When we first arrived here, I intended to have themed blog entries for specific adventures and then have an end-of-week catch-all to capture miscellaneous observations.  Well, that happened for the first 4 weeks and then end-of-week thing fell to the wayside.  So I’m going to capture a bunch of random things here, starting with today.

We’re on day 4 of rain in our little village.

rainy clouds descended on the valley

cloudy, rainy evening

Because it’s been cloudy and raining for four days with spring weather, our apartment has been cold and a little damp.  I did laundry yesterday.  The laundry didn’t dry in 24 hours and I was cold, so I turned up the thermostat and dried the clothes on the radiators.

Italian clothes dryer

Yesterday evening we went to our little bar and had a pre-dinner drink.  One of the neighbors came in with samples of freshly made cheese, and Chad and I tasted it and swooned.  Then the bartender brought out samples of two other cheeses that he gives “only to his favorite customers.”  They were also delicious.  (No photos available because we were too busy with the tasting.)  Then Chad ordered a shot of rum to go so he could use it in a recipe.  Small-town hospitality from the bartender.

rum cup

Tonight the cheese farmer rang our doorbell and delivered a fresh round of ricotta from his farm, which I am sure was just made this morning.

fresh ricotta from a neighbor – it’s missing a bite that was eaten by Chad

We went on a walk the other day, and this sweet dog went with us.  We passed him on the street while he was taking a rest, and he stood up and trotted around with us.  He was so sweet.  Cute.

a sweet walking companion

We passed a house in Guardialfiera where the street address had changed at some point.

old address and new address on a house

And there was a beautiful moonrise this evening.

Tomorrow we head to Gargano for the weekend.  If you think of Italy as a boot, Gargano is the spur.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a state/national forest and quaint villages and towns.  We’re excited to see a different part of Italy and do some hiking and eatseafoo d on the coast.

Ciao for now.  Alla prossima (until next time) and ci vediamo doppo ( see you soon).

On April 25, 1945, Allied forces liberated Italy from Mussolini’s Fascist government and the Nazis.  May 25th is now a national holiday which is celebrated with marching bands, music concerts, festivals, political rallies, and other public events around the country.  Government buildings, schools, and most businesses are closed for the day.

Chad and I had a very interesting Liberation Day holiday.  In the morning, we took a leisurely walk out of the village into the countryside.  It is spring here, and the wildflowers are in full bloom.

spring flowers

I think this is a type of thistle

a mix of tiny flowers in a variety of colors

While walking on a country road, a car stopped next to us and it was Danilo, a younger guy we met a month ago.  We chatted for a while and then he said, “I’m going to a music festival this afternoon.  Do you want to go with me?  Great!  I’ll pick you up in the piazza after lunch.” 

I was taking photos of goats when Danilo showed up

When we returned to town and were walking through the piazza, we were waved over by Vincenzo, an older gentleman whom we had met a couple of days before.  He said, “Let’s go for a tour” and ushered us into his car.  We drove a couple of blocks and stopped at his granddaughter’s house.  There were several people milling around in her yard. 

It turns out that there is a traditional bread that is made on Liberation Day, and she makes a ton of loaves and hands them out to people in the village.  Chad and I were each handed a loaf, and then we were back in the car with Vincenzo.  I honestly had no clue where we were going.

We drove up, up, up the mountain, and we parked at Vincenzo’s friend’s house.  Now, it was getting close to lunch time, and I didn’t know if we were about to have lunch with his friend, but his friend wasn’t home.  Vincenzo just wanted to show us the view from the terrace.

The view – you can see Guardialfiera in the middle of the photo

With Vincenzo on the terrace

Then he asked if we like rosemary and sage, and he harvested some wild herbs out of the yard for us.

Wild rosemary blooming with purple flowers

Then we got back in the car and went up and over the mountain and then came back around and down into Guardialfiera.  We parked in front of Vincenzo’s house, and he told us to come inside.  I thought, “Okay.  Are we having lunch here?”  Nope.  He took us down into his basement and gave us a jar of dried oregano that he had prepared.  Then he asked, “Do you like wine?” and gave us a bottle of red wine from his favorite region.  And then Chad and I went home for lunch.

