Friday - Meeting Our Italian Family

Continuation of Friday, September 21st:
We walked into the lobby and I recognized Luigi and Carla immediately! Carla was much prettier and younger looking than in the pictures they sent, and we soon found out that she was the only one in our welcoming group that didn't speak a drop of English. Waiting with Luigi and Carla were Piero and Francesco, who is 19 years old, and we found out he was our interpretor. He spoke very good English that he learned in school. We all introduced ourselves, and then we realized that Gary and Danny weren't there yet. We laughed and explained that in America it is usually the men who are waiting for the women, not the women waiting for the men. Francesco did a good job at translating what we meant because they all laughed and said it was the same in Italy. Shortly after, Gary and Danny arrived and all the introductions were made again. They all seemed very pleased to meet us, and it was very exciting.

They told us we were going to Blandina's to have lunch, so we left the hotel and walked the short distance to her house. As we walked down the streets I knew that I was going to love Teramo and thought it was very beautiful and looked so clean, then I realized that it was partly because the sidewalks and even the curbs were made of solid marble! We arrived at Blandina's - she lived in a "flat" and we walked up to her floor and I realized that, just like outside, everything in the inside was made of marble. It was all very old and very beautiful. We went into Blandina's flat and they led us into her sitting room where she was waiting for us in her chair. One by one we introduced ourselves to her and she was very pleased to meet all of us. We all kissed her and talked to her for a few minutes, and we all were taking pictures. Then Blandina said something to Luigi, and he gave a little speech and thanked us all for coming and told us how happy Blandina was to meet us and she wanted us to know that she was afraid she was going to die before she was able to meet us so she has been holding out for us. Luigi thanked us all for doing that for her. There was a table in Blandina's sitting room filled with appetizers and wine, and we ate baked olives, a cheese puff and fresh pecorino cheese, a specialty in Teramo. It was delicious and Danny loved it! Danny kept mixing in his Spanish with his attempts at Italian and they all got a good laugh out of it and said things like - "Adios Danny" or "Buenas Dias Danny!" We found out very quickly that they all had a great sense of humor! We met Franca and her husband PierLuigi, and Luigi's twin sister, Rossella. We also met their live-in helper, Santa, who did all the cooking. We all had some wine and with the help of the dictionaries that both Rossella and I had and with Francesco translating, we managed to understand each other very well.

Then they told us it was time for lunch and wanted us to go into the Dining Room. They started to help Blandina to get up and I asked if I could help her, so hand-in-hand Blandina and I walked into the dining room and I helped her into her chair. The room was large with a big table and chairs. There was a sofa and a few other chairs, and there were several china cabinets with family pictures everywhere. We found out later that this was Franca's mother-in-law's house and most of the pictures were of her family. There was also a door leading out onto a balcony. Lunch started out with another Teramo specialty - Scrippelle, a rolled egg crepe in a chicken broth and it was delicious! Gary said he wanted to get the recipe and serve it at the Seminary. There was a platter of cold sliced turkey and eggplant parmesan. There were two different kinds of wine on the table along with "water with gas". They brought out a large bowl of grapes and a platter of desserts and of course, more wine! It was all very delicious and all throughout the meal we talked and laughed as though we have been having family meals like this for ages. Immediately after dinner they brought out presents for all of us and we were a little embarrassed because even though we had brought them all gifts, they were still back in the hotel rooms. Gary and Danny got leather wallets, and we (the girls) each got a scarf - which was funny because they didn't know it yet, but Zia had decided to bring the same thing for them! As soon as I opened my scarf I was touched - I realized that it was the same one that I had admired in a picture that Luigi had sent me of him and Carla going to a wedding and she had the scarf on. (See Photo to the right.) I had written to him that Carla was very pretty and that I liked her scarf. As soon as I opened my gift and recognized it I looked up at Carla, and the smile on her face was priceless! She was so happy that I remembered it and even though she didn't speak English, she knew exactly what I was saying when I thanked her.

