On October 12th, Columbus Day, I was uptown on Madison Avenue between 59th and 60th Street for a dentist’s appointment. I was out by noon, so I went to check out the 65th Annual Columbus Day Parade organized by The Columbus Citizens Foundation on 5th Avenue. It started at 11:30am on 44th Street and stopped at 79th Street.
I enjoyed watching the parade go by, listening to the classic and more recent Italian Songs, hearing Italian spoken, and just to see the many parade participants and watchers express and show their Italian pride loud and clear! More than a few times, I smiled…as I remembered a trip where I visited Venice and Verona with friends as a float went by with masked men (for Venice’s Carnevale) to celebrate Veneto, one of the 20 regions of Italy, or remembering the late nights/early mornings at Italian discotheques with friends, when hearing an Italian song that was popular in 2000 when I studied in Cortona during college, or thinking of my grandmother in New Jersey who loves dogs, when I saw this dog avidly watching the parade-goers go by.
It was a bit chilly, but I am glad I went. I have never done anything for Columbus Day before, except to enjoy a day off from school when I was younger. But, I was happy to see the parade and celebrate the day this year, mainly because of the day as a celebration of being Italian…though, that is everyday for me!
