Lazy Sunday

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A drizzly day this morning has allowed us a lazy day inside….until I hear a band start up. At the Piazza in front of the church is a band in uniform and a gathering of people, then from the church comes 3 girls and a boy who have just done their 1st Communion. In white communion dresses, throwing handfuls of rose petals they dance out of the church. When their baskets of petals are empty they run back inside to refill to again run around the crowd and down the streets throwing petals. When they’ve finished Darcy and Lucy picked up handfuls of petals from the ground to throw around too until a lady came up to them and showed them where to get fresh petals. There were garbage bags full of rose petals. When the crowds thinned we had a look in the church. Wow. The church is unassuming from outside; it’s being renovated and is covered in scaffolding and material. But inside is amazing. The kids and I are in awe. Statues and paintings cover the walls, a huge main alter, masses of flowers and candles and the floor strewn with rose petals. In a corner at the back is a rock grotto with a shrine to Madonna. For such a small community this is incredible. We were expecting Sunday afternoons to be quiet. Not so. It’s like a huge street party. Stalls in the main street, the shops have reopened for the afternoon session but the owners have dragged out tables to sit by their shops and have a drink, a chat and to my delight spontaneous singing. We bought some things from the stalls but I think they had ‘foreigners duty’ added to it. $A10 for a handful of lollies! Then I tried to buy some cheese; he couldn’t bring himself to cut a piece as small as I wanted.

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Photos

Church interior
incredible

Ceriana's central Church
Disguised behind renovation material