Bells

If you, like many, hate going for more than 15 minutes without the sound of loudly ringing bells, Italy is the place for you! (Truth: Immediately after completing that sentence, one bell sounded.)

                                                

For those who don't know, one bell sounding means it is quarter past something. You'll find out quarter past what when the next bells ring in 15 minutes, at which time one bell will be rung for each hour of the day, plus two bells on a higher tone indicating it is half past that same something (whatever hour it is). Three bells sounding mean it is quarter to something.

I have noticed that I am frequently wrong about what time it is, as I seldom pay attention for the first - who knows how many! ringing bells. Only sometime after the beginning do I notice they have started up, usually due to having been engrossed in conversation which neither I nor others involved understand. And since the clock in my appartamento is broken yet still on the wall because it is "carino" (cute), I depend on those bells when not in the mood or correct location to check a device. 

On domenico there are bells all day long!!! They chime Catholic songs (I'm told) and various tunes arbitrarily at any old time, in addition to the time-reminding bells. One Sunday a particular tune ended with 33 rings on the same pitch!

I believe bells stop ringing at midnight, but maybe it's 11, and start up again around 7 a.m. There is no a.m. here, you just keep counting up to 24, but an exception is made for bell ringing! I confirmed this by paying attention - just now, bells rang nine times plus two, not 21 times plus two. Italians must have determined that would constitute simply too many bells; they have to draw the line somewhere.

My final (but not last, in fact first up) observation about the bells is that they are not in tune.  And they sound not so much like a ding or a dong as they do a metallic 'clunk' on some pitch which changes slightly, in an unpleasant way, during its life span.

The most popular bell song consists of three notes which after a beginning few "dings" reminds me of the beginning of Three Blind Mice in reverse. Do Re Mi, Do Re Mi rather than Mi Re Do, Mi Re Do but with the same rythym. This is repeated for some time, then moves into Do Mi Re, Do Mi Re, and a different rhythm, ending with - who knows because I choose to concentrate on anything else at all.

Alright, I have now listened to the ending and it is, for those who must know, Mi Re five times, concluding with Re Re. 

This blog has taken 30 minutes to complete, because I just heard three bells ring. Allora (so) ciao dall'Italia and SHAMA Lama Ding Dong!