Today, August 15, is Ferragosto.It's a national holiday in Italy. Basically what that means is just about everything will be closed, and Italians will be heading to either the beach or the mountains for a long weekend. Ferrogosto is a celebration of the harvest, and also a celebration of the Assumption of Mary into heaven, and dates back to Emperor Augustus. I haven't quite figured out how they mixed a religious holiday with a pagan
festival, but, they did.
This morning around 8:30 am, I took trash out, and was surprised to see the trash collectors were actually working today. I was sure they would not be. My street was empty. Completely empty, except for me. This is an even bigger surprise, as I live on a main thoroughfare near the train station and Piazzale Roma. At that hour of the morning, on any normal day, there would be a stream of people making their way to other parts of Venice, having disembarked both buses and trains. Not today. It looked like Venice was a ghost town.
I've just returned from a walk to Campo Santa Margherita. Almost everything is closed. Fortunately, one of my favorite caffe's, Imagina, chose to remain open today, and I was able to have a very relaxing cup of tea and cornetto con marmalatta.
Agosto, in Italian, means August. However, I think it secretly means "vacation". Shops close for most of the month, not just this holiday weekend. All over Venice, and I'm sure this is also all over Italy, shop after shop has a "Closed per Ferie" sign on the door. Here are a few samples, taken a couple of days ago, all on one street near Campo San Pantalone. I half expected to see one "Gone Fishing" sign somewhere!
Buon Ferragosto, tutti!!
festival, but, they did.
This morning around 8:30 am, I took trash out, and was surprised to see the trash collectors were actually working today. I was sure they would not be. My street was empty. Completely empty, except for me. This is an even bigger surprise, as I live on a main thoroughfare near the train station and Piazzale Roma. At that hour of the morning, on any normal day, there would be a stream of people making their way to other parts of Venice, having disembarked both buses and trains. Not today. It looked like Venice was a ghost town.
I've just returned from a walk to Campo Santa Margherita. Almost everything is closed. Fortunately, one of my favorite caffe's, Imagina, chose to remain open today, and I was able to have a very relaxing cup of tea and cornetto con marmalatta.
Agosto, in Italian, means August. However, I think it secretly means "vacation". Shops close for most of the month, not just this holiday weekend. All over Venice, and I'm sure this is also all over Italy, shop after shop has a "Closed per Ferie" sign on the door. Here are a few samples, taken a couple of days ago, all on one street near Campo San Pantalone. I half expected to see one "Gone Fishing" sign somewhere!
Buon Ferragosto, tutti!!
1 comment:
Buona vacanza a tutti ! A presto !
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