Italian weddings and cemeteries!

Yet another day of complete beauty and challenge. We hiked up to the cemetery in our village of Vernazza. It looks out to the sea at the very top of our village. In America we would build something else….maybe a restaurant or a condo, but they chose a cemetery and it is amazing.

But I am skipping ahead a bit. Before this, earlier in the day, we were graced with an Italian wedding. As we are walking the streets of Vernazza this morning, we see Gulianno the owner of our b&b. We chat with him for a moment and he explains that a wedding will be going on in the church this very morning and soon they will ring all the bell’s of the church to signify that a new couple is wed. Then the couple will come to a near by balcony and throw candy to all the people below. Gulianno tells us that he must go now to get a good place to catch the candy. His daughter Sophia is tugging at him saying “Guli…Guli…andiamo, andiamo” This is her pet name for her father and it sounds a bit like she is saying “Julie…Julie” and she is telling him to “come on, come on” She is ready to find her prime real estate for catching the candy. It is a grand celebration, with these fantastic popper things that as best as I can tell, you pull the string and confetti flies out with a wonderful loud pop. We have a great video and the pic’s that Linda took were voted the best in our nightly viewing party.
So this was a very poignant day. We saw in the beginning of the day the birth of life between two people and at the end of the day the Italian cemetery. It was interesting on the way to the cemetery we went a back way, it was obvious that many of the local’s lived in this part of the village and on one of the alley ways there is this very frail woman sitting in a chair talking with family. My imagination is going wild at this point because I know nothing….but I tell you that I believe this woman has lived her all her life….and as life slows her down she does not use these mammoth stairs quite as much and then soon she stays only on this small alley with her family and friends. And they bring her all that she needs. And then one day she will go to the place that we are walking to this very day, to be with her family and friends.