It was a cold spring day in London, and I was wandering the streets of Covent Garden with a good friend. We were enjoying another one of our theater weekend getaways, which always included a little shopping. Suddenly out of nowhere, my eye caught a store with the most whimsical jewelry I had ever seen … Les Néréides. After barely getting through the front door, I had fallen in love with 10 pieces.
But one piece in particular caught my eye. It reminded me of one of the most amazing moments of my youth. My trip to Tuscany to find the Stealing Beauty house.
More about Stealing Beauty
If you’ve seen the movie, you will remember the significance of the huge tree on the hill. And you will remember the coming of age of Lucy, the main character. You will remember the significance of her bike rides and you would also remember her quest to find love. And the defining moment was how it turned out not to be exactly what she came looking for.
Similar dreams and emotions were inside me, in one way or another, during my travels through Europe in my 20s.
Film Stills from Stealing Beauty | Bernardo Bertolucci
If you haven’t seen the movie, obviously, I would recommend it. Check out what Vogue had to say about it here. And if you just want to learn more about the movie, check out IMDB and Wikipedia.
The Story Behind the Earrings
This first trip to Italy was with some girlfriends during a study-abroad semester. My goal was to find the house that was featured so prominently in the movie, somewhere in Tuscany. From Venice, we ended up in Siena, and that is when I said my goodbyes. I promised to meet up with them in Rome two days later. Because I had to find this house!
I knew it was in Brolio and I knew the name of the guy who was living in the house with his family. I bought my ticket, even knowing that the next bus wouldn’t come back until the next morning. But I couldn’t resist the opportunity that was staring me in the face.
I had the “exact” location of the house, but when the bus dropped me off in the middle of what felt like nowhere, I was nervous, even downright scared.
There was nothing that looked like the house I had seen in the movie. So, I started to walk … down a one-lane road … up another road … back again … and down yet another road … then, after what seemed like hours, suddenly, in the distance, there was the house! I felt like a stalker as I hid behind trees to get closer for a better picture. I had made it and I was feeling content!
The weather got colder, so I reverted to a backup plan of walking 7km to catch a bus that was going back to Siena, rather than wait till the next day. But that is not where this story ends … after about a kilometer, a red car stopped and the woman driver offered me a lift. Fantastic!
The Backup Plan That Led Me to the House
Trying not to sound like a crazy person, I tried to make it sound normal that I had come all this way, unannounced, to see “my friend” in Brolio. It turned out that the woman was good friends with the family living in the house, and knew their son well as he had been working odd jobs in Brolio during his summer in Tuscany. To top that, she was going to their house for dinner, and she offered to take me with … OMG, what?!?
With that, we were off.
When we arrived at the house, I told the family that I was a friend of their son; after that bold move, seeing how welcoming they were, I just kept up appearances.
When their son finally arrived home and they told him who was there (me, actually a stranger), rather than questioning them or me, he took one look at me, ran over and gave me a big hug and kiss, going on and on about how good it was to see me again.
Needless to say, he stole a moment away with me to get the real story, which was that I had a friend who visited this house the year before. On her trip, she happened upon one of the neighbors who shared all of the information that I was privy to. He was amused to hear the lengths that Stealing Beauty movie fans were willing to go to to just get a peak, and luckily, he was happy to play along.
The night turned into one of the many nights you see in Stealing Beauty: good food, delicious wine, lively conversation and more than three different languages spoken at any given time. And because this all seemed so surreal anyway, the son ended up following me to Rome for the weekend with my girlfriends, and we kept in touch for years afterwards via postcards.
What I’m Really Trying to Say …
The point of this longer post is a reminder to buy things that remind you of your life. When I saw these earrings – with the tree and the bike – I was immediately transported back to that time in my life when I went chasing that house in Brolio.
You will never tire of these pieces, you will always find a time to wear them, and they will be a conversation piece for the rest of your life – just as these earrings bring a happy smile to my face every time I see or wear them. They are one of the most important pieces of jewelry in my collection, which started with these earrings and has now grown into more than 50 Les Néréides pieces.
1 COMMENT
Tasy
1 year ago
Hello is there any chance to advice me how i can found accommodation at that place-house or near by and visit a property after:)
i have to go over there also:)please help:)