Day 6

I got to sleep in today since I got in late last night.  And by sleeping in I mean, Nonno did not knock on my door until 8am instead of 7am.  Ivonne made breakfast and then we needed to go into Sarricciolo so she could help out at the market.  Well, Nonno and I went with her but then decided to walk around for a bit instead of waiting inside the market.  On our walk I took pictures of some beautiful flowers...

... and Nonno pointed out some things such as a the main bridge into the town was blown up during WWII, so he had to use the railroad bridge in order to commute in and out of town.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the bridge, but I remember leaning over the bridge and staring into the water and thinking how terrifying to live 1 or 2 miles away and having bombs go off within such a short distance of your home.  

The afternoon was very calm and we went to go visit another one of Nonno's nephews; his name is Renato, the son of Zia Nella.  He also lives in Olivola and I got to take some fun pictures while I was there.  

Here is Nonno and I in front of the church where he got married.

And then I saw this sign...

So we had to take a picture underneath it.

Later that evening after dinner at Venezia's house, Mario (Magda's father) and Magda drove me over to Pisa and dropped me off with my cousin Massi and his girlfriend Gigliola (G).  After we dropped off my stuff at G's apartment, the three of us walked around Pisa for a bit and got some gelato.  It was very entertaining conversation considering G speaks broken English and Massi doesn't speak any English.  I got a picture of how the weekend was going to work with communication, but G and I kept using our dictionaries and I slowly started to pick up some words and phrases.  

Day 5

So this was my first and sadly my only day of shopping in Italy.  My cousin Magda took me a local Italian mall and we hit up some of her favorite stores and I got some cute stuff!  Including a fabulous red jacket, which you might spot in later pics :)  

After lunch we headed back to her house (she lives with her parents and brother).  But she showed me the house that she is going to move into with her boyfriend/fiance and her brother.  It's an interesting set up because, it's like a mini apartment building and she gets the second floor apartment, her brother gets the first floor, and then they have two separate family rooms that are on the ground floor (almost like two studios that act as additional family rooms to entertain guests).  It's super hard to describe. 

However, the fun part of the day came when we were hanging out waiting for Magda's boyfriend to get off work and the neighbors started to burn the grass, and next thing you know, my chest is extremely tight and I have inspiratory and expiratory wheezes.  Yea, I had an asthma attack in Italy; yay me.  So Ivan (Magda's boyfriend) arrived and we had to detour back to my house so I could take my meds.  Luckily Albuterol really is the best drug ever and worked instantly and we went on our merry way!

Where did we go you ask?  First we headed into La Spezia and did a little bit more shopping because Magda wanted to find some tennis shoes.  She was specifically looking for the brand that Uma Therman wears in Kill Bill (never saw it, so I had no idea).  Then we headed over to Portovenere...

   

I know, gorgeous right?! Wait, it gets better!

So the coolest part about this city is that it was built with the buildings touching each other in order to help provide a defense against pirates.  Real pirates!  Ivan told me this and I thought he was joking, but he was serious.  So the houses form a wall that is connected / was connected to two parallel stone walls, which then connected to the castle on the top of the hill.  

    

We took a walk down the end of the pier and there is a grotto that you can enter and this was the view...

    

And of course, like with every other town, village, or city in Italy, there was a church to visit.  This one just happened to have been set up for a wedding and it was just beautiful.  We of course ended with a little photo shoot of the three of us.

     

One photo my favorite way...

Then we had someone else take it...

This is the view atop of the church...

Day 4

Our fourth day started a little different since Ivonne had to work, so instead of having breakfast at the house, Armando took Nonno and I into 'town' / Sarricciolo. In Italy, they call their cafes, bars; so we went to a bar for breakfast :)

The next stop of the day was to go visit Armando's son Yuri at work. All three of them are butchers at grocery stores and Armando and Yuri work at the same store. Then we headed out to a cute Medieval town, that I have no idea the actual name of, but it was fun to walk around.

Definitely an exciting part of the day was going to my Nonni's home village, Tavernelle, which was a very long drive through the mountains. Nonno said that it took him 2 hours on a bike to go visit Nonni. Don't ask me how they met, because I still don't know the answer. So here is a picture of me at Nonni's house...

And this was so cool. This is a picture of where the locals, and most likely my family, used to wash their clothes. So the water used to go into these stone tubs and that's where the local laundry facility was located.

