Okay, so I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t even remember the name of the holiday whom these townspeople of Assisi are celebrating. Yes, my first guess would be the ascension of St. Francis, or the feast of St. Francis, maybe it’s the first encounter of Poor Clare and St Francis frolicking in the hillside, cherishing the newest spring flora. I am not sure. But what I do know, is that the people of Italy celebrate everything, and I mean everything. Feasts, parades, religious processions in the middle of the night, singing, chanting, sporting events carried out in the same bare-chested, animalistic fashion as they were hundreds of years ago. The passion and emotion of these people swirl around like a dancing fire in a wood burning oven. It’s a flame that has been burning forever. And when the fire does die down, they know it’s time to throw in more kindling. Time for another holiday. And yes, these Italians all have their own laundry list of holidays, all varied by individual city or neighborhood.
Here are a few pictures from our visit to Assisi. We stumbled upon these locals adoringly tending to their flower petal street designs. A parade was scheduled to cascade its way through these back little alleyways that afternoon. Time was clicking and we could sense the dedication and urgency of these volunteers. Wish we could have stayed and celebrated with them, but we were on a holiday schedule of our own.
