Anghiari si racconta

I was born in Florence in 1938 and I have always lived in this town.

I only have a few memories of the war, because, when the front reached Florence, I was 5, 6. I remember the bombings very well, running to the refuges. With the arrival of the allied troops, the Germans blew up all the bridges, with the exception of the Ponte Vecchio. I used to go to visit my grandparents on the other side of the town, but at that point I couldn’t do it anymore. …  I have other memories … I was studying piano and my father bought me a second-hand piano, the same brand Chopin had, but he locked it because of the bombs and the injured down in the streets, and only gave the key back to me many months later.

I studied English at high school and then I continued to study it at the British Institute, till I was 20. I went twice a week, in the evenings, because I was already working. My father had advised me to study English because he worked for many years for an English businessman.

I went to school till the ginnasio [2 years of the liceo classico], but after that I didn’t feel like facing the liceo classico, and my father took me to work with him, in his textile company. I worked there from when I was 16 to 18 years old. I wasn’t even 19 when, in order to be less dependent on my family, I went to work for Italian Telecom. In that company, there was the possibility of working in the international service, after an internal exam. Paradoxically for me, the exam wasn’t in English but in French, and so I did a quick course organized by the company to learn French. I must clarify that in Europe French was the official language till the mid ’70s, from Lisbon to Moscow, London included!

It was at that French course that I met Alfonso, my husband. He started in the company in 1962, while. He originally came from Anghiari and was studying at the University in Florence when his father died suddenly, and he had to interrupt his studying and find a job. We became acquainted, then we got engaged, and, in ’64, we married – I was 26, he is one year older. I came here, to Anghiari, for the first time, to meet the family. He had a big family – he was the eldest of 8, who are all still alive. They welcomed me very warmly and with immediate affection. I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t like their older brother to form a family so soon after the death of their father, but we immediately got along very well together and still now, after many years, we have never had a disagreement.

We established ourselves in Florence because our jobs were there, in the phone company. Alfonso always helped me when we were both working, cooking and shopping – he is not the classic husband who doesn’t do anything. My mother-in-law lived in Anghiari, and my mother was busy with my father who was very ill – she took this weight off my brother’s and my shoulders. We had 2 girls, we worked on different shifts, and we had a woman helping with ironing and things like that. I retired before him, because at that time in Italy you could retire after 26 years’ service [which, for women, included a certain number of years for each child] – we were really lucky, a golden age, the ’60s,’70s, the best years; our children will not be able to have what we had. That job allowed us to have a good salary.

Alfonso wanted a place in Anghiari – he obviously remained very attached to this village, where his family lived. In ’73, 46 years ago, we bought a house in the country, past the Santuario del Carmine. We would come here for Christmas, Easter holidays, and then, after he retired in ’94, we spent all our summers here. Now one of our daughters, Elisa, and her husband, Daniele, have come to live with us; our other daughter and her family live near Florence.

To be honest, there has always been tension between us, because Alfonso hates cities. I am sad because Florence offers so much – exhibitions, museums, cinemas, theatres, events, but he isn’t able to enjoy ‘the best of the city’. It’s only here, in Anghiari, that he feels happy. However, the centre of Florence has become a difficult place to live. I don’t want to seem xenophobic, since tourism for us Florentines is a great resource. Now all the shops are for tourists, I don’t recognize my old ones; they are either very expensive designer brands like Armani or Gucci that us normal people can’t afford or Chinese stuff.

I am happy to come to Anghiari, but I am happy that we live out in the countryside rather than in town which I find rather oppressive. I smile and greet everybody, but after a while I get tired… .

There is a big difference between living in a city and in a village. Here, people are not in a hurry as they are in a city, but there is too much gossip – I don’t have anything to hide, but I prefer the silence of the countryside.

The city builds you, it makes you independent, you don’t know anyone, you have to make do with what you have, build your own friendships – you must work on a friendship. In a small town you don’t need that, you go to the piazza and you find a friend, everybody, and nobody, is a friend.

My husband likes living here, in the countryside. Our plot is small, but it’s enough to feel immersed in nature. We have lots of olive trees, a vegetable patch and a few hens. Alfonso works there and it occupies much of his time.

Anghiari is becoming a town of old people – the young ones can travel, they go shopping where they work… it is a pity. The old centre has changed a lot – there was a time when there were many artisans’ workshops, the little square was full of them – blacksmiths, restorers, a lady painter, a potter…  many. The town was lively, now it comes alive only when there is the annual artisans’ fair.

In the post war period, there were big changes in the countryside around here, as there were throughout Italy. In the period up to the ’70s, as the latifundium was coming to an end, the countryside became depopulated, people went to work in factories. The ones who stayed became owners. Unfortunately, there are many tobacco fields; the Val Tiberina is the biggest producer area in Italy of this plant that requires a massive amount of toxic pesticide which is a big problem for the farmers.

I’ve tried to express my thoughts about Anghiari and my feelings about the contrast between city and village life. I would like to conclude by saying that my husband and I have found an agreement about living in our two residences.