It's Sunday so after breakfast I headed to mass at Santa Maria Assunta which I'd noticed when I first arrived in Montecatini Terme is an oddly modern church being that it's the main Catholic Church for the town. It wasn't until I sat down in the spacious interior with its modern stained glass windows and art work as well as a 1960's architectural feel that in fact it was built in the early 60's and was consecrated on September 28, 1962. So just last week the church made its 50th anniversary in what was years ago it's new home. But on the same sight, or slightly in front of this church, stood a very old one and pictures of the demolition of that church are hung along the walls of the inside of the church now along with pictures of weddings and baptisms of note. Being that I didn't understand what the priest was saying I had lots of time to look at the pictures while everyone else paid attention to the 20 minute homely. Well maybe not the women in front of me who gave a few exasperated noises at the length of his speech. The church was packed, standing room only which meant at least 300 people. And then after mass I saw them moving the Madonna outside and having seen a make shift alter on the main steps outside when I arrived I put two and two together and figured out this must be a special day. It's the celebration of the Madonna del Rosario Di Pompei, according to the women the Madonna of the Rosary is celebrated all around the world on this day. There was a folk group singing and a piano player and when the priest began speaking outside to all those who had congregated, about 100 people, I thought it was going to be a short ceremony. It was a full mass but I stayed anyway because it was beautiful out, the sun had peeked through and it's always nice to honor the Virgin Mary in song and prayer.I left the two masses at about 12:15pm and headed to lunch at Pizzeria Trattoria Il Vicolo, the same place I had eaten the night before. It's so inexpensive but the food is fantastic. I had a spicy pasta and eggplant, yum and that certainly helped with my stuffy noise. And in yesterday's blog I didn't mention the incredible soup they have here, it's a specially of the Tuscan region and it's kale, potatoes, carrots and other veggies mixed with day old pieces of crusty bread. It sounds strange but with some sprinkled Parmesan cheese it's really so delicious and great when you're not feeling well.
And although I was feeling a little bit better this morning my throat still hurt so I decided after lunch to just take it easy for the afternoon. It's so hard for me to do that when there is so much to see in this area but I know I'll never feel better if I don't get some rest and I had a good book to read today so I sat by the outdoor pool most of the afternoon. I was clearly more tired than I thought because I even feel asleep for 20 minutes or so and that's not like me. There were three couples, one from Spain, one from Italy and one from England also relaxing by the pool so it was nice and quiet and because there was a tiny chill in the air no one actually went in the pool.I took a walk in the late afternoon along the main street that goes from one end of the city to the other. Today, because it was Sunday, they blocked it off to be just a pedestrian walk way. Hundreds upon hundreds of people were out strolling and shopping, eating gelato and just saying high to neighbors and friends. I was such a social atmosphere and you can tell it's really a small because people really do seem to know each other. There is a real sense of peace here and you can see it even in the way most shops, even the high end ones don't have metal gates at night to protect their windows they just seem to trust it will all be okay. And what I think is really clever here is something I saw in several stores where there were cracks in the glass displays/front window possibly from some kids mischievous behavior or more possibly from a car or Vespa getting to close and cracking it, but the owners of the stores, probably to save money, painted things like leaves along the cracks giving the impression of an ivy plant growing or some creative design that reflects the store's image. I really like that they found a way to turn a negative into a positive with a little paint and some creativity.
Also, on my walk, I heard this strange noise like a small motor coming from around a corner so I walk a few feet and see this dad and his young daughter having just attached a large blue Ikea bag to a metal wire watching as this motorized pull system slowly brings the bag up to the 3rd floor window where the mom is waiting to take it. I had to laugh because they used to do this in the North End in Boston and I'm sure all over Europe for centuries but with a hand operated pull system. The rope was lowered, the bag attached and the person on the high floor pulled it up. Now it's done by a motorized contraption. No offense but by the time this tiny motor actually got the bag up to the window she could have easily pulled it up manually and had five minutes to unpack the thing with the excruciatingly slow pace it was now moving. I had to take a picture it was so comical. Oh and by the way it was a short three story building and the bag was not that big that they couldn't have just walked the darn thing up the stairs. Of course this comes from a women who has been living in an elevator/doorman building for 16 years.I had dinner at sandwich shop and now off to bed and hopefully I'll feel even better tomorrow but I'm so grateful for such a relaxing, lovely day and for my hotel that somehow is connected to that amazing luxury hotel with the wonderful pool.
