Every schoolday morning – at about 10:45 – teachers from our local kindergarten put their thirty, or so, wards into little wagons, or attach them to a long rope – and walk them around our piazza…to air them out, I suppose. This is called a “Passaggiatta” by the locals. It is one of the best times of the day…for both the young and the old.
I grew up in the American Midwest. There, children were meant to be seen – not heard. Children could only appear in public in good form. They were to defer to all adults. Show some respect. I think it was a good thing. I did not grow up so bad. But here in Tuscany it is different.
The children in our Tuscan town Rule. Some are dressed to the ‘Nines’. Some just come to the Piazza straight from the bed or crib. Fathers bring them everywhere, hoist them high in the air , twirl them round and round as if there were some kind of dance going on. Mothers let them crawl all over the place. Everybody waves at them, laughs with them. This is not life is it? Maybe it is THE life.
