Lucca Lives in Our Memories….and our Pocketbook!!! May 19, 2011

Last September, we were fortunate enough to visit the beautiful walled city of Lucca.  I had never been there, and since we were travelling in the vicinity, we decided to make a day of it.  Entering through the thick walls surrounding the city, we couldn’t believe our luck when we found a great parking space in a small piazza near the center of town.  We quickly glanced at the signage and pretty much figured out that we were safe in parking there.  Happy with our location, we started off on foot to explore the tiny meandering roads and the gorgeous churches and piazzas of this medieval city.  We hiked up the multitude of steps to the top of the Guinigi Torre for a fabulous view.  We admired the wonderful marble facade of the Duomo.  We stopped for a quick lunch at a local trattoria, and sipped on some of the local wine.  We just took our time and strolled through the tiny alleys that serpentine their way through the town, ending up at the gorgeous Anfiteatro Piazza.  Content with the time we spent in Lucca, and because it was getting dark and we needed to still make our way up the coast to the Cinque Terre, we headed back to the car to begin our journey north.  Lo and behold, we found a little blue note on our windshield.  It wasn’t a nice “welcome to our town” note…instead it was a “Preavviso” or a parking ticket!!!  What did we do wrong?  Looking it over, it seemed like we had parked in an authorized only parking lot!  And…they were charging us 124 Euros for this violation!!!  Yikes!!!  Hmm….I hadn’t noticed any signs stating that only authorized vehicles were allowed.  But, then again, it’s hard to figure out the parking restrictions in Italy and I could have surely misunderstood the signs.  OK, now what?  There was an envelope with the ticket, but unfortunately, since we do not have a “conto corrente” or checking account in Italy, our checks, written in US dollars, wouldn’t be very useful. And since it was late, the payment offices were closed, and there was no indication of allowing us to pay this fine by credit card.  What to do?  Well, we decided to leave and that they would eventually find us through the rental car agency and then we could settle the fine.

Months went by without hearing from them.  And then one day, we get a letter from the rental car agency saying that they were advised by the City of Lucca that we had a parking ticket.  They tacked on 30 Euros for their inconvenience in having to contact us to take care of this ticket.  And….they said that they had forwarded our information to the authorities in Lucca and that we would hear from them.  At this point, I thought I would try to call Lucca to see if we could figure out how to pay this fine.  When I contacted them, they informed me that the office I needed to speak to was only open from 9 am to 1 pm…Lucca time!  That is the middle of the night for me.  This was really becoming difficult, so again I just decided to let them contact me.  Several months went by again, and then I GOT IT!  My official statement….with a credit card payment option!  Why didn’t they have this option on the original ticket itself?  This could have been taken care of months ago.  AND…are you ready for this?  They tacked on a LATE charge (of course), so now our amount due is up to 154 Euros!  Our little afternoon in Lucca was quite expensive – to say the least!

Italian Citizenship and the Apostille May 14, 2011

What the heck is an apostille, you may be asking, and I assure you, I felt the same way before I started this whole dual citizenship process.  Well, here is my answer:  it is an official way of verifying that American documents are the real thing!!!  Birth, marriage, death certificates as well as other “official” documents require an apostille to authenticate them and the signatures that are on them.  Local documents, such as those issued by the counties, cities, and states are “apostilled” by the particular state that the documents are from.  So, in my case, all of my documents had to be “apostilled” by the California Dept. of State.  Now, this is different that the State Department – that is a federal office (the one that Hilary belongs to).  This can get very confusing when you are speaking to the Consulate office and asking for help – you need to be really careful that you are meaning the correct one!  I speak from experience

Anyway, apostilles are needed when applying for Italian citizenship – you need them on birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, and in the case of Citizenship by Marriage, on police record reports issued by the Dept. of Justice.

The process of obtaining an apostille is really very simple once you have the correct documents.  The documents must be originals with the signature and the stamp of the issuing office.  These documents can be obtained from the County or City Records department for a fee.  If you are obtaining the Police record report, you must submit fingerprints to the Dept. of Justice and then request that the report include the stamp and signature of the State official (currently Kamala Harris).  Once you have the correct documents, you can mail them to the California Secretary of State….or you can just take a drive to Sacramento and present them yourself!  This was the path I took…and it was painless!  The process took about 20 minutes total!  They take your document (and a $26/document fee) and staple a pretty official looking paper to it which contains a beautiful gold seal of the Golden State!  Voila!  This part of the paper gathering trail is all done and really very simple to do!

