There is so much fun to be had here in Roccaspinalveti and I love sharing the good times with you. That doesn’t mean we haven’t had a few challenges recently, but that just life on Planet Earth. What we have found is, even when there are bumps along the way, friends, family and neighbors can all make life so worth it all and oh, so much fun!

Carnevale is an Italian word derived from the Latin carnem (meat) and levare (remove), corresponding to English “carnival”. It is a traditional Christian celebration which marks the beginning of Lent, the period of 40 days before Easter during which no meat is eaten. Wikipedia… Now lets take it one step further with Italian Wikipedia – Il carnevale è una festa che si celebra nei Paesi di tradizione cristiana e in particolare in quelli di rito cattolico; è una festa mobile. I festeggiamenti si svolgono spesso in pubbliche parate in cui dominano elementi giocosi e fantasiosi; in particolare, l’elemento distintivo e caratterizzante del carnevale è l’uso del mascheramento. (Google translate: The carnival is a feast that is celebrated in countries of Christian tradition and in particular in those of the Catholic rite ; it’s a mobile party. The celebrations often take place in public parades in which playful and imaginative elements dominate; in particular, the distinctive and characteristic element of carnival is the use of masking.

Case in point are our crazy, funny, wonderful neighbors here in our neighborhood, Serre. Each year for Carnevale, some of the fraziones of Rocca get their inhabitants together to create fun theme floats. And it’s important to remember you NEVER reveal the theme to another frazione beforehand….it absolutely stays a secret until the last minute.  Saturday, March 2 was the big day here, and the theme for Serre was American Football. We were the Serre Rams and our mascot was a wolf! How funny that we,  two American transplants,  were here to participate on a float of an American theme in Italy! The costumes were hilarious with the men dressing as cheerleaders and the women as football players. Great artwork and construction were done by all, organized by Luce Bruno and Lucrezia Lalli, two local talented artists in our frazione.

Just before the float took to the road, everyone finished applying their ‘makeup’ and arranging their costumes. The cheerleaders got their ‘curves’, bright blue eye-shadow and pom poms. The football players got their ‘eye black’, helmets and footballs, of course. We posed for a few shots and with music blaring from our sound system, headed up to town.

The participating floats convened just on the edge of town, building the anticipation for a fun afternoon of creativity, music and just plain fun and silliness. As the floats circled the town center, people crowded the streets and sidewalks, many of them in lavish and innovative costumes. The procession would frequently stop in front of a bar along the way, so that everyone could enjoy the party. But truly our float was like a party bus, overflowing with music, food and vino.. it was a memorable day and we were so excited to be a part of it.

I hope you enjoy some of my pics and a few I borrowed from our ‘referee’ Tarquinio Bruno. The party didn’t end here for many. The bars and streets remained filled and later there was a dinner up at the gymnasium. But truth be told, John and I were exhausted and never made it to the bars or dinner. John was in bed asleep by 7 pm and I by 8…just getting a bit old I guess.

 

 

 

It’s funny how folks I meet in larger towns all say Rocca is small. That is certainly a relative term. I think my new hometown is big on fun and heart, as so often demonstrated by the great folks here! There’s never a dull moment, for sure, if you know where to look….

A quick note on some of the work around our house, but no pics this time around. Promise to catch you all up on what we’ve completed and working on…Fencing project around front of house is now completed and John outdone himself…We’re now deep into fixing up the apartment below for renting on Airbnb. Hope to have it ready by late June, early July, the latest. So next posting, I’ll share some of our project work . For now, as always, I like to leave you with a few gorgeous views….maybe someday you’ll come visit our wonderful part of Italy. Ciao for now..