Le Terrae, Day 16

Easter Day! Buona Pasqua! We went to the 10 a.m. mass in Vasanello. I think we had all expected a rather dull by the book mass, but it was a very lively service. The priest had tons of energy, and played the guitar along with some of the spirited liturgical pieces through the service. There were a ton of children there, including about 60 he had sitting up in the chancel transepts to help out with the singing and reading. The whole place was packed, and we were glad we got there a little early to get a seat where we could see everything. We could follow along well in the service. Wally and I have the bible on our iPhones, so we could follow along with the readings, which were exactly the same as they would have been at home, as was the Prayer of the Day and the Post-Communion Prayer. Let's hear it for the Western Liturgical Tradition! The priest had clearly seen these Americans, and during communion he picked a song for everyone to sing that had a refrain in English. When it started, people looked at us and smiled. Very nice. Everyone was very kind to us, and it was lovely to share the peace.

After church we came back to the villa and rested up a bit before starting Easter dinner around 1 p.m. We fixed our pasta with Alfredo sauce, mushrooms, and wild asparagus, and ate it while the meat and veggies cooked, and then enjoyed that wonderful food. It's great to be here and be able to benefit from all the fresh food that's around. Lots of fun.

The rest of Sunday was lazy, with some preparations for leaving on Monday and a couple last rounds of Bocce. The sun came out for a good while in the afternoon.

We read and packed and talked in the evening, and enjoyed one last glass of sweet wine from Le Velette. A fitting end to a great time.