Summer 2012 was the year of my trip to Tuscany, but most of all my wedding proposal. Kate and I had planned any single day and activity in our so long sought after vacations in Italy and our travelogue was drawn into a booklet by Maggy, our concierge at the villa in Forte dei Marmi, Versilia. If you look for a magical place to stay in Tuscany at close reach from Lucca, Cinque Terre, Pisa and many other charming places, this is Versilia. Our villa was surrounded by a huge park and crossed by a small creek, which was a great relief from summer heat. We were spending our days touring around and enjoying all beauties of this area: a boat tour and concert by the Puccini lake, trekking on the mountains, a sailing trip to spot dolphins off Viareggio coast and long-relaxing prosecco and ‘focaccia’ aperitifs under the villa patio, lulled by the hammock or stranded on big soft cushions. Just one unique moment was missing and I decided to call on Maggy to single out the right one for me. I had heard of many religious celebrations in Italy connected to St Mary falling around August 15th, the Italian ‘Ferragosto’ and I thought that might be perfect to celebrate a unique woman and seal a special event between me and Kate: our engagement. Maggy, our concierge and deus-ex-machina, immediately came with a plan.
Each place then arranges different celebrations, though the ‘Luminara’ seems to be the most popular way. Thousand lights lighting up a place allowing a magical perspective of it>>, Maggy seemed on the right way …> ‘There we are! The Madonna Bianca and its thousand lights setting is perfect’, I thought, ‘to make my proposal’. Maggy was like a stream in flood, while telling me about every single detail of the story: >. The plan was set!

On Saturday evening a limo stopped in front of the villa and Kate walked down the steps all excited about my ‘last surprise night’, as I had presented it to her. She wore jewel sandals and a long silky dress, fruit of her shopping day in Forte dei Marmi boutiques, that made her just fabulous. We drove directed to La Spezia for around one hour and then took the direction to Portovenere running along the bay. The limo stopped right at the harbour and from there we took a walk up to San Lorenzo church to bless the Madonnna Bianca. Steep steps, alternating striking views showing up from one building and the other, did not prevent us from reaching higher to the fortress on top of the hill. There I had planned to find a picnic basket with two glasses, a bottle of the best Prosecco and a white lilies bracelet for Kate. We toasted and enjoyed the sunset, while skillful hikers were lighting up hundreds candles scattered around the promontory of Portovenere, beside St Peter church. We will never forget the breeze, the colorful sunset and the smell of sea and Mediterranean vegetation surrounding us.

…Kate was so enthusiast about this surprise, that could not imagine that the best part had yet to come…We took the path rolling down to the harbour area, where a crowd a people was yet preparing themselves to assist to the procession. When we reached for the peer, a motorboat immediately approached, as the driver spotted Kate wearing her lilies bracelet, as a sign of recognition... We stepped on the motorboat, which resembled those used in Venice as taxis and we took a short trip to the opposite side of the bay, to Palmaria Island, a pristine natural park area, inhabited by a few families and hosting just two restaurants. We enjoyed dinner at Locanda Lorena, a cosy restaurant overlooking Portovenere, where the owner, Giuseppe Basso, a white-bearded man in his 70s, welcomed us with an aphorism of George Bernard Shaw – ‘There is no better love than for food’-. Before greeting Giuseppe, I grabbed another bottle of his best champagne and walked past Kate to the peer, where the motor taxi was waiting for us with another surprise… In fact, rather than heading back to Portovenere, he took direction toward the sea and the moon overlooking onto it. We found ourselves overwhelmed by the view of thousands lights of San Peter’s church and cliffs, brimming with the sea breeze and buzzing in the distance with prayers and chants.

>… what follows is another story…