It is wonderful to live in "Chiantishire"

April 25th is Liberation Day in Italy and is a public holiday. This Friday since we were all free from our obligations of work and school we decided to go out and do something different. We went to Panzano in Chianti, a fraction of Greve in Chianti, on the scenic road from Florence to Siena. It was the day of Festa Della Stagion Bona, the beginning of the "good season" with a procession in historical costumes of the Renaissance, a medieval play and plenty of stands with ready-cooked food. The weather was beautiful. We drove slowly on the road enjoying the magnificent green of Chianti stained by the blue/violet of the irises (one of the most beautiful examples can be seen in the middle of the second collection of photos below) and the red of the poppies, and the soothing music of Loreena McKennitt on our stereo.


In Panzano all the houses were ornamented with red and white flags on their windows, some with stripes, some with Florentine fleurs-de-lis. The narrow streets were full of people waiting for the procession. There were stands of the local artisans and many tables and benches placed in front of the food stands. The main road of the village was going slightly uphill and ending at the Church of Santa Maria (Santa Maria Assunta) (in the picture below). Before the procession the medieval play took place in front of this church and was broadcast through the loudspeakers placed in different places of the village (it was quite loud, actually). Then the procession of people in historical dresses followed by a band started in front of the church, went down to the village piazza and then up the road again to the church. We watched the show that took not more than 15-20 minutes, and after eating some panini and taking some photos, went back to our car.


On the way back to our house we decided to discover where the lake of Castel Ruggero was. It turned out that right behind our house we have an undiscovered (for us, at least) jewel. Walking between the trees you come down to a nice little lake. If we were alone, only me and my husband, we could easily walk down there from our house and pass several hours by the clear water just lying down and reading, or only dreaming...
Today we went for a long walk with our little ones. We went all the way through the forest, then the open fields down to the narrow road that leads to the lake, but had to turn back. Maybe another time we can go until the lake, too....

I wonder..

... whether most of the Italians have 'bought' their driver's licenses from Coop. From the way they are driving, it seems most likely.
... at what time they get up, the mothers that are all 'made up' at 8:30 when they deliver their kids to school.
... why most of the people don't take their jobs seriously, or why they don't look for a job that they could be serious about instead of the one they are doing just for the sake of doing it.
... if a mentally ill person can ever become 'normal' again after a therapy. Someone that I know says that it is possible, and it did happen, but I have my doubts..
... when real spring is coming. I am fed up with rain.
... when my sweety is going to take me to Paris. I have waited long enough! Not that I cannot go alone, or with someone else, but I want to go with him for the first time. OK, we were at the Charles de Gaulle airport this Xmas, but that doesn't count, does it?
...

... why you are reading this post that makes no sense :-P

Can't foresee tomorrow from yesterday

It has been over a month that I had last written something here. When I wanted to visit my blog today, I had to type all the address in the address bar of Firefox since it was so long ago I visited my own page the last time that the address didn't remain in the recently visited sites list..

Everything is fine here. I have been on a business trip to a country that under normal circumstances I wouldn't travel to. It was a change. If it hadn't been for the blister on my foot I would have enjoyed it more ;-)

The weather got crazy in Florence. It is raining extremely much mostly during the night and there is sun during the day... Usually, that is. Otherwise it is dark and cloudy all the day like today.. I don't like this weather. It makes me gloomy.. Sometimes I cannot believe that I survived 10 years in Bergen, where rain was the default background of our days for months...

I got back in touch with many people from the past thanks to Facebook these last weeks. It is so strange.. There is one that I had no contact for nearly 30 years.. And now we are writing to each other as if it was only yesterday our roads have separated. There is so much to write about, so much to catch up. I don't even know why we never met again. We were living in the same city for 10 years before I left the country, but none of us made an effort to find the other one. Not that I didn't wonder what that person was doing all these years, I did. But never did anything significant to find its location. Now, reading all the mails that I receive, I find someone that I would have enjoyed to have by my side as a friend... Anyway, it is never too late. I was complaining that I cannot make new friends any more and all of a sudden I found one in a place where I didn't expect to find it.