May Day/Rain Day In Panicale

  All over Europe, on May 1st people celebrate "The Worker". I guess it's sort of like our Labor Day. Many towns have a festival, with all the trimmings. We were really happy to be able to enjoy at least part of the "festa" in Panicale.

  We knew to expect something going on, just didn't know what it would be. Early in the day the Pro- loco, which is a volunteer association that promotes it's town, in this case Panicale, set up a table for wine and porchetta to hand out later in the day. Walking around we noticed that most businesses were closed, except the bar and cafes. This is a big holiday.

  We also took note of the arrival of a marching band, just outside the walls... Nice!

Getting ready to rock our world. Sort of.

  Then with all the rumbling and bursts of fantastic backfire, along came the tractors. Cool. We figured we better high-tail it into the piazza and grab somewhere to watch the show from.

One of the tractors preparing to do it's thing.

   Of course, we head to Bar Gallo, because we knew we would see everyone there. Yep. Quite a few people in town by late morning. We visited with folks, ordered our espresso, and sat back to enjoy the scene.

The very stylish band.

  I've seen a few celebrations in Italy now, and I love that the marching bands are so multi-generational and usually sport both men and women. They must be volunteer, local people just having some fun. Proving that you are never too old to pick up a marching drum or a sousaphone, that's what I always say. Always.

Love the style of the base drummer.

  With the band doing all the great patriotic hits, in come the tractors. Right up and into the piazza. Everyone present had smiles and were loving it as much as we sure were. It felt good to see these hard workers getting their props.

Tractors all cleaned up for the day!

   After the tractors arrived and parked all around the fountain, there were speeches by a few people, including Ms. Mayor of Panicale. We don't understand enough Italian, but I got the gist of it. "Tough times, we are brothers and sisters, we will work through this together for a better day..."
  It was familiar enough, for sure. And quite touching.
  Also touching, was the speech made for one of the beloved members of the community who had passed away the day or two before. A moment of silence, and a lowering of heads. The trumpet player played taps. Very poignant.

  We decided to say our goodbyes to take a walk, planning to return later.

A big day in Piazza Umberto 1

Families and friends showing support for the workers.

  What we didn't realize, and why I don't have more photos of the festivities to come later that day, is that down the road, far from home and without coats or anything, we would get caught in a MAJOR thunderstorm with massive rain. Did I mention lightning?
  See what a nice day it was in these pictures? That was like, two hours before the sky opened up and held us in it's hellish grip. A serious enough situation. I was literally on my knees in the rushing rain/mud that poured down the road we were trying to walk on. I heard that you were supposed to get down low to lessen chances of being struck by lightening. It was a fifty/fifty thing...try to make it home, or duck and cover.
  We did a little of both, made it home cold, teeth chattering and feeling absolutely wiped out. Hot showers, jammies and wine helped.
  We did go into town later that evening, hearing everyone else's own rain stories. The festa went on, and people enjoyed themselves, eating porchetta and drinking the local wine.
  Just another May Day in Panicale. And, hey...big surprise? I would do it again, all over.