An adventure that is unbelievable, this is the chance meeting between the mayor of Settefrati Riccardo Frattaroli and the mayor of New York Bill de Blasio.
It all happened at Fiumicino airport when the mayor of New York with his family visited Italy.
He had decided to arrive a day in advance of the official visit to have time with his family to wander around Rome and then to stop and visit the town of origin of the de Blasio: the characteristic village of Sant'Agata De' Goti in the province of Benevento. A postcard hamlet all perched on a tuff spur that I imagine has been evoked many times in the tales of little Bill's grandparents.
But let's go back to the airport and to what was supposed to be a trip without too much fuss. In reality, waiting for them upon arrival was a large group of international journalists who wanted to get questions and interviews from them.
While all the cameras are aimed at the arrival gate, one of the international journalists originally from Settefrati, in the beautiful Val Comino, recognizes Riccardo Frattaroli, the mayor of Settefrati, in the crowd and calls him: 'Hi mayor!'.
Everyone turns to look for the mayor thinking they will find Bill de Blasio and the cameras rotate 180 degrees and turn the spotlight on Riccardo Frattaroli. Journalist start to ask questions while he tries to understand what was happening.
At that moment Bill de Blasio comes out with his wife Chirlane McCray and their children Chiara and Dante who are immediately curious to understand who this important person was that attracted the attention of the international press.
Bill approaches the journalists who, despite his height of 1.96 cm which makes him recognized from a distance, did not seem interested in him but in that of the shorter Riccardo Frattaroli.
After a bit of clarification, the laughter and joint photos begin between the two mayors who seem to be great friends. Bill de Blasio speaks Italian and understands the whole story that really arouses good humor among all the TV crews and the two mayors start talking about their government experience.
And while Riccardo Frattaroli is being shown on all international televisions, he begins to receive phone calls from the commander of the carabinieri and other senior law enforcement officers who had been alerted by the security services who wanted to know who this Riccardo Frattaroli was.
So, between a selfie and an interview, the two mayors exchange phone numbers and promises to meet again, perhaps when the de Blasio family returns from their visit to Sant’Agata dei Goti.
And for 5 minutes the televisions from all over the world were focused on the beautiful village of Settefrati in the Comino Valley.
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