Those of you who read this blog and our monthly newsletter Dolce Vita know that I often reminisce about Italian trips past with my parents. In fact, these stories come from just a handful of visits we made to this country together, back in the 1990s. But those memorable trips provided much to write about. Our weeklong visit to Chiusi, on the Tuscany-Umbria border in the fall of 2002 is one such story.
Almost exactly to the day ten years ago, in October 2002, Suzy, my father, my mother and I arrived at our hotel, the Villa Patriarca in Chiusi for a weeklong visit. We had planned a fairly ambitious itinerary, ambitious in light of the fact that my father was about to celebrate his 85th birthday and my mother was approaching 80. But both of them, especially my mother, were looking forward to this trip that their youngest son and his wife, who were in the process of becoming “Italian experts” were planning for them. I know Suzy and I were excited to be able to show off our newly adopted country and to share our excitement about our “discoveries” with them.
Our very first outing, on the day we arrived, was to visit the gardens at the villa called “La Foce,” an estate my mother had read about while studying the story of the owner Iris Origo’s life story. She (my mother) was an avid gardener and our several hour visit to the gardens was going to prove a great start to the trip, notwithstanding the jetlag that accompanied our arrival.
So yesterday, as we collected the members of our new tour group, a group of ladies my mother would have felt most at ease with, I was excited that we would be retracing our footsteps from that earlier visit. For after ten years Suzy and I would be returning to La Foce. It proved to be a lovely day and a wonderful experience, bringing back some of the fondest, warmest memories of my life.
Perhaps when the emotion passes some day, I will write about it. Until then, I am happy to simply have had the experience.
Below are some photos of our most recent visit to La Foce, together with similar vantage points from ten years earlier . . .
Fashions haven’t changed so much over time. Nerdy looking guys still look nerdy.
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- The more they stay the same.
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Back in 2002, before there was a Bella Italia, we were working to come up with a logo for our new business. This iconic cypress lined road proved to be the inspiration we needed.
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And finally, as we left La Foce and Tuscany behind, returning to our native Umbria, we happened to pass by the hotel where we shared so many memories with my parents a decade earlier. It was a quiet, touching homecoming, which has brought back numerous memories of a time that was full of possibilities and where a son had the honor of taking care of his parents for the first time.
Ci vediamo!
Bill and Suzy
Bill…what a lovely post, your love for your parents shining through every word. The before and after photos were fun to see…I particularly like the new color on that last building!
Thanks! It really did bring back memories. I didn’t think it would but it did.
Funny thing about the pictures, too, is that I didn’t go there with an agenda to take the same photos. It just happened. I guess I don’t have that good an imagination or artistic sense! When I uploaded the 2002 photos to compare I was surprised to see how many were the same.
It’s wonderful to get this kind of feedback from visitors who obviously enjoy La Foce (almost) as much as I do! It makes all our hard work totally worth while. Thank you Bill and Suzy.
Wow! It is an honor to have you comment here! We do love La Foce and the history that is so obviously embedded in everything one sees there. It has been a while since we had visited but now that we know we can get there from our villa in Umbria in an hour and a half we will definitely make the visit more frequently and recommend it to our guests. It is, as we posted, a beautiful place.
Thanks,
Bill