Last August marked my eighth visit to Calabria. It had been another five years since I had been, and while everyone (myself included) was a little older, not much had changed. Here's a recap of my previous visits:
- The first time, when I went down for Christmas while studying abroad (here, here and here)
- Silvia's First Communion
- Summer 2008, before moving home after studying abroad
- My return after two years, during which time I got the job with Georgetown
- Easter 2012 (in Italian and in English)
- For mamma's 50th, before I moved back to the states in 2012
- Summer 2017, which included Azzurra's godson's baptism
With i nonni, Azzurra, Silvia, and Neo, Azzurra's dog
Zio Roberto with the homemade stuff
There was of course a delicious lunch, accompanied by my favorite part of any Calabrian meal - the antipasti. I could eat the Calabrian appetizers of homemade cured salsiccia, fresh local cheeses, fried polpette (meatballs), and anything under oil for every meal.
This photo was not easily achieved.
Azzurra's grandparents bring such joy. I will always think of nonno and his special three kisses - he kisses once on each cheek, and then takes your face in his hands and kisses your forehead. It's pure love.
After lunch, despite the rain, Zio Roberto took us out to his land to see the latest updates. He works this land with olive trees, grapes, and fruit trees mostly on his own, and in his free time is building himself a casita where he hopes to live one day.
Zio Roberto built this wall
And he built these walls
Oh yeah, he built those too
Many of you have already heard about what happened with me and the figs. Here is photographic proof of the root cause of what was to come. Just remember this rule: never eat hot figs right off the tree! If you do, your digestive system may curse you and ruin your long-awaited vacation with your Calabrian family.
Me, La mangiafichi, or the fig eater
Danger! But damn, are they good
Alessandro at rest
The next day we drove to the sea to visit Ale's dad. I'd never been to someone's house that was this close to the sea - I mean the cars (oddly, as they block the view) are parked right on the edge, and the house's front door is a stone's throw to the water. We're pretty sure it must be against some zoning laws, but hey, this is Calabria.
That night, a drink out in Castrovillari with some of Alessandro's friends I hadn't seen in at least a decade.
Next up, a morning hike with Oscar and Neo to Murano.
Yes, I ate these hot berries right off the bush.
I didn't know yet, I didn't know.
That afternoon we went to visit Federica, who had also been roommates with Azzurra and me in Bologna, and her family. Federica had just had a baby, Nicole, and we were very excited to meet her!
This was right around when I started to feel feverish and began to panic. Did I have COVID? What if I'd given it to Azzurra's grandparents and the baby? I shared my symptoms with Azzu and Ale, we got a COVID test, and it was negative.
That night we went out to celebrate mamma's 60th birthday! It was a bit belated, but now she had most of her family with her to celebrate (just missing Giuseppe!).
I presented several gifts I had brought from Portugal. One was for mamma's birthday - a table runner with delicate birds embroidered on it, and I also brought a bread basket linen for Azzurra, embroidered with mimosa flowers, which in Italy is the flower of Women's Day and symbolizes strength, femininity, and female friendship.
The next day we visited Alessandro's nonna. My stomach was going downhill fast and unfortunately I couldn't enjoy the delicious lunch she prepared as much as I would've liked (she is truly an exquisite cook).
And then I was down for the count. We hadn't figured out yet what was wrong with me and there was a fear that it was COVID (even though I took daily negative tests), so I was quarantined. Poor Azzurra had to sleep on a cot in the living room, and I spent several days as an invalid, frustrated I was being a burden and missing out on quality time with everyone. But goodness did mamma take good care of me!
The only interesting thing that happened during this time (aside from watching an entire season of Never Have I Ever on Netflix) was a little kitten that had gotten stuck on the roof next door. Silvia and Azzurra kept trying different methods to rescue the mewing cat and finally were successful!
When she found out Zio Roberto was having the same symptoms I was, Azzurra realized what must have happened - hot figs right off the tree! She had only eaten one, but zio and I had gone to town on them. No more COVID fears - I was released from quarantine.
Once I was feeling better, we went up to San Basile, where Alessandro's from, for the evening. There was another serenata before a local couple were to be wed.
The hilarious highlight of the evening for me was running into an old friend of Alessandro's who was feeling nostalgic. It sounded like he hadn't been back to village in a really long time, but then he said, "It's been 20 years since I've seen this corner of San Basile." That's small town life for you!
The next day we tried to salvage what was left of the beach vacation we had planned. Sadly, we had to cut out Tropea (which I had been looking forward to returning to for many years) for my convalescence, but still made it to Scilla, which is so far south Sicily can be seen across the water.
Playing with carte Napoletane
One funny thing that happened was while we were at lunch with some of Azzurra's friends, I noticed a deck of carte Napoletane in the open purse of the woman next to me, and commented on how we had been enjoying playing them earlier that day. She misheard me and quickly acknowledged that yes, she should close her purse lest she be robbed by some people from Naples.
The farther land mass is Sicily
There's a really magical wing of Scilla called Chianalea. It's filled with secret alleys that open onto rocky outlooks on the water and is stunning at sunset. The tolw is famous for swordfish sandwiches, and we ate at the hottest spot for them - Civita 5.
Birra sulla spiaggia!
Never gets old.
The next day was Ferragosto, an Italian holiday always marked on the 15th of August. We had a beach day planned before driving me to the airport to begin my journey all the way back home.
It's the kind of day you really must reserve at the beach. We hung out again with some of Azzurra's friends who were also in Scilla, but the beach was filled with jellyfish! There was a gaggle of kids perched on a huge rock in the water, serving as lookouts for the swimmers below, and a self-viewed cool guy who would scoop them out of the water and put them on the beach to die. One of the jellyfish was massive and a young woman coaxed him farther out to sea to save him. It made swimming feeling like an adventure sport, but we still had fun snorkeling and cooling off in the water, as well as playing cards back at the umbrellas.
To round out the holiday, our reservation included a prix fixe lunch. It was, hands down, the worst meal I have ever had in Italy. The service was terrible and the food was almost inedible. They served seafood lasagna - two words that should never be uttered in the same sentence, let alone recipe. But there was still a great view and even better company, and it was such a fiasco that we could not stop laughing at how bad it was. I think Ale even warned a couple people on the way out.
After far too few healthy days in Calabria, it was time for me to depart. The trip home was a fiasco in itself, with my flight from Calabria to Munich getting canceled, us getting bussed an hour away to sleep three hours in a hotel before coming back to the airport, missing my international connection, and my baggage getting lost for a week.
But is all that trouble worth it? Always, yes.
