Friday, October 31, 2014

Volterra Italy at Night



Dear Art-loving friend,
In my previous post  I showed you a few small dragons in the charming town of Volterra, Italy.  On this eve of my favorite holiday, Halloween, I give you a few images of the night.  Unlike the vampire I often pretend to be, I am not trying to charm you into the darker side of life, but to enchant and share something of my world with you.  


Volterra is an ancient Etruscan town dating back to at least the 8th century BC.  One can see Roman and Florentine architecture here.  Volterra is now listed in the region of Pisa.  My friends Art and Virginia Wells and I had driven to Volterra by way of Pisa so that they could take in a few of those famous white marble Pisan sights [one is, after all, INCLINED to do so… can vampires make puns?].





I am including shots of the Roman amphitheater.  While I did not have time to go down into it during the day (not because I was asleep in my coffin, thank you very much), it looks as if there was a mighty view of the valleys surrounding the hilltop town.  What an amazing backdrop for any performance!  The giant human forms that are lit in strong white MAY be sculptures by the Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj.  Sadly, he joined the other realm recently in Paris.



Like many towns and cities in Tuscany, Volterra has a Medici fortress (this family really got around!).  Also, when most writers speak of the towns in Italy (Firenze too), most of the time we are actually referring to the OLD TOWN center… the part within the medieval wall, or her remains.  Outside of this border, homes are often NOT made out of stone and they look more like modern spaces. 

Allora, Happy Halloween… I am off to a bar to start off the evening, to meet a couple who invited me out.  The other day I was in Zecchi’s famous art supply store near the Duomo in Firenze and was talking to the owners Sandro and his son Leo, long-time friends of mine.  I was mistaken for an employee and for that, I am happy that my Italian speaking and knowledge of the shop can fool some people!  Still, it is a fun way to meet people. But now, I need to grab my cape and fly… I advice you to be careful of strangers… they may be more strange than you dare imagine.


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Thank you for your interest and enthusiasm,

Kelly 

~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor, painter, writer, teacher


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