Mantua Me Genuit....tenet nunc Parthenope

November 05, 2011

Mantua Me Genuit....tenet nunc Parthenope

Rain, flat lands, rain, cows, rain, flat lands and more cows. That is the way Mantova in the Pianura Piadana looks right now. Genova, two hours away, is getting hit with terrible human eating floods, 12 people have floated away in the floods and died so far...here it won't stop raining but I don't think we are in danger...it makes me feel somber tonight thinking of people floating away, cars piling up, and 1,500 folks out of homes while I am safe and dry in my warm home. It's supposed to rain for the next 5 days. While the situation looks terrible I want to write on the things I enjoy about the rain and Mantova region today. We drove to the city of Modena today (about 3 hours away) today and it was lightly raining there.

Rain on the windshield

Drops of rain

We live right at the north border of the Pianura (flat lands) and most of the winter is foggy and drippy. It reminds me a lot of Washington State and Stockholm. The grey sky is strong all winter long (9 months) and will not give up. I am quietly enjoying the rainy drippy weather for now since it is new and the blaring hot summer is still fresh on my mind and my tan is still holding up.

There are lots of ways to enjoy living in a rainy foggy area. In Washington State people drink too much good coffee, wear jewel color winter clothes, they kayak, hike wearing good hiking boots, have cook outs on the foggy chilly beach and drink more coffee. In Stockholm (that I love for a few cold days then want to go home) people are experts on cold dreary days. Bright primary and secondary colors dominate the winter clothes, fish (herring) is a popular dish, people drink a lot of spirits, visit friends, knit, and ice-skate. Here in rainy northern Italy I have found that people like to wear a lot of black, dark blue and dark brown. I think bright colors are better to cheer the day up but the idea is that dark is warmer. It makes me look like a camel in NYC walking around with my bright raincoat and purple rain wellies.

They are a must!

Here in the North of the Pianura Piadana people paint their house bright colors.

They eat heavy foods likes stracotto (Tuscan Roast beef cooked for 10 hours), tortelli, and all sorts of pig products.

Today we took the country road back from Modena to Desenzano and stopped in a few small towns along the way. It seems like the smaller the town the bigger the church. We saw a 13th century church and monastery where up to 600 Franciscan friars use to live.

The 14th c. mess hall

My share of clothing and of food,

From the King of fairest face,

And I to sit at times alone,

And pray in every place. - Irish Monk Prayer

It was really sweet to see the simplicity of how they lived dedicated to God and the church: simple living arrangements, gardens to tend to, vineyards for making local wine, and the best for me was the mess hall where they ate. It was such a huge building in the middle of this small town. I could imagine the friars eating there in silence seated at long sturdy wooden tables and probably having some mean friar stare at them making sure they were quiet (like in Oliver Twist). I also saw a few nuns in the church who were quietly working with an incanabula collection (books before 15th c.) of ecclesiastical books.

Manuscript collection!

I wanted to pounce over the gate, pull on a nun gown and join them. Old books, oh the joy if I could only use my masters degree in archiving! My eyes danced from the other side of the iron gate in the church and watched them work on the collection. It made me pay more attention to the nuns since I couldn't really see the collection. These ladies work for the church, the community, believers in Christ and non-believers. They are so unlike me and most women I know. They don't wear make up, they wear simple shoes, pray for hours each day and don't ask for recognition for the work they do. Amazing. I don't know if I could be a nun. But for sure it made me think about all the things I have that I think I need and how life can be simple and beautiful with less. I also thought about this because of the flooding rains so close to home. What if all my things floated away? Picture albums, furniture destroyed. What if I were to be left with few possessions in life? Laundry and cleaning house would be easier, that is for sure.

Candles symbolizing the prayer of the person who lit it.

On the drive back from Modena we stopped in Mantova to walk around for a bit and I really liked re-visiting the city after reading a bit about it.

The entrance to Mantova, birthplace of the poet Virgil

Mantua me genuit; Calabri rapuere; tenet nunc Parthenope. "Mantua gave birth to me, the Calabrians took me, now Naples holds me."

Wear flat shoes: you never know what kind of pavement you will encounter

For example, I went to the archives in Cremona the other day and read about this 15th century Prince Gonzaga that pranced from Mantova to Cremona on his high horse, the people were forced by the local authorities to cook a feast, a lavish party was made then the taxes went up for the poor living in the rural surroundings.