Every once in a while I read a book, see a movie, or gaze on a work of art that just rocks my world and reminds me why I’m alive and who I am.
CONVERGENCE
I had one of those moments recently while reading Susanna Kearsley’s latest novel, The Firebird. Something about the convergence of art, history, love and war, connection, and mysterious paranormal phenomena that hint at the unknowable potential of the human mind and our place in the universe, as well as Susanna’s beautifully rendered prose and expert storytelling create that experience for me – like a punch in the gut. Or, more like a flaring of that fire in the belly that drives me to create.
HUMANITY
Something resonates to remind me what I care about, what I believe I’m capable of and why I have always had a persistent, unexplainable desire to create something that reflects upon our fundamental humanity and resonates and connects. A reminder of our common humanity, and something deeper and more mysterious about our interior lives as opposed to our day to day existence which is in so many ways petty and superficial, and raises us up above the banal, pragmatic aspect of our existence. I think this is why art, architecture, music and literature and in some way history, which removes us from the particular and reminds us or gives us some perspective on the general human condition, has this effect on me.
MORE
This line of thinking reminded me of a powerful, award winning, academy-nominated short animated film that I saw when I was doing an intensive screenwriting course at the Vancouver Film School, called “More” made by filmmaker Mark Osborne in 1998.
I wanted to share it, and I managed to find it and link it here. Although the ending is ironic, I can’t help relating to this poor idealistic schmuck and his burning desire to create something “more”, something beautiful that clearly everyone in his dull, monochromatic world desires. And despite the ending, I can’t help believing if more humans acted on that urge, the cumulative effect would render the world an even more colourful, blissful place.
Do you know what I’m talking about? Do you have that feeling? What are the things that inspire you and make the fire in your belly flare?
Recently I occasioned to re-examine a blog post that I’d bookmarked some time ago, two actually. The first, by Kat Latham, and a second, in a guest blog post by Sara Megibow. Both make enlightened and persuasive arguments against detractors of romance fiction, in response to the typical negative feedback fans universally face, making the point that there is nothing inherently “anti-feminist” about romance fiction. Especially the modern variety. Both are worth a read, or a re-read if you’re familiar with them.
Kat makes the valid point that: “Throughout a novel, a heroine’s character arc often involves her struggling with the expectations society has for her as a woman, and it can be heartening to see how others (authors, not characters) confront the issues I face.”
Sara raised these points in rebuttal to those who compare romance to pornography for women:
“I maintain that healthy sex is an important women’s issue. Raising our daughters to have a thorough, healthy, self confident, realistic and safe understanding of their sexuality is important (incidentally, raising ourselves to be healthy sexual adult women is also important and…difficult).
Addressing the way-too-prevalent scars caused by rape, incest and other molestation is an important women’s issue. And having a mouth-watering sexual relationship with one’s husband or partner should be an important women’s issue too. Sexual fulfillment is a part of sexual health, yes? There’s nothing about sex that isn’t political and our brave and luminous authors are tackling these very issues right under the noses of potential readers who would snub them for it?”
BEYOND FITZWILLIAM D’ARCY
I agreed with both Sara’s and Kat’s posts and with most of the commenters, but it was a particular comment by “A. Lady” that prompted me to type a reply. “A Lady” says:
“I agree that the genre has improved in its gender politics, but a couple of things still grate on me. One is that even though the hero doesn’t have to have a personality disorder or be a rapist to be well-matched with the heroine, I do think there is still a preponderance (in historical fiction) [MACS NOTE: not exclusively] of members of the aristocracy or bringands/priates [sic]/warriors of some desccription [sic], which tends to re-inforce the stereotype that the hero needs to be socio-economically well-off or physically active and “tough” in order to be attractive. This is obviously not without exception, but when did you last read a historical romance where the hero was a clergyman with a fairly middle-of-the-road income who likes reading? Emphasising income or physical attractiveness is okay (hey, Jane Austen did it), but it does seem to indicate that there are no other models of masculinity or male attractiveness.”
