Augustus' Holidays

Tomorrow is a holiday in Italy. It's a big one. In fact, it is often coupled with the fact that it is the end of summer and people take lots of vacation in August. August 15th is called "Ferragosto". It is also known as "festa dell'assunta", or Feast of the Assumption (of Mary). The catholic church believes that Mary, the mother of Jesus, did not die, but instead was "taken up", from the Latin word: assumptio).

Before the catholic church however, the Roman Empire used this day to honor the gods and the cycle of fertility and ripening. The name, Ferragosto, comes from its original Latin name, Feriae Augusti (Festivals of the Emperor Augustus).

I walked through town today and noted all the shops that were closed and/or closing for Ferragosto. Most stores that were closed, did so for more than just Saturday. Several took the week off and many took two. I saw two places that closed for one whole month. In Ancona, one of our favorite restaurants closed for two months!!!

Tonight, Angie went into the 'centro' (main center of town) and strolled. There were people everywhere which was not terribly uncommon on any given night of the week. We did catch a Rockabilly/Blues concert in one area that was part of a two day holiday celebration. After walking around some more, we stopped and had a crepe. So delicious. A crepe is like a very thin pancake and they put all sorts of wonderful toppings on it. We tried a new place. Angie had a crepe with a chocolate nut spread and bananas. I had one with berry jam, bananas and cream. Good stuff. Happy Ferragosto everybody!

For more on...
The Assumption of Mary