blog | Gary J. Kirkpatrick Art and Travel Blog

The Low Lands and the bossche bollen

07/07/202414/05/2023 by Gary Kirkpatrick

It’s called by many names. In Spanish it’s Paises Bajos, the Low Countries. It is most commonly referred to by a name that is part of the name of just two of its provinces. In English we refer to their language using an unrelated term.

Welcome to Holland (a word that originates with the provinces of North Holland and South Holland). In the country they spell it “Nederlands,” with a ‘d,’ a word unrelated to the country’s name. In English it’s “the Netherlands,” with a ‘t,’

We are here again.

The Dutch don’t complain about calling their country Holland nor their language Dutch instead of ‘Nederlands’ or ‘Hollandish.’ It’s more about the weather than any other topic. It’s May and they have good cause yet again. It’s been cold. In late April it was just below freezing on several mornings. It’s been rainy, and when not raining, it’s been very cloudy, with just a few nice days sprinkled in.

The dock at 'T leuken, watercolor — Dock at ‘t Leuken, watercolor

We made our way northwesterly on the Maas from this year’s winter harbor in t’Leuken. On our first night we moored just outside Lock Lith, arranged by Chris, whom we met last year in France. He arranged our overnight with the lock keeper, as overnights are not normally allowed. Chris was working just a ten minute walk downstream. We went there, staying with him as he piloted the ferry back and forth across the Maas. This privately run ferry is on a hydraulic cable powered by a small diesel engine. The operator has to raise and lower the ramp in addition to starting and stopping the cable. For Chris it’s a part time job as he’s retired, but likes doing. He takes the summers off to spend it on the boat with his wife, although this year they will be camping.

The next day we landed in s’ Hertogenbosch at Lock 0. We’re very close to the center of town. The center is lively, with lots of restaurants and bars, as well as fish trucks and cheese stands in the central square. We had a lekkerbek, a breaded and deep fried cod, and some great fries. At a restaurant we ordered the mighty bossche bollen, a cream filled chocolate covered pastry that is knockdown heavenly. One is enough for two unless you have just it for dinner, which I was tempted to do. These are made by just one company, delivered to eateries around town. I have never seen one elsewhere and I’ve been all over this country. You can find recipes on the internet.

boschebol — A bossche bollen, chocolate covered thin pastry filled with whipped cream

s’ Hertogenbosch is also known for being the birthplace and lifetime residence of Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1450 – August 9, 1516), whose family produced the kinds of paintings for which he is famous. His often bizarre religious themed paintings are well known, held in collections around the world. For him heaven is a place of free love, where nudity and sex is everywhere to be seen and enjoyed. He is also known for his disturbing representations of life in hell,

The museum is in a converted church, a common arrangement in the country as church attendance often does not justify the expense of building maintenance. There are no original paintings, just excellent reproductions. Each is described in a lovely booklet with well written and translated commentary, Dutch and English, which includes the painting’s current location. There are also some 30 of his drawings, showing his portrait, figure and fantasy drawing skills absent any distracting context.

In the Conjurer, below, we have a secular scene. A conman distracts with the cups while a co-conspirator picks the pocket of a unsuspecting woman. As in the first painting, this one clearly demonstrates his figure drawing and painting skills. His paintings show us his intellect and imagination, albeit at times bizarre, all complex, with multiple figures robed and otherwise.

The town also is home to an impressive church, now a Catholic cathedral, having passed back and forth with the Protestants in centuries past. This Gothic structure was started circa 1240, and finished about a century later. The third restoration began in 1998, in 2010 completed at a cost of more than 48 million euros. I can not imagine the Roman Catholic Church affording this amount so I did a bit of research on the matter. Indeed there was some funding from the government of the Netherlands.

ceiling of St John Cathedral in s’ Herzenobosch — The painted ceiling St John Cathedral in s’ Herzenobosch

Walking about town is a pleasure, with its large central plaza, narrow side streets, bike lanes and many small shops as well as the usual chains. I can never figure out how these small shops, especially clothes shops, manage to stay in business. They do come and go to some extent, I believe, but here they still are, displaying more upscale choices, and in something new there is now the occasional vintage clothing shop.

There’s a marijuana shop near our mooring. It’s called the Grass Company. I figure its pot as there is no need to help the Dutch grow lawns. We have read that purchasers must be Dutch residents. Amsterdam in particular is getting so many visitors just coming for the pot, staying on to party to excess, disturbing the peace and presumably crowding the jails. We saw none of that in this small town. People go to the bars and drink at home, and if they toke a joint it does not lead to raucous street parties. What they do in private it’s hard to tell, given the absence of noise coming from their houses. I often wonder if everyone in a town has died as I walk around at night in the residential areas.

