His name is actually Paolo Marchetti but he is known throughout the territory as “Paolo Gas”as he was the guy coming round in his Ape delivering the gas cylinders so that people could cook and heat their houses in the era sandwiched between the time when wood was used and the arrival of piped gas. Today he has changed job and opens up the Bar Paolo Gas in the Fosso just outside the main walls and gates of Barga Vecchia. Listen to the interview with Paolo at the end of this article and you can hear him say that what goes around, comes around. It’s not a new venture for his family at all as in the 70’s he used to help his mother and father run the Central Bar in Fornaci .
A little over a generation later and we find Paolo running a bar this time with his daughter and son giving a helping hand.
Wow! Looks like a hopping joint! Matching polo shirts, the mayor in attendance, a fresh cut ribbon, loads of food along the bar, bubbly on ice, a roulette wheel, almost a little monte carlo!
As a bar man (publican?) on the outside looking in…. it looks like all the strings are attached….. can’t wait to see it for myself! A toast sent across the ocean to a very good ‘opening’ season!
ciao
Jess