Castelmolo - How Quiet are Mountain Villages

Castelmolo sits high above the Mediterranean, towering over other mountain villages. The whole area was a favourite location with Greek settlers in 600 BC... understandable for those liking panoramic views... and architects looking for a challenge... but (most likely) loathed by builders who had to haul slabs of granite up perilous mountain tracks. The region seems to be a literal embodiment of 'one-upmanship'... where one generation built a village on one mountain top... and motivated the next generation to increase the level of difficulty by building further up the mountain range on a higher peak. Castelmolo was the culmination of the one-upmanship building a community on the most unlikely site you could imagine. Perhaps there was cultish belief that living closer to the gods improved their chances of being invited into the celestial group. 

On our arrival, Castelmolo was deserted... we seemed to be the only people around. We did the coffee... and the photos... and started to look at the shops. My fear of shops has lessened since we both agreed on a shopping protocol... we can buy anything provided we toss out from our existing luggage, items of equivalent weight. We don't buy much. But one curio caught our eye... it's a doorbell the same as the one on the door of the place where we are staying... a wheel with bells around the perimeter... so when you turn the wheel, you hear the tinkling of many bells. 

We turned the wheel to listen to the sound. At the sound of the first tinkle, a man sitting on the other side of the Square jumped up... put his finger to his lips... and said, "shhhhh". He walked over looking somewhat apologetic. "Its my grandfather... he is asleep upstairs... having his morning nap... he is 98 years old... and the sound of the bells wakes him... and makes him think of times he spent in World War II... in the Italian army. Yesterday, someone tinkled the bells... and he jumped out of bed... as fast as a 98 year old can jump... dusted himself down ready for inspection... and stood to attention." The stall minder accompanied this explanation with a re-enactment of his granddad's movements... finishing off with a Nazi salute. Joye and I fell about in uncontrollable laughter... what a comic. 

We didn't buy the bells... but the stall minder didn't seem to mind... his granddad remained asleep... and so did World War II.