Who Killed Caravaggio?

07/07/202405/05/2023 by Gary Kirkpatrick

Leonardo is called da Vinci because he was born in a small town near Florence of that name. Michele Angelo da Caravaggio (1571-1610) is called Caravaggio because he was born in a small town of that name, located just outside Milan. He became a major figure in art and, as art was so fundamental to the times, he is a major figure in history. His dramatic use of light and his controversial presentations influenced all or nearly every artist since, from Atremesia to Rembrandt and well beyond. His aggressive behavior lead to an early death at the age of 39. We lost the opportunity to see what other innovations he might have developed.

He painted his principal subjects in shafts of light, contrasting the heavy use of shadow and darkness. He painted directly onto the canvas without the usual multiple drawings. He used live models, often the same ones. Some of his versions of religious figures were controversial, showing them as more earthly than the mores of the time allowed, such as his Madonna dei Palafrenieri (Madonna of the Groom). It was rejected by the Church, and ended up in the hands of Cardinal Scipione Borghese. Notice that Jesus is uncircumcised, suggesting Jesus was not really Jewish, but of course he was.

Madonna dei Palafrenieri (Madonna of the Groom), Caravaggio, 1606

We took a stroll with Guru Walks, our second walking tour in Rome with this group, which is tip based versus a fixed fee. It was billed as “Who Killed Caravaggio.” The guide took us past scenes of his violent acts and into churches where you can see some of his 100+ paintings.

The church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome has three famous Caravaggio’s, all about Saint Mathew. These paintings were Caravaggio’s first major commissions, which to our lasting benefit set him on the path to the work we see today.

In the Calling of St Mathew (1600), Jesus inspires Mathew to become a follower. The painting dramatically, brilliantly both figuratively and literally depicts the story from the Gospel According to Mathew: “Jesus saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom house, and said to him, “Follow me”, and Matthew rose and followed Him.” Matthew 9:9) The hat wearing (it’s not a yarmulke) Jesus is largely obscured by another figure. Jesus sports a trimmed beard, hugely unlikely to be what any Jewish man of that time displayed, and probably the only such portrayal in the history of art. The outfits are hardly Middle Eastern, except perhaps the one but even it has the man wearing a black shirt beneath the robe.

The Calling of Saint Matthew. This painting greatly reminds of Rembrandt.

In The Inspiration of St Mathew, Mathew is listening to an angel as he writes his version of the story of Jesus. Mathew is awkwardly posed, as if he was about to sit down, ready to write, when his visitor appears, catching his attention, pen in hand and book (and not scroll) at the ready. The background is in darkness, the table lightly illuminated, focusing your attention on the figures. Plenty of robes in this painting.

People at that time believed, as many still do, that the Gospels were written by four apostles. It was not until the mid-1800’s that Christian scholars determined that the books were written in Greek by educated people, whereas both Jesus and the apostles spoke Aramaic and were unable to read or write, according to Paul. You’d think that if Jesus could write he would have, that he did not write himself and did not find someone to write for him a la Mohammed suggests further his inability to read and write. Christian scholarship also shows that the earliest of the gospels, Luke, was not written until after 50 CE. The Gospels themselves do not claim authorship at all. The titles were added around 200 CE, and only Luke claims the use of eye witnesses, but gives no details. See for example World History. org

The Inspiration of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio

Madonna (literally “My Lady”) of Loreto depicts a barefoot Mary holding a large baby Jesus before two peasants. Not kings, but peasants! Barefoot! Peasants! Mary is almost always depicted wearing a crown and some pretty fancy duds befitting of the mother of Jesus. The room is bare, which is also unusual. The model he used was a known prostitute, well known locally and commented upon at the time. Caravaggio certainly was not constrained by tradition, at least not entirely.

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Popolo (St Mary of the People) at the Piazza del Popolo was also on our itinerary. According to the ancient tradition, after his death sentence was announced, Peter requested that he be crucified upside down, saying that no man is worthy to be killed in the same way as Jesus. This is a strange thing to say, it seems to me, as many were executed exactly as Jesus was, including the two hanging right next to Jesus. Crucifixion was a common method the Romans used, allowing the body to rot as a way of further intimidating the locals.

