Relaxing in Casacalenda
Trip Start
Feb 02, 2010
1
12
Trip End
Jun 19, 2010
Campobasso, Molise, Italy
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Well it's been a while since my last update because (I did not get to Spain because of the volcanic ash problem) I really haven't done anything out of the ordinary lately just hanging out in Guildford and a trip to London. However, I did manage to make it to Italy for a long weekend.
Flying in I definitely picked the right side of the plane and could see the Vatican and Colosseum from the air and it was as amazing as ever. Although I didn't initially plan on spending time in Rome on the drive into the city I was again fascinated by the ruins and decided I would need to do some exploring at some point. This would have to wait though since it was early evening when I arrived and I needed to find a hostel to stay for the night before it got dark. Once settled I found a nice little restaurant with outdoor cafe seating. It was great just to relax, sipping wine, listening to the accordion player. Definitely a great way to celebrate the end of classes. I knew then that I would have to come back early on Monday in time to throw my coin in the fountain and ensure my return. My pasta was delicious and full of mussels, clams, calamari and shrimp (ah I love pasta in Italy, tastes so much better). After dinner the waiter brought out Limoncello shots to some of the tables, that stuff is ridiculously strong so needless to say I had a good nights sleep that night.
Bright and early the next morning I was on a train to Casacalenda (a small town in the mountains where my mom was born). I had visited four years before and was completely enchanted then and knew I wanted to come back so this was the perfect opportunity. As the bus approached and Casacalenda came into view I glad I had made the decision to come back. I spent 3 days here and loved it. While it unfortunately rained on 1 1/2 of those days I did have lovely weather on my first day there and spent the afternoon driving (not me) around Casacalenda and the rolling country side down to the lake which was so picturesque that not photograph will ever do it justice. I stayed with my great aunt and her daughter and they were so generous and the food was amazing. While it did rain on a lot I did make it out to the market one morning. And on another morning I went out with my aunt around the town to the grocery store and butcher, and it just amazed me how she knew literally everyone. We passed the mailman at one point quite a bit from her house and he stopped to give her the mail, there's something charming about a small town.
Since I had a night flight on Monday I decided to leave early enough that I could spend the day in Rome. I do not have many pictures because the weather was terrible. It literally poured most of the day except for about half an hour when it got sunny and ridiculously hot and humid. Since I made sure to throw a coin in the fountain last time and I am the only one in my family to return so far there was no way I was leaving without doing it again. I know it's superstitious but I don't want it to be like 50 years from now and all I can think is damn I wish I'd braved the rain to throw my coin in the fountain...so off I went. It was about a 20 minute walk from the station and by the time I got there it was the little window of sun and good weather so what did I do after throwing my coin in the Trevi Fountain? Get gelato of course (since last time I couldn't have dairy I treated myself to two flavours to make up for lost time.) Then I just wandered and found my way to the Roman Forum (I could spend all day among these ruins imagining what Roman life was like) and of course the Colosseum (which had this ugly crane thing in front of it so I only took one pic since I have good ones at home without the crane). Since it seemed like the rain was not going to stop (and it didn't) I decided to spend my last hour in Rome with and espresso.
But since I threw my coin in the Trevi Fountain I will be back!
