It was August 22nd , 1958 when I boarded the Holland America Line's cruise ship "Ryndam" in Montreal bound for Southhampton .. then across the English Channel to LeHavre in France. From there I would travel by train to Paris ... then on to my final destination, Cortona ,Italy..... this latter stretch likewise by train. But first let's go back to my Atlantic Ocean crossing on the Ryndam. It was a trip I shall never forget... the immensity , strength and beauty of the sea .... the warmth of the 900 passengers almost all of whom were Dutch on their way back to Holland after visiting relatives and friends in Canada. I even won my first singing contest on amateur night with my version of a big song from back then which might ring a bell for a few of you .. The Purple People- Eater...accompanying myself on my own guitar . I managed to sneak in on second prize too won by my travelling buddy , Ralph McQuaid ,from Prince Edward Island who dragged out his fiddle and treated those foot-stompin' , hand-clappin' Dutch folks in the audience to a real oldtime downeast hornpipe . I simply played backup strum and chords while Ralph did all the work. It was in the off-shore bar in international tax-free waters of the Atlantic that I bought my first glass of excellent Dutch beer for 5 cents and was introduced to Holland's next of kin to firewater.. "jonge"... a kind of heavy duty gin . Those were the days !!
After spending a few days in the Parisian area I said goodbye to Ralph who was off to Baveria to study in a German college and I headed South through France to wartorn Italy .. it was but 13 years since the end of the War. About 7 o'oclock in the evening I stepped down from the train in Terontola , asked in very rudimentary Italian where I might find a bus to Cortona... found one and then inquired further info as to to what direction we would be taking. The man pointed Eastwards to a very high point on the mountain before us where I could make out ( my eyes were hawklike back then) a walled-iin village with church steeples rising above the ramparts . It looked a bit like a big brown birdnest hugging the mountain side. So up we go.. through Ossaia and Camucia onwards and upwards by il Calcinaio Church zigzagging .... as it was impossib le to drive straight up the hill...maybe 6 or 7 times until we finally reach the entrance to Via Contessa... my stop.. right in the middle of the hill !!! I grab my packsack and suitcase and push open the big iron gate . Inside the gate to the right was the caretaker's hut and sticking out the small window was the barrel of one huge mounted sten gun .. a leftover from the War I learned later and looking at me through the sights of that powerful weapon was a rough-looking wee Italian peasant with an evil eye.... my first meeting with Marconi.... handyman at the college and ex Mussolini hater. I'll fill you in on this strange patriot later . After a good " Buona sera" and " Sono io il canadese aspetatto "... Good evening ... I am the expected Canadian .. I was waved on and proceded on to the front door of the monastery , rang the bell and Fratello Valentino welcomed me with open arms . Valentino is still alive today and every now and then we exchange greetings and memories . Enough for today , folks. Back tomorrow with a bit more.
A few years ago I was sitting here in my office at home .. half daydreaming about my past life with one eye on the computer screen while the other kept tabs on the TV set... just in case I miss something. All of a sudden my TV eye notified my mind's eye to turn all my attention to the TV screen. And there unfolding before me was a sequence of flashes.. familiar scenes straight out of my youth.... il palazzo communale , la piazza Signorelli , la chiesa di Santa Margherita , il Calcinaio etc... the historic townhall , Signorelli Square , Saint Margaret¨s Church , the Calcinaio Church etc... it was a programme showing the marvels of Cortona , Italy... an old Etruscan fortified or walled in mountain city in Tuscany where I had lived and studied for a number of years back in the late fifties and early sixties. I don't know whether any of you have ever heard of or read a book by Frances Hayes , Under The Tuscan Sun , published in 1996 . This work catapulted Cortona into the limelight and and an ensuing movie made it known worldwide for what it is... the most beautiful place on earth !! I checked it out on the net last night and .. my heavens to Betsy !! How things have changed !! Landgrabbers , real estate mania , University of Georgia has set up archeology courses there for Summer semester, ... like opening up the West !! Remember what happened to the Indians ? I haven't been back now in a few years . That time I stayed at my old Alma Mater some 500 meters below the old ramparts and visiting with some of the old peasant farmers who are still alive and remember me. I'll post a pic of my college immediately after this post and tell a bit more tomorrow about this God's Little Acre on earth.
This is Collegio San Alfonso jutting from a hillside in the foothills of the Appenine Mountains some 500 meters below the old fortified city of Cortona overlooking the Pianura Toscana.. Tuscan Plain. For the history buffs among you .. at the bottom of the mountain to the left of the picture is a small grouping of farm buildings and empty rocky fields called Ossaia.. I used to walk there almost every day... where the great Roman army took a lesson in military strategy from the even Greater Hannibal who led his forces to an overwhelming victory over the masters of the Italic peninsula on this precise site in 216 B.C. ... in fact , Ossaia means "boneyard".Turn left at Ossaia and you are on the road to Perugia and Assisi..........cut straight across the Pianura to Montepulciano (20 kilometers) for you wine lovers out there.... or north of Ossaia a wee bit.. maybe 10 to 20 kilometers to Castel Fiorentino where La Bella Vita .. The Beautiful Life ... was filmed . Oh yes , Sienna is but a few kilometers away to the Northwest across the Plain. Now I am just rambling on and shall stop here before I lose those of you who have shown such great patience so as to even come this far. I just got carried away !! Amen for now !!