetry. Tuscany untied the knots in a man's intestines, wiped out the ills of the world. Italy is the garden of Europe, Tuscany is the garden of Italy, Florence is the flower of Tuscany." Irving Stone from my favourite book " The Agony and the Ecstacy" A fictional biography of Michelangelo



113. Fiorentina vs Cagliari

Somewhat of a football weekend starts here as Cagliari are paying their visit to Florence's Artemio Franchi stadium. I'm going to witness my first competitive football match in Florence (the match I saw last year was only a friendly) Fiorentian now have their old name back and have been reinstated in serie B (the second division). This season they're doing ok, about mid-table and I've chosen to come and see ny old 'Chelsea' favourite, Gianfranco Zola. He has gone back to finish his career in his home town of Sardegna.

I ease my way into the 'curva ferrovia', the station end of the stadium along with all the 'ultra', the crazy hometown fans and enjoy a very entertaining match. The customary purple and red flares begin the game and the stadium looks pretty full.

Zola is somewhat frustrated all evening, only a few touches of the old magic that graced Stamford bridge for 7 seasons. The Fiorentina defense is playing him really tightly. Fiorentina's 'bomba' centre forward, Rigano scores a wonderful overhead goal early on, which gets the crowd singing. They unfurl a huge banner that says something like 'We welcome you in your own dialect - ba ba ba!' refering to the large sheep population of Sardinia! The first half finishes 1-0 to the Viola, with midfielder Enrico Fanti impressing.



In the second half Rigano scores from the penalty spot to make it 2-0. Cagliari then score a goal to make it 2-1 and have another disallowed as Fiorentina hang on for a 2-1 win.

Forza Viola!

(Original journal entry 16/1/04)
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