Aikido at Heron Dojo

Visit to Lauria, Italy, October 2011

I'm just back from a long weekend in Italy, at the dojo and new home of Fiordineve Cozzi Sensei, 5th Dan, and Rosella Lamboglia 3rd Dan, his wife.  I'm feeling marvellous, completely rejuvenated, after enjoying excellent Aikido, warm, friendly company, beautiful scenery, and delicious food and drink.  Fiordineve and Rosella had been urging me to come and stay in their new house ever since it was finished and they were able to move in, but I had intended to go over with a group of us from Aikikai Ireland who wanted to attend an Aikido Course there,  in September, so I put it off until then.  When the September visit wasn't possible after all, I decided to just slip over myself for a short visit. I was dying to see the new house finished, as it had  been only a shell attached to the dojo, when I saw it before. 

I fell in love with the new addition to the family, a little black kitten that they called "Meecho", but that's just Italian for "Puss!" When Nunzia (blonde woman from Rome, wears a white hakama) visited earlier this year, she found the kitten all alone at the side of the road, so she begged Fiordineve and Rosella to give him a home.  Officially, he lives in a little hutch on the balcony, but comes into the house whenever a door is left open!

Somehow in the short time between Friday and Monday (I arrived on Thursday night) we managed to fit in lots of activities, but we never seemed to rush. I think they stretched time for me!  I joined in the Friday evening Aikido class, and Fiordineve also very kindly gave me one-to-one instruction on the Counter Kata (Tada Sensei's 33-count Jo Kata).  

Above: Three lovely girls!  First from the left is Roberta, 17, who asked me very sweetly when she can come to Ireland? She heard how much fun the others had when they went to Athboy and Sligo and Dublin, and would love to have been with them. 

The red-haired girl on the right is Sonia - they joke that she's got Irish blood in her somewhere, her colouring is so unusual in Italy!  I don't know the name of their friend, in the middle.

Above: before class started - the early birds!   The rest of the class arrived a little later.

Below: in formal pose with Fiordineve Sensei.

 - and in less formal poses with some of his students, with whom I have become very friendly over the past few years (below).

Above: with Anna Cresci, after class.  (I'm doing my Leaning Tower of Pisa impression!) 

Below: with Mario, then Daniele pulling me over backwards, then Claudio.

On Saturday morning Fiordineve brought me for a walking tour of Lower Lauria , and I was soon completely disorientated in the maze of tiny streets and alleyways, with steps, steep slopes and switchback corners suddenly opening out onto little courtyards. 

In one place a vine grows from the street up the wall of two adjoining houses, opening out on the balconies of each one to provide both with grapes! Lemon trees grow here and there, but the surfaces are mostly old stone, no grass or soil showing for the most part.  The town seems like a limpet stuck to the sheer rocky wall of the mountain.  I had the impression that the mountain somehow protects the town, and certainly in former times it was impossible for attackers to approach it from that side.  But bad weather here can start a rockslide, with very destructive and sometimes fatal consequences.  

The view from the higher church, looking down over the town, out over the valley and across to the surrounding mountains is wonderful in daylight, but at night it seems magical, with the lights of Lauria  glittering below.

On Sunday, first we drove up into the mountains and went for a walk around a lake, enjoying the fresh air and autumn colours, and admiring some extremely productive cows.   (I'm not referring to their milk yield!)

Below: Treebeard! Any moment now he'll go for a walk....

Then we attended a special ceremony which was held to honour and thank the Italian Civil Defence Force, (Protezione Civile) which helps out whenever there is an earthquake or other emergency. 

 

Speeches were made by the Mayor and various other dignitaries.  Fiordineve knows the Mayor, and did me the honour of introducing me to him.  I got my picture taken with some Caribinieri (one of the 2 police forces in Italy) who have very smart uniforms.  

An Aikido friend, Gianna, is a Civil Defence Volunteer, and we met her there wearing her high-visibility suit.  (Photo below).  We also met Prospero and his wife.  Prospero and Gianna were among those who came with Fiordineve to Ireland, the last time he was here.

Also present were some news reporters, (naturally)  including 2 from the local newspaper, Eco di Basilicata, who at Fiordineve's suggestion interviewed me about my visit!  I had to turn to Fiordineve for a translation of the questions asked of me by a smiling but very fast-talking reporter.  I can understand Italian when it's spoken slowly and clearly, but this was really fast! At least  I was able to give answers which they could understand, although I'm sure my grammar was not great!  When I first visited Italy I couldn't speak Italian at all.  I'm definitely improving!