We spent some time looking at old photos and they showed us photos of Valle Vaccaro. Annette took some pictures of the photos so that we could all have a copy of them. It was all very exciting to know that we were going to see the real thing in a few days, and we were all very excited about it.

We then left for Castille, a small village about 40 km from Teramo that is famous for its age-old technique of making ceramics that was first done by the monks hundreds of years earlier. They drove us in their cars and we went up winding, twisting roads up into the mountains with beautiful panoramic views. The village was very charming and picturesque, and there were ancient ceramic shops in the village. Joyce made friends with a few of the local cats and took their pictures. A few other "cousins" were there by the time we arrived, and we were very touched that they had all gotten together to arrange for our visit to Teramo to be special. I had read about Castelli on the internet and was very interested in it, but I never thought they'd be taking us there. It was a nice surprise. What we didn't realize is not only were they taking us there to see the village, but they had arranged for us to meet some of the local artisans. First we met Antonio, a ceramic maker, and he showed us around his workshop and demonstrated some of the ancient tools and molds that were hundreds of years old. He showed us his homemade kiln that was a pit in the ground where he used wood and bricks to fire the ceramic pieces just as they have been doing for hundreds of years. He also showed us his collection of clay figurines. It was all very interesting. We then walked to another shop where we met Johnny, a painter, and watched as he painted some beautiful ceramic vases.

Then we got back into our cars to drive a short distance to the local church, the Chiesa de San Donato. We went inside to look at the ceiling that was lined with hundreds of beautifully painted majolica ceramic tiles that families had donated to the church throughout the years. It was all very old and very beautiful. When we went outside we could see a great view of the Gran Sasso in the distance and we got our first view of "the Sleeping Giant" - it really did look like a great big giant laying on his back with his big belly sticking up in the air. We all took pictures but knew they couldn't possibly turn out as beautiful as seeing all that scenery in person.

We drove back to Teramo and to our hotel, then they informed us that they were taking us to a restaurant for dinner. Since we were all still so full from our lunch at Blandina's, they decided instead that we would go to a little restaurant a few doors down from our hotel for a light meal. We walked down and we all laughed when we saw the name of the restaurant where we would be having our first Italian dinner in Teramo: Shannon's Irish Pub! The name must have just referred to the Irish beer they served, because we all had very good Italian food - I had Pizza Margerita and it was delicious! We all sat at a long table and more "cousins" showed up. We ate, laughed and talked for hours and Annette showed them all her family tree that she has been working on. They were very interested in it, and were able to add some information to it. We finished eating and it was time to leave, but we never even saw a bill and we realized that our Teramo relatives had a very well planned visit for us!

We left the restaurant and did the typical Italian thing - we went for a Passiagata, an after-dinner walk. We walked into town and I immediately fell in love with Teramo! There were people everywhere and we walked through arched sidewalks towards the bell tower and ancient church. I loved the inside of the church - the altar and stained glass windows were ancient and beautiful! Parts of the church were medieval and I saw a huge wrought iron door that led into a little chaplet - the door was almost exactly like the door leading into my office at ECC City Campus and I love that door every time I walk into my office. I couldn't believe that it was an almost exact replica of the one from the medieval church in Teramo! After we left the church we walked to see some Roman Ruins, and then we walked back to an outdoor cafe area where there was a gelateria. They bought us each a gelato and we took pictures of the beautiful pastry displayed in the showcases. We took a leisurely walk back to our hotel and they told us they would be back to pick us up first thing in the morning.

It was a great day and it didn't take long before I realized that our Italian cousins are the most charming, funny, warm-hearted and lovable people! They welcomed us with open arms and open hearts and I hope they were as happy and excited to meet us as we were to meet them!

Well... that's the end of my notes for Friday. Like I said in my first post, it was hard to believe that earlier this day we were still in Rome. A lot has happened since we woke up that morning! I hope everyone is enjoying remembering some of our adventures, and hopefully looking forward to remembering what happened the next day when we spent the day visiting the sites of Teramo.

SEE NEXT POST: Saturday in Teramo