The Morning After

My post today was going to be about the flags that so proudly hung yesterday before the Euro Cup game, but today, Italy having lost, they are all but forgotten and hang in twisted wind-blown messes. But I started to see just as many perfectly-hanging flags that my point couldn't be made. Nonetheless, I will share the photos.

Today, Sunday, is eerie and quiet for out-of-towners in this little city—particularly this day after the defeat. This is the day I always find myself wishing I could take a picture of sound. I walked for two hours with my camera, trying very hard to LOOK and not just SEE. Or vice versa. I can never get that straight. But mostly I heard instead of listened. Or vice versa.  I talk about this every year, the Sunday sounds. A chair scraping as someone pushes back from the table. Glasses, plates and silverware being put out or put away. Soccer on TV. And voices. When you don't know what people are saying, it's just noise, so you hear it differently. I realized today it's just like the theory of looking at an image of a face upside-down if you want to try to draw it because your brain won't see it as eyes, nose and mouth, but rather shapes, lines, shadows. So the talking is part of this kind of fabric backdrop. Kids' voices, especially, are captivating to me. ALL Italian kids have raspy voices. I've looked into this but found no facts.... but it's true. And because of the cadence of the language, everything they say sounds like, "Why can't I?"  Try this to see what I mean:  Say "We're having spaghetti with meat sauce tonight for dinner, and after we'll go out for gelato," to the tune of "Why can't I?"

Cats are found under cars on days like today.

I love that someone took the time to put this potted plant in this hole.

Gates are always closed and locked in Italy, but this gate was left open and I got to see this huge courtyard! Funny parking!

There was a wedding today—apparently, weddings are most common on Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings. We can’t have Catholic church weddings at home on Sunday mornings because of mass. So I don’t get that. I saw a bunch of adorned cars carrying dressed-up people, so I knew there had been a wedding. I went up to the church nearby and an old woman was sweeping the steps while a man shouted at her from the inside. I mean screamed AT her. There was a white Volkswagen bug convertible with bows on it and a man in a suit standing by. I sensed that he was waiting for the bride and groom who were most likely having their pictures taken, post ceremony. Sure enough, three photographers came up from an alley followed by the couple. I asked if I could take photos too, so they let me—they even asked the couple to pose for me :)