Steve, Denise, Fred, and I piled into the car and drove to a nearby hill town called Spello. Spello is an adoreable cobblestone town but we had a very specific reason for going to Spello on this day. Denise's friend Bonnie owns a house here, and is a contributor to their annual flower festival called the Infiorata, when tons of flowers (literally) in every color imaginable are laid down in the streets to create religious works of art. This tradition dates back to 1930. http://www.infioratespello.it/
Bonnie hosted the evening and had a lovely table set up for us with snacks and wine. We planned on volunteering for her piazza (commuity square). Every piazza in Spello competes with each other to win prizes in various categories.
When we first arrived it was too windy to work so we walked around town and enjoyed the scenery, architecture, and excitement.
As we walked through the streets people were working feverishly to remove the different parts of the flower so they could be used in the temporary masterpieces.
People young and old had a part in making this day happen. Each piazza can only work on their flower art until 9 in the morning so as the sun set time was running out.
Figuring out where each color petal should go is no easy task.
After the sun set the wind began to subside enough for flowers to remain in their proper location.
It takes each group hundreds of hours to collect the flowers needed to fill each of these boxes.
Bonnie's piazza had an area that seemed to be in a wind tunnel. That group continued waiting for the wind to stop but Denise and I lent a helping hand to a group down the street. It was so fun to be of assistance on this special day. The following day is the main event, when all the artwork is complete the Bishop arrives to see what has been created.
We worked for an hour and a half. It was well after midnight before we made our way back to the car. The people of Spello will continue working for 9 more hours. On this day sleeping is not a priority. Winning a prize is a big honor, and these people have been planning this since the year prior.
We truly were accepted by the best squadra. Wine, sweets and the opportunity to help. Wow. I'm so glad we got to do this together. If it had just been Steve, I would have been doing it alone! Great memories these few days with you.
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