Lo Scoppio del Carro - The Explosion of the Cart!

I have a confession to make. I had never seen the Explosion of the Cart. However my husband had never seen it either, and he is Florentine! It is an important traditional event from long ago, however, so I feel it is appropriate to discuss it in more detail on our blog. It is not that I didn’t want to go, it is just that it seems as if I am always out of town on Easter morning, when the festivities take place in front of the main church in town, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

The reason for this is because usually on Easter, when the first rays of sunlight start peaking through the clouds for longer periods of time, people get an urge to get out of town. They go to the seaside or take advantage of the long Easter weekend to travel (the day after Easter is a holiday here as well). This is what we have always done. In fact there is a proverb which says, “Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi!”. Loosely translated it means, “Christmas with your relatives and Easter with who you want.” We often go to our favorite seaside town, Cecina, and stay with friends.

So here I am on Easter morning, actually in Florence, looking at the rain lightly drizzling down on my terracotta tile terrace. I said to myself, “If it stops before 10.30, I will hop on my bike and ride down to the Duomo and experience firsthand this morning’s festivities!” Well, the rain stopped!

So why an explosion of a cart? It is symbolic. The cart represents Jesus Christ’s tomb. With the main doors of the Cathedral and the Baptistery open, a dove shaped rocket is sent off by the Florentine Archbishop from the main altar within the Cathedral, lit from a special holy shard. The Dove represents the Holy Trinity (God, the Father and the Holy Spirit). The cart then explodes - with fireworks, smoke, buzzing, ringing, and the sound of church bells. It is the celebration of Christ’s re-birth. If there are no hang-ups it means it will be a good harvest year.

Before the explosion there is a procession with the cart through the city streets with priests, city officials, music and flag bearers. White oxen are all decked out in flowers to lead the 18^th century wooden cart (affectionately called il Brindellone) from its home base, through various squares and in front of the town hall before it is eventually placed between the Cathedral and the Baptistery.

This tradition began in the far off year of 1099 during the First Crusade. Legend says a Florentine, Pazzino de’ Pazzi was the first to scale the walls of the Holy city and in thanks was given three shards from the Holy Sepulcher. When he returned to Florence he donated them to the city and they are now carefully guarded in the church of SS Apostoli. In the beginning people would gather on Saturday before Easter and be presented holy fire lit from these shards, which was a symbol of purification. The celebration evolved in time into what we see today (and at one point the cart burned down so now we have a rather new one, built in 1764)!

   

As I was heading back home after the event, I overheard two Americans speaking to each other, “who would have ever thought… fireworks for the resurrection of Jesus… in the morning even…now that is just too cool!”

Here is a very short video clip which I made. There were so many people I couldn't get close enough to actually see the fireworks on the cart. If anyone has had the opportunity to see the Scoppio del Carro, send us your comments!  I hope you enjoyed a Buona Pasqua.

Spring, it's time to look after Officinal Herbs!

Last winter I took an evening class about herbal medicine with a group of women. We learned an enormous amount regarding officinal herbs and had lots of fun in preparing hand creams, lotions, herbal teas and syrups. We created a variety of preparations especially useful in the winter months when it is easy to get a cold, cough and when skin gets drier than normal etc. In a laboratory we made: “nose drops” (niaouli and olive oil), a fantastic “mallow syrup” good for chronic bronchitis and whooping cough (eucalyptus, mallow, primule, sage, sugar),

a marvelous “hand cream” (almond oil, rose water, e.o. of lemon, beeswax).

If you wish to have soft skin and be radiant like a baby, try this inexpensive “beauty mask”: wisk one spoon of almond oil, honey and rose flowers in a glass and then gentle put on your face for 20 minutes. Rinse off the mask with water and look up at the result!

To celebrate the spring and the end of the course, last weekend we all went out into the countryside to search for the herbs we had studied in class. We found a number of them - wild rose, hawthorn, wild plum tree, lemon balm, dandelion, pulmonaria, equisetum, etc. After a healthy meal of nettle soup and vegetable soufflé we created a herbarium (like the one in the photo).

