Located in Emilia-Romagna next to the border with Tuscany you can find the little town of Fanano tucked away in the mountains. With only a population close to 3,000 it reminds me a bit of my own small town back home. They definitely know when you are not from here because everyone knows everyone.
I am currently WWOOFing at an agriturismo about 30 minutes away from this small town and found myself here last Thursday evening. It was suggested by the agriturismo owner I am staying with because she had a meeting here and she thought this little town she was from would make a nice evening exploration. So we set on a warm Thursday evening driving through the curvy roads down the mountain for what felt like a very long time until we hit the main road. This would take us to Fanano, expect for one small problem.
Suddenly there was a long line of cars on the road. Everyone turned on their hazards and the drivers all left their cars to see what was going on. What an Italian thing! Literally they all just had a meeting in the middle of the road to talk about what was going on and they all knew each other. There was an accident and nobody was getting through so we turned back around and took the long way through more narrow curvy mountain roads. I was trying really hard not to get carsick or have a panic attack anytime we drove past another car. It reminded me so much of driving through Mallorca and I hated it. Like why does one car have to pull over on the side of the road so the other can get by? Why can’t we all fit on the roads!
We eventually were welcomed to Fanano, the sister city of Fairbanks, by the green mountains and evening sunny haze. They dropped me off by the city hall and said they’d be back in an hour. “Ok so I had one hour,” I thought to myself, “what was I going to do?” I peeked into the tourist office right next to the city hall to see if there was a bathroom. I didn’t see one so I browsed the pamphlets but they were all in Italian and nothing piqued my interest. I awkwardly said ciao to the guy manning the desk and made my exit
I decided to walk to the main square, Piazza Corsini. There were people sitting outside restaurants chatting and I took a seat on a bench. After taking in the view of the stores, houses, and towers, I decided to walk to the nearby church, Pieve di San Silvestro Papa. There was nobody here at this small church, but the doors were opened so I peeked inside and walked around the room looking at the art that decorated the walls.
It wasn’t as extravagant as many of the other European churches I have been to but it had charm. I took a moment of mediation. I find it so facinating that where ever you go in the world, you can almost always find a Catholic Church. There is so much beauty in that. There is always something to connect me to people I may not even speak the same language as all because we worship the same God. I’m always in awe over visiting a new church no matter where I am. After I had my moment, I decided I really did need to find a bathroom so gelato it was.
I found a little spot on Piazza Vittoria. The locals surrounded it from playing on the square and hanging out at the outdoor tables, to the customers standing at the bar. I looked at the gelato and the girl working came up to me right away. I had to make a quick decision, “Hi do you have a bathroom? I promise I will buy something!” Yep I did that. No Italian at all. How embarrassing! So I came back and did the same embarrassing American thing. I ordered in English. In my defense I hadn’t learned how to order gelato in Italian yet. I got a small scoop of lemon and then sat out on the square. I was a little nervous and felt a bit out of place but I really appreciate the girl accepting my English and speaking it in return. I don’t like to just assume everyone speaks English all the time, but my brain still hasn’t been able to distinguish what is Spanish and what is Italian so I find myself speaking a weird hybrid of English, Spanish, and Italian when I try to speak Italian.
I decided to walk around the streets close to the city hall since there was an abbey and towers around there. I walked by but wasn’t sure if I could go in even though there were people, it they looked kind of official so I kept walking. It was interesting seeing how people lived. At one point there were a group of teenage girls hanging out outside getting ready for the evening. There was the young couple going for a walk. Oh and there was the young man meeting up with an older man to exchange some kind of produce. I found myself being quite observant as an outsider. These were all people with lives just like those in my own town, except it was Italy.
I still hadn’t heard if I’d be getting picked up soon so I walked to the Belvedere San Colombano for a good view of the mountains. I have discovered the word “Belvedere” is used a lot in Italy. It literally mean “beautiful view” so anything we would consider an outlook is a Belvedere in Italy. It did have one of the most stunning views of the mountains with the little houses that climbed up the side of the mountains.
I walked around here for a bit going up and down to get my steps. I decided to head back since I didn’t want to be too far when it was time to go. I actually still had a lot of time though. After sitting at the park next to the city hall for a bit, I decided to walk around a bit more, but this time without the map. I would go as I pleased on the look out for all the stone plaques and sculptures that dotted the city. Fanano is called the city of stone for its ancient tradition of carving into sandstone. All of these carvings and sculptures either sit in the middle of parks or are plastered on the walls of buildings. They are quite fun to look for.
There was supposed to be the annual stone carving festival but I couldn’t find it. I don’t know if I didn’t go far enough or just was not adventurous enough to go into the place. I was a little nervous walking around because I couldn’t tell what was public spaces and what was people’s property. They all blended together. At one point I was walking up a hill that was definitely off the beaten path and all of a sudden I couldn’t figure out the way to go so I just decided to turn around because I didn’t want to go too far anyway. Well then a older woman started yelling at me in Italian. It was something like “Passa qui” and she pointed to the path that went around her house. She said some more stuff to my in Italian that I didn’t understand but I thanked her and kept walking. Then I was a little loss and had to get out my map but I found my way back simply enough.
I made it back to the main square where people were definitely starting to recognize me. I think I was an obvious outsider. I walked by some of the same people many times. I hung out here until it was time to go and I got picked up. I spent about 2 hours here in total. I feel I got to really explore the town but I regret not seeing the sculpture festival. How could I have missed it? I assumed maybe it just wasn’t going on at that moment because I also had saw a sign for some events that weekend that I thought were the festival. I think this may haunt me for the rest of my life but I’m just going to assume it wasn’t happening and I got the true and total Fanano experience.
This cute town makes a nice stop on the way from Emilia-Romagna to Tuscany. There are also a lot of trails and parks outside the town that would be so fun to check out. There are also lots of activities in the winter time since it is the mountains. I really enjoyed experiencing the rural culture of Italy. I would definitely recommend!
Stay used for more of my adventures WWOOFing in Italy! They are just getting started!
The Journal of Wanderlust 