On May 10 my dear friend Pamm Pellegrini Yascavage and her mother Marilee Pellegrini travel from Hershey PA to Rome. This is the beginning of our adventure. Warning - it's a long post so sit back, relax and read. I hope you enjoy reading about it as much I as enjoyed living it... -xo
5/10 -
I met Pamm and Marilee outside of customs this morning
around 10:30. We rented a car from Avis
and drove to Semproniano. The further
away we got from the city, the more relaxed I became. We stopped at a town not far from here
because we were all hungry and needed to freshen up.
The small restaurant we stopped at had the
first actual toilet seat I have seen since leaving the United States.
My cold was strong and my left ear had been
closed all day and was affecting my balance.
I wasn't steady on my feet and when I turned the corner I ran right into
the coat rack. In the bathroom, the
toilet was up on a rise of bricks like a thrown, and when I went to dismount I
went head first into the opposite wall. As I walk out of the bathroom, the chef
and owner of the restaurant were laughing and smiled at me, I am sure this was
in response to the sound of the crash they had heard come from the
bathroom…
As we neared Semproniano, I found familiarity in the roads
and the surroundings – it was a welcoming feeling. We were greeted by Pamm’s cousin Pina and her
husband Aimone with many tears and hugs.
Pina wanted to make sure the house was in order, so she walked thru the
downstairs with us and pointed out every room and their supplies. She is like the mother hen who has to check
it all out. When I asked a about the gas
stove, she immediately called for Aimone to turn it on and then had him light a
burner to make sure it was on. She then
told us all how to turn on and off the stove several times, which struck me as
funny because this is Pamm’s family house that they have stayed at many times
before so I assumed Pamm knows all about the stove. Marilee explained to me that this is what she
does as the caretaker, she must make sure all our needs are met and that we are
fully informed.
We told her we had a light lunch and she immediately began
discussing dinner. Pamm says this is
what they do here, you wake up and have breakfast and during breakfast you
discuss what you will be having for lunch – which last an hour or two – and as
lunch is wrapping up, you discuss what you will be having for dinner.
Next she took us upstairs for bed assignments and to check
the rooms. We climbed up the marble
staircase with 75 yr old Pina leading the way and she takes us into every
bedroom. She tells us the family stories
about every bedroom and who they used to belong to, then she opens every drawer
in every dresser to examine the contents and pull out things she wants to show
us. Pamm is following her Italian pretty
well and translates for me. Sometimes I
can pick out a word and understand what she is saying, not the exact words but
the jest of the sentence. She is very
sweet and gets emotional sometimes when talking about family. She is quick to laugh and quick to cry… Then she opens every cabinet in the room to
show us where the blankets are when we get cold. Today it is over 70 degrees outside, but
inside the stone house it is chilly. In
the kitchen and living rooms it is actually cold.
We have to make up my bed so she had to pull out several
sheets for me to choose from – I said any would be OK and Pamm and Marilee
quickly informed me that I must choose, she wanted me to choose and it was
important that I do so. So I chose the
blue ones. Then I had to select which
blanket I wanted, then which comforter, then which additional blanket I wanted
on the top of the bed for when it got cold at night. Finally I had to pick out the pillowcases I
wanted. I picked the ones that are hand
stitched and have button closers. Pamm
and I laughed about this, about all the fuss about blankets when it was so hot
outside. Marilee scolded us and reminded
us that this was important to Pina. Pina
then went into another room to show us the incredible hand work done on the comforter
on Pamm’s bed. She then attempted to
open a cabinet where more blankets are stored, but the lock will not open the
door. We all give it a try as it is
clear that Pina wants it open. We
struggle with this for about 10 minutes.
She calls for Aimone to come and fix it. He slowly makes his way to the second floor
says a word or two and then gets to work.
**It’s important to note that every bedroom has a cabinet,
every cabinet has several doors, and every door is locked but the key is in the
lock. There is also a door for every
room in the house and every door is to be closed when the room is not in use,
and most doors have locks – with keys in the.
