Junefinnigan's Weblog

Benvenuti and Welcome to all my Lovely Followers around the World,

Firstly, I would like to send our warmest thoughts to all our friends in both Barcelona and Spain.  We hope you and your families are safe and well.

The European Green Woodpecker. Foto Creative Commons/Attribution Share Alike.

Back here in our little bit of Chianti, we have discovered last week’s mystery bird was in fact a European Green Woodpecker.  Thank you to Hilary in England, for providing lots of information about Woodpeckers.  The signed book ‘The Italian Connection‘ is yours!

Meanwhile, down in Florence the Director of the Uffizi Gallery is appealing to bring the statue of the ‘Rape of the Sabine Women’ inside, as “Giambologna’s sculpture is at risk” Eike Schmidt claims.  He is worried about rising temperatures, air pollution and tourism-related risks, and asked that the sculpture be brought into the protective indoor environment.  Since the 1580’s the sculpture has sat in the Loggia dei Lanzi in the Piazza della Signora; is it really that much at risk?   Schmidt suggests making a copy of the sculpture to replace it with, just like the replica of David that stands close by; what do you think?  If you have not seen this sculpture close up, I can tell you it is quite spectacular.  Watch this space…  Foto Andrew Wyeth.

Torre del Mangia on fire in Siena

Last week, whilst enjoying our morning coffee in Fiano, we read in the paper that on the night after the Palio in Siena, one of its historical towers burst into flames!  The Torre di Mangia came alight in the night, possibly caused by a ornamental candle and the wooden floor may be damaged.  The Piazza del Campo had to be cleared until all was made safe!  Phew, this caused a great deal of panic as you can imagine, particularly with the crowds still around after the Palio!

Meanwhile, back in peace of the countryside, the forthcoming Vendemmia (grape harvest) is going to be a worrying time for the farmers, as the drought has definitely caused a lot of damage in the vineyards.  Although, some of the early pickings of the white grape may be producing ‘extralusso,’ luxury wines, this year.  So that’s good.  However, we are much more concerned about our local Chianti wines and the quality of the grape for this year’s harvest.  September is the traditional month for the Vendemmia, however, some red grapes are being picked now, which has no doubt upset a few farmers, who like to take August out for their holidays.  Fingers crossed.  Foto La Repubblica.

On a much lighter note, as you know the Italians love film and film stars.  They also love Amore and I read in the paper that Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, who are in their eighties, have made a new romantic film.  This then warranted a full-page dedicated to on-screen couples inamore.  Then I saw splashed across another page, that Daniel Craig is definitely back and making one more Bond!  Fantastico, we and the Italians are shouting, well in print anyway.  So there was some good news last week, and having decided to remove the Telegraph from my cloud, I will no longer be reading any bad news or stuff about Brexit, unless I choose to.  Foto La Repubblica.

Anyway, you will be glad to know that I will be starting acoustic guitar lessons in September and  cracking on with my fourth book, ‘Assassin’s List.’  So life continues to be exciting and very italian.  I just love it!

Have a great week and do drop me a line.  I love to hear from you!

Salute June x

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