Gifts from Vincenzo – traditional bread, red wine, a jar of oregano, and wild rosemary and sage

Danilo met us in the piazza after lunch, and we hopped into his car and headed to the music festival in Montenegro di Bisaccia.  We parked at the edge of town and then walked down a path into the countryside. 

walking…if you squint you can see the red tent of the concession stand

I was captivated by the views of the hills and their folded textures.

the hills

view of the concert area from the other direction

The path widened out into a clearing where the music festival was happening.  Some people were standing, some were lying on blankets, some were having picnics.  We each had a glass of wine and listened to music.

The path ended at a grotto with a religious shrine inside.

entrance to the grotto

the shrine

We left the festival and returned to Guardialfiera and had an aperitivo at the bar before going our separate ways for dinner.  All in all, it was a spontaneous and fun day.  And I will leave you with some more photos of spring flowers.

spring flowers

a flowering succulent

this is wild rapini greens

more spring flowers

more flowers

a flowering tree

and wild grasses…

We had a fun weekend exploring new areas of Molise and Abruzzo. 

On Friday, we went to the town of Guglionesi.  We knew nothing about the town; we had only seen signs from the highway pointing “turn here for Guglionesi.”  Before hopping into the car, Chad did some research and found a caseificio outside of the town that had great reviews.  A caseficio is a local cheese factory, so of course we went there.  This one was on a farm, and it had a little sales counter for the public.  We bought – wait for it – 1.5 kilograms of fresh ricotta in a bowl and (I think) a 2.0 kilogram wheel of aged pecorino.  We thought we would share cheese with our new friends in Guardialfiera, but so far we have been little piggies.

cheese displayed on the counter for us

freshly made cheese behind the sales counter

After buying the equivalent of 7.7 pounds of cheese, we went into Guglionesi to walk around and explore. 

view from Guglionesi looking down into the valley – note the snowy mountains in the distance

walking through a small street in Guglionesi

the corner of this little building with all of its plants was cool

I liked the arch at the end of this pedestrian street

I saw this turtle pile in a fountain and thought it was a sculpture – nope!

On Saturday we went to Fossacesia to meet Chad’s cousin Alice.  We first stopped at the greenhouse where she works.  It is a huge wholesale facility that grows only cactus and other succulents.  It was so cool! 

beautiful cactus flowers

Then we went down to the marina for lunch.  We went to a quick-service seafood joint, kind of like a cafeteria.  There is a small storefront where you walk up to the counter, look at the display cases, and order what looks good.  We sat at a table out on the sidewalk, and the food was delicious.

seafood salad, stewed squid, fish croquetas, and other delicious bites – not pictured is the calamari

After that, we drove to Vasto just down the coast to see the town and get a gelato.  Vasto was on my list of places to visit, so that was fun.  We walked around the old part of the town, taking in the views of the Adriatic Sea. 

view of the coast and the sea from the old town in Vasto

We also saw lots of old buildings.  (I’m showing them here in approximate order of construction since I don’t know the actual dates.)

perhaps this was a defense tower since it’s on top of the hill

old Romanesque or Medieval church courtyard walls (with Chad and Alice in the photo)

a Renaissance church

looks like a Renaissance palazzo (mansion) to me!

After all of this old architecture, we glanced into a shop window and saw some Givenchy eyeglasses frames that brought us spinning back into the 21st century.

these babies only cost 458 euros

Then we found a gelateria that was open during the lunch hour when so many businesses are closed, and I ate the best strawberry gelato of my life.  We laughed and talked about all sorts of things, and then we took this fun photo.

Chad, Alice, Juli

On Sunday, it was raining all day and Chad and I were tired of being in the car, so we just chilled out in the apartment reading books, watching Netflix, and hanging out together. 

in Guardialfiera, rain clouds over the valley

And Chad just made cannelloni with his homemade pasta plus ricotta from our Guglionesi adventure.

