Italian Travels

Giovanna, Giovanni, Giovanni, Giovanna, Giovanna

Now that I have come back home with dozens of new cousins, I have names and I have pictures, however, I need a little help putting the pictures and names together.  Especially, since every other Italian male has the same name.  It is custom to name the grandson after the grandfather.  Gets a bit confusing. 

We took this picture, not because all of them were realted to us (though they probably are) but because they all had the same name.

L – R:  Giovanna is the wife of Luigi Galgano (who was instrumental in our meeting all our cugini)
Giovanni – Fabianna – is this your padre?
Giovanni – ?
Maria Giovanna – Sister of Canio – madre Elisa Maria DiCecca
Giovanna – is she the sister of the other Giovanni -  (È questo la sorella dell’altro Giovanni)?

It is important to me to remember who I met in Calitri and who each person is.
(È importante me ricordarsi chi mi sono incontrato in Calitri e chi ogni persona è)

Can anyone help me with the women on either end?  I don’t know if they are Fastiggi or DiCecca.  I know the woman in the middle is Rosetta (Abate?) she is the daughter of Angelina Fastiggi and my mother’s 1st cousin/once removed.

Cugina in Calitri

In this picture I believe the man in the white cap is Michaela Del Rey from Venezuela.  He now lives in Spain.  I believe he is a relative on the DiCecca side.  The two women are me 7 Judy.  Can anyone help with the names of the rest?

Does anyone know their names?

This is what Luigi Galgano did for us.  Not only did he show up with our Family Tree…..he brought the people along with him too.  I will always be grateful to Luigi for making our trip so far beyond my expectations!

Meeting Cugini on the Streets of Calitri - Thanks to Luigi!

OMG!  (Can I say that when speaking of the Vatican?)  I can’t even comprehend at this point going to Rome and NOT seeing the Vatican (and this from an X-Catholic) (It has nothing to do with religion – but you already know that!)

Saint Peter's Square

I saw “The Pieta” “with my own eyes”. 

The Vatican

The Vatican

The Vatican

Everything in Rome is over-the-top huge, in-your-face huge.  How many times have I seen the Trevi Fountain in movies, pictures, books, TV!  When I turned the corner and saw the Trevi Fountain my jaw dropped.  Do you know how BIG that thing is?

The Trevi Fountain

 I only threw in one coin (not 3) what does that mean?

One Quarter in the Fountain

Our Hotel was very nicely located within walking distance (although my feet may not agree with that statement) of the Trevi, The Spanish Steps, The Piazza Navono and the Pantheon.  We missed the Colesseum…but there is always next time.

Trevi

The Spanish Steps

Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona

More Navona

Some guy hanging around the Piazza

Campari @ the Piazza

woops, how did that get in there? 

The Pantheon

The Pantheon

The Pantheon

The Pantheon

Anything that old deserves a few pictures.

Arrivederci Roma

 One thing I must admit.  In Rome I saw more penis(es) (I just don’t know the correct English here!!)
than I have ever seen in my life.

You Know What

 Oh!!! Almost forgot the Shopping!

I think this was the guy...not the purses

This year in Calitri it was the 300th Anniversary of the celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. During all their feast days they walk the statues through the streets of the village but this one was the biggest of all. People from all the towns around the Valley come for the celebration. It was about a 2 1/2 hour procession and we walked the entire thing (with one or two short cuts that Angela knew) I’ve never seen anything like it.

People lined the streets of the entire village as the procession passed.

The Procession

And many others followed behind.

Balconies

Procession 3

After the Procession there was a concert by a supposed very famous Italian Performer named Irene Grande. There had to be 10,000 people in the streets watching her on this gigantic stage.

At Midnight came the fireworks. The biggest fireworks show I had ever seen. yes, bigger than Sammamish.

Fireworks 2

Fireworks 3

Calitri is truly a village of contradiction.  We saw the riuns of a Norman Castle (Castello Borgo) built in the 500′s, along side the most technologically amazing fireworks display.  We saw the Madonna being carried through the streets with old woman in black following behind to be blessed walking alongside the most beautifully dressed woman in the most beautiful Italian clothing and HIGH HEELS walking those cobblestones.  It was truly a magical place.

Positano, Amalfi Coast

As you can see it was absolutely gorgeous.
It was VERY “touristy” ; very crowded and very hilly. Boy am I glad I walked that ONE Wednesday at work (ha).

We were driven to Salerno – about 1 1/2 hours from Calitri and then took a boat in from Salerno to Positano passing Amalifi and a few other towns – one of which had a major landslide yesterday! The boar ride was a little over an hour and it was absolutely beautiful.

We spent two days and one night in Positano.

Do we look like we are having fun?

Yesteday we arrived in Rome. I have not downloaded any pictures of Rome and won’t until I get home. We leave in the morning for NY.
Yesterday we walked half the city seeing the Trevi Fountain. Believe it or not I had NO idea it was that big. Blew me away. Then we went to the Parthenon (it’s pretty old!) and the Piazza Navona.

This morning we went to the Vatican. For someone who didn’t really care about going to the Vatican I can now say that I couldn’t imagine not going. Unbelievable!! (my poor feet). We took a tour so didn’t have to wait on the lines and had a guide who spoke English. We then went to the Spanish Steps and had lunch.

Tonight we are going to see La Traviata!! Can you believe it. I’m not an Opera lover but its playing only Saturday nights and it is close by and it is only $35 Euro and we are in ROME – seeing La Traviata!

