The Search for Flower Carpets
Before I moved to Italy I began taking Italian lessons from a Neapolitan lady. She told me about a festival called, “Infiorata” (carpets made of flowers arranged in patterns), and ever since I have wanted to see this. Covid of course kind of stopped that for a couple years but now the festivals are back!
Since we were not yet on summer break like all the rest of the schools, I tried to find a festival closer than 4 hours to us. I thought I was successful when I found one in the teeny town of Ogliara in Salerno. However, upon arrival there were no roads filled with carpets of flowers or hardly any people for that matter. Most of the locals weren’t even aware of the event and I saw only one poster advertising it on the bottom part of a doorway while walking through the town. Yet, some insisted it was still happening. So we tried to kill some time before it began at 8pm. This is the thing about Italy… very often things will not go as planned but there are always other things to discover and enjoy that you didn’t expect- like finding yourself driving down to the sea or indulging in delicious food and drinks. Upon returning later to the mountain town, we mingled with the community, watching them come together; hung in the piazza with older generations while taking a caffè; and enjoying “la dolce fa niente” (the sweetness of doing nothing).
It turned out that the “night of flowers” was only for a creation of one large floral carpet in the parish courtyard. Since we were already there we decided to stay and watch a little anyway. We may not have seen roads full of flower carpets but we did get a more behind-the-scenes experience, which included the blessing of the flowers (and a car…) and workers beginning the process of making these beautiful carpets. We’re lucky to call this place home so at least we have next summer to try another Infiorata festival! In the meantime, we’ve met more beautiful people and experienced another beautiful area!
*** The two photos of the completed floral carpet are not mine. Photos courtesy of #rifioriamo insieme Ogliara in fiore – L’infiorata di Salerno 𝑬𝒅. 10+1 ***
Lindsay View All →
Our roots will forever be from here, America, born and raised. Yet, life requires us to move more frequently than we care to count. Whether living stateside or abroad, you can always find us traveling somewhere. We scout out places that you only think you can dream of one day seeing and we seek out those that aren’t found in guidebooks. We then bring them to life here in our travel memos, so hopefully, one day you too can visit them or at least be able to live vicariously through us. This blog isn’t just about crossing off places from a bucket list. It’s about absorbing and learning how other cultures grow and fit into the same world that we do. Life is short and the world is big. Enjoy and get out there!
American Roots. Traveling Boots. 