Pictured above: Simba's blinding glory (photo credit Drew).
You know what I noticed the other day? While there were a ton of stray cats in Toledo, Bologna is full of stray dogs. And thank you one and all for tuning in to Brittany's Observation of the Day! I apologize for the photo-heavy postings of late (and for the lack of posting in general). I think I'm once again exactly three weeks behind. This seems to be becoming a trend, unfortunately, but I'll do my best to remedy it. Anyway, the Friday before the Friday before last, Ari and I accompanied her roommates' friend to a play. While waiting to meet them in Piazza Maggiore, I came across some street musicians and saw a shooting star.
I was thankful for the auspicious beginning, as the theatre was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. After ride on the Bus of the Damned (read: any bus in Europe), we traversed a construction sight, a seedy neighborhood, the mafia's body dump site, the enchanted forest, Mordor, the Gates of the Underworld (Cerberus included), Salusa Secundus, etc, and upon arriving had to defeat Cúchulainn, Luca Brasi, and Jesse Custer's grandmother to gain entrance.
Whoops, did I say theater? I meant secret chamber of satanic rites. I sat on a cushion on the edge of an large black floor space filled with 1. a circle of sand surrounded by candles and pieces of wood, 2. an empty circle bordered by white pebbles, and 3. a line of rocks. I was fully prepared for some sort of voodoo ritual or summoning of demons at that point.
What instead occurred was just as strange. A woman emerged from the right, singing and wailing, wearing a white wedding gown and a black veil and carrying a candle. At the same time, a man wearing a black cape came out from the left, muttering and dropping pebbles in a bowl filled with water. The woman ended up removing her veil and lying in the circle of pebbles as if dead, while the man started chanting and dancing in the circle of sand with the candles. She woke up and started pushing the pebbles around, then moved into his circle. They then sat and started murmuring about love or something, and then I'm guessing there was either a symbolic rape scene or a symbolic wedding night (but hey, if we're talking symbolism it's the same thing anyway) as they rolled around in the dirt for a bit and then the woman started screaming and clutching her stomach like she'd been recently eviscerated and tore off the white dress to reveal a red one underneath. Then she did some sort of flailing tribal dance in the pebble circle, danced back toward the man and put the red dress over his head. She then removed it to reveal a black one. Then, the man started desperately searching for water, but picked up the wrong bowl (i.e. one without water). The woman started walking around him and chanting "Qui non c'è aqua" (There is no water here). Then, she obtained the bowl with water and took it to the sand/candle circle and started spinning around, pouring it all out. By the way, there was a projector screen in the background the whole time, projecting images of water and some woman in black walking alongside a river. Anyways, eventually the woman collected her veil and left the stage singing. The man started flailing about and talking about heaven and hell, then shouting that he forgot about purgatory, at which point the woman's voice sounded from offstage. He joined in singing, then danced off to join her. It was certainly interesting. It seemed to me at once a synthesis of the rites of the church- marriage, funeral, baptism- with some sort of tribal ceremony and an ultra-condensation of basic human experience and relationships/interaction. I couldn't help but think Dalí would've appreciated the sex and death undertones. I liked it, I think, but it was definitely strange. I apologize for the long description, but there's just no way to give an accurate summary.
In other news, the next day we went to San Marino. A little over 24 sq mi with a population of around 30,000, San Marino is pretty much the one state (other than the Vatican, I suppose) that successfully resisted Italian unification. Fun fact: it has the world's oldest constitution still in effect (since 1600!). Founded by Saint Marinus in 301, San Marino has managed to maintain its independence by remaining neutral in major conflicts, having friends in the right places (i.e. Napoleon), and generally being too small and difficult to reach to bother with. Another fun fact: Abe Lincoln was an honorary citizen. For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino
Speaking of the difficulty in getting there, we had to take a train to Rimini, then catch a bus. For those of us who suffer from motion-sickness, this bus was hell itself. It was cramped and hot and had to drive up (and around) a mountain, with plenty of curves, switchbacks, and sudden stops. However, we saw sheep! And a shepherd and sheep dogs!
aaaaannnnnnddddd we finally arrived:
Apparently, the army had (has?) a crossbow brigade. Trained by the Uruk-hai themselves, I hear.
And you thought I was kidding about the witchcraft. I wonder what they're trying to keep in/out with those four locks...
Church (photo credit Drew):
Heading up toward the castle:
And past Cafe Brasil. I love the chihuahua.
See that arch? Underneath it was a table and a balcony on the side of the cliff:
(photo credit Drew):
That blue hazy strip way out there is the Adriatic:
Which can be seen better here, along with me sleeping/tanning/about to be sacrificed and offer my heart to the gods of San Marino (photo credit Drew):
We also found a soccer game:
And a nice park:
I think the Italians like embarrassing their dogs more than my mother does:
Anyways, San Marino features three castles/towers/whatever on three different peaks of a huge sheer cliff of a mountain. I spent the whole time thinking about the lighting of the beacons seen from The Lord of the Rings (incidentally one of my favorite scenes in the movies. I don't know why). I'm guessing it was the structures spaced out on mountain peaks or something. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0nyfyifErg Views from inside the first castle (we also got to see the Arms Museum and some cannons):
(photo credit Drew):
This reminded me of a sod house or something:
The second castle (that's a looooong way down):
Prison graffiti:
Climbing to the tower (this would be a great picture if not for the errant strand of hair and the predatory "I will eat your soul" grin):
Views of the first castle:
And of the third (just a tower, really):
En route to the 3rd:
Views of the 2nd:
View beyond the 3rd:
Back by the bus stop, watching the sunset:
