Mercnbeth
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It was the trip of the lifetime! We enjoyed exceptional weather for this time of year. 'Palos Verdes' weather, rare for the last week of October. The villa we rented had a view similar to our home; except instead of the South Bay, we had the 'Bay of Naples' with a view of the island of Capri instead of Catalina. A different kind of trip than we've ever taken before. We were joined by my 86 year old, mostly deaf, Italian father; and my 25 year old 'Princess' daughter. As beth noted; 3 'Type-A's', but we made it with only one argument caused by my daughter going through a forced internet access withdraw. My father speaks fluent Italian which was very helpful and opened a lot of doors even before making it to the family homestead.
My father's father came from a very small town in Italy, about 15 miles north of Naples. His father, my namesake, came from a town that has his name. It's a common belief that most immigrants leave their home county seeking a better life. That wasn't the case with my grandfather. Turns out there was a little scandal involved in his case. I had met other family on previous trips to Italy, but not from the city where my grandfather was born. It was never discussed by the other family, cousins, that we knew. They said we shouldn't go there, but never said why. This trip - we found out.
It seems my grandfather got his girlfriend pregnant. Bad enough in 1908 Italy, but to make it worse, his girlfriend was also his niece, 6 years his junior. So he abandoned his lemon grove farm and headed for NYC. Followed, after the birth of his daughter, by his girlfriend, his daughter, and some 'family' muscle. Marrying cousins and nieces wasn't too out of the ordinary but abandoning them was an 'Infamnia'. Upon arrival, they made my grandfather "an offer he couldn't refuse", and a 'wedding' ensued. Hey - it all worked out. They lived a long and good life in the USA, producing 11 more kids.
When my cousin that we met, who like beth was into family genealogy, told me the story we looked at each other. He wondered how I would react. I told him that the knowledge didn't change me or who I was. Perhaps, 25 years ago in another generation, there would be some sort of 'vendetta' to settle. We just shrugged and said so what; smiled and the entire family got on with re-connecting and getting to know each other better.
Meanwhile, it turns out the remaining family continued to thrive in Italy. The family is more alive and viable there than they are in the USA. Most my age are successful business owners and entrepreneurs. Their homes were elegant with artist designed marble floors. My daughter made friends with one relative of her age that had a closet full of designer fashions. We found out that one 'uncle' is the 'Presidente' of Naples and a close friend of Berlusconi. We would have gotten to meet him, however he was attending the Naples/Milan 'football' match with Berlusconi during our visit.
All told, we met at least 100 relatives. We learned there was a 'Family Chapel'; not quite Sistine, but impressive none the less. Once they heard about my dad coming back home - they lined up to meet him. Turns out he is the oldest living family member. As such he was treated like a King! The fact that he spoke fluent Neapolitan (NOT ITALIAN!) was a big plus. People were amazed that someone from America knew their dialect.
With the help of our family connections we took care of our trip goal on the first day. Our relatives set up a meeting with the local officials who would provide the Italian birth certificates for my grandparents. He had ancient leather bound books ready for us, and there were the birth records. Once he found those and heard the family story, the Administrator of the town announced my father and me "citizens of Italy" just needing paperwork and processing. How long that takes waits to be seen. However we have some good connections. Of course 'gifts' are always welcome and help the cause. The initial processing clerk mentioned that he was a coin collector and would love to have a collection of the 50 US State Quarters that have been issued over the last 10 years. I think that's just the start of about 2 years of similar, and progressively bigger, expediting requests.
Our last night in town we had a huge family meal with the core members of the clan. We had a cook come to house and had a 6 course Italian meal while a guitar and mandolin player serenades us. ALL Italian men think they can sing and the night was filled with music, laughter, song, and stories. The party ended at 2:30am. We only knew these people for a week, yet we were FAMILY!
I'm more anxious than ever and convinced that Italy is good goal for retirement. Note - I'm not planning on working there, except maybe to dabble in some business investments. I can't speak to the working environment, but the people are as beautiful and pleasant as the scenery. Never had I met anyone with my same first name - This trip I met a town full. I can't wait to go back. We plan on doing so in May for the local 'Festival' bearing my name-sake.
Trip Anecdotes & Observations:
Food
Bottom line - beth says she's not eating again until Thanksgiving! Can't differentiate one great meal from another. To give you an idea of what it was like I'll tell you about that last dinner we hosted. Cheese, dried meat, tomatoes for starters. 'Mozzarella di bufala' or Buffalo mozzarella is a competitive as a well as religious experience. Nothing like it in the USA. A little 'pizza-fritta' and baskets of bread served as an accompaniments. Next, a salad with the pasta course; meat lasagna and a penne with a white sauce and mushrooms. The meat course is next; steak (bloody rare) some sausage, and pork; followed by fish; scungilli, baccala, calamari grilled over a wood stove. Save room for desert, a sheet cake sized tiramisu, wonderful espresso coffee, some fruit and roasted chestnuts. WOW!
We took pictures of almost every dish we ate for the entire trip - Food porn!
Driving in Italy
Not for the faint of heart. Driving in NY City or Boston gives you some idea; except the streets are not as wide. Of course you can go for a nice country drive; which we had to do every day to get to our family home. These streets are the width of 2 Fiats with their mirrors folded in. Not too bad unless a tourist bus is coming around the curve. Then, of course, is the 'always pass slower cars rule'. A fun game we like to call - 'Italian Road Roulette'. You never really have more than 50 feet of clearance, to see what's coming in the other direction, but you 'GO FOR IT!'After a few days - I got the hang of the game, and decided to play along. beth said it was the closest she ever came to 'safe-wording' out of an experience with me.
