Italian festivals

Last Thursday, April 25, has been designated Liberation Day. This is when Italy finally threw off Mussolini and got out from under the Germans at the end of WWII. It’s a big day all over the country. In fact, this was a huge week altogether because the previous Sunday was Easter and Easter is a very big deal here.There were many Feste everywhere for these two days.

Another Feste approaches too: May 1st, International Workers Day, which also has lots of events going on.

For Easter, I went to see the “Illuminaria” in Seravezza, which is only held every three years. It was spectacular! All the buildings had candles in their windows, the river was full of candles, and there were several sets of 3 crosses in the hills above town.

For Liberation Day, a couple friends and I did the Fiacollata della Pace, which is a 15k run from a nearby hill town that was massacred one day in 1944 by the Germans. Grandparents and babies alike, all killed. Most were told to go into the church and then they were locked in and the building burned down. Now they commemorate with a run down into town with torches. It was a beautiful event.

We gathered at dusk below the memorial up on the hill. A man played Taps on his trumpet. Very moving to hear the single clear notes in the evening air. Btw, this music is called “Silenzio” (silence) in Italian.We lit our torches and started running.

It took about an hour and a half. At the halfway point, there was an aid station, which had sweet week black tea, water, small triangles of lemons, and cubes of sugar. Wow. What were we supposed to do with the lemons? Fortunately I had an apple I could eat.

At Marignana, where the run ended, they had a group of bombs in the churchyard. I must find out the story behind them. They fed us great pasta, with wine and sandwiches. We finished the run at 10pm. Sheesh!

Oh yes, we had an escort providing plenty of light and safety as we can: An ambulance went first sounding its siren to clear the roads, then a police car at the front, and behind us another ambulance to give us enough light to run by… We ran in two lines. It was so wonderful to run with the torches. To see the countryside as dusk and night descended was an incredible experience.

As I drove home with my new Swiss friend Silena, we saw fireworks, so I pulled over and we sat while the sky was lit up with color and light. Such a treat!