Summer in Milan and visiting Cremona

We all went to Val Gardena in the north of Italy (Alto Adige or Sud Tirol) on the 9th of Aug. for a week. It was wonderful. I will wait though with telling you about that - until I get some pictures from the picture takers - my father and Yoni.

In the meantime, a bit of what it's been like since I came back. Milan has gone to sleep, it's now like a sleepy village with few people about. Maybe asleep is not the right description, everyone has gone on vacation, put up a notice and gone... and when I say everyone, I mean exactly that. Even the ice cream parlors, the newsstands, the flower stores, everyone, or at least many, have left. I've photographed a few stores so you can see what it's like:

They cover the windows of the shops with posters, or paper, put a sign up and that's it. I really couldn't believe the stories till I saw it with my own eyes. In Israel, we're never entirely on vacation - the stores stay open, and although less people can be seen around - at work, and so on, still it doesn't get this complete. Companies, even the big ones, go on vacation as well - they announce they'll be closed and that's it. Talk to us again in Sep. No mail, no phone calls. Nothing.

Do I like it? I must say that there's something relaxing about it. It's quiet and when you go into an ice cream store - they're happy to serve you, and that goes for all the other places as well. and everyone talks about the vacation they've been to, or the one they're going to, or if they're in town, how come they didn't go and how sad they are about it. A great conversation piece... Milan is a serious place - everyone is going places all of the time, it's nice when it's quieter and more relaxed here. and there's a kind of comradeship of those who stayed in town which is nice...

Not only in Milan has everyone left and gone to the beach (or the mountains, or wherever they go). I've been planning to go to Cremona for a long time and finally did yesterday. Why Cremona you might be asking? What's in Cremona? Well, it appears that not that much. It's a quiet and pretty little place. It's main claim to fame is that some of the best violin producers' families in the world's history come from there: Amati, Stradivari and Guarneri families. So I went to see it and to see what it's all about. I read a book a while ago about the Stradivari family: Stradivari's Genius by Toby Faber a fascinating book describing the history of the family and discussing the issue of violin making and why to this day, these violins, made 400 years ago are still the best in the world.

It's funny how going to the places where important people or people who left an important legacy lived or worked centuries ago doesn't usually help (at least it doesn't help me) to better understand their genius. This happened to me yesterday in Cremona. It's pretty and it's interesting to see a few violins on display but other than that, without reading up on the history of the family elsewhere, there's not much in the town to help you understand or enlighten you in any way about violins in this case (amazing how the author managed to bring this story to life in such an interesting way).

I remember having the same feeling when visiting Mozart's family apartment in Salzburg a few years ago. An ordinary apartment, in an ordinary building, with other neighbors. He was writing his sublime music in the same way someone else was working as a carpenter or a blacksmith.

You might even say that their genius and outstanding abilities are even more impressive given that nothing in where they lived and worked was in any way spectacular or special. They "just" emerged out of the everyday life of their time with their special talent, which in both cases (violins and Mozart), is still considered outstanding today. Maybe the most that can be said is that these geniuses emerged in a place with a long tradition - in this case - of violin making, and that this tradition and their desire (or "single minded devotion" to quote Faber) to produce the best violins ever - made them succeed and excel (with some help from the local raw materials - the right kind of wood and resins).

It's a kind of pilgrimage that one can make to show appreciation, maybe to learn a bit about their genius, but it doesn't really explain the genius. Also, in the case of the violins, to the layperson (me) it's hard to tell by looking at a violin if it's a good one. Only hearing it played by a good violinist could give me any indication of its quality (and also then, I'm not sure if I could tell the difference between a Stradivari and another violin if I heard both played one after the other).

So these are my thoughts about violins, Stradivari, and Cremona.

I'm adding a few pictures of the town's center. Note the picture on the left - another example of summer in the north of Italy, this is how the main street connecting the train station and the center of town looks on a Sat. afternoon in summer... not a soul in sight.