We have just returned home after a three-day trip in our camper here in Italy and we saw so much beauty. Seen so much that inspires and so much that touches. Per drives, I read the map and that job is becoming smaller and smaller since we just enter everything on the tablet and follow the instructions. But it gives me time to think. To think is important after seeing so much that enriches my life in many ways.
I think about how grateful I am for all the people who have lived before me and left their TRACES.
I have no idea who most of them are and I could certainly have spent a lot of time studying it, but for me the most important thing is what they have left behind, what traces they have left, and in what way these the tracks affect me in this life.
The tarot garden - Niki de Saint de Phalle
One of the most exciting and colorful "tracks" I have come across here in Tuscany is the Tarot garden, located far south in Maremma, close to Capalbio. The garden was designed and developed by the French artist Niki de Saint de Phalle at the end of the 20th century in collaboration with a group of incredibly skilled artists and craftsmen.
The Garden shows her interpretation of 22 of the main cards in the major arcana in the Tarot deck, and there is an abundance of symbolism, colors and shapes in the huge, curved sculptures which, for me, are a tribute to the lush and feminine. The sculptures can be experienced both from the outside and from the inside, as many are so large that you can also visit their inner world.
Niki found the inspiration for the garden during a bush search in Gaudi's Park Guell in Barcelona. She wanted to create "a Garden of Eden where man and nature could meet". The materials used are ceramics, colored mirrors, glass and concrete. The work to create the park took over 17 years and is an esoteric expression of the artist's outlook on life and way of living.
Read more about Niki's track here in the world: http://ilgiardinodeitarocchi.it/en/
Duomo di Orvieto
Something completely different that left a deep impression on me was the front of the cathedral in Orvieto, the Duomo de Orvieto - a Gothic masterpiece dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The cathedral was built in the 14th century and is one of the most beautiful pieces of church art I have seen.
I simply stood gasping for a long time in admiration at all this beauty, at all the work, at the perfectionism and wisdom of the motifs. Here there are mosaics, paintings, gold, sculptures and stone carving in the most beautiful combination.
The cathedral was unfortunately closed, but we were able to enter a small chapel via a side entrance and it simply took my breath away. What a beauty created to try to describe the divine.
I had of course forgotten my mobile phone this morning, but Per contributes with some photos from the front of the dome.
Sacro Bosco in Bomarzo
Sacro Bosco, which is also unfairly called the Monster Park, is located close to the beautiful medieval town of Bomarzo in a primeval forest that made me think of fairy tales and of a similar park, Quinta da Regaleira, in Sintra in Portugal, which we visited a number of years ago. It was built at the end of the 1920s, while this park was already built in the middle of the 16th century and was completely unique at the time.
It was built by Pier Francesco Orsini, known as Vicino, lord of Bomarzo until 1581.
The Bosco differs from other Italian gardens, and although it fits into the architectural-naturalistic culture of the second half of the sixteenth century, it constitutes a unicum that gives life to a quiet and magical labyrinth inspired by a spiritual and magical landscape from all world.
Many have tried to solve the mystery of this garden that lies in an intermediate area between art, magic and literature, but the garden of Bomarzo is destined to remain a place steeped in charm and mystery that generates stories and awakens the imagination of each visitor. Truly a track that affects people of all ages.
Calcata Veccio - a village for artists in Viterbo
This small town that clings to the top of a hill left its mark on me many years ago when Per and I traveled to Italy with a rental car in February. The whole of Italy was more or less closed, but this city was alive with artistic souls who had chosen a somewhat non-traditional way of living. Of course, we didn't remember the name of the town, but after googling for a while we found out that it must be Calcata Veccio. Since we arrived with a motorhome, we had to park a short distance down the hillside and on the trip up to town, with our two dogs Killa and Kipu, we got to eat both wild blackberries and figs. And time had also left its mark on this small village. Most of the houses were as before, but had been upgraded to a certain extent. So the charm was still there, the traces of the original construction workers, who of course no one knows today, were strongly present, but the new residents had also left their mark. Some of the innocent, romantic and idealistic feeling had been replaced with more order, beautiful pots filled with plants and flowers and there was a cafe on every corner.
We ended the trip with a glass of wine on a tiny terrace and I reflected a little with Per about leaving a mark and asked questions about whether what we create today leaves a mark and why it is so important when so much has already been created in this world.
The answer we came up with was
Only YOU can create what YOU create, only YOU can leave the traces YOU make and maybe there is someone who will be happy about them in the future without anyone having a clue of who YOU were. Keep making tracks..........
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