108. Godega: The Hotel with a Zoo
The Hotel Primavera in Godega has a feature I have never seen in any other hotel and which causes the owners more than one problem.
A Journalist from “Il Gazzettino” makes mistakes in English literature and attributes the monstrosities of Dr Jekyll to the owner- which in this fictional character, simply do not exist.
http://www.hotelristoranteprimavera.it/
I’ve noticed of late that hotels, especially in the United States, are becoming more and more like miniature forests. You enter the foyer and are greeted by this array of exotic plants, real grown trees and even waterfalls- all set to make the clients forget that in reality, they are locked in a concrete, steel, and glass box. I’m all in favour of people trying to remind us that life does not begin and end with cement and bricks... that there is a whole wonderful world of nature out there. This is particularly important for those environments where nature has been replaced by cement because our society has chosen to no longer live in barns surrounded by mud, cow dung and weeds. Nevertheless this does not alter the fact that flowers do not grow on a cemented path and so as not to deprive ourselves of this longed for and necessary contact with nature we plant trees that grow through our floor boards instead.
If the transplant of nature into our blocks of bricks and mortar takes place in our offices, homes but primarily hotels in the heart of a densely built up city; the need is not so greatly felt in the outskirts of cities where grass still grows alongside the sidewalks and one can gather beneath the shade of an oak tree on a hot July afternoon. It is precisely in one of these outskirts that we find the town of Godega San Urbano just forty miles or so North of Venice.
This is a family hotel started off by the present owner’s father when it was just a bar where drivers on the main road from Venice to Udine and further north into Austria would stop and take a walk around the then fields of corn and pasture for sheep and cows to graze on. When the present owner, Piero Zava and his French born wife, Augustina took over it was well forty years ago and little by little the bar expanded into a restaurant, and then a hotel with dozens of rooms available and halls for ceremonies and gatherings. This indeed is the hotel where last July, as stated in my previous entry, the semi-finals of Miss Italia took place.
With Piero heading the business, the family remained intact. In fact the father, the grandfather, aunts uncles, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, sons and daughters worked and all still work there- so it’s not one of these anonymous hotels set up just to make money. Although Piero, his son Luca and daughter Caterina are keen on maintaining professionalism, one cannot help be infected by the homily atmosphere of the place.
But that’s not all one becomes affected by. Piero’s passion for nature, and in his case wild life and animals rubs off on those stopping by- because Piero has with pride, patience and love created a natural oasis for animals which can well be called a zoo.
During the Miss Italia competition I spent a marvellous couple of hours between the twilight of dusk and the summer darkness wandering around this amazing oasis in the most pleasant company I can recall for a long time running. One may not believe it, but animals are incredible companions for human kind and some moments with them spreads a balm of comfort to the insanity of our lives. Observing them as they connect to one another brings calmness and peace to the mind. Watching them trot, run, slide, hop, prance or simply lie in a pool of laziness make us forget how much importance we deal out to our frantic nonsense.
Those creatures who are with us, but apart from us live on another level and if we care to we can allow ourselves to be drawn into another dimension, greater, more expansive than our present one. All we need to do is walk by, stop, observe, meditate and the rest will come by itself.
However, there are those who claiming the captivity of animals is unethical have done all that possibly can be done to destroy this oasis of wonder. Manifestations and petitions are the order of the day. The owner has to do everything by the letter otherwise he is nailed down with court summons and fines.
Recently he was described by a daily newspaper as “a modern Doctor Hyde who showed his Jekyll side on Wednesday evening...” claiming, among other things that “during the day he proclaimed the care and affection for those small wild-life birds that he was breeding, while at night he locked them up in severe cages...” from Il Gazzettino 30 August 2008. I would have laughed so as not to cry, because Dr. Hyde simply does not exist in English literature or in any other literature, for that matter. There is a Dr. Jekyll who in effect exists, and it is a Mr. Hyde who shows his obscure and evil side. Doctor Jekyll is the kind, trustworthy character as is the owner of the zoo- characteristics that, without knowing, the journalist of that article I quote from, attributed to the owner of the zoo when she said that Dr Jekyll was the side the owner revealed when stopped for enquiries by the police on that Wednesday night.
I was there during the night, like I said, at the Miss Italia competition in July, and I saw where the animals and birds went to sleep. I also took photos for all to see. These animals emanated comfort and they transmitted this to the visitor. This means that they felt a sense of wellbeing which is the only real proof if an animal is loved and cared for or not. Therefore trying to attribute to someone characteristics of monstrosity that are dispelled by the animals themselves is an example of the extent that the Italian press when “motivated” will go to demolishing the life of an individual. If one observes what these animals are the witnesses of, one can understand, can feel, and be certain that these animals are cared for with affection, respect and attention.
I should like to repeat, the wellbeing these animals feel, they communicate to whoever wishes to pass by and stop and share a little of their company and those who wish to put an end to this oasis will not only deprive all of us of a goodness which cannot be purchased but will deprive the animals themselves of their abode that they have learnt to love and feel comfortable in. Perhaps they will also miss the company of us human beings - which is hardly worth it because at the end of the day it is the human beings who are the fiends.
