August 14
It was the long awaited day to pick up our car at the airport in Roma. The sad thing is that it means we only have eight days left in Italy this year. We had lots of plans for site seeing on the way home, but instead we came home and took a nap. This is a sure sign of advanced age.
After the nap we went shopping! I am afraid this is another sign. I bought a bunch of canvases at the hardware store. They are so good and now they will be here for next year and we went shopping for our evening picnic with the Danes on August 15.
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| This is a completed road to another village. Unfortunately there are so many rock falls that it can't be used. |
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| View looking down into Gole San Venanzio |
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| Piazza Raiano |
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| Karaoke night in CVS. This kid is incredible. |
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| People in the piazza for Karaoke at about 11:30pm. |
We left the piazza around 11:30pm to go look at stars out in the dark area of our valley, which is actually most of the valley. There is still some light pollution, but we could see the milky way. We also heard strange rustling noises in the grass!
Bon Fare Agosto
Today is National Picnic Day. (it is actually the celebration of the assumption of Mary into heaven without dying, but I have not seen a religious component to this day.) Nobody works and nothing is open. It was one of the most beautiful days of the summer. The temperature was a perfect 82. We planned a lazy day of doing nothing until we went to our friends’ house at 6pm. The plans were ruined when the neighbors invited us to go with them up to the mountains, but we had to be ready to go in 10 minutes and we had to bring two chairs and that was it.
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| Walking to our picnic spot in the Sirentes. |
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| We camp here! |
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| Jim works on the fire for arroasticini. |
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Because of the fire danger, the grills had to be moved 200 meters from the trees.
Here are the grill masters out in the field. The fine for not moving the grills was 2000E. |
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| Some eating. |
We went up to the foot of the Sirentes in a large field. There were many other people there as well, but our neighbors had pitched their tents a couple of days ago. From the amount of food, equipment and supplies you would have guessed that at least a week encampment was planned, but no, it was all for Fare Agosto. It was another wonderful day of being treated like family by our Italian neighbors and their extended family. There was no saying no to any food or drink. We tried very hard to be moderate as we were going to a second feast at 6pm, but it is difficult. I played some soccer and “Rock, Paper, Scissors” with a young cousin. We tried to play badminton, but never had a volley of more than one hit.
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| Sausage and Sirentes |
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| Hard at work. |
The food situation started with pastry and coffee, moved on to actual cake, then ante-pasta, with red wine, lasagna with rosata, and then arrosticini, sausage and other meets. Then more cake, coffee, Ginsiana, fruit, and Lemoncello. Then it was time for us to leave. And now it is time for us to go to our Danish friends!
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| Salute to Fare Agosto! |
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| Me and the neighbors who were also camped next door. |
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| More eating. |
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| Neighboring campers after eating for three or four hours. |
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| Leaving the camp on the way to the next party! |
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