Italian hill towns: Arpino

Arpino is one of the hill towns is in the Ciociaria region south of Rome. It's the birthplace of Cicero, the orator, the Roman statesman, Caius Marius and was the home of the painter, Giuseppe Cesari,who was also know as the Cavaliere d'Arpino, so there are many reminders of these personalities and their life and times in the area.  The town also has personal associations as my husband's two younger sisters were educated at a convent boarding college there.  Whenever we drive there I think of my late mother-in-law, who was then widowed, who used to walk there and back home, some 20 + miles so that she could see her daughters who were studying and boarding in a college on the outskirts of the town. Half the distance there was uphill, but that was normal trek for any country person not so long ago.

The town buildings are built on the two hills and we've walked with our family to the highest point, been there when there have been cultural festivals and markets in the Summer and, as in this photo above, during the Spring break.

                                                                Freesias

                               Lemons growing in the drive of the town police station in Arpino.

Sunday afternoon outing

On Sunday afternoon we went out with our daughter as she thought we would all enjoy the drive and walk followed by tea-time refreshments.

The snow that we've been experiencing again had already settled on higher ground and the parkland of Whirlowbrook Hall estate looked beautiful.

Whirlowbrook Hall was built in 1906 and owned by a local industrialist.  In recent years the Hall had been used for various functions and also had a cafe which was open to visitors.  Apparently the hall and cafe was closed last year, but the grounds of the estate are open to the public and as there are acres of land to explore it's another popular area for walking, especially as it's on the edge of Derbyshire countryside.  I'm sure we shall go there again and take a longer walk through the woods.

Celebrations

Today is a day for celebrating motherhood,
 so happy Mother's Day!

 In the Christian liturgical calendar this day
is called Mothering Sunday.
It falls within the Lenten period -

a time of reflection before Easter.

 The word 'lent' comes from

the Anglo-Saxon for the lengthening

of daylight hours around about the month of March
after the dark days of Winter.

In some churches there's a custom of handing

 out bunches of Spring flowers at

the Mothering Sunday service.

It originates from the days when

girls who lived-in as domestic servants

were given the time off to return home

and usually take a small gift of flowers and maybe
the traditional Simnel Cake

It's good that the church service is inclusive

and bunches of flowers are given out by

the children to all the ladies. 

Mother's Day can also be a poignant one

as we remember our mothers

who are no longer with us.

Later today I'm going out with our

younger daughter, grandchildren

and husband for tea and cake so
I'm sure there will be more photos
to share another time!

Yesterday, I went to the International

Women's Day Conference in the city, which

this year highlighted women's health issues