MODELS OF MASCULINITY
While I’m as guilty of the next girl of swooning over the stoic and socially awkward Mr. Darcy, I have to say that all the feminine stereotypes aside, I think this is one thing romance fiction needs to seriously examine. Fantasies are well and good and serve their purpose, but where contemporary (I mean modern, as opposed to the sub-genre) romance fiction has come a long way toward addressing modern women, their shifting place in society, and issues of real relevance to women today, it pretty much ignores the impact these changes have had on our everyday heroes.
Here’s my comment to Kat Latham’s post:
“This is a great post and I’ve enjoyed the comments/discussion and agreed with all of it. I do want to pipe up here to say that A.Lady’s point about stereotypical heroes is extremely valid and the most important one so far. While heroines have changed a great deal and for the most part kept up with changes in society and mores, heroes definitely have not. I do think they have become more psychologically complex, and in that sense have improved. On the other hand, why can’t we read romance fiction with heroes who are not alpha-types? Is this really all romance readers want or will tolerate? Or are publishers for the most part afraid to deviate from this standard?
TRAPPED IN SOCIAL STEREOTYPES
I try in my own novels to make sure that while the heroes have some traditionally attractive qualities, they are either “fringe” alpha or not alpha at all – exploring characters that are introverted, intellectual, spiritual, insecure or even socially awkward geeks, for example. (Could this be why I’m not published yet, I wonder?) These are more relevant to today’s society, both for women readers and for potential male readers who perhaps can’t relate to romance novels because they CAN’T SEE THEMSELVES ON THE PAGE. Perhaps some of the vocal critics of the genre secretly resent the fact that so many women’s fantasies focus on rare or unrealistic stereotypes for men – ones they themselves don’t meet.
I would also point out that in some ways the world has changed more for women than for men. They are still trapped in their own social stereotypes, with all the attendant expectations to BE alpha, be providers and protectors, keep their weaknesses and feelings closed up, and dealing with that. Unfortunately for men, they don’t have the same dialogue and peer support that women do as they work these things out and renegotiate or even DEMAND that society accept these other, less stereo-typical attributes. Some of their worst detractors are other men, and it’s extremely difficult for men to go against the expectations and limitations of their own “group.” (As an aside I’ll take this opportunity to plug one of my favourite TED Talks.) It take courage to deviate from these expectations, and stereotypes in romance fiction do none of us any favours. We need to give men permission to NOT be alpha, and send that message out to society that they are still valuable and attractive. ALL characters are more attractive if they are strong and self-sufficient and have spunk. They are also more attractive if they are sensitive, caring, expressive of their true feelings and well-groomed. DUH. But we don’t have to distort reality or exclude real human beings in order to satisfy our craving for love stories with happy endings.
REAL MEN VERSUS ROMANCE HEROES
And, in that way I have of unintentionally casting a net and catching all manner of flotsam in it, and afterwards remarking that there appears to be a pattern, I also dog-eared an article from the July 2012 issue of RWR (Romance Writers Report, issued to the organization’s members) by Betsey Prioleau entitled, “Talking the Lady into Love” Tips from Nonfiction.”
“To listen seductively isn’t as simple as it sounds. A man must be all in, mentally and emotionally engaged, and attuned to subtexts and unvoiced feelings.”
This article was meant to provide romance writers with information to help them “amp up a hero’s allure” by providing some hints about the types of language and behavior that succeed in making a heroine think about love (and lust); it also points to some interesting contrasts between real men and romantic heroes.
Without repeating the entire article, for those who are unable to access it for themselves, I’ll summarize the key points. Prioleau argues that a man’s attributes or skills that are most able to seduce a woman include the following:
Men who are engaged and active LISTENERS
Soothing SWEET TALK
Amusing: DROLL, SILLY, ZANY, WITTY banter to make her laugh and relax
ENTERTAIN & INFORM, intelligence, engaging STORYTELLING, witty banter, big ideas
LYRIC: poetry, rhyme, rhythm, music of the soul, mesh of sound and sense (the romance of the singer/songwriter/poet)
Nothing about social status, titles, income, sports cars or biceps.
