We've been here a week now.
I get a bit homesick for at least the first week that i am in Italy.
I know the feeling will pass but for now, I honestly miss a lot of the life I left behind and the things I took for granted. I also miss those things that I took for granted during my last visit.
My favorite barista in my favorite cafe has gone on to a new job so, I no longer have a favorite cafe. So much of what I enjoyed was woven into her personality and the way she made me feel welcome and comforted every morning. The whole place now has a different vibe. I miss the blue skies and sunshine that marked most of my former days. Most of the time here so far has been spent in rain. We've barely seen the sun for any prolonged amount of time and we don't have the rental car at the moment so there's no escaping.
But.....on the ONE good-weather day, we did take full advantage of the gift and set out on a path of serendipity that led to a place I will never take for granted, the beautiful Bosco de San Francesco, known as the "Other Half of Assisi".
The Bosco is a sacred landscape made up of forests (bosco), olive groves, cultivated fields, hills (lots of them) plains, farmhouses and a little parish church. Sheltered behind the area of the Basilica, the land was donated to the FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano) in 2008. When the land was donated, it was a completely abandoned and neglected woodland, badly in need of attention and yet, there was a feeling that this was a special place. A stretch of pink cyclamen hinted at the true beauty that could be aroused with love and care over time. And....lots of hard work.
Leading landscape experts and architects applied themselves to eliminating damages and as paths were cleared and new life was planted, it was determined that this would not simply be a place for a walk in the woods. As life regenerated, olive trees, flowering specimens and lush greenery pushed forward as signs that indicated that visiting the woodland would mean setting out on a sort of interior journey to discover the message of "perfect harmony between Man and Creation" that was taught centuries before by St. Francis.
The end of the route culminates with an extraordinary piece of land art called the Tezzo Paradiso, specially created for the Bosco by Michelangelo Pistoletto. It's three concentric circles of olive trees, with a walking path that allows one to weave around and actually feel the connection. If nothing else, one easily finds peace and tranquility in making the rounds.
We spent a few lovely hours in the Bosco, not only getting a great physical workout, but also a spiritual one. It's hard to be homesick when one feels totally part of the universe, so much like we felt when we were on the Camino de Santiago.
St James may very well have been in cahoots with St. Francis. Now, if the saint in charge of transferring photos from iPhones to MacBooks would only come forward, I would be happy to post some amazing photos of not only the Bosco but the beautiful fireside lunch that we had at il Mulino, a farmhouse right there at the intersection of lovely and wonderous.
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