The article on which I alighted in order to give my brain an Italian language workout was entitled "Chiude l'Ultimo Barbiere di Castiglione". It was about the closing of the barber shop of Belfino. He has operated his shop in the same location - a tiny, cave-like space carved in the tufa stone underneath the church steps - for 48 years, since 1968. He turned 83 in March and has said, "Basta!" He cannot keep up with the times. He regrets having to close. It has been a place to which men have come not only for a haircut, but because, in his own words,
"I was a bit psychologist, a bit friend, and a bit confidant. The old men chose my shop and are sad it is closing. Times change. But not habits. These men still want to have their hair cut as they did at one time - slowly, and in a familiar environment."
My grandfather, Carlo, was a barber, too. He closed his shop in Plainfield, NJ, when he, also could not keep up with the changes. People then were asking for Beatle cuts and 'Fro's and Carnaby Street chic. These were beyond his ken. So he, too, acquiesced to a shifting tide and moored his boat.
I wonder where the men who sat around his shop chatting, reading the local paper, or arguing went to? Where will the old men who frequent Belfino's shop go now? Not only for the haircuts that are ingrained into their identities, but for the company, the camaraderie, the comfort of familiar tradition?
Abruzzo is a region that hews to tradition more closely than any other area of Italy to which I have been. The rituals of life, the celebrations, the food, the music, all spring from the same deep, old, sturdy taproot from which their grandparents, great grandparents, great-great grandparents, and n
beyond have received life and around which they built their lives.
Candle Making |
Antipasto at Ristorante Antica Loggia
The Church of San Donato, decorated for The Festival of Its Namesake |
Musicians at Val Fino al Canto, the annual music festival in Arsita
These are all done with un-self conscious grace. There are no displays for tourists exhorting crowds following a raised umbrella and continuously adjusting their " whispers" to step up and buy goods. Organized tourism is finding its way into Abruzzo. I am grateful for that. This is an Italy that needs to be shared. It is an Italy that continually keeps its promise of being Italian, to offer what many visitors seek when they come here. It is an endangered Italy.
Belfino has said that he hopes someone younger will take over the shop. If they do, he will give them all the equipment in the shop for free. I am hoping this happens. I am hoping the torch is passed. Otherwise, where will all the old men go?
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