This list could be looked upon as yet another list of stereotypical attributes which most modern men would fail to measure up to. Certainly many of the men I know would not score so well on these parameters. That was my first reaction to it. But upon further thought, perhaps, if men MUST change to adapt to a new, feminized society, and to establish and strengthen their relationships with women, these are the characteristics that they should augment. We cannot ask modern men to be dukes, Scottish lairds or bucaneers, but maybe we could ask them to cultivate more of these attributes. At least the playing field would be relatively level, and who can complain about that?
“The brain can be the sexiest part of the male anatomy – if the man knows how to spin his smarts and stories with conversational charm.”
And, because why make something simple and short if you can make it convoluted and complex, I have one more piece to this post. Today, a fellow named Jeff has been working on a new patio here at the house, and, like many residents of this island, he is multi-talented. During a brief respite from his heavy excavation work, as he often does, he pulled out his acoustic guitar and sang a few old Dylan and Beatles tunes, belting out the lyrics across the landscape. The number that struck a chord with me today was, “Girl” by John Lennon. Curious, I searched up the lyrics of the song:
Girl, by John Lennon
Is there anybody going to listen to my story
All about the girl who came to stay?
She’s the kind of girl you want so much
It makes you sorry
Still you don’t regret a single day.
Ah girl
Girl
When I think of all the times I’ve tried so hard to leave her
She will turn to me and start to cry;
And she promises the earth to me
And I believe her
After all this time I don’t know why
Ah girl
Girl
She’s the kind of girl who puts you down
When friends are there, you feel a fool.
When you say she’s looking good
She acts as if it’s understood.
She’s cool, ooh, ooh, ooh,
Girl
Girl
Was she told when she was young that pain
Would lead to pleasure?
Did she understand it when they said
That a man must break his back to earn
His day of leisure?
Will she still believe it when he’s dead?
Ah girl
Girl
Curiously, I found the following comment from “Soma” attached to the post, only the most eloquent of the bunch, but telling, I felt. Are there voices we are not hearing because it is “political incorrect” to express these, perfectly valid, feelings?
“Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure? Did she understand it when they said that a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure? Will she still believe it when he’s dead?
To me this is the most profound line John ever wrote. I hear people saying all the time that “it’s a guy’s job” to do this or that, especially to earn all the money, and subtly or not so subtly people are telling girls that if a guy isn’t constantly breaking his back for her temporal well being then he’s not worth being kind to. Then some girls grow up thinking they just have to act sweet when things get rocky and they’ll prolong a relationship where the guy gives her his all. %45 of suicides are by unemployed men between 35-50 (about %2 of the population) because people don’t put any worth on them and then proceed to blame them for it. And there are many more deaths from men having stress related health issues because they’re too scared to take the “easy way” out. To me, this isn’t just John’s story, this is a story of gender bias that’s politically incorrect to address.”
Well. Food for thought. What do you think? Do you agree that stereotypes of attractive masculinity as portrayed in romance fiction are harmful, outdated and discriminatory? Do you think they work against the ideals of feminism? Do you think these images of manhood contribute to the discrimination that romance fiction faces in broader society?
In closing, here’s John Lennon and the Beatles, singing Girl.
Come in, sit down, have a cup of tea. I want to tell you a story.
Truly, I tell you, I’ve been absconded by fairies this past three days, and taken on a fanciful journey. My body aches with fatigue, my head spins, my spirit soars, and my feet have not yet returned to the ground.
Yesterday I felt I could not write a blogpost, I had nothing to say, I was bored with blogging, I did not care. But I realize that yesterday I was still in thrall, and only today am I able to tell you about it. But quickly before I fall asleep.
ARTIST STUDIOS
This past weekend brought yet another expression of the boundless creativity and rich cultural life that this small, rural island community contains – namely the annual Denman Island Artists Studio Tour. While there are more artists per capital on this small island than just about anywhere else in the country, just twenty or so are featured each year on the tour, and of these I spent part of the weekend visiting but a few.