Chad’s homemade cannelloni

I took a break from writing the blog for a few days, because my brain was fried from so much writing and scheming about blog topics.  Now I’m back at it!

On Monday we went back to Chad’s ancestral village of Monteferrante to have lunch with more relatives. Before lunch, Chad and I went for a little stroll through the village.

view from the village

strolling in the streets

I really like this set of steps that go up and up

We had met most of the family during previous trips to Italy, so it was so nice to see everyone again.  Plus, it was nice to finally meet Bruno since we missed him on previous visits.

The family (left to right) – Silvana, Simone, Greta, me, Vincenzo, Chad, Angela, Cristian, Argentina, Bruno

Of course, the food was amazing.  As we waited for everyone to arrive, we had some salty snacks and an aperitivo.  For me, I drank a Campari spritz cocktail with Campari and prosecco.  Then, once the rest of the family arrived, we settled in for a delicious, long lunch.

Argentina’s parents have a farm, so a lot of the food came from there.  We started with cured meats/salumi, cheeses and olives.  Best prosciutto of my life.  Then lasagna with homemade pasta, which is my favorite pasta dish.  Then pallotte which looks like a meatball but is made with bread crumbs and cheese and egg and is served with tomato sauce.  I remember the first time Chad and I had pallotte; we had stopped at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere and weren’t sure what to order for lunch.  The waiter said, “I’ll just bring you some things.”  When we were served the pallotte, we thought, “Oh, meatballs.”  Then we took a bite and said, “What in the world is this delicious food?” and I’ve been in love ever since.

appetizer course

lasagna

Anyway, I digress.  During lunch on Monday, after pallotte, we had pork cutlets with stewed onions.  Then some salad.  Then fresh pineapple slices.  Then vanilla cake with strawberries and cream.  Then after-dinner digestive drinks.  Then coffee.  And I feel like I’m forgetting something from the menu.  Plus, the food was so delicious that I forgot to take photos along the way, but I’ll share the photos that I have.

Strawberry cake!

After all of this eating, we went for a leisurely stroll through the village and greeted the neighbors.  At the end of the afternoon, we stopped back at the house for some orange Fanta.  Then Argentina was kind enough to send us home with leftovers of lasagna and cake. 

Before we left the village, we stopped at a public fountain to fill up some jugs with water.  Monteferrante is known for having great water.  In fact, people come from other towns to get water from the many public fountains. 

A public fountain in Monteferrante

So, with our jugs full of water and our hearts full of great memories, we headed home.  And then the next day we ate cake for breakfast and lasagna for lunch. 

Our water jugs from Monteferrante

Today we drove to Saepinum, about an hour away from Guardialfiera.  Saepinum was an ancient Roman provincial village.  However, it was a bit of a backwater place, so after the Roman Empire fell, the town just slogged along until it was sacked by the Saracens in the 9th century.  (Although Wikipedia says that the town was abandoned in the 4th century, so I’m not sure how the Saracens could sack a town that was already abandoned.)

an entry portal to the old Roman town

another entry portal

and just for giggles, here’s another arch

If you go onto Google Maps and click on the Layers button in the bottom left corner of Google Maps, you get a satellite view of Saepinum which is very interesting:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Saepinum+Archaeological+Area/@41.4333579,14.6164463,65m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x133a6cf0a8c39547:0x65ce81df8918699e!8m2!3d41.432263!4d14.6167185!16s%2Fg%2F1td0k89j

You can see the old walls around the town, the foundations of houses, and entry gates of the town.  The town had some main streets, a couple of temples, a grocery market, some shops, a public bath, an amphitheater, a public fountain, and a water mill for grinding corn and other grains.

walking around the walls outside of the village

columns from the old temple

What is most interesting about this place is that, because it was an out-of-the-way backwater place, it was never demolished or paved over or buried like other sites around Italy.  It has been left largely undisturbed as an entire village. 

