April Holidays in Lucca

An Easter window display

In 2023, the month of April has more Italian national holidays than any other month this year. 

That’s in part because the two Easter holidays fall in April – Easter (Pasqua) on April 9th and Easter Monday (Pasquetta) on the 10th - both national holidays. 

 And then, on April 25th, Liberation Day marks the end of World War II in Italy. The role of both the Allied soldiers (including the American Buffalo Soldiers who liberated Lucca) and the Italian Partigiani (the Partisans who fought against the Nazi forces and the Fascist government) is remembered with brass bands, speeches, and the laying of a wreath at the war memorial. (photos below courtesy of A. Cummins)

Here in Lucca those 3 big holidays are not the end of the April celebrations as Lucca adds two additional local events. The first is another Liberation Day, always the Sunday after Easter. It marks the liberation of Lucca from the control of Pisa back in the year 1369.   It’s always a favorite event full of medieval costumes, drums, flags, and pageantry.  It may not be a national holiday, but it’s a big deal here in Lucca.

 The second holiday is the Feast of Santa Zita, one of Lucca’s patron saints.  Santa Zita, whose remains rest in a glass coffin in the church of San Frediano, is known for her great piety and several miracles.  In the best-known miracle she was confronted when taking some leftover food from the house in which she was a servant and giving it to the poor and hungry of Lucca.  The food was smuggled out in her apron.  When the head of the household demanded to see what was in her apron, she opened it and out tumbled not food but flowers.  A miracle!  To this day Santa Zita is celebrated with flowers each April 27th.   (For a more detailed description of Santa Zita and the miracle of the flowers, follow this link to a previous blog post https://www.twopartsitaly.com/blog/2019/4/17/the-miracle-of-the-flowers).

Each April 27th there is a special mass in San Frediano, the church where she worshipped, where her coffin is surrounded by flowers, candles, and robed guards.  The scent of the flowers fill the church.  Pass by, drop a coin in the basket, touch the casket (that must be good luck, right?) and collect a prayer card.  It is a ritual unique to Lucca. Outside of the church, a beautiful island of flowers is created for the week of her celebration. This makes Piazza San Frediano the perfect place to sit for a morning coffee while enjoying the view and the mild April weather.

 Also in honor of Santa Zita, in the nearby Piazza Anfiteatro, a colorful flower and plant market fills the square.  Locals come to buy plants for the garden – roses, azaleas, hydrangeas, annual flowers, herbs, citrus trees, tiny cactus plants, and bulbs.  The displays are a kaleidoscope of color. 

 My favorite displays are the small vignettes created – a pretty pot of flowers on an old chair, lanterns and baskets surrounded by flowers, antique demijohns in a garden setting.  The Santa Zita flower displays are a highlight of spring and one more reason to plan an April visit to Lucca.

Appreciating April in Lucca

 Apprezzare is an Italian verb meaning “to appreciate”. That word that has defined much of my time in Italy.  I appreciate the Italian culture, the beauty of this land, the musical language (even if my mastery of it is still a long way off), the people.  Not a day goes by that I am not aware of how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to live in Lucca and travel in Italy.

 But a more specific form of appreciation is on my mind this week.  After dodging the Covid virus for the last 3 years, it finally caught me this month.  Following nearly two weeks in isolation, with some unpleasant but not scary symptoms, and multiple tampone (swabs), I finally received the all-clear to resume my normal activities.  Those two weeks were tough but brought many reminders of reasons to be thankful.  I appreciate that I didn’t get sick back when Covid was ravaging this country.  Back when there were no tests, no vaccines, no treatments, only fear.  I have a renewed appreciation for the science that gave us vaccines and the boosters which I firmly believe kept me from serious, much worse symptoms. 

I appreciate the friendly local pharmacist who administered my swabs and helped me interpret the most current rules for Covid isolation.  That the pharmacy is full of old-world Italian charm makes sitting for those nasal swabs much easier.   I am beyond grateful for a good support system here and the many friends who kept in touch and surprised me with everything from soup to cheese to decadent pastries and Easter chocolates.  I have never enjoyed finding goodies on my doorstep so much!

