WEDNESDAY April 10 and THURSDAY April 11th (yes, we are a little behind in our posting!)

Wednesday, April 10

CARTIERA MAGNANI

1404... the year this paper company was founded on the Pescia River... Magnani is the paper Dani has been using for years now, and the chance to visit the factory was like being a kid in a candy shop, only less fattening!

In the background of this photo you can see the archives going back to the beginning of the 1800's:

Renza explaining the history of Magnani to Kate and Dani

The quality of their product is maximum... they still work by hand:

Watermarked paper with the Botticelli's "Primavera" for the Uffizzi gallery

Watermarked paper for a wedding invitation.

"Factory" sounds perhaps more imposing that the reality. In this centuries old building straddling the Pescia river, a corageous group of workers and technicians continue to work, even if they receive their monthly pay late, trying to save the business from the crisis that is destroying the Italian economy.

Dani in front of the factory

Until a few years ago, 120 people worked there. Now only about 25 remain, from CEO to truck drivers.

But... little by little we are sure they will do it!

Talking with the CEO, in the midst of the paper.

Most of the paper is produced on machines designed at the end of the 1800's  (see photos below including the photo showing tape holding bits of the machine together) to produce beautiful paper without defects since they check each sheet that leaves the factory and reject any with even a defect the size of a speck of pepper.

Mixing water and pulp.

thank goddness they invented tape !!

checking the thikness

1860 machine still working

Drying the paper

Spooling

Changing the spool

Final spools

Finished product

 (When Dani saw the quantity of paper piled in the courtyard moulding in the rain he almost began to cry!)

Nooooooooooooooooooooo...!!!

They create the best (and just about the most expensive paper for designers, watermarked stationary, banknotes, event tickets, invitations and other kinds of speciality cards, and stationary of the highest quality.

On the day we visited, they were making paper for passports for an Arab country and watermarked paper for printing theatre tickets.

 After the visit to the paper mill, and after filling the car with packs of paper which we have no idea how we will transport back to the States!, "Capitano" drove us up the valley of the Pescia, to visit a series of mountain villages: Castelvecchio, Vellano, Potito....

Map of the Valdinievole

We drove through a series of indescribably beautiful villages built into the rock of the mountain, architecture constructed without architects, based in tradition, functional needs and common sense, and using only locally available material.

Pieve di Catelvecchio (1215)

On the way to Pontito

Pontito 

Vellano

Thank you once again Capitano! This time in Italy would be entirely different without you!


11 April

Today, it was Giovanna who showed us her town... where we are living, where she was born and has lived most of her life, and where she was at one point vice-mayor (Dani says also the next mayor) ... at the moment, she is part of the opposition in the city council. It turns out that it is a beautiful and vibrant small town that most visitors to Italy will never see. We are privileged!

Giovanna and Dani in front of the Palagio (= used to be the palace of the ruler of Pescia... now a museum)

Inside the Palagio (maybe the site of Dani's next show in Italy)

Inside the Palagio are the plaster molds for scultures by a native Pesciatino: "Libero Andreotti"
(This is the final sculpture outside in a nearby Piazza... the plaster case inside was one of Kate's favorites, even if Dani didn't like it as much: "Il Perdono" (Forgiveness).)

Pescia "Commune" (City Hall) and the top of the main "square" (actually a rectangle)

The main "rectangle" looking down from the City Hall

Signs of SPRING!!! FINALLY!!!

Roi's birthplace (What, you've never heard of the famous Roi of Pescia???)

Church and Piazza/parking lot

The requisite convent (there is always a convent in any town in Italy)

View from the second floor window of Roi's birthplace

At the end of the street where Roi's birthplace is located

Ok, ok... enough Pescia already!

(We know you are wondering... "Who is Roi???" A good friend, part of the Pesica band, and very proud to have been born in Pescia. Oh yes, and husband to "Silvia of Collodi" introduced in an earlier post.)

Thank you all for introducing us to what it means to live in a small town in Italy, among close friends who care for and take care of each other. We are honored that you have shared your world with us!

Kate and Dani.... ttttthat's all for now folks! More to come :)

SUNDAY, APRIL 7

Sunday we stayed at home. Since it was actually sunny, we went for a walk up the hillside into the country amid the olive trees. It is permitted to burn the pruned branches so the air smelled of autumn and there was a smoky pall over the landscape. We managed anyway to get a few fotos without smoke!

Then, and this will surprise you we know, a huge Sunday family lunch with Memmo, Giovanna, friends, son, son's girlfriend, sister of girlfriend, boyfriend of sister of girlfriend of son... and whoever was in the house at the moment (us, per fortuna!).......

