On target

Freccia d’Oro

The events of La Quintana continued this past Sunday with the Gara degli Arcieri or Archery Competition between the sestiere of Ascoli Piceno. Piazza Arringo was turned into a mini-stadium with grandstands and in the center the arcieri competed. As with all of the events of La Quintana there was an opening and closing procession of musicians, knights, banners and the participants.

The participants were both men and women, young and old. Each sestiere had three to four members in period costume that competed in five events. They began with a fixed target on shields, then straw rolls suspended vertically, then smaller targets in a row followed by a target fixed to a swinging pendulum. The final event involved head to head competition between a single arciero from two sestiere whose targets were two counterbalanced water balloons, the first to hit their balloon won.

There were awards for the top three sestiere, Porta Solesta won this category, and for the best individual arciero that was won by Piazzarola. The awards were an individual freccia, or arrow.

This coming weekend La Quintana’s finale involves the events surrounding the Giostra della Quintana di Sant’ Emidio. Again the city will be filled with the sound of trumpets and drums and the sights of lords and ladies, knights and cavaliere, banners and colorful costumes as the piazze and streets will resemble a time long past.

Drought and Fires!

La Siccita

We lived in New Mexico for twenty years and were very familiar with drought conditions as that state was in a perpetual need of rain. This past winter and spring, however, our friends in New Mexico were deluged with record moisture. Here in Ascoli Piceno it has been just the opposite.

All winter the locals kept telling us how cold, wet and miserable it would be but we never saw any snow in town. We had to drive into the nearby mountains to see snow. This spring and summer have been just as dry and now we are dealing with la siccita, a drought, and the associated problems that brings.

A couple weeks ago signs started to appear around town from the local water service announcing water use restrictions: no watering of gardens, lawns, washing cars, washing sidewalks, etc. We also had a flier in our water bill with water saving tips. From our time in New Mexico none of these ideas were new to us. Albuquerque even has what we called “the water police” which were city employees who would write citations to people who were watering their lawns in the middle of the day or had malfunctioning sprinkler systems spraying nearby pavement. The local water service here has also started turning off the water from midnight to six in the morning to conserve pressure in the system.

The drought has also produced a major fire danger. The highway between Ascoli Piceno and the Adriatic Coast has been closed on more than one occasion from fires along side the road. These of course were the result of careless drivers discarding their cigarettes out their car windows, according to the media. There are stretches along this highway of blackened trees and damaged road signs stretching several hundred yards.
Canadair tanker on Lago Campotosto
Several days the sky was hazy from smoke and we have had some ash settling in town due to several il incendio or forest fires in the nearby mountains. There is the regular droning of planes overhead as they use Canadair tankers to dip into the Adriatic Sea and nearby lakes and fly back into the mountains to dump their load of water. We have seen as many as four planes at a time in a line making the one hour round trip flight from fire to sea. This too is a familiar summer sound to us from our years in Albuquerque as the Rio Grande Valley is a regular flight path for water tankers flying between their base in Albuquerque and fires in the northern parts of the state.

Drives in the countryside show how dry it is with brown grass along the roads and amongst the olive trees. Some of the hardwood trees on the hillsides are already starting to turn brown and loose their leaves. We have heard that the grape harvest will be early this year as a result of the lack of moisture.

Britain is being deluged with rain while we are baking under cloudless skies, how we would so enjoy a few days of nothing but rain. I’m sure the British could use a few days of sunshine in return.

SlowTravel GTG

The past ten days have been busy for us despite the break in La Quintana activities.

Last week we were in Assisi for a Get Together with other Americans and Italians from SlowTravel. This is a website dedicated to travel for those who want to experience the places they visit versus just quickly seeing as many sights as possible. You can read Valerie’s monthly articles on slowtrav.com. Thursday there were about 30 people gathered at an agriturismo for food and fun where we had the chance to connect with some old friends. We also had the opportunity to meet some people in person that we only know from their blogs or their participation on SlowTravel. Despite the heat that is gripping Italy we enjoyed our time in Assisi, as always.

We returned to Ascoli Piceno which was in a midst of free nightly concerts in the main piazzas which means the city was busy until way past midnight every night. The heat of the day forced many people out on the streets at night to enjoy the cooler temperatures. We heard a variety of concerts from folk to jazz and even an exhibition of the tarantella dance from southern Italy.

