Michael Promises There Will Not Be Rain

The sun teases.  Patches of blue make promises they cannot keep.  The world is a dozen shades of gray.  An umbrella is my constant companion.

Leaving the apartment Michael persuades me that today is different.  Today every forecast he has checked says — SUN. I relinquish my security blanket and leave the umbrella in its stand.  No two-hour lunches for us today, instead it is a sojourn from place to place — searching for the perfect spot in which to perch and LOOK.

It is Italian Voices We Hear

It is the second day of the Annual Comics and Games Festival in Lucca.  Finally, it is Italian, only Italian voices that we hear.  We have been told myriads — 160,000 individuals — will descend on the city. They are spread in every corner, it is hard to count the number.

Along with the masses, much younger masses, we share a slice of cold pizza on the steps of  Chiesa San Cristoforo.

 “Now I need wine,” I say.

We wind our way to an enoteca at the edge of Piazza San Giovanni, and watch some more, sipping slowly on our glass of vino rosso so as to extend our stay.  We are entertained with the passing parade, finally pulling ourselves away, we head for the next course.

The gelateria on Piazza St. Michelle is our answer. I order a single scoop of caffè; Michael has two scoops of menta.  The sun is bright; the mood festive.  Michael snaps pictures. I tag along behind, trying to keep up, avoiding the coughing sneezing nose-blowing crowd, hoping the germs in the air are the same ones I harbor.

The tent of the Assassins Creed stands shoulder to shoulder with the church while the avenging Archangel Michael towers above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzzzMoO70_Y

We are four decades too late to be a part of the revelry — I look around and see non nonni e nonne.  If they are here their gray hairs are hidden. However, I look at Michael and decide he could pass for an Irish priest with his leather cap, jacket, black pants, and black shirt. I hear there is a comic with a priest as the protagonist.  All he needs is a touch of white for a Roman collar.

The Cartoon Characters

Everyone has come to the party, even those uninvited, from the Queen of Hearts to Sponge Bob to Harry Potter with Severus Snape to Beauty and her Beast to Transformers to Captain America to Cat Woman and beyond.  Scantily clad female defenders or usurpers of freedom — I can’t tell — carrying weapons of destruction, lurk around every corner.

There are signs pointing the way to the Battle of Bunker Hill. Mickey Mouse has tales to tell as does Charlie Brown.  But a picture is worth a thousand words and Michael takes a thousand pictures.

To find out more, click on the following link: https://www.discovertuscany.com/lucca/lucca-comics-and-games.html