LA CAPPELLA 2005

Late in September '05, Glenda, Beni and I arrived home in the early hours after nearly a month at villa La Cappella, already counting the days until our return to Tuscany next year.

Northern Tuscany always comes as a surprise to visitors new to the area, as it does not match the images found on calendars or in Tuscan style cook books. The town of Camaiore, near to Villa Cappella, nestles in a valley and it is here that the Appenine Alps rise up to overshadow all. Artists are attracted to the area, Henry Moore had a studio here as do many sculptors, painters and writers. It has a quality conducive to creativity and for that reason we chose La Cappella for our workshops.

La Cappella is overlooked to the south by Mount Prana and Mount Gabberi to the North and enjoys a micro-climate created between the two mountains, benefiting its 1,500 olive trees. And it was here in the villa's olive groves, that I spent a fair bit of time drawing the contorted forms of the old trees . The grove has been  on this hillside for centuries, the oil that is produced today is as pure as ever was. Avoiding the sun rays, I shelter under a heavily laden branch of an olive tree growing above on the stepped slope above me. The peace and tranquility is broken only by the sound of a church bell drifting across the valley or the shriek of a buzzard soaring high above. I draw another tree.

We met some lovely people and have great memories of our stay in Italy. I will never forget sitting in the town square in Camaiore listening to a concert by the Bersaglieri . A crack division of very overweight mountain soldiers, who wear ill fitting uniforms and rather camp feather hats. The Bersaglieri  are famous for running while performing triple tonguing on their brass instruments. As they 'oom pah ed' their way through the  square at break neck speed, we were all impressed at the large belly of the principal trumpeter wobbling in time to the music. I held back a chuckle….unfortunately Glenda and Jane did not.

This was a rare evening out, as usually we were all too tired to go exploring after the days activities. For the most part the evenings were spent relaxing, eating, drinking the local wine, sipping a glass or two limoncello and arguing over a suspect word or a 'medical term' as claimed by Nic during our games of Scrabble.

We ate outside on the balmy evenings. On one occasion we invited friends and Glenda's family over to join us, we had 27 for dinner. Inevitably it turned into a party, it was Nic's wife Anne Marie's birthday. One of our guests Piero, who is a sculptor , painter  and a fine musician - guitar, mandolin and violin, sat in with the accordionist who was invited by a friend of a family members friend's relative! That's the way it goes in Italy. Finally he picked up the accordion and serenaded us with old Italian folk tunes. Anne Marie had Happy Birthday sung to her in English, German and Italian as Piero weaved his way around the tables.

The memory of this wonderful evening is captured in the painting by Anne Marie and presented to Glenda at a little Scrabble reunion we had back in November. Nic was still trying it on with dodgy words!

A tremendous amount of painting and drawing was done during my stay in Tuscany and I seldom ventured beyond the grounds, although I did managed to go on one of Beni's walks. It was from Casoli to  Grepo Lungo following an ancient mountain trail. The views of where we had just come from were beautiful , as I did most of the walk backwards, holding onto Val's hand guiding  her along the footpath. Val was wearing a pair of inadequate shoes for hiking in the the mountains and was feeling a bit nervous. I was able to appreciate the route Beni had taken us as I steadied Val balance and looked past her left ear, over her shoulder.

The issue of inappropriate footwear arose once again when Beni was leading half a dozen walkers along the Via del'amame when challenged by an undercover cop. A member of Italy's tip top 'Flip Flop' Police. The culprit was Jane who was dressed for the beach and not for the hills. After all, this was Italy, they have police for everything here and they mean business. The cop tried to make the walkers turn back but Beni reasoned with him, pointing out that they were now over half way . Uncommonly the policeman backed down. Next year unless walkers wear sensible shoes, Beni will not risk another rub with the 'Flip Flops'.

Apart from Beni, Nic was the most adventurous amongst us - walking, fishing, canoeing and because of our network of friends and family there were other activities on offer. However, Nic didn't take advantage of the hairdressing, pedicure or massage service available from Beni's second auntie  and third cousin.

Next year we are planning to introduce yoga at the start of the day. Andy, who some of you may have drawn at the life workshops  back in Tudeley, will be with us for part of the holiday.

Life drawing workshops at La Cappella, are held in the main villa and we have two excellent models who work at the Art Academy in Carra and we will repeat these sessions in September.

Although we visited local places of interest, there is plenty to paint around the villa  and it was difficult to prise Greta out, away from her water colours. John made many studies of the buildings at La Cappella and very kindly gave three watercolours to Piera and Lorenzo, the villa owners of the property and they are are now hanging in the main house ….the paintings that is!

The lure of the Leaning Tower at Pisa proved too much for Trish and Jane who made the journey and took a number of photographs appearing to support the tumbling tower with one hand. If I only had a penny for every time……

A strangely peaceful and moving place to visit is St Anna. Found high in the mountains, above Camaoire, where in 1944 the retreating German army slain all of its inhabitants.  There is a memorial to commemorate the tragedy and a museum.  As we walked the path through the woods up to the monument, Beni  was engaged in conversation by an old lady taking the same journey. She told him that she only survived the horror of the massacre because her mother fled with her down the mountain instead of fleeing up into the surrounding hills. Like animals the villagers were herded up and slaughtered.

When we reached the monument, we looked across to Versilia stretching out below and another untypical view of Tuscany…the sea! The beach is a short drive away. Twenty minutes and you are in the Tuscan Riviera of Viarregio.

John and Janet took off to Florence for the day, although glad that they made the effort, they found it rather over crowded and much preferred the gentle free wheeling of Lucca. The ancient city of Lucca is only a short drive from Camaiore. Here you can hire bikes and ride the 13th century  city walls. Greta, Jane, Val and Trish were game  and cycled round the perimeter taking on the narrow back streets, stopping off for the occasional cappuccino or gallery visit.

Once per year a large market gathers beyond the walls of Lucca …and by luck is always held in September. We returned to Lucca on the Friday and parked on the outskirts of town. As we crossed  the river Sechio into the hub bub of the market place. I thought that we had wandered onto the lot of a Spaghetti western. Cattle and horses were tethered as Italian 'cowboys' riding western style put on a rodeo-like display for potential horse buyers. On sale were tooled leather cowboy boots, and saddles, cowboy hats, spurs, lariats … I know that Italians can be flamboyant but this seemed a little bizarre if not incongruous amongst the stylish ladies fashions and flowery nic nacs on sale all around.

Well, we arrived home in England, aware that four weeks of Glenda's cooking had added the pounds to our waist lines and in fear of being press ganged by the  Bersaglieri if we don't shape up for 2006, we went on an immediate diet!