Living in San Giorgio di Pesaro and Kingston

Twinned Town – Hombourg Haut, Lorraine, France.
At the end of January a delegation from San Giorgio went to Hombourg Haut. At the meeting a series of initiatives were proposed for 2010. On 25^th April, the day of the San Giorgio Fair, some people from Hombourg Haut will visit San Giorgio and cook traditional dishes from their area. The composer Theodore Gouvy comes from Lorraine they are hoping to organise a musical event with music by Gouvy and Rossini (born in Pesaro). Continuing the music theme they hope to organise an exchange of choirs -the 4 Lorraine Voices and the Gaudium Vocis from this area. In the summer some young people from Hombourg Haut will come to San Giorgio for 2 weeks at the seaside.
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A course on pruning olives began in San Giorgio last night. Paolo Branchini (the man in blue), the teacher, is giving some theoretical lessons and then he will let us loose on some real olive trees – we are hoping he will choose our trees for the practical.

We now know to aim for a vase shaped tree, keeping the centre open to allow light in. Aim to have branches going at 45 degrees to the upright; don’t allow branches to be convex in shape as it incourages suckers to grow upright and be unproductive; to help form the tree it is possible to remove a layer of bark which encourages the tree to branch just below the cut.

A very interesting lesson with occasional lapses into anarchy as everyone started to talk with their neighbour about what was being said or sought to side track Paolo by asking questions about their own particular problems. 

The class started at 9.15 and finished at 10.30 and was followed by a glass of home made  pomegranate grappa which ensured everyone went home in a happy frame of mind – I think the recipe was 5 litres of grappa, 2 litres of water, 1 kg of sugar, 3 pomegranates, stir and leave for 15 days. Or was it 2 litres of grappa, 5 litres of water…..

Today, Sunday the 14th February, was carnival day in San Giorgio. Organised by the Proloco it is a chance for kids and some adults to dress up. The theme this year was Cartoons – Shrek, Madagascar etc. Here are some photos of the event.

The 2nd February is a feast day in the Catholic Church celebrating the presentation of Jesus at the temple when Simeon prophesied that Jesus would be “a light for revelation to the gentiles”. Its popular name is Candelora because on this day the candles in the church are blessed as candles represent Christ who comes as a “light to the gentiles”.

However, as with many church festivals there is a link with pagan religions. Among the Celtic people this festival was called Imbolc and marked the transition from winter to spring or from the coldest and darkest days of the year to the lighter and warmer days. 

At a local level the feast is important as it was the day in 1953 that Don Giorgio, our local priest, was ordained and celebrated his first mass.

Last night the newly restored Apollo Theatre at Mondavio opened its new season.
The theatre in Mondavio was built in 1789 and had continued to operate until 1957 when it was closed as the building was considered unsafe. In 2005 the decision was taken to restore the theatre and it is now, once again, open to the public. At the beginning of January it had a recital but last night was the official opening of the season when Shakespeare’s Pene d’Amor Perdute (Love’s Labour’s Lost) was staged.
There are many theatres in the Marche ranging in size from the small such as Mondavio to the large such as the Rossini Theatre in Pesaro and the Fortuna Theatre at Fano. Regardless of their size they all follow the same architectural format.

Fano Theatre

Pesaro: Rossini Theatre

The interiors were beautifully pained and decorated and so even when you enter into the auditorium of a small theatre such as Mondavio one’s eye is led up to the beautifully painted ceiling. Looking directly ahead ahead you see the stage framed by the proscenium arch. Until the play begins the stage is hidden by the curtain. When the curtain rises the play begins. At the back of the stage is the backdrop which is open painted with landscapes etc. to create the play’s setting and atmosphere. The actors entering from then left and right of the stage enter from the wings. In front of the stage are the seats. The seats on the floor of the theatre are the stalls and are normally the most expensive seats in the theatre. In opera houses and larger theatres there is space for an orchestra (orchestra pit) in front of the stage. Is is normally lower than the stage so that the public can hear but not see the orchestra.
Around the auditorium are tiers of seats. These are often called the lower and upper circles. In many older theatres such as Mondavio the circles are divided into boxes which allow groups of 3 to 5 people to sit.
Although the opening of the theatre was an important event we did not go. The theatre only has space for 100 people and tickets so tickets were hard to find. Another reason was that I do not think my Italian is good enough to understand Shakespeare in Italian.

