Every summer the local Barga football club hosts the fish and chip festival. Dozens of long trestle tables are aligned under a huge tent, where friends and families meet to eat this very British dish but remember we are in the most Scottish Town in Italy! so it all seems quite normal except the slice of lemon with the fish (no malt vinegar). But the setting sun behind the distant mountains reminds us we are in still in Tuscany and not Britain!
Another narrow street in Barga, this is the bottom of Via Borgo, the start of an uphill climb from the Red telephone box. At least many of these narrow streets offer some welcome shade from the hot August sun.
Blue sky, sunshine and a British Red Telephone Box! It cannot be Britain as the sky would be grey and it would be raining. In fact, it is in the centre of Barga. Yes, there is a classic red telephone box in Barga, probably the only one in Italy although I did see a red London bus in Sicily a few years ago. The box was a gift to Barga from Mauro Cecchini, a retired fish and chip shop owner from Edinburgh whose family came from Barga. The fish and chip festival is also on..... well Barga is nicknamed the Most Scottish Town in Italy!
From most places in Barga you can see the Duomo. As the crow flies, getting from Piazza Angelio, the main piazza in Barga is not far, you can just catch a glimpse of the tower but it is all uphill and especially in the summer heat is literally an uphill task!
I liked the angular lines in this view of the Barga Duomo and theatre. The steps give a lovely rhythm to the foreground.
This entrance to the town of Castelnuovo makes a nice dark frame to the sunlit piazza inside. The shade is a welcome resting point to the hot sunshine that continues through the day.
Many people painting or sketching this scene would delete the traffic sign as it looks ugly but that little sign makes Barga a real authentic place. It means No Parking, although no vehicles could get into this little piazza except motorcycles but a skillful Italian driver with a small car/ape would try to get there if it meant parking as close as possible to his/her destination!
