Buon Ferragosto!

On August 15 Italians celebrate Il Ferragosto.  Technically it is to celebrate the Assumption of Mary, but it is more widely celebrated than most religious holidays in the States.  So widely celebrated, that the entire city shut down.  Empty.  It has it's roots in the ancient Roman Feriae Augusti (Festivals of Emperor Augustus).  It was basically a huge party, where even the slaves could party with their masters.  The Italian people loved this holiday so much that the Church decided it would be easier to just convert it into a Christian holiday than try to stamp it out, so August 15 is now the day of the Assumption.  It's surprising how many dates Christian holidays are determined by old pagan celebrations.

August is already notoriously dead.  Every good Italian goes on vacation for the entire month and heads to the beach.  At least a third of all stores are closed.  Busy streets are quiet.  The population of the city drops from 3 million to 1 million.  The government has to regulate which grocery store in the neighborhood stays open, just so the poor unfortunates that do remain in the city can survive.  If living in Rome in August is even worth surviving (that is the opinion of Romans I've met, not me).
When Ferragosto rolls around, those that did remain get out of here.  This year it fell on a Sunday, so I don't know if it was especially quiet or if it is always such a ghost town.
I remained in the city and saw this as an opportunity for a unique experience.  I debated going to the Vatican or Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major, the basilica for Mary) to attend the mass of the Assumption.  Since Pope Benny wasn't going to show at the Vatican (even he went to his summer house for the holidays), I decided it would be cool to go to Mary's church for her feast day.  So off I went to the Pontifical Mass at Santa Maria Maggiore.  The mass was said by a cardinal, and his accent indicated he might be a native English speaker.  He walked into the basilica in a fantastic procession of around 20 people.  Although it was great to see the cardinal, there was someone else I was more interested in.  The man in the blue hat.  I don't know what his position is, but it must be special if he could wear that blue hat.  It was the best hat I've ever seen

If anyone can figure out who he is or why he gets to wear that hat, I would appreciate it.

The mass was beautiful. Santa Maria Maggiore is one of the 4 main basilica's of Rome, and it is just absolutely gorgeous.  If I found my mind wandering (ha, if), I let it wander to the centuries old gold mosaics.  My justification:  that when people couldn't read they looked at these mosaics to learn about the Bible, so I was just learning in a different way than listening to Italian homily's :)

After mass I wanted to see how empty the city was, so I headed down Via Cavour to the Colosseum.  There were people, but all tourists (save for the Indian man selling hats).  What really blew my mind was the walk down Via dei Fori Imperiali.  This road is one of the roads tourists believe they are risking death when they cross.  It is ridiculously busy.  However, on Ferragosto I walked right down the middle of it, all the way past the Forum and to Piazza Venezia.  I don't think I will ever be able to do that again, unless it is Ferragosto.

Crazy.  Most, if not all of these people are tourists.  I grabbed some pizza at the Despar (surprisingly open!), and sat with my feet swinging over Largo di Torre Argentina as I munched my lunch.  I was in such a good mood.  I listened to some American tourists trying to figure out where they were going, and as they were heading off in the wrong direction I asked if they needed any help.  After pointing them in the right direction, I got the now familiar yet still annoying "Wow! From Ohio to Rome."  Guess what world, Ohio is not farms and hicks.  After they left, a line formed of people asking me for help.  I loved it.
After everyone left I saw a clearly confused Asian man.  I asked if he needed any help, and he just said "ni hao."  So I said, "ni hao."  He responded with "ni hao."  We went on like that, exchanging "ni hao" a few times until I thought I would laugh.

The rest of my Ferragosto was spent wandering around, until I got bored that EVERYTHING was closed.