Category: Culture

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Langa Township

Opposite of many other large cities, in the core of the Cape Town dwells the wealthy, and the “suburbs” are where the poor reside within townships.  As part of the school’s immersion program, we spend an afternoon having lunch at and visiting one such township, the Langa Township.

Langa Township boys

Much of what we see there could be expected, but there are a couple surprises that I want to share.  First, within the township, there are a variety of socioeconomic classes displayed.  There are the large families who live in overcrowded, small tin houses juxtaposed to the smaller families enjoying fenced-in, cleaner-looking homes.

The second surprise for me is that regardless of where and how a family lived, many are in possession of seemingly luxurious goods such as nice televisions, stereos, phones, refrigerators, and even cars.  Anything in need of electricity is powered with stolen electricity off the power lines.

Langa Township woman

Finally, the last idea that I struggle with while touring this township is the fact that these families are opening up their homes to let foreigners like us photograph their lives.  They do receive monetary compensation for doing so; however, it still feels very intrusive and uncomfortable.

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More Shade, More Ice Cream

On the first day of our school-sponsored program here in Cape Town, each of the eleven teams is assigned to go out into the city and photography unmet needs that we find.

We all lather on the sunscreen, find our hats, sunglasses, and sandals, and head out to find what Cape Town is missing.  All of us a little more tan and sunburnt than when we left, report our findings to each other over dinner.  There are aspects of South Africa that qualify it as a “developing country”; however, Cape Town is missing many of those aspects.  In other words, most of the obvious needs in the city have already been met.  Consequently, most of us share photographs of areas desperate for shade and begging for more ice cream and lemonade stands.  I am guessing that the photographs from other countries such as Ghana that were also visited by classmates might have a slightly different tone.  Nonetheless, I am excited to be here, to explore this country, and to learn how business is done within its borders.

Penguins near Cape Town

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Galleria Borghese

Our last day in Rome starts at the Galleria Borghese, a private collection of paintings, sculptures, and antiquities.  Although in these last five months, I have been to many a museum, I still do not consider myself a museum person.  That said, the Galleria Borghese is only two floors with about ten manageably sized rooms on both.  We make a reservation for a two hour slot to view the museum, we are allowed in right on time, and then shewed out after the two hours.  And although the museum may not be enormous, the quality of the art and the artists that are featured in the collection rival or exceed any of the larger exhibitions that I’ve visited.  With its entire room full of Caravaggios to Raphael’s “Entombment of Christ” to its many Bernini sculptures, every room provides an intimate experience with some of the world’s best works, and because the museum is entered on a reservation basis, no single room is ever over-crowded.  Picking a favorite work is a challenge, but I would probably choose Bernini’s “Apollo and Daphne”.  This along with so many of the other statues were brought to life by the very well narrated audio tour, which clearly articulates how to appreciate each work.  The gallery’s manageable size, incredible art, and overall intimate feel makes for one of my favorite museum experiences of my trip.

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Palazzo Colonna and the Villa Medici

I have spent a fair amount of time in Rome over the last month, but it is not until today that I realize what I may have been passing on the street.  Behind closed windows and plain facades, some of these buildings house ornate rooms with invaluable art collections.

walking through Rome

Today, we tour the Palazzo Colonna and Villa Medici with Filippo, a fabulous guide introduced to me by Gabe.  The Palazzo Colonna is in central Rome and has belonged to the Colonna family for about 900 years.  In that long history, the Colonna family had a Pope (Martin V) as well as many distinguished family members.  Every generation, the family picks four individuals to reside in the house and monitor its upkeep, and to their credit, the current condition of the palace is immaculate.

We walk through the Colonna Art Gallery, which is a series of rooms that grow in grandness as the tour progresses.  The last room can only be described as overwhelming.  The art, the furniture, the marble statues, the frescoed ceilings, and the chandeliers all create this masterpiece that is the final room of the art gallery.  This gallery is considered one of the largest private art collections in Rome.

