21 – 25 novembre ’07
For Thanksgiving weekend I had been invited to visit family friends in Southern Italy. The Storey-Johnson family living in Trani, Italia were generous to invite me to the Puglia region for a little home comfort and a fun filled weekend of them showing me the surrounding area all the way down to the city of Lecce.
My journey down to the city of Trani began with a long night on the night train. I left Firenze at 10:30 pm via Eurostar to Bologna Centrale where I waited for two hours for my connecting train for the rest of my journey. Of course the train was forty-five minutes late and upon boarding my train my seat was already filled with a sleeping occupant. So…having to wake him up, I held my bag close to me while I dozed in and out for the six hour train ride where I arrived in Trani at 8:00am. Luckily, I had a few hours of sleep to function pr
operly once I arrived. At the train station I was greeted by a welcoming party consisting of Spencer, Stuart, and Kendra. It was great to see them! They walked me to their house which was about a 10 minute walk. I was happily greeted again by Steve and Kristin who welcomed me in. After settling in, the entire family took me on a walk of the town where I was able to see the old town and the famous Trani Cathedral near the marina. It was a very different feeling to be so far south, since I am so use to northern Italian architecture.
After exploring the town we went back for an early thanksgiving feast. It was a welcoming site to see American traditional food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, stuffing, and apple pie! It was a fantastic thanksgiving dinner and great to share it with the family’s two Italian tutors who were amazed by the new experience.
That evening I had another great experience of watching High School Musical with the kids and Kristin. I thought it was cute and matched the ages of the kids, there were some good morals. However, it does seem a little played up and embellishes some of the stereotypes of high school, which could mislead non-Americans (Italians) to believe that what is in High School Musical is the actual American experience of High School, which is not totally true.
Anyways it was great to watch it finally after many friends telling me that I should. Also, the popcorn was a great addition.
The next day we ate a great breakfast of waffles made by Steve. We then packed up and loaded into the family van and began our trip to a small beachside community called Casalabate where we would stay two nights. On our way down south we made a stop at Castle Del Monte, which was a large castle erected by Federico II who ruled the southern part of Italy for many years. This was a very cool structure which was completely octagonal and had eight rooms on each floor. It had amazing views which were momentarily obscured due to the wind and partly cloudy skies. It was still very neat to see and explore.
After Castle Del Monte we continued through the hundreds and hundreds of acres of olive trees to the town of Alberobello which is famous for its houses with stone roofs that form a cone on the top. It was very interesting to see and explore through this very unique town. Apparently, the peasants of a wealthy aristocrat built their homes out of stones in order to evade the tax collectors when they came to the town as well as providing an affordable method of housing themselves. We walked through the town and visited the local cathedral which honored the Padre Piero.
After this very unique town, we traveled to our destination of Casalabate. We arrived at the little Villa Rosa where we settled in and were welcomed with many family board games which were happily enjoyed by all. For dinner we had the a personal chef come and deliver our large course meal of chicken, lasagna, salad, and apertivi. It was a fantastic meal and there were plenty of leftovers.
The next day we traveled to the city of Lecce where we went on a short walking tour of the old town. We parked near the villa (city park) and wondered through the main piazza where we visited the old ruins of an amphitheatre, the column of Brindisi, and went on a walk amongst the many many churches. It was interesting to see the difference in architecture. Baroque was the dominant form in the South.
Very elaborate. Lecce was known for its craft in Papier-mâché. The churches, which we weren’t able to go into supposedly, had their interior domes decorated in papier-mâché. Instead we wandered around town and visited a local papier-mache craft store where they were hand making nativity scene figurines. It was very neat to see how they were made.
After our day in Lecce we returned home to our comfortable villa where we finished the night with board games and a wonderful meal of homemade chili by Kristin.
My trip came to an end the next day where before dropping me off at the Lecce train station we went beachcombing and walking along the sandy coast of the Adriatic Sea.
My time in Southern Italy was a lot of fun and I had a great time visiting the Storey-Johnsons in their home. It was fantastic to see the kids and see how much they have grown since I last saw them.
It was a comforting experience and a fantastic Thanksgiving Weekend!
Grazie Mile!
