Slow, slow, slow

It has been over two weeks since I have posted here. I actually have several draft posts, but they were written some time ago and they don’t resonate at the moment. So what’s this all about?

Well, just as there are cycles in nature, I think we humans go through cycles. There are times when the creative juices flow, the energy abounds, you are sharp. Then there are times when you just cruise along, everything going along fine, but there is no huge excitement – or angst for that matter. And then there are times when you just seem to be on hold, waiting for something to happen.

I seem to be in the latter part of the cycle. In part it has to do with the fact that we are trying to sell our house and it is slow, slow, slow. It’s not that people are looking and finding problems with the house. They aren’t looking. I truly feel this recession is on its way to ending. But the housing market, at least here, is lagging behind.

We really felt we would have moved by now, that we would be in Morganton, NC, starting on that chapter. I think being on hold for the move, more than anything, is what has put me in this quiet mode. It is not a bad thing. It is a time when you recharge, when things percolate, ferment. We need that, too, as humans. We need that quiet gestation period. We are still busy with Adventures in Italy. We had a conversation this morning with Nina Bagley who will be leading a wonderful workshop in the fall of 2010 about her class. And this afternoon we are talking with DJ Pettit who will be leading an equally compelling workshop in the spring of 2011. We are firming up the details of their trips. So we are at work.

But I’d say I am slow. It is why I haven’t posted here in a while. Who knows when it will end? I don’t, but as I sit here I already have some ideas needing expression. Maybe there’ll be a flood soon! Ciao.

Technical Age and the Soul

“We may live in a technical age, but our souls aren’t technical. They’re still connected to nature.” So writes Melody Beattie in Journey to the Heart. I concur.

I think one of the challenges we face today is that there is so much technical in our lives that we forget and lose touch with our souls. When people travel with us on our Adventures in Italy trips, they get in touch again with the soul. Why is that?

There are two reasons. One is intimate contact with nature. The other is intimate contact with things human, which is, after all, nature as well.

Orvieto sits on a plug of rock sticking 700 feet up above the valley floor around it. You are never far from the edge and a view out over the vineyards, farmland, and surrounding mountains. It’s hard not to be struck by the beauty of it all. It does put us back in touch with nature and its nurture. We are touched, deep down, in our souls.

Orvieto is a medieval city. During medieval times, building skills limited what could be built. The result is a very human scaled environment, one in which you simply feel comfortable. There is nothing technical about it. The street is made of pavers laid in an incredibly beautiful fan pattern. The building material is primarily tuffa – volcanic rock – that has a warm, buttery color. Doors and windows are all different sizes and shapes, so there is no engineered sameness. It makes for a very entertaining visual experience. The eye moves 100 times a minute and sees best in terms of edges. There are countless edges and numberless things to engage the eye.

And so, you are lost in the interest, character, and ultimately, human nature of the place. It is so not technical. A week in Orvieto brings us back in touch with nature, human nature, and the soul.

I have recently concluded that a week with us is an investment in yourself. Each of us not only deserves it. In this technical world, we need it.

Patience

I was thinking about phones and phone calls recently. I remember when we would wait to make long distance calls until the evening or weekend because it was cheaper. How that has changed. While there is much to be said for easy connectivity, I wonder if it is a net benefit. We used to have the patience to wait to make a call. Now, everything has to be right now, faster. It makes for a frenetic life.

Italians talk to each other!

Italians are farther down the road to managing technology than we. In the middle nineties I remember they always seemed to be on their cell phones. More people had them and used them than here. Today, most Italians have them, but they use them judiciously. People are not constantly plugged into their phones everywhere. You rarely see people in restaurants on their phones.

Not a scene much seen in Italy

This may be because personal relationships are so important to Italians. They are truly present when you talk to them. It is very nice – no “continuous partial attention.”

I do think it is a matter of maturity – maturity in their having used the technology longer, resulting in a greater sophistication in its use. Our Adventures in Italy trips, I hope, provide a bit of exposure for us, and perhaps a recognition that Italians are farther down the road with phone use, and there is something to learn. Ever the optimist!

Our Spring in Orvieto

Well, I wasn’t able to really post while we were in Orvieto since I was more content to be in the city. Here is a report written by my good wife Kristi appearing in our newsletter that just went out. You can sign up for the newsletter at our web site.

We had near perfect weather every single day which made for long, lingering picnics in the Convent courtyard and pleasant hours spent wandering the intriguing streets and alleyways of town, slurping a cold gelato or munching a hot piece of pizza bianco.

Enjoying our gelatos

We love being able to share the week’s highlights with you. Always, yes every single trip, we are the lucky recipients of some powerful gem of wisdom. This year it came from Giovanna, the sister who is the heart of the Convent. In coming to love Orvieto, she said; “The tufa rock absorbs you.”