In my opinion, one of the most interesting plants which we found and also very appropriate since we are celebrating the week of Christ’s Passion, is the so called Christ’s thorn-bush. I’ve seen this variety in Puglia with its green leaves but this time the flower was barren and despite its evident long thorns I could not recognize it. In fact the distinctive name comes from branches of this tree which were used as a crown for Jesus Christ.

This is what it is interesting about vegetation - the same plant at different time, altitude, and soil can be difficult to identity - if one doesn’t have a trained eye on a keen lookout for the entire year!

A country walk from Montepulciano to Pienza

Trail sign

San Biagio

Spring has finally arrived to this part of the world! In addition to visiting the delightful gardens located within Florence’s city limits, as Angelica wrote in last weeks post, it now feels like the time to organize day trips out of town. It is time to take a trip “fuori porta” as the Italians like to say, literally outside the door! Recently my family and some friends got up early on a Sunday morning and headed to my favorite part of Tuscany, the area south of Siena.
After arriving in the hilltop town of Montepulciano and having a cappuccino to get us charged, we laced up our hiking boots and went on a country walk from this town to Pienza, about 14 kilometers away. I say a “country walk” rather than a “hike” because it is an easy trail on mixed terrain which begins on an asphalt road on the outskirts of Montepulciano. We started our walk from the very famous and harmonious Renaissance sanctuary of San Biagio by Antonio da Sangallo, continuing on a dirt road through the protected area of the Orcia Valley. We even brought little Alessandro, who quite enjoyed the day in a borrowed off-road stroller and later on took in the views from atop my friends' shoulders.

Country road

Monticchiello gate

After meandering a bit up and down along a country dirt road dotted with farmhouses, olive tress and vineyards through this UNESCO protected landscape we arrived in the small village of Monticchiello. Here we ditched our packed sandwiches and opted for a delicious lunch at Osteria La Porta, where we dined on fresh pici pasta, cured hams and salamis, and local pecorino cheese. Of course these courses were washed down with a few glasses of a very good sangiovese based house red wine! 

Osteria La Porta

 While my husband back-tracked his steps to retrieve the car my friends and I continued our walk, through picturesque lanes with rolling wheat fields and cypress trees UP to another historically important town, Pienza. Here we walked in through one city gate and out through the other. Strolling through the town we were able to soak up the utopian atmosphere of a planned Renaissance city. Pienza was totally remodeled in the 15^th century by Pope Pius II by the architect Bernardo Rossellino. The elegance, balance and harmony of the architecture blend together with the surrounding countryside. Rossellino worked on the major buildings under the theoretical guidance of Leon Battista Alberti.  Enjoy a few photos from the day and more on the magnificent town of Pienza in a future post!

Friends

Countryside

It’s Springtime....

“It’s Springtime wake up little girls…,” this is the beginning of a cheerful olden Florentine tune which at one time was sung by boys courting girls to marry.

What is more appropriate in Florence, the town of Flowers, than a visit to a garden?

There are many gardens in town in addition to famous one at Boboli. The Orto Botanico - next to the University in San Marco - was created to study live medicinal plants in 16th century. Even if you are not able to get in you can see it by walking down Via La Marmora. Villa Gamberaia is located on the hill going to the town of Settignano, visited also by landscape architects. Villa i Tatti, visited on request, has a variety of flowers in a small spot which is so unique. There is also the Rose Garden, Villa Pratolino, the Garden of Stefano Bardini, and in a short time the Iris Garden. There is even the annual flower show at the end of April in Giardino dell’Orticoltura.

The most curious of all of them is the Iris Garden, open only in May. It contains a collection of more that 2,500 varieties of iris. Imagine a palette of bright colors on a splendid sunny day in an olive grove on the slopes of the Piazzale Michelangelo hill overlooking the town below. The Iris – similar in shape to a lily - is the emblem of Florence and is on its coat of arms. In fact this flower grows naturally in the surrounding countryside, in the hills along the dry terraced walls near olives. Since ancient days it has been cultivated in the nearby town of San Polo in Chianti and has been used in perfumes, soaps, and essential oils. Most of the historical pharmacies in town sell: Profumo al giaggiolo or acqua di Firenze!

It is so important, this flower, that every year at the end of May the town has a worldwide competition and elects the most beautiful Iris of the year … and just think it takes three years to be able to see the result of a new hybridization!!

Have a scent of giaggiolo in Town !