Presepi di Natale: Beautiful 2 Behold!

Since our arrival in Naples a week ago, the traditional presepi (nativity scenes) have been appearing throughout the city. Every church displays one or more tableaus which can be very small or big and grand. There are three components to presepi: one, when the shepherds are told that Christ has been born; two, the scene in the manger which is always set in a grotto; and three, the tavern in which there was no room for Mary and Joseph and where secular life continues in all of its vivacity. These three scenes, ranging from the sacred to the profane, are arranged in a pre-formed "set," much like the model theatre sets I used to build in college. 

The presepi in these photos came to life in our hotel yesterday. The figures are particularly fine--they have terra cotta heads and appendages with cloth/straw bodies (the oldest presepi are carved wooden figures). We discovered the Christ child hidden on a ledge in the grotto awaiting his cue to join the others on December 25!

The Shepherds (one fast asleep)

The Manger (minus the baby, for now)

The Tavern (unaware of the momentous event in the grotto)

Buon Natale!

Ciao.

Torna a Surriento (Return 2 Sorrento): Thanksgiving in Italia

My little dog Lucca is not pleased. She watched the suitcases emerge from storage this morning and rightly surmised that our departure is imminent.When I told her that we were going back to Italy, this time to Naples, she demanded a belly rub. I think that's a fitting response, don't you? Going to Italy makes me feel like a belly rub is about to materialize, too.

Thirty years ago on my first trip to Italy with my mother, we went to the Amalfi coast. Sorrento was our base for a couple of days' sightseeing in Pompeii and Capri. At night we strolled the streets during the passeggiata, eating gelato and marveling at the many street musicians playing Neapolitan songs which made you want to simultaneously cry and laugh. The songs grabbed my heart despite not understanding more than a word here or there, especially Torna a Surriento. That song squeezes my heart hard, a little like what the Trevi Fountain in Rome does to me. "How can you abandon this place of love?"

Sorrento derives its name from the ancient mythological sirens calling seafarers to their everlasting fate:

"Look! How lovely the sea!
The fragrance of orange blossoms fills the air.
Sea maidens encircle, enchant, watch, and wish to kiss you.
And yet you say, 'Farewell, I leave?'
But can you abandon this place of love?
Don't go! Don't torment me!
Return to Sorrento so that I won't die!"

So, thirty years on, I'm going back. It's my fate.

Ciao!