Italy 2022

I rained a little in the morning.


Katia & Andrea picked us up outside the wall and we headed for the mountains. We stopped at The Bridge of Mary Magdalene also known as The Devil's Bridge. The bridge is over a dam which is now a small stream. The summer has been hot in Italy and water levels are low - this is one example. You can see where the water should be. Katia grew up in the area and she had never seen it so low. She was upset. The bridge was erected in the eleventh century. It has been restored a few times.

We went to view part of the Gothic Line – those pictures and story on 16a

Andrea drove us up the mountain to a little town called Oneta where Katia once lived. What a beautiful view and so isolated. Grocery shopping is not around the corner anymore. The town is pretty much deserted today – most people have moved out. Le immagini sono bellissime. (The pictures are beautiful.)

Andrea and Katia got married in the church close by. Her wedding precession was from her house to the church along the walk way. Then Andrea & Katia dropped us at the wall around 12:30 pm. We are going back to their house for dinner.


At dinner Katia's mom and dad joined us along with their son, Niccolo and their daughter Letizia & her boyfriend, Niccolo. From the main house we had a short walk outside to a building in the back where they have big dinners and parties. This is decorated with many, many items as you see from the pictures. It's a combination of things found in the house when they moved in, and items given to them  Lots of history.


Their son, Niccolo is in the process of taking exams in college and then will do an internship for 2 months. He is in fashion design. Letizia just came back from a 2 week trip to Thailand with her boyfriend and is job hunting. Her specialty is languages. She speaks 5 languages. We have been visiting the family for 10 years and watched their children grown into amazing adults.


Appetizers and then homemade pasta with pesto sauce. The main course was baked chicken, mixed roasted vegetables and green beans. And then, Katia's homemade dessert. What a meal!


Siamo tornati a casa a mezzanotte - che giorno! (We got home at midnight – what a day!)

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Rain early on our trip
Andrea can not believe how low the water is
Devil's Bridge
Most of the area below the dam is grass
Normal water mark on side of wall
Devil's Bridge
Very steep
View down the valley
Hold on Dow
With Katia
Walking back down
Rain again - off and on
Katia's house - she lived here with her parents and grandparents
though she lived in Boston from the age of 9 until she was 21
The church where she and Andrea got married
The wedding procession was along this walk way to the church
Discussing her childhood
their garden is no longer
Mia casa
the view along the road where she lived
Looking up at the back of Katia's home
in the evening - dinner at Andrea & Katia's home
Cucina
Kitchen
They have another building for big dinners. This is Katia's mom.
Letizia - their daughter
Niccolo (Letizia's boyfriend) sitting, Niccolo (their son), Katia and Andrea
Andrea showing WWII bomb
Andrea with WWII bullet belt
Katia showing a canteen
holding an ammo box
Serving pasta
Pasta with pesto - so good
Katia's mother and father on the right
Look who got the special spot at the head of the table
mixed vegetables
cheers!
Serving Andrea's chicken
So good
Dessert
Home made dessert
A shovel left by the Americans in WWII

Giorno Sedici