BARGA is a town in Tuscany of ochre-coloured houses with terracotta roofs and a Romanesque church shaded by cypress trees. But as you wander through…
Alongside four friends, Renato Luchessi realised a lifelong ambition by travelling from Scotland to Barga – the ‘most Scottish town in Italy’ – by riding on his Vespa scooter. Images: Renato Luchessi
Particularly on the west coast, there were plenty of jobs to be found in industrial sectors like the railways. “I remember as a wee boy in the 60s when the mods would gather and listen to the jukebox,” Renato says. On a 125cc PX Vespa, Renato rode more than a thousand miles through five countries – the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy – and across the Alps to reach Barga.
Eddie rode a Vespa GTS, Gary had a Vespa PX from 1985 and Raymond travelled on a Lambretta from 1960 . Nevertheless, on the evening of July 1 they rode triumphantly into the town on scooters emblazoned with Scottish flag stickers and badges. They were greeted like a group of returning prodigal sons by the local Vespa Club, which numbers over 200-strong during rallies.
The event draws plenty of overseas visitors, particularly Scots like Renato with ancestors from the Italian town. The festival came about as part of an effort to pay tribute to the deep connections forged between Italy and Scotland and to honour the Scottish-Italian emigrants returning for the summer.What made the fish particularly distinctive from the Italian way of cooking was the use of deep-fat-fryers, a novel gadget for the Barghigiani, as the town’s residents are known.
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