Nothing Bad about Bad Wildungen

Right after Dan finished up at a short day of classes, we took the short 20 minutes bus ride into Bad Wildungen. After seeing the beautiful gardens at Easter time with the Bruno and Erna Riske we thought it would be a good day trip with mom and dad.
So we began our walk around town, checked out a few stores and a bakery before we took another short bus ride to the Kurshaus where began our next journey. We walked the same route as with the Riske’s but then decided to keep going. Every small garden section was paired with something special…a large set of Glockenspiel, an over-sized kaleidoscope, funky chairs, a massive lip-shaped bedding box. But the fun began when we spotted a few playground toys. I won’t describe but I’m sure you can see how hard mom and I were laughing swinging in these chairs. Then we continued walking and then fun just kept on coming. We found a huge kid-free playground full of jumbo playing pieces. 2x4 foot dominos, chess pieces and 15 foot logs for pick up sticks. Again we laughed until we cried. This was SO much better than Rome.
After we wore out the big kid in each of us, we started back into town to hit up Lotus Blumen, the best little Chinese buffet in Hessen. On the way we saw a pair of swans with their little goslings waddling behind. Dad and I immediately had our cameras on them, snapping pictures and taking video. It was just so cute.
The rest of mom and dad’s time here was spent playing cards with other students, skyping with our favorite kids in Duncan, lots of walks and looking at Italy and cruise pictures and what seemed hours of footage. (Fun hey Dan?) We had a great visit with them and saw them off at the Wabern train station as they continued their adventure to Paris then to Manchester. See you in August Mom and Dad!

First Family Guests

After a week of getting back into schedule and cleaning up the house, our first family guests arrived. Mom and Dad. We met them at the Frankfurt airport and as mom SPRUNG out of the arrivals area tanned and boisterous, I knew the cruise had done them well. They were full of life and great stories. Again mom and I talked the whole train ride back to Fritzlar. It was like we hadn’t see each other for years yet it had only been 8 short days. For details about their cruise, ask them. They had an amazing time which was well deserved and LONG overdue.
Having mom and dad at our place was fun, after only an hour of being at our place, mom had literally taken over the whole living room with her “loot” from the cruise ports. Turkish hats, bowls and tea lay scattered across the floor, scarves, bracelets and postcards were spread out on the table and shirts, change purses and a ball cap from every port decked the couches. It was quite the site. As the clock continued to tick and Dan still had school the next morning, we all decided to call it a night. Tomorrow’s destination…Bad Wildungen.

Returning to Rome

Well it was short and sweet…and oh so savory and spicy and succulent…yummy. It was time for mom, dad and I to make the bus trip to Rome. I’ll make this entry short as I am not too interested in telling all the details of our Rome trip. I’ll just say this: usually people throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain to ensure they return to Rome, not take one out.
The pictures can tell the rest.

Angelina and Enrico's Farm

As the sun was starting to set, we arrived at Angelina and Enrico’s Farm. Once again I got to take a look at their thousand upon thousands of baby chicks. This was batch number two. Then, I got check out the rest of the animals that I didn’t get to see in the winter. They had hunting dogs, a MASSIVE swine, a few horses, more dogs, other chickens for laying eggs and so many cute puppies! We are definitely getting a puppy when we get back to Edmonton. (Right Dan? Yet another family member that does not read my blog. ) More importantly, I got to meet the rest of my cousins- Vicenzo, the eldest and the twins- Franko and Massimo. Then guess what…we ate again. We spent the rest of the evening and well into the next morning eating farm fresh roasted chicken, homemade salami, fresh pressed wine, home-baked goodies and yummy aperitifs. Italians know how to host. It’s got to be in the blood. At the end of the day, I was satisfied but was sad to say goodbye to newfound family. But I know it is not goodbye but arrivederci…see you soon.

Giovanni, Lucia, Carmine and Pietro’s Farm

With bellies full we drove to where my grandma grew up working on “the farm”. This farm, well part of it anyways, was owned by my great Nonno Giovanni. His farm stayed in the family and is now owned by my cousins named above as well as a good chunk of land surrounding Nonno Giovanni’s old farm. My grandma was delighted to see the farm stay in the family and more importantly to see her nephews working hard in the farm. Things are done a little differently from when she was a little girl, but the work is hard none the less. Pietro fired up the tractor fitted with a large holding grate on the back and ordered us all to load in. He was taking us down to see Nonno Giovanni’s old house. This is what I was waiting for. In the winter if you remember, it was too wet for us to walk down or drive down to go see it. Since the road is pretty rough and grandma wouldn’t be able to walk down, the brothers thought it would be good to drive grandma down in the tractor. Yeehaw!!! What a ride. Grandma had a chair as she was the guest of honor (which she loved!) and the rest of us just held on. It was so interesting to hear the stories of how things were done in the day, to see where they walked and to actually realize that they didn’t exaggerate when they said they used to walk an hour into town and on such rough terrain. As I saw the old vacant stone house, I could see how this could be such an emotion experience for my grandma. She used to live here, work here, she grew up here and now it’s no more. I took a lot of great pictures around the house and lots of grandma telling stories then once near the top of the farm again, I realized something was wrong with my camera. I lost it all…then I lost it. I was so choked and it was at that moment I was happy that my paparazzi Dad had taken SOOO many pictures. They weren’t my pictures but they would have to do.
We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon snacking on homemade cookies and beverages around a table full of family. I just loved it!
Another highlight: I saw yet another new animal on the farm, a snapping little turtle. Gian Vincenzo thought it was pretty cool too. "La tartaruga"

