MNTravelogue

Acquapendente’s Festa dei Pugnaloni  – An Enduring Bond with an Italian Family and Community

By Wilfredo Valenzuela
Acquapendente- Italy
May 2012



Last year, I wrote the MN Travelogue entitled “Acquapendente’s Festa dei Pugnaloni – A Unique and Unforgettable Experience with an Italian Family and Community”.  I described then the beautiful wall-size mosaics of flower petals and leaves in Acquapendente’s  pugnaloni art competition, commemorating the miracle of the Madonna del Fiore (Madonna of the Flower) that led to the liberation of the town from the German emperor Frederic I Barbarossa in the 12^th century.  I am compelled to write this sequel after attending this year’s festival in which our team La Rugarella was awarded a close second place finish (Secondo Classificato) in the competition.  Congratulations to the entire La Rugarella team, especially to my friend and host La Rugarella capogruppo (group leader) Luca “Cialda” Del Segato, and bozzetto (sketch) artist Luca Birra Lombardelli who designed La Rugarella’s award-winning entry.  Congratulazioni!

 
 
The small town of Acquapendente is a world apart from where I live in Orange County, California.  I have come to develop great admiration for Acquapendente’s hospitable people, and deep appreciation of their simple and happy community life in which everyone seems to be part of one big family.  La Rugarella has embraced me as a regular member.  One night after the group’s dinner, Luca gave a short speech and presented me a set of gifts from the group consisting of an Acquapendente pugnaloni commemorative plate, a La Rugarella souvenir cup, and a key chain with engraving that says I belong with them.  To La Rugarella, I say, uno di voi, sono uno di voi!  I am very proud and honored to be one of you!  Grazie per tutto! 

Luca, his mother Morena, father Carlo, sister Francesca, girlfriend Chiara, and Chiara’s mother Stefania, were as gracious and kind as ever.  Sono molto gentili!  Since Luca was working the day I arrived, Morena picked me up at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport.  Acquapendente is about two hours away from Rome by car, so I was a bit embarrassed that she had to drive that distance, and wait for another hour for my delayed flight.  But her cheerful and sincere greeting, telling me in Italian not to worry because she was very happy to see me again, made me feel very welcome. 

Luca arranged my accommodations months in advance to make sure that I got a room near the piazza (town square) so I could walk around the town center anytime I wanted.  I stayed at Albergo Toscana, a very a nice hotel situated by the piazza.  Luca took care of everything as usual.  His friend Alfredo who manages the hotel was not allowed to tell me how much my stay there cost.  Like last year, Luca, Morena and Carlo took turns picking me up everyday to have lunch at their house or take me somewhere.  I still miss the scrumptious 5-course Italian meals that Morena prepared for us.  I did not feel like a tourist in Italy anymore.  I was with a family in the community. 

Acquapendente is in the province of Lazio and the Tuscan border is just minutes away.  In between La Rugarella activities and running his tour and limousine service business (http://www.tuscanydriverdelsegato.com/), Luca managed to take me to places in Tuscany.  We walked around the beautiful hill town of San Gimignano with its world famous medieval towers.  He explained the important role that lo zafferano (saffron) played in the history of San Gimignano.  During the Middle Ages, saffron was cultivated in San Gimignano and traded as a rare and valuable commodity akin to precious metals.  It is said that great fortunes as well as the towers of San Gimignano were built upon saffron.

We went to Arezzo to see a friend and have some pizza there. The day before I left Italy, we drove to Florence and had lunch in a restaurant that served excellent bistecca fiorentina (florentine steak), so flavorful, juicy and tender.

There was celebration with La Rugarella each night as we had our dinner of pasta, barbecue, and roast pig.  And of course, there was the traditional imbuto (funnel) ritual of drinking wine through an imbuto.


Like last year, the day before the pugnaloni competition was hectic, but somehow the team managed to pull through again.  Late that day, the group realized that there were not enough flowers to finish the pugnalone.  Luca, his friend Fabbio and I drove to several places and finally found enough flowers in Viterbo, another town about an hour away.  The team was up the whole night to finish the floral mosaic.  By nine o’clock Sunday morning, the day of the pugnaloni competition, the two huge boards of La Rugarella’s pugnalone were assembled in a gas station across the street so that we could see the outcome of the month-long effort in daylight and put finishing touches, before the pugnalone was viewed by the judges.  It was exquisite, I thought, and I told Luca that it should win an award.  He just kept quiet.


Amidst the sound of blasting horns, deafening firecrackers, and thick smoke that filled the piazza, La Rugarella received the Secondo Classificato award that night.  My normally glib friend was bursting with joy but speechless as he accepted the trophy.  He told me later that he could hardly breathe and his chest was pounding so hard with excitement and pride for his team.  He confessed that earlier that day, he thought too that we would get an award but did not want to jinx it by saying so.  With his bull horn in hand, he led the group in exuberant post-award celebrations in a restaurant and at the piazza.


Luca drove me to Rome in Carlo’s Mercedes Benz S-Class for my flight to the Netherlands to visit my sister Orquidia and brother in law Expedito.  My friend quipped he could tell people at the airport that his passenger is a Philippine dignitary.  I sure felt like one with the kindest and most hospitable treatment I received from him, his family and friends.  It is always a sad time for us when we part.  But once again, I enjoyed every bit of the time I spent in Acquapendente, including winning an award this time!

 

 

 

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