A Journalist from “Il Gazzettino” makes mistakes in English literature and attributes the monstrosities of Dr Jekyll to the owner- which in this fictional character, simply do not exist.
http://www.hotelristoranteprimavera.it/
I’ve noticed of late that hotels, especially in the United States, are becoming more and more like miniature forests. You enter the foyer and are greeted by this array of exotic plants, real grown trees and even waterfalls- all set to make the clients forget that in reality, they are locked in a concrete, steel, and glass box. I’m all in favour of people trying to remind us that life does not begin and end with cement and bricks... that there is a whole wonderful world of nature out there. This is particularly important for those environments where nature has been replaced by cement because our society has chosen to no longer live in barns surrounded by mud, cow dung and weeds. Nevertheless this does not alter the fact that flowers do not grow on a cemented path and so as not to deprive ourselves of this longed for and necessary contact with nature we plant trees that grow through our floor boards instead. 
If the transplant of nature into our blocks of bricks and mortar takes place in our offices, homes but primarily hotels in the heart of a densely built up city; the need is not so greatly felt in the outskirts of cities where grass still grows alongside the sidewalks and one can gather beneath the shade of an oak tree on a hot July afternoon. It is precisely in one of these outskirts that we find the town of Godega San Urbano just forty miles or so North of Venice.
This is a family hotel started off by the present owner’s father when it was just a bar where drivers on the main road from Venice to Udine and further north into Austria would stop and take a walk around the then fields of corn and pasture for sheep and cows to graze on. When the present owner, Piero Zava and his French born wife, Augustina took over it was well forty years ago and little by little the bar expanded into a restaurant, and then a hotel with dozens of rooms available and halls for ceremonies and gatherings. This indeed is the hotel where last July, as stated in my previous entry, the semi-finals of Miss Italia took place.
With Piero heading the business, the family remained intact. In fact the father, the grandfather, aunts uncles, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, sons and daughters worked and all still work there- so it’s not one of these anonymous hotels set up just to make money. Although Piero, his son Luca and daughter Caterina are keen on maintaining professionalism, one cannot help be infected by the homily atmosphere of the place.
But that’s not all one becomes affected by. Piero’s passion for nature, and in his case wild life and animals rubs off on those stopping by- because Piero has with pride, patience and love created a natural oasis for animals which can well be called a zoo.
During the Miss Italia competition I spent a marvellous couple of hours between the twilight of dusk and the summer darkness wandering around this amazing oasis in the most pleasant company I can recall for a long time running. One may not believe it, but animals are incredible companions for human kind and some moments with them spreads a balm of comfort to the insanity of our lives. Observing them as they connect to one another brings calmness and peace to the mind. Watching them trot, run, slide, hop, prance or simply lie in a pool of laziness make us forget how much importance we deal out to our frantic nonsense.
Those creatures who are with us, but apart from us live on another level and if we care to we can allow ourselves to be drawn into another dimension, greater, more expansive than our present one. All we need to do is walk by, stop, observe, meditate and the rest will come by itself.
Recently he was described by a daily newspaper as “a modern Doctor Hyde who showed his Jekyll side on Wednesday evening...” claiming, among other things that “during the day he proclaimed the care and affection for those small wild-life birds that he was breeding, while at night he locked them up in severe cages...” from Il Gazzettino 30 August 2008. I would have laughed so as not to cry, because Dr. Hyde simply does not exist in English literature or in any other literature, for that matter. There is a Dr. Jekyll who in effect exists, and it is a Mr. Hyde who shows his obscure and evil side. Doctor Jekyll is the kind, trustworthy character as is the owner of the zoo- characteristics that, without knowing, the journalist of that article I quote from, attributed to the owner of the zoo when she said that Dr Jekyll was the side the owner revealed when stopped for enquiries by the police on that Wednesday night.
However, I doubt it that such was the journalist’s intentions because for the following two or three columns of the newspaper she described all that negatively could be attributed to the owner of the zoo. Still, something consoles me- if this journalists sources are as reliable as her sources on literature are... well, I’ll let you be the
judge.
I was there during the night, like I said, at the Miss Italia competition in July, and I saw where the animals and birds went to sleep. I also took photos for all to see. These animals emanated comfort and they transmitted this to the visitor. This means that they felt a sense of wellbeing which is the only real proof if an animal is loved and cared for or not. Therefore trying to attribute to someone characteristics of monstrosity that are dispelled by the animals themselves is an example of the extent that the Italian press when “motivated” will go to demolishing the life of an individual. If one observes what these animals are the witnesses of, one can understand, can feel, and be certain that these animals are cared for with affection, respect and attention.
I should like to repeat, the wellbeing these animals feel, they communicate to whoever wishes to pass by and stop and share a little of their company and those who wish to put an end to this oasis will not only deprive all of us of a goodness which cannot be purchased but will deprive the animals themselves of their abode that they have learnt to love and feel comfortable in. Perhaps they will also miss the company of us human beings - which is hardly worth it because at the end of the day it is the human beings who are the fiends.
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