This is one of several restored rooms in Plas Mawr, Conwy, Wales. It reveals the intricate detail in the low ceiling and walls. Won’t you join me on the journey through England and Wales starting with “A Cottage in the Cotswolds” Series? Enjoy!
Plas Mawr, Conwy, Wales
Plas Mawr, the “Great Hall” in Conwy, Wales, was built in 1576 for Welsh merchant Robert Wynn. It is the finest surviving town house of the Elizabethan Era to be found in Britain. Follow me as we travel through Britain beginning with “The Cottages of the Cotswolds.”
Unfinished Section of Attic, Plas Mawr, Conwy, Wales
On Our Way to Pienza
From Monticchiello we are off to Pienza, a small town that we can see on the hill in the distance. Pienza, is on a hill, but after arriving in the town, walking here is on flat ground. Unlike Montepulciano, which is all up hill, Pienza is flat. There is a parking lot outside of town, but since it is full, we drive closer to the school and find a spot there. Walking to the Town Gate, Porta Prato, I stop and admire a beautiful lawn and garden. Before I know it an older gentleman came from the porch of the house and down to his gate to talk to me. He speaks Italian and when he realizes I am an American, he thanks my husband and me for saving Italy in WWII! Then he opens the garden gate and offers me a tour of his lovely flower garden. It was beautiful and just one of the many flower gardens in this small village. Directly in front of Porta Prato is a public garden and the fragrance here is unbelievable! The lawn is surrounded in a small bush hedge covered in white blossoms that are so fragrant! I tried asking everyone and no one knew what that bush was and even my elderly gentleman friend was gone when I went back by his house to ask him, as we made our way out of town. Darn! That’s what I will always remember about Pienza, the flowers and the fragrances.
Enea Silvio Piccolomini (1405-1464) was born in Corsignano, the small town on a hill overlooking the Orcia and Asso Valley. In 1458, Piccolomini became Pope Pius II and when he returned to his home town, he decided to transform the town with the first humanist concept of urban design, (Renaissance) with the aid of Bernardo di Matteo Gamberelli, known as Rossellino, ingenere di palazzo, of Pope Nicholas V in Rome. Rossellino was responsible for the overall layout of the town which consisted of a main street joining two town gates. On this basic structure he planned the major buildings around a town square, which served as an outdoor room, called the Piazza Pio II. The Piazza is surrounded by the Duomo, the Piccolomini Family Palace, City Hall with the Bell Tower, and the Bishop’s Palace. All were designed by Rossellino in five years time. In 1464 the work stopped because both Pope Pius II and Rossellino, the architect, were dead. What we see today was completed a century later. The town was renamed, Pienza after the Pope. What remains now is a mixture of old stone, potted plants, grand views and a fragrance not to be forgotten.
The Duomo in Florence Italy
Easter……..I thought I would share some pictures with you. It has been cold in the south the entire month of March to me. No rabbits, no eggs, no peeps. The birds are hardly looking for a mate. Or have they found their mate and are trying to stay warm? This is why I love Italy. On every corner you are reminded of God, of something bigger than you. In Rome there are nuns and priests everywhere all the time. There are Cardinals in their bright red robes and some in magenta huddling in groups to discuss who knows what. There are masses of people in the churches or waiting in line to get into church.
The smallest church will have the most fantastic art. But, what I like are the statues, crosses, stained glass windows, icons, churches big and small, bells ringing and the small memorials on the sides of buildings and at crossroads in the countryside. The Italians say, “God is always watching and it is a good way to remind you to choose between good and evil.” I like to think of it as God is always watching over me. He is everywhere in everything. I like to be 
reminded.
In a very small Italian village, Montisi, just a blip on the map, my husband and I took a narrow steep paved path from the car park up the hill. At the top was a tiny stone church perched on the cliff. Here on the front of the church was a stone with a map of the village etched into it. In Italian it read, “you are here.” The path took you to the church and back down making a circle. A beginning with no end. Have a blessed Easter!
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