Canadians in Casacalenda

This morning we split up into cars and drove to Casacalenda. Mom and Dad drove along with Maria, Daniele and Gian Vincenzo while I stuck with Grandma, Zio Enzo and Zia Connie so I could record some more stories. (Those will be shared at another time) Our first stop was of course at the cemetery. This was a particularly emotional time for my grandma for as soon as she entered the cemetery gates and began to read the headstones, she was seeing the names of people she once knew here in Casacalenda. Most of the conversation was going on in Italian and I didn’t really feel it was appropriate to ask a bunch of questions nor for grandma to speak in English as she was mourning the loss of so many she used to know. I think it was hard for her as this just made her realize how much Casacalenda has changed since she was last there in 1974 never mind the last time she lived there. As she reached her parents resting place, the tears really began to flow and of course mom and I joined in one more time. When grandma was ready to leave we ran into someone else she once knew that was also coming to bring fresh flowers to a loved one’s grave. From that moment on, I knew it was going to be an emotional day for my grandma, running into old friends and even family, remembering the good times, the hard times and even the not so happy times. For me Casacalenda has only good memories, fun times and a sense of family and belonging, but for my grandma it is so much more.

After the visiting the cemetery, we headed into town to walk around. Grandma almost didn’t want to see more, I think she knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We walked to the bell tower and took pictures in front of were I thought my grandma grew up but I stood corrected as my grandma told me that she only lived there for a short while before she moved to Canada. She actually lived in a house right beside my grandpa’s house from the time she was born until her later teen years. As we walked to take pictures there, we ran into yet another familiar face, a cousin named Mimmo. So we stood there for an hour talking with him, taking more pictures and of course there was lots of story telling. Again most was in Italian but Maria did a good job of translating for us Canadians who didn’t understand what was being said. More tears were shed but best of all was the laughter, hugs and kisses shared by all.

By this time our bellies were grumbling (Can you imagine grumbling tummies in Italy??? It can’t be!) and Maria had arranged a special meal for us at La Quercia Agriturismo where my Auntie Lori and Uncle Tony went last summer. As we drove into the drive way, I grabbed my camera and was ready to snap some shots of the surroundings. It was spectacular. You could see all of Casacalenda from the driveway. It was postcard perfect. We enjoyed the view as the cook lit the large fit pit to make our lunch.

Round one…antipasto. A variety of meats, cheeses, breads and grilled eggplant which was “to die for” said Mom. A picture is better than a thousand words to here it is.
Ding Ding. Round two… pasta dish. Fettucini in a creamy truffle and asparagus sauce. Also “to die for”.

Round three…second pasta dish. That’s right a second plate of pasta. This time it was tossed in tomato sauce and sided with ricotta-filled crepes. Delish and now I’m full…but then what was the fire pit for?
Round FOUR…you have got to be kidding me. Roasted lamb, ribs and homemade sausage accompanied by salad and more bread. I think I am going to die. Mom did say it was to die for.

Round five…oh please the last round. Dolce! Out came the espresso, the cannelloni and peaches. Oh the memories of making these sweet pretty peaches. Mom and I made a pact that we would make these again sometime. I can’t wait!

And done. Phew!

Roaming Around

Grandma brought her walker along with her on the trip and it had to be the best thing for her. Once her hands hit the handles she’s off and she’s happy. We spent the rest of the afternoon roaming around the neighbourhood taking pictures of all the plants, fruits and vegetables that we don’t see in Canada. Grandma listed them all off by name along with a short story to go with each of them. Either what they did with them, how much BIGGER they used to be at her house/farm or how she tried and even sometimes succeeded in bringing them back to Canada with her.

After grandma wheeled herself back to the house, we packed back into Zio Enzo’s car and drove to his garden. It even more impressive in the spring as I thought it would be. Everything was in bloom and several even producing fruit already. It is amazing at what he does all by himself. The garden was beautiful and full of variety. Olives, peaches, mandarins, oranges, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, artichokes, strawberries, potatoes, cukes, zucchini…the list goes on and on and on. We spent the rest of the night around the table eating and washing up so we were ready to hit Casacalenda first thing in the morning.