I love all of the spring flowers growing around the foundations of this old house

an old Roman mosaic

after the Roman times, people scavanged building materials to build new structures, so you can see things like this this…

When you go to Rome, you see the ancient Roman buildings or foundations but you look down onto them because the city has been built up and on top of the old history.  With Saepinum, you are literally walking on the old streets, through the old arches, and among the old foundations of buildings.

a road in Saepinum

the foundations of old Roman houses – I haven’t figured out if these are just stone foundations and the wooden walls are gone, or if there were stone walls on top

Most of Saepinum is original, but there are exceptions.  At the Roman amphitheater, there are some medieval houses that were built on top of the theater seating.  (The original theater could seat 3,000 people, so you just see a fraction of the seating here.)  

the Saepinum amphitheater – this was just escavated in the 1970s, the houses that you see are “new” and were built in the medieval times

Apparently, this village was mostly abandoned, but now people have started moving back to restore old houses and reinvigorate old farms.  We heard lots of chickens.  We saw a couple of residents.  We saw some big white dogs that looked like polar bears.  And we saw a surprising number of tourists, considering it was a cloudy, rainy Sunday morning in April in rural Molise Italy.

curious cows

And I was obsessed with the patterns of lichen while we were there.

lichen on tree bark

lichen and moss on rocks

On the way home, we took the scenic route through the mountains.  I’m not sure if this was on purpose or if we accidentally took a detour.  In any case, it was a beautiful drive.  And then we were on the verge of being hangry so we found a restaurant in the middle of nowhere to eat some lunch and had a two-hour lunch, because, well, Italy.

our appetizer at lunch today – this was just our appetizer! but so delicious. and then we had pasta…

This was another quiet week for us. 

Our Canadian friends went out of town for a few days, so Chad satisfied his gardening side by watering their flowers and vegetable garden during their absence.

The weather continues to be unpredictable.  The weather app says it will rain, and then it doesn’t.  But if it rains as predicted, it’s a drizzle until it isn’t.  Then there’s the wind that blows through.  We’ve decided to stop planning around the weather.  For example, it’s supposed to rain tomorrow, but we’ve planned various tourist trips – some with inside destinations and some with outside destinations – and we’ll just see where the day takes us. 

Yesterday, during our passeggiata (our evening stroll), an acquaintance was sitting on a bench with some people and shouted to us, “Come over!”  So we went over and sat for a while to chat.  During the conversation, Chad asked where to buy good, local olive oil, and everyone said, “I make my own.”  “I make my own.”  “We make homemade olive oil with no additives or impurities.”  The lady sitting next to me on the bench said, “When you are making your passeggiata tomorrow, stop by my house and I will give you some of my olive oil.”

Well, we made our passeggiata this afternoon, and this lady was standing in her window looking out on the street.  She waved at us to wait for her, and then she came down with a bottle of olive oil for us.  So thoughtful!  She advised us to eat it with bread and tomatoes.  She also told us her name is MariaConcetta.  We took the bottle of oil home and then went back for our passeggiata.  When we passed by her house, she was in the window again, so we all waved at each other.

homemade olive oil

It’s not always easy for me here with the language.  Sometimes I think I understand 80% of what I’m hearing and then I think I only understand 25%.  It’s frustrating.  But at least I can accomplish the basic things like buying some bread or paying for our beers at the bar or understanding when someone makes a scherzo (a joke). 

And as time goes on, things progress.  We continue to see familiar faces, even more so as the weather gets nicer and more people are out in the streets.  And the more we see familiar faces, the friendlier they are.  There is the guy who looks like Chad’s great-uncle Adolfo.  There is the guy who owns the turkey that we can hear from our apartment.  There is the guy from the town council.  The grocer and his wife always say hi and smile at us.  And the butcher’s wife always gives us a warm welcome when we pass her on the sidewalk.  We feel very welcomed here.

As we’ve settled into the everyday life here, I’m focusing less on the big impressions and more on the details.  When we take our daily walks, I’m seeing things that escaped my notice before.  Of course, many of these details are architectural in nature because, well, I’m an architect.

