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Today we
have been invited to a local festival in a nearby town. One of my father's
colleagues is an ex-pat American author named Mary Jane.
She's lived in Italy for 30 years and in the town of Vetralla for a decade.
They have been corresponding over email for a few months and we have scheduled
to tag along, as her guests, to the several century old traditional Sposalizio
dell'Albero--The Wedding of the Trees, when the town celebrates the Papal
granting of ownership of the forests to the townspeople in 1432. The public
ownership of lands was very unusual and gave the people the rights to
collect firewood annually. This particular Pope was Venetian and so the
tradition, which mirrors the Venetian Wedding to the Sea, became a big
celebration. It takes place on the top of a hill, in the middle of a forest,.
on the grounds of a monastery and church and isn't open to the public,
only to the residents.
Mary Jane has invited a guest from Rome as well. Monsignor Kilgarreff
is English and the head of a Catholic school for priests. There are several
(very confusing to me) connections between the town and England and they
are trying to renew the connections, so he is here as a dignitary for
the celebration. We pick up another guest, an American, David Morton on
the way. He is staying in Vetralla, researching walking the Roman roads
in this area. We pick him up on the side of the superstrada about 4 km
outside of Civita (it's near where he's staying and he doesn't have a
car to get to Vetralla.) and then he leads us to the Vetralla train station
where we meet Mary Jane, her boyfriend Fulvio (who's from the town), and
meet the Monsignor's train. Then it's up into the woods.
the whole town is out for the parade, standing on the side of the road
and in the piazza. But we pass all that and go up to the church. A stage
and stands are setup and there are two huge old oak trees, decked out
with flowers and garlands, and a huge white wedding veil strung above
the stage. We sit around and wait as people arrive. There are tons of
school kids, lots of townspeople and then a bunch of dignitaries from
out of town. Then mom and dad get taken with the Monsignor and Mary Jane
to sir up on the stage in the main reviewing stand...they are part of
the special dignatories! Michael, david, Fulvio and I head out to sit
with the kids. Well we sit..the kids are on a field trip away from school,
so they run around and act like teenagers. Finally the parade makes it
all the way up the hill. First is the town band, then come a bunch of
kids with Italian, EU, and Peace flags. Then come townspeople dressed
in medieval costume, the flag throwers, the drummers, then come the Venetians
in costume, then come the horsemen (apparently the area is famous for
it's riders), then comes kids dressed as flower girls and little boys
in traditional suits, then the local maidens (Bridesmaids?), then more
people dressed up, then several horse drawn carriages with more people
in fancy dress. each group comes up the hill, circles the staging area,
past the crowds and stops in front of the stage to pay their respects.
It is quite a show. The kids in the stands, who have not shut up for the
hour leading up to the parade, go crazy when their friends go by, waving
and yelling. Fulvio, who used to organize the event is a litle miffed
at the lack of punctuality in the parade and the general chaos, and especially
by the lack of decorum by the kids. So we get up during the speeches and
walk around. I head for the porchetta truck (we are in Lazio after all),
but sadly they are all out of porchetta. Luckily a nice guy points out
that they are giving away free sandwiches behind the stage! Part of the
deal of the ceremony is free lunch for everyone...so I get a prosciutto
panino. When I come back, the main part of the ceremony is going on. Each
of the dignatories signs the proclamation for the day and the key to the
church (where the forest is) is given back to the head monk, because techinically
the town owns the land that the church is on. I'm not sure if I got everything
right...it was all in italian and kind of confusing. The mayor gives a
speech, the deputy mayor of Venice gives a speech, various other foks
give speeches and then the wedding is complete.
There is one more important part of an Italian wedding....the meal. We
get invited to come to the lunch...First there is a snack in teh church...pastries,
sandwiches, etc. then we head into town to a restaurant called L'Oliveto.
It's in the middle of an olive orchard, high up on a hill. The luncheon
is for about 40 people, the dignitaries, the out of town guests, the Venetian
recreators, and us....We start with antipasto...sliced prosciutto, salumi,
cheese and olives. then there is a carciofi crostini, then risotto with
porcini mushrooms, then more of the priest strangler's pasta in a tomato
sauce, then rabbit with potatoes, then salad, then fresh strawberries
with a lemon sauce....There's also wine...lots of wine...Lunch is now
4 hours old. everything was delicious, especially the pasta and risotto.
But we are exhausted. then they bring out the vin santo and the grappa
and the limoncello. I give up...I can't have anymore. Finally the party
starts to break up. We thanks everyone and head out. A scenic drive home
and we are back at the hotel by about 6 PM (we left at 9 AM) and exhausted.
there shall be no dinner tonight. After chilling out for a couple of hours
we go down to the patio to play some scrabble. Again MIchael kicks mom
and my butts. To bed.
Tomorrow: sightseeing with Mary Jane and Fulvio...and Marueen and Franco
come to visit from Rome.
Also two corrections: Monsignor Patrick Kilgarriff and it was a pork secondi
not rabbit...
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