This week we met with Giorgio who spent the past school year in Hurricane, WV in a student exchange program. We enjoyed being able to share some of his experiences with life in American for an Italian as well as ours as Americans in Italy. Giorgio seemed to enjoy being able to experience a different culture in person and you can read about his time in the US on his blog Un anno a stelle e strisce.

There is still no break in our summer heat as the La Quintana events resume this week-end and La Festa di Sant’ Emidio begins. Perhaps we will need a vacation from Ascoli Piceno after July is over.

il Resto

Only the correct change.

In the US I found it very common that if you gave a cashier some change after they had input the amount into the register they usually could not figure out what amount to give you back. For example; you bought an item that came to $19.27 and handed them a $20 bill, they input the $20 but if you then gave them $.02 so they would give you back three quarters they looked puzzled. If the register said $.73 for change then that is what they had to give you.

In Italy we find this to be quite the opposite. Outside of the heavy tourist areas many local shops will not accept credit cards and work on a cash only basis. There seem to be two main reasons for this, one they don’t want to pay the card fees and second not all transactions may be “official”. Italy is well known for its nero, or business dealings that aren’t reported to the tax officials.

Also prices outside of the big chain stores tend to be whole round numbers and cents are always divisible by 5. Prices listed always include the tax so if you are buying something and the price marked is €10.50, then that is what you pay. Some proprietors will also round down the total to your benefit to avoid odd change, for example a total of €8.05 will be rounded down to €8.00.

Petty cash does not seem to be a widely used concept in stores as many will not accept large bills, as low as a €20, early in the day. I have seen more than one proprietor turn away a sale when the customer used a bill that would require too much change returned. This is compounded by the fact that the bancomat or ATMs tend to disperse mostly €50 bills.

Cashiers are also quick to ask for il resto, or change, from you to round out what they give you back. For example if your total is €19.20 they will ask for 20 centessimi so they can give you back a €1 Euro coin.

There is also a small dish on every counter where you place your money and where in turn the clerk puts your receipt and change. Placing the money directly into their hand or into yours is not common. I have had some clerks give me a strange look when I tried to put money into their hand, though those who know me have no problems with this direct contact.

Torrente Castellano

Swimming hole

I was fortunate that when I was growing up in Ohio we lived in a subdivision that had a lake nearby that I could easily walk or ride my bike to get there. I would spend most of my summer days at this lake cooling off in the water or playing baseball, tennis or basketball in the park adjoining the beach area with friends.

Summer heat in Ascoli Piceno draws standard question from the locals of: “andate a mare?”, are you going to the sea? Having spent last summer in Anzio at the beach we aren’t inclined to rush off to the beach here. Ascoli Piceno is only 20 minutes from the Adriatic Coast but there you must deal with the tripling of the off-season population, the traffic, paying for a beach chair and having sand in everything.

Fortunatley Ascoli Piceno is surrounded by mountain fed streams and we can walk to these from our apartment. There is a trail that runs along Torrente Castellano and they have several dams to slow the water flow that create deep pools. The water here, being mountain fed, is molto freddo which makes it refreshing when the temperatures are pushing 90 degrees. It takes a few minutes to adjust to the water temperature but once you are fully immersed the summer heat is not so unbearable, the cool temperature making you want to find some warm sun. A few locals find their way down but we can always find a place to lay our towels and sit in the clear water.

With summer in full swing I am sure we will spend a few days in the torrente keeping cool and avoiding the beach crowds.

Pageantry and a little chaos

La Giostra

The festivities in Ascoli Piceno continued this past weekend for La Quintana with the Saluto Madonna della Pace on Friday and on Saturday night was the first of two La Giostra or joust. The Saluto was a procession of one thousand people in period costume representing each of the sestiere as well as the surrounding castles that were at one time subject to the control of Ascoli Piceno, most of these are now flourishing towns of their own.
This procession began in Piazza Arringo and wound through the streets and Piazza del Popolo to end in Piazza Sant’ Agostino in front of the church of the same name. Once everyone was assembled the horses and their cavalieri rode into the piazza and stood in front of the priest who then blessed them, the Quintana and the city. Then the entire procession reversed the order back to Piazza Arringo.

