OUR BLOG

So the day has come, there is excitement in the air, party dresses and high heels are out of the closet, fireworks are being set up all over the country - it's a matter of hours before we send 2018 on its way. Our American friends will catch up with us a little later, but we will all sail into 2019 very soon. 

We would, you might say - if we only knew what the dickens a yule is!  Undoubtedly, a few amongst you do actually know what we're talking about, but just as many don't, even though you have all sung "See the blazing yule before us" dozens of times at Christmas!

Every year, Mother Nature tricks us into thinking that summer has come back again, at least for a few days! This brief period is commonly called "L'estate di San Martino". San Martino is celebrated on the 11th of November - but who was he? Why is this date dedicated to him, and what does a change of climate have to do with him?

Coach Antonio Grillo and his wife Margarita Villordo have been living in Bedonia since 2007, and are now officially residents of our little town. Because the year prior to that, they had left Argentina, where they and their two sons were born, to do the opposite of what their predecessors had done - seek a better life for themselves in Italy.

Some emigrants returned to their homeland for the love of offspring who wished to  pursue their dreams in Italy; this is the story of one such example - a young man who came to Italy with a great ambition in his heart, and the desire to live out his dream.

The regulars of the first morning coffee found the lights off, the curtains drawn, and a big white sign on the door stating "Closed". It was the 1st of January 2016. It wasn't just any old cafè that was closed, it was "Bar Mellini". This is the story.....