This is exactly what it feels like! Each of us arrives somewhat frazzled and bewildered to this hilltop town in Umbria. Then, slowly through wonderful experiences with earnest local artisans and experts, we find ourselves relaxing. Sharing an appreciation of fresh food, local wine, and the stunning landscapes, we feel ourselves literally melt into the tufa rock. By week’s end, we are connected to Orvieto, to the rhythms of daily Italian life, connected to ourselves. What a privilege it is to spend a week living and learning in Orvieto.

Dinner at a favorite restaurant

The Season

Spring was in full glory this May. Umbria has had one of the wettest winters in history making every hill and valley look its greenest. Fields were bursting with

Our B&B garden

winter wheat and spelt, just waiting for harvest. We enjoyed seeing new growth on tender grapevines during our visit to the stunning Palazzone Vineyard. Owner Giovanni showed us in detail the many steps necessary to prune and train each vine onto its support for optimum growth.

Spring mornings begin early with hundreds of swifts darting and playing in the clear blue skies. They seem to make a game of swooping as close as they can to windows and walls, superior acrobats that they are. They feast on insects morning and evening, meaning we are free to live with our bedroom windows open all through the night – no screens needed in Orvieto!

Blossoms we later cooked and ate in our cooking class

A trip to the weekly market offers a quick snapshot of what the season has to offer. Artichokes were plentiful in nearly every booth. We saw a range of sizes from huge globes to the daintiest small “babies”. A real treat this year was to find raw artichoke salad on the menu at several trattorias. Mixed with lemon and basil, it was fresh, tart and heavenly.

Asparagus was also in season. We ate it in so many variations throughout the week; as a pasta, as a soup, and combined with artichokes in the local umbricelli.

Asparagus and beans

Deliciously decadent.

Peas, fava beans, chicory, endive and all manner of lettuces filled the raucous market stalls. It was no trouble to assemble tasty picnic fixings from the vast array of local produce. No matter what the season, we dine divinely while in Orvieto!

The Scents

May fills Orvieto with delightful scents of mock orange, fading wisteria, handsome iris, locust trees blooming on every hillside, and jasmine buds just beginning to open. Roses seem to grow everywhere; in courtyards, in vineyards at the beginning of each row of grapes, and in countless pots

Flower vendor at the market

throughout town. As we sadly announced we were leaving Orvieto to our friend and restaurateur Christian, he said, “But how can you leave when May is the month of the sweetest scents?” Spoken so beautifully by our macho-man friend.

The Surprises

We’ve come to expect amazing surprises when we visit Orvieto, things we couldn’t imagine planning pop up to delight our groups. Two stand out for us.

The first was an invitation to join the Convent and its nursery school children in celebrating the birthday of their patron saint, St. Giovanna. We adored seeing the tiniest of children march in an orderly procession, singing and holding hands. Later, we joined their families for a lavish pot luck luncheon where we sampled delicacies straight from kitchens in Orvieto! Being able to share a special occasion like this with neighbors adds such authenticity to our stay.

Lacemaker's work

The second surprise was a fascinating afternoon shared with three women who meet weekly at the Convent for a class on traditional lace making. There is a long and rich heritage of this exacting art form in Orvieto. We felt so lucky to be able to view the painstaking work of these dedicated students. Through a little Italian and broken English, we were able to share our excitement and have our many questions answered. Such surprises that become priceless memories.

One Participant’s Perspective this year

“We learned so much by being in Orvieto. The time with you was educational, exciting and fun. The sisters at the convent overflowed with wit, love and service. The convent was so bright and airy. So many charming scenes to pass through our heads. The children parading to the chapel is one of the best. Seeing the lace is another. The lunches in the courtyard, still another. Your relationships with the people in Orvieto is to be envied.”

Asparagus was also in season. We ate it in so many variations throughout the week; as a pasta, as a soup, and combined with artichokes in the local umbricelli. Deliciously decadent.

Peas, fava beans, chicory, endive and all manner of lettuces filled the raucous market stalls. It was no trouble to assemble tasty picnic fixings from the vast array of local produce. No matter what the season, we dine divinely while in Orvieto!

The Scents

May fills Orvieto with delightful scents of mock orange, fading wisteria, handsome iris, locust trees blooming on every hillside, and jasmine buds just beginning to open. Roses seem to grow everywhere; in courtyards, in vineyards at the beginning of each row of grapes, and in countless pots throughout town. As we sadly announced we were leaving Orvieto to our friend and restaurateur Christian, he said, “But how can you leave when May is the month of the sweetest scents?” Spoken so beautifully by our macho-man friend.

