All Saints Day

It is finally fall in Italy! In addition to rapidly falling temperatures I also recently got a nice head cold to welcome the change of season. Luckily today and tomorrow I am not scheduled to lead tours. I can rest my rather raspy sounding voice and return it to tip-top shape.

I have been thinking about tombs allot lately. It sounds gruesome but it really isn’t. The reason is probably because there are so many tombs and burial chapels in Italian churches. From the 14^th century until Napoleon reforms at the turn of the 19^th century rich merchants and bankers bought  rights for elaborate burial chapels and exquisitely decorated them inside churches. Another reason I have been thinking about the deceased is that we are approaching the 1^st of November. On my mother’s network I am getting numerous emails discussing upcoming Halloween festivities – get togethers, places to buy pumpkins and discussions about whether or not to organize American style trick or treats (which is something fairly new and not traditionally done here). Whether it is a richly ornate tomb monument or a piece of sugar laden candy, it all relates to a celebration of the deceased.

November 1st is a holiday in Italy. It is called Ognissanti or All Saints Day. Traditionally one goes and puts flowers on graves of deceased relatives - which I am sure my mother-in-law will be doing. For the church it is a time to remember the many Catholic saints and early Christian martyrs.  I am feeling a bit of the mystery of it all. The weather on this damp gray October day may also be adding to my increased personal interest in all of these dead people from long ago. As I lead people into sacred places we admire marble coffins which now hold the skull and bones of the deceased… but these people were at one time living breathing and walking around the streets of Florence.

Ugo (photo: wikepedia)

 The church which has the most famous tomb monuments in Florence is Santa Croce. Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli are buried inside, along with a slew of other people (over 250 tomb slabs in marble originally were on the floor). In fact in the 19^th century Santa Croce assumed the role as the “Pantheon of Italian glory”.  Alluding to Santa Croce in his famous poem, Dei Sepolcri, Ugo Foscolo discusses the value of tombs. He stresses that they are important places for the memory of ‘noble souls and bright intellects’. Foscolo wrote when Napoleon was enacting laws which would eventually take burials outside city walls and create unified tomb spaces. In 1830 Foscolo died in London. One of his final wishes was granted and with much fanfare and ceremony he was transported to his final resting place inside the church of Santa Croce. Foscolo’s poem is too long and complicated to reprint here. However, his desire to ensure that tombs glorify those of the past to those of the present still harks true today.

I think I will continue this “dark” theme and write about other famous tombs which can be found in this church in future posts. Stay tuned…and in the meantime BOO!

- Posted by Elizabeth

Sailing and hiking on long weekend trips: in the Mediterranean

This winter my friend Francesco and I are  planning to develop and organize hiking tours using sailboats along the coast of Tuscany with its Islands and Corsica. 

Seven Islands are part of the Tuscan Archipelago and they all have a very different point of view – each with its own individual history, nature, and geological origins.  Elba Island is the most rich in this sense. There are many interesting sites to be explored here: the Archeological Mine Park, with its many minerals, mined by the Etruscans for centuries and the Mineral Museum to Napoleon's Villa where he was exiled for a few months at the beginning of the 19^th century. There are many wonderful coastal walks and also mountain hikes along the island’s Mount Capanne. One can even cross the entire island in 4 days.

I have been sailing quite a bit in the Mediterranean and I think this is a great way to combine a passion for hiking with a passion with sailing. Especially when the skipper is waiting and cooking on board while one is hiking and exploring the coasts... till I head to the next Island with my sail to the wind!!

- Posted by Angelica

Band music on a Sunday morning

Aren't those hats just great!?

I was waiting for clients yesterday morning in Piazza San Marco when suddenly I heard band music. A group of people in military dress passed by playing trumpets, trombones and other brass instruments. Well I should really say they almost ran by, as it was much faster than a march. Then another group passed by and then another.

What I had happened on was a Tuscan get-together of retired and active Bersaglieri - a special corps of the Italian Army. I guess we can translate the word Bersaglieri as Marksmen. Delegations from various Tuscan towns had convened in Florence on this beautiful sunny fall Sunday morning and were happily racing through town playing their music.

The Bersaglieri are a high mobility light infantry unit famous for their fast past marches. They are also famous for their great hats, which are pushed to one side and are adorned with ornate feathers. They look like they are walking out of a 19^th century photo. These hats are just great! I  decided I needed to find out a little bit more about of this special army corps.

The Bersaglieri military corps indeed was formed in the 19^th century under the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. The feathers (ostrich feathers for officials and capercaillie or wood grouse  feathers for the troops) where originally placed on helmets for sun protection and over the right eye, needed for precise shooting. The elaborate feathers also made individuals hard to distinguish in a group. Throughout the 19^th century they were an elite troop in charge of skirmishing and were also specially trained to serve in the mountains. Modern Bersaglieri have served as part of Multinational forces in places such as Lebanon, Iraq and Somalia. 

- Posted by Elizabeth

This photo is for my father who played HIS trombone in the US Navy