Saturday night started with a procession through the main piazze and down Corso Emanuele to the stadium where le giostre are held. The streets and piazze were crowded with people to watch the twelve hundred costumed ladies, gentlemen, musicians, archers, men in armor, cavalieri and officials in medieval costume who made up the forty five minute parade. They continued into the stadium and filled the field before the actual la giostra began.

Just before the competition was to begin the lights went out in the stadium plunging everything into pitch black. After about half and hour the lights were all back on and we were ready to start.

La giostre is an oval course with a figure “8” in the middle. The cavalieri must ride around the oval once then into the figure “8” making three passes by the target, which is designed to look like a Moorish character. This is a timed competition and most completed the course in less than one minute. They are also judged on the accuracy of their target hit with their lance. There are three tries and the highest combined score wins.

The night had a bit of excitement and chaos as two of the horses and riders went down on the sharp curves while at full gallop but fortunately no riders or horses were injured. One cavaliero also lost his lance when he hit the target. All of these resulted in zero points for that cavaliero for that turn. One cavaliero also started his turn before given the clear signal from the officials and this resulted in chaos as he was first disqualified and then allowed to retry his turn.

That retry resulted in him having the highest score which brought out members of the other sestiere onto the field in protest. There were people all over the field and at one point there was an announcement that unless the field was cleared the event would be cancelled. Once order was restored la giostre continued and at the end the procession headed back out and along the same course through the centro storico well after 1:00 AM on Sunday morning.

The pageantry of the processions and la giostre with the pounding drums, blaring trumpets, colorful costumes, banners and medieval costumes is something unmatched in anything I have ever seen in America. This is truly an event that you won’t believe until you see and experience it.

Residenza - finalmente

Carta d’Identita

Today we went back to the Ufficio Anagrafe to show them our permesso di soggiorni that we picked up yesterday. This process was very quick as they had all of our information and were just waiting for us to change our permesso di soggiorno to the Provincia di Ascoli Piceno. They made a quick copy of our cards and that was finished.
 

We then walked across the room to get our Carta d’Identita, or resident identity card, which can be used as an official id. This document also has other advantages including that it provides tax advantages when buying property, allows you to buy a car and according to officials at the Ufficio Immigrazione, CISL and Ufficio Anagrafe will help us to be able to work in Italy.
 

After fourteen months in Italy and ten months in Ascoli Piceno we now have all of the official documents we need; at least until they require renewal in a few years.

Updated permesso di soggiorno in hand

Carta di Soggiorno Elettronica

In May we were at the Ufficio Immigrazione to finalize the process for updating our permesso di soggiorno for our residency here in Ascoli Piceno. We were told it would be several weeks before they were ready and so it was. Today we went back to the Ufficio Immigrazione at the Questura to pick up our Carta di Soggiorno Elettronica. This used to be a full size paper document but is now a credit card sized document with imbedded computer chip, photo and holograms.

We arrived at the office about 9:30 this morning and the office was already full of people waiting for the one clerk who was available. This line was simply to verify your document was ready and to then wait to be called back into the office to get the actual document. Everyone today was there for the same reason as Wednesday mornings are the only day each week they issue the permesso di soggiorno. After realizing we forgot a document and making a quick trip back to the house we were out of the office in two hours with our new Carta di Soggiorno Elettronica which is valid until November 2008.

It was interesting that when we applied in Anzio last summer at the Ufficio Immigrazione the mix of people were mostly from North Africa and the Indian subcontinent. Here in Ascoli Piceno the mix is comprised of people from Asia and Eastern Europe areas. In both locations we are all the same sardines squished into a line trying to get the same documents. In both instances we were the only English speakers present.

Hail to the victors!

La Quintana – sbandieratori

Saturday and Sunday evening Piazza Arringo became full of drummers, trumpeters and sbandieratori or flag performers. This competition is part of La Quintana and each sestieri competes for the coveted palio and bragging rights for all of Ascoli Piceno.