Exceptional Travel

Simple, delicious food

One of our participants from a recently concluded trip to Orvieto in May said upon her return it was hard to explain to people what our trip was like because it is so different, so not like a tour group.  While an inability to explain the difference makes selling our trips harder, I took her assessment as a very real positive.

We aren’t just any old travel company. We bring our individual passions and experiences to each trip. The result is something that is hard to put your finger on, hard to quantify, hard to express in a sentence or two, hard to convey when everyone has an image of what travel with a travel company is like.

Making friends with the natives

I think it is fair to say that what we care about infuses and imbues our trips with an exceptional quality and character, making them more rewarding than you can imagine.

I bring a cross cultural history to the table. Born in Iran, having lived some of my formative years in Afghanistan, in a cross cultural family that had culture as its business, I care about connecting with other cultures. I am interested in understanding, appreciating, getting to know, connecting, building relationships in and with other cultures. As a result we connect and people on

Interesting, supportive environment

our trips connect to Italy, Italians, and the folks in Orvieto in a deeper, more satisfying way than they would normally, certainly than with most other travel companies.

The second thing I care about is our man made environment and how it supports human activity and interaction. This is what I did before starting Adventures in Italy. In fact, my first trips to Orvieto were to show how its physical environment is good for us as people. While this is not what our trips are about (except a few where this is what the instructor is focused on), it is evident in the character of the trip.  Our people are exposed to the very human environment that Orvieto is. It is warm, supportive, alive, fun, energizing, enthralling, enticing. We aren’t

True friendships develop

running through the streets bagging sites and oblivious to the special environment surrounding us. We are very much in tune with it. This makes the trips uniquely satisfying in a way that is hard to characterize and put your finger on. It just feels good.

Kristi has been a teacher for 30 years and brings her skills at helping people learn to our trips. Additionally, and strikingly, she believes we all have creative abilities, and deny our lives such richness by not trusting ourselves and our talents. As a result, our trips are nurturing of everyone, lifting them up, supporting their talents and abilities. They are reaffirming because this is what

Supporting and nurturing our talents

Kristi cares about and injects into the week’s activities and attitude.

Travel with us is different. It isn’t for everyone. But for those wanting a deeper, more intimate Italian experience, those wanting to develop a talent or interest, those wanting to enjoy a nurturing, stimulating environment, our trips are for you.

Orvieto and Seniors

My mom has been told she should no longer drive. For her this is a problem, in part, because it means she must rely on my dad to take her the her many varied activities. My folks live, as do most Americans, in a suburban environment. This made me think of Orvieto and of Morganton, the small NC town to which we are moving.

Healthy Interaction

As we search for a house in Morganton one of the criteria we are using is that we can walk to downtown. Morganton still has a grocery store on the edge of downtown in the area we are looking. As we age we will be able to walk to do our necessary chores even if we can’t drive.

I think about Orvieto and the amazing mix of ages that is on the streets. Amongst those are the elderly who go to the market on Thursday and Saturday, and who can do all the necessary chores of life by getting around on foot. What an absolute blessing.

Necessities Within Walking Distance

In addition, there is great social interaction that takes place on the street. People aren’t separated from others by their cars. This interaction is healthy for us as people and healthy for seniors who are often isolated.

One of the things we are going to have to begin to cope with as all of us baby boomers age is the livability of cities for seniors. It’s not that it isn’t an issue now – I think how much better it would be for my parents if they could walk everywhere they need to go. It is just that the sheer number of boomers is going to raise this issue to the fore.

Walkable

Orvieto provides a wonderful example of how the physical design of our communities can have a tremendously positive, or negative affect on the quality of our lives. Imagine if you could step out your front door into an active, vibrant, nourishing environment such as the one at left!

We have much to learn here in this suburban nation of ours on how to care for our populace. It is the obvious and the less than obvious. Orvieto provides our travelers many lessons!!

Blogging in Italy vs. at home

I am managing to get back here for a quick post. I realized something the other day. I think people often blog as a way to connect in a world where connection is difficult. We somehow find it easier to use a blog than we do getting together with people. Our need to be human and have that human connection is somehow served by the blog.

For me, blogging is a way to talk about Orvieto and what we love about it, a way to say why we love being in Orvieto. Primarily this has to do with being in touch with life, which of course includes people. So when we are in Orvieto I feel no need to blog. We are so connected here to people. We are in a pedestrian environment where we are with people all the time and run into people we know constantly. It is lovely. So disciplining myself to sit down at this blasted machine to connect to all those in the ethers is difficult. It just isn’t the same as touching others face to face.

So, I may be back, but don’t be surprised if it is not until we’re back home that I get on here again. Here are some pics of life the last few days. Ciao!

