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Capestrano, Abruzzo, Italy
Photo Credit Giuliano Bianchini
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Kathy and I, our daughter Gina and her husband Aaron, and our three 'grand-girls' Madeline, Samantha and Ruby just got back from our trip to Europe. We were gone for three weeks. We visited Rome, Florence, Capestrano, Paris and Barcelona...a great trip! (Some of our photos are interspersed in this blog post, but the majority appear at the end.)
Kathy and I decided to stay longer so we could see Capestrano and then Florence along with the Tuscany countryside. Fantastic!
We were flabbergasted by everything we saw: Roman coliseum, Sistine Chapel, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, sculpture of David, Mona Lisa, Vincent V. and so many more. How could one man do it? I am not super-religious, but seeing what had been accomplished so many years ago with no modern equipment...hundreds of feet high...there had to be help from God.
Here is the story of our trip to Capestrano and some of the photos we'd like to share.
Kathy and I went back to Rome and rented a car. Luckily, I was used to driving a stick shift because there were no automatics.
Getting out of the airport was not too bad. I would never drive in Rome...offensive driving...no one pays attention to speed or rules...so you need to be careful walking. Hundreds of small restaurants on the narrow streets of Rome....but all good.
We went to a bakery that has been handed down for 500 years, family to family.
Wow! So much to talk about like seeing the Pope and getting within a few feet and seeing him bless so many disabled...people would cry when he blessed them.
We were lucky to take mass at Notre Dame on Christmas Eve.
We had Christmas dinner at the Eiffel Tower. It was so huge!
Everyone was so nice. We felt very safe. No open-carry...just armed military guarding famous places. Gun laws are very strict...never saw or heard of even one shooting in any country we visited.
We get our rental car. We had to bring chains just in case a snowstorm came.
This is Abrusso country, surrounded by high mountains and national parks with wolves, deer, wild boar, etc. and high elevation surrounded by mountains. Breathtaking! More than a 100 miles from Rome.
We saw a few snowflakes...some ice...but no problems. Driving was easy until we came to the toll booths. We should have studied more on how to use them. No attendant and nothing in English so at first we couldn't get through. (Our GPS would tell us to go back, very confusing).
With our delay we didn't get to Capestrano until dark. The GPS told us to turn into what looked like a driveway and we thought it must be wrong. We drove another five miles before we came upon a small town called Opena. We saw lights at a bed and breakfast. We asked where was Capestrano (no one there could speak English) and they told us to go back.
We ended up seeing a sign and went up the mountain to Capestrano where we were to pick up the key to the 600-year-old place that we were to stay. Unfortunately, the woman that could speak English at the place we were to stay had left town.
The woman at the bar could not speak English, but knew where the place was, but had no address so another woman drove us to where we were to stay. It was very old, but fun and like going into the past. We would not have found it without help.
The next day we went to the castle where there was supposed to be someone there to let us know where any Giannunzios lived. It was open, but no one was there.
The only person that could speak English the next day at the bar where she worked did not live in Capestrano so knew nothing of the Giannunzios.
The only restaurant in town was closed. We accidentally found an old grocery store (no signs) very small but had a great deli....all kinds of food. We bought some homemade ravioli and some other goodies. Owner did not speak English, but said he had an uncle that was a Giannunzio, but could tell us no more. Said we should have learned Italian before we got there. He was correct. If an Italian came to Redmond, I doubt if he would find anyone that spoke Italian.
Kathy and I had both picked up bad colds but made the best of it.
I found the church where my grandmother Isabella D'Alfonso and Nunzio Giannunzio where married. We got lucky. It was the day before New Year's, went in the church to take a look. A catholic mass had just started. Only five older women and three nuns at the service so we got to take communion in this beautiful church. My grandfather had been groomed all his life to become a priest, but after a trip to the USA he decided to get married to my grandmother and move to America instead or I would not be here.
We visited the very old castle and later I took a walk around this small town of 900. Not many people there anymore. Most young people leave for the big cities for work. Saw only a few kids. Mostly elderly walking around telling stories in Italian. On my walk I saw and walked the playground where my grandparents walked...drank out of the city artesian fountain where they drank. Saw the old school. Then I looked on a wall and this was really surprising and mystical in many ways..
Two posters of Giannunzios that have recently passed on. Above the posters was a portrait of Jesus (the only picture I have ever painted of Him) and it was the exact same one. I called it "Gone Girls", women and girls that are no longer with us) Wow! What a coincidence. I took them from the wall (what was left of them) I am sure we were related so wished we had gotten to Capestrano a year earlier.
Life is very slow in Capestrano. For me it was like growing up on the North Side of Iron Mountain...very slow paced...and people enjoying the small, simple things in life. Like having a glass of wine, conversations, and good food.
It was a great experience.
I may share more photos later to give you an idea of what it was like. Some of you have been there already, but if you haven't, I encourage you to go. If you go spring or fall would be the best when the flowers are in bloom, weather is warmer and the national parks are open. When we were there the temps at night were in the mid 20s and daytime highs only around 40 degrees....not too bad.
Arrivederci,
Joe