These events are full of the colorful costumes of the sbandieratori, their flags and the sounds of the trumpets and drummers. Being in the middle of this pageantry is hard to describe; you can only fully understand it by experiencing it in person. It would be like trying to explain the experience of being in The Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio on a fall Saturday afternoon to someone who has never seen a college football game. The sbandieratori are all young men and perform with flags that are about a yard square that they twirl, toss and launch a hundred feet into the air. They may juggle as many as five flags at one time using both hands and their feet while keeping one or two flags airborne at the same time.

Each sestiere has as many as eighteen sbandieratori, twelve to eighteen drummers and as just as many trumpeters who compete in four separate competitions: singolo, coppia, piccolo squadra and grande squadra. The winner of each competition is awarded a prize and the combined score for each sestiere determines the winner of the palio. Porta Solesta with their yellow and blue were the favorites before the events started and they were awarded the palio on Sunday evening.

My favorite was the grande squadra that was a combination of sbandieratori and musicians who interwove together in a faced paced dance of flags and music. With the flags waving and launching over the musicians’ heads I never saw one who flinched. The musicians are a combination of males and female of varying ages. A performance that is difficult to capture with a camera.

La Quintana opening day

La Quintana 2007

La Quintana in Ascoli Piceno dates from the thirteenth century and the activities start this weekend and continue until August 5th, the feast day for San Emidio, the city’s patron saint. This colorful event includes flag throwing competitions, archery competitions, various costumed processions, and two giostre. These events are competitions where the six sestiere, or neighborhoods, compete against each other for the prized Quintana banners, as well as bragging rights.

With medieval roots this event has colorful costumes, flowing banners, horses, knights in armor, flag throwers and the sounds of drums and trumpets. Put all of this in a medieval town setting where all of the citizens seem to either participate or are cheering spectators and you have a couple weeks to captivate your imagination.

This afternoon started with a procession of representatives of La Quintana, trumpeters, flag carriers and representatives of each sestiere marching into Piazza del Popolo for the opening ceremonies. Tonight there will flag throwing competitions with individuals and small groups from each sestiera.

Wait your turn

When you are too close

Italians live in smaller houses, drive smaller cars and live in closer proximity to their neighbors than most Americans are used to. Italians also have a tendency to group together rather than stand in line and conversations usually involve being up close and personal with the usual hand gestures. Then there is also the Italian way that friends greet by kissing on the cheek; first to your right, then to your left. “Personal space” is very small here in Italy.

That said, there are two instances I have noticed where Italians do not like someone to be close to them. The first deals with a bancomat, or ATM machine. Italians will stand at least three or four feet away from the person using the bancomat and others who may be waiting. Fortunately there is no crowding the machine where you have to worry about who might be looking over your shoulder.

The other time I see Italians leery of someone being too close is on the sidewalk. If you are walking past someone in opposite directions they have no problem standing their ground and making you avoid a head-on collision by stepping into the street or ducking into a doorway, but if you are walking behind them they seem to be very nervous. This is especially true of women of all ages and we have had more than one occasion where a lady will stop until you pass by, then continue behind you. This is not in some dark alley, mind you, but on busy main streets in midday. I do not think I look intimidating, but who knows.

Refreshing water

Fountains

The Roman Empire is well known for the aqueducts it built all over Europe to supply water to their cities. These generally terminated in their public baths or a fountain supplying water to the masses. The tradition of public fountains is alive and well in Italy and with summer heat this is a welcome reprieve.

Ascoli Piceno has many fonte in the centro storico and you are usually no more than a few minutes walk from one, if you know where to find it. Piazza Arringo has two identical travertine and bronze fountains from 1884 and there are sea horses spouting water that are a favorite drinking location for young and old. On Corsa Mazzini is the fonte dei cani which has two lions spouting fresh water. This fountain is so named as it is low enough that it is a favorite watering hole for dogs. This fountain is on a major road through the centro and in the summer cars stop in front so the drivers can hop out for a quick drink.

There are other smaller but just as utilitarian fonte scattered around town, many just on the side of the street. These are usually cast iron with a faucet and the same style is found all over Italy in towns of every size. Since the water in these fonte comes direct from the cities water system it is as safe as the water in our apartment.

Unfortunately with the drought Italy is experiencing this year the water flow in the public fountains here in Ascoli Piceno has been reduced. For example, of the two fountains in Piazza Arringo only one has flowing water. Hopefully we will get some much needed rain before August.