2018 Italy Vacation, Day 14: Levanto to Fiesole

We returned from Manarola to Levanto, showered and changed in the complimentary facilities at Hotel Oasi, settled our bill, inched the car out of their underground parking garage, and pointed the car back south for the tow and a half hour drive to Fiesole.  We had to return the car in Florence the next day and thought it would be nicer and more relaxing staying outside the city.  Our previous dinner at La Reggia had been wonderful and really strengthened our affinity for the place.

Fiesole was settled by the Etruscans 400 hundred years before the Romans founded Florence - more concerned with its strategic location high above the surrounding valley than Florence's proximity to the Arno River.  Later, wealthy Renaissance families built villas here to take advantage of the breezes during the hot summers.   

On the way to Fiesole, Kathi researched places to stay and settled on a place that had been recommended (#2) on Trip Advisor - Pensione Bencista.  It's a 14th century villa set high in the hills with stunning views of the hilly countryside and Florence and the vineyards and fertile farmland below.  We arrived in late afternoon and were greeted by the house Labrador retriever - a good sign.

 We explored the property which offered welcome surprises around every corner.  It's a huge property and we only scratched the surface on its many levels, terraces, libraries, and grounds.  Below is the corridor outside our room. 

 Looking out the window at the surrounding hills...

 On one of the many terraces where one can relax and enjoy the view of Florence below.  

 Did I say many terraces?  Yes, below is another!  I want to go back just to spend time on each one.  Kathi really scored a home run on this place!

 We had gone the trip without having one of the region's signature dishes, Florentine Bistecca, so we decided to pick our restaurant based on reviews of their rare beef.  Not a favorite of mine, I let Kathi chose the place and she choose Trattoria le Cave di Maiano.  Our hosts at Pensione Bencista said we could easily walk there so that's what we did.  

We set off on the narrow and walled road which followed the hilly terrain up, down, up, down to the chagrin of our tired bodies, but we eventually arrived close to their opening time (so Americano!).  Their terrace was nicely decorated, but surprisingly without much of a view beyond.  For dinner we decided we would make this one a four course affair.  For the appetizer, we ordered the Crostini Toscani.
 


For the Primi, we ordered the Fettuccine al Cinghiale.  I do love the wild boar!  For Secondo, of course, we got the Bistecca alla Fiorentina.

 Four our "side dish" we ordered the mixed salad - insalata mista.
 
And we also got a 1/4 liter of the house rosso.  Below is the Cinghiale.  Kathi gave me a larger portion thinking that I would not have much of the rare beef.

 

Here is the rest of the meal.  We were splitting the course, but remember all this food is traditionally meant for one person!  Yikes!

The bistecca - what a slab of meat!  And so rare!  Kathi enjoyed hers; I politely worked my way through a smaller portion.  I'm not criticizing the restaurant or the cook; rare beef is just not my thing.  Tackling all four courses, there was some bistecca left even after we had had our fill.  We should have ordered a smaller portion, but were trying to be respectful of the proper experience.  


We asked to have the remainder wrapped up to take home not wanting to to infer dissatisfaction.  We were a little embarrassed at not having finished it all and in the end forgot to take our package.

So full, up and down and up we walked towards the Pensione Bencista as the sun was fading over the hills.  It made for one spectacular silhouette.

 Once back in out room, we packed our bags for the next day getting ready to return the car in Florence and take the train to Rome.  Sleep came easily this night.

2018 Italy Vacation, Day 14: Manarola Sans Tech

Kathi and I had been scurrying all over Italy; that was mostly my fault.  I wanted to see everything.  Before we left, Kathi made me promise we would take some time to slow down and take it easy once in a while.  She had a long wait, but today was the day.

We were excited to return to Manarola and go for a swim.  We had tried the night before to make arrangements with a snorkeling outfitter, but they were closed when we called after returning from San Marco D'Urri and did not open until later in the morning, after we would leave for Manarola.  The fates were telling us something.

After a slow breakfast with cappuccino, we dressed in baiting suits, threw a credit card and some cash in the pocket, put two towels in a free string bag we had gotten at the airport, and headed to the train station - no phones.  Freedom!

We got our train tickets at the kiosk, validated them, and hopped on the train.  It was a short and pleasant train ride to Manarola; in my head I mocked the tourists with their busy schedules (although that had been us just the day before).

In Manarola, we made our way down to the harbor.  We scouted for snorkeling outfitters in a last ditch hope that we might find one to book a trip.  Failing that, I stopped at one of the small tourist shops in the village and purchased a mask for 10 euros.  We walked the promenade to the ramp which led to the Ligurian Sea and laid our towels out to claim a patch of coveted, sunny space on the ramp.  There were less than a handful of people present when we arrived.