I love these door knockers that I see in Europe that are little hands to knock on the doors

And here’s the classic lion head door knocker

I noticed these flowers growing out of a balcony support

Here’s a piece of tile embedded in the asphalt on the street

I like this carved stone rosette which is part of an entry portal for a house

One of the spigots on a fountain at the town piazza

I saw this on the side of a house – perhaps this is where you tie up your horse

And here’s our little mailbox with our identifications :)

And then there are also the details of nature.

Irises in the wild

These little springtime flowers

Storm clouds passing through earlier this week when it was raining

And lest we forget that we are in an agricultural region, we occasionally see agricultural vehicles like a truck carrying hay, a little farm truck, or a teams of oxen pulling three carts (which we saw over the weekend on our way to Larino.)  Since we live in Atlanta Georgia, a metro city of 5 million people, we are not used to seeing oxen and carts.  But on our way to Larino, we slowed way down and eased past the carts, waved, and continued on our way.

A farm truck in the village

A modern “wagon” in the village with a load of firewood – keep in mind that we are in the mountains and many houses are still heated with wood

This is Chad’s dream car for retirement in Italy

And we do appreciate the local farmers, vendors, and the sense of community.  Everyone is so friendly and welcoming.  We were taking our evening stroll today, and someone waved us over to come sit on a bench and chat for a while.  So we did.  The Italians have this saying: “L’arte di fare niente” which means “the art of doing nothing,” and we are embracing this philosophy.  We go on leisurely walks, we take our time with meals, we chat with people in the bar, we chat with the butcher and the grocery owners, and we just sit outside and enjoy the weather when it’s nice.  The Art of Doing Nothing allows us to notice and appreciate the little details of the everyday life.

Dawn this morning…

…and here’s the sun just peeking over the horizon…

It was kind of a quiet week for us, both literally and figuratively.  Two weather fronts came through which brought cold, wind, rain, and the possibility of snow showers.  We didn’t see snow; I was looking forward to seeing it, just for the novelty of snow in April.  We also didn’t have our balcony doors open and we didn’t venture outside as much as we’d previously done, so we weren’t as connected to the sounds of the village.

This past week was Holy Week, and we saw several new faces around town – family members who live elsewhere but who came back to spend Easter (la Pasqua) with the family.  We saw Easter wreaths on house doors and Easter bunnies and colorful egg decorations in the shops.  We bought a traditional Pasqua pastry which was a baked turnover filled with a light egg and cheese custard.  It was good!

the schedule for Holy Week in the village

the Easter pastry

the Easter pastry with its egg custard filling

On Thursday we saw a procession go down the street in front of our house, and at first, we thought it was part of Holy Week.  It was actually a funeral procession following a funeral mass at the cathedral.  There was a hearse decorated with flowers driving slowly down the street with a crowd of people walking behind it.  The church bells tolled a sorrowful song for 15 minutes.  The procession continued to the local cemetery.

The main church on top of the hill

We are getting further entrenched in our routine here.  People are becoming more friendly now that they realize we are staying here for a while and not just passing through.  The butcher gave us a taste of his homemade dried sausage (yum), the grocer gave us an extra apple during a visit, and some people have paid for our beers at the little bar.  Plus, we now recognize people on the street or in the bar and have a chat with them.

The bar near our apartment – you get a coffee here in the morning and then a beer/wine at the end of the day

The butcher shop

The grocery shop

We took a walk yesterday and a cat ran over to us and flopped down on the ground for some attention.  I didn’t take a picture of the cat because I was too busy petting it despite Chad’s protests.  As we continued our walk, the cat trotted after us for a while before taking a quick left to go explore elsewhere.  Then yesterday evening, we had a video call with Chad’s parents, Jim and Fran, and our cat Bokchoy made an appearance.  While I do miss our snuggly cats, especially on this cold and cloudy weekend, I’m very happy with this sabbatical in Italy.

