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May 22 & 23, 2017 – Tuscany, Italy

Over the past 2 days our little group has spent the past week eating our way across Tuscany. I’m sure the locals think they have been beset by a plague of locusts – consuming everything in it’s path. Well, it isn’t entirely our fault. Each of the relatives we have visited with with is intent on entertaining us and introducing us to some of the most delectable meals we ever thought possible. Alas, we are all to willing to oblige.

On the 22nd of May, our day would take us to the ancient hill town of Volterra and San Gimignano. The latter town being famous for its many towers that stand sentinel over this medieval hill town. Volterra is about 1 hour away from our home base here in Venturina at Poggio Aprico vacation residences. We make the drive up the autostrada making good time. We then turn off onto the smaller roads to reach Volterra. On this day the traffic is very light and we get there with little problem. We wind our way up the narrow road to finally reach the summit. There is a parking garage right near the entrance to the ancient walled city and we quickly fine a parking space where we can fit our vehicle. It is very conveniently located near the entrance.

We are no fewer than 2 steps into the is beautiful town when Elisa and Carolyn find several nice boutiques where they can do some shopping. Fortunately for Trent and I it is mostly window shopping. However, both Elisa and Carolyn found some thing to buy – some lovely and unique handmade items. Carolyn, a wooden box, made from olive wood with a cheese grater handily attached to make it easy to grate fresh Parmesan cheese. When you pass the cheese over the grater, it conveniently falls into the olive wood box. Very cute as a handy utensil but also so pretty that one wouldn’t mind letting it adorn their countertop as a unique decoration. Elisa also finds something. It is something that I’ve been hoping we might find this entire trip (I say somewhat sarcastically), a set of small prongs with hand crafted olive wood handles that can be stored on an equally beautiful olive wood holder. I am so relived that I will never again have to pick up an olive or other small tasty morsel with my bare fingers – life is now complete. They really are quite lovely pieces of Tuscan handy work. It is really nice that so much of what we find in these shops is really locally made. Yes, there are no shortage of small souvenir stands that sell items from China, but the finer shops all feature beautifully crafted wares. Right now, the exchange rate with the Dollar is strong so the prices are very appealing to us.

Walking through the narrow streets of Volterra is like walking back in time. We come to an overlook just outside of the defensive wall on the back side of the town and we are looking down upon the ruins of an ancient Roman amphitheater. These ruins date back to approximately 1 BC and would have been the same ruins the craftsmen that built the wall upon which we are standing would have had to contend with during construction. The view is amazing. The ruins of the amphitheater open up to a large Roman Bath that would have served the local citizens. We quickly make our way through the rest of the town taking photos along the way. We really enjoy Volterra because it is very quaint and we are here when there aren’t many tourist around.

As we make our way back to the parking garage by around 12:00, we can see the streams of tourists searching for parking spaces in the garage we are about to exit. Once again, we are blessed with not only great weather but also excellent timing.

Now we are headed to San Gimignano where we will be meeting Roberto and Martine Valliini for lunch at 12:30. The drive to San Gimignano from Volterra is only 30 minutes. However when we arrive, our luck has run out. The weather is still great but the town is entirely overrun with tourists – mostly from France, Germany and the UK. There are large buses dropping off their “cargo” of tourists. It is what the landing at Normandy must have looked like. I must say that the Asian and German tourist tend to be very organized and stay in tightly knit groups hovering around their guides with their colorful batons held up high.

I make my way to one of the gates of the city and drop Elisa, Trent and Carolyn off. By now we are running a little late by about 10 minutes. Elisa is a bit frantic, but I remind her that we are in Italy and appointments and traffic signs share one thing. They are more like “guidelines” than “firm rules”. In the mean time I have to find a parking space. I make my way to what has to be the only parking lot with an available space. It also happens to be the parking lot that is the absolute furthest from the restaurant where we will be meeting. As I wait in a line of cars queued up to pull a ticket so that they can enter the parking lot, the time ticks away. Finally, all the cars enter. I pull up and press the button to select my ticket and – no ticket. The display now says there are no spaces available. I now have about 10 cars behind me waiting to get in. I’m trapped – I have no place to go, the gate to the lot is down and cars block my way back out. I’m there for about 2 minutes and the cars behind me are now getting restless. Suddenly, I see a car exit the lot, then the display changes and invites me to take a ticket. I enter the lot and the gate comes down and no more tickets are issued. There were already several cars in the lot when I finally enter. Each of us is now searching for the elusive space that the exiting vehicle has made available. I finally spot it, I’m making my way towards it but suddenly a cursed tiny sized Smart car for 2 that has gone past the space swoops into the space by backing up, cutting me off in the process. A few internationally recognized hand gestures are exchanged but in the end, I am the one searching for a space. After a few minutes, I see some people stepping into a car parked just ahead of me. There is a car that, unfortunately for them, has just passed the space. As the car backs out of the space, the one that had gone past is trying to back-up into the space, just like before. This time I am the “Smart Car” and I swoop into the space first. Once again some hand gestures are exchanged but this time I am the winner and I walk away from my car feeling a little like a triumphant gladiator in this modern day arena.

Finally, I make my way to the restaurant. We meet with Roberto and Martine and are pleasantly surprised that their daughter Sabrina, her husband Massimo and their beautiful 10-year old daughter Margot are able to join us. We are dining at Bel Soggiorno and we have a table that offers a most spectacular view. Once again, we are treated to an amazing meal that is only rivaled by the view itself. We take our time dining talking all the time and catching up. We haven’t been together like this since 2009. We have a great time. We then roam this streets and take is some of the sites of San Gimignano. There are 7 main towers in this tiny city. The tallest of which is the Tower of the city. All of the others were towers built by wealthy citizens that occupied the city in the 12th century. The first family that built a tall tower to accompany their Villa unwittingly unleashed a “keeping up with the Jones” type rivalry. Over time, there would be over 38 such towers in the tiny city with each of the new ones trying to rival the other in height. These towers served no real architectural purpose other than to be a symbol of the owner’s prosperity. Interestingly, as the centuries would pass, many of the towers would fall into disrepair and as subsequent families would be unable to afford their upkeep, they would be converted to middle class and lower class housing. Today, only 7 of the towers remain.

it is now around 4:30 pm and we must begin making the 1-½ hours drive back to Poggio Aprico. We say our farewells, share hugs and kisses with our relatives and then make our way back to our temporary home. May 23, 2017 – Lugliano, Lucia, Italy

Our evening of the 22nd was the first we’ve had in awhile were we were on our own. In surveying our “provisions” that Elisa and Carolyn had acquired when we “made camp” in Venturina, we realize that we had better use of them, lest we “lose” them when we depart on Wednesday the 24th. So for dinner we had breakfast. When we had arrived, we had purchased eggs, sausage and bread hoping to have a hearty breakfast before we would head out on our many planned excursions. Regrettably were never able to got around to it. So, on this night we all enjoyed the fine Italian breakfast sausage and eggs and toast. it was a nice change of pace of for us.

Our objective on this Tuesday the 23rd was to find the ancestral roots of Carolyn’s family – the homestead of Virgil Celli, who came to America from this tiny town long ago. Carolyn is armed with some cryptic notes and pictures from other family members that had made the trip over several years before her. They were successful in finding the town and the ancestral home. We, being armed with Italian speaking Elisa, are intent to not only retrace their steps and find this little town but we are determined to find an actual relative. At lunch the day before we were discussing our quest with Elisa’s relatives. Fortunately for us, Sabrina and Massimo go to Lucca quite often. They are the only Italians that recognized the name of the little town we are searching for – Lugliano. She tells us that when we are on the way to Lucca to follow the signs to the town of Abetone. This proves very helpful, the first landmark we find that tells us we are on the right track is Ponte del Diavolo (Bridge of the Devil). It has since been renamed Ponte Magdalena. We continue toward a town that is beyond Lucca – Bagni de Lucca (Baths of Lucca). We continue toward Abetone and then we see a sign pointing to the right toward Lugliano. The sign points to what we assume is a driveway, but no it is a 2 way road. We cautiously head up the hill. After pulling to the side of the road several times to let cars pass we finally reach an opening where we find the next landmark we are searching for. It is a tiny little church. Carolyn breaks out a photograph that one of her other relatives had sent to her. We know that we are in the right place, it’s a perfect match.

One of Carolyn’s relatives (Jack Citti) in the US, has called one of his cousins that still resides in this tiny village. He tells them to be on the look out for some Crazy-Americans that might be coming to the tiny town. We stroll through the town and don’t see many residents in the ancient town. There can’t be more than 30 homes and one small grocery store in the tiny town. As we struggle up a hill, we find the next landmark – a large steel cross. This cross marks the location where we can view the ancestral home of the Celli clan. It is tucked down below the cross in a setting that is perched high over a cliff affording the home an excellent view. We also find the tall communication tower, which is another landmark we have been provided that confirms we are in the right spot. As we make our way down the hill, we come upon a single resident, an older woman. Elisa explains to her why we are here. The woman we are speaking to is named Elira Citti and it just so happens that this is the woman that Carolyn’s relative Jack Citti has called. Imagine the luck. Imagine our dumb luck. We tell Elira that we are looking for any family that might still be in the city named Celli. Elira tells us that her late husband was a Celli and somehow was a cousin to Virgil Celli. So, Carolyn and her family are related by marriage to Elira and directly related to her children. Elira then points across the small road to another house and says that the woman that lives there is a Celli and she brings us over there to introduce us to her so we can ask questions.

She rings the buzzer several times and finally an elderly lady appears on the balcony and looks down on us leerily. Elira quickly explains who we are and she comes downstairs and joins us outside. Elisa speaks to the older woman and says that Carolyn believes that it is her great grandfather Virgil Celli that came from this small village. The woman now introduces herself and her name is also Elisa. The elder Elisa says that she is a Celli. She says that yes the does know of “Virgil” or Virgilio as she calls him by name. She knows of Virgil’s Wife and tells us the correct name – Angelina. She then tells us that Virgil was from a family of 4 children – Eduardo (who is Elisa’s father), then Virgil then Giancarlo and finally a sister named Latitzia. Carolyn recognizes the name Virgil and assumes Giancarlo must be who she knows as Uncle John, but she does not recognize Eduardo or Latitzia. Nevertheless, we are pretty sure we have found a living relative. We are relieved that Elisa doesn’t tell us that “Virgil” owed the family in the “Old Country” some money and ask us to make good on an ancient debt. We conclude our conversation with Elisa Celli by exchanging hugs, kisses and we take a photograph.

After all of that Elira invites us in for a coffee and it is clear that she is still grieving from the recent loss of her husband and son and welcomes some people to speak with. Even though we are virtual strangers from a foreign land she invites us into her home to chat with us awhile. This is the charm of Italy, the slightest hint of a family connection is all that is needed to have the most sincere and intimate of conversations. Poor Elira is grief stricken and we do what we can to raise her spirits and encourage her to find the courage to go on. She tells us that Carolyn’s relative Jack calls her often to check in on her. We thank her profusely for taking the time to help us on out quest and we depart feeling that we have accomplished more than we had set out to.

We make our way back down the hill and find a nice place to have lunch in nearby Bagni de Lucca. It is quite the bargain. For 10 Euro’s we get a Pasta or antipasto dish, a main course and vegetables. It also comes with wine, beer or other beverage. The pasta dish is fantastic and the main course is only passable, but quite the deal. With our bellys full – again – we head into Lucca.

As we approach the walled city of Lucca we make our ways past the large defensive wall that surrounds this medieval city. We find a place to park near Via del Bastardo (for some reason Carolyn had Trent take a picture of that and send it to her Brother) and we make our way by foot into the main piazza. The Piazza del Amfiteatro is built over the footprint that was once the remains of a 1BC Roman amphitheater. The open plaza lies atop what would have been the floor of the arena. The current buildings were constructed around 1200 and they utilize the remains of the ancient walls and porticos that surrounded the amphitheater. They were into recycling long before we were. Elisa and Carolyn shop while Trent and I enjoy an appertivo at one of the many sidewalk cafes. Elisa and Carolyn enter a shop that sells fine leather goods; they are looking for a gift for Elisa’s cousin Rosella who has been a most gracious host – treating us to some wonderful homemade authentic Tuscan meals. Fortunately, they find her a very nice leather backpack style purse.

With our shopping done we head back to Venturina where we will have our farewell dinner with Rosella and her family. Elisa and I also visit with her Aunt and Uncle one last time. We will be departing in the morning to head towards La Spezia and the Cinque Terre.

Well that’s all for now. Ciao