All Saint's Day in Trani

Today, November 1st, is All Saint's Day. It is a national holiday in Italy so Rick and the girls had the day off. Tomorrow, November 2nd is All Soul's Day and the girls also have that day off of school. We decided to see how the holiday is celebrated here so we journeyed down to the town cemetery. There was a traffic jam as so many people and cars were trying to visit.

I love this vespa with a flower bouquet waiting to be placed at the grave.

In case you didn't get your flowers there is a stall just inside the cemetery gates.

The family crypts are very ornate.

This is the family crypt of our landlord's family.

Rick is reading some of the markers on a memorial wall.
A pyramid crypt.

All of the crypts lining the walkways looked like miniature villages.

It looks like they are recycling these slots.

Tall Mast in Trani Harbor

Rick and I decided to go for a walk this afternoon so we ambled down to the port. It was a beautiful afternoon. There were a ton of boats in the marina. Can you see the one mast in the center of the picture? This yacht has been in port before and it is very recognizable because of it's incredibly tall mast. We tried to get pictures of it from different angles. I wonder who it belongs to and why they decided to stop in Trani. Are they just here for lunch? Or perhaps the weekend. This is a holiday weekend because tomorrow, November 1st, is All Saints Day and most of Italy is off. Rick and the girls have Monday off so we are enjoying this special treat.

Another shot of the mast from the back.

You can see how much higher it's mast is than the others. The Hotel San Paulo is in the background...we stayed there for two weeks when we first arrived over two years ago.

A close look at the boat...

Closer...

Closer still.

Roasted Chestnuts

A few blog entries back I showed you some of the chestnuts at the market. On Sunday afternoons you can go to some of the green grocers and get fresh roasted chestnuts. We caught this guy just before he was closing up. Lots of people were walking around with bags of warm chestnuts. I can't eat them because of my allergies but the rest of the family can and they say they are pretty good.

Here are the containers piled high with the fresh nuts.

So I did try to do this myself at home. Rachael's boyfriend (he has done this a lot, right, Pete??) told me how to soak the nuts first then score the rounded part so that when they are heated the steam will escape. Roast them in a hot oven (180*c) for 5-10 minutes and then wrap in a towel for about 5 minutes. It worked and we were able to enjoy them fresh from our own oven! You should try it! Let me know how it works for you.

Wrong Holiday!!!!

Today is October 31st....HALLOWEEN!! Look what was in the store window this afternoon!!! Please! Can we have one holiday at a time!!!!

Salt

I am reading an excellent book called Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. Throughout history salt was searched for, traded for and fought over. Salt = wealth. Words such as salary and salvation find their roots in the word "salt". Mr. Kurlansky points out that "Trade routes that remain major thoroughfares today were established, alliances built, empires secured and revolutions provoked - all for something that fills the oceans and bubbles up from springs."

Just up the road from us is the town of Margheria di Savoia. It is here that there is the largest productive salt-works in Italy. It produces 5,500,000 quintals (1q=220.46 lbs.) of salt annually in 2470 acres of saltpans. The salt is harvested from June to August. It seems amazing to me but the peoples of the region have been extracting salt from the marshy areas of Margherita di Savoia since at least the 6th century B.C.!

Here is a box of table salt from Margherita di Savoia. You can also get larger crystals which are good as a cooking agent...We have had delicious moist fish that was buried in salt and cooked in the oven.

Halloween Eve in Trani ... Viewing 2

"A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother."

Can you guess the next movie we had to introduce to our two teen-aged American daughters to bring them up to speed with the whole American Halloween tradition???

A viewing of Hitchcock's Psycho!!!
Eileen was duly frightened...she can't wait to see it again!

Halloween Eve in Trani

What is a mother to do? It is Halloween eve... Two American teens who have lived in Europe for seven years are longing for a good old American Halloween tradition. Of course, I break out a classic movie... Can you guess which one?

Here are some of the props we needed for the viewing...toast, water squirter, rice, rubber gloves, flashlights and lighters, keys, confetti, TP

Need another hint????

TA-DAAAA!

We had such a good time singing and playing along with the movie! Aren't I a good mother??!!! I've got to fill in the cultural gaps otherwise they will return to the US ignorant of these
important things!