While there are many talented painters, photographers, potters, sculptors, metal artists and quilters, etc. here, there are just two or three artists who’s medium and offerings stirred my soul and that I want to share with you. Firstly, Studio Angelika, where Angelika Saunders creates “mixed media collage with hand-made papers” as well as sculptural objects and handmade boxes, in a beautiful seaside cottage setting, using a variety of natural and found materials and objects was a revelation.
MAGICAL MIXED MEDIA
Angelika’s creativity is boundless, and her sensitivity to colour, texture and composition truly inspiring. On my own artistic journey, I have always been particularly drawn to mixed-media collage and assemblage sculpture.
In Angelika’s hands, fibres and scraps of nature that common mortals would walk past, such as dry twigs and the lacy skeletal remains of leaves, feathers, sea shells, stones and bits of rusty metal, become gems that find their way into her skillful compositions. She generously and enthusiastically demonstrated her paper-making technique when I expressed a particular interest, and I can hardly wait to get my hands on some tools and materials to try my hand at this fascinating craft, not to mention all the things one can do with the paper.
SPIRITUAL PLACE-MAKING
The second studio tour that moved me was Dragonfly Knoll Gallery, home of John Tallerino and Marc Randall who engage, respectively, in assemblage shrines and hand-made books. You’ll soon see the connection.
The entire atmosphere at Dragonfly Knoll is serene and magical. These two spiritual gentlemen have created an entire world around their lovingly hand built home using recycled heritage windows and doors, romantic dormers, embracing porch upheld by gnarled tree trunks, a garden filled with insightfully placed shrines and objects of beauty and spirituality, from gongs made of rusted iron to wire, mesh and glass dragons in flight, to clockwork Steampunk-inspired chicken sculpture. Their studio, made up of several charming”rooms” along this corridor (my old architecture prof Brian MacKay-Lyons would have loved it), was one of the most comfortable, inspiring spaces I’ve ever felt. While I love John’s shrines, I fell in love even more with the place, made up of all these bits of evidence of the mindful, centred and inspired way that John and Marc live. It was Hobbit-like, in some ways, and a place I could imagine easily spending three hundred years, with never a moment bored or restless.
I was also very moved by Marc’s lovingly hand crafted books, with their hand-made papers (see the pattern?), whimsical embossed and hand dyed leather covers, carved and polished wood, and hand stitched bindings. I want to rush right out and take a workshop on hand-made books, and begin this exploratory creative journey myself. Somewhere in the muddled mix of hand-made paper and books, and mixed media collage is my own spirit scratching in its attempt to find expression.
INSPIRED STORYTELLING
What, you might ask, has any of this to do with loss of sleep? Well, in addition to touring artist studios over two days, and having my sensibilities and spirit carried away on a corporal plain, I spent almost every waking hour reading one of the most compelling novels I’ve read in a long time.
I inadvertently discovered author Laura Kinsale last week through a Smart Bitches, Trashy Books review, and after sampling Nick Boulton’s delicious voice on samples of her audiobooks, I became intrigued by Laura’s storytelling and downloaded an e-book of Flowers from the Storm. Once I began this amazing, compelling tale, I literally could not put it down. At my age, all-night reading binges are not well-advised, and yet I watched the dawn light creep into my bedroom windows two of the past three nights as I turned page after page after page of this beautiful story.
The hero, Christian Langland, Duke of Jervaulx, suffers a cerebral hemorrhage, and his journey of suffering, madness and recovery, in stark contrast and complement to the spiritual struggle of the pious Quaker heroine, Archimedea Timms, makes this a one-of-a-kind love story.
I found Christian’s handicap with language fascinating, and as he emerges from the fog of his damaged brain, and expresses himself with increasingly complex vocabulary and sentence structure, Maddy and his close friends adjust and simplify their own speech to make themselves understood by him. At the same time, the tempo and rhythm of Laura Kinsale’s prose is deeply affected by this linguistic transformation so that we began to see and feel and breath in the stark, staccato, powerful jumbled poetic word arrangements of the hero, and this begins to feel normal. Better than normal, somehow. No ordinary historical romance this, an absorbing and compelling tale of human suffering and redemption, as well as a deeply moving love story that will stay with me forever.
