Anna Possi solutions the cellphone within the cafe however instantly asks to name her again. “I’ve a buyer,” she says.
It’s mid-afternoon and Possi, who owns Bar Centrale in Nebbiuno, a small city overlooking Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, has been serving espresso since 7am. She normally finishes at 7pm.
It’s a mean working day for a barista in Italy, however Possi is in a single key respect removed from the common barista: aged 100, she is the nation’s oldest. The centenarian, who lately had bestowed upon her the honorary title of Commander of the Republic, is a well-recognized face to regulars who’ve lived their lives alongside the cafe because it has matured from leading edge to classic. “I’m all the time working – Sundays, Easter, Christmas. I’m by no means on vacation,” she says.
This has been Possi’s routine since 1 Could 1958 when she opened the bar together with her husband, serving espressos and cappuccinos to prospects. Alcoholic drinks have been added to the menu in 1971 when the couple bought a licence.
Nevertheless it was the jukebox that pulled within the punters. Bar Centrale was the place to be, and its clientele got here from far and extensive. “They got here right here to mingle, to bop,” stated Possi. “With a foosball desk too, we have been probably the most fashionable bar on the town.”
After her husband died in 1974, she devoted her life to elevating their two kids and the bar. “Since Dad died she by no means wished to have one other relationship,” her daughter, Cristina, stated. “She centered on us and work.”
Possi described the Nineteen Sixties by means of to the Nineteen Eighties as “probably the most stunning years” within the bar’s historical past. Notable prospects alongside the way in which included the AC Milan footballers Gianni Rivera and Fulvio Collovati.
Nonetheless, she is just not one for wallowing in nostalgia. The jukebox is perhaps gone however the bar has a bookstand, the place prospects can swap books and skim over their espresso. In the event that they name by on a Sunday, they’ll get a slice of selfmade apple pie. “With me nonetheless serving, immediately we’re often called the classic bar,” Possi stated.
That stated, she has a pc on the premises, too, which she makes use of every morning to peruse the information and seek the advice of the inventory alternate. “I learn every little thing. I nonetheless need to be taught and higher perceive issues.”
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Her common commerce consists principally of the city’s pensioners, who typically name in to talk to Possi with out really buying something. However the publicity surrounding her a hundredth birthday, celebrated on 16 November, has generated a flurry of latest prospects from past.
“Folks come to satisfy me, as a result of they discover it inconceivable to consider that I’m nonetheless working,” she stated. “Once they depart, they depart glad and recharged – I don’t know what it’s that I’ve transmitted.”
In reality, being within the firm of others is what Possi believes is the important thing to her longevity. “I don’t need to be melancholic,” she stated. “I need to stay, to be amongst folks.”
She has no intention of stopping work anytime quickly. “I’ll maintain going as long as my well being permits,” she stated, whereas advising younger folks to “select a job you take pleasure in”.
Possi is amongst Italy’s rising variety of centenarians. In accordance with figures from Istat, the nationwide statistics company, there have been 22,552 folks aged over 100 by the top of 2023 – the best quantity recorded. The overwhelming majority of Italian centenarians are girls.
Italy’s oldest dwelling particular person is Claudia Baccarini, 114, and only a month youthful is Lucia Laura Sangenito. Emma Morano held the title of the world’s oldest particular person for 11 months till her loss of life in 2017 on the age of 117.
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