Laurie Fox Pessemier The gates to Paradise, as my friend Margrit calls them.. near our house in Rocca Malatina
One such place was the Grotto di Labante, which we stumbled upon this week. We took a carsick ride through the mountains to Vergato (sound like Vertigo, doesn't it?). The town of Vergato has a great second hand mostly clothing store, which was unfortunately closed on Thursday; it is otherwise open Monday through Saturday mornings. We drove on past a 16th century ruin which belonged to a friend, and then: EUREKA!
“Grotto” the sign said, and we wound a short way down a dirt road. This was the most unusual formation I’d seen in a long time. I got out my paints at once, and then thought, “who would ever understand this picture?” Blair was not as swayed. A stream of water flowed across a promontory 65 feet (20 meters) above, dropping, onto a lushly mossed rock, a further promontory, below. Ferns grew upside down beneath these overhangs, and the water eventually dropped onto pale rock below and into a stream. The large mass of the cliff was riddled with caves (grottos), that one could actually walk up into, if you didn’t mind a little dripping water. One pool was so crystal clear it looked like a small underwater town, with shrubs (trees) and tiny pathways between. We all ran around the place, up and down, and finally got back in the car to go home.
Blair Pessemier Grotto at Labante Acrylic/linen
It was then I got the idea maybe I should write about these “rides” into the country. This is probably the least tourist-visited part of Italy, and it’s hard to figure out what to do, where to go. It’s marvelously pleasant because it isn’t touristed, like Florence, two hours from here. You can show up at a coffee shop and people are delighted to help you order coffee and pastry, or a local cocktail. People stop in the street to visit. In Vergato, we drank coca-cola (against carsickness) and ate pizza; the waitress/barkeep, curious and eager to help us.
Blair Pessemier A Neighbor's House Acrylic/linen