Dinner Veggies at Palomba

Capturing Etruscan writing at Necropolis

Palazzone where we do a wine tasting

Getting ready to taste at Palazzone

Workshop leader Lisa Englebrecht work

Orvieto

Evening Light on S Andrea

I said I would try to blog from Orvieto. Already I can tell it will be difficult. I would rather be out in the city than in here writing. But we are waiting for a friend to call to go to lunch. So I have a few minutes.

We LOVE this city and its people. Truly, we have more friend here than at home. This is due, in part because you are in a human scaled place, where it makes sense to be on your feet. As a consequence you are with people and you run into people. Faces become familiar and when you speak to someone they, recognizing you, are friendly in return. So we have already developed two new relationships with people who we have seen for years on the street, but not spoken to. And we have been here less than 24 hours.

Kristi with Cristian and Alberto for coffee

There are some new restaurants in Orvieto we will want to try. The city has been busy creating several new public space improvements in piazzas. Nice to see the new and the familiar as well. We had a beer with Stefano last evening, dinner at Cristian’s last night, met him and Alberto for coffee this morning. We have touched base with the people we will be working with next week when our group is here.

The birds are singing, the bells are chiming, the sun is out, the weather is warm. It is simply a joy to be here. Here are a few more pics from our time here. I may get back here over the next few weeks. I may not. We shall see. Meantime, we will be enjoying it all! Off to lunch! Ciao!

Full Moon last night

Take away pizza

Witless twitters

As we get ready to join our group in Italy, to enjoying the fullness of life, it has got me wondering about twitter. I have talked to friends who use it, who espouse its benefits for their business and “clients,” who reel off all its pluses. I have finally decided – all apologies to its devotees – that it, along with so many other social networking forums, is sheer, unadulterated stupidity. Sorry!

Here is my frustration with all these forms for “staying in touch.” If you are twitting, if you are texting, if you are instant messaging, yes, if you are blogging, you are not living. If you are telling someone what you are eating, you aren’t tasting it. If you tell someone what a beautiful sunset it is, you aren’t seeing it. You are somewhere else – trying to induce envy, bragging. But you aren’t present.

Yes, all these technologies have undeniable benefits. The way they are used, however, go beyond useful. If you are following 10, 20, who knows how many people on twitter you aren’t living your own life. I read that someone has 1,000,000 followers. Come on! If a million people are following one person, how many others are they following? Talk about the need to get a life!

Real Social Networking!

And here is what saddens me. We are so plugged in to our little digital screens that the world is passing us by. While we tell about or read about all the wonderful things going on, we aren’t there. We are in our screens. I fault business for some of this. It is a form of marketing, a way to stay in people’s faces, a way to show your value irrespective of what it does to the lives of employees so fragmented and over worked as they add new technologies they have to keep up with in addition to everything they were already doing.

I resisted blogging. Who really cares what I think – and really, very few people do! I did it for our business because I was told it is a way to easily update folks – much easier than through the web site. This is true, and I have to admit I enjoy the chance to write, because I am philosophical by nature. Blogging lets me engage my philosophical bent. And if nobody reads, that’s ok. I get to express myself – a little bit of creative energy.

I only spend about an hour a week blogging. It is not my life. I am not going to add twitter and the countless other forums that would eat up my day. I so wish the world would wake up from all its technological addictions and enjoy a slice of life. Ok. I desist. No more ranting! We head to Italy to immerse ourselves in life.

Sunset in Orvieto

The Dilemma

In four days we’ll be winging to Italy. I am so looking forward to seeing old friends, soaking up the quiet of our B&B, staring out over the valley, enjoying a cappuccino with Stefano, Giovanna and Erika, eating with Cristian, enjoying the bustle of the market, meeting our group as it arrives, watching as Orvieto unleashes its magic on them. The list is endless!

Here’s my dilemma. Sitting here, I envision me spending time writing a few blog entries recording what is going on, how I’m feeling, providing a real sense of what Orvieto is like. It only makes sense to try to capture in words what we love about Orvieto as we are experiencing it. Trying to do it from memory and 5000 miles away is just not as effective.

But. Once we are there, things change. We get into the rhythms of Italian life. We really begin to savor the moment. We stop hurrying. We pay attention to detail. We enjoy long, lingering meals with the members of our group. We revel in the new, unexpected discovery. We get wrapped up in the constant interchange going on in the streets. We nestle in to the quiet of the midday siesta. We listen to and watch the swallows as they do their acrobatics across the sky.

One view from San Lodovico

When all that is going on there is absolutely no interest in turning on a computer, in staring into it’s glowing eye, in not being present. For, you see, when we are in Italy we are living in the moment. We aren’t dreaming of something else, we are living the dream.

So we’ll see. It will be easier at first to blog. The longer we are there, the more unimportant blogging will become. More important will be gazing at something rich, drawing it in my journal, having another sip of wine, holding my dear wife’s hand. Ciao!