We sunned for a while before getting up our nerve to plunge into the sea.  Other people trickled in.  The ramp was covered with algae and looked a little slippery so I jumped off the wide flat wall that bounded the ramp.  The water was refreshing, very deep, and crystal clear.  Tropical fish swam all about and having the mask was great.  Kathi joined me and we swam about, found a rock to stand on, and explored the deep black water along the craggy rock coast.

We returned to our toweled real estate and lavishly baked in the sun.  One group of young boys and girls amped up the chill vibe as they cavorted about in the water, primping, and admiring themselves as they took selfie after selfie.    

There was a 7-8 meter-high perch above the sea that lent itself to big jumps so I decided to give it a go. This is when the selfie-lovers came in handy.  Kathi asked one of the clan to take my picture as I jumped and email her the picture.  She agreed.  I crept up the narrow, jagged path to the top, steadied myself, and leaped!  Kathi said they got a good shot.

In thanks for the photo, I loaned the mask to our photographer and more selfies ensued.  At least some of their group did actually swim with the mask to look at the fish (its intended purpose).

We returned to our sun napping, swam some more, explored more grottoes; I jumped off the perch again.  A large group of snorkelers and divers showed up, no doubt, to take advantage of the ramp access into the water, the fish, and the deep crevices to explore.  Our little spot was now crowded, but not crazy.  It still had a locals feel.

When we got hungry, we packed up our towels and gave the mask to an Italian mother with two kids but only one mask and snorkel.  She was grateful and made her daughter come and thank us.  We were just trying to share the fun we'd had and pass on the life-mantra of doing more to live, not just buying more things to have.  That mask would have just sat in the garage with our other masks, so we were happy to give it another life.

We strolled back into Manarola and eyed the menu for a restaurant we had passed on the way in - da Aristide.  It had an inviting covered seating area on the main square so we took a table.   Kathi had troffia with pesto and I had gnocchi with pesto.  We shared a 1/4 liter of the house blanco, frizzante, and some great local bread.  It was a lovely slow meal and I would highly recommend the restaurant both for food and location.

After lunch, we hopped back on the train to Levanto to retrieve the car and head back to Fiesole for another repeat visit to a favorite town.

I have to say, this was one of our favorite days in Italy.  We slowed it down as Kathi recommended, ditched the devices, and lived it like the locals.  We savored our unhurried time together and  enjoyed our food and conversation with leisure; these are travel tips and life lessons I will not soon forget.  If only we had four more days to do the same throughout Cinque Terre!  My hope is that we will find out way back.

P.S.  We never did get sent that photo of me jumping off the ledge.  Disappointing, but seemingly appropriate.  No photos of that day; just memories.

2018 Italy Vacation, Day 13: Back to Levanto

We wound out way down the mountains of Crovara and San Marco D'Urri reveling in our unique experience, but as we coursed along the river, my thoughts tuned back to fishing and taking this day next level.

As we drove, I kept a look out for a spot to park and access as promising section of the river.  We crossed the stream and found a semi-industrial area where it seemed no one would care if I pulled off on the side of the road.   Kathi read, while I made my way down to the banks of the river.   The river and the surroundings were beautiful.  It had been tamed by many damns and was slow moving so I dispelled any notion of Italian trout.

 I found a section with faster moving water and a little riffle section.  I cast my nymph and let it drift through the section.  I saw some fish move around and after a couple of drifts, got a solid strike.

I'm guessing this is perhaps the Italian equivalent of our fall fish.  Pretty nonetheless.  The Tenkara USA Rhodo is now an international traveler.

 I couldn't resist walking upstream...looking around the next corner... and testing the waters.  But before too long, I knew I should pack it up and rejoin Kathi for the drive back to Levanto.  We stopped for gelato to carry us through the late afternoon drive.

We arrived in Levanto in the late afternoon, checked back into Hotel Oasi.  We got a dinner recommendation from the front desk and set out on foot.

We made it to La Tavernetta just as the sunlight was fading.  We got a nice candle-lit streetside table for two.  Kathi had troffia with pesto and I had paccheri ragu.  While we waited for the main course, we received a "house welcome" shrimp cocktail and pineapple with prosciutto primi.  We shared a 1/4 liter of house blanco, bread, and finished our meal with some complimentary limoncello and espresso.  What a great little restaurant.  We love Levanto!

After dinner, we strolled down to the waterfront.  Kathi showed me the private beach/swim club she had stumbled across a few days earlier.  It's pool glowed in the dark sky.

We continued along the waterfront promenade and down to the harbor looking for some info on a snorkeling outfitter for the next day's adventure.  

It was a beautiful, breezy evening and we took our time enjoying the boats, the gentle sea, the twinkling lights, and each other's company.

