Barbara Vaughan

Yesterday my husband and I went on an organized tour of Padua. We were
scheduled to depart at 6:30 AM from Senigallia with a group of art
lovers to see a show about an artistic movement called the Macchiaioli
(more about them later).

We had set the alarm clock for 5:30 because Senigallia is a good
20-minute drive from where we live. When we woke up, there was no
electricity. This itself didn't alarm us much, as we thought it was
strictly a local thing that would be resolved in a matter of minutes.
Anyway, we got ready in the dark (with candles) and headed off for
Senigallia. Luckily, I had prepared a backpack the evening before and
just had to make a few sandwiches to add to it, along with a bottle of
cold water and some juice. I took the precaution of moving some
perishables from the fridge into the freezer before we left.

We learned almost immediately from the car radio that all of Italy was
blacked out at 3:35 and that so far only Trieste had got current back. I
was convinced that the trip would have to be cancelled.

I was really surprised when we got to the parking lot departure point to
see a few dozen people waiting to leave. Some hadn't heard until then
that the blackout was nationwide. None of them had even considered that
the trip might be cancelled. My husband told one woman that the museums
wouldn't be open unless the electricity came back on. She said that it
shouldn't be a problem as it would take us over two hours to get there.

The bus arrived five minutes early. The organizer took a head count, and
found only two people hadn't arrived. One had left word that she had a
fever and couldn't come, and the other called shortly after to say that
she was running late, because she couldn't get her car out of the
condiminium garage, which had an electric gate, and would have to walk
half a kilometer to get to the bus. (The organizer told her to wait
outside her house and the bus would swing by to get her.)

I really was greatly surprised that 50 people had got up at an ungodly
hour, found no electricity in a dark house, and still managed to get
dressed, shaved and organized to meet a bus on time. I really don't
think it would have gone off so smoothly in the US. I think that at
least 10 would have overslept because they relied on an electric alarm
clock to wake up; another 10 would have gone right back to bed on the
assumption that the trip would surely be called off. And some of the
rest would have showed up quite late, again on the assumption that if it
wasn't called off, it certainly wouldn't leave on time.

The Italians have never had a reputation for being phlegmatic, but I
found that almost everybody took the blackout very calmly and managed to
get done whatever had to be done with little fuss. It wasn't even a big
topic of conversation, and the radio didn't run all-day coverage to
magnify whatever sense of alarm and panic were already prevalent. My
housekeeper had 15 people coming to lunch and had prepared 120 cannoli,
25 steaks and several trays of mixed grill to bake and grill in the
oven, which unfortunately is electric. She remembered that a relative
who lives nearby had an old-fashioned outdoor brick oven. Unfortunately,
the relative wasn't home, but Marisa decided to make use of the oven
anyway. She found wood, took all the food over there and proceeded to
prepare her meal the old-fashioned way, assisted also by a barbecue
grill. They ate a little late, but anyone who has ever planned a lunch
for 15 people will realize what a feat this was.

Our trip to Padua went smoothly. Our first stop along the autostrada met
a closed service area, but the next one was open and doing a booming
business with a generator. Padua was one of the first cities to get its
electricity back, and everything was completely normal there. It's a
beautiful city and the day was splendid, neither too warm nor too cool.

We spent the morning walking around Padua. We happened on a Rosh
Hashanah street festival, but it wasn't really going full blast yet.
After having our bag lunch, we met up with the group again for a guided
visit to the Machiaioli show. The Machiaioli were a group of artists
active in Florence from the early 1840's to the early 1860's. They were
very interested in the effects of light; many of their paintings shimmer
as if lit from within. Some of them often used a technique of painting
tiny dabs of color, which gave them their name, which in Italian is
reminiscent of the word "macchia", or "spot", and also of another word
derived from it, "macchietta" which means a rough sketch. The show was
very well organized, and nicely presented and the guide hired by the
group was excellent. Some of the works were almost photographic, to
their detriment. Others were excellent.

All of the Macchiaioli were involved in the Italian independence
movement. They were mostly very disappointed that the new state took the
form of a monarchy. They were displeased also with some urban renewal
work being done in Florence, which involved tearing down a lot of
buildings in the area where many of them lived and had studios. Some of
them moved to Paris, where it is thought that they influenced the
nascent Impressionists. (Some of the Impressionists also had contacts
with the Macchiaioli in Florence earlier.) Indeed, some of their works
seem impressionistic.

After the Macchiaioli show, we went to the Civic Museum and the adjacent
Scrivegni Chapel. The museum has a Giotti crucifix which used to be in
the Chapel. The Chapel itself is covered, walls and vault, with Giotti
frescoes, mostly in good condition. Only 25 people are allowed in the
chapel at a time to avoid damage to the frescoes, and the air inside is
kept at a constant temperature and humidity level.