We then ventured through the jungle of Italy and down a road which was overgrown with trees and weeds to visit Armando's horse. I forgot his name, but he was a pretty horse.

After lunch, Armando and Yuri took Nonno and I to visit castles and I loved it! Some castles were closed to visitors and others were still being lived in. How fun would it be to live in a real Medieval castle?! Obviously with a few modern adjustments, but still, so exciting!

This was the first castle.

And the second...


And the last castle...



This is a picture of the family tree tapestry for the castle.



And then some fun shots in the castle gardens where we waited for the tour guide to give us a private tour!

For dinner that night we headed over to another cousin's house: Venezia (my cousin), her husband Mario, their daughter Magda, and their son Marko. They fixed BBQ ribs and chicken, roasted potatoes and for dessert, copetta with raspberry sauce!

Day 3

My third day in Italy was definitely entertaining, to say the least.  After breakfast at the house, my Nonno and I went to Aulla (the nearest city) with my cousin Ivone.  Our first stop was to visit a show cobbler who was good friends with my Nonno's younger brother, Bruno, who lives in the States.  They talked for a bit and then we went inside a church (one of many on this trip), and according to the brochure

" In this Church in Aulla you are about to encounter the mortal remains of one of the greatest saints in the early history of French Christianity."  

Above are the remains of St. Caprasio, which are "exposed for the veneration of the faithful."  I thought this was pretty interesting but what I thought was really interesting about this church is that it had a picture of Aulla during WWII when my grandparents were still living nearby.  They have always told me stories of how they could hear the bombs and planes but I never realized just how close the war came to their front door.  

 

So the top is the picture of Aulla during WWII and the bottom is a picture of a bomb that fell during the war and destroyed part of the church.  After our little tour of Aulla, we headed back to the house and while Ivone prepared lunch, Nonno and I went for a walk.  He showed me a lot of very fun things, such as the place he used to go dancing

And then he showed me a few houses that belonged to family members.  This next one was his Zia / Aunt's house and he used to visit frequently.  

We walked around the village a little while longer and he showed me his older brother's first house where a few of my cousins were born.  The barn was also still there and animals are inside, which I just think is so entertaining.  

The next part of the day involved me heading out with Ivone and Maria-Rosa.  Just a little clarification, Ivone and Armando are the cousins who we are staying with.  Armando is my Nonno's nephew through his older brother, Renaldo (see Day 2 for a picture).  They have a son named Yuri.  Now Maria-Rosa is my Zia Nella's (that one of my Nonno's sisters) daughter-in-law.  Franko, Nella's son, passed away 4 years ago, but Maria-Rosa and family still live with Zia Nella.

Okay, so the three of us ventured out on our own.  Now remember, neither of them can speak English.  I cannot speak nor understand much Italian.  So communication was a combination of broken English, Italian, French, and passing back n' forth of the dictionary.  Quite entertaining.   So the first stop was to go to this castle in Fiviazano called Borgo della Verrucola (I think. My brochure is in Italian).  However, when we get there the sign says 'Closed on Tuesdays.'  So we walk around a bit.  We of course gain access into the church though :)

 

So since the castle was closed we went to the village nearby and got some gelato :) and walked around.  We found this beautiful

library and decided to take pictures 

in the garden.  

The next stop on the tour list of the day was to go visit Terme di Equi, which are similar to the hot springs in Calistoga, CA.  There is a large pool, or the Baths, that contains sulfur in the water and then there is a hotel nearby along with a Spa facility.  However, that was closed as well; the open season began the first week of June so we were a few days early.  Right next to the Baths were famous caves, or a grotto.  But, surprise, surprise, they were closed.  Only open on the weekends and the regular season began the first weekend in June.  So we meandered down towards the entrance just to look around anyway.  

Even though all our destinations were closed, we definitely still had a fun time and it was so fun to try to communicate between all of us and it was a very enjoyable day.  But it didn't end there. We had a few family stops to made before the day was up.  The first stop was to go back to Olivola and there I got to see the church where my Nonno and Nonni were married and where my Aunt and Dad were baptized.  

Oddly enough, my Nonni's sister, who is not from this town, apparently made some donations to this church and therefore, the church dedicated 2 pews to her with name placards.  Our next stop was to go visit my Zio Renaldo and his daughter Bruna.  When she answers the doorbell, she just opens the shutters, moves the screen, and sticks her head out the window to talk to you...

After a fun and entertaining day, I finished my picture taking madness by snapping some shots looking out over Tuscany...