Wait til you see my pictures of Rome.

Ciao & Love
Marlene

Sunrise in Calitri

OK I just posted a whole bunch of pictures and told you all a lot of what was happening and then lost it.

So, I am having the absolutel time of my life – beyond my wildest expectations.

Am in Positano today and back to Calitri this afternoon. I won’t have Internet access again until Friday in Rome.

I miss you all but not THAT much!!

Ciao!

I landed in New Jersey.  Not very exciting, granted (apologies to those New Jerseyites who are reading).  There is that old joke – “Do you know why New Yorkers are so depressed?
Because the light at the end of the tunnel……is New Jersey.

(My apologies to the Seattleites reading this who don’t know what the heck I’m talking about.

NYC Skyline from Newark, NJ

 The flight was wonderful.  Both flights, that is.  Seattle to Chicago.  Here’s Chicago.

Chicago from the air

 Not a great picture.  But, hey, it’s Chicago.  Not a lot to get excited about.  I was born and raised in NYC – Chicago was never on my list of places I had to see before I die.  My aplogies to any Chicagoits (Chicagoans? Melissa?) reading this.

A cloud formation somewhere over the mid west

And a few more pictures for your entertainment because I don’t have anything much more interesting to show you while I wait to leave for Rome!!!!

Tappan Zee Bridge Over the Hudson & Birds!!

Dock @ Sleepy Hollow w/Tappan Zee Bridge in Background

The Tavern Where I spent the Afternoon....

Well, a gal’s gotta do something while she’s waiting to leave for Italy.

Lita – look at the street sign!!

I miss you all – well not THAT much, I’ve only been gone two days but I know I WILL miss you – that’s if I have time to even think about you.  but you understand! I know you do.

Ciao!

Til Next Time! 4 More Days!!

This is a picture of what our Hotel should be in Rome

And another view of the Hotel

3rd Picture of hotel in Positano

And perhaps what our apartment in Calitri will look like

Angela Paolantonio’s House in Calitri
Photo by Angela Paolantonio

Angela purchased her Grandmother's House

So now we will test a picture I took with my cell phone, saved to my Verizon Online photo album then downloaded to my netbook to upload to Worddpress.  Makes perfect sense to me.

.

It is now the first of August.  Down payment has been paid, yet we are not actually sure what that covers, beyond the apartment, meals and transportation, but we are excited to find out.
Hotel reservation has  been made for two days and one night in my dream spot of Positano.

Picture me, glass of wine (red) look of bliss on my face…never to return home

And the Euro is now at 1.30654 and climbing? I would imagine.  Oh well, it’s just money.  It’s just Euro’s so not really actual money (right?).

Yesterday I went to a local “travel store” to buy an adapter – to plug things in, like my camera.  Oh, yes, and I had to buy a  camera ($300).  This was with the money that I saved on my “free” flight from Seattle to Newark.

Thankfully, the adapter was only $4.99.  I was informed by the very informative “travel store lady” that my flat iron would most defintly not work in Italy and most likely, neither would my hair dryer.  Oh my.  I am afraid you will not be seeing pictures of me in Italy, my friends.  But as fate would have it, the “travel store lady” had a flat iron that would work in Italy for only $89.99.  No, I did not purchase it.  I’ll think about this for a while.  I have 27 days until departure.

There has been some ups and downs in communication, deposits via Pay Pal and trying to figure out what is actually meant by the word “tour”.  But all is good.  I can’t help but wonder how communication even existed before the internet and email.  And I will add, thank god for Italians who speak English.  No, I don’t speak Italian.  How very American of me, right?

Well, the “travel store lady” scared me to death of tales on “what not to do in Europe”.  I’ll save that for another day.

Here’s just a taste for now.

©  Angela Paolantonio
vicolo Tornillo outside Palazzo Nicolais

I have plane tickets in hand and about a a month and a half to plan.  I booked my flight today from Seattle to New York (Newark to be exact).  Unbeknownst to me, I had 31,500 miles with United Airlines.  The only time I can remember a trip on United was when the family went to Tucson in 1998.  I’m sure those would have expired by now.  But, I was not going to look a gift horse wherever you look at a gift horse.  Ticket to New York = $10.00.  Yea.  Now I can buy a netbook in order to blog my way through Italy.

Well, I am not going “through” Italy.  We will fly into Rome and be wisked away to beautiful downtown Calitri. (Village of approximately 5500)  Birthplace of my grandfather and the grandfather of my traveling companion and cousin (actually, first cousin/once removed) Judy.  By the time this trip is over you will all be fluent in generational relationships, my friends.

Let me give you a taste of Calitri.  Mostly because I want to try my hand at uploading some pictures here.  Oh, yes, I have to buy a camera too.  Good thing that NY flight was free.  The flight to Rome cost $1185.00.  At least that was USD not EURO. Let’s see.  Today the Euro is 1.27427.  When I first started tracking it was 1.23.  I’m hoping it stops before we get there.  Oh, yes, the picture.

This is actually the region of Campagna.  Calitri is about dead center in the middle of the green.   I’m not very good with kilometers so I’ll tell you its about 1.5 hour drive from Naples.  It is also about the same distance from the Amalfi Coast and the town of Positano which I have obssesed about for the last few years.  I don’t know why, I just do.  Actually see for your self why.