Before summarizing my thoughts on Monteferrante and the family, I had better fill you in a little on the time since our last entry and our departure.

First, one final photo of Jim’s birthday celebration.

And now some photos from the party our Italian family prepared for us, beginning with the preps. This party was on the 27th of August, honoring the birthdays of Chad, Jim and Fran and Gabriella as well as Jim’s and my 47th anniversary.

On the 29th of August, Maria hosted lunch at her house, with a little help from Chad.

As if that wasn’t enough, that evening we went to Carlo and Cinzia’s pizzeria for supper. You got it: pizza and beer.

And now my thoughts on the visit.  Jim and I arrived in Monteferrante on 9 August where Adolfo and Gabriella were waiting for us. From then on we were well taken care of; it was just amazing. Gabriella cooked just about every day and made sure we were never hungry. She is a wonderful cook and the experience took me back to when I was younger and living with my grandparents, eating all the wonderful Italian foods! So similar and so delicious. Every single dish she prepared was with fresh vegetables and fresh fruit! I think you get where I’m going with this! If we had access to fresh picked fruit and vegetables every day back home, we’d be so much healthier and happier!

After two weeks we had met all of the cousins and had tons of fun. They were wonderful about speaking slowly so we could follow the conversations. There were a few times when we had to stop and remind them “piani, piani” and they would laugh and slow it down again. I can understand the need to speak at 100 miles a minute because there is just so much to say, so many questions to ask and so many stories to tell. I am extremely proud of my German husband who picked up the language very well and was able to help translate for me. Then there were the times he didn’t catch a word but it would be one I remembered from my childhood so I did contribute to the conversation. They chuckled at some of the words I did remember and I can thank my grandmother for those!

In listening to conversations among Italians, sometimes you think they are arguing but no, that isn’t the case – they just speak at a slightly louder volume which is very entertaining. Needless to say, we laughed a lot!

When Michele, Chad and Juli arrived, they fell in love with their Italian relatives and the Italians with them. They were so very happy to be in Monteferrante, not to mention the fact that they LOVED the food! I am so happy my children were able to make this trip, meet the Italian relatives and learn the story of their family roots.

Jim turned 70 on Aug 24^th so the family planned this absolutely wonderful birthday party for our family. They started talking about it in January and figuring out what they wanted to do for us. The only thing I can say is WOW did they ever plan a party! Vincenzo is a professional chef, professor/director at the culinary school and well-known consultant who is also an absolutely wonderful cook! The meal they put together for our party on Saturday was several courses beautifully presented and needless to say, tasted like a little bit of heaven! All the cousins were involved in the meal one way or another.

In order to eat more food, it was time to bring out the guitar, accordions, tamborines and harmonica and start singing and dancing. This is a tradition that I wish we had in the states – so much fun! Adolfo and his entire family are musically talented and do this all the time. For us it was such a special treat and to say they gave us memories we will never forget is an understatement.

On the Monday before we left, Maria taught Chad how to make spaghetti with a Chitarra — a new kitchen “toy” he more than likely will buy when he gets home. The entire family gathered at Maria’s house for pranzo (lunch) consisting of homemade spaghetti, homemade sugo (spaghetti sauce), porpetta (fried cheese balls), frutta and pastries. I call this an “oh boy, am I ever stuffed day.”

After this it was time to take a walk because later that evening we were all going to Carlo and Cinzia’s pizzeria for pizza and beer! All we could think about was how will we ever be able to eat pizza after this huge lunch. Guess what – we did it and boy was the pizza great and so many different types. By this time we were no longer full; we were ready to explode but boy was it good!

The kids had to say goodbye to Adolfo, Maria, Silvana, and Angela before we left Monteferrante to go to the pizzeria as they would be leaving for Naples direct from their B&B and wouldn’t see the Monteferrante crowd in the morning. That was a bit of a tear jerker – I won’t mention anyone’s name but Michele lost it – gee what a surprise LOL! It is never easy to leave the relatives after such a wonderful reunion!

After dinner it was time to say goodbye to Cinzia, Carlo and Christiano as they would be at work and school in the morning – and that was a little tough! The kids had to say goodbye to Gabriella and Vincenzo as well and again – not so easy!

The next day Jim and I had to say goodbye but it wasn’t too bad because we are going back in October. They are thrilled because it will be quieter, cooler and we can just enjoy each other. It will give Jim and me a chance to drive around to some of the little towns and check them out. They are very happy we are returning. I still cried but hey it’s what I do when I’m going to miss folks.

I don’t know how to sum up this beautiful family reunion but I think I can just say, thank you famiglia for the most beautiful, wonderful visit. We will miss you so much but are so very thankful to have finally met you and get to know you. We love you very much!