JESI: A great town when it's open

THE NINE BENCHES IN the main Jesi Piazza remain empty.

Their dark brown wood has absorbed the midday sun, making them too hot to lounge on comfortably.

Anyone still out remains under cover in alcoves or in the shade of shop awnings.

White “saldi” signs tempt lingering shoppers to search through the glass windows for mid-summer deals. The sound of jangling keys and the clanking of rolling metal blinds covering closed shop fronts is replaced by clattering plates in nearby cafes.

Families of tourists clad in comfortable shoes and casual clothes, swing shopping bags, as they wander around trying to find a place to eat.

One by one shopkeepers walk slowly to a rusty bike rack to unchain their transportation and pedal home for lunch and rest.

Large clock hands on the top of the Teatro Pergolesi remind Jesi that it is one o’clock, the start of pausa.

- Philly Petronis