And how I appreciate being able to enjoy these last days of April in Italy.  Lucca has awakened after its winter rest and is buzzing with activity.  The wisteria are in bloom, the ancient walls are dotted with wild flowers, and trees are sprouting green leaves.  The photinia bushes outside my window are resplendent in rusty red spring leaves.  Days are getting longer and warmer.  Cafes and restaurants are setting out tables, umbrellas, and buckets of flowers.  The simple joy of an aperitivo out of doors is even better after a couple weeks of confinement. The walls surrounding the historic center of Lucca are filled with people on foot and on bicycle. Ordinary days feel extraordinary in springtime.

 And the spring celebrations have begun.  I may have spent Easter indoors but was free the following Sunday to see the Liberation Day pageantry.  That event, which celebrates the long ago (14th century) liberation of Lucca from control by Pisa, filled Lucca with the sound of drums.  Trumpets, played by persons in Medieval costumes, heralded the arrival of flag throwers and men carrying crossbows.  There were bow shooting competitions, flag throwing demonstrations, and a wonderful, costumed procession.  I certainly appreciate that I was recovered and able to enjoy the fun.

 Coming up next is an event I look forward to every year – the flower festival in honor of one of Lucca’s favorite saints – Santa Zita.  I will appreciate every minute !

La Foce - A Tuscan Garden With A Fascinating History

A 15th century pilgrim, walking along the Via Francigena on the way to Rome, might well have spent a night at hostel in the Val d’Orcia, just outside the current town of Chianciano Terme.  No doubt the accommodations, run by the Siena Hospital and Monastery of Santa Maria della Scala, would have been basic and the surrounding landscape the not-so-green clay hills found then in that part of Tuscany.  If that same pilgrim were to return today, he would not recognize the hostel, or the surrounding countryside, thanks in large part to the efforts of the Origo family.  While the intervening centuries saw the area impoverished and the hostel abandoned, in the 1920’s Antonio and Iris Origo bought the property, known as La Foce, and began its transformation. Today it is a remarkable spot - one of the finest estates and gardens in Tuscany.

The entry courtyard at La Foce, the meeting point for tours of the garden.

 Italian Antonio and wife Iris, a young American – Irish heiress, must have seemed crazy to their families and friends. The estate they purchased was run down, with rough dwellings and barren fields.   And yet, they had a vision.  Between 1924 and 1939 they restored the main building, turning it into their family home. They also reclaimed the land, developing it into fertile fields.  They built houses for tenant farmers, a school and a clinic for the workers and their families, and a dopolavoro (dopolavoro means “after work”, a place for the workers to socialize).  This level of social commitment and support for workers was unique at the time.  Eventually the estate grew to include farms, olive groves, and woodlands.  And then Iris Origo built a garden. 

 When I say garden I do not mean a small vegetable patch or a handful of flower beds.  To create her garden, Iris hired the English Architect Cecil Pinset to design an elegant space that blended Italian and English design and made the most of the views over the countryside.  100 years later the garden design is still perfect. 

Stone walls and a bit of fall color at La Foce

 The garden at La Foce blends formal green spaces defined by waist-high hedges, stone walls, flower beds, and a wooded hillside.  It includes an inviting series of terraces linked by stone stairways, a long arbor topped with wisteria, and beds of fragrant lavender.  Flowers spill from large stone urns and roses fill their very own garden bed.

A graceful double staircase leads down to the lower garden with its angular hedge-rimmed beds, reflecting pool, and elaborate stone statuary bench.  Cypress trees and classic Italian umbrella pines are visible at the garden edges and atop the hillside.   

 And the views!  Off in the distance is the famous winding road, lined with cypress trees, that appears in so many photos.  The garden is designed to present an unmatched view of this iconic Tuscan scene.

Our tour guide presented the history of both the land and the Origo family.

 The Origos lived at La Foce during the years of World War II.  That history is fascinating and well explained by the tour guides. 

Iris Origo was a biographer and historian.  Her WWII diary, War in Val d’Orcia, tells of life at La Foce and the precarious road she walked as a British – American living in Italy during that time.  Despite a need to remain in the good graces of the Italian and German forces, La Foce provided shelter to orphaned children and children sent from the heavily bombed city of Torino during the war years.  It also, at considerable personal risk, sheltered downed Allied pilots and POW escapees.  It was a dangerous time, and the diary is fascinating reading in preparation for a visit to La Foce.  

