The advent of this new day found us sleeping in the middle of that open field in the purlieu of Poggio San Marcello village. The fierce sun-beaming, being obstructed by nothing, made its way unhindered through the tent’s fine fabric and started converting it into something resembling more of an oven, by the very moment of the sun’s first appearance. We should get away as soon as possible.
Packing went exceptionally fast this morning. No more than twenty minutes after opening our eyes, we’ve hit the road. Soon later, we were resting the bikes against the fat trunk of a tree situated in the village’s central square. The village’s cafe had just opened; and its owner, still in a dormant state, proceeded slowly in making the two cups of coffee we asked him for. We sat and spent there a couple of hours observing the awakening village, while we were waiting for the power-banks to be charged inside the shop.
Luckily, despite being afraid of finding none, we found a fairly decent grocery shop where we got supplied with food for the next few days to follow. We packed the food on the bikes; filled water from a lion-head faucet; and passed through the – typical in all the villages of the area – stone gate entrance under the watchtower by the verge of the hilltop where this village was built on.
We effortlessly rolled down the steep, meandering road until the foot of the hill, and started to laboriously push the bikes up that insanely inclined road up the next hill. Our road then continued smoothly for some time along the hill ridge until an agglomeration of parked cars, tents, and colorful fabrics became apparent on top of an adjoining hill. That was our destination: the Blackmoon Festival 2017.
Admittedly, the location of the festival, I didn’t find ideal. There was something appealing about the old, abandoned farmhouse on the top of that desolate, grassy field… but otherwise, it was lacking character, and, more especially, it was lacking shade – a thing quite necessary when setting up a festival in the middle of the Italian summer.
After all, we ended up pitching the tent on a spot quite far out of the party, down the hill slope, where the only cluster of some few trees was to be found. The shade was not perfectly sufficient, the ground was rough, and there were too many flies… but otherwise it was okay.
It was afternoon when we settled there. And, apart from paying a short visit to the party after it started in the evening, we didn’t do much other than rest. Tomorrow was going to be a day of trance.
Accommodation and Activities in Italy
Stay22 is a handy tool that lets you search for and compare stays and experiences across multiple platforms on the same neat, interactive map. Hover over the listings to see the details. Click on the top-right settings icon to adjust your preferences; switch between hotels, experiences, or restaurants; and activate clever map overlays displaying information like transit lines or concentrations of sights. Click on the Show List button for the listings to appear in a list format. Booking via this map, I will be earning a small cut of the platform's profit without you being charged any extra penny. You will be thus greatly helping me to maintain and keep enriching this website. Thanks!
