Val d'Orcia and Pienza

 Our group of art and architecture students traveled to Val d'Orcia today for a series of interesting excursions and experiences.  

Pamela (UK), me, Kate (Scotland), Linda (US) and Carol (US)

A few kilometers at the bottom of the hill that Pienza is on, is an interesting find.  We were met by a young man whose family has lived in this area for centuries, of course.  But his family's experience is quite extraordinary.  We met at the church of Santa Caterina, where he led us down these fabulous old steps, covered with moss and slime and eerie fabulousness:

His family has had a farm here for centuries.  In the 19th century, his grandfather purchased some additional land with the intention of adding orchards.  Nothing happened, though.  And it wasn't until the early 20th century that they discovered an image of the Virgin at the back of what they had been using as a wood shed.

There is a law in place in Italy that compels people to call the police whenever artifacts are found, even on private property.  In Italy, nothing of antiquity belongs to you, even if you find it on your property.  So this brought in the archeologists who began excavating the area.  And what they found was this extraordinary series of caves that had been used as dwellings for hermits, an underground church, a burial spot, and even a trash dump:

From here we walked up the hill to Pienza.  A sweet gem of a city, known as la citta perfetta for its exquisite Renaissance layout.  City planning at its finest.  All human-scale, with daily life, devotion and aspiration to Beauty in mind:

The how and why of Vino Nobile

 Montepulciano has a fascinating history that moves from the Etruscans into the modern age.  It's one of those places where just an innocent stroll through town can reveal such interesting connections to the past.  That is, if you know a bit.  As I stated earlier, Montepulciano is a wine destination.  Smack dab in the middle of the Val di Chiana and the Val d'Orcia (a UNESCO world heritage site), it has been the hub of gorgeous wines for many centuries.

The "big boy" is know as Vino Nobile. Ma, perche?  The Noble Wine because it came from plots of land owned by noble families dating back to the middle ages.  One just has to walk through the main streets to see the palazzi of these noble families: The Avignonesi, Cecchi, Taruggi, Contucci, Ricci....  Gorgeous, robust architecture all made of travertine and looking so handsome:

These stately palazzi are now sandwiched between later buildings but one can appreciate the aesthetics of these homes in contrast to the others.  This section here, that takes up the lower part of an old noble palazzo is a collection of Etruscan urns.  One can see the ancient symbols used on these funerary vessels that held the ashes of the departed.  There are mixed Etruscan and Roman scripts... truly an interesting outdoor museum:

 The Museo Civico is small but mighty and hosts a collection of art ranging from Etruscan to the 18th century.  There is one room that has some magnificent ceramic works by one of the Della Robbia cousins (can't remember which one) that demonstrates such remarkable realism:

Another (practically daily) walk down the long and steep hill, outside the city wall, to visit San Biagio, that quintessential Renaissance church whose base is a Greek cross and whose interior has perfect acoustics.  Che bella chiesa!  San Biagio is the patron saint of throat health because one of his miracles was saving someone who was choking on a chicken bone.  I remember as a darling girl attending Catholic school that we always celebrated the feast of Saint Blaise (anglicized) by having our throats blessed.  Ah, those were the days.  Those blessed days of youth when everything seemed magical because nothing was understood.  Sigh.  

I have always understood lunch, though.  So, on to a lovely trattoria for pici with a ragu of Chianina beef and caramelized onions and a platter of sautéed seasonal vegetables (eggplant, zucchini and onion).  And.... of course.... a glass of Vino Nobile:

A presto!

Montepulciano ~ stroll and comment on wine tastings

 I am now in Montepulciano for a month, attending school and just soaking up the glory.  It's Sunday morning, so I fixed some nice, strong coffee and a little breakfast and went out on the loggia to take in the view:

Then off for a stroll through town:

Time to visit the Medici well and take the long walk down to San Biagio:

And then some musings on wine tastings.  Honestly......

And then home to pranzo: cacio e pepe!

Buon domenica!

The Jewish Quarter ~ authentic Roman cuisine

 I always have to eat at Ba'Ghetto whenever I am in Rome.  In what was once the Jewish Quarter, you will walk amid extraordinary ruins and down bustling streets that were once just hosting locals before the place began to be listed in Rick Steves' guidebooks.  

The restaurants that line down this street are Roman cuisine and Kosher.  Get ready for the most extraordinary falafel you will ever eat in your life.  Enormous hunks of lamb with roasted potatoes sopping up the fat.  Pistachio cream that is light as air.....

