August 2010 (From Western Telegraph)

Stars in your eyes

10:50am Wednesday 1st September 2010

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Late July through August holiday season commences, for everyone, and the beginning of the local Palio’s and other events for families to enjoy. This does mean any official work, builders, plumbers, certifications etc. come to a halt as everyone makes a dash for the sea, lakes and countryside to cool off. We also gained a cat. A ragged, half staved and almost bald feline arrived at the house with our tabby demanding entry.

We received a notice by email that one of the many local vineyards was putting an event together to celebrate St Lorenzo night the following evening. The information simply stated that the family were inviting friends and guests from the San Casciano dei Bagni area where the family originate from to sit by the cantina and look at the shooting stars. They had also invited carious other local producers to offer their products for tasting, cheeses, salami’s and oil and the Ravzzzi’s would provide red and white wines. The event would start at 9pm and at 11 the telescopes and an expert would be on hand to view the heavens. We thought we’d go and see what was going on as we do regularly pop up to the cantina and buy their very nice wines.

We followed the posters, drove past the cantina we knew and delved into the countryside into olive grove and vine bordered white dusty track to see “P” signs pointing into the field and cars parked between the trees and rows of grapes. “When in Rome”….We followed the assembling groups of people and wound our way through the trees, to avoid being run down on the ever increasing convoy of vehicles arriving, and emerged by enormous wrought iron gates in front of a magnificent new building.(see their website http://www.ravazzi.it/eng and look at the cellar). Tables and chairs were set out between the two buildings. Trestles groaning with cheeses, including a seasoned cheese made from raw milk which is very difficult to get permission to make, Salami’s, pottery, panzanella, and tomato topped bruscetta. (recipes http://www.italianfoodnet.com/eng/ricette/tuscan-panzanella-bread-salad-panzanella-toscana ).

The owners were introduced, the other producers and live band was introduced, two men with guitars and a sophisticated sound system, who played “The Shadows” music really well. We were encouraged to view a local photographers pictures on display, sample platefuls of the foods available and get a glass, or several, of the wines on offer, the white was fresh and young the red more mature Sangiovese. We were confused, our Italian isn’t up to sound systems with hoards of families with children of all ages competing to be heard above the it, where did we pay? We followed the masses making for the second building to collect a glass, there was a till, we followed the others right past it to the trestles to collect a plate. We queued, while the younger generation dashed about, and were loaded up with samples of every cheese and salami on offer, then our glass was filled and we found a place to sit and eat. On the table was a copy of the newsletter the Ravazzi family produce, a copy of the Palazzione Palio evening events to take place on the 14th,15th & 16th, and a list of the suppliers at the event with their contact details.

A couple joined our table and asked where we lived. We said near Ponticelli, so do we they replied. We live at no 24, they live at no 23. We looked at each other in total surprise then the lady said she recognised Mike for 2 years ago when she was looking for her lost dog. Then we realised who they must be. Although we have adjacent numbers their house is on the other side of our hill and closer to the Piazze road, via a white a road we do not use normally. We spent an hour yelling bad Italian at them and they spent the same time bellowing poor English back at us. We learnt they live and work in Rome all week and escape most weekends and every holiday to their retreat by us to work on their garden, since the house was restored. What a strange coincidence, of all the tables they could have chosen. They also told us that the event happened every year and earlier there is also a wine festival, usually held in town but dinner is charged for as a local restaurant usually makes it. We left before dessert was served, having watched the start of the star observations being projected onto a large screen, as we had to get up early to clean the pool for our guests. Even as we were leaving at 11.30pm, people were still arriving.

Ferragosto is an Italian holiday celebrated on August 15. This holiday was celebrated in the Roman Empire to honour the gods—in particular Diana—and the cycle of fertility and ripening. In fact, the present Italian name of the holiday derives from its original Latin name, Feriae Augusti ("Festivals [Holidays] of the Emperor Augustus"). Almost the entire month of August was taken as a holiday and leisure time in Italy in honour of this feast day and many still follow this example. Roman Catholicism adopted this date as a Holy Day of Obligation to commemorate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary—the real physical elevation of her sinless soul and incorrupt body into Heaven. The holiday often coincides with peak activity of the Perseid meteor shower leaving Italians at a particular advantage to view the astronomical event seen best at pre-dawn hours.

Every town and village has its Ferragosto event and we had to decide where we would try. This year the 15th fell on a Sunday so the “parties” stared on the Friday evening, continued on Saturday and ended on Sunday night. There would be live music, hand made artefacts and produce for sale, the community kitchens would open to cook local delicacies, everything from lamb to snails However the weather had other ideas. No sooner had we waved off our guests on the Saturday morning and arrived at the laundry to hand in the bedding than the sun disappeared behind some grey threatening clouds. We did the shopping and as we just got back to our gates the heavens opened. Huge drops, like marbles, pelted down from gunmetal grey skies. Thunder rolled and in the distance sheet lightening lit the skies like jagged rainbow tridents. The deluge lasted over 4 hours, dumping in excess of 3” of rain, washing away our path, driveway and flooding the area outside the house. We even had some water driven in under the windows despite them having been set into selastic. Just a cupful but causing puddles we could do without. Half an hour later and we wouldn’t have made it home And now we were stuck. Sunday dawned bright and sunny so we began the task of clearing the pool of leaves and detruss before digging the washed off gravel into the wheel barrow and replacing it from where it had been washed from. Lucca, and other more Northerly places, had landslides, flooding, hurricane damage and electrical cuts for days, so we got off lightly.

During this the new-comer, 4 footed, and now with, pale cream and grey fur with chocolate stripes and blue eyes, was a bedraggled mess begging company, shelter as well as food. Who could resist? Our cat Mach1, who had brought him home didn’t object so PK (pwskat) joined the family. Unfortunately we think he is hard of hearing, maybe the blue eyes, as he yells at full volume all the time and doesn’t react to noises, not even loud ones like the lawn mower or car starting. We hope having him fixed in September will turn the volume down.

The drive was repaired just in time for the woodman to deliver our winter supply of logs. 66 quintarli, 660kg of split wood cut into 30cm lengths dropped onto the quadrangle. Knowing we had to get the pile undercover to keep dry so as to ensure maximum calorific burn for heating we toiled every morning stacking wood for 10 days as it was too hot in the afternoons, reaching 35 degrees c by 1pm.

One evening we were contacted by a friend living near Piazze to say the Baron who owns a mansion up on Mount Cetona was holding a harp and violin concert for those who like to attend, would we like to go? We followed her up to the property in the dark and thank heavens we did we'd never have found the place otherwise, kilometres of twisting road and track into the wilderness. It started later than the time of 9.30pm we had been told, normal here and people were still arriving after 10.30pm, in the converted stables, you could have eaten off the floor, and were treated to a real selection of music from classical to "Cats". The harpist also sang, obviously a trained alto, they also had an opera trained tenor and his UK girlfriend who’s a mezzo soprano, they were delightful. So a very pleasant evening following a week of hard toil.