Bella Toscana….Part 7....Bel Far Niente and Embracing the Siesta!

One of my many loves of Italians culture is their passion for “Bel Far Niente” which translated, means “the beauty of doing nothing!” Bel far niente is at the forefront of every Italians mind. Well actually, to be more precise, its not! Bel far niente is so engrained into their psyches that it is just part of all Italians genetic make-up. You see, for most of us, we see a working day lasting from 9am to 5pm with a lunch break at noon, but to most Italians, they have never experienced a working day such as this. Italians never see each day as yet another day in which to achieve a certain goal or another day which will bring us closer to being able to retire. Italians never retire because they see work as part of daily life and not simply as a means to an end. Italians are the masters of being able to live in perfect balance. Each day’s purpose is to find the balance of pleasure, family, rest and work! To Italians there is no such thing as retirement, because they simply allow pleasure to be the goal of each day, with work and family central to that very notion.

Every Italian will start their day in a bar or café with an espresso and a pastry, followed by a burst of caffeine fuelled energy and ‘work’ until roughly 1pm. This is when they all close up their shops and either walk, drive or catch the bus home. Once home with their families they all sit around a table for the pasta meal of the day and a full spread of lunch cuisine. They chat about their day thus far and what is to come. They drink wine, they talk loudly and throw their hands in the air with all the gestures Italians are so well known for. Then with bellies full of food and wine they retire to their beds for the daily siesta!

That’s right, Siesta! Six days a week Italians crawl into their beds in the middle of the day for an hours nap, escaping the heat of the day. To rejuvenate from their hard few hours of ‘work’ from the morning of that day! And of course, Sunday is the day of rest, when absolutely nothing is open except the churches! No petrol station, post office, bank, supermarket, newsagent or bakery stays open for the hours of siesta. It is so engrained in the Italian way of living that literally the country closes down from 1pm to roughly 3-4pm each day.

You ask how does a country get anything down with a lifestyle such as this? Well I asked the same question, but believe it or not, Italy actually functions perfectly well on this course of daily life. During summer as the heat of the day begins to reseed the shops begin to reopen and daily working life resumes until roughly 7-8pm in the evening. Italians prefer to be able to go home to their families, sit and enjoy the most important meal of the day together, have a nap and then work longer into the evenings.

And it’s with great pleasure that I have been able to embrace this most of indulgent of lifestyles. I too retire to bed for the hours of siesta. With the heat of the Tuscan summer days reaching a point of unbearability (pretty sure I just invented a new word!). Following lunch, filled to the brim with delicious pasta all of us at the Villa traipse off to our beds and with the fan whirling in the corner of the room, we lay our bodies down, escaping the heat of the day by sleeping. Bliss!

Bella Toscana…..Part 6......No Longer a Tourist

The days seem to be merging into one another. The experiences continue to feel just as deep and as intense, but less pointed. Life has taken on a familiarity and security which allows a sense of home to emerge within me. I no longer feel like a tourist or a traveller here. The journey has become my life.

I now have an accumulated amount of knowledge of a place which most people spend their lives wishing and hoping to see. Tuscany is imprinted on the back of my hand and feels as familiar as my favourite pair of shoes. And I like that. I am proud to say that I have been able to live in such a beautiful, historical and traditional part of the world for a period of time. And now comes the hard part….Leaving it.

With the knowledge that my time (for now) in Italy is coming to an end, I find myself wanting to document everything with photographs. I carry around my camera with me everywhere, taking happy snaps of even the most mundane of activities and objects, in the hope of capturing moments and objects which will remind of why I love this country so much.

I am beginning to be torn in two. My heart slips straight into my mouth every time I find my thoughts wondering about leaving this place. Patrignone and Herby Cottage feel as much as home as any place I have ever lived and called home. What’s one to do when they feel torn between two countries equally as beautiful yet each totally unique and as geographically far apart as is worldly possible?

Bella Toscana……Part 5…….Sitting, Thinking, Wishing

Sitting here on my terrace overlooking the Tuscan countryside and the olive grove below, I know that there is a world revolving out there without me in it and that I am living an indulgent lifestyle of peace, tranquillity and solitude. Just the way I want it right now. There aren’t too many times in your life when you get to sit and take stock of your life. To be allowed to sit, read and write each day. Time is something I have plenty of here which is what I will miss when it comes time to eventually leave.

I get to sit and observe. I watch the seasons change day by day and the cycle of Mother Nature surrounds my every turn.

It makes me so angry when the first thing people say to me after they hear about my life here at Patrignone is “Don’t you get bored?” as if to say that I am not living if I am living an existence without television, traffic, news, cinema’s, bars and the stresses of daily life.

I live within my own little micro-world here at the Villa. Weeks can pass by without leaving these surroundings and buildings. Some may find that quite peculiar with a feeling as if being within a prison. But to me it is bliss, I am perfectly happy within my own company. I have never needed external sources to keep myself occupied. I have plenty to do here. Reading, writing, photography, cooking, daily siesta’s. What more could I want?

Bella Toscana…..Part 4......What’s happening to me?

Gone are the days of leisurely Volleyball games at the beach, competitive State League Saturdays or party fuelled tournaments. So too are the days of being content with a leisurely drive to Gunnamatta for a surf after work or a road trip along the Great Ocean Road on the weekends. Of course those days are treasured and dearly embedded in my fond memory file deep within me but all that just seems mundane now. Done and worn out like an old pair of loved shoes. Oh how times have changed!

A new type of adventurous side of me has begun to emerge. Now all I dream of are the shear grandeur of the Alps, powder perfect days on the slopes and being able to throw myself down hideously steep pistes on skis! I dream of the next destination which will take me into another unknown. New places to call home and push the boundaries of what I consider normal even more. I have become a self confessed adventure ski and travel junky! Oh God! Please help me!

I find myself spending my nights reading Ewan McGregor and Charley Boormans ‘Long way Round’, filling me an adventurous spirit which only makes me want to become a pioneer of travelling brilliance! I secretly hope that every trail, track, road and path hasn’t already been walked, driven or flown before. I download skiing films and become consumed by Warren Miller’s death defying skiing videos. I search the net for inspiration from peoples travel blogs and the Age Newspaper’s ‘Snow It All’s’ articles. I research skiing destinations in New Zealand and plan a route around the world being able to follow the perfect skiing winters of the globe.

Oh Dear, what has become of me? Is there any hope of me being able to return to a normal life?

Bella Toscana……Part 3........No Right To Complain!

I often think about how lucky I am. How privileged I feel to be living this lifestyle. To continually be able to seek and find these amazing adventures and beautiful places. I seem to be living an envious life. A life in which people are all too quick to point out how jealous they are of, so it is no wonder, I constantly feel lucky. But then I tell myself that I created this! I remind myself that this is something I decided to seek and that everyone has that same choice. The option to seek a new adventure, a new challenge and to expand their horizons, so is it simply luck that finds me here or the shear courage and determination to do something for myself. The ability to accept change as a way of life and to seek the unknown without fear but excitement. To want to explore a new unknown and ask yourself what new experiences, new awareness, new territories and people may I find there.

I chose a life lived richly through experiences and people. I am not the person just dreaming about this life, I am living it! So if that makes me lucky, then I am happy with that title!