– Italy 14

Hi again!  I just realized that I skipped some important info in between Rome & Turin.  Life has been a blur!  I sent some post cards, but wanted to share with you about my experiences in Carovilli & Castel di Sangro.   I had to rent a car & drive from Cassino 2 hours into the mountains to get there!  Wow, I had to become another one of those crazy Italian drivers we all hear about!  But I (and the car) survived!  The roads were always going up, down, right, or left over the Appenine Mtns…and the signs for every small village along the way…manytimes, I had to stop just to do all the reading!  Only one person honked at me, so I must have done pretty good!  I had an incredible time in the homelands of my grandparents…places where time is standing still!  I saw where Grandpa Flasco herded sheep…(Fonti Curelli) and the church in Castel where many of my Gasbarro & Mazzocco relatives were married & buried.  Carovilli is just a tiny hillside town, and Castel di Sangro is a warm community where, when you ask how to get somewhere, they tell you to follow their car, and they take you there…probably easier than explaining (now that I think of it).  An old family friend from Akron (who now lives in Carovilli) came with me to  Castel…Lucia Scarpitti, who is 92 years old!  It had been 20 years since she had been there, & she was excited as a child to escort me on this excursion…I could not have survived without her translating skills!  We had a ball that day & met some wonderful people!  Sometimes, she forgot that I only speak English & she would start jibbering in Italian to me…I would have to remind her!  She is old and forgets!  Must close.  Take care.  Ciao, ciao!  MamaDonna

Posted from Italy:

posted Monday March xxxx

source