Here we have Caravaggio’s brilliant rendition of the horrendous scene about to unravel. Peter looks more like the poor fisherman he and most of the disciples were, continuing Caravaggio’s predilection for portraying the famous actors as ordinary, common people. The shadowing across his body is nothing short of brilliant. One figure seems to be wearing robes, the other shirt and trousers as they try to lift the heavy cross and body. Peter is dressed as Jesus normally is on the cross. He is trying to keep his head upright, delaying the rushing of blood to his head.

The Conversion of St Paul is a more genteel scene, although falling from a horse is no laughing matter and can be fatal. Caravaggio shows he can paint horses, this one with his hoof in the air, suggesting it is still in motion, obscuring the thorax of Paul’s groom. His clothing reminds of a Roman soldier, his sword and helmet lying on the ground. The figures are surrounded by darkness, presumably due to the storm whence came the bolt of lightning, leaving him isolated and vulnerable. No wonder he heard voices.

Saul is the Hebrew version of Paul. Paul did not change his name.

We finished on the steps of this church (aside from Caravaggio the small church also contains works by Raphael and Bernini among others) with the mystery of who killed Caravaggio.

Caravaggio was often fleeing from one part of Italy to another, near the end to Malta, then Sicily and then Naples. Reports show bizarre behavior in addition to much violence. While in Naples he was attempting to negotiate a pardon with the Cardinal Scipione Borghese, offering a painting in exchange.

He died on the way to Rome, but the cause is unknown. There were rumors that the powerful Tommasoni family of Rome, whose son he killed causing him to flee Rome, or the Knights of Malta had him killed, and also that he died of syphilis. Painters until modern times used white paint with lead in it, and other paints containing toxic substances, which might have contributed to the strange and violent behavior in contemporary reports, and could also cause death. There are reports of wounds from a sword fight in Naples leading to sepsis.

So the mystery remains with us, along with his fabulous works.

Walking tour of the Jewish ghetto of Rome

07/07/202402/05/2023 by Gary Kirkpatrick

The Jewish ghetto of Rome sits adjacent to the ancient Teatro Massimo. The ghetto is located over a giant facility owned by the family of Augustus Caeser, which extended over a kilometer. It was occupied after his death by his sister Octavia, where she resided until her fourth husband’s death. We still can visit what remains of the Porto di Octavia.

The ghetto was founded in 1555, and all Jews that were not already living in the area (they made up 80% of the residents already) were required to move there. The Jews were compelled to pay for the wall that enclosed them, in an area that was the least desirable in the city, subject to the flooding of the Tiber. Its gates were locked at night. The ghetto remained under the rule of the Pope until the Risorgimento of 1870 created the modern state of Italy. These 300 plus years is a story of trickery, humiliation, pressure to convert, prohibition of religious worship, and undue taxation and imposed poverty, culminating in the deportation of some 3000 of its residents in WWII, the zenith of the depravity of so called Christians.

Jews had no rights. They could not own property and their allowed occupations were strictly limited. They were allowed to be pawn brokers but otherwise their occupations were confined to the lowest paying. There was abject poverty as a result. When they left the ghetto they had to wear yellow clothes, the women a yellow vail, the same as prostitutes.

Jewish Ghetto in Rome — One of the area’s charming narrow streets.

There were compulsory Catholic sermons on the sabbath. For this they had to stand in front of San Gregorio della Divina Pietà which sitsn the edge of the ghetto. On its facade is a quote in large letters on the exterior from the Hebrew Bible, out of context, where Moses condemned his fellow Jews for worshipping the golden calf.

They built the Synagogue in 1870, oversized in the hopes of an expanded population after the losses from disease reduced the population by half. Subsequent to the attack by Palestinians in 1982, the Synagogue is guarded around the clock by the Carabinieri, and per our guide, retired Mossad agents dressed entirely in black.

We walked with Guru Tours. Mircea, of Romanian, half Jewish and half Orthodox Christian heritage, also does tours at the Coliseo. We began at the steps of the Capitoline Hill, where Mircea commenced his barrage of commentary, very interesting, and accurate as near as I could tell.

All together, continued Jewish presence in Rome goes back some to 2000 years, he noted, likely making Rome the world’s oldest Jewish community outside the Middle East. Post WWII it’s population was boosted by Sephardic Jews from Madrid, who were in need of a larger community, finding one much in need of the economic resources the Spanish brought.

