Excursions in the Real World-The Valle Verzasca by William Trevor

...And the tiny hillside village of Corippo dies a little more.

Corippo dies because its true inhabitants are old. The red-haired postmistress is young; her children are children, but they and their contemporaries are a small minority. In the world of today there is no reason for this village, for its steeply sloped meadows cut with scythe and hook, its rough, narrow pathways instead of streets, its rank nettlebeds and manure heaps, its odour of hay in June. Like medieval cells, its cramped houses jostle for breathing space; cobbled passages lead nowhere; doors open into hovel kitchens. All day long the tourists gaze in wonder at the past, cameras recording the ancient barn or red hens pecking. Two old men, slippered and silent, make their slow way down to the roadside graveyard, sticks poking out a safe path on the stony surface. The graveyard's nearly full-with the Arcotti family mainly, and the Scetrini's, but there's room for a couple more. The old men want it to be them; they want to be among their friends again. They turn and creep back together, thinking that one will outlive the other and wondering which, and why.

Excursions in the Real World by William Trevor, 1994, Alfred A Knoff Publishers.

I love this memoir about William Trevor's impressions of unique places in the world and was thrilled to find our little piece of heaven, Corippo, so charmingly captured. As a relative to the Arcotti's buried in the tiny cemetery,  I know that Corippo is in fact alive and well and shines brightly in the hearts of everyone with ties to this very special place. 

The exact wording does not always translate exactly right, so I hope you will seek out Trevor's book. There is more about the Valle Verzasca and many other delightful stories of charming and interesting visits across the globe.