Bunnai's Travel Adventures: Assunta in Atri (Oct. 5, 2015)

This morning we got up fairly early, but took a while to come around. By noon or so, we were ready for the day and then it started to rain. We decided to let it clear a bit, which it does fairly quickly here, so that we could go out for a walk. While we were waiting, the orchestra in the square played at 9:30 am to let us know to get ready for church. Then again it played at 10:15 am to let us know that services would start soon, I believe around 10:30. After the service, which we missed, the orchestra played again in the square for a while.

I made a vegetable omlette for us with zucchini, mushrooms, onions and hot peppers, with eggs and melted cheese on top. We had that with salad, well I did, and toast, for mom. It was great and used up a lot of our veggies in the fridge. After that, it was cloudy and rainy so we decided to give it some time before venturing outside for our walk. During this time, mom was comfy in her bed, reading the Italian Phrase Book, and I was comfy in my book, drawing what I see outside my window. It was lovely and peaceful, and then it started to clear. I played my IPod while we chilled, with the new, fantastic tiny speaker I bought on the flight over here. I think I will buy another one when I return home if they still have them, as it’s great sound and really portable.

When we went out, we walked a different route, in order to find the Hotel Du Parc, to try their WiFi to see if mom could synch her phone and computer with a stronger signal. It was closed, so we walked to this fantastic park that looked out over a point at the end of Atri. It was magical and we slowly walked through this park, taking pictures and smelling the fragrant pine trees, taking pictures.

We walked back to our area, and hung out in the piazza by the duomo, where the free WiFi is available, and today, very strong. We called loved ones, blogged, emailed and I looked up train schedules for some upcoming trips to other cities that we want to take. Then we decided to come home, drink some wine and go for pizza down the street from our place. It was amazing! These small 6 inch pizzas were delicious and we tried three types between us. A mushroom one, an olive and capers with pepperoni, and finally, prosciutto, with potato and cheese. The last one was the best, and the mushroom, the second best. We had a glass of wine each, and got fairly buzzy with a lot of laughing and silly faces. It was so much fun.

After our supper, we decided to go to the square, the piazza, as we heard and saw a huge orchestra of about 25 or more musicians. They played a couple of numbers, then took a break. We used the free WiFi, and waited for them to return. They did, and played two more numbers, then left. Ok, we stayed and finished using our technology, and while we were doing so, a huge parade began to enter the square, with young people dressed in religious outfits, followed by many townspeople. The procession was very long, and then came the elders of the church dressed in the formal outfits, and some carried a huge icon of Jesus. Many others followed them and then the orchestra. They wove their way through the square and farther. Later on, not too long after, we heard fireworks going off, and church bells ringing. We walked to get a closer look, but they were really far, so we just stopped to watch the fireworks. We looked at each other and thought that this was a very interesting but strange quiet Sunday evening in the small town of Atri.

After that, we came home, warmed up, and processed the lovely day that we’d had. A total surprise at many corners, but great nonetheless.