I Fiori D’Amore – La Dalia May 12, 2011

La dalia è un fiore complesso, colorato, brillante: proprio come le donne. Se lo ricevi in dono, vuol dire che lui ti sta esprimendo tutta la sua ammirazione per la tua femminilità e la tua eleganza. Oppure, che ti è riconoscente, per la gioia che gli dai ogni giorno.

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The dahlia is a complex, colorful and brilliant flower:  just like a woman.  If you receive one as a gift, it  means that he is expressing all of  his admiration for your femininity and elegance.  Or else, he is grateful for all the joy that you bring him every day.

Juliet – A Book Review May 5, 2011

Anne Fortier’s debut novel, Juliet, delves into the “true” story of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  The “real” story did not take place in Verona, but actually in Siena. The feuding families were the Tolomei’s and the Salimbeni’s.  Juliet was a Tolomei, but Romeo was not a Salimbeni - he was a Mariscotti!  As if that isn’t confusing enough, Ms. Fortier’s novel bounces between the present and 1340 (the year that the original Romeo and Juliet fell in love, and tragically lost their lives).  The present day Giulietta knew herself by Julie Jacobs all her life.  Only after her aunt’s death was she told that her real name was Giulietta Tolomei and she was a direct descendent of the “real” Juliet .  She and her twin sister, Janice, had been born in Italy and whisked away to America by her aunt when their parents tragically died.  After her aunt’s death, Julie/Giulietta was secretly given a letter which told her she had to return to Italy to find a treasure which was rightfully hers…and to be careful since there was a presumed curse on this treasure.

The story takes place mostly in Siena, both in the present day and in the Siena of the Middle Ages.  So many of this medieval city’s landmarks come to life with Ms. Fortier’s vivid descriptions of the tiny alleys, the soaring towers, and the magnificent campo.  She describes the Palio – the horse race that brings all of Siena together in a competition between contradas (neighborhoods).    She also takes us to the Tuscan countryside near Val d’Orcia and we can just see the rolling hills and cypress lined avenues leading up to beautiful villas.

The story is full of mystery, intrigue, violence, deceipt…and love.   All  throughout the book, you’re never quite sure who are the good guys and who are the bad guys!

I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.  It kept me hooked throughout – even if just to get all the characters and their allegiances in order!

Some new Italian words I learned from this book were:

Cencio = this is the banner presented to the winner of the Palio.

The Cencio from the Palio of 2010

       Contrada= the neighborhoods of Siena that compete against other in the Palio.

The flags of the Contradas participating in the Palio

I read this book as part of Italy in Books Challenge 2011.

Dreaming a Little Dream May 4, 2011

I just saw this video on Stresa Sights blog and decided to pass it along because it is so beautiful!

Watching this video brings me back to the land of my heart, and that lake that is always in my thoughts  

To dream a little dream…..

Thank you, Stresa Sights, for making my day with this gorgeous clip!

Blessed Pope John Paul II May 3, 2011

As many of you know, Pope John Paul II was beatified in Rome yesterday before more than one million faithful followers.  St. Peter’s Square was filled to the brim and many of those present were dignitaries, royalty, and heads of state.  Lech Walesa, the leader of the solidarity movement in Poland, was also present.

Pope Benedict XVI declared that Pope John Paul II is blessed, and will be canonized once a second miracle can be attributed to him.  The first miracle was the cure of a nun in France who had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease, the same affliction that the late Pope suffered from.  She awoke one night, after having prayed to him for his intercession, completely cured of her symptoms.

Pope John Paul II performed many wonderful deeds during his 26 years as the head of the Catholic Church, but his greatest achievement was most likely his involvement with the fall of Communism in his beloved Poland and the rest of the countries behind the Iron Curtain.

I never had the privilege to meet the Pope in person, but I do have family members that did.  They described a feeling of knowing that they were before a very spiritual person while in his presence.  His demeanor and mannerisms were “holy”, and he truly exuded something indescribable.  Here a couple of pictures of my cousin and his visit with the Pope.  You can see how much he loved the children

A bit of Pope John Paul II hit close to home yesterday while attending Mass at St. Anne’s of the Sunset Church in San Francisco (this was where I attended elementary school) .  There was a chair sitting on a side altar which hadn’t been there before.  It was adorned with gold cords and on it was a plaque that the Knights of Columbus had placed.  Evidently, back in 1972, while Pope John Paul II was still a cardinal, he visited St. Anne’s and sat in that very same chair.  If and when he becomes a Saint, that chair will be a Holy Relic that will remain at St. Anne’s.  BIG NEWS for this little neighborhood church!!!  The priest couldn’t help but show it off during the homily!  He was so proud!