After a short walk through the streets of Rome, we arrive at Villa Medici.  The Villa Medici is now property of the French State and houses the French Academy in Rome, which is used as a home for winners of a prestigious art prize.  The villa’s gardens and especially the view they provide of Rome will be my lasting memory from this visit.  Standing literally on the edge of the city, all of Rome is presented before us and we start to piece together all the different sites we had thus far seen.  Not only is today’s tour beautiful in its own right, Filippo and the sites we walk through help provide a context for the rest of our adventures in this historied city.

I also cannot forget to at least quickly mention that Charlotte decided to join us for today’s adventures.  At the young age of only 10 months, she also seemed to enjoy herself when she wasn’t hungry or tired.  Italians love their bambinos (babies), and this was made obvious on several occasions by how the rest of us were treated when accompanied by our newest family member.  Navigating through the supermarket was easier, finding places to sit was easier, getting attention in almost every endeavor was easier.  Charlotte, after all, is pretty cute with all her waving, clapping, humming along cobblestones, and giggling.

Villa Medici

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Summer Festival – Lucca 2011

Like Perugia and like Spoleto and like probably many other small towns throughout Italy, Lucca hosts a summer music festival complete with big name artists.  This summer, some of the names that Lucca is or has already hosted includes Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Arcade Fire, Ben Harper, and James Blunt.  Timing worked out that we are able to watch J. Blunt.  The concert was fun, the music singable, and the crowd energized, but equally impressive to all of that is the setting.  Located in the heart of the old town in Piazza Napoleone, this festival transforms a piazza in a town that used to be a Roman colony in 180 BC into a modern theater.  Blunt’s song “You’re Beautiful” should be directed at the town, at the piazza, and at the entire surreal setting.

James Blunt in Lucca

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Firenze

Firenze

With Lucio Dalla (listen here) playing through the car speakers, Mom, Dad, and I set off for Florence.  After the adrenaline rush of driving through the city and finding parking, we go straight to the Galleria degli Uffizi.   In one building, we are able to enjoy the works of Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Botticelli, Giotto, and all of the teenage mutant turtles (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael).  There is so much to see that so many other great paintings and sculptures get lost in the mix.  There is a bit of excitement getting into the museum because we have come to Florence at the peak of tourist season, but it ends up being well worthwhile.

Although only a short visit to a city that offers so much, we fill it with highlights.  We climb Giotto’s Campanile on the Piazza del Duomo and get an expansive view of the city from above.  We admire the Ponte Vecchio, Florence’s most famous bridge crossing the Arno at its narrowest point.  We have a big dinner at Gusta Pizza.  Dad finds an excellent souvenir, a copy of Leonardo’s perpetual clock.  And all of this despite a threatening drizzle all day.

Florence, the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, was one of the political, economic, and cultural centers of Europe between the 14th and 16th centuries.  The language of Florence is now accepted as what we know as Italian thanks to famous authors such as Dante.  Florentine money was responsible for the development of industry all over Europe, and Florentine locals financed governments and projects including the papacy not too far away.  It was home to the Medici’s, who had international influence and were one of the world’s most important families.  And this is just a start of what makes Florence so unique.

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First Day in Lucca

Our first day in Lucca is spent within the limits of the city walls. In addition to appreciating the beautiful churches and piazzas, we are also lucky to be there on the third Sunday of a summer month, the day that Lucca has a large antique market. This market, centered around Piazza San Guisto and Piazza Antelminelli, is full of elaborate wood furniture, old radios, paintings of all different subjects, antique jewelry, and of course a bunch of old stuff that I can could never imagine purchasing. We punctuate the day with two delicious meals, the most delicious at Ristorante Giglio.

Lucca Market 1

Lucca Market 2

In the evening, we attend a performance of Hamlet in a city church. The idea of the event sounds romantic, entertaining, and cultured; but, the execution wasn’t exactly that. The actors and actresses have strong Italian accents, and they speak Shakespearean old English as their voices echo off the the many walls in a church with a temperature warm enough to require the programs to be converted into fans. We tried.

