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We are going to Casarsa today to visit Vic's family. Our train left at 10:00 am and we arrived in Casarsa della Delizia, Fruili at 11:30am. Laura and her husband met us at the train station.
Casarsa della Delizia, simply known as Casarsa, is a municipality in the Province of Pordenone in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Trieste and about 15 kilometres (9 mi) east of Pordenone.
We walked to cousin Laura and Bruno's home and got caught up with news and talked about our itinerary for the day. Zia (Aunt) Oliva, Laura's mama, came by and we chatted for a while. Massimo also stopped in for a few minutes. They all speak English fairly well and communicating was not a problem. Then, Bruno, who was the tour guide for the day, Vic, Zia Oliva and I went to visit Zia Geena, who lives alone at 97 years old! We had a nice visit with her and then we went to see the house that Maria lived in as a young girl. We caused quite a stir with the owner's dogs but saw the house and vineyards we've heard so much about. Vic remembered some moments when he was a young boy visiting which he was pleased about.
Before I get into the rest of the day, let me explain who everyone is. Almost everyone was from the Rosa family. The only exception was Zia Geena who is on the Colusi side (Vic's mother, Maria).
Zia Geena is Zio Carletto's wife. Zio Carletto was Vic's mother's brother and he owned some vineyards in Casarsa.
Zia Olivia was married to Zio Mario who was Delio's (Vic's father) younger brother. Laura and Massimo are their children.
Zia Silvana was married to Zio Gegee, another of Delio's younger brothers. Their children are Anna, Renato, and Mauricio.
Zia Miezza is Zio Tony's wife. Zio Tony is yet another one of Delio's younger brothers. Their children are Franco, Paulo, Margaret, Giuseppe, and Adriano.
After visiting with Zia Geena and seeing Maria's childhood home, we went back to the house and had a lovely lunch with Laura, Bruno and Zia Olivia. Then we went in the car and toured Casarsa. It is a beautiful little town of about 8,000 people. We saw the cantina, where they make the wines, some original homes, the Main Street - Via Menotti, and the church (San Giovanni) that Maria & Delio were married in. The cantina is the 3rd largest in Italy and was started by Maria's family. I didn't know I married into a family with such a respected history!!! On one building on Via Menotti there was a Colusi coat of arms above a door from 1605.
Then it was off to Codroipo to see Villa Manin. This was originally a home which was turned into a country home. It is a beautiful, palatial building that would have been amazing in its day. Then we stopped at what was Delio's birth home. Unfortunately, the actual house is not the one he was born in. A new home was built where his home was. But it was nice to see where he was born. Before we returned to Laura & Bruno's we stoped by Zia Miezza's home where we met Paulo, one of her sons. This home was where Delio grew up. Vic had memories of learning how to ride a bicycle in their yard. Zia Miezza had gone to Laura's so we went there to see her. Well, not only was Zia Miezza there but also Zia Silvana, Franco, & Anna. What a homecoming! I must admit I felt a bit overwhelmed with all these people rushing to hug & kiss us and the onslaught of Italian words and gestures.
During the afternoon some more cousins dropped by: Maurizio, Giuseppe and Franco's wife, Maria. We felt honoured and humbled that so many relatives took the time to come and see us, especially since it was a working day.
This is our first visit with family in Italy and while many of them do speak at least a little English, trust me, when you get a bunch of Italians in a room together English is not what is usually spoken! My spoken Italian is virtually zero but I can understand it fairly well (at least in Canada where the language spoken is part dialect (Friuli) interspersed with English words). When necessary Laura acted as translator for me and Bruno. I think they usually all speak pure Italian in Italy now so I didn't understand as well. Pure Italian and dialect are quite different I'm told. I sat and listened and smiled and nodded at what seem appropriate moments. They knew I didn't speak the language but still spoke to me and seemed to expect me to understand. I guess I was smiling and nodding at just the right times! But all kidding aside we had a fantastic day and we're SOOOO glad that we made the trip to Casarsa.
We had a wonderful dinner with Laura, Bruno and Zia Olivia and then walked to the train station to go back to Venice. I think Bruno and I shed a tear at our goodbyes. They were gracious hosts and wouldn't let us leave without promising to come back for a longer stay.
It was nice to see Vic so excited to see pieces of his history and meet with his aunts and cousins. I was emotional seeing it all. I can only imagine how he felt. Life is good.
Yesterday, I forgot to mention that, in Murano, Vic had a good childhood memory of meeting Jane Mansfield (famous beauty queen actress from the 60's) and getting his picture taken with her at a glass factory when he and Severina were visiting with his mom & dad. I had to mention this as he was telling everyone we met about it, including the concierge in our hotel. And I've heard the story a million times so thought I'd tell it for once. ;)
Tomorrow, we board the ship for our 12 day Mediterranean cruise. I'll only have Internet on shore in cafes that have it so the blogs may be less frequent from here on in.
- comments
Nikki I love that you added a picture of a creek that Uncle Vic pushed a kid into. Made me laugh out loud! So beautiful there and I'm glad to hear you're having such a great time!
Severina Rosa Mom loved looking at the pictures on my computer and I have here a copy of the blog to read. I am sure that she will get at least one call from Italy today.