Two Parts Italy

Watching the Olympic Games in Italy these past few weeks, one would think all of Italy was a snowy alpine landscape.

Lots of snow in and around Cortina d”Ampezzo for the Olympic Events.

But that is just a small slice of northern Italy and certainly not the case in Lucca, where I returned last week to wet and windy weather. Not a snowflake or an Olympic athlete in sight, just plenty of rain and gray skies. No matter – I love Lucca in February when the city is quiet and mostly tourist free. And this week has been very quiet, with the excitement of Carnevale now over and the season of Lent just begun.

Only traces of Carnevale remained when I arrived – a few of the installations around town, along with some left-over confetti sprinkled in the piazzas. All are getting a bit soggy from the recent days of rain. The paper mâché figures in the train (pictured below) are looking a bit scary as they slowly decompose.

Here in Lucca, even school kids know to carry umbrellas. This group certainly needed them when their school let out for lunch break on a rainy winter afternoon.

In this sleepy period between Carnevale and Easter most of the color comes not from floats and dancers, nor from spring flowers. Right now the color comes mostly from umbrellas. Though I am happy to report that after two solid days of rain, today we have clear blue skies and temps in the 50’s. Tuscan blue is the perfect sky color.

February weather is just right for a caffè in an uncrowded bar, dinner with friends, or to watch Italy’s next big event on TV.

The San Remo Music Festival begins on February 24th, with 5 nights of televised musical performances. Singers will perform original songs and eventually a winner will be chosen, in part from viewers’ votes. The winner will represent Italy in the big Eurovision competition in May. Past winners include some of Italy’s biggest musical stars and most popular songs.

This year a series of promotional TV ads, named Tutti Cantano San Remo (Everyone Sings San Remo), was filmed in the piazzas of 7 cities across Italy. Each used local musicians and singers, in flash mob type sequences, singing well known Italian songs.

Lucca was one of the chosen cities (along with Trento, Parma, Torino, Pesaro, Roma, and Cosenza) and many of us turned out to watch the filming. The ads are running now on Rai TV in the lead up to the festival. It’s always fun to see the finished product, much more polished than the multiple takes we watched during filming. For a look at the ads, the San Remo Festival has a Facebook page, or just google Tutti Cantano San Remo - the ads are really fun.

As February winds down, I will begin to dream of Magnolia blossoms, warming skies, signs of spring, and an upcoming trip to Trieste in March. But for now, I will just enjoy catching up with friends, sipping a cappuccino, and being out and about during Lucca’s quiet season, rain or shine.