VIVA LA RESISTENZA!

On April 25, 1945 Mussolini's fascist regime fell from power. Every year on April 25, Italy celebrates its liberation from fascism - Festa della Liberazione. People go to the countryside to spend time with their friends, and there are a lot of free music festivals throughout Italy. I went with my friends to Monte Sole, a national historic park close to Bologna. Bologna has a history of being a very left-leaning city, and during the Second World War, it was an important city for the Italian Resistance. The Nazis could not distinguish Resistance workers from civilians, so on October 5, 1944, the Nazis massacred all the inhabitants of this area. A really moving film about this event came out earlier this year called L'Uomo che verrà. If you have a chance to see it, I highly recommend that you do. The cast of the film even showed up for the event this year, but sadly I missed them. Still, it was a really lively festival and a completely Italian one (in ways good and bad).

So first the bad. Fliers for the event stated that free shuttles would transport attendees from the train station to the event site. A train-ful of people emptied out onto the street, and half an hour later a van that could hold fifteen showed up. I was just lucky that I could fight my way onto one after waiting an hour and a half.

Then the food. Both good and bad. Ok, well the food was AMAZING, but the line was less orderly than the one for the bus. After trying to fight for my fries for about half an hour, I managed to sneakily get two instead. Then we got to eat our delicious bolognese food while listening to some Resistance music.

Also, the backdrop was gorgeous. Very good.


An exhibition to remember those lost during the Partisan's struggle.


Then of course getting back was another problem. Surprisingly, there was actually an orderly line to get on the return shuttle. After getting to the back of a 60 person line though, a police officer kindly informed us that only one more shuttle would come. One friend and I decided to make the half hour hike back. The rest of the group hitchhiked. At least we got to enjoy this beautiful scenery on the descent.