Wow. This "weekend trip" was very amazing and very emotional. We reluctantly left Assisi on Friday with intentions to return Monday morning. We finally made it back today (Wednesday). Annie has written daily blogs about what happened in Napoli, so I'll spare the recap, but I had to write a bit about my family.
I'm really amazed with the way we've been treated. When I saw these people two months ago, it was the third time in my life to see them. The first time, I was two years old and obviously don't remember. The second time, I was 18 and was with them for a week. So, it's been ten years since I've seen them. I wondered if they'd even remember me. Not only did they remember me, I feel as though I've grown up knowing these people my entire life. Also, they welcomed Annie into their houses as though she was family as well....which was pretty awesome.
We stayed Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights with Antonio and Adriana (my grandmother's niece). They are in their 50's and are obviously very in love with each other. Many times it sounds as though they are yelling at each other but Annie and I have decided it's just the inflection of the Italian language. They're adorable. They're both very patient and helpful with our Italian and we learned a lot from them. I had asked Adriana if she could take me to the cemetary where my grandmother's family is buried. We went Saturday morning and wow is it different. Since Naples is such a large city, there is little room for cemetaries. So, the bodies are buried somewhere else for five years. Then, they are dug up and put in boxes in the wall with a concrete headstone. The bones are wrapped in sheets and are changed every few years to prevent them from smelling. The bones of my grandmother's mother, father, brother, and sister are all kept in the same "box." My aunt says she overseas the changing of the bedsheets. It's very, very different!
Sunday was probably my favorite day of this Naples trip. We went to Caserta, a suburb of Naples where Rosanna and her family live. Rosanna is another one of my grandmother's nieces. She and her husband, Enzo, have two children about my age, Valentina (28) and Alessanro (34). Antonio, Enzo, Anna, and I went to the King's Palace, which was only used as his weekend home. The Palace has 1,000 rooms! We visited around 10 of them and the garden. The garden is about three miles long. Momma Mia! Afterwards, we went to Rosanna and Enzo's house for "lunch." Lunch didn't start until around 3 and ended around 5ish. Wow, Rosanna is an amazing cook! We had pasta with eggplant, chicken wrapped in prosciutto, vegetables, fruit, wine, limoncello, coffee, and cake. Needless to say, Annie and I were in pain. We really enjoyed talking with Valentina and Alessandro. We would speak in Italian and they in English and we would all help each other with the language. It was great! At one point, Rosanna said that she was sad that we weren't staying with her any nights. We must come back and stay...it broke my heart. Around 7, we headed back to Antonio and Adriana's house. Rosanna called and asked if there was any way we could come and stay with them for a few nights before leaving Italy. Annie and I decided that since we were already there, we should stay with them one night. We had so much fun with them and what is one more night anyway?
So, Monday morning, when we thought we would be returning to Assisi, we went back to Caserta. When Valentina picked us up, she said she had looked at the train schedule and thought we should return Wednesday morning. I tell her that we were planning on leaving Tuesday morning and asked what time the trains leave. "Tuesday morning?" She said. "I think it's better that you leave Wednesday morning. It's better not to travel in the afternoon." Okay, we think. Well, what about Tuesday morning? "No, you should leave Wednesday morning." Well, what can ya do? You can't argue with these people. They just want to cook you wonderful Italian food, and hug on you. We knew that there was no arguing and so we agreed to stay until Wednesday morning.
Good thing we did too. Rosanna taught us the official way to make gnocchi. When we made it before, we just googled the recipe and went from there. Now we were working with a professional. We both had difficulty making the beautiful gnocchi form (one of us more than the other, ahem, Annie). The two extra days were well spent. We spent the majority of the time sitting around the fire talking with Alessandro and Valentina. I absolutely fell in love with this family. They were so loving and attentive. They claim that they will be visiting me soon and I can't wait. Annie and I have decided to continue to learn Italian so that we can speak with them when they visit. I'm just still amazed at how quickly you can love people...but these people are so easy to fall in love with.
To see my pictures from our weekend with the family, click here.
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