A Potpourri - San Gimignano, May Day Concert, Le Marce

Here is a catch-up blog post. It's not that we have not done anything the last few weeks but with two Italian national holidays, a few excursions, more work on the apartment, and my own work ventures, Dom and I have been really busy. In fact, this trip has just flown by. It is hard to believe we will be back on Whidbey Island a week from Wednesday.

A friend from high school, Julie Wells, contacted me to let me know she and her husband Craig were going to be in Florence for one night on April 23. We agreed to meet for dinner at their hotel. Unfortunately, I mixed up the days and on Tuesday night (the 23rd!) they called to find out where we were. As it was then 7 pm and Dom and I were in the middle of a project, we just could not make it into Florence that evening. Julie and Craig were picking up a car the next morning and going to San Gimignano where they were going to stay for three nights. We arranged to meet them in San Gimignano (famous for all its towers) the next day for lunch. 

Dom and I had our appointments at the Questura to renew our Permessi di Soggiorno (long stay permits) so we took off early enough to be in line at the immigration office at 9 am. Soon after they opened the doors, we were lucky enough to end up at the head of the line for a just opened window. Lickety split we had shown our documents, handed over our pictures, been fingerprinted and signed documents. We were out of the office by 9:15!

Since I had allowed about an hour plus for the Questura we were then in the position of having loads of time to get to San Gimignano. It was a beautiful sunny day so we opted to take the scenic route.  Spring was in the air with all the trees leafing out in bright shades of green and the first of the flowers coming into bloom. In spite of our leisurely drive and a stop for Elevenses, we still arrived at our destination quite early. It was the perfect weather for just strolling around one of the classic Tuscan hill towns.

We wandered into a church and then strolled through town and then decided to visit the local duomo (cathedral). It now costs Euros 3.50 to visit but it is well worth it because of the fabulous frescoes in the church. Unfortunately pictures are not allowed but I did manage to take the photo below.

This fresco of the Annunciation is located in the loggia at the side of the church where one enters. The ticket taker was admonishing me "No picture! No picture!" as I took it.

April 25th in Italy is a national holiday, Festa della Liberazione, which commemorates Italy's liberation towards the end of World War II. In Partigliano, it is Festa di San Marco, or Feast of St. Mark. That means a traditional procession up the hill to the old hermitage chapel. Upon arrival mass is said and then everyone has a picnic breakfast on the lawn outside.

We have participated in the San Marco procession several times. Over the years the number of participants has diminished. This year there was only about a dozen of us who hiked up the old donkey path through the woods. About a dozen more met us at the chapel including the priest. It was a truly lovely day and marvelous to once again be with all our friends in Partigliano. They really made us feel welcome. 

Following mass everyone stood around outside the chapel and the priest blessed the fields.

Our friend Antonio grabbed my camera and took a picture of everyone standing around.

Another picture by Antonio. To the right in the picture is the chapel with the rest of the hermitage building behind it. About fifteen years ago  the men of Partigliano fixed it up.

There were only two children in the group. Here are the two of them with their heads together over an iPhone!

Breakfast in the grass always includes wine!

May 1st is also a national holiday in Italy, the European version of Labor Day. In Capannori there is always a free concert in the piazza in front of our apartment. This year it was actually four nights of concerts--Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately it rained hard on Tuesday night so that concert was moved to Monday. Except for Wednesday all the concerts started about 7 pm and went off and on until midnight.

On Tuesday the performer was Francesco di Gregori, one of Italy's most well known singer-songwriters. We were introduced to his music at Italian language school in 2000 and I have since collected a number of his cds. His music is very lyrical and reminiscent of singers like Bob Dylan and James Taylor. He is still very popular and attracted quite a crowd.

We walked around down in the piazza for a while but the best views were from our balcony. We lifted up the bird screen so we could use the railing for our drinks and nibbles.

The concert began at 6 pm. Halfway through it started to rain so a lot of people in the crowd put up their umbrellas. It was quite colorful.

Quite a few people started to leave, or at least looked like they were leaving.

I looked over at the bank next door and saw a LOT of people huddled under the building overhang.

The concert was really wonderful and lasted about two hours. It was nice to have an evening where the music did not last until midnight!

On Monday and Tuesday, before the May 1st concert, we talked to the three real estate agencies who are located here in Capannori. We listed the apartment with each of them. One of them brought someone to look at the place on Friday. I don't expect anything to happen to quickly but it would be nice to have everything resolved.

We have also been working on the anti-pigeon screens. They are up and working but we still have a little work to do. I'll post some pictures when they are all completed.

On Sunday mornings (and holidays) we are also still doing le marcie podistici--the organized walks we participate in with the group from Partigliano. This morning the walk was located in Camigliano where one of the major Lucchese villas, Villa Torrigiani,  is situated.

The walk started out up the lane that leads to the villa. It was pretty good weather when we set off.

The route goes through some lovely countryside. I always like walking past these well tended vines.

There were a lot of people out there and the road was pretty full. The weather was deteriorating.

As we looked back from the highest point of the walk we could see the rain sweeping in from the southwest. It was not long after this that the drops started falling. We got fairly wet but not soaked. Rain did drip down my forehead until I slicked my hair back. By the time we finished the rain had stopped but it started up with a vengeance later in the day.

I just took this picture through the bug screen and as you can see it has cleared off and is beautiful. 

Still, all you people in Seattle can comfort yourselves with the fact that for the next few days you are having better weather than Italy!

P.S. In a hurry to go to dinner so posted without proofreading. Please excuse the typos!