The current Roman mayor and council meets in the magnificent structure called the Campidoglio, officially still in Latin, Senatus Populusque Romanus. Its facade is by Michelangelo, overlooks the ruins of ancient Rome, and is flanked by the fabulous Capitoline museums, Santa Maria in Ara Coeli (supposedly containing the relics of the mother of Constantine) incorporates the temple of Juno Moneta, from whom we get the word ‘money,’ originally meaning ‘warning.’ From this building and from the Vatican came the edicts that controlled and manipulated the Jews of the ghetto.

Close by and down the hill towards the Teatro de Marcello, modified for housing in the middle ages and now rented out to upscale tourists, you come to the site where state executions occured in Roman times. Victims were thrown off the high wall to their death after being tried and walked across the capital grounds. From this we get the term “capital punishment.” More than one rabbi met his death here. They were not allowed to have services, and if found doing so, were put to death.

The Nazis raided the ghetto on 16 October 1943.Some 1020 people were sent to Auschwitz. Only 16 survived. There are commemorative plates in honor of those taken and of those who died in the 1982 attack, which included one child whose father was throwing grenades tossed by the attackers back at them.

On 13 April 1986 Pope John Paul unexpectedly visited the Synagogue, called the Great Synagogue. He came to pray and to apologize for the Church’s treatment of Jews. There have been various visits since. Mircea said the Rabbi he did not want an apology but an understanding of what it had meant to be treated as they had been.

There are several Jewish restaurants in the quarter. Nonna Betta is known for its deep fried artichokes, and another for its briskets. Ba’Ghetto has a large terrace where they servie falafel, lamb ragu, goulash and oven-roasted veal. I assume these and the others are kosher. Another set of restaurants are owned by the same people. One serves seafood, while another it’s dairy products.

Puglia: slide show set to a famous song

07/07/202421/04/2023 by Gary Kirkpatrick

Pulgia set to Volare

Volare, oh oh
Cantare, oh oh oh oh
Let’s fly way up to the clouds
Away from the maddening crowds
We can sing in the glow of a star that I know of
Where lovers enjoy peace of mind
Let us leave the confusion and all disillusion behind
Just like bird of a feather, a rainbow together we’ll find

Volare, oh oh
E cantare, oh oh oh oh
No wonder my happy heart sings
Your love has given me wings
Penso che un sogno così non ritorni mai più
Mi dipingevo le mani e la faccia di blu
Poi d’improvviso venivo dal vento rapito
Ed incominciavo a volare nel cielo infinito

Volare, oh oh
E cantare, oh oh oh oh
Nel blu, dipinto di blu
Felice di stare lassù
E volavo, volavo felice più in alto del sole ed ancora più su
Mentre il mondo pian piano spariva lontano laggiù
Una musica dolce suonava soltanto per me

Volare, oh oh
E cantare, oh oh oh oh
No wonder my happy heart sings
Your love has given me wings
Nel blu, dipinto di blu
Felice di stare lassù
Nel blu, dipinto di blu

Written by: Domenico Modugno, Francesco Migliacci, Mitchell Parish

The song was recorded by numerous artists, among them Dean Martin, Bobby Rydell, Marino Marini (UK), Al Martino, David Bowie (in Italian), and more. It was played endlessly in the US in the late 1950’s.

Pompeii

07/07/202421/04/2023 by Gary Kirkpatrick

Vesuvius devastated Pompeii and Herculaneum (8th century BCE) in the eruption of 79 CE. Pompeii’s 11,000 residents suffered the most. Even so most escaped, salvaging some of their belongings as pumice blanketed the town for the first 18 hours. By the end of the first day it was covered with three meters of ash, pumice and other materials. The next morning the 20 mile/33km column of ash collapsed, sending 250C/400F air and pyroclastic material through the town at high speeds, killing everyone who remained.

Amazingly we have eye witness reports. Pliny the Younger wrote two letters in response to an inquiry from the historian Tacitus. Tacticus had asked about the death of Pliny the Elder, commander of the fleet at Misenum. Pliny the Elder went to help people and to get a closer view of the eruption, and ordered the fleet to assist in evacuations.

The forum in Herculaneum, Vesuvius in the background — Vesuvius looms over Pompeii, both ancient and modern.