-Ravioli con salsa della nonna di Giovanna (pork ravioli with butter and cream di Giovanna)

-Ravioli con ragu di carne di Roi (Meat ravioli di Roi)

-Stracotto (lesso di manzo) alla cipolla ed erbette (roast beef sliced and recooked with herbs, onion and carrots)

-Insalata di carciofi (raw young artichoke salad)

-Paste varie (varied pastries from two VIP pastry shops)

-Torta della nonna con crema (a very light poundcake filled with cream)

(Everything was very light)

(no fotos, we were too hungry and distracted talking)

MONDAY, APRIL 8

VIAREGGIO. Since the forecast was for clearing after 11 am, we left about 10am for Viareggio to "salutare il mare" ... unfortunately, it rained (rather hard at times) the entire time we were walking ... The surfers didn't mind, and there were quite a few covered from head to toe in wetsuits...  but the beach was not so popular

The "excuse" for the trip was to walk along the seafront that is lined with beautiful "Liberty" style (art deco) buildings. (And also to revisit the place Dani went several summers as a child. Hard to figure ... a little boy who lives in the Caribbean would be sent to Viareggio to go to the beach... hmmmm???)

Coming back to Pescia the weather was better, and we visited Montecarlo (nothing to do with the "famous" Montecarlo, this is a lot nicer!); It's a little village on the top of a hill between Lucca and Pescia

TUESDAY, APRIL 9

(Sigh... whatever forecast Capitano heard was wrong.... While it has not been pouring rain, it has not been sunny either... or warm.... still using the heating at home. ]

COLODI

A lot of people are not aware of it, but "Pinocchio" was not originally from Disney Studios; The original book was written by a guy called Carlo Lorenzini, a journalist with a decided political bent who was born in the little village of Collodi in the middle of the "Valdinievole Hills in Tuscany." He adopted the name of his village as a nickname (around here in Tuscany everybody has a nickname) so... you will see that the author of the official, original Pinocchio is Carlo Colodi. Even the names of the characters in the book are nicknames referring to local important people, and every character has some facets of a real local person's personality. So, the fox was someone who looked or acted like a fox (a local politician no doubt). The cat was someone who looked or acted like a cat. A friend of ours who was born in Colodi told us that when she was a child, everyone called the local carpenter Geppeto (as a nickname, of course).... Around here you never know where the truth ends and the fairy tale beings... very common in Italy, especially in politics.

When you visit the old village that seems to flow down the side of a hill, behind the fortress that now is a Villa, you can see that in his book he described the village where he was born.

FRIDAY (April 5)....

...work, rain, work, rain, work, rain... apart from grocery shopping and an amazing lunch at a fantastic restuarant in old Pescia (no pictures since we didn't know we were going and had no camera)...

Crostini toscani

Crostini misti... tomato with basil... "fettunta": oil and GARLIC... Crotino de lardo di Colonnata

Farinata (a sort of liquid polenta)

Le farfalle a la Francesca (tomato, chili pepper and a little cream and parmesean)

Gran frito misto toscano (breaded and deep fried chunks of chicken, rabbit, artichoke, potato, zucchini... and not a bit of oil!)

A berry tart... and coffee

Red wine of the val di nievole (where we are)

Later... alka selzer and zantac and, believe it or not, Dani could not eat dinner!

Actually, we have one picture courtesy of 'Capitano'... Kate and Farfalle a la Francesca (the name of the cook)

SATURDAY (6 april)...

It is true what Dani's father said! There are three categories of people you can never believe in: astrologists, economists and meteorologists. Again Saturday was a beautiful sunny day even if rain was predicted! (I think it is because I bought a raincoat Friday.... now the prediction of our friend "capitano" (of film fame) is that it won't rain again until May... let's hope so!

Since it was so beautiful, we went early to Florence to visit Dani's show with some friends who just came back to Florence and hadn't had a chance to see the show yet.

Azaleas on Via Tornabuoni 

Tulips in front of the Duomo

You will not believe this but after visiting the show, we were hungry so we all went for lunch at a place Dani and I used to go regularly when we lived here, and that he went to when he was a student... well, a few years ago. The people working in the restaurant are the same as ever, prices are more or less the same, the food better than ever... perhaps the only difference is that they now have a Trip Advisor 4-star sign on the window, as well as a few other decals indicating high ratings in various tour guides.

Since we were seven people and everyone asked for something different, we won't bore you with the 27 different dishes we had with the two liters of wine.

Continuing through the city on this beautiful day, we finally decided the time was right. We had been waiting for this moment since arriving in Italy and it finally came! We are very sorry Charlie, we know you think you have found the best ice cream elsewhere, but we have to tell you that it is here and it is in a place called "Carabe" near the Academia gallery.  But... just to be sure.... we may go back tomorrow to check. And the next day....

CARABE--The BEST ice cream ever!!!!

And.... to finish for today... we are uploading the video of the opening again. I think the first time we uploaded it directly and it was too small. Here is a link to the same video of the opening of the show now posted on YouTube... enjoy!

Opening night of TROPICALIA: March 8, 2013

Here is the link if the above doesn't work in your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CK4PILwDv4