During my trip, I searched the walls for news of Italian festivals…
…only to find that I had either arrived a month late…
…or a few months early.
I was just a week early for these festivals in Atri and Catania…
…and just a day late for the festival in Pacentro.
And there was even a festival scheduled for the weekend I was going to be in Pescara…
…but, only days before I left Italy, they decided to move it two weeks later.
Then the most surprising and, still, disappointing moment occurred in Campli…
…where Ivo and I came upon a festival…
…only to find it in ruins, thanks to the heavy rains that came moments before…
…with the vendors already starting to pack up early.
We had actually come to Campli to visit…
…the Scala Santa…
…a holy staircase where you were required…
…to climb the stairs on your knees (with the help of pillows).
I performed the task without complaint…
…and paid my respects to the Virgin Mary.
As we returned to the streets, the festival’s future still seemed dim…
…even while Jeffrey Smith Band did their best to lift everyone’s spirit through Rock and Roll.
As we headed back to the car, we stopped at this booth…
…and chose a treat for the road among these Abruzzese delicacies.
The pistachio cookie with jelly seemed almost magical…
…bringing me a sign from the King just further down the street…
…as if to tell me my quest for a festival in Italy was not yet over.