On September 10, 2015 we traveled from the beauty of the Sorrento coast to a quaint village one and a half hours N.E. of Rome, once known as Umbria until the borders were moved. Casperia is tucked neatly up against the undulating hillsides that surround this area. Casperia is safely contained behind mid evil walls to protect from barbarian invaders. This town was originally known as Aspra meaning bitter. The philosophy of this name was to discourage anyone from coming to destroy or take over the village. Like all mid evil villages of it's time, Casperia had a noble family the Forani's . It is believed that countess Julianna lived to be 100 years old and never had any children. Upon her death the castle went to remaining Forani ancestors. Just walking the twisty cobblestone streets that are narrow, with up and down stairways, beautiful wooden doors, and flowered balconies, it is easy to feel that you have stepped back into a different time and space.
As I wandered the deserted streets I half expected people in period appropriate clothes to appear or come out of the homes. I did find a prince, but alas, he was only three, and with long golden curls, and big brown eyes, he looked deceptively like my grandson! Prince Sebastian was in his glory running wild up and down the ancient paths, slaying stray cats, chasing the fair maidens of the Pilates group, and just enjoying all the attention of his papa who was in charge for the week.
Preservation of homes and buildings is constant and necessary to maintain the beauty of these ancient 1000 A. D. structures. The section most of stayed in was part of the original royal castle. Many of the rooms had enormous, heavy, dark wood and velvet tapestry covered furniture. The massive armoire in our room was at least 10 feet tall and six feet long of intricately carved dark wood. A lovely wood floor studio and modern baths, with bidets of course, were the only really modern enhancements. Every effort is made to retain Casperia's original beauty.
Not much historical information about the town was available to me except from Alan, the owner of Sunflower Retreats. He grew up here. He told me that over his childhood he was scuttled about from this area back and forth to Rome and London to get an education. Alan has been running this retreat center with his wife for 18 years and seems to love what he does. Another interesting character was Johnny who is half owner of the Vigna restaurant in the village. Johnny told us that his real love is giving talks on the good vs bad olive oil. One evening, while we dinned there, he gave us a very brief introduction to his much more formal and longer lecture on virgin olive oils. One humorous detail of note is that the other co owner of the restaurant could really care less about the restaurant business. His true love are Lego's, Leonard Nimoy, and the Starship Enterprise. There are framed copies of the specs for the Enterprise and a life size cardboard cutout of Spock in the bar area near the bathroom. It is easy to get startled by Spock staring at you when you walk out of the bathroom. This guy also has a well stocked Lego store with all the latest Star Wars Lego packages. Sebastian spent a lot of time there.
It was only fitting that Page would have a Pilates retreat here where the possibility of mid evil torture seemed very likely. The retreat was Page's first attempt at hosting a retreat far from her Costa Rica home and it was wildly successful with all the available spots filled with a uniquely international mix of students. I met many beautiful women. One from Lisbon, Portugal, one from Nice, France, (ironically, both places I will visit this trip) Manhattan Beach, Ca., Chicago, LA, and Costa Rica.
Page's classes were challenging and difficult at times but not too far above my ability. However, it wasn't her classes that caused me the most pain. I was humbled by another instrument of mid evil times, a horse!
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