Not a remake of a Flash Gordon movie but a reference to Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), a jesuit from Macerata in the Marche who went as a missionary to China and became fluent in the language.

Now 400 years after his death there are a number of exhibtions in his honour. An exhibition at the Vatican until January will also open in Beijing in February, before moving on to Shanghai, Nanjing, Macau, and finally Seoul. This exhibition has been funded by the Marche Region which seems a better use of money than an advert with Dustin Hoffman.
In China Ricci is acknowedged as a great scholar. He compiled the first Chinese-Portuguese dictionary, translated Euclid’s Geometry into Chinese, translated many chinese confucian works into Latin and also created the first map of the world in the chinese language. This map was recently bought for 1 million dollars by the James Ford Bell Trust and is currently on display in the Library of Congress, Washington D.C. There is an interesting article on the map in the New York Times

Ricci was held in such esteem in China tha he was the first foreigner to be given a burial spot inside the forbidden city. He was, needless to say, viewed with some suspiction by church authorities who worried about his “going native”.

The latest issue of San Giorgio Informa came out in December. 
Highlights of the latest edition:

Roads.
The new roundabout is deliberately being left in a “temporary” state so as to allow assessments of its usefulness and ensure it is put in the best postion.
Contracts for road repairs are being finalised. These works will include the resurfacing of the road to Montecuccho (there is a very popular restaurant/dance venue there).

Solar Energy
The Commune approved the creation of the “San Giorgio Innovazione, Energia e Territorio srl”. The aim of this limited company is the creation of a solar energy plant. It will produce a minimum of 689 kilowatts and will cost 4.5 million euros. This will bring economic and environmental benefits to the area.

Turbogas Plant
The proposed turbogas plant near Corinaldo will, according to the Environmental Impact Assessment by Edison (the company proposing to build the plant) and presented to the Ministry of the Environment, will have minimum impact. The group “Valcesano Sostenibile” is challenging this assessment and have highlighted a 2003 review article by Armaroli and Po in the journal ” Chimica e l’industria” which found the production of ultrafine particulate matter (PM) by the plants have been underestimated if not ignored and that in fact the PMs produced are of environmental significance. These findings were confirmed in a report by the Universities of Trento and Padova on a turbogas plant in their area. This reports speaks of increased health problems in the residents near the plant. San Giorgio with other comunes in the area are opposed to the creation of the plant.

The School and Sustainable Development
Luciano Barbetta (councillor) has written about the importance of introducing young people to environmental sustainability:

I bought some cyclamens to brighten up the garden in winter. Within a week they had died. A local garden centre said that the plants were bred to die quickly as then people would have to buy new plants. This market philosophy which prioritises sales over sustainable cultivation is something we cannot extend to our most precious “plants”, the children of San Giorgio. In the school we can make them aware of the problems they will face in life and equip them to deal with them. The best method of teaching is by example and therefore the Commune in introducing recycling, solar energy are setting an example. If a new school between San Giorgio and Piagge becomes possible then using renewable and sustainable techniques in its construction can show the children that there is an alternative to a culture of consumption and profit.

Later on this month a publicity campaign about the Marche will be launched. It will star Dustin Hoffman. He will be seen reading the poem “L’infinito” by Giacomo Leopardi with the landscape of the Marche as background.

Leopardi is among the greatest of Italian poets. He was born in the Marche in 1798 and died in 1837. L’infinito is his most famous poem and most people of a certain age can quote at least the first couple of lines – rather like Wordsworth’s daffodils for English people of a certain age.

The publicity campaign with Dustin Hoffmann will reputedly cost 2 million euros and has been critised not only in terms of cost but also in terms of Dustin Hoffman’s “mauling(?)” of the Italian language – it has even been criticised by Mina – a diva/icon singer in Italy. An impression of the advert can be seen on u-tube. click here.

In the meantime here is an English translation of the poem.

New Year was wet in San Giorgio. It was a pity as the new mayor had offered spumante and panatone to revellers who arrived in front of the Christmas tree at midnight. As it happened we who had eaten a very untraditional “steak and kidney pudding” instead of zampone and lentils, and had begun to watch the film Julie and Julia were happy to toast the new year and to watch fireworks from neighbours from the shelter of the back door instead of braving the elements.  Appartently other people thought the same and so the offer of free food and drink was ignored. However, all agree it was a good idea and perhaps next year if the offer is made again and the weather better the response will be better.