Our cat Bokchoy a couple of years ago – such a ham

Since Chad works during the week, we try to take advantage of the weekends to make trips around the region.  We knew it was supposed to start raining this afternoon and rain through tomorrow, so we took advantage of the clear skies in the morning to go to Larino.

Larino is another hilltop town.  While it is just a few kilometers away, it’s a 25-minute drive since most of the drive is on curving mountain roads.

Similar to our visit to Casacalenda, Larino felt big to me with its population of 6,700 people.  The new part of the town is higher on the hill with several supermarkets, retail shops, and other businesses, and it sits on the site of the original Samnite/Roman town of Larinum from the early second century BC.  On the edge of the newer part of town are the remnants of a Roman amphitheater.

view of the amphitheater

another view of the amphitheater

The medieval town center is a little further down the mountain and is nestled in a little valley.  Similar to Guardialfiera, some streets are wide enough for cars and some are pedestrian-only. 

street view in the old town

a small plaza – note the short height of the archway which is a pedestrian alley connection to the next street

another street view

The buildings are typically two or three stories, frequently with shops on the ground floor and residences above.  Sprinkled throughout are former family palazzi (mansions) which were built in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries.

a cute shop entrance

a palazzo (mansion)

the entry courtyard of another palazzo

There are also a few churches in the old town center with the main cathedral (il duomo) being the most important.  The duomo was built in the early 14th century just after the town had been flattened by an earthquake and sacked by the Saracens.  When we travel, we have a rule:  If we see a church and the door is open, we must go in and look at the art and architecture.

the duomo

inside the duomo

at some point the duomo was renovated with new plaster on the walls, but portions of the old frescos were left exposed

another church – the door was open so we went in to look around – that tower to the left is the former bell tower for the church, but it is now a private residence

inside the church

view towards the church entrance – I couldn’t figure out why there were no benches or chairs

another church

another church

the churches that we entered had signage in braille – I’ve never seen this before in Europe

After wandering around the old town, we followed our noses to a panificio (bread bakery) which smelled so good!  It turned out to be a large bakery kitchen without a retail shop.  We talked to one of the workers and learned that they usually have a table and cash register during the mornings, but today they weren’t selling; they were just baking.  She advised us to come back on Tuesday morning.  (Easter Monday is a religious holiday so they will be closed.)

Then we popped into a pasticceria (sweets bakery) to have an espresso.  We were quite surprised to learn that an espresso there was only 50 cents.  It is usually 1 euro.  We also picked up a few dolci (sweets/desserts) to bring home.

at the pasticceria, our dolci were wrapped up in paper since they were to-go

i dolci – the chocolate ones are filled with chocolate pudding, and the triangles in the bottom left are filled with cream custard and flavored with cinnamon

Before we left Larino, we took the opportunity to go to a supermarket to pick up a few things.  Friends of ours have chickens and have given us some fresh eggs, so, in addition to other items, we purchased some wheat flour and some semolina flour to make pasta from scratch.  We left Larino just as it started raining.

some groceries, clockwise from top left – anchovy paste (to spread on bread as an appetizer), basmati rice, arugula, semolina flour, savory crackers flavored with pepperoncini (hot peppers), wheat flour, and pasta and couscous from La Molisana which is a Molise brand of pasta made in Campobasso

fresh eggs from our friends

We made it back to Guardialfiera at 12:45 pm, just in time to stop by our little bar to have a beer before lunch.  Plus, we saw our friends who gifted us with another batch of eggs.  Now we’ve settled in for a cold and rainy afternoon with the heat on (via radiators), some snacks, and Netflix.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

I liked this door knocker

we saw this funny face on the side of a house – perhaps the metal ring was where you could tie up your horse

and we walked by this little door – with me for scale and perspective

This week is Santa Settimana (Holy Week) in Italy.  Italy is a Catholic country, and most people in the country still practice the religion even if just doing so at important holidays. 

Growing up in the Presbyterian Church, my family celebrated Holy Week at our church acknowledging Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and then Easter Sunday.  Italian Catholicism recognizes these days as well but in a way that is steeped in local tradition.