Click here to see a recording of the interview! (Link sent to me by Fiordineve) 

And click on the file below to see the short article with photo which appeared in the newspaper afterwards:

Then back  home for a delicious lunch expertly cooked by Rosella - who fed us like royalty all during my visit, Grazie mille Rosella! Later we visited Fiordineve's parents' home.  Signora Cozzi offered me a sample of her home cooking - a  very tasty apple sponge cake - as well as some home-made limoncello, (my favourite!) and some other liqueurs, which I was assured are very good for the digestion (as if I needed an excuse!!)  Fiordineve's father proudly showed me the wonderful view from his balcony.  Lauria is in a really beautiful area.

Next we attended the annual Chestnut Festival in nearby Trecchina, where Anna Cresci lives. Unfortunately my camera ran out of memory at this point! Anna is another of the people who has visited Ireland.

There was a lovely atmosphere at the Festival.  Trecchina is a small town, like Lauria, but is on flat land rather than up the side of a mountain.  Lots of chestnut trees grow in this area, so in October they harvest the chestnuts - which are edible, not the same chestnuts that we get in Ireland - and cook them in the open, on braziers.  I had never tasted them before, and was surprised to find how delicious they were.  The texture was like biting into a good chunky potato chip, but the flavour was different, of course!

Apart from the braziers where people queued up to buy bags of hot chestnuts, there were lots of stalls selling cheese, local suasages, jewellery, children's toys, nuts, fruit, vegetables, sweets, ice cream and lots more besides.  One stall was Anna Cresci's - she makes and paints beautiful ceramic goods!   When I tried to buy a lovely little candle holder, thinking it would be nice to support her work, Anna insisted on giving it to me as a gift instead! 

Below: both sides of Anna's brochure advertising her work.

A bandstand with musicians playing traditional local dance music was at the heart of it all, in front of a good sized courtyard where lots of couples of all ages got up to dance. The older couples knew the proper steps, while some of the younger people just moved happily to the music in freestyle.  I was reminded of the people dancing in the pub in Athboy, after an Aikido Course there - it was the same mixture of age groups, expert older dancers, and friendly, warm atmosphere.

Prospero and his wife accompanied us back to Rosella's mother's house, where we shelled roast chestnuts at the kitchen table, and Fiordineve and Rosella insisted that I accept huge bags of both cooked and raw chestnuts, to bring  home to my family!  Before I left, Rosella also gave me local Laurian Sausage to bring home.  This is slightly spicy and quite chewy, great on its own, or with tomatoes and mozarella, or on a pizza.

My train from Scalea to Rome was at 12.35 on Monday, so I didn't think there would be time to do anything in the morning except wash, dress and pack, then drive to Scalea. But Fiordineve persuaded me to let him take the scenic route, and we stopped and got out for a little while at a beautiful empty beach. 

Although it was sunny and warm, the place was deserted.  The sea was as smooth and calm as a lake, crystal clear and clean.  Huge jagged black rocks stand sentinel here and there, and a small look-out castle is perched on the highest ground near the sea.

Although I was sad to leave Lauria, I had another treat to look forward to after my train journey to Rome: Nunzia met my train and brought me to dinner on the back of her scooter!  My flight home was not until Tuesday morning, so I spent the night in Rome, at a little hotel near Termini (the train station).   

It was great fun buzzing through the traffic in Rome on the back of Nunzia's scooter!  I was a bit nervous at first, as she kept turning her head to chat to me, gesturing with one hand as she spoke, while simultaneously nipping in and out between the cars. But I soon got used to it, and began to think about buying a scooter of my own to use in Dublin! They really are great in traffic. 

We had a lovely dinner of very good pizza and drinks , and Nunzia persuaded me to try "suppli" which is a traditional Roman starter.  It's very difficult to make properly, she told me.  It's a combination of tomatoes, rice and mozarella in a breadcrumb and egg batter, deep-fried lightly.  You have to soak the rice in the chopped tomatoes for hours in advance.  It was very tasty! 

All in all, a wonderful trip! I'm really looking forward to going over again, hopefully with a gang of Irish friends next time!  Fiordineve pointed out that he has been in Ireland 6 times, but I have only been in his dojo 4 times, (with Anne O'Shea and Anna Ritchie on two of those occasions, and once with my daughter, Yvonne) and the rest of the Aikikai Ireland people have never visited him at all!  He is very keen to return the hospitality which he and his friends have enjoyed in Dublin, Athboy and Sligo, so he has invited us to a Course and short holiday which he would like to hold for us at his dojo on 14th and 15th April 2012 (the weekend after Easter). 

Hopefully it will be possible for a group of us to go! 

I also hope that it will be possible to bring Fiordineve Sensei to Dublin on 9th & 10th June to give a Jo & Bokken Course - and that Rosella and lots of other Italian friends can come too, and have some fun with us!