A huge loss

Those who have visited probably met Signor Grassetti. He always walked the streets of Todi with his two dogs (lately one)...one large, calm hound, and the other a bouncy miniature springbok. He always had a smile on his face, "la la"-ed La Vie en Rose and said, "Augu-u-u-u-ri!" ("Best wishes") or "Sei FORTE!" ("You're just grand"). The smile on his face was pure delight, and he was just drunk with happiness (although not wine, particularly) all the time. His faith in God was palpable (and he was unafraid to discuss it with others), and he was a shining light to the rest of us.

As you've already guessed, he died on Friday night. We are all still in shock, having seen him recently beaming as ever.

The funeral is tomorrow afternoon, and I am convinced that Consolazione will be packed. We will certainly be there to wish him his final farewell.

Sei forte, Signor Grassetti,

Alexandra

Celestial and Terrestrial Cities

Tricia and I visited one of the most peculiar places I have seen in Italy, and I just have to share it! It's called La Scarzuola, and is the site of a Franciscan monastery that was co-opted in the 1950s to create a bizarre "ideal" city by the architect Tomaso Buzzi.

You enter the gate of the monastery and find a courtyard with exquisite terra cotta stations of the cross. The older ones were done in 1760, and there are a few newer ones that replace irreparably damaged originals. During the time we waited (there were four others with us), a crush of camper vans pulled up and 3416 people and 98 cranky dogs climbed out. Okay, the numbers may be a bit exaggerated, but it seemed that way.

And we were off! The tour guide actually lives in the facility (presumably in the monastery), and is a distant cousin to the architect. According to him, all the heirs after Buzzi died took a pass on having the property, so he landed with it. His demeanor says otherwise...more that he is smitten with it and has made it his life's work.

Marco, our guide, told us that St. Francis originally came here and built a hut with "scarzo," a type of reed. After a time, a monastery was created with funds from a local count; so it remained for some 500-600 years! The monastery was dissolved and the property sold to Buzzi at some point in the 1950s.

Entry to the well

He started off by doing some (apparently) rather peculiar things in the church (never deconsecrated, it has since been restored to some semblance of normality), and then going about creating a "Renaissance" garden. It has three paths...one symbolizing the path of religion, one the path of the material, and the last the path of love. Supposedly, the only path that leads anywhere is that of love, since the others are a question of blind obedience to externals. Hmm. I wasn't gripped by the logic. Anyway, the garden had a lovely well, so there was that.

Well, well!

The path of love...

The reedy plants in the background are "scarza"

Since the monastery represented the "ideal spiritual city," Buzzi's psychedelic trips led him to conceive of the "ideal material city." It reminded me of the writings of Garcia Marquez or Alice in Wonderland or something equally strange and unsettling. Marco took great pride in expounding on his cousin's metaphysical theories, but he completely lost me when he declared that plants were better evolved than humans because if we have our heads cut off, we die...and that doesn't happen with people. Um...roots, anyone? I did have to check out mentally, but I did enjoy wandering among the structures. It was interesting to see how everything fitted into the landscape. Some of it was really lovely. Oddly enough, his "ideal material city" includes seven theatres (not sure how these were counted, to tell the truth). This seemed rather peculiar to me, since aren't theatres generally an escape from our real, material world?

Anyway, it was something completely different, and provided some pretty strong memories!

Love,

Alexandra

Walking with Monsters and Bathing with Michelangelo

Bomarzo from the park

Tricia and I had the most marvelous field trip today: we traveled down to Viterbo via Bomarzo.

So, the first stop was Bomarzo, and its gardens. I first read about this site on Atlas Obscura, and have been dying to go ever since. However, being a bit further afield, it was the type of trip that really needed a pretext and a companion.

Note the height of the railing...this thing was HUGE

The woman is life-sized

Orca

As the article states, it was built in the mid 1500s by a prince who was mourning the death of his wife...a sort of Italian Taj Mahal, if you will. However, rather than being a tomb, it is this wonderful wooded park with the most unsettling sculptures. These include a tortoise carrying a woman that is probably, oh, 15 feet tall?

We saw an elephant crushing a person with its trunk, one giant eating another, sleeping beauty, a house that rivals those in fun fairs: tilted, walking through it is a rather peculiar feeling, a temple, and more! The grounds were spectacular, and the sculptures were really indescribable. While pictures help, you have to imagine these things as HUGE!

Tricia eating in the mouth

Inside the mouth

I wouldn't want to anger THIS Fury!

Our chariot!

After we had seen the park, we drove off to Viterbo to the Terme dei Papi (Papal baths). These are vaunted to have been enjoyed by the popes over the years, Dante, and Michelangelo! It's a huge spa complex, but Tricia and I decided that the open pool was just our speed. We were impressed with the high-tech bracelets that opened and closed your chosen locker, and the changing rooms were very modern and quite clean.

Mineral accretions on the edge of the pool

And the pool! Fed by hot mineral springs, the light sulfur and high mineral combined so nicely with the cool outdoor air. It's a large pool; while there were quite a few people in the pool, it didn't feel crowded! We passed several delightful hours chatting and comparing notes, as well as solving the world's problems.

Refilling the pool!
The water here was nearly scalding

On our way home (it's about a two-hour drive), we had spectacular scenery until dark. And then it happened: a few miles outside of Todi, the car shimmied and made an odd noise. Very sad! Time to call Vincenzo the mechanic. Rolando (the other mechanic) eventually came driving up with this HUGE tow truck! Having light allowed us to see the problem quite easily: a flat tire! Five minutes of work, all changed, and off we went. Rolando was laughing, though, because the tire was flat enough that the inner tube was dangling out!

Love,

Alexandra