THERE IS ONLY WHITE AROUND ME

There is only white around me. And all the hues of grey. The sounds are soft, almost deadened in a kind of surreal atmosphere that pleases our hearts. Everything seems to become silent, respectful of one of the greatest gift that Mother Nature can offer us. The snow. Such a snowfall does not happen every winter, we have to wait for it, desire it, dream of it. The village’s shape changes, people’s hearts are cheerful; children are happily playing snowballs battle in the streets. Today’s menu will be some special winter dish in every house. We will be cooking polenta. Our ancestors, because they were very poor, they could only have dishes like polenta (it is made with corn flour) squeezing up close to the fireplace. To us it is now some delicious dish that we do cook only in special occasions. Today it is the right time.

I love winter, I love the mountains, I love the snow. I cannot help being happy. I am grateful to Mother Nature because this is my Christmas gift. It is the time when feelings and sensations come up to move my heart. Those feelings are made of scents, sounds, colors. It is something impressed into every cell of my whole being. And suddenly, it comes out. And I find myself losing all the references, there is no time, there is no space. There is only me, the real me, who is deeply touched by the beauty and magic of a snowfall. I don’t go backwards in time and memories because I just feel the same feelings and happiness of the small child I was. Eating the fresh snow, sculpting weird shapes, running for all my worth and falling down… and making the “angel” with my arms and legs… freedom, cold, white, purity, softness, lightness. It is inside me, it belongs to me. I look at my children laughing and fighting throwing snowballs… it is so special that they won’t ever forget this great gift, keeping it warm in their hearts. In three weeks time we’ll go back to South Africa with our hearts filled with love and happiness for this unforgettable day that will last a life time. Oh the scent of polenta with porcini mushroom sauce is everywhere…Time to sit at table.

Love & rainbow

Copyright2009LorenzaVerdini

HOME SWEET HOME

Coming back to Italy is as sweet as the ripest seedless grapes melting into your mouth. It is a very special feeling , the feeling of belonging. It is having roots somewhere and going back to them.

It is the joy of hugging the family and feeling that we love each other even more.

It is walking in the village streets and meeting people you know, and they are happy to see you.

It is buying the best food in the whole world in small shops that look like boutiques.

It is smelling the rain and humidity of winter. Listening to the soft sound of the rain, hiding under the feather duvet is it really raining?

It is wondering how could god design the most beautiful hills and landscape a man could ever dream of…

Yesterday we went to San Gimignano. It is one of the most beautiful and old villages of Tuscany. All the buildings and towers in the historical town centre are OOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD and I mean really old of the 10th Century.
We were just breathing history, beauty, peace. There is something that always strikes me, whenever I am in an old place. The feeling of peace and serenity. I would not know if it is me or the place but I feel at peace. I feel the deep respect for all the souls that have been crossing the same path centuries before me. I am admired by the works of art that will always be there to witness the man’s grandeur and talent. The love for beauty.

So walking in the historical centre of san Gimignano I was, once again, speechless. But is there need of words when we FEEL the beauty all around ?

But In san Gimignano there is also the best ice cream shop in the world! I am not joking, it is the best in the world the Gelateria Dondoli: the owner, who makes the ice cream, won the title for 2 years in a row! You can cry of joy having one of his ice creams…

You can enjoy in one of the many wine tasting places a special white wine the VERNACCIA, produced only with the grapes cultivations which are in the village surroundings. It is a very tasty special wine. When you say Vernaccia you know it can come only from San Gimignano.
And the best delicatessen shops for the non vegetarians, with really the best of the best exquisite food you can find. All clean, well presented. Beautiful food. I feel like buying so many things even if I would not necessary eat all of them… Eating with eyes and mouth is an art that is part of our culture I guess.

I found a small shop where the owner was producing stunning pieces of clothes with a knitting handloom I mean I could watch him working and creating the most beautiful clothes: he could have come out of the novel The Pillars of the Earth, easy.

Next door a craftsman was working on his hand made jewellery: bronze and hard stones. Some of the jewellery seemed to be coming from the Etruscan tradition, very special ones. I talked to him: the whole family work with him and they are all able to make jewellery, that is the family business!