Vesuvius has erupted many times since: 172, 203, 222, possibly in 303, 379, 472, 512, 536, 685, 787, around 860, around 900, 968, 991, 999, 1006, 1037, 1049, around 1073, 1139, 1150, and there may have been eruptions in 1270, 1347, and 1500, 1631, six times in the 18th century, eight times in the 19th century , 1906, 1929 and 1944, the last one. None have been of the scale of that of 79, one of the most powerful of all known volcanic eruptions. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted in the last 100 years. It is the most densely populated volcanic zone in the world, with 3 million in the area and 600,000 in the danger zone. It is one of a number of volcanoes in the zone. See Vesuvius on Wikipedia

Excavations began in the 16th century, well before modern methods allowed for better preservation of the discoveries and extraction of information. Of course with more modern methods we have learned more about the times.

The artwork and its state of preservation are impressive, whether in the form of frescoes, statues or mosaics andhave had tremendous influence. “Artists, architects, potters, and even furniture makers drew much inspiration from Pompeii… The stucco work popularized in England by the 18th-century architects James and Robert Adam used the same motifs. In France, the in Louis XVI style incorporated Pompeian motifs, and the apartment of Louis’s queen, Marie Antoinette, at Fontainebleau was decorated in this style, which became popular throughout Europe. Jacques-Louis David and his student Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres drew inspiration for their paintings from the excavations. Indeed, the Neoclassic style stimulated by the discoveries at Pompeii completely replaced the Rococo and became the artistic style of the French Revolution and of the Napoleonic period.” See Britannica

cart — The metal rim and the metal hub are orginal, and there were spoke stubs

Achaeologists found bakeries with grinding stones and kneading machines. They found some ovens still with loaves of bread inside. Bread at that time contained bits of stone from the grinding process. This caused teeth to wear excessively. One fast food joint, called thermopolia, where hungry ancients grabbed quick meals. See the Smithsonian. From sewage pipes we’ve learned what was in the diet. See NBC News report The pipes are in such good shape that they could still be used.

The House of the Vettii is the largeset house in Pompeii. It reopened to the public after 20 years in 2015. Once again visitors can enjoy the stunning beauty of its art and admire the skills of the artists.

italy-pompeii-visiting-top-attractions-house-of-the-vettii — House of the Vettii

HouseVettii01 — fresco in House of the Vettii

house of vetti — fresco in House of the Vettii, Wiki photo

The House of Mysteries (2nd century BCE) is newly open to the public. There are exquisite frecoes in room 5 showing the initiation of a bride into a mystery cult. These are now the most famous of the frescoes in Pompeii.

Roman_fresco_Villa_dei_Misteri_Pompeii_008 — House of Mystery, photos by Peg

Roman_fresco_Villa_dei_Misteri_Pompeii_001 — House of Mystery, , photos by Peg

Freco from the House of Mysteries, Pompeii — House of Mystery, photos by Peg

Herculaneum

07/07/202420/04/2023 by Gary Kirkpatrick

Herculaneum was buried on the second day of the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79 CE. Most of its inhabitants escaped death by leaving on the first day, as of its 4000 residents only some 350 skeletons have been recovered and few are likely to remain. In addition, because it was spared much of the damage caused by falling stone and then covered to a depth of 20 meters from six flows, we have much more of the perishable material: lintels, furniture, doors, carts and even papyrus writings survived the volcano’s wrath. Most of these are in the The National Archaeological Museum of Naples As a result of this preservation we learned a great deal about the daily life of its residents. For more information see What Was Normal Life Like In Pompeii Before Its Destruction? | Pompeii with Mary Beard

Herculaneum was named after Hercules. The town was home to wealthy residents seeking a summer beach venue. It dates from the 7thc BCE, when it was founded by the Oscans. The Etruscans took over until the the rise Greeks took over, and then came the Romans.

Herculaneum- view fom above — View from the top of the ash that covered Herculaneum. Quite the heap!

Herculaneum, two figures — Superbly preserved fresco in Herculaneum

Herculaneum statute — Proconsul Marcus Nonius Balbus

skeletons in Herculaneum — Remains at what was then the beach

The Villa of the Papyri is the luxurious dwelling on the seashore. It may have belonged to consul Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, Julius Caesar’s father-in-law. The library that survived nearly intact, and has been digitized.

Herculaneum, one of 1800 paprus books found, Tesoro_letterario_di_Ercolano_p27 — One of the papyrus from the library.

