Vacation in Italy
2001
In the spring of 2001, my family and I decided to travel to Italy to visit with
family, and to do some sightseeing. Here is a quick synopsis.
We flew to Venice, lost our bags for three days. Waited one day for my brothers
to catch up, then another day for my parents to catch up. In Venice we
visited St. Marcs and took a gondola ride. We basically took in all the beautiful
buildings and the wonderful flowers.
Then, it was off to Florence. In Florence Daniel got mad at all of us,
and we visited El Duomo (626 steps to the top), stopped by the Ponte Vecchio,
went to Piazza Navona and took a quick trip to Pisa.
In Pisa, we basically shopped around. Here is where I got my little leaning towers.
It turns out they where finishing up work on the bell tower. It has been leaning ever since
it was built. The moved it back a few feet, and strengthened the foundation.
You still can't go up in it, but its pretty cool to see. Definitely the most
unique bell tower we saw in Italy. Don't forget the wonderful Piazza. Its
very intimate and quiet. The baptistery and cathedral are very nice, but the
interesting piece is the cemetery. Rumor has it that it is filled with dirt
taken from Jerusalem during the crusades. No other cathedral we saw had a cemetery like this.
From Florence, we went to visit family in Fiumefreddo and get in some major fights with Dan. Fumefreddo (Cold River) is a small town west
of Cosenza, the largest town in the region of Calabria. Fiumefreddo is where my mother was born, as
well as my grandmother. The town sits on a precipice above the Mediterranean sea. There is an old
castle, which is in the midst of a major restoration. We were given a special
tour by a cousin who is in charge of the restoration. On the waterfront
below Fiumefreddo is Fiumefreddo Mare (Oceanside). This is were my relatives live. It is more modern
and very quaint. If you wanted to visit the area, I would suggest staying at Amantea, a
nice touristy town south of Fiumefreddo.
While in Fiumefreddo, we took a day trip up to San Francesco Di Paola's (St. Francis of Paola) compound. St. Francis is the patron
saint to the area. The monastery is carved into the side of a mountain, and a small river
carves its way through the center of it. Among the many miracles required of all
saints, St. Francis's has an unexploded WWII bomb, an eternal well, and some great grottos.
Before leaving Fiumefreddo, I had to open a can of whup ass on Daniel, who had
conveniently forgotten his place in our family as the baby. Or maybe he
was just trying to solidify his place as the whiner. Oh well, on to Rome.
In Rome, we spent the longest time. We visited the coliseum, St. Peter's Basilica,
the Wedding cake, the Spanish steps, and got in a fight with Dan.
Also, I eluded the Subway police, and convinced my mom that it wasn't so
important to meet the Pope.
Anyway, we got home a day early, and did some laundry.
Pretty cool, huh?
Here are some more pictures:
Another picture of Fiumefreddo.
A picture from the balcony of my Grandma's old house.
The view from Fiumefreddo Mare towards Fiumefreddo.
The house where my Grandfather grew up in San Biase.
Click here to see all my relatives.
Here are some interesting links:
A website that mentions the castle and related frescoes in Fiumefreddo is located here.
Some background about St. Francis of Paola (San Francesco Di Paola).
Here is a link to records from Fiumefreddo Bruzio.
I think I found the ship that my Great-Grandfather (Joseph Fasano) came to the US in!
If you can read Italian, here is a short History of Fiumefreddo. (Let me know if you can translate it too!)
Here is some more about the frescoes in the castle in Fiumefreddo.
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