Americans Discover Etruria

Here in central Italy this has been a week “all’americana”  with  my latest conference “La Tuscia vista dagli Americani “  at the Vetralla Library and  several visitors  from  USA. 

Fulvio shows off Vetralla's heritage 

Opening the season  was  Jamie  Stoeffel of Indiana, winner of the Irish Trivia quiz  which I ran  last month to  promote readers’   comments for  this  blog.  The best way you can  show your appreciation for  the information  I share with you each week is to leave a comment at the end of the post.  

official presentation of the Irish Trivia quiz  prize

Jamie  received  her prize, a copy of  “Travels to Tuscany and Central Italy”  with my personal dedication and then enjoyed  cooking with Fulvio and  lunch on the terrace.  
  

Ramona and Jamie  mirrored in the library 

She  and her travel companion, Ramona Fisher of Minneapolis, were happy to be  treated like VIP visitors  after having endured  an encounter  with gypsy pick pockets and the infamous  “sciopero”  
strikes that hit Italy’s transport system last  week.

enjoying  lunch  

Enrico Dolci, president of the olive oil cooperative,  charms le americane 

homemade cinnamon  digestivo 

They were thrilled to receive  gift bottles of Vetralla’s fine olive oil from the president of the olive oil cooperative and even the local kids wanted to have their photo taken with   le americane. 

with the kids of  Piazza del Duomo, Vetralla

Another group of  5 lovely ladies of  the same family dropped in for a visit during their tour of the nearby Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola. 

Ruud, Fulvio and  American visitors in my library 

They were happy to have discovered the area which offers  such beauty and hospitality, so  close to Rome and Florence  yet not touristy. 

David and Todd  interpreted early American writers 

Professor David Reinking,  actor-neighbor Todd Carter,  Lia Randazzo and Sydney Johnson students  of the USAC program  were the Americans who  helped  make the illustrated conference “La Tuscia vista dagli Americani “  a huge success   on Friday afternoon at  the Vetralla  library.

Lia signing  the guest book 

They read excerpts -in Italian-from  American writers  of the 19^th century ( Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne etc.) describing   this part of Italy. 
 The  audience  of Italians, unaware of how  their land (Tuscia /Northern Lazio/Etruria)had been perceived  by foreign visitors in the past, were horrified  at  the many  negative descriptions.

a part of the  attentive audience 

a full house for  Mary Jane's talk 

 Central Italy has come a long way since  the days when American  writers described filthy streets and desolation due to malaria.    Besides  the natural improvement  of the area, we must  thank the images created by Hollywood films and writings by contemporaries living in the area  among these  

the audience came from Sutri, Viterbo, Rome, Soriano, Bracciano and a few from Vetralla

Linda Lappin's mystery novels, Eleanor Herman’s  story of Donna Olympia, “Mistress of the Vatican”  and Mark Leslie’s amusing description of life (and learning to cook )  with a local family.

 Thanks also go to social media tools Facebook and  blogs which have made journalists  and promoters of  all  those who come to  visit  and remain enchanted with the quality of life in Etruria. 

Thanks  to all these things, a special part of Italy, unintentionally  ignored by American visitors,  is finally  coming out of its  centuries-long  slumber. This year Italy has been named  as the number one destination  for adult  Americans for a visit outside their own country. 

Mary Jane presenting  "La Tuscia vista dagli Americani" 

 For the past  eight years it has held the  first and second places for best vacation destination. This was no surprise to marketing specialists  who consider Italy as the top destination for romance, culture, history,fine food and wines.
Be sure to visit  my website for  practical information and books about the area and  share with friends and  family.
Your comments and feedback are welcome.  

Alternative tourism: from hikers and bikers to archeologists and art historians

watercolor by Alice Lejeune

Tourism statistics are nothing more than a dry collection of numbers. Living here and writing about this area gives me the privilege of meeting the real people behind these numbers: a collection of very interesting individuals.  

Archeologist Stephanie exaimes a plaque in Vetralla's city hall 

All of the people met over the past few months had a special, personal reason for coming  to this lesser known area of central Italy. Each had a special itinerary to follow  which ranged from literature, sport and history to archeology, music and dance. 

From the island of Crete, artist Tim spent a week walking in the footsteps of D.H. Lawrence, using  only public transport  and participating in the life of our circle of friends. 

lunch on the terrace with Teresa 

Teresa, from New Mexico, comes annually as she organizes workshops for writers and aspiring writers. Art historians and museum curators are other visitors who are always welcome.

Museum curators Annawies and John visited  from Boston

Author Mark  meets local actor, Christian

Marged (r.) joins local residents for  Wedding of the Trees festival

Marged and Mark both came to Viterbo to study Italian and cooking and stayed on for local festivities.

Jim, bandaged after a fall in London, 

Jim,  an eco builder from Scotland, arrived at night last week, weighed down by a huge backpack.  
He was following in the footsteps of his father, once  a POW  in Vetralla's Camp  68. Jim read about the camp  here and decided to come see for himself. 

Meeting the locals near the POW camp 

Checco Lallo's  pottery cave has not changed over the years 

We showed Jim a place that hadn't changed since his father was a prisoner here in 1943. 
This group of international lawyers who came in May,even  got a chance to try their hands  at the potter's wheel .

Trying out local crafts 

POW barracks in the background 

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Jim meets Ivo who was a prisoner of the Germans


At least once a week a group of pilgrims on foot or cyclists  passes through town, stopping in the main  piazza for a break during their long ride from Siena or Viterbo to Rome.

Bikers from all parts of Italy (and Brazil)   take a break in the piazza

German scholars  and American trekkers often  stop  at our  local bookshop looking for maps of  ancient  Roman roads and books about the area. 
Last week a troupe of young Russian ballet dancers arrived  in Viterbo to present  Swan Lake during the Tuscia Opera Festival. They didn't see much of the city but gifted us with a magical evening. 

dancers applying makeup  in the piazza

The 13th century  Papal Palace was the backdrop for Tchiakovsky's  enchanting music and ballet. 

Ballet dancers from St. Petersburg, Russia 

warming up for  Swan Lake in Viterbo

 Another  international group, this time French archeologists, stayed for an entire month  as they uncovered an Etruscan tomb complex hidden in the woods near Tuscania. 

walking to the newly discovered tombs

Vincent  Jolivet  from CNRS, Paris leads  the group 

Edwige Lovergne  explains her discovery 

tools for the archeological dig

We anxiously await the published report on the French archeological team's discoveries. 
 

a sneak preview of the tomb complex

 Individual travelers like Tim and Jim who like to rough it, prove that you can get around  our area (with difficulty) using public transport, but it makes sense  to rent a car if two or more persons are traveling together.