May 1st was International Worker’s Day. In the US there were a few protests by the Occupy Movement which were sometimes met with vitriol and ignorance. While May Day might have started as a communist observation, it is now a worldwide celebration of all workers. It is a similar to Labor Day in the US. In Viterbo, we had another day off from school, our second in less than a week. It can get even more fun when Easter falls in the same general time frame as it may due to Easter’s calendar mobility.
In our little neighborhood, all was calm and quiet. None of the shops that we frequent were open. Official offices were closed and transportation rolled on a holiday schedule. Close by, a few hundred meters away in San Pellegrino, the medieval quarter, it was a different story. Each year they host the Festa dei Fiori or Festival of Flowers. The normally drab, gray stone is transformed by a colorful riot of flowers. Technically, the festival runs from April 29 to May 2, but the busiest day is May 1st. Portions of some of the streets are covered with sod with flowers on display.
Potted fruit trees such as these lemons and oranges are big sellers.
People who didn’t buy fruit trees seemed to converge on roses in all styles and colors.
That wasn’t all that was available. There were ornamental grasses, herbs, and flowers such as these pansies.
Also, there were these columbine/morning glory types in all shades of red and pink.
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