Presepe

 The “presepe or presepio” is an Italian Christmas tradition reputed to date back to the 13^th century, a custom started by Francis of Assisi.  Examples can be found all over Italy in the few weeks leading up to Christmas. What, you may be asking, is a presepe?  It’s a presentation of the nativity scene, and they come in all shapes and sizes in Italy.  There is a life size model every year outside the Vatican, and many churches have a presepe set up either outside them or sometimes inside.   Here for example are a couple of photos taken of a presepe at a church in Gubbio in Umbria. 

Presepe in Gubbio

This one came complete with special lighting effects so that the sun rose and set behind the scene, and music played softly in the background. 

Presepe in Gubbio

Many homes have a scene set up alongside the Christmas tree, and again special lighting effects, moving parts are not uncommon.  Some presepe are made up of figurines that are true collectors items, incredibly detailed works of art made by well-known artisans.  If you want to take a closer look at examples of some of these, click here.   Perhaps the most unusual presepio I saw this year was at a seaside resort less than an hour’s drive from Rome. 

Sand sculpture presepio

This one was found in a tent outside the church across the road from the beach and was made of sand.  I’ve only ever seen a sand sculpture before on T.V., never in real life, so when Vito told me he’d seen it on a walk with MIL one morning, I went down to have a look.

Sand sculpture presepio

I was surprised at how big it was, and how it managed to stay in one piece!  I was also very glad I’d taken the time to take a look.  As you can see, it’s simple, and yet quite detailed. 

Certainly the first time I’ve seen one like this, but then every year seems to bring me face to face with a style of presepe I haven’t seen before.  Like this one, given to us as a present last year.  Good enough to eat!

Presepe good enough to eat!

If you want to know more about the history of the presepe and different styles, click here, and here

Black as coal.

The first male cat we took in was Sooty (Fuliggine in Italian).  His mother like him as black as coal, was a stray with real attitude.  Fiercely independent, or maybe just plain fierce, she made a point of regularly beating up any other cat on or near my windowsill.  Even Prish Mish (still with us in those days) was afraid of her and so in the end I would shush the stray away from our house and feed her by an allotment on the other side of the road.  After that she usually stayed away from the house but one day I came home and saw her on the garden path at the same time she saw me.  She streaked off across the road to avoid me (she was never tamed) and to my horror got caught under the wheels of a huge SUV.  She died horribly in front of me and there was absolutely nothing I could do to save her.  I was appalled, not only at her terrible death, but also because I knew she had had a litter recently and I had no idea where the kittens were. I phoned Vito in hysterics, and he promised to help me look for them as soon as he got home. Shortly after my doorbell rang and I found the young couple that had recently moved in two doors away at my gate.

“Signora, the black cat is dead.  We saw her in the street” (I’d left her body for Vito to clear when he got home as I couldn’t face it).

“I know, I saw it happen”

“But the kittens will die” the girl said to me.

“I know, but I don’t where they are”

“We do, they’re in our garden but we don’t know what to do”. 

“Where?”

She bade me follow her into her garden, and there under a bush shrinking back in a small furry mass were four tiny kittens.  Two grey and two black. 

Sooty and his siblings

 At first we (my new neighbours and I shared the work) had to hand feed them with a syringe and special formula milk but within a short time they were eating proper food and generally behaving like kittens do. They were all tiny, but Sooty was miniscule and definitely the runt of the litter.

Sooty was miniscule

His tail was deformed

His tail was deformed, perhaps because of a difficult birth but whatever the cause, it’s shorter than most cats and has a fixed crook in the middle and ends with a stump.  At first he wouldn’t take food and seemed to be losing his will to live as can sometimes happen with orphaned kittens. He turned away from any milk we tried to give him until in desperation I literally jammed the syringe down his throat, and squeezed the liquid in.   I remember his eyes opening wide in surprise.

“I’m not letting you die, ” I told him firmly.

Either he took some notice, or more likely he just felt better with some food inside him, but from then on he went from strength to strength.  He was never greedy though and as his siblings fought for their space round the plate of food, he would take a little nibble and then hoist himself up my leg with his needle claws, look at me seriously with his bright blue eyes 

He'd look at me seriously with his bright blue eyes

and then curl up and fall asleep on my lap.  I began to dread the day I would have to give him away. Then one day Vito said to me

“You’d like to keep him wouldn’t you?”

