All the old Italians are not gone (trying to quote Ferlinghetti’s poem). Walking with my aunt past St. Peter & Paul Silesian on Ash Wednesday. She was getting an early start on mass, and started talking to an elderly gentleman in front of the church. He listened to her for awhile, then said, “No speak English.” or something to that effect, and that he only spoke Italian. After he left, we stood in front of the church and I was still kind of thunderstruck. She was visiting from Minnesota and had no idea why I was so amazed until I told her that there are a lot of people who think all of the Italians have left North Beach. It was neat. I didn’t stick around for the mass, as I’m (cough) a very lapsed Catholic. Also, I have no photos of the huge church, St. Peter & Paul Silesian, on Washington Square Park. How odd!