Gallipoli and Taranto

07/07/202412/04/2023 by Gary Kirkpatrick

Gallipoli

We stopped for a short visit in Gallipoli, a peninsula jutting into the sea, known for its old town, sandy beaches, The founding history is not clear, but suggests occupation by Cretes and Gauls, preceded by native peoples. The earliest written records show it was a city in ancient Greek times; they still speak a Greek dialect alongside Italian. Sacked by the Vandals and Goths, it later became part of the Byzantine Empire, then following the same general occupation history as the rest of the area, from Naples to Sicily.

gallipolii street — On the streets of the old town in Gallipoli

Taranto

After driving to the very tip of the heel of the boot, we headed north to Taranto, still on the Ionic Sea, through areas laden with vineyards, the grapes leaves just sprouting into the crisp early spring air. In earlier times workers in these vineyards, when stung by the Wolf spider, hopped about with the pain. From this developed a dance called the Tarantella, the Italian word for ‘tarantula,’ performed to this day. I could see them doing the dance in these lush fields, prancing about the short, gnarly grape plants.

Taranto was founded by the 8th century Spartans. It came to be a powerful city, home to philosophers, writers and athletes. By circa 500 BCE it was populated by some half million people, a huge number for that epoch. It is served by a large natural port that the Italian navy made its home in both WWI and WWII.

We have been staying in private apartments during this trip. This is quite a bit less expensive than hotels and there are kitchens. Or so they say. Here the apartment was divided in two. Although in the description it said there was kitchen access, in this otherwise lovely apartment the kitchen was not accessible to us. It is in a separate area which consisted of the kitchen with a bed in it. Not knowing it was occupied, one of us opened the door, to the surprise of another set of guests. Another oddity- in our area there were two bedrooms. The bathroom was accessible only from one of the bedrooms.

The lovely dining/living room area was shared with the kitchen occupants, though they never came there. The staff brought breakfast to us there: an excellent croissant, orange juice from those bright red oranges, and espresso, cafe latte or cappuccino. Here cappuccino seldom has anything to do with chocolate shavings, just steamed milk. Being too milky for my taste, I stick with the espresso. In Italy the espresso has very little water so it is quite strong. The other variations, cafe latte and cappucino, have the same amount of coffee, and thus the same amount of caffeine, contrary to what many believe and counter intuitive, given the strong flavor of espresso.

The best thing about our place is its location. It is about 10-15 minutes to the port and about the same to the modern center, where the Semana Santa processions take place starting the next day, Friday, and ending on Sunday.

Taranto old town — Walking through the old town

Taranto statue to mariners — Statue to Mariners, Tartano

Along the port in the old town the buildings are decrepit and mostly unoccupied. Many buildings are closed entirely, their windows and doors concreted shut. Others have occupants in buildings whose facades have not been kept up for decades if not centuries. Many businesses have long since moved elsewhere. One of the locals told us that the area is up for a complete face lift.

We eventually found a trattoria open for lunch. Attractively decorated and just a few meters from the sea, over-populated with staff who hover about, they served up some mighty fine seafood dishes.

mussels with pasta — Mussels with short tube pastas in a soupy but flavorful tomato based sauce

mussles orchiette — Mussels with orecchiette

They had a number of contorni (vegetable side dishes) on offer. They had this agro-dulce (sweet and sour) red onion dish so we gave it a try. A bit too agro-dulce for my taste.

They served a lovely dry white wine made from the Falangina, an ancient grape (5€). The wine in this region is very good. Puglia currently has 33 regulated wine regions, mostly concentrated in Salento, at the very heel of Italy’s boot. Most are red, encouraged by the hot dry climate, but there are some good whites as well, somewhat surprising as whites generally do better in cooler climates. This is why Germany, Belgium and the Alsace region of France produce far more white than red.

We are in Taranto during Holy Week celebrations. The night before the events started on the Friday we watched as two men in robes walked in the cold night without shoes. The next day they carried heavy crosses along with others, normally clad, accompanied by good brass bands playing dirges.

hooded characters — Semana Santa procession on Sunday evening

I have been to much more somber such events in Spain, though the shoe-less bit and the face covers are an interesting touch. It is quite cold so it can not be fun walking like this. The point is to suffer, in the imitation of Christ. Among Catholics there are still known instances of even more extreme self-inflicted pain, to this day. See this BBC report on Opus Dei http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8375174.stm

The crowd paid little attention to the procession, despite the gory statues, the somber shoe-less figures and the booming dirges. With the exception of the comparative few lining the path, the rest of the crowd was there to meet friends, have a drink and something to eat. I was not sure what to expect, given the holiday, but not given the 25% observance rate (they remain Catholics but do not pay much attention to religion) you find among the otherwise predominantly Roman Catholic country. See extensive statistics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Italy

