Pasqua, parents, P...Rome

It’s Pasqua time! A lot to talk about, but not so much inclination to be detailed so I will be brief. I came to Rome on Wednesday (a bit later than planned because my travel companion, Gudi, had a slight technological malfunction and was not able to get up on time) and after saying goodbye to Gudi, met up with Mia, my Danish friend who I met at the hostel the first time I was in Rome. We spent the day together and met up with her friend Isabel and we had a great time just hanging out as the Romans. I slept in the hostel down the street from Mia, but I didn’t sleep well because it was noisy and I think I had a coffee too late.

My parents arrived here on Thursday morning, which is awesome. We explored Rome for two days and saw the Coliseum, the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, which were all incredible and interesting; the next day, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. It was a great time indeed.

This morning we woke up and checked out of our hotel and went to the train station to get our tickets from the train. The one we wanted was sold out (which I didn’t know was possible) so we paid a bit (read: a lot) more money to get on the direct path from Rome to Naples. About an hour and twenty minutes later, we were in a bustling, terrifying city and we caught a cab, which was a death-defying adventure in it’s own right, to the sea port, hopped on an Aliscafo and another half-hour later, we were in the land of my ancestors.

Ischia is mind-blowingly beautiful. I kept thinking about how hard it must have been for my grandfather, and his brothers and their father and my grandmother’s father and everyone in my family who had to leave this place. Times must have been really bad for someone to find enough reason to leave this paradise in favor of New York. Everyone tells me how built up it is now and how much better it once was before all the Germans and tourists, but when I look out the window here, out onto Ischia Porto, I feel calm and relaxed and just content with the world. What it would be like to live like this forever is beyond my comprehension.

My great-uncle John (Gianni/Giovanni), my grandfather’s brother, is the spitting image of my grandfather. It’s so interesting to see someone, not only physically like my grandfather, but also with such similar gestures and expressions, even after so many years apart. I feel so comfortable here with Uncle John and Aunt Anna. I’ve only met them today, but I feel like we are family. Could be, now that I think about it, that we are family…

Tomorrow we’ll wake up and go to church (my first time in several years) and then eat a fresh rabbit and I’m sure numerous other delicious things. So far, the food here has been outstanding. We had spaghetti with tomato sauce made from tomatoes grown in my uncle’s garden and some fresh fish that was delicious, followed by a homemade cakey-pie thing that is traditional for Easter only in Naples. Unbelievably good. My family knows how to live.

I still don’t know what I’m going to do when my parents leave. I’m not trying to sound hopeless, but just unprepared. I’m considering France and Germany, but I haven’t made any decisions yet. Luckily there is internet and my Uncle’s house so I should be able to do some planning tomorrow and Monday.

Until I write again, buona Pasqua and Arrivederci!