In that area San Gimignano is very close to Volterra they are specialised in the work of alabaster: they do everything with it, from home accessories to ornaments and sculptures. Whatever but made with what nature has provided the villagers : lots and lot of alabaster!

We went back home with special chocolates bought at the Christmas outdoor market, a couple of ice creams in the tummy, bottles of Vernaccia and wooden toys chosen by the kids.
And a light hearted spirit.


Living in South Africa makes me appreciate all this when I come back and at the same time gives me new inputs to live my holidays with a new awareness. Nothing is obvious but to discover, once again with the eyes of the Life’s Explorer.

And every time I go back to my new home I feel the miracle of belonging to that land too, happy to feel life in slow motion, with different sounds, colours, music, people. Sharing my heart between my Tuscan hills and the most beautiful sky in the world, somewhere in South Africa.


Love& Rainbow



Copyright2009LorenzaVerdini

BYE BYE GUYS

I haven’t got time.

Still need to finish pack up our luggage.

I keep telling myself I should go.

But I sit here, in front of my computer feeling a bit strange.

It is the first time I leave with my heart full of YOU. 

Filled with all the company and smiles we shared together.

I know it is going to be only a few days break before I reconnect my soul with yours.

But I will miss you.

I hug tightly the few ones who visit me every time I write, and the new ones who are welcome my heart is big, there is room for everybody!

So, tomorrow I’ll fly to Tuscany, with my whole family and I am really looking forward to sharing with you the flavours of a new inspiring piece of Life.

This is the picture of my village, where I belong.

But then, deep inside myself, I know I belong everywhere.

Love & Rainbow

I LOVE WINTER

Two days ago I read a lovely post from Dan, in his amazing blog, Vacant mind, about his love for winter.

It actually inspired me a lot, because I am a winter lover (I mean that I love winter, not that I love only in winter!). Lots of thought came to my mind and now, that I have been living in South Africa for three years, winter even means a lot more to me.

I was born on a cold Italian winter, does it mean anything? I have noticed that some of my friends who were born in summertime are meteoropathic: they need the sun. A cloudy or a cold day makes them feel depressed or, in the best case, low energy. I love rain, I love autumn and also winter. When I was living in Tuscany on a rainy night I would go to bed, under my feather duvet and listen to the rain symphony till I fell asleep. It is an ancestral music that touches the strings of my soul. I feel really connected to the nature. I love wearing warm clothes and going out to walk in the cold. And then come back home, in the warmth of the nest. I love cooking soups, hot chocolate, baking; all those things create the unique atmosphere of my winter. And the scents…They are not the same as in summer, obviously. We probably get the scents coming from the woods were we have lots of chestnuts, damp fallen leaves and mushrooms. Have you had a risotto with Italian porcini mushrooms (wild mushrooms)? Or polenta with bolognaise sauce and porcini mushrooms? It is an ecstasy for the palate. So when I go back to Italy I always put a bag of dried porcini mushrooms in my luggage. What make winter special to me it is also the soft hues of colours that the nature offers us. The sun it is never strong or aggressive it is there just to caress softly our faces. The trees have lost their leaves, witnessing a cycle that will never end. The sky is there, relaxed and lazy, over our heads. I can see it, I can touch it.

I can smell when it is going to snow. There is a particular scent that I can recognize and one day later it is snowing. And that is happiness. I started to ski when I was three years old and what I remember of those privileged holidays is the feeling of freedom and happiness. And the immensity of those high mountains. I felt a small speck comparing to them. I loved skiing so much, even being that little, that I used to launch myself down the slopes without the ski sticks (very bothering accessory…) straight down to the end of the slope. No hat, no gloves only the cold wind in my hair. Once I decided to go on my own, because I knew the slopes very well (I was an experienced skier of 5 years old) so off I went, enjoying the freedom and the mountains. I actually shook off my father, who was in charge of me. He was not really happy. Then I got lost, because that is what happens to a 5 years freedom-seeker skier. Everybody was really worried but, I don’t remember how, I managed to find my way back. It was dark, the experienced ski trainers (coach? teacher?) were looking for me with torches, the wolves were howling (yes, there were wolves on those mountains) my mother was frozen desperate holding my sister’s hand, at the bottom of the slope. Then I thought what is happening? Why all those people are here? Oh here there is mum and Betty, and dad. Why is he walking up and down so nervously? So I launched myself down at the highest speed I could. I don’t remember being punished or reproached in a bad way. I was happy to be back to my family and have the sweetest hot chocolate. Probably the reproached one was my father how could you “lose” you child? But please find me a father who never got distracted and lost his child at the playground or in the supermarket. This is another topic for a future post.