While on the one hand I want to buy and read everything Laura Kinsale has written, a part of me wants to dwell in Christian and Maddy’s world for a while yet. And I’m left with an even greater dilemma, which is, should I spend my precious hours here on earth reading, writing or pursuing creative and spiritual expression in visual arts? There never seems to be enough time to do it all. And in the end, we still have to sleep.
Tell me what inspires or excites you. Do you have obsessions that keep you up all night? Are you a compulsive reader, or an artist that finds beauty in the ordinary world?
Last year when I took The Ring Screenwriting workshop, we were asked to view the newly released Silver Linings Playbook and come prepared to dissect and discuss it in class. I loved the movie. It was incredibly well written and directed, with a first class ensemble cast, as subsequent awards proved. But what I took away from it was something more. Something personal. And that is the way the film delves into the impact of mental illness on ordinary families in the ordinary world. I’m not talking about stalkers and serial killers (Basic Instinct, Silence of the Lambs), or eccentric heroic geniuses (Batman, Ironman anyone?). As much as we are fascinated by the extraordinary in society, I think the ordinary is just as engrossing.
MENTAL ILLNESS IS NORMAL
Mental Illness is not only normal, it’s farmorewidespread than we might like to admit. Think about it. Between Schizophrenia, Bi-Polar Disorder, Depression, Anxiety Disorders that include Eating Disorders, Phobias and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Autism, Addictions, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – and the many nuances and variations I haven’t mentioned – that’s a pretty big chunk of society, isn’t it? And a large proportion of that is undiagnosed. Just like Pat, the protagonist in Silver Linings Playbook, he “white-knucked it” on his own most of his life, until something happened, some extraordinarily stressful event triggered a breakdown. He snapped, and all hell broke loose.
I love these two scenes for illustrating just that point. Here is Pat’s BF Ronnie talking about how the stresses of life feel to him, and how he deals with it.It makes you wonder who’s the crazy one.(WARNING: These clips contain a bit of vulgar language.)
In a SAG interview with screenwriter/director David O. Russell he talks about his son, and how this story appealed to him as a way of integrating and normalizing mental illness for his son. He doesn’t give any details of his son’s condition, but I can only assume that Russell is pretty sensitive to what it’s like to try to live a normal life, and to help a loved one lead a normal life, under these challenging circumstances. He specifically refers to how the main characters’ illness affects all the people around them.
AT WHAT COST?
How many families are impacted by mental health issues? Is yours? Mine is. Do you ever wonder what it’s like to experience dealing with alcoholism, depression, OCD and Bi-Polar disorder, on top of the normal challenges and stresses of life? Or do you already know. I’ve seen what any of those things can do to the family members who’s lives are affected. The spouses, the children, the parents. It sucks a lot of energy. It can bring you down. It can derail a career or a marriage. It puts enourmous strain on relationships. It can spoil the holidays and make everyone afraid to speak, for fear of saying the wrong thing, of setting someone off, of doing harm. And so we hold it in. And it’s easy for the damage to spread. For family members to become enablers.
And when I saw the movie, this is what I thought about. Not only about the impact mental illness has on the lives of the people who suffer from one condition or another, but of the ripples of disruption that spread outward from the patient to their families, friends, coworkers and community. Pretty soon you see it’s an intricately woven blanket that spreads over us all. And often it’s not diagnosed at all, is poorly understood and not supported.
One of my favourite scenes from the movie, not the diner scene with Jennifer Lawrence that you most often see, or any of the scenes which depict the two protagonists, the two “mental health” patients interacting with each other, but instead the interaction between the two brothers, Pat and Jake.
This was one of my favourite scenes in the film, because it shows so beautifully how the family of Pat is affected by his illness. Watch to see how they are all on tenterhooks during the exchange. It’s beautifully portrayed. It’s a testament to Pat’s recovery that Jake’s anxiety and general weirdness doesn’t push any of his buttons, and he rises above it.
Leave a comment and tell me, if you’ve seen the movie, which was your favourite scene and why? Can you relate to any of the characters in Silver Linings Playbook?
