Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
We have seen numerous homes and properties, both before and after restoration. It's aston-
ishing what Tuscans are able to do. You watch as they carefully put in a beautiful tile patio
in the perfect location. Shortly afterwards two large terra cotta planters arrive that give a
sense of earthiness and longevity to the patio that just appeared yesterday. Next, the earth
moves as they prepare to add the swimming pool which is always in a prime view location,
enhanced by raising the ground level of the site. Then, they carve away the earth on the
far side of the pool so that there is a drop-off that makes you feel like you're on top of the
world.
Even in the smallest things, there is often an attention to beauty that surprises. When we
bought our place in San Cosimo, we needed some tile work done in our bathroom around
the border of our bathtub. Our friends, Ugo and Narcisso, came by with their tools to help
us out. The twins, who are getting close to 70 years of age at the time of this writing, went
to school in Italy when completing sixth grade was more than many managed to do. Yet,
as they worked, they discussed the logistics of cutting and setting the tile in terms of the
aesthetic effect of the various options. Getting it to look as beautiful as possible was taken
for granted in carrying out the work.
From the architecture of Renaissance palazzos to the presentation of meals in restaurants,
there are so many lovely things to look at and enjoy. When you slow down enough to begin
to take it in, you realize that being surrounded by beauty may be unnecessary, but it makes
it nicer to be alive. As we bask in it for a week with our tour groups, we watch as people
perk up and begin to take a visceral pleasure in their surroundings.
Once it's no longer around you, some part of you experiences the absence of beauty as an
inconsolable ache. We are pushers of beauty, and we try to get our groups hooked. Can you
think of a better way to insure repeat business?
Time
In Tuscany the past is much larger, more important and closer to the present than it is in
America. And time is handled much more gently.
Strange though it may be, Tuscans are closer emotionally to Dante who lived around 1300
than we are to George Washington who lived 500 years later. Dante is a real, living pres-
ence in the Tuscan imagination; George is a ghostly figure with white hair and wooden
teeth; he belongs to an era that is unimaginably distant from us. We know him only from
dollar bills and grammar school pictures; we have a heck of a time bringing him to life.
Scholars continue to research the nation's founding fathers; knowledge about the era con-
Search WWH ::
Custom Search