Sibilla della Gherardesca, president of Fai, talks about childhood in freedom at Villa Emilia.
Sibilla della gherardesca, sister of Gaddo and Manfredi, a strong, dynamic woman, outspoken, proud and Tuscan. One of the Gherardesca in all respects. He relaunched Pitti images and is president of Fai. He loves to relax in his home, the Castle of Castagneto Carducci, a pleasant place resting right above the historic village. Florentine by birth, from an early age she divided between the city of the Medici and the Maremma that the whole family carries in their hearts.
He tells us about his childhood.
As a child, I spent a lot of time on the sea at Villa Emilia, the home of my grandparents whom I loved and where I had a privileged childhood. We were a large family, never less than twelve at the table, with my great-grandmother, Margherita Ruspoli della Gherardesca, the dean of the house who left us at almost 101 years old, who had met Garibaldi, Pius IX and Buffalo Bill when she came to Florence to challenge with his cowboys the Maremma cowboys who won the challenge on horseback! Then there were grandfather Gaddo and grandmother Emilia with many friends who were always guests, my parents, my uncles, us kids, nannies and guests.
The best memories.
The house was on the beach and we lived by the sea, at night we ran away from the window when there was a full moon and we took a bath with phosphorescence. We built sand volcanoes with real fire inside, blind holes hoping someone would fall into them, sand tracks where we challenged each other with juniper cuddles, fished crabs with the piece of meat attached to the stone and clams with the arsenal . In the evening the seine was pulled, a true passion of my grandmother who had fun like crazy and who had put up a team, a sort of armada made up of us children, some construction site worker, the gardener and whoever was there , all ready to pull the net ashore after lowering the seine with the patino. We from the ground to pull the rope until the bag with the fish and maybe even a jellyfish arrived ... what fun!
In the woods, forts were built with stocks of sandballs, we played war and made snacks, we made crunchy with caramelized sugar and pine nuts we found and shelled, we played tennis against the wall and on an old tennis court with great and fierce challenges, we went sailing and patino and took endless baths.
We grew up wild in this context, free but always safe, the healthy life of the past, in the beautiful setting of Villa Emilia, the beach and the surrounding park.
( Divina Vitale "Bolgheri News" 27 may 2014 )