9/10/09 Birthplaces

Today on our way to Lucca we decided to visit the birthplace of our Maternal Grandmother--Massimina Barrontini. She was born in Cascina, in 1876 to Caterina Piccini and Angelo Barrontini. Cascina is just a bit east of Pisa. We went into the Municiple Building and were lucky enough to approach an English-speaking agent who told us where we could find records of past residents of Cascina. Unfortunately that office only has hours between 9:30 AM and 12:30 PM. It was 12:50 by the time she gave us all the information and directions we needed including where to have lunch. So we will go back there soon and see what we can find.
We did find the church that Massimina surely attended as a girl.

In searching for our lunch we found ourselves in a village called Vicopisano, built on a little hill, which was interesting for it's towers, the largest and most impressive was the medieval "Torre del Bunelleschi." We saw it but could not reach it because of the maze of steps and hills and ancient buildings (dating back pre-1407). We could see the top of it from many vantage points but couldn't get to it.

We did find the "Torre dell Orologio" or clock tower.

After Vicopisano we headed for Lucca to secure dinner arrangements for our March 2010 tour group. Lucca is best known for its beautifully preserved walls that completely surround the town-walls that took 150 years to build in the 16th and 17th Centuries. It has some beautiful Romanesque churches, cobblestone streets, lots of restaurants, and pasticherrias (bakeries) and the main mode of transportation is the bicycle. People of all ages ride bicycles everywhere.

Our two main objectives in Lucca were to find a nice restaurant for our group and I particularly wanted to find the birthplace of Lucca"s most accomplished native--Giaccomo Puccini of LaBoehm, Madam Butterfly, Tosca, and Turandot fame. Another town of mazes kept us searching for the better part of the afternoon. We weren't having any better luck finding a suitable restaurant for the group either. So I was ready to give up on that plan and resort to the internet to achieve that goal.

But I was determined not to leave Lucca without finding Puccini's birthplace. The map told us it was adjacent to Piazza San Michelle which is the site of the beautiful church constructed largely in the 11th and 12th centuries but the work continued until the 14th century. The facade is richly decorated with 4 tiers of a variety of columns-some carved, some inlaid, others in colored marble. So we found the church and took pictures of it and then continued our now obsessive search for the Maestro's house. After about 3 wrong turns we finally found the piazza where his statue is the centerpiece, there is a hotel named for him and we finally found the small street which contained the 2nd story apartment of the family of Giaccomo Puccini.
Mission Accomplished!!

I felt the same way as I did when we walked the streets of Cascina-to know that Nona walked those streets, attended that church and perhaps sat on those stone steps over a hundred twenty years ago was a moving experience for me like no other. I am as happy as I can be without actually finding her house.

So now I can imagine Giaccomo walking down this street, or sitting in the piazza, perhaps whistling the theme from Madam Butterfly. As I hum the theme from Madam Butterfly I am again a satisfied and happy traveler.

So here comes Karma again...satisfied that we had accomplished one half of our mission in Lucca we were turning to leave the street of Puccini's birth when I noticed a restaurant called "Ristorante Puccini" directly across the street. I said to Peter "lets check this out for the group in March."
It's a beautiful restaurant with an English-speaking waitress who immmediately helped us with ideas, plans, prices, menus, and showed us the room so we basically made the deal with a handshake, details to follow and confirm thru email.
This restaurant has the right ambiance and the right setting and the right name to set the scene while we play some favorite arias from Madam Butterfly and LaBoehm and have a wonderful dinner across the street from the Puccini residence.
It was an amazing stroke of luck (or Lucca) and I certainly have Maestro Puccini to thank for it.

Oh, and Giaccomo, thanks for the music too!!
And Massimina, thanks for being my Nona!!