Monthly Archive: January 2022
and a tale of Scottish soldiers Long before the town spilled down the hillside and onto the coastal plain, there was Montesilvano Colle, or ‘Lu Colle’ (the hill) for short. At that time Montesilvano meant what it said: wooded hill. It was then a drowsy hamlet, nestling among thick pine woods that crept all the way down to the sea. Now on the plain the trees have been replaced by a forest of apartment buildings which continue to reproduce at a terrifying rate. ‘Colle’, though, relatively untouched by the building boom of the sixties and the 2000s, maintains the easy-going charm of a country borgo. It is most pleasant to...
Let’s go for a spin “When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Why, I begin to wonder, as we heave our bikes onto the car roof, nipping our fingers in the process, is ‘going for a spin’ on the Adriatic Cycle Route beginning to seem like a major enterprise? And why do I feel anxious? Somewhere I have read that the Ciclovia Adriatica will end up being the longest...
On a sunny June morning in San Vito it seems a sin not to be joyful. Your first impressions, though, might leave you wondering. The town at first glance seems little more than a cheerless strip of buildings on either side of a road that rushes down to the sea, swerving abruptly southward as if anxious to leave it all behind. In San Vito there is no seafront to speak of, no promenade where you might enjoy an ice cream and an evening stroll, the holiday flats down at the shore are drab/shabby and the main beach itself is cramped. Where, you might wonder, is the joy? Trabocchi Well,...
Sometimes life delivers its own soundtrack. As we drive into L’Aquila, Paul Simon is singing about a boxer that… …carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him till he cried out in his anger and his shame, “I am leaving, I am leaving” but the fighter still remains. L’Aquila still carries reminders of that terrible night of 6 April, 2009. Brokenness is all around. Alongside many a gleaming new building stands the carcass of its formal self, roof sagging, windows gaping, the whole crumbling edifice held together by metal and wood scaffolding to prevent further collapse. This is our first visit since the earthquake....
Thank you for your comment. I appreciate your input, though I reserve the right to disagree. I am not sure…
error in translation leaving this article non quite correct. Happiness is NOT desiring what you have, is the correct translation.…
Thank you!
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