Sometimes this includes front door, which locks immediately when closed. **
As Aimone is working on the cabinet, Pina takes me to the
bathroom to demonstrate how to turn the water on and off, how to flush the toilet,
how to use the shower and how to turn the lights on and off. It is very important to turn the lights off because,
as she explains in a way I somehow understand, electricity is expensive. She turns on the hot water to see if it gets
hot, after a minute she is not satisfied with the result and she calls for
Aimone. We pass him in the hallway – he
has fixed the lock in the dresser so we go back to the bedroom, he heads to the
bathroom. Pina then opened a drawer in
that room to show a collection of old pillowcases – all hand made. Pamm had to pick out her pair and then Pina
gave 2 to Marilee to take home to Geoff because they have the initials of GP on
them, for another relative, but she wants Geoff to have them. Pina gets misty eyed talking about Geoff… Then she tells Aimone that they must turn up
the gas for the upstairs hot water.
This whole process takes over an hour. After all that, she heads back down the
stairs to get working on dinner. My cold
was talked about during her presentations of the bed linens because of all of
my coughing and sniffling. At some point
Pamm told Pina that I would be eating soup if I were in America because it
taste good when you have a cold…
Pamm and I take a stroll around the town, making our way to
Bar Sport for a gelato. We then headed
up to the church at the top of town. We noted several houses and one business
that had the keys in the door lock as if to say “it’s alright, come on in.”
The church, which is usually locked, magically
was not. I said to Pamm that I believe
we were being invited in, we both agreed that we liked it when God communicated
to us like this. We went in, checked out
how everything looked, Pamm played preacher and then we put 5 euro in the
contribution box, lite a candle and left. I wondered later in the evening, if that was a
smart decision to make, lighting a candle at an unattended church. We got
to the top spot of the town and admired the incredible view. At that moment we realized that the only
sound we could hear, other than the chirps of the diving sparrows, were the
famers tractors running below us. Three
farmers were turning over their soil – we sat and watched in silence – amazed
at how the sound of the towns silence was actually soothing and we felt
completely relaxed. It is incredible to
compare this sound to the city sounds that beat on my ears for the past 2.5
weeks. I like this sound much better;
this is the Italy I feel in love with.
As we walk back to Pina’s, we greet everyone we pass and by the time we
are home, the whole town knows that there are Americans in town.
Dinner was simple and delicious. Pina does it all; she doesn’t want any help
in the kitchen and scolds you if you try to help. We had an antipasto course, a soup course,
meat, cheese and veggie course, and then desert. She made the veggie soup for my cold. It had lots of beans in it as well as small
pasta. I didn't think I’d like it
because of the limited amount of veggies I like but was prepared to eat it
anyways so as not to offend her and her hard work, but I didn't have to fake it
– it was delicious. We lingered at the
table for almost 2 hours. And, of course,
we have to decide what we wanted for lunch the next day. She grilled us on what
we eat and don’t eat, like and don’t like.
Marilee doesn't eat meat but does chicken; roasted chicken is one of her
favorites… She eats some fish, not much,
but is looking forward to the fresh sardines in Sicily. Pamm also explained to Pina that chicken
soup is good for colds and is what I would be eating if in the states. Pina feels terrible that she doesn't have any
chicken!
After dinner Marilee, Pamm and I took a stroll around town
and Marilee said that she bet Pina would get a chicken for tomorrow because she
wants to please us. Marilee also told us to not leave our dirty
laundry out because if Pina saw it, she would do it. We all agreed this would just be too much and
we’d do our own, no problem.
5/11-
Much to my surprise, I ended up using every blanket on my
bed last night… Pamm did too and had to get out another from the cabinet, thank
goodness Aimone fixed that lock! The
moment I appeared downstairs, Pina asked if I wanted coffee. Si, I said. Then did I want milk. Si, I said. She has me get down a huge coffee cup and
fills it half way with milk. After I
start to drink it she asks if I wanted it warmed up – no I say. She asks a few more times just to make sure
that I am sure. As the coffee is brewing
she shows me the pastry she has available, I pick one. Then she shows the fruit she has, I say no
thank you, she says something in Italian and gives me a look, so I say thank
you and take a tangerine. I don’t want
to disobey nor disappoint her, she lives to serve and it’s important to
her. I ate the tangerine, probably the first
I have had in over 20 years because I don’t like eating the pulp of the
fruit. Today I ate it all because I
wanted to please Pina and it turns out that I liked it. Then she asks what we’d like for lunch….
