A tremendous response from across the globe

It’s been five months since I began chronicling our historic trip to Sant’Andrea, and while I’ve stopped writing about it — saving some stories for a larger project about my grandparents — I’m amazed at how this blog has grown beyond it’s original purpose as a way to share our experiences with family and friends.
With [...]

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The cheese saga finale: Did the pecorino pass?

I can’t tell you whether we got the cheese into the country. We may have simply shipped it over. We may have left it for Dino and the family. We may have even left it for Nino’s consumption.
I CAN share a could-have-happened, might-have-happened, would-have-been-nice fictional story that the U.S. Customs office would probably object to [...]

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Some random videos

Here are some extra videos:
The view from Nino’s house
Something else, huh?
Chiesa di Matrice: Inside the church
This is the remake of an ancient church. Just about everyone in town is ticked off that the Powers That Be decided to time rebuild the church rather than repair it.
Rome from Garibaldi Square
One of the highest points in the [...]

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Walking tour of the town

If you’ve never been there, or would like a refresher, here’s what it looks like. I’m not the best photographer, but it gets better after the first minute.

Part I (YouTube only fits so much stuff)

Part II
See more Sant’Andrea videos on my playlist.

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‘The last guy had a heart attack’

After our dip, Nino expressed surprised that we survived the treacherous November waters. “The last guy had a heart attack,” he said. Or at least I think that’s what he said.

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They thought we were crazy

We didn’t see why everyone made such a fuss, but Uncle Bruno and I thought the 70-degree weather was perfect for a dip in the sea. In Sant’andrea, going into the water in November is pure lunacy.
Nino, who took us to the marina after a 3-hour excursion in hunt for the cheese, called us “sick.” [...]

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She makes it look easy

Like in most towns in the area, Sant’Andrea’s cobblestone streets are tight, to say the least. The vast majority aren’t wide enough to fit two Matchbox-sized cars at a time, making driving for newbies a heart-pumping challenge.
Even hairier, there is a one-way path — a six-foot-wide alley, really — that’s used [...]

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The trip to the Marina

With Sant’Andrea sitting way up on a hill (many of the small towns along the Ionian Sea were built far from the shore as a defense mechanism), it’s quite a ride to get to and from the rest of the world. Nanny and Poppy say there are 60 curves from top to bottom. I didn’t [...]

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A mix of pix

From vistas to local stuff.

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