I nodded. 

“Okay”.

So that’s how we got Sooty. 

He and the Beast are firm friends

 He grew up to be a beautiful and enormous cat, so jet-black that it’s difficult to see his features in any photograph. He and my beast are firm friends and he's fond of "er upstairs" too, although fights often with Chili.  He is much like his mother in that he is fiercely independent and has attitude, and like all the other cats I’ve ever had he tends to use us as a hotel too.    

He grew up to be a beautiful cat

Then just as I begin to think he’s forgotten those early days when he would sleep under my chin and gently gnaw my skin as though he was returning my kisses, he’ll surprise me. Jumping up on the bed he'll brush his face against mine and curl up beside me purring like an engine until he falls asleep beside me.  As for his siblings, our neighbours kept his grey sister so we still see her, and the other two went to very good homes J

Sooty, December 5th 2013

The English Village Green

While Italian borghi have their main “piazza” or square, old English villages had, and often still do have, a “village green”.   Traditionally the village green was a space of land where local animal owners could allow their sheep or cows to graze, or a place where local parties and festivals were held. On Mayday for example a maypole would be set up on the green and the villagers would celebrate by choosing a May Queen and Morris Dancing.  

Morris Dancing is old English folk dancing and is still practised today by some enthusiasts.  (See a couple of examples here and here).  Many of the old village greens also had a pond.   The village greens of the middle ages also had “stocks”, (read about Stocks and see a picture here) where wrongdoers were held in wooden structures and the local people would throw things like rotten vegetables at them to punish them for their crime.  Some of these old stocks can still be found, even in London today. Village greens can be found all over the UK and are still used to celebrate local festivals or fun, such as summer fetes, where the locals set up stalls selling home made produce and games usually to raise money for good causes.  Many are well known and very picturesque as you can see in the pictures on this link.

Like the old borghi, the village roads tend to be narrow and picturesque, while magnificent old houses sometimes surround the village green itself.  Here is an example of one beautiful old place with a “thatched roof”.  

Have a look here to see some truly wonderful examples of thatched cottages around the UK if you are interested.  There used to be many more in the countryside, but they are a terrible fire risk, and so very expensive to insure. Nowadays many thatched cottage roofs are being replaced with tiles L  

This village along with its thatched cottage on the green also still has a traditional telephone box,

but that doesn’t date back so far J

An old English graveyard

On one really lovely autumn afternoon we went for a bus ride into the little town of Lymington, which is between the south coast towns of Southampton and Bournemouth.   Lymington is a very pretty place with its own quay and is world famous as a sailing resort.  The town has been there for centuries, and some parts, including the parish church of St Thomas,

St. Thomas

go back as far as the 13^th century. Passing by the church I was reminded how Italian visitors who accompanied us on a visit to Lymington many years ago were fascinated by the churchyard, and so I thought I would write a little about it here in case any Italian readers of this blog might be interested too. The reason for our guests’ fascination was because in Rome, church graveyards (such as we know them in the UK), are few and far between.   Due to lack of space, the deceased are interred above ground one above the other (or so Vito tells me – I’ve never seen them myself).  Historically of course the Romans were buried underground one under the other in layers for centuries, which is why the catacombs as they are known now lie under the whole of modern Rome, and also why the Rome metro system is so small compared to other cities.  It’s because every time they plan a new line or some more stops, they come across another archaeological  (i.e. protected) site!

By contrast in the UK, many church or communal graveyards are very old and very beautiful and many have even become havens for wildlife.

The churchyard at St Thomas is very old, so old in fact that many of the inscriptions on the headstones have been worn away by the weather

Headstones worn away by the weather

over centuries making them impossible to read while others have slipped in the earth slightly giving them a slightly higgledy-piggledy appearance.  All this lends to its charm and the graveyard is not only very beautiful but also a very tranquil place to be. 

Higgledy-piggledy charm

On the day we were there, the leafy trees were just beginning to turn into their autumn finery and the whole area was dappled

Dappled with sunlight

with sunlight.  We spent quite a while walking through, looking at the graves to see if we could see how old they were, and enjoying the unusually warm sun for that time of year.  The church itself

Inside the church

was also very pretty although has undergone several renovations in its long life. 

If you want to read more about Lymington (a very popular holiday spot in South England as there is lots to see all around the area) you can find information here.