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| Perfumes were common in Roman times, and there are even surviving recipes detailing the ingredients needed. |
One doesn’t have to be a woman to enjoy the Festa
della Donna, though it certainly helps to have a woman handy with whom to share
the celebration! Lucy and I went to two events last Friday that were advertised
as special events for women (which mentioned that men were also welcome), and
we thoroughly enjoyed them both.
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| Travertine stone in Lucca that has been there for more than 2000 years, placed by the Romans. |
In the morning, I went out into the woods to cut off
some sprigs of mimosa, which I carried back for some of the female shop owners
in Montecarlo—being careful to save the biggest and best for my own favorite donna. In the afternoon, we attended an
unusual tour directed by Elena Benvenuti of Discover Lucca with Elena. The itinerary
followed that of a typical exploration of the Roman roots of Lucca, but it also
included special aspects on the role of women in Roman society as well as sensory
experiences that allowed us to smell, taste and feel ancient society along with
the usual visual and auditory aspects of a tour. We learned about Roman walls
that have survived for two millennia, the history of the anfiteatro and teatro
and the discovery in 2010 of the buried ruins of an important Roman house, now
called the Casa del Fanciullo sul Delfino, or the “house of the child on
dolphin.”
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| Our guide to the Domus Romana. |
I’ve written about Lucca’s Roman ties more completely
in A
journey to Lucca’s Roman roots, but to enhance the current experience,
Elena gave us all samples of perfume, drinks and a dessert that were common in
earlier times to help us jump back to the past. With the assistance of Elena
and a presentation by archeologist Lucia Giannicchini, we learned about
perfume, hair styles, clothing, social life, occupations and other aspects of
women’s lives during ancient times. Women in Rome were citizens, and while they
could not vote or hold political office, those from wealthy or powerful
families were free to study, write and exert influence in less direct ways.
Three of us on the tour were not completely fluent in
Italian, but that turned out to be advantageous once we reached the Roman
house, because our little group had the full attention of an enthusiastic and
knowledgeable English-speaking guide. Dressed as Caesar, Marco was a font of
information on Roman society.
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| Two balls were placed in Lucy's hands . . . |
That same evening, Lucy and I attended a performance
of magic and an apericena (a dinner
of appetizers) in San Salvatore’s Bar Boccaccio, and once again we were part of
a small group—about 15 people—enjoying a first-class show. Before the spettacolo started, the magician spent
time at each table performing card tricks, and even though we were inches away
from his hands, we have no idea how he possibly could have done the things he
did.
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| She closed her fist, opened it, and suddenly there were three! |
The DJ playing music at dinner recognized that we were
not native italiani, and after asking where we hailed from, he played God Bless
America to make us feel welcome. We then were treated to a clever display of sleight
of hand. Lucy was pulled reluctantly on stage to help with foam ball tricks.
Each time she opened her fist, the number of balls that appeared differed from
the number that the magician had previously placed in her palm. She still
refuses to tell me how she did that! The ball trick and most of the others were
completely mystifying, but we did figure out how a few others might have been performed.
We have no idea how the bar could have made any money by hiring a magician for an
intimate crowd for only the price of aperitivi,
but it made for a stimulating and gratifying end to our Festa della Donna
celebration.
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