07/11/2020
IN MEMORIA DI ALEC SYKES
IN LOVING MEMORY OF ALEC SYKES
ITALIA, UNA QUESTIONE D'AMORE
A loving affair with a foreign country
L'articolo è stato pubblicato sul numero 0 di MAG nel 2008
The article was published on MAG in 2008
Ecco l’esperienza di due amici inglesi: Alec e Faith Sykes, da oltre venticinque anni innamorati del Bel Paese. Ci è sembrato interessante riportare il testo in lingua originale per rendere merito al linguaggio e alla terminologia “colorita” utilizzata dagli autori. Il colpo di fulmine avviene per caso quando decidono di ospitare nella loro casa studenti stranieri che frequentano corsi di lingua nella loro città, Wakefield. La conoscenza di un ragazzo toscano li lega indissolubilmente all’Italia. All’inizio è la Toscana la meta dei loro viaggi, poi le Marche, questa regione poco conosciuta agli italiani stessi. Descrivono la casa nelle campagne di Cartoceto (Pesaro e Urbino), in cui tornano per sei anni consecutivi. Ricordano la festa paesana all’ombra del campanile quando era usanza mettere una damigiana di vino in cima ad un albero e lasciare che ognuno bevesse direttamente dal tubo. Poi, il caso li porta a Montemaggiore al Metauro, sull’altra sponda del fiume Metauro. Anche qui sperimentano la generosità degli abitanti. Cresce l’amore e l’attaccamento ai luoghi e alle persone. Montemaggiore diventa la loro base da cui partono per visitare il resto d’Italia; come la visita a Campo Imperatore in Abruzzo, ai piedi del Gran Sasso: un racconto intenso di un amore sincero per i luoghi e le persone. Alec e Faith Sykes vivono a Wakefield in Inghilterra. Alec è tra i fondatori del Jazz Club Locale mentre Faith è un’eccellente banditrice di aste su e-bay. Da oltre 25 anni scelgono il nostro Paese per trascorrere le loro vacanze e la loro casa è sempre aperta per festeggiare con del buon vino la visita di vecchi e nuovi amici. L’Italia per loro è veramente una… questione di amore.
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“A man who has not been in Italy,
is always conscious of an inferiority,
from his not having seen
what is expected a man should see”
Samuel Johnson
Two summers ago, beneath a cool, tumbling shower, I was reflecting on my love of Italy and for some curious reason I began to add up the time I had spent in Il Bel Paese. A few minutes later it came as a great surprise to find that with my wife Faith Elizabeth, I had spent over two years of my life in this beautiful, beguiling and ever surprising land. To understand our affair we need to go back to the beginning. It was 1972. Faith decided she would like to make a contribution to the family purse and so she signed up with an agency which placed foreign students with English families. They stayed for 3 weeks during which time they went off to school to learn English. Hectic it was. We had students all over the world. The majority came from Germany, Italy and Spain. I well remember having 2 consecutive Italian girls called Maria. To help us differenziate they became ‘Maria Milano’ and ‘Maria Torino.’ They were delightful young women and I remember out of the blue some years later we received an invitation to Milano for Maria’s wedding. I am sure that my daughters are so tolerant and understand the problems of minority groups so well because of the early exposure to people from such a
variety of nations and cultures.
So what has this got to do with you two and your Italian adventures, you may ask. Well, one day, our resident student, Paolo a young Roman, returned to our house and introduced a fellow student who needed somewhere to stay. So began a friendship with Alessandro Nesi some 30 odd years ago. He came from Tuscany and was desperately keen to improve his spoken English. Over the next few years Alessandro spent many months with us, and was, indeed, a part of the family. I may add that he became truly fluent in English.
Thanks to Alessandro, we now know Tuscany almost as well as our own Lake District. There is no doubt that all the places and things of beauty in Italy lift the soul, but to truly feel the joy of these treasures, they need to be talked about, argued about and marvelled at with other people. We were lucky. Alessandro is a social animal.
At one of the parties I was introduced to one of his friends, another teacher. He originated from Fano, and he and his sister had just bought an old country house about 15 kms inland outside the village of Cartoceto, famous for its olive oil. The following summer we arrived in Fano to meet his sister and to be taken to the house in campagna. It was an idyllic setting. It was on a hillside surrounded by trees and looked across the valley to the beautiful monastery, Beato Sante.
The house was basic but completely weatherproof, and we could not see another house in any direction. Very few people in the village knew of its existence. We were to spend 6 long summers there. Cartoceto is a small friendly place and we soon got to know people. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful and smiled indulgently at our halting Italian. My younger daughter and friend were quickly absorbed by the group of youngsters enjoying a long summer break. We loved just being there. We were always amused by a particular festa held beneath the trees outside Cartoceto’s beautiful church. It was a wine and food festival (is there another type in the whole of Italy?).
The tradition is that the farmer puts his demi-john of wine high up in a tree. He pins a handwritten note about him and his wine to the tree. You take along your glass, release the spigot and become an instant wine critic.
Some jolly soul once said, “all good things come to an end.” We had spent 6 glorious summers in this house. Situation changed and so the house was no longer available. The “Carteceto Years” are etched deep into our memories. It is amazing how little acts of kindness can result in an enormous effect on one’s life. We didn’t know this at the time, but we were about to become involved with two of the most generous families you could hope to meet any where in the world.
The following summer found us being taken to the house looking down the main street of Montemaggiore. That was 1990. For 16 years we descended on Monte Maggiore every summer to enjoy holidays which varied from 3 to 5 weeks.
The village became a second home for us. When I reflect on the times spent in Monte Maggiore it is always the warmth and the generosity of the people of the village that lie at the basis of all the good times we have had there.
For several summers one of the summer festivals was ‘La Festa del Ritorno.’ It was held over 2 days and it was truly a community celebration. Everyone seemed to take part. Many ‘old’ Montemaggioreans returned to join the fun. I remember one year talking to a family that had travelled from Sweden. For two inglesi we felt we were part of something truly Italian. It was noisy, warm and wonderful. Sadly, a few years ago the ‘Festa del Ritorno’ was no more. Whilst based in Montemaggiore we have travelled to many parts of Italy. Recently, we have developed a bit of an obsession with Venice. One trip, we stayed in L’Aquila, I recommend everyone takes just once is to the “Campo Imperatore”. It is just to the east of L’Aquila, a beautiful friendly place. You must go in late spring or early summer and spend the day up there. That’s all I’m prepared to say, you won’t regret it.
That’s it for now! I hope I have been able convince you that, for us, Italy is a very special place. It’s not the shimmering azure sea of Sorrento. It’s not the glistening ski runs of the Dolomites. It’s not even the glittering lights twinkling across Venice’s lagoon. It’s the land and its people. Guiseppe Verdi suggested: “You may have the Universe if I may have Italy”. I think I know what he meant
Alec Sykes
