We asked at the station, " how far is the center ?" Well, they lied. We hoisted our packs upon our backs, packs which had picked up a bit of weight since the beginning of our trek, and headed off in the direction of the center. We had been told it was under a kilometer, it turned out to be something over a mile. A learning experience. What did we learn ? Well, I’ll tell you, we learned to always take a cab from the station to whatever accommodations one might be in the midst of finding. As I indicated those packs had picked up a bit of weight and became the packs that liked to break our backs. Not being one to waste time dwelling in negativity, let’s just move on to more pleasant reveries.

piazza centrale

The tourist office was closed till 4 so we had an expresso & waited. Rosemary chatted it up with a policeman & he led me to a camere affita (pensione) which was closed, so back to the station we went and he called and arranged for a room. Cool !! A charming place with a wonderfully laid out modern bath, overlooking a tiny street of only about a block long, in the charming, quaint, wonderful, old quarter.

At four we returned to the tourist information center and got maps, etc. Then it was off to the paper manufacturing museum. Turned out that we were unable to tour the factory as we had hoped, as the main product of the Fabriano paper mill is paper for money. Don’t want no stinking tourists in there, no sir !! As i said we went to the paper museum. They have been making paper in Fabriano since 11 or 12oo. It was here that the water mark was invented, which brings me to an interesting occurrence. While touring the museum, we were treated to a demonstration of making paper by hand. At one point a young man dipped a screen with some fine wire and a decorative design on the surface, as two of his compatriots looked on. I asked in my best Italian if this wire design was for the marka de acqua ? One young dude’s eyes popped out and he stammered yes, when i repeated my question... By this time all three were stifling themselves and after we thanked them for the demonstration, they speed around the corner and burst out laughing. After giving this close scrutiny and careful thought, as near as i could figure, i must have asked if the design is what creates piss marks. Maybe yes, maybe no ?? I for one don’t really know, so, hey, if you know the answer, please enlighten me. It’s a strange sensation to be laughed at without quite knowing why. As Uncle Austin would say, we were just poor ignorant foreigners.

It was now around 6:30 p m. After quickly viewing a photo exhibit in an old gothic courtyard, and a couple of churches, we sauntered back to the main square and to our surprise, it was filled with people of all ages out for their friday night stroll. We estimated from aerial photographs, by the averaging method, that there must have been around a thousand folks, just aimlessly wandering about, or so it seemed to us. This very square had been all but deserted when we arrived during siesta. So when in Fabriano, we did as the Fabrianians, and wandered up & down the street and about the piazza, checking out all the locals as they did the same. There were oldsters - the old men, eyeing the young girls, as Italian men are known to do, youngsters, doing the courting ritual, young marrieds with kids in strollers, seemed like every one in town was there or at least their representatives. We were having another experience, Ruth.

Arthur Millers " Vetri Rotte (Broken Glass)"

Rosemary was wanting to see a play or some type of event in the Teatro Gentile, the interior of which we had seen photo of of. I must admit that I did too, I’ll further admit that I love the theater.. Alas, there was a play yesterday and a play tomorrow, but no play today. While munching pizza and milling with the throng, we decided to see if we could at least get into the theater to check it out. We found the stage door and rang the buzzer.....someone answered the call box and said, sorry, closed.....rosemary said we were from California and would be leaving town tomorrow and was there anyway we could please see the interior.....they came down and said no, no, no, but at the same time motioning us in ??? There was a dress rehearsal going on and of course we couldn’t possibly stay, but they escorted us to a box and said that in 20 minutes there would be a break between acts and we could see the theater then......sat down, watched most of act one, lights came up and wow !!, It is a small, gilt riddled, opera house, with about 5 or 6 tears of box seats plus the main floor...rosemary estimated it seats around 800. Stunning !!! We took some photos, as they had turned up the house lights for us, and wandered our way back stage and generally prepared to leave. We were introduced to a woman and told "speak english !!" She did and it turns out that she was the company director and she chatted with us for a while and invited us to enjoy the rest of the performance...wow !!! Of course we returned to our box and were treated to practically a private viewing of Arthur Millers latest play " Vetri Rotte (Broken Glass)", staring Valeria Moriconi, who we were told is a famous actress in Italy, Virgilio Gazzolo and Stefano Santospago and directed by M. Missiroli. The only others in the audience were the director and her assistant.

Teatro Gentile

Even though there was a language barrier, the acting was excellent. At several points they had Rosemary sobbing. This was a special treat indeed. We were told that in three weeks the production was to go to Rome. An interesting devise was used to distract the audience while they changed sets between scenes. As the stage revolved to be reset, out of view, a violinist strolled across the stage, poignantly playing. Tres cool mon !!! What an experience !!

After profusely thanking our hosts, we exited the theater at around 9:30 of the evening, only to find the streets once again deserted.....where did they go ?? Where did they come from ?? Where are they now ???

Luxuriously we just waited till we woke up on this morning of our lives. I showered and soon there was a tap, tap, tapping upon the door. Queried about cafe, we said yes, e pronto, due espresso were delivered. While rosemary showered I zipped out seeking the morns repast. First stop was the bakery, where I picked up some fruit rolls and bread for later. Still cruzing, I discovered the saturday market and procured grapes and a pear.. Feeling romantic, I purchase a single rose for my Rose. Back to our room to get Rosemary, trade my rose for a kiss, and back to the market to enjoy it with her. Again we shopped...we bought some roast pork and with that we had enough for lunch on the train. There were about 2 acres of booths, clothing, toys, shoes, hardware, kitchenware. There was also a large indoor room of fruit and veggie vendors as well as meat and fish stalls with, trout, salmon, cockle shells, small conch type shellfish and many fish, unknown to us.

in Fabriano, the city map indicates that a river runs through the town, but that inside the city walls it is covered.....we looked for and found it within the town, but were unable to discover a break in the ancient wall anywhere near the river. While looking, we passed once again a church, S. Benedetto by name, that I’d seen photos of and wanted to see. We were told that it was closed and not available for viewing. Trying several times to get in, we were resigned to the fact, that this was, indeed, the truth. However, upon passing it this once again, we discovered that our angles were still with us (may they never depart), for I noticed a woman sweeping the walk in front and that the door was ajar. When is a door not a door ? When it’s ajar. While the ladies back was to us, we slipped in and were treated to a wonderfully preserved, ancient house of worship, walls and ceiling, filled with marvelous paintings of biblical themes. We wandered alone, enjoying this quiet moment, the art, the architecture. Trying to leave as we had entered, our lady of the leaves heard us and looked up, with my buongiorno, she gave us the evil eye. We passed her by, smiling, filled with the knowledge that we had been guided there at just the right moment to gain that, which we had desired.....there are no coincidences !!!

It was time to leave Fabriano.....back to our room to get our packs.....to the bus stop.....get on and ask," per stazione?".....Yes, what time is your train ?.....In one hour !!.....O K...Turns out the bus circumnavigated the town, like a serpent. Okay, since we had the time, and giving us the ten dollar tour for about 75 cents each. We realized that our 24 hours in fabriano, was magic, indeed.