There are few stop signs and even fewer traffic lights outside of the major cities. Driving is a big game of 'chicken' and not for the faint of heart. You can not be submissive and get anywhere driving in Italy. You go forward until someone else stops or you hit each other. Few cars, especially in the little towns, were dent free. Most had their side mirrors bashed. Now when we see a side-swiped dented car we call it a 'Naples-Custom' job. Nobody cared and amazingly we only saw 1 fatal accident. There are no 'side-streets'. EVERY street is a side-street; there are 'side-side-streets'.
However if you really want to have an 'E-Ticket' experience in Italy you have to rent a scooter - Maybe next time.
Entertainment
Talking and socializing is the primary form of entertainment. Having coffee, ideally 'al fresco' and watching people is preferred. You dine at 2:00 and have a little something, also 'al fresco', after 7 or 8. You talk, language and understanding is not a necessary requirement. More people join in as the night goes on and next thing you know - it's midnight.Traditional entertainment at bars and clubs starts at 10:00.
We didn't watch much, or miss, TV. When we did turn it on it was a blast. The Simpson's in Italian is something to see. There was also the broadcast Italian 'porn' channel. Something like Cinamax soft core porn, except with a lot more foreplay and tongue action. VERY amusing!
Woman's breasts are an essential part of Italian advertising. Apparently whatever is being sold it sells better when a topless woman in involved; TV, magazines, or billboards.
Italy People
Okay - granted we were with 'family' and spent most of our time in a small town, but the people were amazingly friendly. Most impressive were the kids, especially the teenagers. They acted just like the Opie, 'Beaver', or any of the other 50's-60's TV kid characters. When we sat at the outside café in our family home, they came over and asked if it was okay to listen and hear stories about the USA. When we went to the little city church (before we met the family) we had 3 volunteer to escort us to a restaurant and then they sat down, chatted, and made sure we were okay. One of the family kids 'interviewed' beth for their class when they heard she was from the same town as 'Michael Jackson. I think the best was to summarize what we felt was a general respect of elders from kids. Granted it was a small sampling but we felt very comfortable with the people.
Italian Shopping
There is no way Walmart or any store like Target or K-Mart would ever survive. Fashion is Italian. If they can't buy designer they don't buy it. Both the people and the stores take pride in 'Italian Made'. As a result there are many small specialty shops with unique clothing. Italian 'style' is beautiful.
One word of warning, as a woman if you have a shoe size bigger than 9 - you won't find any shoes that fit. '40' in European size is about at big as they go. That was torture for beth and fortunate for me. It would have cost me thousands in shoes and boots - but they just didn't fit. she compromised and instead bought a cute little red 'Prada' bag. Some 'sacrifice' huh?
Oh yeah - and outside the big cities, don't expect to shop between 2-4PM. It's break time and the shops are closed for lunch and, rumor has it, some 'afternoon delight'. It doesn't matter what you are looking to buy. We were curious about a necklace in one of the store windows on Capri and wanted to get a price. However is was 2:01 and the store-owner said he was closed. beth went back later. The cost of the necklace? - 130,000. When I asked if it was Euros or dollars she correctly responded; "would it matter?" (lol) But you couldn't buy it for any price between 2-4.
Rome and/or The Vatican
Rome is urban, beautiful, scary to drive, wonderful to experience. A wonderful blend of ancient Roman antiquities and Churches. We've been to Rome a few times. I think if we go another 100 times we still won't see all the works of art. The Vatican never gets old. It's the Catholic version of the Smithsonian except with chalices and dead popes on display, instead of the shuttle and dinosaurs. I think who has the most jewelry is too close to call; but considering Michaelangelo's involvement the nod goes to the Vatican for artwork. Amazing!
There are a group of men who have a full time job saying "shusssssssh" while visiting the Sistine Chapel. I can't figure out how taking pictures, especially videos without flash or lights, hurts the ceiling; but they don't allow photography. Living up to the 'ugly American' stereotype although I did put my video camera back in the camera bag, I kept it on and pointing the lens up as I walked around to the accompaniment of the Sistine Chapel Men's shusshing choir.
Lufthansa
They have stewardesses are moonlight as sadistic Dommes in German S&M houses when not at work. We usually travel business class. It's the equivalent of what used to be coach back in the day when passengers were treated like customers instead of cargo. Usually that means you get decent service and a smile; NOT the case with Lufthansa. These 'Eva Braum' Gestapo wannabes thought that my 86 year old father should fend for himself and didn't like me getting up to help him adjust his $3,000 seat. 'Eva Braum' came over to me and noted that I got up 5 times to do so, before the Uber-Fuhrer pilot turned off the fasten seat belt sign. I told her she must have lost count - it was 6 times. They also guarded the 1st Class restrooms from the rift sitting in 'business class'. This was consistent with the ex-concentration camp guards now serving as 'security' at the Frankfort airport. They confiscated my 6 inch telescoping camera tripod, made of cheap aluminum and which bends under more than one pound of weight, because they said it could be used as a weapon on-board. If it was on the way home instead of the way to Italy, I would have verbalized what I was thinking; "Well - now I that you found out my plan I guess I'll have to go with my back-up weapon; the metal cane I cleverly given to my father to use - which you've just passed through security!" ASSHOLES!
< Message edited by Mercnbeth -- 11/3/2009 2:13:17 PM >
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RE: Ciao USA! - 
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