In a recent blogpost, I was celebrating the joys of staying close to home, and enjoying the simple pleasures to be found in a small, rural island community, where:
“There have been community meals, live performances by local and visiting musicians, a readers and writers festival with recitations and readings of both world class and local poetry and prose, and even beer tastings. A bike ride down a quiet country road, overlooking pastoral views of farmland and the sea, swims in small lakes, weekly visits to community and farm markets and satisfying yard and garden projects that rival any expensive holiday abroad.”
Which of course got me reminiscing about the last time we went to Europe. Just about this time last year, our family was returning from a spectacular two and half week holiday in Tuscany, Italy. Just for fun, here’s a recap of the highlights of our trip. Hang on for an armchair tour!
FOND MEMORIES
We were fortunate to have a tiny apartment in the village of Iano to use as our home base in Tuscany. From there we were able to take day trips to see a wide variety of wonderful Tuscan cities.
A RICH TAPESTRY TO EXPLORE
This is truly one of the things about Europe that I love the best – the way the landscape forms a rich tapestry filled with a hundred thousand cities, towns and villages, each with its own fabulous history and unique treasures. We even made a marathon commute to Rome just for one day. Then near the end we drove north to Bologna, from which we explored both Ravenna and Venice before flying home.
PISA
One of our first excursions was to Pisa, only a hour’s drive away. Despite the major heat wave Europe suffered last year, did climb the leaning tower. It was very hot, over 40. We were near cardiac arrest, dripping with sweat. The view from the top of the tower was pleasant. However, we couldn’t linger there. We had to come back down in search of cold water and air conditioning quite quickly. We didn’t have much stamina to explore beyond the Basilica, Bapistry, Tower, etc.
LUCCA
The architects in us were drawn to the town of Lucca after reading that it was home to a perfectly elliptical piazza, which it turned out was nice (better on paper) but no big deal, framed as it was by rather shabby, nondescript buildings. The town itself was charming, however, and after strolling the pedestrian zones, eating a lovely dinner at a family restaurant, on our way out of the city we were delightfully surprised by a marching pipe and drum band dressed in Renaissance costume, followed by a leisurely stroll around the ancient walls.
SIENNA
A stately and history-rich city, Sienna boasts many fine buildings and piazza. Il Campo, the huge piazza dominated by the civic building, Palazzo Publico, was already being set up with the tufa track and bleachers in anticipation of the July 3rd Palio. The Palio is a historic horse race between ten of the 17 local districts who compete for prominence, as they have done since the middle ages. The horses are specially bred and trained and pampered for the big day, which locals anticipate all year. Thousands of spectators file in early in the morning, and the city and square are profusely decorated with banners and flags.
A highlight of the Sienna cathedral was the Picolomini Library showcasing several gorgeous illuminated manuscripts and antiphonium from the middle ages, the detailed flooring with red, white and black marble inlaid and carved, and the striking black and white banded marble walls and columns both inside and out.
SAN GIMIGNIANO
One of our favourite towns, San Gimigniano, is a complex city with tiny walkways through it, and so many shops they are uncountable! In addition to the many towers that were built during the Renaissance (13 surviving!), San Gimigniano has several different museums. One of our favourites was the Museo 1300. This wonderful find is a ceramic scale reconstruction of the town of San Gimignano exactly as it was in the year 1300, the year Dante Aligieri visited and spoke to the governors. It is constructed of ceramic by a group of artisans who have conducted and compiled exacting research.
FLORENCE
Nearby Florence required two visits, and still there was so much we didn’t have time to see. We did tour the Uffizi Gallery which contains many, many beautiful sculptures and painting from throughout the ages, from Ancient Roman to Medieval to Renaissance, which were initially collected by the famed Medici family. It’s a stunning collection of valuable art. Perhaps the extraordinary heat made me over sensitive, but I was shocked that the museum was not air conditioned. I worried about the proper preservation of all those Medieval triptyches and Renaissance paintings. But I suppose they know what they’re doing.
