modern day miracles still exist italian style, water turns into wine

There I was driving home, listening to National Public Radio's show Wait Wait, Don't Tell ME , a roundup of the week's news with guests of fame and infamy. This week was Garrison Keiller, one of my favorite comedians, storytellers, satirist and basically, If I was still a little kid, he'd be the one I'd choose to tell me a bed time story. His voice is like liquid valiums. Morgan Freeman is runner up. All of the contestants are questioned on the basic, bizarre and common knowledge of what has passed during the week. A very fun show to listen to, entertaining and educational... for example, I've learned that elephants are the only other animal, besides all of you out there with mirrors, who recognize their own reflection in a mirror as being themselves. (we all know that trick when you put the mirror in front of the dog, jeez you think they would break the mirror or just get tired barking).

But this week, being part Italian and loving wine, something caught my attention that I have to share with the world. It seems miracles still do happen; last time I heard of changing water to wine was somewhere in the holy land around 2 millennium ago. There is a festival, in Marino Italy, where for a few days day a year, the wine flows freely, in the public fountain for all to enjoy. This year, instead of flowing directly into the fountain, some of the lucky residents of Marino had divine plumbing intervention, in other words, wine from the tap, delivered straight into their homes. Yes, you hard core San Fermines of Pamplona, some other place in the world knows the true meaning of fiesta. And, believe it or not, they even dress like you. Another miracle.

The festival, called "sagra dell' uva", or the annual grape harvest, is celebrated by presenting the year's newly pressed grapes into the public water system leading to the Fountain of the Four Moors for all to enjoy. One of the oldest festivals of Italy, it celebrates a military victory of Admiral Marcantonio in the battle of Lepanto in October 1571.

Although this miracle has been called a result of bungling Italians, a mishap in the water supply system, or just plain stupidity by turning the wrong tap, I feel that the hand of god descended upon Marino for a day. It just goes to show you, just when the world was getting used to the idea that Jesus was a carpenter, he fools us all and turns out to be a plumber too.

Eat and live well

Quiero mas, mucho mucho mas.

Gora San Fermin