Viva Italia!
We've just returned from our Easter trip to northern Italy. What a fantastic time! This blog will focus on the family end of the trip, which was the whole point, after all!While in Italy we stayed with Riccardo's sister and her boyfriend, Sylvia and Michele. They rent a beautiful apartment on the mountainside overlooking Brescia; it's actually located in a village just outside Brescia, called Bovezzo. It is not far from Riccardo's zio and zia's (uncle and aunt) apartment as well as his cousin, Alessandra's place.
Riki's parents picked us up from Milan Malpensa airport and after making the hour-and-a-half drive to Brescia, we visited Zio and Zia's place. My first impressions of Italy were that the modern architecture was very much like that in Germany. Also, that the roads are questionable: every motorway requires payment - very expensive - and city roads are pothole ridden. I loved, however, the contrast of new and old buildings and how tastefully Italian people remodel old homes. Best first impression: cappucino and pasticcerie (pastries)!
The family took me on a walking tour of Brescia. We started with the Castello, an extremely old fortress at the top of a hill with views of the whole city. Amazing! From there, I was lead through the city centre, where I enjoyed a wine spritzer in a beautiful piazza and exploring the fabulous roman remains of Brixia, the 2000 year old ancestor of Brescia.
We attended two special meals out during my time in Italy. Since much of this side of the family couldn't make it to our wedding in Canada, we treated everyone to a pizza dinner on Saturday evening. It was an opportunity to meet Riccardo's WHOLE family, including his zio Valentino and his new fiance, Umbretta, as well as Riki's three cousins and their families. Little Deborah, who is just one-year-old, insisted on quite a lot of attention, but she didn't manage to outshine her older sister, Jessica (6), who attempted to teach me Italian all evening! Riccardo looked oh-so cute with the children!
The core nine of us attended a special Easter lunch the following afternoon. Rather than making a large home-cooked meal that takes days in preparation and clean-up, it's fairly common for Italian families to get together for a fancy restaurant meal. Our restaurant was a former Italian hillside villa, and was absolutely breathtaking. The lunch consisted of course after course of succulent food and glass after glass of delicious local vino. By the end of it, most of us were a little tipsy, all of us were full to the gills and we had been there for nearly five hours!
Of course I did manage a couple trips outside Brescia, but the info on those will follow in a subsequent post. I cannot wait until next Easter when we plan to return to Italy!
Now you know how my second home-country looks and feels like.
It is really not hard to love the place whole-heartedly, hey?