Ferragosto in Galliopoli is like Spring Break at Panama City Beach. Except the beaches are a lot better, the people are a lot more attractive, and the partying doesn’t just last for a week.

Let me backtrack for a second here. Ferragosto is a national holiday in Italy. Officially, it is celebrated on August 15th and is symbolizes a day of rest from work. Unofficially, it symbolizes the height of vacation time for Italians. During the month of August, the majority of Italians have between 2-4 weeks of holiday. Many stores, restaurants and other places are closed. Pat and I even began to notice this during our travels early in August: a lot of the cities we visited were not as crowded as normal.

I can now say I found out where half of Italy goes: Gallipoli.

My grandmother’s side of the family is from Southern Italy and when I was here last summer I was continually impressed with the pristine beaches and beautiful scenery. Apparently, so is the rest of Italy.

There are so many different beaches near Gallipoli and every single one is a continual party. It is so crowded here that a lot of times there is no space to even put down your towel. Instead, everyone hangs in the water or dances at one of the many Lidos with jamming music.

And everyone here is beautiful. Thank goodness for sunglasses because I can’t stop staring at people. Of course, it probably doesn’t help that bathing suits here barely cover the body. (Sorry, but I’m not about to post any pictures of that on this blog. haha Family friendly blog here)

The craziest thing is that there really is no age limit on the beach party-goers. Luigi and their friends are all mid to late 30s and party much harder than I do. Every night they go out around 1 am and come home around 6 or 7 in the morning. It has certainly been on experience going out with Luigi and his friends. 🙂 I am impressed that his body can adjust to this lifestyle for a couple of weeks and then go back to being a high-class lawyer. More power to you, Luigi (animale di festiggare)!

Luigi (far right) and his college friends at the beach

As for the actual day of Ferragosto, August 15th, I was able to be part of some great Italian traditions. We had a huge dinner with family and friends at Santa Chiara (my aunt & uncle’s Bed and Breakfast). The full five course meal was full of laughing, fun and yes…music! My uncle and cousin both are musically gifted. It was great to watch them preform since I have not had the chance to see them in action yet.

Our dinner full of friends and family

Francesca, me and Toni. They are sisters and my second cousins on my dad’s side

After the dinner we went to downtown Alezio (the small town they live in) to continue the celebrations. All of Alezio was illuminated with spectacular decorations. There were stands on all of the roads selling food, jewelry, clothes and anything else you could think of! At the end of the night there were fireworks.

Oh I’m sorry, did I say end of the night? What I really meant was basically morning. The fireworks went off at 2:30 AM. 2:30 AM?!?! Really? Yep. I’m over here barely keeping my eyes open and there are little kids awake and ready. I could barely stay up until midnight for New Years when I was a child…how are these kids staying up until 2:30?

On top of that, were you thinking about not staying up to see the fireworks? Think again. Around 2:45 the fireworks show was over and the sky was black again. I glanced around and I noticed that nobody was getting up to move. I thought it was a little strange, but I figured people were just taking their time. Five minutes later, everyone is in the same place. I finally turned to the person next to me and asked why people weren’t moving.

“Oh, it’s not over.”

“What do you mean it’s not over?”

“There are two more parts.”

Is this for real? Its almost 3 in the morning and there are two more shows of fireworks? Yep, it was for real. To be honest, I was really impressed. Fireworks have started to all seem the same to me – five minutes of bright lights, loud music and then its over. It was nice to feel like I was watching a real show. Thanks Alezio for going above and beyond.

Italy, especially Gallipoli, during Ferragosto is a unique experience that anyone with the desire to witness Italian lifestyle should be a part of at least once. I’m not sure the yearly party animal lifestyle is for me…but how can I complain about a month full of vacation, sun and friends?