My friend Kelly and I decided to take a trip to Italy a few weeks ago to visit one of her friends in the beautiful village of Lapadona. From the moment I stepped on the airplane, I knew it was going to be a trip to remember! We arrived in Ancona airport at around 1:30pm (right at the start of "siesta time" for those of you who are not familiar with Italian snoozing hours). We quickly found our rental car and proceeded to try to reverse out of our parking spot. (I will mark this exact moment as the starting point of the continuous fits of laughter that I experienced for the remainder of the trip). That Italian reverse gear is tricky, but luckily with a little help from our friendly Avis representative, we were on the road in no time! We stopped in the small town of Loreto, known for it's remarkable shrine to Mary. We found a quaint little restaurant and politely asked if they were open for lunch. The cliche'-ness (is that a word?) of this sweet little restaurant is one of my most favorite memories from our journey. The restaurant was run by a family who were all sitting around a large table enjoying a feast of delicious Italian food. And when I say they were ALL sitting there, I mean ALL...mother, father, kids, grandmother, grandkids...everyone. That is, until we showed up...at which point a kind older man got up and acted as our host/waiter/possible chef. He didn't speak a word of English (no, not even one), but I can't tell you how gracious he was, and how hard he tried to communicate with us (picture hand signs, large gestures, and LOTS of smiling). After an amazing meal of lasagne (it's the only thing we could understand him say) he gave us both a charm of the Madonna, a postcard of the Pope, and a tiny silver manger scene. It was a fantastic way to start the trip.
Our next stop was Fermo, a town that was rumored to have a great little market. Well, we didn't see the market, but we did get very familiar with the local police :) We accidentally went down a one-way street...the wrong way! Hey...we were Americans in a foriegn country, how were we supposed to know?!? (No, I don't really believe that...but yes, we did try to use it as an excuse to get out of the ticket...no dice.) Anyway, next thing we know, there are sirens and flashing lights coming from behind us, and plenty of sleepy Italians hanging their heads out of their windows to see what all the commotion is about. Long story short, the policemen speak no English (I'm beginning to see a trend) and the only words we understand are, "You American....You Pay!" Suffice to say, we were 36 Euros poorer, but one truly awesome story richer when we left the town of Fermo. (Don't tell Kelly, but I totally think it was worth it!)
The rest of the weekend was filled with great food, great conversation, great wine, and amazing Italian hospitality. I loved the Italian culture...the slow pace & the family values. Since we went to a very rural area, we were able to enjoy the non-touristy side of Italy. We went to the St. Antonio celebration where the townspeople all brought their pets to the town center to be blessed by the priest. Families showed up with dogs, turtles, cats & horses to participate in this great ritual. It was so fun to be able to be a part of that. We ate lunch with a group of about 14 people who all spoke several different languages. It was another experience that I will never forget. It was incredible to even be included in company like that...what a tremendous blessing! Kelly's friend, Gina, her husband & their triplets were the best hosts in the world. They embraced us like family and showed us a truly spectacular time. It was a great way to spend a weekend, and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to meet such terrific people.
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