Il segreto dell’acqua fallata – a book

One of the things I did this summer was read several books, but by far the most interesting happened to be by an Italian called Guido Rosti Cesari.  This writer, who has also written a number of technical publications, and works, I believe, in the water industry, could not find a publisher here in Italy and so decided to publish his book himself. I, for one, am very glad he did, for his book is a gem.

The book is in many ways a veiled tribute to Maria Teresa of Hapsburg who was the wife of Austrian Emperor Francis I.  Maria Teresa was made the Duchess of Milan and, for some unknown reason, became quite attached to the city to which she devoted considerable time and effort to the development of its administration and infrastructure.  Her influence on the development of Milan is somewhat disputed as I understand, and she seems to have had both support and criticism from the city’s populous, contemporary and present, with regard to the lasting benefits, or otherwise, of her contributions.

The book’s author is clearly one of her fans (He confirmed this today – see below) and believes that her contribution to the success of the city has been understated by historians.  That said, the book is a complete work of fiction which neatly mixes events from the past with contemporary happenings.  The locations mentioned in the book centre around the city’s now depleted canal system which once provided Milan with an effective commercial infrastructure and the places mentioned are, for the most part, real. This, I think, adds to the charm of the story, especially if you know a little about Milan, although even if you don’t, you may find the story quite fascinating and quite believable.

In extremely simple terms, and without giving too much away, this book is a sort of thriller which jumps about in time and involves an interesting treasure hunt initiated by one of Maria Teresa’s contemporary Italian Milanese supporters who wanted the Austrian ruler’s contribution to the development of the city to be positively acknowledged.  Does he achieve this? I’m not telling – you’ll just have to read the book!  And you will find out about the ghost too.

Il segreto dell’acqua fallata (The secret of the flawed waterway) contains some interesting twists and mixes in a little romance at the same time.  I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone – as long as they can read Italian because, alas, it has not been translated into any other languages, although I might be tempted into having a go, although translating a whole book is something I have never attempted before and I not that sure I would be up to it.  There is also the fact that a reader may need to have some knowledge of Milan to obtain the most from it, which is something that may limit the book’s appeal outside of Italy.

My other half has bought nine copies of the tome and the story of how she came across it is quite interesting too.  It all started with a lunch in a nice place with an odd name the Carlsberg Ol bar (Bastioni di Porta Nuova 9/11 – Near a bar called ‘Speak Easy’).  This bar, which does good food by the way (We’ve been back and shall return), just happens to be located right next to an unused section of one of Milan’s canal network and whilst chatting away we came up with the idea of opening an art gallery in the disused portion of the canal.  Being quite fired up with what we both thought was a fascinating idea, my other half did some research on the Internet and came across the author’s web site here.  She liked the sound of the book and fired off a mail to the author who replied.  She met up with him a few days later and came away with five copies of his book at 5 euros a piece.  Incidentally,  we decided that the art gallery idea would never get off the ground in view the tight control maintained over the remaining bits and pieces of the canals by a Milan organisation, and there is the possibility that the section that interested us may well flood when it rains….

I actually met the author today, after my other half decided to meet up with him in order to buy some more copies.  A very nice chap, I have to say, and we would have taken him up on his offer of an aperitif, had it not been for our rampaging little three year old tornado.

The author is in the process of working on a revised edition of the book (We have a copy of the draft!) which develops some of the characters and adds some more information.  I suggested that the book may make a fine television series or even a film and Mr Cesari replied that I was not the first to have made the suggestion. He was very happy to have heard our views as I think we may have been some of the few readers who came from outside the circle of his family and friends.  Apparently to get a book published here the writer needs to commit to purchasing around a 1000 copies his or herself, which sounds a bit much and probably stifles a lot of young talent too I imagine.

Must get round to finishing off my own novel……………ho hum.

The giant awakes

Milan, according to the telly news, has filled up with inhabitants all back from their summer hols, only there is not much traffic around and there are still plenty of vacant parking spaces and many shops are still shut up tight.  So the news is wrong.

My guess is that people will drift back this week and everything will be good and busy from the beginning of next week.

The horses mouth has spoken.

Genova etc

As I mentioned briefly in my previous post, we spent some time during our summer hols in and around Genova. Genova, or Genoa as it is for some unknown reason known in English, is, yes, it still is, a port town on the north Italian coast. It’s quite an interesting place because it is rather long and thin as cities go, due manly to the fact that there are a series of hills right on its back doorstep. This has meant that expanding inland was not really feasible, but expanding sideways has worked just fine.

