Campomaggiore - Back to my roots!

Although I haven't kept up with my blogging, I'm doing this post right away because it's an important one! I was lucky to spend this long weekend meeting and spending time with my Italian relatives in the south. My mom was born in Campomaggiore, a very small town in the mountains of Basilicata and moved to Chicago when she was 6. The most amazing thing to me is how my grandparents adjusted to the move because Campomaggiore is worlds away from Chicago. I was completely shocked how different the two cities are. I had heard so many stories from my parents, uncles and nonna about what it was like there. Turns out the beauty of the town and the people is pretty indescribable and I'm so happy I got to experience it for myself. The weekend was full of new introductions, a lot of laughs and of course an unimaginable amount of delicious food!

My mom and I left Florence early Thursday morning to begin the 7 hour journey to the south. Even though I could have flown back to the states in this amount of time, it wasn't that bad. Pasquale, my cousin Laura's dad picked us up from the station and we spent the night with their family in another town just outside of Potenza. Laura had to come a day later but I finally got to meet her sister Erica. They live in the valley and she took us to see the views from the mountains around her house. It was so beautiful!!

The next morning, we left for Campomaggiore! I had never experienced anything like that drive. Snaking through those huge mountains made me feel so small! I've riden through the mountains on the Almalfi Coast but these seemed much bigger and the constant turning made it feel like I was on a ride. 

The town itself is so cute! It's very small, beautiful and peaceful and the mountain air is so clean! My mom and I walked around and she showed me the house she grew up in! So crazy to see you! Everywhere we walked, we got invited in for a coffee and to stop and chat.

 

The first night we had dinner with the Digilio's then we saw the people of the town act out the Passion of the Christ by the church. It was actually really impressive!! After that, I met another cousin, Pierino, and we all went to Fatoria del Conte, a restaurant in the town. I loved the atmosphere of the place and everyone there seemed to know each other and were friends. I learned some real Campomaggiorese dialect :) Pierino wrote them down for me! The spellings are how they should be pronounced.

o Pccninn - little boy

a Pccnen - little girl
Uagnastredd - older girl (about my age)
Uaglion - older guy
Mammarann - nonna
Tattarann - nonno

Saturday morning we took a walk and stopped at Fatoria del Conte again. The restaurant has a barn with horses and dogs used for hunting. The owners son, Donato showed me around! He is the cutest kid ever! He's only eight years old but seems like an adult. After that, we visited my great-aunt, Antoniette, in Tricarico. I don't remember meeting her because I was too young, so it was really nice to stop and talk for awhile. 

Next stop was to Carmela and Roberto's farm nearby. I was amazed that almost everything they ate came from what they have grown or raised themselves. I was lucky to eat some of it too and it was all delicious :) During the day, we hiked up to the caves in the moutains on their land. I had sooo much fun doing this! There was no straight path leading up there so we used sticks to create our own. It was a very interesting hiking experience! The views at the top were amazing. The caves were also really cool because there were ruins of houses and fossillized seashells since it used to be under water! 

We spent Easter with a lot of the family I had met during the week! It was so much fun! My uncle Mario said that I'd be surprised when I went to Campomaggiore because the food and smells are identical to what my nonna makes in the US. Very true! I couldn't believe it! 

The next day my mom, Pasquale, Laura, Erica and I went to Matera. The city is close to Campomaggiore and has an ancient part where the houses were made from rock. This is also where the Passion of the Christ with Mel Gibson was filmed. We spent the day there, it was very cool to see! 

I left early the next morning to go back to Florence. I already miss it and will absolutely jump on any excuse to go back. Hopefully in the summer too when there is more people. I also want to go back to do the Vollo dell'Angelo, the largest zipline in Europe. Sounds like my kind of thing :) Tonight I'm leaving for Munich which I'm really looking forward to...it's my last big trip. Time has flown by! I'll be back in the US in about 2 weeks. 

I have way too many pictures to post on here but my facebook album that should be available for everyone! Hope this works!!