[susie123]

I'm postponing the rest of my trip around Lancaster today to visit warmer climes, prompted by two of Dianne's posts about her farm and village. In September 2009 we visited Italy in our motorhome, driving down through France, Germany and Switzerland then across the north of Italy and down the Adriatic coast from Ravenna to the Ancona area where we made our base for a few days.

One Sunday afternoon we visited the town of Macerata and they were having a harvest festival parade, with decorated carts and people dressed in rural costumes. We noticed a lot of Indians about but hadn't a clue what they were doing in a small town in Italy. Dianne explained in one of her posts that there is an Indian immigrant population in Italy and many of them are farm workers. I had no idea there was an Asian presence in Italy but the ones we saw in Macerata seemed thoroughly at home there.

The other point she made was about the workmen putting the new roof on her farm buildings appeared to have no regard for health and safety. I happened to pass a building site in Macerata and just for fun took a shot of the regulations notice posted on the fence. As it was Sunday I couldn't tell if any of the rules were being obeyed or flouted!

Anyway this is a record of that Today in pictures - we passed many more in similar small hilltop towns on that trip to Italy and I have hundreds of photos I could bore you with!

1 Our van parked outside the town walls - as it was in many places we visited
2 Decorated cart, one of many
3 They don't just make fast cars!
4 Indian men in the procession
5 Indian women in the procession
6 The band
7 Children on a decorated cart
8 Fine monument, think it's about Italian reunification (Risorgimento)
9 The beginning of the open air service, more Indians in the crowd
10 The building site notice