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Spoleto, Assisi, Perugia, and Jazz

On our first full day together, the parents and I venture out of Orvieto and into central Italy. Before the day is done we will hit Spoleto, Assisi and finally Perugia. Although the main reason for going to Spoleto is that it is en route to Assisi, we also wanted to visit because it is another ancient city built on a hill that dates back to Roman times and is now famous for its annual music festival (which we miss by a couple weeks). We park the car at the bottom of the city, find a way to the top stopping along the way for espresso and snacks, and eventually complete our circle back to the car among its narrow streets and cute buildings. I wish all long car rides could have stretch breaks as pleasant as Spoleto.

Spoleto

Assisi of the famous Saint Francis of Assisi is our second destination of the day. Logically, because it was the birthplace of St. Francis, founder of the Franciscan religious order, it is now home to the Franciscan monastery and an upper and lower church of St. Francis. Both churches are beautiful with their frescos depicting the lives of St. Francis and of Jesus. Between exploring some of the tourist hotspots, we enjoy a great meal at Trattoria Pallotta thanks to a little 3G plus TripAdvisor. The restaurant is a bit tricky to find despite my phone indicating our moving blue dot is directly over the restaurant’s pin. We look around for a bit and then notice that there is the sound of dishes coming from a window upstairs. We walk to the side of the building, notice some steps leading upwards, and eventually stumble upon our restaurant.

Assisi

Our last and most lively stop of the day is in Perugia. Every year, Perugia holds a summer Jazz Festival, and out of luck, we have timed it so that we are there in the middle of this year’s festival. Along with big crowds of people, we find small bands set up on the side of the street, a keyboardist and a guitarist improvising together near a cafe, someone painting on the sidewalk using chalk, a marching band dancing its way down the cobblestone, and stages set up in every plaza. The energy of the city is exciting, and although we do not sit down to watch an entire performance, we stop for a short time at each performer we pass and enjoy their tunes. The energy of Perugia is the perfect way to cap off our full day around central Italy.

Perugia 1

Perugia 2

Perugia 3

Perugia 4

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Pace del Mela

We leave Sciacca, but before heading to northeastern Sicily, we drive through the Valley of the Temples near Agrigento. Gabe and I really appreciate having Becky here because as she explains what we are seeing, we better understand the importance of the seven monumental Greek temples all constructed in the Doric style during the 6th and 5th centuries. These temples are considered the best preserved ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece.

Valley of the Temples

Our second two nights in Sicily are spent in Pace del Mela (Peace of the Apple), and although that city’s name would be p’unny when translated into English, there is unfortunately no pun present in Italian. Calling Pace del Mela a small town is an understatement. With its population of slightly more than 5,000 and its one central piazza, this town felt like home. Gabe’s father grew up here until the age of twenty-two when he left for Venezuela, and Gabe has lots of aunts, uncles and cousins still here. From his annual summer visits while growing up, everyone in town still seems to recognize him. Their reactions as they greet Gabe and tell us of times past is what small town Sicily is all about. Although there are not many people of our age, there were still lots of kids full of energy, always ready for a delicious meal, and never refusing to go the beach. After meeting Gabe’s aunt and settling in with a large full smile-shaped slice of watermelon, we venture to the town piazza for some gelato. Unique to Sicily, we enjoy our gelati in a brioche. The brioche absorbed the cream and the sugar and was a perfect end to the snack. In talking with Gabe’s family, ordering the gelati, and just generally getting by, English is not a very popular language in Pace, so Becky and I are forced to use and improve our Italian.

Gelati in Pace del Mela

We eat a both very delicious and very filling dinner at Gabe’s aunt house. His aunt does not believe when we say that we are full, so by the time we stand from the table, we are probably full two times over. After dinner, I spend some time with Gabe’s aunt’s 3-yr old granddaughter, Katerina. We both sit on the couch, and Becky and I do a dramatic reading of Cappuccetto Rosso (Little Red Riding Hood) while she listens. Conveniently, when I say a word or phrase that I don’t understand, I get Katerina to point to the referring image or object on the page and learn a little Italian. After dinner, we venture to the slightly larger nearby town, taste a little more gelato, and walk along the coast before retiring for the night knowing that the next day would be busy.

Granita

We start the next day in the same bar that we had purchased our gelato the day before in the main piazza (there aren’t too many choices of restaurants). There’s a dish that gives kids an excuse to have gelato for breakfast, so I decide that I can use the same excuse. For breakfast, the three of us enjoy granita, ice cream, and brioche. While we are still on our sugar high, we continue on to Taormina. Other than having an in-use Greek theater overlooking Mount Etna and much of Sicily, Taormina is a charming town with a couple too many steps. It would be a surreal experience to watch a live performance in this Greek theater with its well-designed acoustics and fabulous vista. I realize that if my Sicily visit ends here, I would be more than satisfied, but there is still a packed 24 hours to go.

Greek theater in Taormina

We drive back to Pace del Mela for lunch with the cousins. Again, I play around with my Italian replacing the words I don’t know with their Italian-ized Spanish equivalent, which means making sure to end works in vowels and pronouncing certain letters slightly differently. While waiting for the finishing touches of lunch, Gabe gives me a tour of his cousin’s house, which is the same house that his father grew up in. He also tells me a story of when his grandfather was sent out to purchase some cement for house work but ends up returning with a brand new television, the first television in the town. As it was a rough time for the whole town, his grandfather set up the television outside of the house, which is located near the central piazza, and at least 100 people would come to watch together. In my short time in Pace, I already started feeling the history and the community among all its residents.

Lunch in Mela del Pace

After spending the hottest part of this 40 degree Celsius day at the beach, we return to Gabe’s aunt’s for dinner, and later join the entire town in front of the church for some sort of celebration. There is music, food, a little karaoke, and a lot of dancing. The diversity of ages all congregated on the dance floor can only happen in a small town like this one. As expected, everyone knows each other and we all have a great time.

Gabe and Katerina

Our last morning comes much too quickly as I feel so welcome and am not ready to leave all of Gabe’s cousins and family. They all wake up early to say goodbye and we enjoy a last granita and brioche together at the central piazza bar.

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Sicily’s Sect

“In Palermo dialect the adjective ‘mafioso’ once meant ‘beautiful, ‘bold’, ‘self-confident’. Anyone who was worthy of being described as mafioso therefore had a certain something, an attribute called ‘mafia’. ‘Cool’ is about the closest modern English equivalent: a mafioso was something who fancied himself.” (Quote form Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia by John Dickie)

The start to Godfather IV should occur on Meridiana’s direct flight from Palermo to New York. While in Sicily, I read Dickie’s book detailing the history of the mafia called “Cosa Nostra.” Along with providing a history of the mafia and how it came to be, the book also does a nice job of outlining recent Sicilian history. Interestingly, much about the mafia was not understood until about two decades ago in 1992 when Giovanni Falcone, an anti-mafia investigator and prosecuting attorney, headed the famous Maxi Trial. Of 474 Mafia members charged in this trial, 360 were convicted of serious crimes. In addition, Falcone was able to convince Tommaso Bruscetta to be the first ever Sicilian Mafia informant. It is through the words of Bruscetta that so much is reliably known about the Mafia today. Sadly, to retaliate, the Mafia kills Falcone and his family soon after the trial on a highway outside of Palermo.

For the most part, the three of us were hidden from the corruption of Sicily; however, there were several small examples that we experienced along the way. One such example occurred on our first afternoon in Palermo after parking our car in a public lot. We were approached upon getting out of the car and told that someone would watch our car while we were away for 3 euros. Our car, however, would not need watching if that same someone would not mess with the car when we don’t pay him the money. Although the sum of money wasn’t huge and the whole situation benign, small occurrences like these confirm some of the shadiness that exists on Italy’s southern island.