Living in San Giorgio di Pesaro and Kingston

The people who sell clothes, jewellry etc on the beach are breaking the law but most italians ignore the law and happily buy things from them. The sellers are in two group: those who walk up and down the beach selling their wares and the others who put a tarpaulin on the sand and spread out their bags, clothes etc. On Thursday there was an argument between one of these sedantary  sellers and a man from San Giorgio who thought the seller was intruding into his space or blocking his view of the sea. The San Giorgio resident left the beach. About an hour later he returned and at that point the coast guards and municipal police came running towards the guys selling on the beach. The guys tried to quickly wrap up their tarpaulin and run away. One escaped but the another seller (not the one who had argued with the San Giorgio resident) was caught but not before the shirt had been ripped from his back. He was taken away and all his goods confiscated. The whole incident was very distasteful particularly when it was realised that the person who had gone and phoned the coastguards to complain about illegal selling is normally happy to buy things from other sellers. The following day the incident was still being discussed and the general feeling was that it was an underhand thing  to have done and something which doesn’t reflect well on the people of San Giorgio.

Bill has been going out walking on a regular basis. So decided it was time I did something to get fitter. So three times a week I am going on a 40 minute walk. Starting with a walk round the walls of the town I then go down into the valley on the north side of town, pass the mown fields with their haystacks, pass the field full of chichory plants with their fantastic blue flowers and then up the hill (panting a little) onto the main road. The new roundabout followed by the local garage are the next things to be seen but this is a nice part of the walk as it is almost on the level. From the garage its back up to the sports ground to the paper shot to buy a paper and then back home via the “cupetta” which is the name for the very steep road cutting across the valley at the back of the house.

Arriving home I collapse in a chair and get my breath back.

After living in San Giorgio for a few years and making new friends there is always the reality that you will have to attend a funeral.

Unfortunately, last week we had to attend Roberto’s funeral. When we first came to live here  Roberto on his daily walk used to stop at the house to see what progress was being made. So we started chatting together. He always spoke very clear Italian and was always willing to repeat and rephrase if I didn’t understand something. So you always finished a chat with him thinking your Italian was getting better.

He had been ill for the last few months and died last week. As he was known by all the village the funeral mass in the parish church was full. Here in San Giorgio the funeral is held within 48 hours of the death. After the mass in the church the mourners walk behind the coffin to the local cemetery where there is another short service of internment.

This picture of a man cleaning the beach is something we do not see very often on the free beach at Torrette. 

These, unfortunately, are what we often see on the beach at torrette.

Most italians who smoke on the beach lack any sense of “senso civico” and stub the cigarette butt into the sand. The result, according to a recent survey, is that 27% of rubbish collected on the beach is cigarette butts. It takes up to five years for the butt to degrade and in the meantime 320-350 tons of nicotine from the butts are passed into the environment.