Staying in Penne

Thursday, April 9, 2009. Maybe it was because we all slept on it. Or perhaps it was the especially luminous sunshine of the morning. Or the morning espresso and croissants on the terrace. Or the view of the rooftops so close by. Or the view of the mountains so far away. Or maybe it was seeing the local folks going about their business. Or maybe it was just -- Italy. We decide to stay in Penne.

Over the last couple of years, Figlia has become good friends with Alessandro. When Figlia studied in Pescara two summers ago she had stayed with Alessandro’s family, and then when Alessandro came to Figlia’s college last year he spent a week with us in New Jersey. We were anxious to meet his family and looked forward to the lunch planned for today at Alessandro’s home in Pescara.

“Mamma,” as Figlia always referred to Alessandro’s mom, provided a lunch worthy of an Italian mother (3 boys) who has lived much of her life in the kitchen. The lunch for eight (us three, Alessandro, his girlfriend, his brother and father, and of course, “Mama”) lasted several hours and deserved to be on the Food Channel. The recent tragedy in Abuzzo was of course the first topic of conversation. Alessandro works in the tourist industry, at a hotel in the mountains, and the strain and sadness was evident, even on his young face. But soon things moved on to happier subjects and there was much Italian, some English, several toasts, laughter, stories, pictures and promises to get together again sometime, either in Italy or America.

Back in Penne Figlia took a late afternoon nap while Stone and Jake took a walk. As is the way in Penne, and likely in other small Italian towns, local death notices are pasted on the several small billboards around town, and we noticed several notices for a young man named Alessio Di Simone, who was killed in the earthquake. He was only 24.

We walked up a hill to see Penne’s duomo, but it was closed, as was the Diocesan Civic Museum. But the view from the top of the hill, Penne’s highest, was worth the climb. Going back home we looked into Chiesa dell’Annunziata (Church of the Annunciation) near the main piazza and saw three displays obviously having to do with Good Friday: Mary, with a sword in her heart; a collection of crucifixion items (cross, nails, sponge of vinegar, spear, etc); and most startlingly, a figure of Christ, lying supine on a robe, crown of thorns still intact.

For dinner we went to La Grotta. Here one is spared the anxiety of choosing what to eat as the English speaking owner and waitress gives you a choice of two pastas and two deserts and one red wine. During dinner there was another minor tremor (lasting only about 5 seconds), but thanks to the wine or maybe to the other patrons who hardly looked up from their plates as things shook a little bit, it didn’t bother us that much. One can get use to anything. We left the little restaurant full and ready to sleep, which we did – thankfully tremor free.