Northbound in Italy.
Catching the sunrise!
A little help?
Here’s my cozy home-away-from-home for the night. You can hear the sea, and I’m awakening to a very energetic mourning dove and a bit of a puzzler…. It appears my air mattress has a hole. Somewhere.
I have a patch kit, but how do I find the hole?
Self-appointed body guard
After 75 miles I finally landed at Montalto di Castro. A boy on a scooter used an app on his phone to translate and finally wrote “follow me” as he led me to a campsite on the coast.
It took less than a minute to meet my new neighbors – an energetic group of Italian kids around 6-9 years old. The girls were in the majority. They liked to watch videos of themselves. They also really liked my chips, and Amelia became my self-appointed new best friend and assistant.
Amelia was there when my helmet fell to the ground. She was there when I dropped my lock. She took a break, or so I thought, but came back riding her bike.
Amelia kept an eye on me as I set up my nest for the night. She was eager to be my chip tester, and so were the rest of her siblings.
My personal security. This campsite has everything. 🙂
Chip testing draws a crowd. (right) That’s Amelia and two other girls in her clan. You could hear Mom yell “Uno!” They all grabbed a handful. I guess in their minds, uno meant “one” handful!
Name That Hymn!
Got to Mass late at the Church of the Virgin. Everybody was storming the altar, touching the feet of the statue of Jesus and grabbing two small loaves of bread from an industrial bag in front of the first pew. Holy bread is as much as I could make out from a woman who spoke Italian.
Can you name this hymn or post a video of the entire thing?
Late for Mass
Arrived late to Mass at the Church of the Virgin of Graces today in Civitavecchia, which is about 30 miles north of Rome. It was standing room only all the way to the back door.
Dark clouds have stalled my progress in Civitavecchia.
Came upon a statue outside the Church of the Virgin. Towards the end of the 16th century, a little church was built by Franciscans. In 1804, it was promoted to a parish and committed to the Minor Conventual Friars. It was wholly reconstructed in 1856, the first parish in the world, and it was dedicated to the Virgin. Inside, on the altar, the holy picture to which prodigious happenings were credited in April 1854.
Pirgo: A step back in time
A day at Pirgo was a wonderful experience. Arrived by steam train. Visiting Central Hall where people danced in the evening surrounded by the aroma of fried donuts and freshly baked bread.
People strolled the piers. Soldiers snapped to salute while elegant women sought shelter from the sun under their umbrellas.
Pirgo attracted famous visitors; among them a convalescent Italian general Garibaldi and the charming, Italian opera soprano, Lina Cavalieri.
During summer, the best local families would be dancing under the moon.
Poor suckers….
After the great war, many things changed, especially for women – who started smoking in public. Their bathing suits got shorter and younger women (in their 20s) started to show off a new identity.
Also, swimming as a sport became huge in part because of cinema news and commentaries from the Berlin Olympics in 1936.
Apparently young people have fun telling “poor suckers” that they’ve beaten swimming world records. And those armed with goggles search calm waters in the morning for lost jewelry and rings.
Time for a Landscape Change: Heading North
Changing landscape as I head north along the coast out of Rome. It’s a dicey start to the day on what feels like the “I-system.” Heading on to the small town of Fregene, and then back to the countryside.
PHOTO GALLERY:
Headed to Parma…..CIAO!
Packed tight and ready to roll. Now that I’ve conquered Rome I’m headed back up the coast and then over to Parma. Ciao!
TIDBITS
- So wonderful to wake up in the morning and hear French, Italian, Spanish and quirky dialects of English. Campgrounds are such a melting pot of weary, but enthusiastic, explorers!
- In Italy, they pronounce WiFi as “wee fee.”