In the North of Italy 40km from the sea at the foot of the great alpine mountains is a small village surrounded by forest where people have worked the land for many generations.
Today in that village many empty houses stand and it is filled with the sound of the birds, the occasional bark of a dog and from time to time the voices lost travelers.
Of course in the that region of Liguria are many such villages and each has it's own story to tell. Stories that have been passed down through the ages of time. But today we are just opening one of those stories. The story of Gazzo. Perhaps not exactly the story of Gazzo but a story that might have been the story of Gazzo had history taken different roads.
Three weeks before Easter I was visiting Pieve di Teco a medieval market town with many small shops under the arches of its arcades. There I found a little curiosity shop full of everything from models of battle ships to shop mannequins from the 1950s and it was in that shop that our adventure begins.
"Boungiorno", I said as I entered and the after the little bell had finished ringing on the door.
"Buongiorno" replied a man sitting in an old captains chair in the corner, looking up from his newspaper at me with a certain suspicion, "where from?"
"Engletera adesso Gazzo" I replied. I have left England a year ago and now lived in a quiet village called "Gazzo".
I browsed for some time the collections of old tools from the last century and children's toys some of tin plate and some even carved by hand by loving parents for some child in the past, when I noticed a small collection of books on the top shelf of an antique kitchen dresser and at first I took them to be recipe books but then realised they had a distinct lack of kitchen grime about them.
All this time shop owner was sitting in the old captains chair reading the newspaper that I think he was less interested in than he pretended to be.
I took down one book after another looking at the publication dates and trying to gain some understanding of what the books were about, but one took my interest in particular because it had what appeared to be an old letter inside.
"Quanto questo" I asked the man who had put down his newspaper on the table beside him and said something I clearly did not understand, in Italian. All I understood was that it was a question and one I could not answer. He saw my confusion and stood up and came to me and reached out taking hold of the book but as soon as he saw what it was, he put his other hand on mine and looked directly into my eyes, "It's yours" he said, "take it, it was always for you."
I left the shop feeling a curious sense that a destiny was playing out and that I had a part to play that I did not know or understand yet and I could not help but repeat to myself his words... "it was always for you".
When I got home I sat down at my table and opened the book. The letter fell out onto the table top. I unfolded the page that had been well pressed in the pages of that book for many years and I began to read. Strangely as I read I was able to understand almost as if the words were written in English. This is what I read. (Click on the image to zoom in.)
Of course I could not know why he was giving me this note, an Englishman in Italy, it is an odd choice. I took it back to the village and we talked about it a lot.
Just recently I have found another letter asking that we form a group to find what has been lost. It is signed "the gaurdians", again, So they are still somewhere and they are aware of me! But who are they?
I returned to look for the shop but it was empty as if they had moved out years ago! I wouldn't believe it but for the fact that the book and the letters are here on my table in front of me here, in Gazzo, Italy.
Why would they contact me, a foreigner here? What can I do that others can't? I suppose that is the question I can only find out by perusing this, but I cannot do it alone. (Click on the image to zoom in.)
You will need to prepare because this is no ordinary tourist event. This is an investigation, a trail of evidence to be followed. Sometimes it will rain and sometimes the sun will shine. This is the reality.
Please take the weather seriously as cold people are miserable people. This is, after all, an adventure in the real world.
Stories are a great way to add something extra to a holiday, a hotel, a resturaunt or a walking trail in the mountains. Back in the UK there was a cafe that was part of our story and so all the investigation team bought their lunch there and asked the cafe owner about what had happened in that area a few years ago. Of course he told them a story which helped them to start to solve the mystery at hand. He also sold a lot of lunches.
If you like the idea of being involved with this kind of thing then contact me by email.
Best wishes from me and the people of Gazzo.
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Our appreciation for the support and participation of the people of Gazzo
