When planning this trip, I basically had 2 bookends - the wedding in Malta, and the week in Paris with Kris and Raegena - 25 days apart. I went through several ideas, possible itineraries, etc, and one day, Diana - a parent of kids at OLA and a friend as well - said - “you need to come to Assisi with us, we are going after the wedding.” So, I’m like - OK I had never been to Assisi and it would give me a chance to finally visit Coldipeccio, the place where my Nonno was born which I knew was close to Assisi as my Mom and bother had visited before. So, I did. I planned that part of my trip. I booked a room at the same hotel they were staying at, and I rented a car. Oooo, I get to drive in a foreign country! Did you know you have to have an International Drivers Permit (obtained by the DMV) to drive in Europe? I’m glad I found out at almost the last minute. I was told by Diana that Assisi would be magical. From the bells of the churches to the evenings in the piazza sipping Limoncello and just “being there”. See, what I didn’t know was Diana had spent 3 summers while in college at Santa Clara in Assisi. She lived with the same family each time and they became her second family. She also got to know some of the locals as well - as some of those locals know some of our locals at Our Lady of Angels. The world keeps getting smaller.
The magic of Assisi certainly was not lost on me. It is a magical place. However, what I wasn’t prepared for was that during my time in Assisi with Diana and her family, I would become an adopted member of the family.
Diana was so excited to show off her mountain side town town to her kids and to me. “How much do you love Assisi?” - was her mantra - and my answer was always “magical” which it was. I met all of Diana’s host family - 3 generations of them. - as well as Eduardo - who knows everyone in Florence and in Burlingame as well. The guy gets around.
An evening on the piazza
I felt a little guilty going off on my own the next day, but I had a little journey of my own to take. I’m going to steal what I said off of Facebook and put it here….
I have visited the place where my Nonno was born in a little hillside town in Italy called Coldipeccio. It’s barely on the map. My brother Ken had given me some print outs on Google maps as to where important houses, cemeteries etc were.
I was fortunate enough to run into some locals who were nice enough to give me a hand with finding some houses. Using the maps Ken gave me, we basically realized everything I was looking for was right there.
Between the half dozen people who had gathered trying to help find these things, they all knew my family history. They knew names, marriage names etc, it was amazing. They were all super nice, and between my very little Italian and their very little English - but with our combined knowledge of the Mattei family , we had a great conversation.
This small side trip was worth the entire effort to come to Europe this summer.
Now, my Nonna’s maiden name was Lanuti (her first name was Anna) but her family was from a different part of Italy. I found this poster outside the cemetery.
Don’t know who Bruno Mattei is/was - guess we don’t talk about him
I walked away from this experience in a very emotional
I got back to Assisi in time to join Diana and some of her host-family at their restaurant for lunch. There was this amazing charcuterie board - which I probably should have ordered instead of pasta
That evening, we went out to dinner with the aforementioned Eduardo and his family, and I swear the food and wine just kept coming. I took pictures!
This was definitely a family style meal - complete with red wine. After dinner, we walked down to the piazza where the
Palio del Cupolone was taking place. It was an interesting competition. Be sure to click on the link to see what it is - because I had to as well. During this time, Eduardo took John (Diana’s husband) and I for a shot of Grappa. I think it’s still making it’s way down to my stomach, talk about a SLOW burn - but fantastic.
The next day was going to be something special. Bridget an Brian, (Diana’s sister and brother-in-law- whom I know, of course) along with their kids Sabrina and Olivia were finally joining us in Assisi. That wasn’t what was special, of course - what was special was that Diana and John were going to renew their wedding vows at the same church they were married in 14 years ago. That was pretty special. So special, that I got to play for them as well.
Picture of the church and the wedding
The church had been built over the ruins of the old structure. The floors had glass in them so you could see the ruins
Up above the sanctuary was this organ. You had to have a ladder to get up to the bench. It has an impressive set of pipes, but I’m not sure if it was in working order. However, it felt that anyone would have to wear a cape and a mask in order to play it.
This organ was a typical electronic organ - maybe a hybrid as there were some pipes. It was located in a side chapel
After the ceremony, there was some time to kill before dinner. We got a drink, walked around, got another drink, etc. Eventually we ended up at a pizzeria (recommended by Eduardo, of course) for dinner. I was so excited - I hadn’t had pizza yet on this trip and I was looking forward to really good Italian pizza. Well… the appetizers were ordered - and they kept coming…. Everyone as good as the last
Then the cones arrived. Basically, fried pizza dough stuffed with pizza toppings - one was a caprese and one was mortadella and cheese. And those cones kept coming, and coming. We don’t talk about the cones, no no….
I was so looking forward to pizza! But like everyone else, we were pretty stuffed from the appetizers. However, pizza was ordered and I did have a slice or 2 and it was amazing. (See the picture at the beginning of the blog). After dinner, it was back down to the piazza for drinks and hanging out.
I was happy to experience Assisi through someone else’s eyes as the experiences and the stories I just couldn’t get if was traveling myself. Assisi is magical, and being with family just makes it more magical.
Mattei
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