Monday, February 04, 2008

Carnivale in Ascoli and Bacco and me in costume






4 feb
Ascoli was very packed yesterday. It was the day for the big carnival exposition wherein those with a hankering saunter around in costume or present skits. There were many cross dressers, a man dressed as an olive ready for the frying pan, a man with a too real-looking catheter bag attached to his leg, etc. It was a bit too crowded for Bacco and me and we found ourselves sandwiched in their midst with no wiggle room a few times. I have found out where all the silly string in the world has gone and seen many new uses for that confection as well, including filling up bancomat slots e.g. After an hour I was ready to escape. Here are a few pictures from Ascoli Piceno yesterday and a couple of Bacco and me with our local garb, ready for the running of the fake bull.
Tonight in Offida, all the "clubs" (sort of fraternities) dress in their costumes and head for the theater where I suspect there will be no lack of music, dancing and imbibing. The Offidan grand finale with the burning pole procession and bonfire is Tuesday night. From what I understand, this is quite impressive and I will be hoping the weather stays nice.
Wednesday and Friday i will be attending a course on olive tree pruning, so I will know the correct way to cut back our trees. The didactic sessions are followed by hands on training across the road from us and if I can get volunteers, maybe some of the students will cross the street and help me with my trees!
Ciao! d

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great Pics Dwight! I'm anxious to see the proper way to prune the olive trees. Maybe this fall when we come I'll be more confident climbing and pruning. Hope all is well. John and Dolores

Dwight said...

Just finished the 1st course on pruning, but all we learned last night was about types of olive trees in the marche and planting techniques and pruning shapes. The real cutting will begin next week. All is fine here; I am just a bit anxious to get the pool started and the vineyard planted. d