Ciao!
For Thanksgiving weekend I had been invited to visit family friends in Southern Italy. The Storey-Johnson family living in Trani, Italia were generous to invite me to the Puglia region for a little home comfort and a fun filled weekend of them showing me the surrounding area all the way down to the city of Lecce.
My journey down to the city of Trani began with a long night on the night train. I left Firenze at 10:30 pm via Eurostar to Bologna Centrale where I waited for two hours for my connecting train for the rest of my journey. Of course the train was forty-five minutes late and upon boarding my train my seat was already filled with a sleeping occupant. So…having to wake him up, I held my bag close to me while I dozed in and out for the six hour train ride where I arrived in Trani at 8:00am. Luckily, I had a few hours of sleep to function pr
operly once I arrived. At the train station I was greeted by a welcoming party consisting of Spencer, Stuart, and Kendra. It was great to see them! They walked me to their house which was about a 10 minute walk. I was happily greeted again by Steve and Kristin who welcomed me in. After settling in, the entire family took me on a walk of the town where I was able to see the old town and the famous Trani Cathedral near the marina. It was a very different feeling to be so far south, since I am so use to northern Italian architecture.After exploring the town we went back for an early thanksgiving feast. It was a welcoming site to see American traditional food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, stuffing, and apple pie! It was a fantastic thanksgiving dinner and great to share it with the family’s two Italian tutors who were amazed by the new experience.
That evening I had another great experience of watching High School Musical with the kids and Kristin. I thought it was cute and matched the ages of the kids, there were some good morals. However, it does seem a little played up and embellishes some of the stereotypes of high school, which could mislead non-Americans (Italians) to believe that what is in High School Musical is the actual American experience of High School, which is not totally true.
Anyways it was great to watch it finally after many friends telling me that I should. Also, the popcorn was a great addition.
The next day we ate a great breakfast of waffles made by Steve. We then packed up and loaded into the family van and began our trip to a small beachside community called Casalabate where we would stay two nights. On our way down south we made a stop at Castle Del Monte, which was a large castle erected by Federico II who ruled the southern part of Italy for many years. This was a very cool structure which was completely octagonal and had eight rooms on each floor. It had amazing views which were momentarily obscured due to the wind and partly cloudy skies. It was still very neat to see and explore.
After Castle Del Monte we continued through the hundreds and hundreds of acres of olive trees to the town of Alberobello which is famous for its houses with stone roofs that form a cone on the top. It was very interesting to see and explore through this very unique town. Apparently, the peasants of a wealthy aristocrat built their homes out of stones in order to evade the tax collectors when they came to the town as well as providing an affordable method of housing themselves. We walked through the town and visited the local cathedral which honored the Padre Piero.
After this very unique town, we traveled to our destination of Casalabate. We arrived at the little Villa Rosa where we settled in and were welcomed with many family board games which were happily enjoyed by all. For dinner we had the a personal chef come and deliver our large course meal of chicken, lasagna, salad, and apertivi. It was a fantastic meal and there were plenty of leftovers.
The next day we traveled to the city of Lecce where we went on a short walking tour of the old town. We parked near the villa (city park) and wondered through the main piazza where we visited the old ruins of an amphitheatre, the column of Brindisi, and went on a walk amongst the many many churches. It was interesting to see the difference in architecture. Baroque was the dominant form in the South.
Very elaborate. Lecce was known for its craft in Papier-mâché. The churches, which we weren’t able to go into supposedly, had their interior domes decorated in papier-mâché. Instead we wandered around town and visited a local papier-mache craft store where they were hand making nativity scene figurines. It was very neat to see how they were made.
After our day in Lecce we returned home to our comfortable villa where we finished the night with board games and a wonderful meal of homemade chili by Kristin.
My trip came to an end the next day where before dropping me off at the Lecce train station we went beachcombing and walking along the sandy coast of the Adriatic Sea.
My time in Southern Italy was a lot of fun and I had a great time visiting the Storey-Johnsons in their home. It was fantastic to see the kids and see how much they have grown since I last saw them.
It was a comforting experience and a fantastic Thanksgiving Weekend!
Grazie Mile!
Ciao!