We circled back to Hotel Oasi, and climbed into bed after a miraculous and magical day.

2018 Italy Vacation, Day 13: Vernazza to Levanto to San Marco D'urri and back to Levanto

Today is the day, the whole trip was designed around.  Years before, Kathi had travelled to Italy with her mother and Grandmother, and it was my hope that they would visit the small town where Kathi's great-grandmother was born - the home of her ancestors - San Marco D'Urri.  Unfortunately, that never happened, so we were back to make that connection with Kathi's ancestral past.

Arriving back in Levanto, we walked through the market on our way to Hotel Oasi.

We window shopped a little, had a pizza snack, and took one last brief tour of Levanto. 

We picked up the car from Hotel Oasi, booked another night at the hotel for our return, and then steered the car northwest along the coast towards Genoa.   It would take us approximately an hour and a half to get to San Marco D'Urri.  

At Suea, we veered inland travelling in the valley between two mountainous regions.  Near Cicagna, the road bordered, crossed, and danced with a local stream.  I could feel the Tenkara rod in my hand, but its time would have to wait.  

We stopped for some cash at the ATM and said hello to Christopher Columbus. 

He was born in the Republic of Genoa and I guess Cicagna was claiming him as their own.

At a nondescript intersection we turned off SP225 and onto Localita Acqua Ognio and started winding our way up into the mountains.  

 Just seeing the sign that we were near brought tears to Kathi's eyes.   More signs leading the way...

 We hoped to also visit Crovara, where, according to the Ellis Island transcripts, Kathi's great-grandfather was born - in the village adjoining San Marco D'Urri.

As we climbed, the character of the sparsely populated mountainside villages was revealed.  We didn't know it at the time, but the church in the center of the photo below is the church of San Marco D'Urri.

 We had arrived...

 The first building we came to was the church.  We were told, if we wanted to find out about Kathi's family, this is where the records would be found.  It was Sunday and we were hopeful that someone would be around to help us, but we found the church deserted. 

 We checked all the entrances, but the church was locked up tight. That was disappointing, but Kathi felt, just being here, she had accomplished what she wanted in visiting the birthplace of her Italian ancestors.  

The marker below identifies that the bell tower was inaugurated (at 31 meters high?) on the 30th of August 1873....Angelo Ferretto (one of Kathi's ancestors).... and restored in 1990 thanks to the contributions of the population.

 This fountain was in the courtyard of the church commemorating two American brothers, Victor and Joseph Saturno, who became significant benefactors of the town.  (Read more about this story below).  

The view from the church courtyard...

Happy Kathi

We had made a book of photos of Kathi's great aunts and uncles, wedding pictures of her grandmother and grandfather, photos of soldiers preparing to go to war, all in the hopes that we could share a connection with anyone we met.  Since no one was around the church and she wanted to leave, Kathi inscribed a note in Italian on the inside cover of the photo book and we left it on the door latch to the back entrance to the church.  

She wanted to go now.

But I persisted.  We were here, we had come all this way, we had the whole day, why not poke around a bit?

Just 100 meters down the road, we came to the village mausoleum.  

We entered the iron gate and found many of Kathi's Ferretto ancestors within, like Argentina...

 

In fact, the majority of the tombs were for Ferrettos.

Kathi began documenting the information about the relatives she had never known, but rather quickly became overwhelmed, and I took up the task. 

Out of respect, I am not publishing the photos of her other ancestors' final resting place.


After I had finished and we had payed our last respects, Kathi again felt satisfied that her pilgrimage was complete.  Honoring her wishes I turned the car around and headed back down the mountain.

Since we had to pass the church on the way down, I suggested we stop to see if anyone had retrieved the photo book.  As we approached the church, we found two men working in the courtyard, cleaning a grill.  Kathi approached, spoke to them briefly, and then motioned to have me join her.

Kathi was explaining about her great grandmother ("bisnonna") as the two men perused the book and peppered each other with Italian.  They quizzed Kathi about her great grandmother's name, Amelia, her name, her grandmother's name, great grandfather's name and such to figure out the connections.

Enrico asked me my name and when I said Kevin, he repeated it and said Kevin 'is no Italian'.  I told him it was Irish, and he laughed and said Irish is OK because they built Italy.  (apparently Irish stone masons helped build a lot of the Italian churches).  

Enrico got on his cell phone and started calling around to see if anyone in San Marco D'Urri could remember Ameila.

Unsuccessful, Enrico jumped into the car and he guided us into the village where he knocked on doors and called out to neighbors...

"Hey Joe!   Joe!"

We were reminded that for anyone still alive to have known Kathi's "bisnonna", they would have to be near 100 years old - not impossible, but perhaps improbable.  Still we wandered around San Marco D'Urri looking for clues.
Enrico with our photo book in hand.

