One of the coolest things about our apartment became apparent just this week. Below the bathroom (where mold is growing- not so cool, must contact the landlady about that) is an empty space. At least, I thought it was an empty space. Apparently, it is a music studio where voice and piano classes are taught. During the past week, each afternoon, we've been treated to some rather fine singing. Sometimes all we hear are scales being sung, but other times we receive quite the concert. Ila and I hang out on the big bed, look up at the ceiling and listen. Today it sounded like opera.
This evening we were treated to a whole other type of concert. Massive cheering and chanting in the alley/street that our apartment borders on. I open the bathroom windows to see this:
The communist party is apparently alive and well here. This was the tail end of the parade as they wound their way around to a rally in Santo Spirito Piazza. This neighbour is a lot more lively than ours in Tucson, for sure.
Hmmm, those look like actual Communists (from behind anyways!). When I was there in 1992, my Italian roommate took me to a rally for a local Socialist candidate in Florence. It was held at a stadium, and the evening included a fashion show (my roommate's friend was part of it), a Florentine stand-up comic, and a mediocre singer doing his latest hit. The candidate took the stage for perhaps 10 minutes, tops.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, so you can differentiate between socialist and a communist. In the US they seem to use the words interchangeably. I don't think of them as the same at all. Isn't that how long most politicians can handle on stage? All sound bites.
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