The country side was gorgeous, green terraced hills, small mountains, and the sun piercing through the clouds to spot light portions of what could be seen out every window in the car. Driving through Napoli was interesting. The roads were worse than Oklahoma roads, bouncing and jerking us all around. More modern buildings and skyscrapers here than most of the other Italian cities I have seen. We parked in the moat of an old castle, which Davide convinced us we should check out. It was massive and by far the most unexpected sight I have seen here in Italy. Afterward we walked some of the main streets where Clement warned me about all the side streets to these main streets. They are not safe for anyone not even those who live there. I found my horoscope sign in the floor mosaic of the gallery. An indoor mall that had most of its shops closed for Sunday but that did not stop people from using the space. There were kids roller blading on smooth stone floors around the other kids playing tag, while the parents sipped their espresso at the tables out side the only open café. It had the feeling of an outdoor park on the weekends. There was more classical well kept style in the historical buildings around, similar to Benevento just less colorful. As we walked through a Piazza with a governmental building on one side and a Pantheon inspired building on the other was free of cars but full of people. They were walking around town, socializing, playing games, etc. There I was bought extremely small lapel bouquet of yellow baby’s breath looking flowers which symbolizes an international holiday, Woman’s Day. It was the next day, Monday the 8th. Then we decided it was time to feed our hungry bellies with fresh seafood. We went to a local restaurant right by the water. You walk in smelling the sea and being greeted by live sea creatures waiting to be killed, cooked and eaten. It was buzzing like an IHOP on a Sunday morning. Families were everywhere, talking, eating and drinking white wine. The style of the restaurant was served family style with a small menu for the day that was given verbally by the waiter. We had pasta, shrimp, clams, squid and any other little seafood creatures you can imagine and fillets of fish. To finish it off I had some fruit and lemon cake. My grandfather loves lemon tasting things which now I understand better because lemon trees are all over the place, therefore a specialty of the area. Then it was time to say good bye but not before we got a shot of espresso. I had an amazing, relaxing and comforting time with them. I felt like I was at home with family minus the Italian English language barrier. It just goes to show that actions and gestures can be a powerfully universal.
Monday
Family Visit - PART II
In the morning after a small breakfast of brioche and coffee Milena, her mother, brother and I went a couple villages over where my grandfather’s brother–in-law is from. It is a medieval town larger than Moiano but smaller than Orvieto. There was a much older feeling because the one was not as well kept, showed it’s age and it was the same with the stucco buildings. Across from a small church was a historic farmacia (pharmacy) now converted into a shop with a long narrow piazza lined with orange trees was between the two. The interior of the farmacia was all original marble flooring, wood shelving columns and cabinets, glass windows, hardware and elegantly detailed service counter. On next destination was the street my grandfather grew up on;a narrow, about my arms length wide, shady cobblestone street with stone housing buildings on either side. I can tell a lot has changed from when he grew up here in this small town decades ago. Later we went to Benevento, a larger city nearby. There I met Milena’s cousin a young half Italian half Russian girl. She was eager to practice and improve her English with me as we walked the main street to one of the only cafes open. Love at first sight. I was a little skeptical because of the cheap urban sprawl just outside of the center of town, but once we turned the corner and headed up the main street it was a completely different story. Colorful neoclassical buildings bordering the historically paved streets were framed by silence. This is due to the fact that Benevento is rarely invaded with tourist. By the end of my visit I was shocked, “that can’t be true, it is too beautiful”. Our first activity was a nice warm cup of coffee in a heated glass enclosed patio with colorfully fragrant flowers on the tables brought in the outdoors. Then we stopped in Benevento’s saint, St. Sophia’s church. Columns everywhere circular plan with bare walls except for a few small fragments of frescos. There was an heir of elegance. Around back was a museum of local archeological finds. Inside it was filled with Roman statues, pottery, and other artifacts. Well displayed out in the open industrial style covered pavilion. It was interesting to see the Greek influence but more surprising was the amount of artifacts they had showing the Egyptian influence on the inhabitants of Benevento. There were sphinx sculptures, god and goddess ritual elements. As we walked back towards the car we stumbled upon an