My right ear is blocked and is hurting bad so I have to take
it easy. We all agreed to have a
relaxing day so Pamm and Marilee can deal with their jetlag and my body has
some time to heal in preparation for our journey to Grosseto tomorrow. As we venture out to the decks off the
kitchen and my bedroom, we hear the townspeople below and heard mention the
words Hershey and Pennsylvania…
Lunch began at 2. First course was pasta with her homemade sauce, the second was artichokes made 2 different
ways along with chicken breast that she sautéed with Olive Oil and Rosemary, third
course was salad, followed with a fourth course of fruit.
I loved the way she served the salad. She
simply put all the vegetables, in their natural state, in a large wooden bowl. So the bowl had a pile of lettuce leaves, a
large carrot, stalk of celery and other veggies. When the bowl comes to you, you pick your own
salad fixing and make it yourself on your plate. When done, you pass the bowl to the next
person. This is the absolutely perfect way to serve a
salad and is what I will do the next time I host a meal for guests. I tried the artichokes, I like the ones soaked
in oil with cheese but not to keen on the stuffed ones, but I did like the
stuffing. And for fruit – I ate another
tangerine. We lingered at lunch for 90
minutes or so and as we did, you could hear that the rest of the town had gone
completely quiet. Everyone was home
eating. There was no traffic, no talking
outside, even the sparrows were quiet.
Coming towards the end of our meal, the sparrows started their squeaking
again and the town came back to life.
Amazing….
Listening to Pina, Pamm and Marilee, I pick up some Italian.
Pina knows I am trying to learn so many times she speaks right at me and
sometimes I actually know what she is talking about. Not only by a familiar word or two but
because of her expressions and the way she mimes some of the actions. As lunch comes to an end Pina asks about
dinner. Pamm and Marilee explain that we
would like to take them out to dinner; Pina has a bewildered look on her face –
why do we want to go to a restaurant when she has all this food to feed
us. We thank her and agree that dinner
at home would be best. She then asks
what we want for dinner…
After lunch we are lazy but take a walk around town and end
up at the cemetery. Cemetery’s here are
tended to very well and it is obvious that family members care for their
deceased loved ones. Flowers and candles
are everywhere; no grave is left “plain”.
They all have gifts or a memento, showing someone was here to visit. When we get back home from our walk and walk
in the front door, Pina is waiting. She tells
us to give her our dirty laundry so she can wash it while we are in Sicily. We tried to fight it, briefly, and then give
in. This woman always wins…
Later that night we sit down to a dinner which includes
chicken soup, roasted chicken and sardines…
After dinner, Pamm and Marilee give gifts to Pina and Aimone that they
brought from America. One of which is
Hershey Chocolate, which is a big hit. I
didn’t know about the gift giving part, but had copies of my CD, so I gave them
one. I explain I am not a professional,
that this is just something small, but they are in awe of the CD and are
anxious to hear it.
5/12 –
We leave Semproniano after breakfast to go to Roselle where
Pina’s and Aimone live with their son Lorenzo. It’s an hour drive through all those kind of
Tuscany roads you see on postcards – rolling hills, towns built directly into
the rocks of the mountains, Cyprus trees, vineyards, olive trees and roads that
require a seatbelt due to the constant and continuous twists and turns. Some of the small towns we go through streets are so narrow, that although it is a 2-way street, it's only for 1 car at a time...
When we get out of the car at Lorenzo’s house, Pina yells to
me so I can hear my CD playing very loudly
on their car stereo. She says to
Pamm that she doesn’t understand the words of the song but loves the way I
sing. She hugs me and tears are in her
eyes as she gives me praise.
Lorenzo’s house is not simply a house; the family pooled
their money together and built a family compound. The house is 3 stores high,
Lorenzo and his family live on the first level, Pina and Aimone live on the
second level and there is a small apartment on the third level for Pamm’s
father to use when he was in town. There
is a swimming pool in the back yard and the side of it is a small house for
Lorenzo’s mother and father in law. Each
family has their own space, their own fully equip living quarters, so they can
be alone. But if they don’t want to, all
they have to do is open the door and call to another family member.
We have dinner with Lorenzo and his family in Pina’s
apartment. Again Marilee and Pamm hand
out gifts they brought from American, so I give them a CD. The next day we have lunch with Pina’s
daughter Laura and her husband, again the gifts come out and again I give them
a CD. At this rate, I will be famous in
Italy in no time!
