S. Worthen | Weblog

We took the train to the mainland yesterday, to the town of Conegliano, in the hills of the pre-Alpi, where a major Cima da Conegliano exhibition is showing. Our train arrived minutes before noon. We walked up the main street to the town square just in time to catch a ceremony, costumed historical recreators, and flag performers, featuring acrobatic tossing of flags to the beat of a drum corps. It struck geesepalace and me that here, recreating a past, flag performance is manly sport; in the US, it's a feminine one.