outdoor market they have once a year. There were stands full of antique any and everything you could imagine; clothing, jewelry, shoes, pictures, cameras, furniture, etc. At the end of the street was the triumphal arch still in good shape. This market is where I learned about a legend or statues and pictures of a character who can be found at almost all pizzeria’s in Napoli and if you are given one it is for buon fortuna (good luck) but bad luck to buy it and keep it. Kind hearted Milena bought me one there as I was told the fairy tale. As we continued on foot back to the parking lot I was told of another fable about witches in Benevento. It never would have crossed my mind that there once were witches living in Italy. The last thing we saw before we left back behind a scaffold covered building was exposed Roman ruins in their own tiny park. It is the beginning stages of the discovery, uncovering, and preparing of the Roman history at this site. I was sold; how can this place be open free for anyone to enjoy at anytime, absolutely amazing. I will have to come back to finish seeing the rest of Benevento. That evening for dinner the other family in Moiano took me out to a pizzeria. American pop music played in the background of our lively conversation as we waited for our food. The Palma’s are much more talkative than the Orapallo, similar to the rest of my family. They could not speak English and I could barely speak Italian back to them but we did not let that stop us. I enjoyed spending sometime with them. At the end of the night Milena took me to meet some of her friends at Montesachio. Once we arrived we walked toward a nicely landscaped piazza surrounded by bars and busy streets full of cars. All the bars were filled packed with youngster and double the amount of people in each bar were outside hanging out drinking, smoking and socializing. I was big hit because I was from Texas and spoke English. They joked around with me using typical stereotypes of Texans. I heard for the first time an Italian bring up Chuck Norris, Walker Texas Ranger. I could not contain my laughter or surprise that they new of the show. About an hour and a half later, when I had lost feeling in my toes from the weather, we headed home to get some restful sleep before our day of traveling the next day.
Moiano: My grandfather’s Hometown – 7.3.2010
Milena and I arrived in Napoli in the afternoon on Friday by train. My first impression as we waited in the station and just outside of it was dirty like most big cities in America. From there her father, my father’s cousin, picked us up and drove us through the scenic landscape to Moiano. As we left the center of the city of Napoli I could see bags of trash strung all along the streets. It fulfilled my expectations based on what I had been told. The car ride was different than any other ride I have had in Italia. Definitely there is no defined lanes or speed limit and mountains every where. In time I began to see more wide open green fields with some run down areas and ruins that were obviously not taken care of. We drove through a few small villages as they call them before we arrived in Moiano. I could not see much of it but rows of trees lining the street before we were out and on the other side of the village in a minute. My relatives live just outside of it in something like a duplex except instead of side by side they live one floor and the other residents occupy the other. What a gorgeous view no matter what window you looked out you would see the surrounding mountains. Just like one of my professor said Southern Italian relatives are known for feeding family lots of food. As soon as I entered the house after greetings they began to serve me food; prosciutto, pane, pomodori, mozzarella, and coca-cola. That night I went to another nephew of my grandfather’s house. That is where I met Roberto, my grandfather’s brother, for the first time. There was a feeling of a nervous comfort with him. His eyes, stature, balding head, and my favorite feature the smile were the same as my grandfather. We did not spend more than half an hour because we had to eat, but we parted knowing we would meet up again the next night. Before the pizzeria we stopped at Mobili Orapallo, my relative’s furniture showroom. It is large with a couple of levels of mostly modern furniture and accessories for the kitchen, living, bedroom, and bathrooms. Clemente told me it was because the Italians prefer modern to traditional styles. His store reminded me of my mother’s brother, he has his own showroom in Dallas just with many different styles and designers. Of course the pizza was delicious in a quiet rustic restaurant. When we got back home we all sat on the couch sipping hot tea in our pjs by the fire in their cozy kitchen. Just before bed I was able to talk to my parents for the first time by phone, not skyping, since I arrived in Italy. It was the perfect way to end the day, go to sleep dreaming about my family. I wish they could have been here. Everyone was asking about them and how they are all doing. I can’t wait to come back with them and hopefully my grandfather. There is no way to put into words how happy that would make me.
