Life Continues
The year 2020 started out with some lofty goals. I brought a new Dolomites tour to market, four Tuscany tours, a Sicily tour, two private tours and started the process of applying for my Italian citizenship over the coming year. I thought maybe I bit off a little too much to chew. But, before I knew it, all but a few tour spots remained available at the end of February and the year was set to be the best ever since starting my tour company.
Then, the COVID-19 pandemic changed all of that in less than a week. For reasons that will need to be studied in the future, Italy became one of the first countries in the world outside of China to be hit with the spread of the CORONAVIRUS. That outbreak seemed to be heavily concentrated in two regions: Lombardy and Veneto. At one point in the past few months, fatalities from the disease in Lombardy made up over 70% being reported in Italy. Milan is the fashion capital of the world and most of Italy’s manufacturing is heavily concentrated in Lombardy, so the tie to China is very deep.
Although heavily industrialized, I find the Lombardy region and Milan to be one of the most rewarding in all of Italy. The Duomo of Milan is my favorite cathedral with Siena’s Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in a close second. Taking nearly six centuries to complete, this work of art gives you the opportunity to climb to the roof and walk around the network of majestic sculptures and the building's spires that adorn the exterior. From the top you can see a great view of the city and the Galleria which is on the other side of the piazza.
Lake Como is just a short train ride to the North. Other places like Bergamo, Sirmione, Cremona (home of Amati Stradivarius) are just a few places this region offers the exploring visitor. One of my favorite days while traveling in Italy was a boat ride to Bellagio for a most enjoyable lunch.
Over the past eight years I’ve made many friends in Italy as well as becoming closer to my family in Sicily. One friend Silvia, a fellow Rotarian and high school teacher in Magenta, a town near Milan, has been in lockdown since March 4. She lost a colleague to the disease and hasn’t left her building for over a month. Only her husband is allowed to leave the home to purchase food and medicine for the family. Through the years, Silvia has taken great pride to share her country with me, always on the lookout for a delicious culinary experience. One of those tasty delights was a visit to Pasticceria Porta in Magenta, where owner Adriano has become a point of reference for entire generations of Magentini and others. One specialty is a cake made only in Magenta, torta Magenta, which I just had to purchase to bring to my cousins in Sicily. I have such pain knowing the struggle this region has gone through and I hope Silvia will once again soon be with her students.
In recent weeks it became our turn in the USA to stay at home to slow this pandemic down. Just as many Americans have lost work, I found myself with lots of time on my hands, since classes to teach had been canceled, food tours shutdown, private events halted and an entire year of Italy tours have been canceled. The loss of work and sharing what we do with our guests is disappointing, but it pales compared to the hardships this pandemic has caused so many people in the world.
A major disappointment for my family was the cancelation of the celebration of marriage for my daughter Kaitlyn. We were all set to come together in Portland, Oregon, both sides of the family to share in this special life event for our children. As the April 11 date creeped forward it was looking likely that we would not be able to travel and we would need to postpone the celebration in person until a future date. Katie and her newlywed husband Brian did get married and invited us all to share in the ceremony via a live stream on the web. It was a bright light on the world we are living in to see my daughter and her wonderful companion become husband and wife. Life continues, even in the grip of this crisis.
The sudden stop in my working life has given me an opportunity to see things that I most likely would have missed during this normally busy high season. Each day eating meals on the patio, I began to notice a mockingbird foraging the recently ripened berries from one of the marlberry bushes. Several years ago, my friend Laurel Schiller, from Florida Native Plants, helped me design a landscape environment beneficial to wildlife, especially for birds. We planted a Florida native plant garden to create a beautiful, easy-to-maintain garden, which happens to create an oasis for butterflies, birds and other wildlife. There we were, eating our meals each day while this mommy mockingbird collected food from the bushes, we planted just a few years ago. Soon, the chicks started to show up with their mommy, learning how to fly up to the bush to grab a berry, but more often than not, chirping for mommy to deposit more food in their mouths.
The world seems to have come to a stop, yet that’s not true. Millions of moms and dads bring new life into the world. As debilitating as things seem to be in Italy, however, I’ve been elated to receive the news from two of my tour colleagues in Italy, about the first births in their families.
Over the past several years Antonella DeAngelis has provided entertainment for countless guests and helped many celebrate a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary at the villa in Tuscany. Her lovely voice created many memories for our guests in Italy. In 2017 and 2018, I brought her to Sarasota for special performances and to participate in several classes I taught. We even had a segment on the local Sarasota morning TV show.
She and her partner, Luigi, have been family to me in Italy. Through the years I’ve been tutored by Antonella’s mother with a cooking lesson of orecchiette pasta and torta marmellata. I’ve enjoyed visiting them at the Tuscany coastal town of Costiglioncello for their summer vacation.
Antonella gave birth to Luigi, on January 16, 2020. Although she and her spouse had some time to share their new addition to their family with their parents, they have been in lockdown in Florence for the past month.
Dad Luigi Sr. operates two restaurants that remain idle and the couple don’t have their parents for support. They share with me photos of their little gift to the word and videos of Antonella singing while Dad Luigi plays the piano.
If you’ve been lucky enough to tour Tuscany with us over the first Sunday of the month of September, then you have had the pleasure of being given a tour of Arezzo by guide Sandra Giusti.
Our fall Tuscany experience includes a number of tours. The first Sunday of the month of September our guide, Sandra Giusti, shares her beloved city of Arezzo with our guests. She arranges for them to participate in the annual Saracen Joust of Arezzo, where teams from the four quarters of the city compete. This annual event may seem to be out-shined in popularity by Siena’s palio horse race. However, the hundreds of costumed characters with many decorated horses parading throughout the town imprints a memorable experience for our guests. If you happen to be in Tuscany at this time, it is an exciting day well worth a visit.
Sandra guides us through this impressive Tuscan town and leads us to the blessing of the men-at-arms, that takes place on the steps of the Duomo by the Bishop of Arezzo. She then delivers us to the Piazza Grande, where the exhilarating crowd cheers on their jousters. Our guests join in the fun, with this mostly local crowd, watching the jousters gallop their horses with their lance in rest against the Saracen holding a cat-o’-nine-tails in his hand. This tradition goes back to the early 17th century which was revived in the 1930s. I can assure you; it is difficult to get tickets for this event. Sandra always rises to the occasion to obtain tickets for our guests.
Last year, Sandra announced that she was expecting their first child and was to deliver in March 2020. Well, Baby Lorenzo came into the world on March 19, on International Father’s Day, in the middle of Italy’s national lockdown.
To add to the uncertainty to the crisis, the Italian government has provided assistance for state employees and people employed by companies. However, independent professionals like tour guides, haven’t fared as well, with a nominal portion of government assistance allocated to them, even though they are taxed at a 59% rate. Regardless of the stress, Sandra is overjoyed with her beautiful son. We hope she will share Baby Lorenzo with her family soon.
Life does continue, I look forward to the time we can celebrate with my daughter her new married life with her husband. I’m also confident there will be a time where Italy will shine her glory to the world again. Through millennium, the Italian people have suffered from volcano eruptions, earthquakes, floods, invaders like the Goths, Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Saracens, Normans, the French, Spanish, Nazis and so on. In spite of this, I think Italians are some of the most loving and welcoming people of the world, with a culture and cuisine that is second to none. The CORONAVIRUS has laid a massive blow to the Italian’s health and economy. Life will continue. I look forward to the time when my dear friend Silvia and I will have a coffee and dolce at the Pasticceria Porta in Magenta.
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