Posts Tagged Leopardi

What’s beyond the hedge of the infinity?

The hedge “that excludes the greater part of my view of the farthest horizon“, as wrote Leopardi in his immortal poem, The Infinity.

The end of a journey? The beginning of a new one?

For me it was just like that: on august 31, 2006, in Recanati, the last stop of the journey on my Vespa that gave me endless emotions and surprises, I climbed upon the hill of the infinity, where the native house of Leopardi is located.

In company of a guide from the Centro Nazionale di Studi Leopardiani, I reached the hedge, she left me alone and… I looked beyond! 🙂

The quiet panorama beyond the hedge, with the Sibillini Mountains in the background, mixed with what eyes couldn’t see: the tide of sensations I felt along the journey and the uncertainty of the future that was waiting for me once back in Como.

Three years later I almost feel like being there again, thanks to the photo of the hedge I always keep on my desk.

The 52 photos of the twentieth gallery are dedicated to the last stop of the journey, between Loreto and Recanati, with the last one shot in Rimini before going back to Como.

I hope that through the report of the Vespatour I managed to give back some of the pleasure of traveling, while meeting people and discovering new things.

It’s also my Thank You to the people who recommended me where to go before leaving, welcomed and helped me during the journey and to whom, after reading the report on the blog, will be willing to visit the wonderful places I described.

Safe Travels! 😀

Do you remember Giacomo Leopardi’s poem The Infinity: “Ever dear to me was this lonely hill”?

Well, the one in the picture is actually the famous hedge on top of the hill! 🙂

It’s the hedge, “that excludes the greater part of my view of the farthest horizon“, illuminated by the late august sun, with the brick wall partially covering the view towards the Sibillini’s mountains.

Last summer in Recanati, the last stop of my Vespatour around Italy, I had the unexpected chance to climb upon the hill that inspired Leopardi’s masterpiece, something people can do since 2003 thanks to the Centro Nazionale di Studi Leopardiani.

The picture is now on my office desk and it inspires me to look beyond and ask myself what that hedge is hiding, what surprises the future holds.

I even shot what you can see behind the hedge and I’ll upload that picture in the Vespatour’s gallery I’m working on.

Every now and then I shift my eyes from the monitor, get lost in thoughts while staring at the photo and I recall Leopardi’s writings: “and sweet is the shipwreck in such a sea“…

It really helps having a pleasant and comfortable working environment with little things such as this! 😉

Once I was back home from the Vespatour I’ve been busy to set back on track the projects I was working on, but at the same time I managed to make a selection of the pics I took along the journey.

It was more difficult than I expected, since every pic has a story to tell, so you can understand how complicated was selecting only 4 to post on the blog.

Before getting to the pics, the image on the left shows the 4200 km-long route I followed: from Como to Milano, Torino, Genova, Rapallo, Monterosso al Mare, Marina di Massa, Forte dei Marmi, Lucca, Pisa, Pontedera, Livorno, Vinci, Firenze, Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, Montieri, Siena, Cortona, Arezzo, Assisi, Norcia, Melezzole di Montecchio, Marmore, Roma, Caserta, Bisceglie, San Giovanni Rotondo, Vieste, Loreto, Recanati, Rimini and back to Como. 🙂

The first pic was a total surprise: she is Sophia, the Vespa Peter Moore rode in his trip around Italy. I couldn’t believe I would have found her in the workshop-museum of Marco Quaretta in Livorno, so I took a pic of her with Peter’s book that inspired my journey. 🙂

The second one was shot in Forte dei Marmi during an aperitif with Federico Farioli, country manager of Handango Italia, the italian version of Handango, the leading content provider for mobile devices.

In the third one I had a unexpected meeting with Alberto, Angelo and Claudio from Mantua’s Vespaclub when I stopped in a restaurant in Palazzetto for lunch on the way to Siena. We had a pleasant conversation and a big laugh when they called me the “Vespista del 2000” (2000’s Vespa rider) when they noticed my Vespa with the GPS navigator.

The fourth is very special: it’s my Vespa on the Colle dell’Infinito in Recanati, with the Monti Sibillini on the background. I took it the last day of the journey from below the wall with the hedge that inspired Giacomo Leopardi to write his poem, L’infinito.

Being able to visit that particular spot – it’s possible only since 2003 – was one of the numerous surprises the journey presented me.

I’m slowly working on a online photographic album with the best pics of the journey.

For the rest of story you’ll have to wait for the book, including the name I gave to the Vespa, just as Peter did… 😉