721st Perdonanza Celestino

It was our last day in Italy and it wasn’t starting out to well. We had wanted to go to the beach, but weather reports were proven correct and a line of clouds was swirling up over the mountains like a horizontal tornado. 

By the time we were finished with second breakfast it was starting to sprinkle. We go Vittorio to come home with us and check our water meter. We had not considered that it had not been read in two years and that the water company was charging us estimated usage. Now Vittorio is going to take care of that and he said he will refinish our door in September. Somehow it is really bugging him. Since the beach was out of the question we drove up to Ovindali for the farmers market. The rain was a little harder and the cows were loose on the road. Many seemed to be enjoying eating apples from roadside trees. There was no market at Ovindali disproving a belief I have had for a year, but there was one in Rocca di Mesa. The rain was picking up and even with an umbrella we were getting pretty wet. I bought a few presents that I had been looking for all summer and we headed to get a coffee and pastry. Breakfast three which is ok if it is your last day. 

Another disappointing consequence of the rain was that Thursday was the 721 Anniversary of Pope Celestine’s walk from his monastery outside Sulmona through Castelvecchio on the way to Rome. Castelvecchio is the place he spent the night. He abdicated a mere three months later appalled by the corruption in Rome. He is a hero. 

Poster of events

Italian flags are tapped to each lamppost by a team of CVS volunteers 

in anticipation of the Celestino Procession.

Usually people start walking in Sulmona and as they go through each town the flame is passed to the next group. We watch the parade from our balcony after watching the participants gather by the fountain. Around three in the afternoon, the clouds cleared and it was a perfect mountain day: fresh with no humidity. 

We were also planning another “Green Night” with a Danish friend who was headed home and the CVS permanent resident Danes. In the meantime I went down to the fountain to see if I could get some good pictures. Slowly the participants arrived and there was lots to look at and friends to talk with. 

Folke Sirente

Horses

Waiting by the fountain

Coro Nuovo Armonie

The papal commission

The flame of Celestino

Guys with feathers in their hats

One Italian friend told me that he had a petorina for me. (Spelling no doubt incorrect). I kept asking him if he meant sheep cheese. MA NO! It was the thing you see me wearing in the PARADE. Yes, me! I was going to be in the 721st Pope Parade. I was so excited, but also concerned that it might be seen as irreverent for me to be wearing a banner for St. Frances when I wasn’t Catholic, Italian or even a real Castevecchian. My friend said that the friends of San Francesco was not a church organisation and basically I was ridiculous. I have been told this many times before by my daughter so I decided to take his word for it. 

Friends Franco, who gave me this opportunity, and Miriana, my new facebook friend

The addition of the Mayor's sash or as some wit said, my Ms. Universe sash.

We started up the street past our house. All traffic had been stopped so I could look lovingly on Castelvecchio at a walking pace in the road, which is smoother, and not worry about being hit by a car. Everything was so beautiful and so soon to be part of my past. The ancient castels and palaces rose above us a bright yellow ochre against the dark blue sky. Everything was washed clean by the morning storm. 

I am behind the Bocce Team dressed in orange

As we rounded the last corner into town the bells at the Church of San Francesco began to peal. This was not the recorded bells of all my years here, but the real bells swinging out to horizontal and falling backward with a shout of joy. Hundreds of people lined the streets and the piazza by the church. The eternal flame was lit and people headed into the church. I slipped out of my petorina and slipped out of this year’s history of CVS and to my friends house for dinner. 

We had roasted pork, salad and incredible potatoes cooked with onions. We drank the stirrup cup, a few too many actually and then I insisted that I had to have one more, last gelato. So back to the piazza for chocolate and strawberry. A medium! Back at home, in pyjamas all packed for our imminent  departure the door bell rings. It is the mayor and his wife. MA NO!! Again!! Get dressed, raise down two flights of stairs to receive them and a gift of confetti candies from Sulmona. Good byes, see you next year, have a safe trip and now we are on the plane. Could anywhere be more magical? I do not think so. Tonight we will be in Vermont and there is a magic to that as well. 

Arrivederci. La anno prossimo. Ciao.

Local Girl Should Make Big!

