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.