If Italy is a boot, our next stop was to the tip of the toe, to visit my grandmother’s first cousin, Francesco, and his family near the regional capital of Reggio Calabria. This short visit with his family would be the highlight of the trip for me.
I had passed through town 18 years ago as a kid in college. My grandmother had given me the name of her aunt and uncle, and I just strolled into town unannounced. Somehow--and to this day it amazes me--I was able to find that aunt and uncle. I then had the pleasure of spending the next couple days with my great-great Uncle Pete and his family, including his son, Francesco and his family.
Sadly, Uncle Pete is no longer with us, but, having made it to 98 years, he set a nice high bar for the younger members of the family. I found cousin Francesco, and his son and daughters--all doing well. In fact, the little 10-year-old boy who showed me around the town, grew up to be quite a soccer standout, including in his resume a season in Serie A--Italy’s top professional soccer/football division. Check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7LfnVqsOng
It was fun to walk around town with a local celeb and get to know his wife, who, we learned, is a rising star in regional politics and in the home stretch of her political campaign (which, she later won--Forza Italia.)
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Side note: Congratulations is due to this couple. Just yesterday (as I post this on 3/5), their first child was born. Read all about it here:
http://www.strettoweb.com/2015/03/reggio-fiocco-rosa-a-palazzo-san-giorgio-e-nata-la-figlia-di-mary-caracciolo/253100/
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The next day, we had a fun car ride with Francesco, who took us to the homesteads where his grandparents used to farm (that would my 2x-great-grandparents). Those tiny farms sit exist among Reggio Calabria storied bergamot orchards--which only grows in a few places on the planet, this being the area of highest quality. Bergamot has been cultivated for centuries to provide the oils that give flavor to Earl Gray tea. The local orchards are a strong point of pride for the people of the region.
We stopped at one of the Orchards owned by a friend of Francesco to get a close look at the trees. The fruit looks like a very large, very green lemon, oblong, but more rounded than a typical lemon. Francesco pulled a couple ripe fruits from the tree and sliced them open. The fragrance of a fresh bergamot fruit is incredible beyond description.
It was only as we were leaving the area that I noticed that the narrow orchards stretched upon a narrow ridge, from which, at a proper angle, we could see dry, rocky hills, which would look very much in place in Southern California, that wrap around and tower above the city of Reggio di Calabria. The tip of Sicily and its port town of Messina are visible in the distance. Even after walking the sale land, it is difficult to imagine the life of the generations of my family who worked those same fields and orchards ages ago; I do know they did not hurt for a good view.
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