Aug 18

Yesterday we spent most of the day at the beach after lunch and shopping at IKEA. 

The concert last night was the best band I have ever heard here. There was a woman singer from CVS and a male flutist, lead guitarist, bass guitarist who also sang, and a drummer. Each song was different unlike the previous night when every song sounded the same. The woman had a huge vocal range and was able to sing so fast in a “skat” manner. The flutist was as good as I have ever heard and I have heard Ranpaul. The lead guitarist was equally amazing and played intricate riffs and excellent backup that complemented the singer’s voice. All together: amazing. And they are named after the Brammen Town Musicians. We were so tired that disappointingly we could not stay for the whole thing, but the magical music followed us all the way home and sang us to sleep. Well, not really for me, but it sounds good. I went to sleep listening to “The Deadly Hallows”.

IT WAS ALSO THE MOST PEOPLE I HAVE EVER SEEN FILMING AT A CONCERT. 

Today was a business day. We had breakfasts, said good-by to some people at the market, sold three pastels to the woman who owns the hardware store. She wanted to pick from two, but I took three and she took them all, and headed to Pratola to go to our bank. At the bank you push a button and a door opens. Your picture is taken, without glasses, and then it lets you through the air lock and into the bank. We go there once a summer. On the wall is a large screen TV that shows the same guy looking at his computer. Sometimes he picks his nose. Why is he there? What is he doing? Who knows? There were two clerks working. One guy helped one person the entire hour we were waiting. He was still helping him when we left. What was HE doing? Buying a house? There were six people ahead of us. It takes tremendous paper work to deposit cash in the bank. Jim had to sign three different papers. There are books for sale in the bank including “The Little Prince” in Italian. I thought I could read it so I decided to buy it. That took two signatures. Then I had some questions about on-line banking, but you can’t do it in the USA. I also wondered and still do why we have so little money in the bank so the woman printed out our statement for this year. I still don’t know why so much money has gone out of our account. We will see. Now I am going to pay attention. To exit you go in the little air lock, have your picture taken after the door into the bank closes and then go out the door to the outside. We did a little shopping, mostly looking, and have returned to CVS to have lunch with our amazing neighbors. I hear the plates clinking downstairs so I guess I better get going. 

Surprisingly, (not), pranza or lunch was excellent. The only bad thing was that she did not make cake, but everything was delicious. It was like Sunday dinner. First cantaloupe and porchetta, next bow tie pasta, it is called butterfly here, with tartuffal, then hamburgers, for the Americans, and a sauce made of peppers, tomatoes, onions and one anchovy. There was bread that apparently the correct way to eat is to break off a piece, put it on your plate, stab it with your fork, and sop up the juice. You may not eat the salad at the same time. That comes next. And then some pecorino cheese, and then some more fruit although this you can eat with your fingers, and then gelato, and then caffe. It only took two hours to eat lunch. Yes, there was wine. Now it is nap time. We are running out of time here. It is so sad. Time went really quick this summer and, because it was so hot, we did not see our friends very much, we went on vacation from our vacation, and had guests. I did not do nearly as many paintings, but I have other things I want to do in life besides paint. I was feeling guilty (surprise!) but I have spent a ton of my life painting and now a couple of hours a day is plenty. 

After a nap we decided that we could not just sit around and do nothing even though we were tired. it was cool so we drove to Goriano Scoli to walk around in the Centro Storica. This is the town where Esher did his first lithograph and started his Italian style drawings. 

Many buildings are finally under construction after the earthquake. This is a sampling. 

See the blue paint?

The big church had just been restored before the earthquake and I don't think they plan to do it again.

Restored

Small thing

at least 40 guys sitting in the piazza while their wives cook dinner. 

From Goriano we went on to Corofina: a place we have only driven through. The town starts with evocative Roman ruins.

A time you wish you had bought the smaller car.

Add caption

Exploring followed by a coffee

 On the way home we stopped at a pull out where we usually just fly by and took some pics of the valley.

Tonight at 9pm a couple is coming over to pick out a pastel. That is an unusual time to go shopping, but their money is good any time. There is no after nine discount. 

FYI I sold five paintings yesterday!