Italian Escapism

I realized that I’ve mentioned a movie, book or song in pretty much every post so far. Obviously, most have to do with Italy. I went over the ones I’ve mentioned (A Room With a View, Enchanted April, Roman Holiday, Under the Tuscan Sun, Letters to Juliet, Dangerous Beauty) and I’ve concluded that I much prefer the English fantasy (and they are all fantasies) of Italy to the American one. Not much of a surprise given my news sources. In the English portrayals, Italy is a place to open up gently - “you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens.” The Americans tend to bang around until they’re hit over the head with what they’ve been looking for. I’d definitely like to watch more Italian cinema to see how they portray their own country – probably much less escapist beauty.

P.S. Quote is from e.e. cummings’ poem “somewhere i have never travelled…”

Rereading the whole thing I realized how suitable it was (and realized again how perfect a poem it is).

“nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing”

A Room With a View

I titled this blog ‘enchanted,’ and arriving at our villa in Castelraimondo has actually made me believe it about this trip. It is beyond beautiful here. Our room does indeed have a view, of the hills and fields of the Italian countryside. We’re surrounded by views; the one from the pool is pretty wonderful too. The villa itself is lovely – we’ve explored a little, but I have to do more.

On a side note, what is it with repressed English people going to Italy to discover themselves (along with love, life, etc.)? My favorite Italy-set book and movie both deal with that theme. I don’t know if the magic is in the beauty of the country, or if the characters just needed some sunshine. But this place is definitely enchanting.  

I met up with the group at the Rome airport this morning, and it does feel like the start of an entirely different trip. After a long wait for arrivals, we started our drive to Castelraimondo, but the sunny day soon turned dark and rain started pelting the car. It’s probably a bad sign when the passenger in the front seat has to wipe the foggy windshield so the driver can see. Thankfully it cleared up, and we’re here in a beautiful place with beautiful weather. Can’t wait to begin.

 Read this, if you haven't.

Postcards from Italy

Buongiorno! I've decided to start a blog about my time in Italy for the next few weeks (May through the end of June), because I thought it would be really original. I mean, it's not like every other person who has studied abroad recently has done it, right? Hopefully it will be entertaining (or at least interesting) to people other than my future self looking back on the trip.

I got the title for the blog from "Enchanted April," a great movie (based on a book) about four English women who share a villa in Italy for a month. "The four women...find rejuvenation in the tranquil beauty of their surroundings, rediscovering hope and love." Basically, my goals for this trip. I'm ostensibly here to learn Italian, but I wouldn't mind finding hope, love, and rejuvenation while I'm at it. I was told by a woman in a shop today that I'm going to fall in love while I'm here. We'll see where that leads. She may just have been trying to sell me shoes.

Anyway, this first part of the trip has been traveling around Northern Italy with my family. I'll skim that part in posting ("postcard" style), since they'll probably comprise the majority of this blog's audience. On Sunday I meet up with my trip-/classmates in Rome for our month in Castelraimondo. And that's when my own adventures will begin.


P.S. Incidentally, the title of this post (also considered for the title of the blog) is the name of a great song by Beirut. You can and should give it a listen here.