 

 One of the many backyard gardens...

Below is a monument to Leopold and Theresa Saturno who emigrated to Reno Nevada in 1879.  Leopold worked as a farm hand, and built a fortune in ranching and real estate.  Leopold was an orphan and had been adopted by the Avanzino family in San Marco D'Urri.  He never forgot the kindness he received from his adoptive family and the townspeople and frequently made mention of it to his two sons, Victor and Joseph.  The two sons became wealthy in their own right and after their father's death, as a tribute, provided each person in San Marco D'Urri with 25 shares of Bank of America stock valued at 800,000 lire or about $1,215 - a small fortune at the time. See: 
(http://sfliguri.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/voxe2.pdf

 The plaque reads something like '...with unanimous impulse he dedicates perennial attestation of praise and gratitude...'

A simple shed for storage...

 Homes perched on the side of the mountain.

Unfortunately, after a fair amount of legwork, we struck out in our hunt for living ancestors in San Marco D'Urri so Enrico then took us to Crovara to see if there was anyone there who might remember Kathi's great grandfather ("bisnonno").

Like San Marco D'Urri, Crovara was a simple village of about 15 homes, where residents all knew one another, lived a simple life, raised produce in their gardens, and perhaps had a small vineyard to make some wine.  

We passed this old overgrown building, which I would have loved to poke around, but felt the time wasn't right and that it wouldn't be respectful, so I just snapped a few pictures.

I'm sure this building comes with a story!

Looking southwest, out across the mountains,  you wouldn't know that the Ligurian coast is a scant 15 miles away - we were a 90 minute drive from Portofino!

We couldn't find anyone around in Crovara that remembered either Kathi's besnonna or besnonno, so we returned Enrico back to the church.  Once we got there, Gabriella was waiting for us - she had the keys to the church and was going to open it up so we could see inside.

 Again, the questions were asked.  When was your great grandmother born; when did she leave San Marco D'Urri; was she married?  After some discussion, we had narrowed down a date range as to when besnoona was likely born and, of course then, when she was most likely baptized. 

The church was opened, and Gabriella headed straight for a metal cabinet, unlocked it, and revealed all the churches baptism records going back as far as they had been recorded.

 Gabriella located and pulled the ledger from the 1800s and laid it out on the large wooden rectory counter.

Page by page, she carefully, searched for the record of Kathi's besnonna.  Gabriella and Enrico read the entries, and their banter suggested they were remembering souls that lived and died in San Marco D'Urri.

We were on pins and needles with each pause of a page turn.

 And then she found it. Aimilia Ferretto - born in 1893.  Being that it was in a church ledger, the language was not Italian, but Latin.

As best I can translate the text, it reads:  'In the year of our age one thousand eight hundred and ninety three years... I baptized the baby... on the 19th of February in the eleventh hour of the afternoon for Andrew Ferretto whose name is derived from Tacchini Chatharini Coringi by Aimelia Levanty... Avangino George Felix and Maria Vivtoria Coregli parent of this treaty ... Dominick Giniffra'

 If anyone can correct my Latin transcription, please do!

In the left hand of the ledger, under Aimilia's name, the ledger indicates she was married to Amedeo Gelso in New York in the church Madonna di Pompei (http://www.ourladyofpompeiinyc.com/), October 18, 1913 - so she was 20 years old.  So even across the sea, the records were maintained.

Amazing!

Next, Gabriella unlocked the doors to the church interior so we could see inside - a beautiful church for such a small community!

Notwithstanding the bell tower, I believe we were told the church was originally built in the 1500s.  No detail was spared - even the ceilings were lavishly decorated!

 

The devotionals were simple and elegant - paying tribute to the Virgin Mary.

 

 

 Some of the other relics in the church...  Was this a stand used to support a small statue?

 Kathi was allowed to light a candle and say a prayer before taking our leave of the church.  Kathi and Gabriella (also a Ferretto and with a strong family resemblance) exchanged email to stay in touch.

One of the most touching moments was when Gabriella was still holding our photo book and asked Kathi what she was going to do with it.  We had made it to give to someone and Kathi offered it to Gabriella. Gabriella thanked her for it and put it in the metal file cabinet with all the other historic church records - and so that is where it will be.

What an amazing experience; we could not have dreamed of anything better!  Everyone was so nice to us and stopped what they were doing to help us out and show us around.  Gabriella and Enrico explained that the village used to support as many as 2000 people, but now it only had 30 permanent residents.  They said so many people leave San Marco D'Urri that they really appreciated anyone who made such an effort to come back and honor their roots.   

With hugs and handshakes all around, we wiped a few tears, and descended down the twisty mountain road for our drive back to Levanto.