VOLTERRA
Volterra was an unexpected find during a back country drive one day. It’s another lovely small town perched on a hilltop, with origins dating back to the Etruscans and Romans. One of the things we loved best about Volterra was the sense of its being a very much alive and current community, despite the ample evidence of tourism.
Ambulance attendants sat around on folding chairs, shopkeepers stood outside chatting with passers-by. Every street was populated with locals, many of them elderly, standing around and visiting with their neighbours. We had to laugh when two very elderly Italian gentlemen approached each other and attempted to greet with a `high five`. They lifted their arthritic hands and revved up several feet apart, and then shuffled at full speed towards each other, in obvious trepidation at being knocked on their keesters, laughing the entire time. Before leaving, we had to sample the local gelato.
IANO
Back in Iano, where we spent our down days relaxing, there was something special to look forward to, as a hand drawn poster in the central piazza had announced a live concert one night. In anticipation we reserved dinner at the adjacent restaurant, whose food we quite enjoyed.
The band arrived early and started to set up their sound system hours before, and someone set up rows of chairs, so many we wondered where everyone was supposed to come from. That’s the funny thing about these tiny rural communities in Europe. You feel like you’re in the boon docks, but in fact you’re in the midst of a rich cultural community. People move around from town to town, and stuff is going on all over the place. As the hour approached, people appeared to come out of the woodwork and fill the seats. We lingered over our dolci and espresso as the concert began.
There were four women and five men, with two guitars, a percussionist who seemed to be banging on an apple crate, but was also a decent ‘harmonicist’. Although it was clear they were a group of aspiring amateurs, every one of them had a phenomenal voice, and they launched into a two hour concert including songs ranging from old 60′s favourites, through blues to traditional Italian folk. Their harmonics were excellent, and the solos quite exceptional. Of course they didn’t leave out everyone’s favourite number by Andrea Boccelli.
Some days later, the night before we left Iano, we wanted a special meal so we went on a tiny adventure. We discovered a little convent past San Vivaldo that served the best food we have had in Italy yet. We were the last customers to leave, and sat in a quiet, monastic courtyard enjoying our deserts as the dusk gathered around us.
ROME
As mentioned above, we made a crazy one day trek to Rome, requiring an early start, and a fast commuter train south. It was even hotter there. After a parched tour of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum we walked to the Pantheon. This remains in my opinion, the most beautiful space in the world. We learned that Michelangelo Buonarotti (Il Divino) said of it, that it was created by the angels themselves. We also managed to visit the Trevi fountain and Piazza Navona and have a quiet dinner before riding home again. It was quite the whirlwind day trip.
RAVENNA
Byzantine churches, being rather old (c. 500 AD) are nothing much to look at from the exterior. They are constructed of rustic flat bricks, the windows are small and plain, and there is no adornment whatsoever. Upon entering though, it was clear whyI had dragged the family here. Everyone was duly impressed by the spectacular mosaics on walls, arches and domes, as well as the lovingly, devotely rendered stone capitals and gorgeously book-ended marble panelling.
It was interesting to see how focussed the early Christians were on devotion, and how little on ostentation, like the later western Christians. After the great schism in the Catholic church around 400 AD, Ravenna became the capital of the Eastern Holy Roman Empire for quite a while, before it moved to Constantinople.
VENICE
After the Uffizi and the churches of Ravenna, we had no interest in standing in any more lines, or seeing anymore Medieval paintings or Renaissance sculpture, but really Venice is more about being outside, enjoying the canals and the simple but charming architecture that lines them, and sometimes spans them. What I can tell you is that in fact we were all very impressed with Venice, and despite the heat of Piazza San Marco, we were able to escape into narrow shady lanes cooled by canal breezes, and we wandered around, sometimes fighting summer tourist crowds to join them in window shopping, other times escaping the crowds to explore quieter zones
And there you have it, a tour of Tuscany in a nutshell. And now I have had my summer at home, and a little taste of Europe as well. What did you do this summer? Stay at home or travel somewhere exotic? Do you have a special place somewhere in the world where you dream of traveling? And when traveling do you prefer to visit one large city, or like me, do you like to have a small town base and make excursions?
CONVERGENCE
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