Love & rainbow

Copyright 2009 Lorenza Verdini

HAKUNA MATATA

In April 2006 we went , as a family holiday, to South Africa , to see what it was like. The place where my husband was spending most of his time, building up his business. I must confess that, although I love traveling , I had never gone farther than Europe and Lebanon , never gone for exotic holidays in secluded islands... what the hell are you waiting for? to be a granny? I felt I was going to explore the "unknown" that was not totally unknown, as my husband was already living there and had been traveling in Africa for many years. I could guess what it was like... So I packed stuff for everybody, which took a couple of full days well, let's see.. .in Italy it is spring now, so In South Africa it should be autumn , that could mean to pack warm clothes. Shall I put cotton or wool jerseys in the luggage? Shall I take sandals or takkies? Do we need a sun block? Ah I don't have to forget the drugs for the kids... Basically the "packing fear" existed and was taking lots of energy from me. But I MADE IT ! So we went to the airport to take off to Johannesburg on a beautiful spring evening, leaving my loved Tuscany behind to jump, with my four kids, into the wild bush. I survived the night on the flight taking care of my youngest daughter who was having with 39 degrees of fever why did you wait to be on the airplane to get sick? good you took some drugs with you and who was not happy to feel "trapped" on a seat while all the other passengers were trying to sleep please please don't vomit I can cope with the fever but not with the vomit . The turbulence over the Equator did not help to relax about it. By the way, the four years old girl did not vomit and I was so grateful to the god of travelers for watching over us ! When the hostess brought the breakfast tray I was in Heaven completely relaxed I would say exhausted and ready for the adventure. The thing that stroke me most, nose stuck to the window, was that I could see a big land affected by huge blue chickenpox pimples that I realized then, were SWIMMING POOLS! Yes, swimming pools of all sizes and shapes... I was expecting to see giraffes and zebras running freely, instead I could see swimming pools. So that was the first scenario that welcomed me in South Africa. The first day went by trying to relax at the hotel after having been at the nearby hospital to check on my daughter who was not feeling well. Besides this inconvenience, the holiday started. Every single holiday has a bad side : it's too short. And this holiday was no exception : the three weeks were going so quickly, our time was intense, full of nice things to do and discover, the weather was absolutely perfect. We spent most of the time in Johannesburg area, with a few days break in Zimbali , because I wanted to have a feel on what is daily life like in Johannesburg in my mind already open to the possibility of moving the family. I must say it was love at first sight : the sounds in the streets, the music on the radio, the brightness of the sky and the beauty of the sunsets, the slow rhythm of life, the birds and nature, but most of all people's warmth and smile, and the Energy . I could not believe what I was experiencing , every single person I was dealing with, was warm, smiling and kind and they did not even know me. Those My God I feel at home here... I can live here... this is Pure Energy so I decided, fbeautiful smiles...rom my heart, and in a very impulsive way well that is your personality: you never think twice when you have to take important decisions in your life that I wanted to move to South Africa, to bring together the family again and to let my children grow in a place where they could feel that difference can be beauty, that poverty can be warmth, that we can learn to help and support others. That to be different means to be equal because we are all one. So I was experiencing , truly and deeply , the pure energy that makes South Africa so special. I could not see one single thing that would make me change my mind. I was also thinking that it would be great to brush up my knowledge of English, very rusty indeed, and to give the kids the opportunity to learn a new language. And that was it, I was back to Italy, announcing my speechless family that by september we would be moving permanently to South Africa. So...Hakuna Matata what a wonderful world !

Love&Rainbow

Copyright 2009 Lorenza Verdini