Saturday
Florence Rendevue – 28.2.2010
A small group of us made the 10am train on Saturday to Firenze just in the nic of time. Each with different motives , mine was to see some of my closest friends studying at St. Chiara a small study abroad program close to Florence. The other perks were I would be traveling with a group, get a chance to dance and meet new people from K-state studying with my friends. It was a enjoyable train ride with fun and lively conversation. I did not have set plans except for looking for souvenirs for my family and continuing my many years search for a good pair of boots. I ended up shopping around with a new friend I made in Orvieto. She is working as a teacher there for a year before she goes back to school in England. It is similar to a mixture between internship and study abroad program. The one on one time allowed us to get to know each other better, learn each others tastes, and personalities. That is when I stumbled upon a small shop hidden behind one of many streets with the white tent vendors. There I was easily talked into buying a pair of boots. The shopkeeper was nice giving me pointers on when and how to wear them and personable asking about us. Her and I were able to have some fun conversations with other people we met walking the streets. One was a photographer who wanted us to look up his work online and giving him our opinion. It will be interesting to see the work he has done especially after getting a taste of his personality just talking to him. Later was dinner with a group of guys from St. Chiara and our group at a cozy restaurant. We sat at a large table; it had to in order to fit 13 of us, underground surrounded by stone in an old wine cellar. Our excitement to see each other was obvious though our multiple conversations going on all at once with people popping in and out of them frequently. I enjoyed observing the quick witty banter across the table as they told fun stories about their Italian experience. More bonding occurred back at the hostel before we went out with dancing and drinks in mind. I wanted to wear my new boots I just bought but did not have much to wear with them. With the encouragement of my roommates they help me break out of my shell a bit more to try something new. Out on the town I went in a navy blue stretchy shirt, solid black tights, black coat, a few accessories I had bought earlier, and the star of the outfit was tall brown boots. I have seen this kind of dress on Italians everywhere I look but since I was not used to this style of dress on myself I was continually pulling the shirt down stretching it to the extreme. I was told I could pull it off, but it is just not me. I had a good time this whole trip getting to know this great group of guys. Not being able to meet up with my friends due to phone problems turned out well. The trip was not a waste thanks to the guys being friendly enough to all me to join them for a bit since they were doing things I was interested in. It was nice to hear different opinions and discuss the art we saw at the Strozzi. This trip I was able to do a lot of self discovering.
Tuesday
Assisi – 26.2.2010
Our journey to the hometown of St. Francis and one of our professors started the same as most of our other trips early with grey skies. Once we arrived tons of arches in the side of the hill below the Cathedral welcomed us. We walked up the stripped walkway lined with porticos to the Cathedral where St. Francis’s remains are kept in the crypt directly below the two altars in the lower and upper churches. I was confused when we first entered because directly in front of me was an altar with pews in front of it. Was that it? Once we past an artist restoring a fresco on scaffolding the body of the church and the real altar at the end appeared on the right. Kodak moment, my face was in awe of all the vaulting and frescos illuminated by dim lighting and sun through gorgeous stain glass windows. The entire surfaces of the walls and ceilings were painted with all kinds of scenes from the bible telling the story of Jesus Christ. It was interesting to learn that the original entrance of the church was on the east, symbolizing the, birth of Christ and the altar being at the end in the west, symbolizing the end, Jesus’s death. Then the exit was back in the east to symbolize that his death was not the end but the true beginning. As I sat admiring the golden stars glimmering in the ceiling a real Franciscan monk walked by in his brown robe, white ropes, and leather shoes. Later we all moved down the stone stairs with rope inspired metal hand railing to the crypt; a dark space with light only to accent the niches for the followers of St. Francis and the most light on the crypt of St. Francis. Monks, locals, and visitors on their knees in silence praying as tourists walk through the holy place. Back up to the lower church we make our way up to the altar. Smooth stone high up on a platform with an arcade along the base of it with small blue glass lanterns in each arch created the most interesting altar I have seen. The vaulted ceiling directly behind the altar had paintings showing the risen Christ, other biblical characters as well as a definite heaven and hell to pull it all together. Our professor pointed out a thought provoking painting with the Virgin Mary, baby Jesus, St. John and St. Francis. The nickname is the hitch hiking Mary because Jesus looks up at Mary with a face in question and the hitch hiker thumb pointing to St. Francis is the answer he is seeking. The artist is using this to show that St. Francis was the better follower because Mary says so as well as displaying St. Francis with the same wounds that the Crucified Christ had. This visit has been good to allow for more reflection on my faith during the Lenten season.