It’s not a bad place and is probably worth a day or two of any holiday spent touring northern Italy. There are not that many places to see in the city itself, but the centre and the area around the old port are worth checking out, but do not venture into the alleyways behind the old port area after dark unless you happen to like living dangerously or you have SEAL or SAS training or happen to be James Bond. Anyway, warnings aside, a wander around this area, including the alleyways (but hang on to your bags), is a nice way to spend an afternoon. A quick trip around the harbour area by boat is worth doing, although the commentary is in Italian. We did this this summer and it was interesting and well worth the 5 Euros it cost.

If you fancy forking out 25 Euros a head, then the well known aquarium in Genova is well worth a visit and is probably still good value for money at the rather high entry price. Little ones will love it. I last went a couple of years or so ago and enjoyed it very much. I still remember wondering just how all the little fish seemed to get along so well with the sharks with whom they shared a tank. The rock-hopper penguins were also fun to see too.

Just along the road towards the south is the Nervi suburb of Genova. It is easily reachable by car, bus or even train from the centre and is worth a trip as there is a very pleasant seaside walk which goes from what I think is Nervi harbour along towards the greenery of the park. You could even stop for a bite to eat or an aperitif at one of the many bars which can be found at various points along the walkway. There are no beaches though, but you may well see many an Italian sunning his or herself on the rocks which go down to the sea. Swimming is not really advisable though. Should you manage to find your way under the railway track an into the park you may not be disappointed. It’s very green and pleasant. There are tamish squirrels everywhere and there is an excellent children’s play area, behind which there is a nice little bar. The park does close rather early though and the siren they use tends to give the impression that if you overstay your welcome you may be shot, or something like that. Maybe the squirrels transform into vampires after dark. Anyway, you get my point, it closes early.

However if you find yourself feeling a bit peckish after all your wandering and did not succumb to the temptations of the seaside bars, then you could do a lot worse that heading for the ‘Quinto Maggio’ a seaside, seafood eatery which you can find about half way along the winding road which takes you back into Genova. The restaurant does pizzas, but also a good line in seafood and the portions are generous to say the least. It’s not super luxury, but then neither are the prices. I had a ‘Quinto Maggio starter’, which is a selection of seafood and fish and then a ‘fritto misto’ which is a mixture of squid, octopus and prawns all battered and deep fried. (Yes, I did add to my girth this summer, surprise, surprise. Not.) This all came with two enormous portions of chips, which we just could not finish. It was very good. We have been there before a couple of times and will probably go again. During the summer it’s not a bad idea to get there early because the place gets very full. Not surprisingly many Italians rather like to munch away to the sound of the waves breaking on the rocks beneath them.

Back to Genova and its surroundings. We have some friends there, not a surprise when you know that my other half grew up there. One of our friends has his own printing business and likes to get away from it all when work starts to get on top of him. Now, if you are from Milan you have to drive for at least one and a half hours to get to the tranquility of the mountains or lakes and you have to brave the incredibly dense traffic which builds up when all the Milanese head for home on a Sunday evening. However, if you are from Genova, you can get to the silence in less than an hour and not have to worry too much about terrible traffic jams. Not stupid these Genovese. My friend, Mauro, rents a small flat in a quaintly named hamlet called Vi. There are about twenty houses, no shops or bars but there are lots of noisy families and the silence is often broken by the sound of barking dogs, lawnmowers and other garden implements doing their stuff. However, just round the corner there is this:

It’s another little hamlet and there is yet another one beyond. There is only one road in and out. We, Mauro, Marty and myself walked there and back without being passed by one single car. And there are people living in the sleepy little enclave shown above, at least during the summer. I understand that the zone gets clogged up with snow during the winter, so you would need something with 4 wheel drive to get there if you wanted to. The wooded valley in which Vi is found contains quite a number of semi-hidden little groups of houses and it is not much more than a stone’s throw from Genova. Wonderful, is is not? Unless you happen to be a born and bred city dweller, that is. In which case the sound of the silence may kill you.

One final thing, which must have been written about before, so I’ll try to be brief, is the number of forts dotted on top of the hills upon which Genova is located. There are many of them, although I have not visited one of them, yet. They would, however, make a very good walking trip, I reckon.

Yes, we have chatted about moving to Genova, and I’m not dead against the idea. We’ll see, although nothing is likely to happen for quite a few years to come.

OK David, you need pine no more, for scribbled I have!

For those who might like to know more about life in the Genova back hills, then this book may be of interest:

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Back again

We got back to Milan after our summer break, which was spent mostly between Genova and a little place called Ponteinvrea near Albisola, which is near Savona, if that helps.  Not much to report, although I’ll scribble a little about the hols and other things shortly.

I’ve yet to have a wander outdoors to see if Milan is coming back to life after the summer shutdown, but the heat is still making it’s presence felt – and it is still a strange feeling for an Englishman to come back from holidays to weather which is still sunny and hot.