I will be coming back to the longer story that I began sharing in my last post on February 19th. But for now I’m feeling this moment in between two summers.
The following is a real list of events from my time in Italy in the summer of 2022.
I:
Accidentally ate a goat. And it was really tasty. Sorry.
Cooked and served meals for Italian people who then critiqued them. Very intimidating, but my American cousins and I pushed through! If only the pasta had been cooked exactly one minute less…
Got to experience Calabria, Rome, and Milan with my son and his friend. This was amazing for me as I am a single parent and got to create many wonderful memories with my boy (at this writing, my daughter is not feeling the pull of Italy yet - I hope she will someday). I had brought my kids and my mother to Europe (and Italy specifically) in 2016, but now my son is almost a man with a more mature perspective, and I love traveling with him. As 17 year-olds, the boys had an amazing time hitting the glorious beach scene, by day and by night. The local teens loved him, dubbing him “Big Gangsta” because he’s an Italian-American from New York. So many new IG followers, so little time.
Was swimming along in the Ionian, minding my own business, when a woman started screaming, “La Medusa, la Medusa!” Immediately after wondering if I resembled the reptile-coiffed mythical monster, I got tickled on the back by a deadly jelly fish (La Medusa) who, thankfully, chose not to sting me. She’s now my spirit animal.
Carted multiple American relatives all over Italy. Deepened my relationships with these family members as we shared many a hilarious caper, meaningful moments, and lots of inside jokes, the kind where you don’t know how you’ll ever stop laughing. They will never get old even if we do!
Observed crispelle being made from scratch (similar to zeppole but shaped like a doughnut) and fried to perfection over a fire. An extensive process!
Came dangerously close to eating a giant June bug that had fallen into my pasta bowl al fresco, got put in the fridge and reheated, looking just like the other black olives.
Sported a bikini along with all the other women on the beach, against my better judgement. When in Rome…
Had witnesses to prove that the meals at the Autogrill rest stops on the Autostrada are some of the BEST you will ever eat in your life. OMG the reginella warm panino! And the pistacchio cornetti or the Pan de Stelle gelato cones. Drool…
Picked fresh fruits off of my own trees and vines (figs, lemons, oranges, grapes, prickly pears…) and ate them still warm from the sun’s rays. Hard to verbalize the depth of my gratitude and sense of awe.
Enjoyed the magic of a romantic, seaside passeggiata beneath a full moon with a hot, sweet Calabrese man… Swoon… (A passeggiata is a stroll, people!)
Crashed my next door neighbor’s birthday party with a total of four extra peeps (who were strangers to my neighbors). By the end of the night, everyone was friends for life.
Found out that the local oregano dealer sells other herbs as well
Went to the local ancient thermal pool and mud bath with my friend who visited from Ireland. We applied the mud, even on our faces (many healing properties) and then were accosted by sudden lightning storm, so we had to run to the car. Said car was desperate for gas, so we had to drive to the gas station looking like a pair of crusty Greek marble statues gone very wrong.
Literally ate for 8 hours straight on Ferragosto, a national holiday celebrated since ancient times on August 15th. That is not hyperbole - endless eating! It was such a beautiful day that just thinking of it chokes me up. Grandparents, little babies and toddlers interacting and laughing. Everyone pitching into the collective experience. Freshly picked pears, handcrafted sausage and peppers cooked on a wood-fired oven served in a massive, carved-out loaf of crusty bread. Conversations about politics and questions about American life, a walk together into the wild parts of the land. The magnitude of participating in these rituals at the ancestral homestead of countless generations of people who share my surname. And did I mention the food? …I realized how much I miss these intergenerational family gatherings on long summer days like my grandmother Anne used to host. I was forced to confront what is lacking in my current American life comparatively.
Tried to understand and speak Italian as best I could (improving pretty well!). Working my brain overtime trying to understand, read, speak and translate back and forth from Italian and English. From constant reinforcement, I began to think in the language that’s embedded in my bones.
Stepped back on American soil at JFK. Got my shoelace caught in the airport escalator and fell face first while carrying two suitcases. Was in Italy so long that I guess I seemed like I was a native, because I got yelled at by the TSA agent that I was in the wrong queue while in the US citizen line going through customs. Welcome baa-aack!
Thank you for liking, sharing, commenting!
*******************************************************************************************************
Fast forward to March 2023 and here I am, looking out at a snowy New York scene, planning my next Italian summer adventure. What’s in store for summer 2023?
While there are still many moving parts, there are a few key items on the agenda!
I’m planning to see a few new places including the legendary Cinque Terre in Liguria with its colorful, terraced, cliffside villages, as well as the pristine island of Sardinia in the Tyhrennian Sea where people regularly live to be over 100 years old (a Blue Zone). I am all about (responsibly) visiting ancient sacred sites, archeological wonders, and places protected by UNESCO as part of our world’s cultural heritage. Both of these locations fit the bill.
Also a first will be renting a beautiful private villa with 8 American friends and driving them around in a 9-seater van! We are staying in an area in Puglia (the high heel of the boot) that I have not explored yet. I can’t wait to see Ostuni, referred to as “the white city” due to its whitewashed walls reminiscent of Greece. A cooking class, traditional dance lessons, time refining our aesthetic with a professional photographer, maybe even a private chef, and relaxing by the beach-style pool are all on the itinerary. Contact me if you’d like to have me curate your dream trip soon!
A very special event will be introducing one of my first cousins to all of his Italian relatives and my whole community at the end of July. He is sixteen years younger than I, and who knew, when I was his nanny and he was a baby in my arms about thirty-five years ago, that we would someday visit the land of our ancestors together with my little Italian casa as our home base. When I met my cousins in Calabria in the summer of July 2021, they shocked me by pulling out pictures of my father and of his father (my uncle) from when they had graduated high school in 1960 and 70 respectively. They said, “do you recognize these people? We have saved these pictures for like 55 years.” Their dad and my grandpa had kept in touch as first cousins in letters and visits until they passed away. After that no one knew how to stay in touch, with the language barrier etc. I also had photos of them from about 50 years ago when my grandfather had last visited. Needless to say, we shed some tears, acknowledging that we really are family, and for all the decades that have gone by.
I’m content looking back and imagining what’s to come while the winter soon steps aside and makes way for spring. I hope you are making meaningful plans yourself for the months ahead. If you’d like to focus on these plans with a helpful resource, please consider my book, in both paperback and digital download formats. Dive deep, feel grateful, confront your fears, be held and guided, and follow your inner compass.
Wildest Dreamers Pre-Travel Journal: Becoming an Explorer: