Casacalenda...my roots.

So this morning after having breakfast and a café latte, we headed off to Casacalenda. I was SO excited! I had my camera and I was ready to see it all. Little did I know that Casacalenda was on top of a small mountain. After approximately 45 minutes of driving switchback up to Casacalenda, I was determined not to let nausea ruin this moment for me. It was a pretty cold day and we even got snow by the time we made it to the top. It was such a cool experience for me, this was something I always hoped to do. The only thing to make it better would have been my grandma in the back seat telling me stories about her walking these roads when they were just dirt. I got second best, Zia Connie telling me about how she used to “walk these roads to church. They were only dirt and we didn’t always get a donkey.” It was priceless. I am looking forward to more stories. Because it was snowing we couldn’t see too much of the beautiful countryside. We visited the cemetery first and refilled relatives vases with fresh flowers. It was so weird to see DiLalla and Iannidinardo on so many grave plots. The cemeteries in Italy are very different, instead of being buried, the caskets get sealed in a type of drawer. Richer families would actually be sealed together in a small house. I know I am not wording this properly but I will post a picture so you get an idea. (Auntie Linda, I can show you more later if you want.) We then drove around and took some pictures and stopped for an espresso and some Italian dolce. Dan opted for the hot chocolate which is more like a hot chocolate pudding . He had to eat it with a spoon. We then headed back to Termoli as it was cold but Zio Enzo ensured me that we would come back on a nicer day and walk around.

The picture at the fountain is special because Zia Teresa gave me a picture of my grandma and grandpa at this fountain when we were in Torino. Zia Connie told me they used to get water from this fountain in a great big copper water vessel and carry it on their heads all the way to their house. There's also a picture of me in front of the house my grandma grew up in and a video of the bell tower right beside the house. Sorry the video is horizontal. I didn't know you couldn't flip it afterwards. More on Casacalenda later.