We did not attend Palm Sunday events in Guardialfiera because we spent the day in Abruzzo with family and had a wonderful time there.  On Monday, Guardialfiera had a Via Crucis event that we didn’t know about.  (I think this was something to do with Stations of the Cross.)  Then there was a break on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Thursday night was a Community Adoration which we didn’t know about.

Finally, on Friday afternoon, I got the bright idea to go to the church bulletin board and look at the schedule.  I lamented the events that we had missed, but then noticed there was a procession through the village in the evening.  There was holy mass at 6 pm followed by the procession at 7 pm.  Chad and I went down to our little bar at 6:30 to have a beverage, sit at a table on the sidewalk and check out the scene. 

A few minutes before 7 pm, people started gathering on the street in groups of two or three.  Then, as soon as we could see the procession approaching, the lights went off in the bar out of respect, and everyone came into the street.

The procession started at the church after mass, came down the hill, and then went down the main street, all at a solemn pace.  The sidewalk spectators removed their hats, stopped their conversations, put out their cigarettes and generally ensured that there weren’t any beer glasses or wine glasses on the outdoor tables.  As the parade passed, the spectators crossed themselves.

As far as the parade, the first person carried a wooden cross that had a white cloth stole wrapped around it.  This person was accompanied by young boys.  Then there were about 50-60 citizens following.  Then a silver-plated cross on a large pole which is a sacred object from the church treasury.  Then 50 citizens.  Then a very large cross with a statue of Jesus hanging on the cross.  Then the priest,  Then 50 citizens.  Then a large statue of Mary carried on a platform by four men, with Mary having a silver crown and a blue fabric cloak.  Then 50 citizens.  Then a small bed carried by four girls.  Then 30 citizens.

During the procession, the citizens and leaders sang songs and recited the Hail Mary phrases in Italian.  I was able to recognize a lot of it because it was recited slowly and the words were familiar, even to a Presbyterian.

The procession then went around a corner, and everyone either went back into their houses or went back into the bar (because it was cold outside).  I wondered why so many elderly people hadn’t gone to mass, but then I realized that the elderly have trouble walking, the church is up the hill, and the procession lasted for one hour.

While the procession went to the other end of the village, had a ceremony, and then turned back to head up to the church, the rest of us finished our little apperitivo inside the bar where it was a little warmer and we ate some snacks.  We all knew, however, that the procession would pass by again. 

When the procession arrived at the outskirts of the village out of our view, the Jesus was removed from the cross and placed onto the bed carried by the little girls.  We knew that the procession would come back through the main piazza where the bar was located, the people would stop to do some singing, and then walk back to the church in stages.  And we knew that there needed to be respect for the ceremony.

So the older men went back onto the sidewalk at a certain point to keep watch for the procession.  At one point, one watch-guy opened the door to the bar and said, “It’s coming!”  The bar owner switched off the lights and everyone abandoned our drinks and prepared to go outside to see the return of the procession.  And then the bar cat Tigre slipped in.  Tigre was the “it” that was coming – for dinner – not the procession.  We all had a good laugh.  But we were all still attentive to paying respect to the procession.

Shortly thereafter, the procession returned.  The group was singing a solemn song and Jesus was lying on the bed in a re-enactment of his death story.  On this return of the procession, little girls (instead of the boys) were at the head of the parade with the leader of the procession.  I expected to observe the  end of the procession as a dispassionate observer, but I got teary-eyed watching everyone go past.  There was the sound of the song with so much emotion, the traditional ritual of the procession, and the dedication of the local citizens, even the dedication of those who weren’t participating in the parade. 

Certo, I didn’t take any photos.  That would have been a very high level of disrespect.  But I did take mental and emotional photos that I will remember for the rest of my life.

I saw a woman documenting the procession with a camera and a man documenting with a videocamera, so I will do some research over the next few days to see if I can find links for posting.

In the meantime, we are soaking up the culture, food, history, and traditions here.