Lee's Tuscan Odyssey: September 2012

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

126. Mugello and scopo del carro (nearly)

Easter Sunday and again it's a beautiful day. As we're now loiving in the city, we decide to check out the traditional explosion of the cart in Piazza Duomo. Our guide book it happens at midday, so at 11.30 we mosey on down to the centre... in Piazza Repubblica we see the cart being wheeled away??? This year apparently they decided to explode it at 11.00am! Doh! Maybe next year then...

So we go back home, pick up the car and head out to the countryside... the Mugello to be exact. An area of outstanding natural beauty to the north of Florence.

We stop at the very pretty Borgo San Lorenzo and carry on to Ruffina. Then we continue on to Contea and stop by the river Sieve for some relaxation on our trusty rug. Then it's back home to munch on some Easter eggs!

(Original journal entry 10/4/04)

125. Omero

Day 2 of our easter holiday and the weather has greatly improved, so much so that we enjoy a couple of hours stretched out on the rug by the river Arno (a 5 minute walk down the road). A perfect pre-qual to our dinner date at a restaurant I've had my eye on for a while. It's in the very fashionable (and expensive) 'Pian di Giuliari' district overlooking Florence...

We arrive in time to see the sunset over the city, beautiful. Annette wins every course, but then it is her birthday! We indulge in a bottle of '99 Summus from Banfi in Montalcino mmm and finish with a stroll up Piazzale Michelangelo.

(Original journal entry 9/4/04)

124. Boticelli and Filippino - Grace and Unrest

Good Friday and the weather isn’t so good, so we decide to check out the Botticelli exhibition down in Palazzo Strozzi.

It marks the 500th anniversary of Filippino, Botticelli’s protégé’s, death. And entitled ‘Grace and unrest’. Grace, for the Platonic ideals that inspired ‘the birth of Venus’ and ‘spring’ . And unrest, for the influence mad monk, Savonarola was to have at the close of the 15th century.

The exhibition brings together nearly 30 of Botticelli’s paintings from galleries and private collectors around the world. Highlights include two panels from the Prado in Madrid, two circular paintings and a detached fresco from the Santa Trinita church in Via Tournabuoni and some superb portraits – a perfect way to spend a wet day...

(Original journal entry 8/4/04)