memories

i'm blessed to have 2 hometowns to relate to and, even if it has its disadvantages, because i never got fully integrated in any of them, i love them both.

my father is from perano and that's where my parents house is and my residence as a miss was. my mom got married and moved there very young. i went to primary in perano. the class was small and country, i lived a happy childhood in there, playing in the fields with my cousins at my paternal grandparents, who had a mill and were very agro. the world to me was as boundless as the big blue sky, full of infinite possibilities and endless paths.

this is a view of perano from the hill nearby. as you can see, the village is very small and immersed in olive trees and vineyards.

this is the main boulevard of the village, populated by people following the holy parade in honor of its protector, saint filippo. there are groups of people who prepare the flowers adorning the street months before the event. 

   

and here's the main church, which happened to be the church i got married in. gosh, what a spectacular, vivid memory of that special day i keep in my heart!

all pics of perano are taken from the city hall site

when my brother was born i was 4 and since he was a sleplees baby for 2 years and was turning my mother nuts, my maternal grandparents started to take care of me all the time. so i ended up growing in their village, atessa, about 15 km away. 

i was so much with my grandparents that my parents decided to enroll me in junior school there, so that i didn't have to commute by bus every day. i would stay with my grandparents during the week and go back to my parents for the weekends. 

this routine was okay until high school, then it started to be boring, because social life became hotter on weekends and i dind't want to leave atessa and my friends. but my dad insisted, which caused lots of rebellion and pain to my early teen life. he actually decided to keep me home for about 1 year, to control me more, something that finally ended when he realized i was too unhappy. 

atessa is more beautiful. have a look at these lovely pics courtesy of my friend nino pizzi, a brilliant photographer there, and tell me if you agree! this is how the city welcomes you when you approach it from the rural street. isn't it striking stunnig?

and when you arrive in there, it's a picturesque ensemble of old streets and houses, with a more magic touch by night.

this is the main cathedral, named saint leucio in honor of atessa's protector. it's where i used to perform with my choir. 

the legend says atessa was divided into two villages, separated by a valley where a dragon was the king. saint leucio killed the dragon and united the two villages. a bone of the animal is kept in this cathedral.

the city gets animated on thursdays, during the local market, a true event for its inhabitants.

the heart of the city is saint rocco square, a place everyone uses to meet in. this pic was taken during an exceptional snowstorm in the early 2000's.

socially speaking, things got worse during my university years. i officially left my grandparents house to start univesrity in pescara, where i shared a flat with mates. on weekends i returned to perano, but visited grandparents regularly. my heart was with my friends in atessa, perano was just a boring country place for relatives, a few acquaintances and some distant old friends.

so, even if perano is my geographical hometown, what i consider my true one is atessa. my nana still lives there, in the same house. messy, huh? but that's how my early life was: split in two and nomadic from the very beginning. c'est la vie!