We ended the trip with a quick visit to the Basilica of St. Anthony of
Padua, which seems to be a must-see for Italians. It is an very large
and impressive church, much of it dating from the 13th century. It's a
bit dark inside, however. The basilica attracts hordes of pilgrims, many
coming to pray for a miracle from St. Anthony. I think he's the saint
who finds lost objects. My husband says he also finds husbands for those
who want one. I already have one, and haven't lost anything lately, so I
didn't trouble St. Anthony for any favors.

We found out today that our electricity came back around noon. Some
people in our town, including my housekeeper were without electricity
until 5 PM.

Barbara

Giovanni Drogo

On Mon, 29 Sep 2003, Barbara Vaughan wrote:

    > I really was greatly surprised that 50 people had got up at an ungodly
    > hour, found no electricity in a dark house, and still managed to get
    > dressed, shaved and organized to meet a bus on time.

Well, if I'd stayed home I'd never realized there was a *nationwide*
blackout until the evening when I'd switched the TV on to watch the
news ! (as you can see I'm not TV-dependent)

Instead I woke up around 8 (using the alarm clock incorporated in my
battery operated organizer) and we had to catch a train at 9:20 to go to
a place 50 km from Milan.

My mother told me of some blackout. I understood it was a very local
thing (in fact I woke up during the night and found that the blind in
the bathroom was a bit higher than I recalled ... the building in front
of us is undergoing restoration works, and has permanent anti-burglar
lights on the scaffolding ... we keep the blinds a bit up so that we
can walk at night without switching on the light ... my mother had found
the lights were off, so raised the blinds a bit). I thought the blackout
was only in the other building, but my mother said that during the night
there was no power even at home.

Anyhow at 8:00 we had power. We had no water, but that was because of a
broken pipe at the ground floor (one flat there was flooded). I believe
this was unrelated with the blackout.

Because of that we were a bit late at the station (metro lines 1 and 2
were operating with the usual Sunday delays, and there were announcement
that "service on line 3 was being restored" but no indication of the
reason, so I thought it was one of the usual things, a train malfunction
or some suicide, pardon, "causes independent of our will"), so at about
9:10 I hurried up to the ticket counter. The display was regularly
showing the 9:20 train at platform 5. However the loudspeaker made an
announcement about a train to Brescia coming in at platform 7.

I wondered why the train was so early with respect to the schedule.

The clerk at the ticket office told me to hurry up to catch the train
and pay the ticket onboard at no surcharge. He did not explain why.

So I went to platform 7, and applied to the conductor for the ticket.
ONLY THEN I realized the train was the delayed 7:20 one ! and that the
reason was a nationwide blackout.


    > After the Macchiaioli show, we went to the Civic Museum and the adjacent

There was large battage on the newspapers about this just opened
exhibition. Did you notice long queues to get in ?

    > Scrivegni Chapel.

ScrOvegni with an O, please. The word derives from "scrofa" (a female
pig), which was on the family emblem. I believe this family symbol is
also quoted somewhere by Dante.

Barbara Vaughan

Giovanni Drogo wrote:
    >
    > On Mon, 29 Sep 2003, Barbara Vaughan wrote:
    >
    > > After the Macchiaioli show, we went to the Civic Museum and the adjacent
    >
    > There was large battage on the newspapers about this just opened
    > exhibition. Did you notice long queues to get in ?

No, I didn't see any queues; however, we had a reservation for a group,
so maybe the regular tickets were being sold in a different place. Also,
our reservation was for 1:15, which is really lunchtime for most people.
There were lots of people at the exhibit, but it wasn't unpleasantly
crowded. If you have a chance, you really should see it. One thing that
I liked was the lighting. It was perfect, and this is important for
paintings that emphasise the effects of light.

    > > Scrivegni Chapel.
    >
    > ScrOvegni with an O, please. The word derives from "scrofa" (a female
    > pig), which was on the family emblem. I believe this family symbol is
    > also quoted somewhere by Dante.

Yes, thanks for the correction. I knew the correct name, and even
verified it in my guidebook. But then my finger slipped.

Barbara

Ken Blake

In news:,
Barbara Vaughan <> typed:

    >> > Scrivegni Chapel.
    >> ScrOvegni with an O, please. The word derives from "scrofa" (a
female
    >> pig), which was on the family emblem. I believe this family
symbol is
    >> also quoted somewhere by Dante.
    > Yes, thanks for the correction. I knew the correct name, and
even
    > verified it in my guidebook. But then my finger slipped.


Just curious--when I was in school (admittedly a long time ago)
this was called the Arena Chapel. For some reason, its other
name, Scrovegni Chapel, is now instead used almost invariably. Do
either of you, or anyone else, know why and when this change
occurred?