Back to Bramasole
June 17th, 2010
Returning to Bramasole, we found the garden in full frisson. This is an especially good year for roses, after all the downpours of May. The Edens on the herb terrace wall decided to run rampant and they are a joy. Sally Holmes I always refer to as a cheerleader and this year she’s doing the twist and shout. I love the full-bouquet blooms—a bride could not do better than three stems of these and a few ribbons. From the third floor, I can smell jasmine, the yellow ginestre (broom) on the hills, lemon and orange blossoms, and the roses. Soon the lavender will join the fray. Already white and blue butterflies are dancing around the hedges, waiting for the blooms. Here’s Sally with her apricot buds and pale pink-to-white flowers:
At this time of year the sun hits our house at five a.m. and for a half hour before, all the birds are awake and singing their matins. I can’t sleep because of their divine racket and find myself editing recipes at dawn. This morning I was in the garden at six, deadheading roses and pulling weeds out of the stone terrace walls. My sunflowers are ankle high; this time next week they will double. Bramasole’s herb terrace:
I wanted to write from the cruise but the Internet was spotty on the high seas and when we were in ports, we were out walking all day. I loved going back to Lerici and was about to write about it as a “hidden” place but Ed just told me there’s a recent article and a slide show about it in The New York Times. So much for hidden. http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/06/14/travel/20100620Lerici.html
The last stops: Nice, Marseille, Barcelona. Of these, Marseille was my favorite. Nice is just too choked with traffic. Barcelona, dreamy name, is a place I’ve never warmed to and I’m not sure why. In Spain, I’ve much preferred Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, and Cordoba. Walking down Las Ramblas in the rain was romantic and the market lured us until we had to sail away.
M.F. K. Fisher was right. Marseille is a considerable town. A day there is way short, but it was lovely to walk around the U-shaped port, so full of working boats, pleasure boats, service boats. A long lunch looking out over that lively scene was a highlight of the trip. We ate at Mirador, a lucky guess. My shellfish gratin:
Afterwards, we just walked and walked, marveling at all the gypsies dressed like your idea of gypsies, the Africans in their fabulous colorful fabrics, and taking in the handsome buildings.
We met many, many great people on the Corinthian II. The historian Lamar Cecil, the art historian from The Art Institute of Chicago Margaret Farr, and the three musicians Amy Cofield Williamson, Scott Williamson, and Scott Beard all enriched our days on board. The food was really good and not at all overwhelming, and we were lucky that the sea remained calm. During one of my lectures, there were a few rolls and I had to brace myself by holding on to the podium.
We’re home. Happy to be back with the flowers and birds. I can’t tear myself away from the novel Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, so Ed worked in the garden then roasted a chicken with some potatoes and made a zucchini gratin. When I finally came down to dinner, it was eight o’clock and a soft light suffused the garden and sky. Tiepolo would have hauled out his brushes. Jasmine is narcotizing!
Cortona was magnificent – as was the rest of Italy. We were there for the month of May and visited Cortona twice. The cobbled streets and wonderful nooks made it one of our favorites. Thank you for sharing with all of us over the years. I chuckled at the visitors with their books in hand, scanning the piazza for a familiar face.
Have you visited the Bomarzo Monster Park near Orvieto? Fascinating. The Mille Miglia was a special treat as well – not far from Celle Sul Rigo and our vacation home.
Ciao!
I have thoroughly enjoyed all your books and have found them to be very helpful in planning vacations. Places you write about take us off the beaten path and lead us to wonderful experiences. In 2009 we traveled through Spain and Portugal and visited many of the cities you wrote about and also stayed in a pousada you mentioned. I just wanted to thank you for all the things you write about – it’s like reading something a friend has shared. Often you do not find the places or things in travel guides that you mention. We are planning a trip to Italy this fall and once again will refer to things I’ve found in your books. Thank you and please continue to write for us.
I have enjoyed reading all your books and wanted to thank you for the many things I learned from them. In 2009 we traveled throughout Spain and Portugal and purposely visited many of the places you wrote about in A Year in The World including staying at a pousada you mentioned. So much of the trip was even more special than a planned tour as thanks to you we visited places off the beaten path. It was a wonderful experience and I’ve been wanting to write to tell you that for the past 18 months. I devoured the book and kept notes on so many things to do and see – “churros and chocolate by the Isabella Bridge” etc. We are planning a trip to Italy in October and I am again studying your books for suggestions. Thank you again and please keep on writing. I just noticed a new book you have out – The Passionate Traveler Journal – and can’t wait to purchase it!
Love, love your books; hard to stop reading and go to bed; wish I could be as adventrous as you; at this late stage of my life I can only enjoy the printed page and see the lovely sights through your eyes. How wonderful that you have such a full and lovely life;
Hi there,
I just wanted you to know as I am enjoying A Year in the World that there is a beautiful piece of music that St.John the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul has been put to. The Canadian musician Loreena McKennitt who has been a favorite of mine for years, has put music to the lyrics of this incredible poem. I think if you haven’t already discovered it, you would find it amazing. I hope you don’t mind that I am including the link to her source of the poem’s inspiration and information about how to find which album has the recording. And thank you for inspiring the love of home and travel in me, and the marriage of the two…… All the best.
Michelle
Michelle, thank you! But did you forget the link??? Frances
Greetings from Vancouver Island!! Yes, i did forget the link! Here we go: for Loreena McKennitt
http://www.quinlanroad.com/
If you then choose, Explore the Music
followed by, The Mask and Mirror you will find a one-minute snip of The Dark Night of the Soul. She also performed under the stars at the Alhambra 6 or 7 years ago. I am excited at the thought of you discovering her music. One of the most beautiful creative forces originating from Canada. If you enjoy it, the opportunity to see her perform is both magical and mystical. Dante’s prayer, another of my favorites. Frances, I hope you enjoy! All the best, Michelle.
Dear Frances,
I may never find the words to express how much your books have meant to me. I live in North Carolina and live a wonderful, but very small life. Your books have opened up the world to me and I have dared to garden, read more extensively, and yes…..I went to Italy last September. We went to the Campania region instead of Tuscany, however it was the trip of a lifetime. Thank you again and I look forward to future adventures (yours and mine).
A friend, Donna
Frances, I enjoyed the gardens at Bramasole. There are 3 of us (2 retired teachers, and myself still part-time) traveling to Italy on Sept. 17th. We are staying just outside Cortona at Scanni villa, LE DODICI QUERCE. I am presently rereading BELLA TUSCANY. Would love to be able to see Bramasole while in the area, or meet you in the piazza some evening.
Dear Frances,
Your book was given to my husband and myself several years ago. It was given to us to give us a dream of getting to Tuscany. My husband suffered an illness which almost took his life. He has recovered remarkablely but still has on going issues. Thanks to your book it has given him a dream. My son is in the UK at the moment . It is his dream to get us over to Tuscany in April 2012.What would make it a dream come true would be a visit to Bramasole.
We will there
Regards Gerardine
Christchurch NZ
Francis, I am not quite 40 yet, and you wouldn’t believe how hard it was for me to figure out how to find your blog – I have never read a blog in my life. Your blog was the first!! I am an artist and instructor and many times have had my savvy students beg me to become more computer literate.
Comunque, the very tiny part of me that allows myself sognare is writing this short note to you. In the real world, you will never receive this, but, forse, in a very small world of special realities you will.
I am teaching an art workshop in Castiglione del Lago Maggio 14 – 21, 2012. I am wishing that I could accidentally run into you while I am slurping up melting gelato near Lake Trasimeno. I will see what the One who holds the Eternal, so full of possibilities, may hand us.
Un abbraccio, Cara