Dancing in the streets, Santas on Vespas... life's good!

Maybe it was nostalgia that drove me to Perugia for a night recently. That, and a desire to see at least a little more of Italy before I leave very soon. I did remember being impressed by it 38 years ago while on ‘honeymoon’. (Italy’s term for it is basically the same: Luna di miele.) What a trip — three months in Japan, France, Italy and England. Fabulous.

If you have ever been to Perugia, you’ll know that the historic centre is way — way! — at the top of a very high hill. I recall being deposited up there by bus from the train station back in 1985. This time, having checked with Google Maps that it was only three kilometres from the station, I decided to walk up. And up. And up. (The kilos accumulated by all the wonderful Italian food I've been eating have also weighed on my mind.) Arriving at the top, finding my hotel, felt like quite an accomplishment. Go me! I dumped my bags and went out.

The piazza was abuzz with Christmas markets — and lots of chocolate (the home of Baci) —so I walked from one end of it to the other. A self-appointed Presepe police-person, I was very pleased to find this example of the craft (below) in a window in Perugia’s main piazza because no baby had been put into it yet. (Although Joseph does look a bit accusing on that count.) The bambino is not supposed to arrive until December 25, as you know, yet I have counted many presepe where there he is. Prematurely. It’s just wrong.

Presepe, or presepio, are the Nativity scenes displayed in churches, shopping centres, homes and anywhere you like at Christmas time. They do not strictly adhere to the story of Christ’s birth, as I am implying, but I do like seeing Il Bambino magically appear in his waiting cradle on December 25. Sometimes the scenes even include the Magi, who aren’t supposed to arrive until La Befana, January 6 (Epiphany). (There is a cool story there too, which you will have to research for yourself.)

Presepe are displayed in Catholic parishes all over the world. Australian ones sometimes include kangaroos and koalas among the wildlife and apparently there is a famous presepe in St Elizabeth’s in Dandenong North, Victoria.

Well before JC

The Etruscans were here in Perugia in the centuries before Christ appeared and you can see one of their wells on one of the main streets, dated to the second half of the 3rdC BC and rebuilt several times since. There are also the remains — in very good nick — of a Renaissance fortress, the building of which (1540-1543) destroyed a number of Etruscan, Roman and Medieval buildings, turning the former streets of the even more historic city centre into underground passageways.

I went to what is now an underground gallery space there (via a not-very-Etruscan escalator) to see ‘La Ricerca Dell’Armonia’ (The Search for Harmony), a huge photography exhibition by Federico Miccioni, who told me he had studied in Belfast and collaborated with renowned photographer Jim Moreland in the 1990s.

Federico's work conveys a lovely compassion for people and animals. It's uplifting. You can also see it here:  https://www.instagram.com/federicomiccioni/

I wasn’t entirely unhappy with my own photograph of the exhibition space (below, left) either. Next to it — can you figure it out? It's a giant rubber mat that is catching a constant drip from the ceiling and sending it out through the window onto the street. Old buildings...

Dancing in the strade

Many of you have already seen pics of my one night in Perugia, when a swing band swung into action, and several couples took to the well-worn paving stones of the piazza to dance, but just in case you haven’t here are two, plus the Christmas tree and lights (centre). It was a real treat. Look, three saxophones!

Now for the Santas on Vespas

As I write it's Christmas Eve, known in Italy as La Vigilia. I can see it is already 6am on Christmas Day in Australia, when parents are hoping that little children will stay asleep for just a while longer. In another 12 or so hours I will be speaking to my family and friends there, which will be lovely.

The tradition for La Vigilia in Italy is to have a meat-free day, eating just fish (particularly baccala, salted cod) and vegetables, the same as on the eve of most religious festivals here — a giorno di magro, eating lean to help purify your body for the holiday.

In Anghiari there is another tradition — the fabulous procession of Babbo Natale (Santas) down the Corso Matteotti, the street that runs all the way from Anghiari to Sansepolcro, past the fields of the famous 15thC Battle of Anghiari. I don't count them tonight but it looks like about 30 to 40 Santas on Vespas, some accompanied by little children in red and white, some of them with tell-tale jet-black moustaches and beards appearing underneath all that cottonwool. They pass the crowds waiting in the Piazza Baldacci and down the hill, then circle back and hand out gifts to the children, resulting in lots of balls being thrown into the air and kicked around the piazza. It is a happy community event, with people catching up with each other, the bars and restaurants buzzing (except the ones that have closed). Everyone wishing each other "Auguri", the best. Buon Natale, everyone!

With love from me to you, Mimi •

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