After the war, Iris and Antonio remained at La Foce for the rest of their lives, raising two daughters on the estate.  The daughters, Benedetta and Donata, now in their 80’s, still reside on the property. Antonio and Iris, along with their son Gianni who died in childhood, are buried on the estate.  Sustaining such a large property is no easy task and after Iris’s death in 1988 a good deal of the surrounding land was sold. The Origo daughters continued to own the heart of the estate and over time converted the main home and many surrounding buildings into event spaces and luxury accommodations for guests. 

One of the guest houses on La Foce Estate

The Dopolavoro is now a restaurant serving produce and olive oil from La Foce.  Each summer the estate hosts a music festival in honor of Iris, a project begun by her grandson. Every season brings a new reason to visit.

 La Foce is a must see for garden lovers and history buffs visiting the Val d’Orcia.  The gardens can be visited on guided tours Wednesday afternoons and Sundays from March 26  –  November 1. Note that there are some closures for special events and tours must be reserved in advance. The home and outbuildings are not open on the tours – a good reason to book a vacation stay.  That’s on my wish list as is a lunch at Dopolavoro (reservations are a must) and a return visit in summertime to see those wisteria in bloom. 

website:  www.lafoce.com

The website has fabulous photos and a portal to make reservations for garden tours.  It is also great for getting a peek at the vacation lodgings and event spaces.  For more information on Iris Origo and La Foce, I recommend War in Val d’Orica and Images and Shadows, an autobiography (the current edition has an afterword by her granddaughter Katia Lysy).

Late Winter in Lucca

Hard rain outside my window kept me inside with a good book!

As February turns into March, winter is making a last stand here in Tuscany.   Some areas, especially up in the hills, have seen snow this week. 

Here in Lucca there has been no snow, just gray, cloudy skies and rain ranging from a drizzle to a hard downpour. The temperatures have been made even more chilly by the wind.  It is definitely still winter coat, hat, and scarf weather.  Not exactly the early spring weather I had hoped to find on my return to Lucca after several weeks away.

But, no complaints.  I am happy to be back in Lucca no matter the weather.  In fact, I rather like Lucca in the rain. 

The gloomy days have been perfect for staying inside, reading, sipping tea, and doing some baking.  Well, at least it was perfect until the night I turned my dishwasher on, forgetting that I also had my space heater going.  Poof – out went the power.  Picture a night without lights or heat, too late to poke around the cantina (basement) trying to find the big electric panel with the main breaker for my apartment.  Fortunately, I had a good flashlight and lots of candles.  Since the gas stove was still working, I was able to boil water to fill a hot water bottle, a fine way to keep warm through a cold night. All was sorted out the next morning when the sun came up and a neighbor showed me where to find the main electric panel down in the cantina.  Lessons learned!

Rainy, chilly, and nearly deserted - a small street in Lucca during late February.

Some of the things I enjoy about Lucca during the late winter:  

The city is very quiet. Few tourists visit, the streets are nearly empty (especially in bad weather).  Lucca seems to slow down.  It feels peaceful and restorative.

The bare trees surrounding Piazza Napoleone have a dramatic beauty, so different than in summer when they burst into green leafiness.  

In late February and early March they are less exuberant, but just as beautiful.

Piazza Napoleone on a rainy afternoon. No carousel rides today!

The earliest blossoms along the wall, late February.

Early signs of spring evolve daily as tender shoots of bulbs spring up, tulips and daffodils appear in the weekly flower market, mimosas erupt in yellow color, and magnolias go from bud to bloom.

The days are getting longer, reminding me that dusk hour walks on Lucca’s wall are one of my favorite things to do.

Dusk along Lucca’s walls

The rain makes puddles in the streets.

The puddles reflect the ancient buildings and the cloudy skies, temporary art thanks to Mother Nature. And kids, like children everywhere, delight in splashing through the puddles.

Magnolia blossoms sparkle with drops of rain.

Magnolias, just starting to flower, look lovely glistening with rain drops

A rainy afternoon in Lucca is the perfect excuse to pop into an elegant café for a pot of tea and a sweet treat.  Caffè Santa Zita is just the place! A bit of luxury to brighten a gray day.

February skies can be quite dramatic!

The clouds make for ever changing skies, one minute blue with gentle white clouds and then suddenly dark, fast moving and threatening.

The sound of rain lulling me to sleep, either as the best reason for an afternoon nap or a gentle entry into sleep late at night.

