This past Monday I was able to tag along with the Modern Italian Culture class for their field trip to a small town called Collodi and Lucca. It was so much fun! We went to Collodi specifically for the Parco di Pinocchio located there - a whole park dedicated to the story of Pinocchio. Professor Urbancic gave the class a great lesson on the importance of Pinocchio in Italian culture after we arrived at the park, and then we had a an hour or so to explore. In addition to some traditional carousels for children and a small children's theatre, the park has a maze (with Pinocchio faces on the ground that point the way, but not really because Pinocchio lies!), a museum, and a small piazza covered with mosaics that show scenes from the story. The main attraction of the park, however, is a trail you follow that takes you through the story: along the way you encounter statues of characters from the tale, the blue fairy's house, the pirate ship, and, at the end, the whale. Overall it was a great little place to visit, and it was very pertinent to the topics the students are studying in that class. The park itself was a works project started by the mayor of Collodi after WWII to help bring jobs back to the community. It is also an appropriate location for such a park to be built, since the author of Pinocchio wrote under the pseudonym Collodi because his mother was born there.

After Collodi we went to Lucca and had the afternoon free to roam around and explore the city. I thoroughly enjoyed myself there - it was very calm and quiet, and the fact that it was flat (unlike Siena) was a big bonus. I would like to go back while I am here and do some shopping - it looked like the shopping was great there! Since we only had a few hours I walked for a bit on the walls of the city (it is one of the few Italian cities that still has its full city walls intact, and they are impressive) and then I visitied a few churches and Roman sites, including the piazza that used to be the Roman forum and the area that used to be the Roman amphitheatre. I had my camera but it was difficult to get good picutres of these things (and I was a bit rushed to see everything) so I have included here a few pictures that I found online.

So the week started off nicely and then became quite busy, and the Palio craziness is really starting to pick up. The actual race is on Sunday, and I am going to try and participate in as many events as I can. I will be sure to post about it next week!

The sign at the start of the trail; the very famous opening lines of Pinocchio.
(Loosely translated they say: "Once upon a time there was - a king! No, children, you have guessed wrong. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood." Such a beginning signaled the start of a very different sort of fairy tale.)

This is a statue of the cricket in the story - definitely not like Walt Disney's creation of Jiminy Cricket. In the original tale the "Talking Cricket" is eventually smashed by Pinocchio because he is irritated and doesn't want to hear what the cricket has to say. (Pinocchio is a pretty bad boy in the original story!)

Another point of the story that differs from the Disney version (which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, by the way!) is the death of Pinocchio. Here you see the two assassins (who are really the Cat and the Wolf in disguise) on their way to kill Pinoochio. They do so by hanging him from a tree, and, of course, he dies. This was actually the original end of the story, but the protest was so great that the author, Carlo Collodi, had to continue the story and bring Pinocchio back to life. He did so by having the Blue Fairy look out her window and see Pinocchio hanging, then sending a falcon to see if he is still alive. The falcon arrives just in time and brings Pinocchio back to the fairy's house to rest and recover.

This is the park's version of the fairy's house. You can go look through the little window and see the fairy caring for Pinocchio, who is resting in bed.

A statue of the Blue Fairy. Apparently, Collodi based the Blue Fairy on a little girl he knew whose hair was so blond that sometimes in the right light it looked like it was coloured pale blue.

The Whale! This thing was so cool! You can go and climb inside the mouth; there is also a spiral staricase that goes up the center and comes out the top so you can stand on top of the whale and get a nice view. There is also a little window in the back of the whale where you can see Geppetto sitting, waiting for Pinocchio to rescue him.

One of the many statues of Pinocchio in the park. By the end of the story Pinocchio eventually learns that it is best for him to listen to and obey his father, Geppetto, who respresents Italy. The story played a major role in helping to create an Italian culture after the unification of Italy.

Me on the pirate ship; yes, Rachel, there are pirates in Pinocchio!

The gift shop full of Pinocchios!

Me with the statues of Pinocchio and his creator, Carlo Collodi, at the entrance of the park.

This huge statue of Pinocchio is jsut outside the park and was donated by Swiss woodworkers, I think! They told us that not long after they put him up his nose fell off and they had to reattach a new one!

This is the facade of the church of San Michele in Lucca. I really like how eccentirc and unique it is; all the columns and figures on the front are different (you can tell if you zoom in!).

An aerial view of Lucca. Notice the city walls!

This is where the amphitheatre was located in Roman times; apparently some of the entrances to the centre are original to the amphitheatre.

A side view of San Michele. This church is located in a piazza that used to be the Roman Forum. (And although the church is great, part of me still wishes that the Roman stuff was still there!)