Thursday after our Italian lesson we traveled on the bus for a couple of hours and made it to Montepulciano. The weather was perfect this day so we walked around the city to stretch our legs. Little did we know, the most recent Twilight movie, New Moon was filmed there. After seeing pictures of the actors in store windows we became curious and one of the townspeople told us they used the main piazza for filming. After seeing the beautiful colors and charming buildings of this city we loaded back on the bus to head to La Foce, where Iris Origo lived and wrote her journal War in Val D’Orcia, which we read for English. In this journal Origo talks of her life in this Italian town during the war. Her and her husband took in 23 children to protect them from the war, and had two of their own. The property was more extravagant than I had pictured with its beautiful gardens and large estate. Seeing the property allowed her stories to come to life. I could see the places where they lived, hide when the Germans came, and where the British and others running hid on their property. The estate was larger than I imagined, and the gardens that filled the yard were beautiful. The views from the rose garden down into the valleys, most of which the Origos owned, were beautiful and would be the first of many amazing views I saw this weekend. Before leaving, we learned that olive oil is made on the property since it is still a working farm. Cooking with olive oil is one of many smart decisions Italians make when cooking. The sun was setting, and after seeing the cemetery where the Origos are buried we loaded up to make it to our hotel. We stayed in a charming hotel in a small town called Pienza on Thursday night. We all went to dinner together after settling into our new rooms, and I chose to get a first course and split a second with Nicole. It’s a good thing I run because this Italian food is too good to not eat, but if I was lazy I would regret eating it all. Before we arrived back to the hotel for the night, Lauren found a new friend in the bus. There was a giant spider, which crawled right up beside Lauren’s face. This moment was a testament to how fearful women can get over bugs. After capturing the entire thing on video and laughing until we cried, everyone went to sleep after a long but productive day.
Friday was used mostly as a driving day to get to the south of Italy. It was about mid day when we stopped for lunch, and when we took the exit to stop I knew I wasn’t in Tuscany anymore. There were honking cars with rude drivers, and I was reminded of northern US. This is interesting because in the United States the people in the south aren’t very rude when they drive, but you get to the big cities in the north and you drive only when you have to. I have been learning about the continuous north south divide of Italy, but this trip gave me a chance to actually see what I had learned in person. The poverty was shown in the condition of building that filled the streets, and while I didn’t want to feel different when I left Central and Northern Italy, I did. When we stopped at the French Palace of Castera, we went to the restrooms. Upon entering they smelled terrible, and when I turned on my water it was brown. This isn’t usual for the north and one of many signs of poverty in the south today. This French palace had a beautiful garden and we walked around it to allowing the blood to flow through our legs once again. It is a fact that I saw some beautiful gardens and some beautiful views this past weekend! This same day I also had Ursala (from the Little Mermaid), or should I say octopus for lunch. I knew I was getting seafood pasta, but I was very proud that I ate such a sea creature that day. After several more hours of alternating between taking notes on the north/south divide in Italy and falling asleep with my ipod, we made it to Matera after dark. The view we got right after we got off the bus made the ride well worth it. Bekah, Sam, Amanda, Lauren and I ate dinner together at a pizzeria where we were happy to be the only Americans and enjoyed good food and good company with one another. For some reason travel makes people tired, even when you nap the whole ride. This made my bed look really nice, in our surprisingly nice hostel. I say that because it was my first time actually staying in a hostel here and our room even had a spiral staircase. This made late night bathroom breaks interesting, but added a charm I wasn’t expecting to get from a hostel.
Saturday we got up and set off early for Aliano. This is a small city where Carlo Levi wrote his famous book Christ Stopped At Eboli. I was anticipating this trip because I just finished writing on Levi’s life in Aliano and what he learned from the children there. When we arrived to Aliano it actually was what I expected. This usually doesn’t happen to me but it was as if what I had read could be understood completely because I was in this place. I was grateful to tour a museum containing pictures of his life, papers from his exile, and paintings he did while in Aliano. We got to see where Carlo lived while in Aliano and view he got from the top of the house was a good one. It was another day filled with amazing views of spectacular mountains. When I think about the time in which Levi was in Aliano, I realize that he could have been one of the luckier of his time. This is because he survived the Holocaust and was exiled to a city he came to fall in love with instead. I am not saying life was easy for him or that the things he saw were easy to take in, but it gives one something to think about. We got a small but charming lunch in Aliano after seeing Carlo Levis grave. He is buried in between two walls and on the ledge of this cemetery. This seems to represent the space he was confined in, but the beauty that was all around him. This same scene is in his painting Lucania 61 which we saw in Matera and it makes you wonder if it is something he knew he wanted before her died. We drove through Stagliano, where Levi also spent some of his time and stopped in Craco. This city was abandoned in 1963 after mud slides came and ruined everything. Everyone was sent away, and today all that remains is ruined homes and buildings. It was very exciting to see it all and I even was allowed to take a Italian roof tile, I just have to get it home now! We returned to Matera Saturday night and saw some of Levi’s painting in an art gallery. It was interesting to see how much he grew as an artist, but also how his style changed when he was put into exile. You wander if it was because his life was shakier or because of the supplies he was limited to. I had another oversized but extremely good dinner that night with Bekah, Sam, and Lauren and after we got good thick Italian hot chocolate. Before dinner, let me add that we got gelato. We were all missing it too much and had been happy to find a place that still had it.
Sunday it was time to get back to Sansepolcro and even though the day wasn’t promised to be outstanding, the one city we did stop in was different than the rest we had seen all weekend. Paestum was the town we stopped in and it was famous for its Greek ruins. I was happy to see some ruins since I haven’t made it to Pompeii or Capri yet. There was a museum we went in first and there were tombs older than biblical stories. This was different than the 15th century Renaissance art I have seen here in Italy. Stopping in Paestum was a great way to finish off the weekend before getting back to Sansepolcro. I got to spend the weekend seeing so many different parts of Italy that I hadn’t seen yet. The places we went gave me a new picture for the country and helped me realize there was so much more to see. As always, it was great to get home and now the week must be a productive one, so when my sister arrives in a week I can enjoy time with her in this gorgeous country! :)
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