The Little Miracle of Villa Tarranto

By Neville Jenkinson

Is miracle too strong a word, to use in describing this experience? The thesaurus gives a number of alternatives, such as: "serendipity or godsend" but none of these seem adequate to describe my experience at the Villa Tarranto.

This beautiful 18th century house and gardens overlook Lake Maggora, in Northern Italy. My wife and I spent our 1993 summer holiday at the nearby resort of Bavano. An estate agent would describe the Villa as being in an elevated position, with uninterrupted views over the beautiful lake and majestic mountains beyond. The Villa has large, well-laid out gardens, terraced running down to the lakeside.

It was designed by a Scotsman who had quite a problem in that, how does one build a garden of any consequence within the "Garden of Eden"? In fact, all he needed to do was rearrange the exotic Flora growing wild all around him in a more formal manner. The majestic trees and palms are an important aesthetic ingredient, but they also have a vital role in providing shelter for his guests from the extreme heat of July & August.

This heat combines with the surrounding mountains to produce very heavy short showers of rain to maintain the wonderful, lush colouring. The terraced garden, with its fountains and waterfalls, is a feast for the senses; sight, sound, smell and touch. If you have any of these lacking, then the others still have plenty to celebrate.

Included in the holiday was a day trip to Milan, which was a couple of hours drive away from our lakeside resort. During a visit to the city's famous Cathedral I mentioned my visual difficulty in a silent prayer but it seemed like asking for "just one small screw in a very small voice, at a very large Super Store", and would they deliver?

The wish I made in the famous shopping Galleria also involved restoring some strength into Diabetic legs, though perhaps it carries as little credence as throwing a coin in a Roman fountain.

A few days before the visit to Milan we climbed the short hill up to the local church in Baveno. Hovering just inside was an elderly local lady whose job it seemed was to gently extract the church's share of their money from the casual visitor.

After a very gentle sales pitch involving a picture of the Madonna, we were invited to sit in the Pews. When she was sure we were settled comfortably, she scurried off somewhere. A few moments later she returned clutching a candle.

Ah, we thought, purchase the candle. But no, this was not the ploy. She pointed to herself and pushed the candle towards me. After a great deal of energetic gesticulation it seemed she just wanted me to touch it and for us to supply the light.

The candle was then carried off ceremoniously and placed reverently into position. She then knelt in prayer and indicated that this was on my behalf.

A very moving experience…

The compassion shown by a stranger provoked me into mentioning the little problem with my legs and asking for help. The feeling of well-being evoked in us by the Villa Tarranto and its gardens must have been enjoyed by the guests all those years ago and the thousands of visitors, famous, or just like us, since.

The gently graded walk down from the actual Villa through the gardens was wonderful. I felt so fit. There was no pain in my legs and we walked at a normal speed, not painfully slow!

We completed the 1026 meters without any stress. This is the farthest that I have walked in one stretch without a break in a very long time. It was wonderful!

It seems to be a negative way of thinking to believe in full-blown miracles of the miraculous sort. My prayers never include asking for the blindness or Diabetes to be cured, but I sometimes ask for strength to cope.

The lady's prayer in the little church in Baveno, and my silent one in Milan drew attention to my plight. Whatever else may have helped? The heat, the fact that I have stopped smoking, the pasta, or the Italian authorities whom designed and marked the special route for wheelchairs.

Who knows?…