The celebrations last night for the end of 2012 and the start of 2013 continued into the small hours of this morning (article here)
Almost every restaurant in Barga Vecchia were completely filled with with revellers, many of whom made their way up to the Duomo for the now traditional midnight countdown and the letting off of fireworks which followed.
Probably many people in the city woke up late this morning with thumping heads, a dire need of aspirin and a complete lack of needing to venture out into the cold January air but life carries on regardless.
One of the noticeable side-effects of the recession is the increased number of Italian visitors to the area.
It would appear that the Italians are discovering their own country as expensive foreign trips now become a thing of the past for many.
This morning the city was once again brimming with visitors, many of which have arrived in the city for the first time.
As you can see from the images below there was debris left from last night’s party still in evidence in some of the streets of Barga but with the one glaring exception mostly empty glasses and cigarette butts had all been cleared up.
So who was it that actually got up this morning and cleared the stuff away ?
You can be absolutely sure it was not any other workers from the Comune, who like everybody else , were enjoying their well earned national holiday .
For the most part it was the owners of the bars and restaurants who took the responsibility for clearing up the mess but who was it that cleared up at the Duomo ?
Maybe it would have been an interesting image to have found Don Stefano dressed in his cassock with broom in hand vigorously sweeping down the steps of the Duomo but unfortunately that was not to be.
In the end after a couple of telephone calls it became clear just who was the good Samaritan who single-handedly cleared up most of the evidence of last night’s festa leaving the area around the Duomo in a much more visitor friendly condition.
The person responsible wishes to remain anonymous but those of our readers with a good memory might just remember something happening like this on other occasions.
Back in February of last year (article here) when there was a a considerable snow fall on the city we noted that it was the women of the area clearing the snow from outside their houses long before anybody from the Comune arrived on the scene.
Individual responsibility combined with community spirit.
Thank you, there is still hope.
The year starts well.
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