Ferragosto

so they call today, i.e. august 15th in italy, public holiday, where by tradition cities should be desert like the metaphysical squares of Giorgio de Chirico and silent should be the main soundtrack, no cars, just faint sounds in the distance (playing maybe “Summertime“). And indeed that’s the scene, althought with the passing of the year it’s becoming less ever dominant, and more people stay in towns or work in August where in the past it was almost a must : in august the only chance to spot people in italy were on beaches or on vacation.