The celebration was at the Memorial for the Fallen for Rome, a site set up to honor the memory of those who were killed in the fight for the unification of Rome. Of course, our professor sort of tricked us into getting there early. And in typical Italian style, the ceremony didn't start on time and everything seemed a bit disorganized. It was interesting to see the differences between this ceremony and similar ones that would take place back home: usually in the States these events start on time, everything is thus and so, the event happens, and then it's over just as soon as it started. Not here. The celebration started (I think) - the troops marched in and a few men gave some speeches. Then nothing else really happened, so I thought it was over...nope. There were about two to three more secions like this, where just when it seemed it was over, more people got up to speak. And of course it was in Italian, so I really have no idea what was going on. Our professor explained a few things, but it was also interesting to be able to just observe.
These soldiers are wearing red jackets in honor of Giuseppe Garibaldi, one of the leaders in the fight for Italian unification.
My history class (or at least some of us...)After we left this celebration, we walked up the rest of the hill, and our professor was showing us some more monuments in honor of the Republic and Risorgimento. At the very top of the hill, overlooking the city, there was another small ceremony...a police band was playing Mameli's anthem, and a huge group of elementary school students released red, green, and white balloons into the air. I loved watching how this event was honored and celebrated...it was so patriotic!
Ciao for now!
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