We muscled our way into yet another Catholic parade… People, flags, colourful outfits, leprechaun shoes, hats and a big Mary thing that I am sure is made out of paper maché and the guys carrying it just moan and sigh to make it sound heavy! Italian prayers and chanting blew out from the loud speakers across the whole town. It all started down at the lower end of town and marched up and into the Cathedral, and so did we. Yep, right to the front seat in the church. It was a photographer’s free-for-all. All the tourists, including us, who were yelled at yesterday for taking photos in the church were wide open! Shutter sounds were bouncing off every inch of that interior! The side chapel gates were slowly pushed open by insecure tourists sneaking shots before someone came over to throw them out, but by the time we were out of the chapel the gate was wide open and a dozen people were inside stealing photos from the pope!
From there we headed to Piazza del Popolo for the Under 35 Folk Festival. I thought it would be a Gordon Lightfoot approach to music for the night, topped off by Canadian Railroad Trilogy or the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but No, this was real folk. People were dressed in wildly coloured outfits, sporting accordions, dulcimers, violins and flutes. Dancers appeared from all corners of the square and centred themselves on a make-shift wooden dance floor set in the middle of the square. Maypoles with dancers spinning on their heads, women being thrown high into the air, guys in really tight tights and a plethora of sailors danced quickly, fluidly and accurately inches from our eyes for 45 minutes straight! Colour and music quickly morphed rapidly into a single, incredible, theatrical production that had us smiling with disbelief. The audience was clapping with the music, filming it all, and being purely entertained by astounding dancers and musicians. The children in the audience were sparkling with delight and energy. It was wild, fun and truly unbelievable!
~Whewww~ what a day!
From there we headed to Piazza del Popolo for the Under 35 Folk Festival. I thought it would be a Gordon Lightfoot approach to music for the night, topped off by Canadian Railroad Trilogy or the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but No, this was real folk. People were dressed in wildly coloured outfits, sporting accordions, dulcimers, violins and flutes. Dancers appeared from all corners of the square and centred themselves on a make-shift wooden dance floor set in the middle of the square. Maypoles with dancers spinning on their heads, women being thrown high into the air, guys in really tight tights and a plethora of sailors danced quickly, fluidly and accurately inches from our eyes for 45 minutes straight! Colour and music quickly morphed rapidly into a single, incredible, theatrical production that had us smiling with disbelief. The audience was clapping with the music, filming it all, and being purely entertained by astounding dancers and musicians. The children in the audience were sparkling with delight and energy. It was wild, fun and truly unbelievable!
~Whewww~ what a day!
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