Sweet Home

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Men of the Po

The wreck

I get off the main embankment and park at the back of the Argento vivo restaurant.
We are close to the area where Sweet Home will be located, where the San Colombano Park begins.

We begin to collect images, testimonies, stories, chats from regular and occasional visitors about the history of the place: boat owners, casotti, card players, strollers and layabouts. The day is spelendid. Perhaps spring has begun.

A hundred days without rain have brought a great drought that threatens to cause serious damage to agriculture. This water crisis has caused a major drop in the level of the Po River, which is a record low compared to the last 30 years.

Leaning out from the right bank, we notice the resurfacing of a wreck, perhaps the prow of a cement barge. Armed with paper, biro and a mobile phone to take a few photos, we look for someone who can tell us something. Cacio, who is a frequent visitor to the area, sees Mr Maurizio Torelli in the company of his friend Roberto. We approach him and start chatting.

Torelli, known as Turèl, tells us that the barge 'went down' following the snowfall at the end of February five years ago. The weight of the snow was the straw that broke the camel's back. The barge, says Turèl, was already overweight because of the cement: 'A ghera davec paüra ad andarc sö', (you had to be afraid to get on it). In fact, a concrete roof had been made as if they were going to build a block of flats, says Turèl. Already with the first pour it almost went down. Says Turèl: 'Iera müradùr, i cardeva d'esar in tera mia insl'acqua' (they were bricklayers, they thought they were on land not water).

General laughter

Marco Panizza with Cacio (Claudio Cavalli) meet the men of the Po