SAN VENANZO ON THE MOVE!

There's so much going on here in San Venanzo! A new sidewalk is being built - I guess Marsciano must've had some bricks left over after they installed new sidewalks on every possible road there. Anyway, the sidewalk will be much appreciated.








Also under construction is a new parking lot, right on main street! The steep hillside next to the bakery has been excavated and now a retaining wall will have to be built. Our geometra told us that pylons for this wall will be sunk 12 feet deep! We were also told that this lot will hold 12 cars, but even in theory I don't see how. Of course in reality it will probably hold 15 or 20, since everyone will just pull in where-ever they can. We were also told that once this lot is finished the police will start writing tickets for those who park on the street. I'll have to see it to believe it! San Venanzo's main drag has 2 small grocery stores, a gas station, book/newspaper store, pharmacy, bakery, butcher shop, Post Office, laundry, 2 bars and more all in one small section. In the mornings it's not unusual to have cars parked on both sides of the street with cars facing the wrong direction and/or pulled in at an angle - making it difficult for ONE lane of traffic to get through, much less two, but every one just goes with the flow. Once this new parking lot is ready it's going to be VERY interesting to see if old habits die hard.

In the meantime these two projects have necessitated that San Venanzo have two traffic lights! This has certainly helped the flow of traffic, except of course for the cars that continue to park along the side of the road. The Italians seem to take this all in their stride - although there might be a lot of really dangerous drivers here, the majority of people just seem to go with the flow. No honking horns, no yelling, just a patient acceptance.

Another more unexpected project has also presented itself: After many, many, many weeks of rain, the overly saturated ground finally gave way under the old city wall, near the elementary school. This happened late in January, and luckily at night, so no one was hurt and no cars damaged. This will be another project that will be interesting to watch!

For those of you who want to see ALL the pictures (and you know who you are, Damon), here's a slideshow. You can click on the icon in the bottom right hand corner and make the photos full screen.