Aunt Nell and Uncle Serge were settled for the winter in a nice lodging near the Cascina, the Park. I was still a little girl and walked on the Cascina every day with Nana but saw all the galleries and churches with Mother and have never forgotten them. Mother taught me to love the pictures, which I enjoyed all my life.
In the spring, we all went to stay in lodgings at Saltino, a village above Vallombrosa. Vera had the English nurse for her baby, complete with pram. Because the paths were bad going and some steep, she had hired a donkey and Jigino (a boy) to manage it. Vera had some plan for it to pull the pram, which was utterly useless. We all returned south, me on the donkey, which annoyed her. I can still remember the delicious taste of the country bread.
UNCLE SERGE
Aunt Nell's Russian-born husband, General Sergei Nikolaevich Plaoutine, son of General Nikolai Fedorovich Plaoutine & Severin Iosifovna Kalinowski.
AUNT NELL
Eleanor Hester Mary Pringle, London-born daughter of Lt-Colonel John Henry Pringle & Georgiana Ramsbottom, wife of Uncle Serge, and sister of EV's mother.
THE CASCINA
At the end of the 19th century, the Cascina Park, not to be confused with the municipality in Pisa, was a beautiful park in Florence, where the fashionable English tourists took their daily walks.
NANA
Devon-born Elizabeth Sims, privately known as "Nana", dearly beloved Nursemaid and Governess to EV & Jack Jauncey for most (if not all) of their childhood years. She first appears with them in 1891. We know neither when Nana left the family nor where she went.
VERA
Vera Sergeyevna Plaoutine, wife of Sergei Fedorovich Denissieff and cousin to EV, having been Aunt Nell & Uncle Serge's eldest daughter.
AN ENGLISH NURSE
It was most likely Emma (Pugh) Bate, who served as Nursemaid for the first four children of Serge and Vera Denissieff.
SALTINO
We do know that Vera and Sergei had at least one of their children at Saltino — their third child, Nelly (known as Elena in Russia, Helene in France, and Mimi by her family), was born there in 1900. The baby with the pram, mentioned here, must have been Serjak (Sergei Sergeyevich Denissieff). The "we all" mentioned here would have been, at least, EV and her Mother, Aunt Nell and Uncle Serge. Saltino must have been a very small village, indeed, barely more than a few secluded residences and roads at the cliff for which the place was named. Little reference to Saltino can be easily found these days. Nearby Vallombrosa was famous for its ancient Benedictine Monastery. With a 6-franc, return-trip ticket in hand, it was easily reached from Saltino, via a small Cable Railway running up and down the steep grade. Probably more comfortable than the donkey, but what would one do with the pram?!
ILLUSTRATIONS
1) Cascina Park in Florence, Italy (by Nikolay Gay aka: Nicolai Ge)
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