For a light dinner we twice visited a neat little bar called Don Crudo on Via XX Settembre. Our first choice for this evening was full. Don Crudo and staff were happy to see us. They make an excellent pinsa with a wide selection and piadini, thin hot sandwiches with much the same choice of ingredients. Pinsa, if you are not already familiar with it, it is a pizza dough that rises for 24 hours. This creates a very airy and crusty result.

piadino — Piadino (singular), piadini (plural)

pinsa — Pinsa (singular), pinse (plural)

T’was a fine ending to another chilly outing. We weaved our way through the crowd for the ten minute walk home in the chilly night air.

Lecce: A Baroque city with a long past

07/07/202408/04/2023 by Gary Kirkpatrick

Dating from the time of Jesus, Lecce features extensive baroque architecture, uniformly made with Lecce stone. Lecce stone is a kind if limestone, still a main export because it is easily worked.

Like so many locations in Italy, Lecce sits on a treasure trove of artifacts, which Museo Faggiano clearly illustrates. The museum is located in a house owned by the Faggiano family. We were met at the door by the oldest son Andrea. His father Luciano bought it in 2000 for the purpose of opening a trattoria. Following reports of a leak he looked for a broken sewer line. Down he dug until he began to unearth pottery, coins, toys, a bishop’s ring and other artifacts from the middle ages back to prehistoric times.

He hid his activity from his wife, not wanting her to know that he was lowering his then 12 year old son deep into pits to dig. The dirty clothes eventually gave him away. They carted off the dirt by surreptitiously putting it in their car and hauling it to their farm. Neighbors eventually noticed, and reported the activity to the city government. The family spent the next 10 years uncovering artifacts and structures under the supervision of the town’s archaeologists, whom they’d been unable to avoid, humorously portrayed a Andrea as “you work, you pay, we just watch and take what you find.” The discoveries are now in the local museum, largely still in boxes.

We learned from that in the 14th to the 15th centuries the building was a Franciscan convent, inhabited in the middle of the 12th century by a Templar community as they prepared to invade the Middle East. The structures we see to this day were built on foundations from the Messapic (pre-Roman) era. We know little about these presumably indigenous peoples.

Museo-Archeologico-Faggiano-–-Lecce-02-769513583

The house is now attractively arranged with multiple livable rooms. On the roof there are views of the surrounding buildings, flat roofs with sharp angles, tubes for this and that, and jutting trees.

Afterwards we had lunch at a delightful by the slice place. You pay by the weight, not yours, but that of the pizza. There is a price list on the wall. You pay more for more expensive toppings. There is beer and wine. The crust is light and crunchy., a real pleasure of a place in a hole in the wall joint with wooden chairs and tables, and a pleasant woman deftly slicing pizza with scissors.

As you walk from one area in town to another you find art treasures as well as more architectural gems. These metal sculptures are among my favorites.

That night we found another trattoria, sampling more local specialties, the best of this place being the bread crumb stuffed mussels.

Puglia: Italian cuisine you’ve never met

07/07/202406/04/2023 by Gary Kirkpatrick

After a visit to the grotte (caves) in Castellana Grotte we wiggled the car through the narrow narrow streets of the town to find Trattoria Arco Persi. https://www.trattoriaarcopersio.it/men%C3%B9 A trattoria is so named because it’s supposed to feature local cuisine. This place lived up to its title.

We ordered antipasto. Out came seafood risotto, a baked breaded mozzarella slice with parmigiano in a sauce, seafood in a vinaigrette, bruschetta with tomato and basil, buratta (like a fresh mozzarella but with cream), breaded cheese croquettes, roasted artichoke halves, shrimp vinaigrette, breaded zucchini, octopus salad and more. It was enough for lunch and everything was tasty and well presented.

baked-mozzarella-1295911701 — Baked mozzarella

Not knowing how much food would be coming as antipasto, I’d ordered fave e cicorie, white beans and cicoria, a bitter green. When we lived in Rome I learned a Roman dish called pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans) so I assumed fave e cicore would be a pasta dish. It is not. I also assumed the beans would be whole. They are not, as you can see. Not just the beans are blended, the cicorie is as well.

