But it was beautiful in southern Italy, in Puglia at any rate, and we had a grand time visiting the Tampone family as they celebrated the18th birthday of their youngest child, Antonio – they have two other children, both daughters, Angela and the oldest Luisa. The air was cool and fresh and the wind just right, with virtually no humidity. (photo: Antonio Tampone.)
We left Florence on a late morning train Tuesday, picked up our tickets at the station from one of the self-service machines (we had ordered them online) and connected in Rome for Foggia. After an uneventful trip of about 6 hours we found ourselves at the train station in Foggia at a little after 5 pm. Foggia is located at the northern end of the region of Puglia, which is a long strip of Italy that makes up the “heel” of the boot. Luisa and her father Peppino and grandfather Vito were all there to meet us and after hugs and kisses all around – the only other men I’ve ever kissed besides my father are Italians oddly enough – we piled into Peppino’s Pontiac (!?) van and headed out of the city for the drive to Cerignola which is about 35 kms away.
After we arrived Rosa fed us and we talked and caught up on all the little details of our lives as we sat out on their balcony of their new apartment, which has a lovely view of the city and its large Duomo.
As we gazed over the rooftops, most of which are certainly new in the past 30 or 40 years, Susan and I couldn’t help but wonder about the fact that when her father was in Cerignola in 1944, would he ever have imagined that his children would come to visit this place? We thought it odd in a curious way and certainly more than coincidental that not only have we found friends here in a place few tourists and even fewer Americans visit but in a place which had such an impact on the life of a man who at the moment he was here had no idea where his life was going to take him.
We slept well that night and the next morning had a leisurely breakfast outside on their balcony, enjoying the fresh air and morning sunshine. If you can believe it this was my first taste of Nutella, the Italian version of peanut butter but made with hazelnuts and chocolate. Rosa spread it on bread for me and force fed me – not against my will I might add – and even put the remainder in my coffee, which is pretty much my favorite way of ingesting Nutella.
About 11 am Luisa, Angela and Susan and I left for the beach. Peppino was at work – he and Rosa are both nurses as are several of their siblings as well – and Rosa opted to stay and prepare lunch. So the four of us headed off for Margherita di Savoia beach (“la spiaggia”) and after a drive of about 20 or 30 minutes were at the Adriatic Sea.(photo: Susan catching the rays on the Adriatic Sea.)
The beaches in Italy are by and large free and open to the public, at least here in Puglia (and at least according to Luisa). However many Italians choose not to use the wide open free beach areas – which are not always well maintained or easy to get to – and therefore choose the “lido”, or semi-private beach. For a small fee you get an umbrella (which is permanently affixed) and nice lounge chairs and then you have your own little spot on the beach – among 10,000 other folks of like mind of course. But what we saw was very nice and well maintained, and of course there are bathrooms available and some places we saw have an almost theme park like atmosphere to them, with games and playgrounds and all sorts of things for the young and the young at heart. And Margherita was no exception. (That’s right, she’s the same Margherita for whom the pizza was named.)
Our particular lido, “Lido Reale”, was quite nice, and we had a spectacular view not only of the sea but of the enormous Gargano peninsula (the “spur” of the boot) which stretches out eastward into the Adriatic. After we settled in – Luisa’s future mother-in-law Tina joined us for the afternoon – we all headed off down the beach for a passegiata. It gave us a very nice opportunity to see exactly how these beaches are set up – and it was pretty slick too. Long lines of large rocks and cement blocks were set in place at intervals to make superb breakwaters which in turn formed narrow tidal pools ideal for walking and wading as well as areas for swimming. Pretty cool we thought. We also got to see what has to be one of the world’s largest phlegm-like creatures, some snail sort of thing sans shell which was trying futilely to move around in the sand, but likely to become food for something else real soon. We also saw a Portuguese Man-of-War jellyfish wash up right near where we were lounging.
After our stroll we had a bite to eat and then all of us grabbed some lounge chair space for a siesta and snoozed away the early part of the afternoon, as the breezes swept in off the sea; quite idyllic really.
We packed up about 3:00 in the afternoon and headed back to the Tampone apartment where Rosa had a baked pasta dish waiting for us. We then all took a nap (!) until the family started to rouse later in the afternoon – OK actually earlier in the evening - to get ready for the big party.
About 9:00 Angela, Luisa, Susan and I left Rosa and Peppino – Peppino was getting over some pretty horrible dental issues from earlier in the day – and the four of us headed over to the ristorante where the party was to be held. We were about the first to arrive but shortly afterwards the rest of the various extended family members began arriving- aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, vertical cousins, horizontal cousins, all sorts of family members were in attendance for the occasion. The food was outstanding – it seems most Italians are fairly intolerant of mediocre food being served to them anywhere – and we enjoyed the local wines as well: a white and a rose (“rosato”) from the area near Castel del Monte, which also happens to be one of the coolest places to visit in Italy by the way and a fine mystery to boot. (The mystery lies in the fact that it is a “2-storey” castle, octagonal in shape, nearly bleach white, built by Frederick II more than 700 years ago, each room of which is identical in size and shape to the one next to it and the one below it. No one knows for certain why it was built or what it’s purpose may have been. The thing they do know is where the toilets were though, and they are a curiosity in and of themselves.)
After we had a round of toasts and gifts were given to the new young man – no more “ragazzo” but now an “adulto” Antonio’s friends from school began arriving as did a number of young ladies, among whom were of course Antonio’s girlfriend Christina and her two sisters (an incredible-looking threesome).
(photo: Christina in between her two older sisters.)
There was much gaiety and laughter throughout the evening and on into the early morning. Susan and I left with Rosa and Peppino about 1 am and headed home and to bed.
Another leisurely morning of fresh air and warm sunshine greeted us – or me rather since I think I was the first up and about. After coffee and breakfast we talked a bit about our return in February for Luisa’s wedding – she and Elio are getting married on February 8 and we’ve been invited so of course we are trying to figure out how we’re going to get to Cerignola from Paris. We can’t wait.
We said arrivaderci to Rosa and Peppino, and since Peppino had another appointment with the dentist in the morning Luisa drove us to the Cerignola train station where we caught the local train to Foggia and connected with our Eurostar train to Bologna, arriving there about 5:20 pm. The train took us straight up the coast of the Adriatic all the way to Rimini, stopping in Ancona along the way. Along the way we got wonderful views of the sea and a general idea as to where the Italian tourists are going that’s for sure. So many of the cities and towns along the coast are little more than havens for sunbathers, and one wonders what they must be like in the wintertime. Some cities like Pesaro and even Rimini looked very nice from where we sat, reminding us of other ocean front communities in other parts of the world – such as the southeastern US.
We made our connection to Florence with time to spare since it was about 15 minutes late coming from Milan -- and after a quick stop at the ATM at the train station were back in our apartment by 7:30. It seems that the day we left there was a fire on the ground floor of our building that destroyed the bank office there – fortunately no one was injured and it had little impact on any other part of the structure. But the smell was pretty nasty. And it seems we also lost our WiFi access as well – so my assumption is that it apparently came from the bank. Odd timing to be sure.
So we unloaded our bags, turned the AC on and stepped across the street to the OK bar where we sat outside in the heat but with a very nice breeze and drank cold white wine while we contemplated the nature of the universe and, more importantly, what I was going to fix for supper. Once that was decided we paid the bill and went back home, had dinner, relaxed and talked for a while and then slept soundly once again.
It’s great to be alive.
Wish you were here.
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment