San Giovanni

So, I’m a little behind in my posts, but I will catch up. Earlier this week in Torino was the festival of San Giovanni, the patron saint of Torino. The entire center of town was shut down to allow music groups, car shows, vendors, concerts…to be set up. Oddly enough, there were two different groups of Native American singers. It was weird to see people wearing moccasins and feather headdresses in Italy.

I got back from Cinque Terre at about 1am. Usually there are a fair amount of people out and about at night, but on that particular night, the streets were crowded with people. There was an Italian rap singer concert going on. I have no idea who he was or what he was saying but it was cool to see. Annamarie and I attempted to stay out all night since she doesn’t have a key to her house, but at about 4:30 we crashed. I felt like a rebellious teenager sneaking in a friend at 5am. I told them about it in the morning and thankfully, they didn’t seem to care.

On the next night I didn’t go out, obviously, but at about 11pm I was woken up by a loud banging sound. I went out on my balcony and saw the fireworks over the river. It was really pretty.

Okay, so I am adding this for the merriment of all who read this: The bus system was mostly shut down during the festival, which was a little frustrating. The bridge I usually take to get home was even closed. The bridges are about a half mile apart so I asked if there was a way to cross without having to walk. The police officer said that I needed to take that bus and that it would take me over the river…easy enough…right? Well, it didn’t take me over the river, it took me back into the center and even further. I got off and jumped on to the next bus headed in that general direction. I was the only person on the bus, so the driver was talking to me and telling me, again, that the bus I was formerly on would take me over the bridge. He even turned off the bus to check his festival schedule. So I start to go back to the next bus stop, and I see one coming behind me. I’m not quite to the bus stop yet, so I start to run. I barely make it to the bus, but just as I am leaping on to the bus the door closes. Now, I am half way in and still in running stance, so I fall to the floor of the bus still wedged between the doors. The doors open, and I roll into the bus; however, I have lost my shoe outside. Staying down on the floor, I manage to grab it out of the gutter before the bus leaves. I just started laughing. I really wish someone would have had a video camera cause it was absolutely ridiculous. People were asking if I was okay….my arm was a little sore after but I think my pride was hurt much more!!!

So this is the Muretto in Alassio. It has a bunch of signatures of famous Italian people. I didnt know any of them. It's a long wall next to a park. The locks in this picture are expressions of love. Ive seen this in Torino too, in random places. You write your name and that of your significant other on a lock and leave it somewhere so you will be together forever. I think it's kind of cute.

Talk to you all later!