Che bello! 

Palazzo Colonna

 Today during another massive deluge, I made my way to Palazzo Colonna for a 10am tour.  This palace is still a residence for the family and so tours are only given Fridays and Saturdays.  And boy do they move volumes through.  Taking groups of about 15 in different directions, they are able to host tours for around 60 each hour is my guess. The tour was 2.5 hours of endless rooms and gardens, chock full of extraordinary beauty.  This is pretty much what you look like through the whole thing:

The family history is fascinating.  They were nothing, living several miles outside of Rome on some bit patch of land, about 900 years ago.  Until one day, Pietro "discovered" the column that Jesus was tied to when the soldiers flogged him.  This gave the family their rise to fame and also their name.  Their rise as a noble Roman family was enhanced when they moved to town and began building their family villa on the Via SS Apostoli, which is where it is now.  It started small and over the centuries became the incredible structure we gaze at today.  

Here, in the family crest, one can see their history:

The column, the "procured relic," is at the center.  The eagles are for victory in various battles, most notably a crucial victory over the Turks.  We have symbols of cardinals (step 1 toward building fabulousness) and then ultimately a papal crown.  Martin V was a Colonna.  

Rooms and rooms of splendor.  Marble everywhere.  Humungous Venetian glass chandeliers.

An extraordinary art collection:

A glorious garden:

A cannon ball that was fired from the Quirinale hill:

It was all overwhelming and exhausting.  But yes, I could live there.  Ch-ching. 

 When Maffeo Barbarini was elected to the papal throne in 1623, he became Pope Urban VIII.  A patron of the arts, a protector of artists and even Galileo at one point, his reign lasted for 20 years.  It is known that he held many fabulous salon-type get togethers at the family villa in Rome.

If you look closer, you will notice the abundance of bees.... everywhere.  On the family crest, as well as just plain decorative elements on many surfaces.

If you are interested, this link to Rome and the Barbarini Bee gives a more thorough archive of lovely bee decorations:  Barbarini

When the Apiarium was published, the authors dedicated the work to the newly elected Pope.  This impressive study of bees included illustrations whose precision and detail was made possible by special microscope lenses created by Galileo.  The bee is an amazing thing.... where would all life be without the wee chap?  Well, there would be no life.  Bees are industrious, life-giving, necessary, all qualities of the leadership of Pope Urban VIII.  

The Palazzo Barbarini is a marvelous place.  I could live there.  It is filled with a trove of glorious things.  You move from one room to another, imagining that you live there, taking in the beauty.

You will visit some old friends, part of the permanent collection:

And, apparently the Galleria Borghese has loaned some works for a period while some work is being done over there.  So you can gaze on the exquisite beauty of La Bella Farnese:

Or, one of my favorites, Titian's Susana and the Elders:

From this villa of Splendor it is only about a 13 minute walk to one of my favorite restaurants.  This place has a groovy, old world formality that I love so much.  It is a 19th century restaurant that was used as a meeting place by officers and soldiers during the Risorgimento (the movement that made Italy a country in 1861).  There are illustrations and paintings of these men on the walls:

One must celebrate Roman cuisine!  Fried zucchini flowers stuffed with fresh mozzarella and cacio e pepe, a pasta dish made of percorino romano and pepper.  Buono! 

Roma ~ sempre caotica, sporca, ma, bellissima

 Sono tornata a Roma!  In the middle of an impressive show of weather and if the app is correct, there will be rain and storms during my three days here.  But, no worries.  I'm resilient: 

One this I did today was go visit the new Constantine Colossus, and colossal it is.  

They decided to rebuild this on the site of the Villa Caffarelli, which was, during ancient times, the site of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.  The Constantine Colossus is believed to have been modeled after the ancient statue of Jupiter, both in size and composition.  The first statue of Jupiter was built in terracotta.  And when that smashed, a new statue was erected using harder materials.  In addition, Jupiter was made more impressive with the addition of a scepter, likely a spear, and being seated on a throne.  Thus, when Constantine became a superstar in the 4th century, his statue was modeled after these gods.  They get all this information from stone bas relief of the respective historical periods.  It's all at the Capitoline museum, darlings.

After this, I simply had to go get a maritozzo.... a Roman specialty.  Whipped cream in a brioche.  It made the sky clear and birds sing.  And I think a unicorn even showed up.