All of these things make late winter a wonderful time to be in Tuscany.  And yet, a few weeks from now I will feel just as inspired by the onset of spring. Living through the cycle of seasons is one of the reasons I wanted to live in Italy.  I came thinking that once (or maybe twice) around the sun would be a wonderful esperience.  4+ years later I am still pinching myself and enjoying the changing season as winter slowly creeps into spring.

Farina di Castagne

A list of the ingredients important in Italian cooking often includes olive oil, tomatoes, pancetta, artichokes, garlic, lemons, basil, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and balsamic vinegar.  But let’s not forget about a more humble ingredient - chestnuts (castagne or marroni in Italian).

In Tuscany, the mountains are full of chestnut trees.  It is no surprise then that the chestnut tree became a vital source of food, as well as of fuel and building material, especially during times of war, famine, and poverty. 

Abundant and nutritious, the chestnut became an essential ingredient in Italian “cucina povera”. That traditional continues to this day. Chestnuts are eaten roasted or steamed. They are also dried and ground into flour, farina di castagne, for use in breads, pastas, and sweets. 

Chestnut Roasting in Colognora di Pescaglia

Dishes made with farina di castagne appear on fall and winter menus.  With its naturally sweet and nutty flavor, chestnut flour has become one of my favorite ingredients for baking. 

 My fondness for these dishes began at a fall festival where I first tasted Necci. Necci are round and flat, somewhere between a crepe and a pancake in thickness.

Like a crepe they can be rolled around a filling.  The batter is very simple -  just chestnut flour, water, and a pinch of salt.  Traditionally, necci were cooked between testi, round stones heated over a fire.  Today Necci are usually cooked between two long-handled, flat cast iron plates.  The warm necci are then filled, most commonly with fresh ricotta and a drizzle of honey.  Delicious! 

These round stones, called testi, were the traditional method used to cook Necci. To learn more about chestnuts, visit the Chestnut Museum in Colognora di Pescaglia where this photo was taken.

Frittelle di Castagne, little fried chestnut fritters, served as an appetizer alongside fresh ricotta in the town of Pontremoli.

Similar to Necci are Frittelle di Castagne, often found in the areas of Tuscany known as the Lunigiana and the Garfagnana, both hilly areas in the north. 

The batter is similar to Necci, but the preparation is different.  Small scoops of batter are fried in oil, creating a crisp outside and tender inside. 

While I think of frittelle as breakfast or dessert items, lightly sprinkled with sugar, they can also be served unsweetened as an appetizer with a bit of ricotta.  That’s how I first encountered them last fall in a restaurant in the town of Pontremoli.

I have been working on learning to make both Necci and Frittelle di Castagne at home. 

For Necci, simply combine 1 cup of chestnut flour (100-120 gm), sifted after measuring, with ¾ - 1 cup of warm water. Mix well.

Take a little taste of the batter – the sweetness will surprise you!  

Either a heavy crepe pan or a non-stick skillet works to cook the Necci.  Lightly butter the pan to prevent sticking, pour in about ¼ cup batter and spread with a fork or spoon to create a thin crepe.  Cook until set, flip, and cook on the second side. Fill while warm with a couple of tablespoons of ricotta, drizzle with a little honey, roll up and enjoy! Makes 4-5 Necci.

For Frittelle di Castagne, combine 1 cup of chestnut flour (100-120gm), 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and a pinch of salt. Sift and add about 1 c. warm water (add about 3/4 of the water and then enough more to make a fairly thin batter). Mix well.  Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, deep enough to cover the bottom of a pan and about half-way up the frittelle (I use ¼ c. oil in a small 8 in frying pan, frying 2-3 frittelle at a time).  Test the oil with a small drop of batter - it should have a lively sizzle and the batter should puff up slightly. Drop spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil, cook until the top is set and small bubbles appear, flip, and continue cooking until crisp and brown on both sides. Smaller is better for these fritters - small enough to cook through in just a couple of minutes and be crisp outside and not doughy inside.  Remove from the oil and place on a paper towel to drain.  Serve warm sprinkled with sugar or room temperature with a side of plain ricotta.   Makes about 18 - 20 small fritters.

Now that I’ve learned how to make these traditional Italian dishes, I am working on incorporating chestnut flour into some other baked goods. Stay tuned!