Just recently I was given as a gift the new Vinicio Capossela CD - Marinai, Profeti e Balene. I certainly recommend it.  Capossela is known as the Tom Waits of Italy, his lyrics are very original, often inspired by literary sources such as John Fante, Geoffrey Chaucer , Oscar Wilde,Charles Bukowski and Samuel Taylor Coleridge among others.
His musical influences range from 19th century opera, Italian tarantella, Balkan gypsy music and is one of the most eclectic musicians in the Italian musical scene.
Marinai, Profeti e Balene is a double CD inspired by the classics of world literature about the sea and its frightful spawning of amazing creatures, human, animal, and mythological. The creativity and originality in this album is fabulous.

Views of Lunigiana

The beach

Generally the beaches in this area during the summer months are full of brightly coloured uniformed umbrellas and sun loungers in neat rows, owned by private companies that rent these to sunbathers at a rather expensive price and there are very few "free beaches" (In Liguria apparently out of 135 swimmable kilometres of beach, only 19km are free).
Ecco del Mare, Baia Blu, Fiaschino are all beautiful beaches but all private, for this reason I tend to either try and find a good free beach (punta corvo although has been closed recently it has re-opened) or go river bathing instead, or take a day trip further afield in search of a free beach.

Today I did however take a visit to the beach and it is slightly better and cheaper off season (less umbrellas and not so crowded) and far nicer than the during high season.

If you head for the beach leave out northern Tuscany beaches from Viareggio to Carrara and take trips to the Ligurian coast for example Lerici, Palmaria, Monterosso, Daiva Marina, Levanto, Sestri Levante.

House for sale

Some English friends of mine are selling their house in Pra di Preti which is about a 10 minute drive in the hillside above Pontremoli. They are selling to downgrade to a smaller property.
Beautiful property, needs some finishing work. If anyone is interested contact me for details.

Description:
Delightful house in stone of 200sq m with beautiful views of the mountainside of Lunigiana. The property can be divided in two separate apartments and features: 2 kitchens, two living rooms, 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms and balcony.
The property comes with 1.500sq m of land and a further stone rustico to be restored internally.

The property remains 10minutes away from the historical town of Pontremoli which offers a selection of shops, restaurants and cafe's, 40 minutes from the beaches of Lerici and the Cinque Terre and 1 hours drive from Pisa airport.
€ 210.000 negotiable

CASTELLI DI PACE Festival in Lunigiana 10-11 settembre 2011

This weekend I intend to help out at the festival "Castelli di Pace (Castles of Peace)  organised by a number of small comuni which form a part of a network for sustainability, which Legambiente in the Province of Massa-Carrara began in 2005 in Lunigiana. The festival aims to highlight the interconnections between peace, resources and energy, between globalization and local development, and aims to be the context where local meets global politics, where networks of small municipalities are consolidated on major issues, whereby the use of fair trade and sustainable use of resources are a prerequisite to ensure quality of life, social justice and peace.

The festival is held at the Borgo di Filetto, Villafranca in Lunigiana (MS)

For further info and details of events please visit www.castellidipace.it

www.facebook.com/pages/Castelli-di-Pace-Festival-in-Lunigiana-10-11-settembre-2011/157215327684264?sk=wall

Religious festivals

There are many religious festivals all around Italy infact every village has its "Festa della Madonna or Festa del Santo patrono ",  and are dedicated to the Madonna or Catholic Saint and this tradition is still maintained.

This one that I attended is celebrated on the second Sunday of August in a small village above Pontremoli.
Festivities kick off however on Saturday evening with a mass and a candle lit procession to the village cemetery, Sunday there is a mass in the morning followed by a procession in the afternoon whereby the Madonna of Caravaggio  is carried through the village on to a stone and blessed.

Most of the local population left this village after the war and emigrated to the UK or France or other parts of Italy to find work and the village becomes re-populated in the summer months, however they keep up this tradition with great enthusiasm and care and the day is spent with big family lunches and everyone dressed in their Sunday best.

There are a large variety of these festivals in Italy, and whether it is a large international event or a simple local village tradition dating back for centuries, they offer an interesting insight to the traditions and culture of the country.

End of summer

After a long summer of visits from family and friends, medieval festivals, markets, beaches, rivers, sightseeing, eating and ice-cream its time to settle back to my usual routine and start posting on my blog.
August here is full of medieval festivals held in many of the "borghi" in and around lunigiana, my favourites being Filetto, Ponticello and Pontremoli which are full of flag throwing, jugglers, dances and markets full of artisan craft stalls. Although there are many events held throughout the year August is always buzzing with folklore and traditional events.

Summer now however is drawing to an end and Pontremoli has returned to being very tranquil, and signs of autumn are approaching with flavours of funghi and chestnuts.