It’s not all that pretty but I think it’s a great combination. See a recipe at https://www.greatitalianchefs.com/recipes/fave-e-cicoria-recipe-fava-bean-dip. The people at this website label the dish as a dip. It is not. It is included among the primi piati, “first plates” literally, but “first course” is a better translation. All pasta dishes are listed in this section of Italian menus, called ‘cartas’ in Italian (and thence we get the term “a la carte.”) The cicorie they use for this dish is a wild form. This leaf is not jagged while the Roman is, and it does not seem to be as bitter, unless the chef changed the cooking water several times before adding the greens to the beans.

I could not eat it all so they made a to go package. We’d stopped earlier in Alberobello. There we ordered a panino de porchetta (panini is the plural of panino). Porchetta is a roast baby pig stuffed with garlic and herbs. I’d only had it previously in and around Rome, it being a specialty of Aricia, a small town in the Albani Hills just outside the city. I was thinking I was about to try a Puglian variation. I asked the guy behind the counter if it was a local version. No, he said, it is not different from the one you find in Aricia, in fact, he said, what he serves comes from there. I was disappointed in not finding a new version, but it was excellent, and we are while looking at the Trulli houses lining the piazza. Even though I only ate half of the bread of the panino I was still not terribly hungry for lunch three hours later.

I’ll report on more of the local cuisine as we proceed. I can tell you right now, however, that orecchiette (little ears) is THE pasta shape of the region.

Alberobello, Ostuni, Polignano a Mare, and Volare

07/07/202405/04/2023 by Gary Kirkpatrick

From the airport in Bari, in the heel of the boot of Italy in the region called Puglia, we zoomed in our rented hybrid to Ostuni. We stopped in Polignano a Mare, whose gorgeous cliffs look across the Adriatic at an Albania lost in the curvature of the earth. It is the beginning of our 10 day jaunt through a region inhabited since a time long lost in the mist of epochs, but new to us, and much less visited by tourists, foreign and domestic alike.

Polignano a Mare, Puglia, Italy, watercolor

Polignano a Mare was an important city in Roman times, remaining in the Eastern Roman Empire – the Byzantine – until circa 1050. Today it’s known for its beautiful cliffs and as the birth place of the famous “Volare” recorded by Domenico Modugno and written by him and Franco Migliacci, but not for its ancient past. The song I heard endlessly as a child was also recorded by Bobby Rydell, Dean Martin, Al Martino, Jerry Vale, David Bowie, Cliff Richard, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Dalida, Gipsy Kings, Chico & the Gypsies, Deana Martin and Barry White. Near us a group of teenagers sang it, and did so rather well in the breezy air of the sea.

The lyrics of Volare

I think, that dream does not come back ever again.

I painted my face and hands blue.

Then suddenly I was being kidnapped by the wind.

And I began to fly in the endless sky.4

Flying, oh, oh!

Singing, oh, oh, oh, oh!

In the blue painted blue.

Happy to be up there.

And I flew, I flew happily to the heights of the sun.

As the world slowly disappeared out there,

A soft music was playing just for me.

Flying, oh, oh!

Singing, oh, oh, oh, oh!

In the blue painted blue.

Happy to be up there.

In the blue painted blue.

Happy to be up there.

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/volare-fly.html

You walk along the cliffs. On the pleasant Saturday that we happen to be here the crowds fill the bars and line up at the gelato shops. Less famous warblers stroll about hoping for coins, others are set up to draw in customers who might sip an Aperol, an orange flavored alcohol that has flown to popularity over the last decade.

We’d easily and surprisingly so found a place for the car, and even found it when we were ready to leave so we drove to Ostini, having to skip a visit to Monopoli, another coastal village, as we could not find parking after driving around in search of one. We are staying two nights there, a town with narrow streets and alleys along the steep hillsides. We had dinner at a Tavola Calda, literally Hot Table. These eateries feature displayed dishes. Typically you go to the counter to make your choices. This place also had table service and served pizza as well, hot from the oven. We all ordered one though most people could share.

The next day, our first full day of 10 in this region, we set out for Alberobello, famous for its mortar free stone houses with cone shaped stone roofs, a World Heritage site since 1996. It was first occupied early in the sixteenth century so of recent origin by comparison. Count Giangirolamo II (1600–1665) bulit these houses, called Trulli. They did not use mortar to allow easy disassembly in case the Spanish viceroy of the Kingdom of Naples discovered them and then applied the taxes due on dwellings. Near the end of the 18th century Alberobello became a city, no longer controlled by feudal regime. It is the only place on earth whose housing is entirely of the Trulli style.