Italian Roamer: Sagra del tulipano

April 9^th, 2008

Last Sunday I went to my first Tulip Festival, or Sagra del Tulipano as it’s called here. It was the perfect spring day, sunny and warm. Never having gone to a festival solely dedicated to flowers, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I know – it sounds cheesy and boring. Well it wasn’t. It was awesome.

While others had to take first the bus and then a train to get from Cortona to Camuchia (the town below Cortona) and finally to Castiglione del lago (Castle on the Lake – the town about fifteen minutes from Cortona where the festival was being held), Eddie and I merely hopped into Enea’s car and sped off. I tell you, life is so much easier when one has a car at one’s disposal. Despite everything I know you’ve heard about Italian drivers, they really aren’t too bad. Yes, roads are treated more as if both lanes are only one. And any car in front must always be passed. And most roads are so narrow that you hold your breath whenever another car passes in the opposite direction. But beyond that, it’s really not too bad. I think that living with such narrow roads (think: the main turn out of Cortona is so narrow that buses can’t enter the town and all drivers have to make a three point turn to leave) has conditioned drivers so well that for the most part they know how to handle their cars better than Americans.

Tulips, tulips, tulips! They were everywhere. Sprinkled generously on all the city walls, decorating shutters and signposts, and heaped around parked cars – they brightened up everything. There must have been thousands. The town itself is tiny – even smaller than Cortona – and situated on a hill overlooking the lake. From almost any vantage point you can see the shimmering water and the distant mountains, giving the impression of being on an island. The name of the town comes from the remains of a castle found on the very edge of town. The walls and towers remain, as well as one long passageway that leads to a bit of the remaining fortress, now a museum. It was nice being with a local – having grown up in the town, Enea knew a lot of people and got us into the castle for free. It was fun – climbing the narrow towers to get up to the top of the walls where the wind blew our hair into knots. We could see sailboats on the lake and peer over the walls to see the three tulip-covered cars that made up the parade (I repeat: it’s a small town).

After walking through the fortress, which spit us back into town, we walked over to the wine and cheese shop where Enea’s mom works. While waiting for our torta al testri to be made (toasted flat bread with chingali and cheese), Eddie and I got to taste different cheeses, with a running commentary on how old each was and how many years it had been buried under ground. One type of cheese, called formaggio di vino is steeped in wine and has an especially sharp kick to it. We also got to taste different types of chingali, wild boar. This meat is everyyyywhere in Italy and I haven’t been to a town yet whose cheese and meat stores don’t sport a wild boar head next to the door. Sometimes these boar heads even wear a pair of sunglasses. Not sure why, but there you go.

At about two o’clock the festivities kicked up a notch and non-stop parades, marching bands, and Italian folk dancers began to perform all over the city, often interrupting each other. We’d be watching dancers in one piazza when a marching band would come through, completely dispersing the dancers. It was rather funny. A very good example of Italian organization…or lack of it. We ran into a bunch of our classmates and after wandering around together for a bit, made a beeline for the gelatoria. Later Enea, Eddie and I (I feel like my name should start with “E” whenever I hang around those two. Maybe I’ll start going by my middle name, lol) ended up in a small park outside the castle walls and overlooking the lake. It’s an awesome little hide-a-way, made up of old, old olive trees, lots of grass, gravel pathways, and very convenient benches.

Noi abbiamo dormito in un parco.

We took a nap in the park.

It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. =D