Whatever you call it, the recent trip to Sicily and Southern Italy by 16 local folks is something they’ll never forget.

After two weeks, they came home with lots of memories, photographs and stories that they’ll tell over and over about where they went, what they saw and what they learned on this exciting “food and wine tour.”

And it was more than food and wine… much more.

Members of the travel group included tour director Dina Incelli, Joanne Heimer, Bonnie Nichlas, Joan Anderson, Joanne Furl, Mary Ann Bower, Barbara Burke, Margaret Kelley, Dennis Marasco, Jane Marasco, Mary Margaret Winton, Donna Keeler, Janet Woodruff, Sharon Culvey, Melvin Culvey, Kenneth Manno and Sharon Manno.

The evening passeggiata is a leisurely walk or stroll, especially one taken in the evening.

It all began on Saturday, Sept. 28, when the group, who had been planning the trip for months, departed the Mill Hall Wal-Mart Plaza in an Arrive-N-Style 32-passenger bus. They left Newark Airport at about 5 p.m. and the next morning they were in Munich, Germany for a short layover before flying on to Catania, Italy, where they met their tour director.

“Oh what an amazing view of Mount Etna,” said Heimer, the leader of the pack so-to-speak, in her itinerary, which is filled with information you’d expect on a trip to see the sights and sounds of a foreign country, but also the joy, laughter and happiness that spilled out among the group in between the stops.

Their first stop on the wine tour was to the Nioto and Avola wine region, where they strolled along the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and explored on their own, stopping at several churches and enjoying a delicious meal in an old farm barn.

“Oh, yes, there was wine, too,” Joanne said.

As the tour continued, there were stops at the Museo Storico dello Sbarco, a WW II museum, focused on the Allied invationof Sicily. It was there that they experienced an air raid while in a shelter.

Dinner in Catania.

While in Catania, the group’s second favorite city, they took a trip to Mount Etna for a meal and wine tasting.

“Charming atmosphere — food was different and great,” Joanne said.

And the next day they were off , saying good-bye to Mount Etna, with her answering goodbye puffs of smoke, and on to the ferry where they enjoyed a 50-minute ride to mainland Italy. There they visited the famous Raice Bronzes at the National Archeological Museum.

The towns of Tropea and Pizzo were next, followed by a stop in Matera. “Our least favorite hotel … a three-star hotel … did not have many of the conveniences we had become accustomed to,” Joanne scoffed.

Matera was by far the group’s favorite city, with palaces and traditional houses and Sasso Caveoso mostly made up of cave-houses.

The group visited the Paestum — one of Italy’s most atmospheric archaeological sites, where preserved Greek temples stand in the countryside near the sea.

“In the 1950’s, 15,000 people still lived in grottos, dank dwellings with no natural light, ventilation, running water or electricity. Disease was rampant, Children, often numbering 9 or 10, squeezed with parents into bunks built with space beneath for children. Child mortality rate was high. Today, the cultural evolution is amazing with Matera being named the Euopean Capital of Rural Culture for 2019,” Joanne wrote.

Then they were off to Benevento, where they saw hundreds of wind turbines; San Maraco dei Cavoti and Sannio wine tasting and Samnium villages, and Salerno area via Taurasi wine region.

Next stop — Napoli.

“Even our guide said Napoli is crazy. Walkers, cars, motorcycles all crammed together,” Joanne wrote. “I finally had granite, refreshing limone for 2 euros.”

And then it was a day trip to Rome and the Vatican.

PHOTOS PROVIDED This group of local folks posed for a photo during their recent trip to Italy.

“It was a fantastic experience,” Joanne said.”The walking tour through the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica was more than we could have imagined. After all these years of just hearing about it, we were finally there. Lots to see. Statues, mural, and scenery. The chapel was plain but beautiful as so many of the sightseers had no respect for the location. The Basilica again was breathtaking as statues were numerous. The Pieta statue was just as beautiful as I remembered it from viewing it in New York many years ago.”

The next day they began the 24-hour journey home, with favorite memories like Mt. Etna puffs of smoke, hiking Path of the Gods, view from the top of Guardia castle, swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, the funicular in Naples, cave dwellings in Matera, attending mass in Italy, walking through neighborhoods where my grandfather lived, beach at Lloyd’s Baia Hotel, Platania day trip with John Rizzo, cooking class, Bufola Mozzerella farm, Herculaneum, Rome, first sight of the Mediterranean, Joanne said.

A visit to my ancestor’s

hometown, graves

By Dennis Marasco

On Oct. 6, Dennis and Jane Marasco interrupted the regularly scheduled itinerary to visit Decollatura, Italy, the hometown of Dennis’ grandfather, Raffaele Marasco.

Decollatura is situated in the mountainous region of Calabria, Italy. Our driver, Ulf Nygren negotiated the narrow and curvy roadway with ease as we made our way to our first stop at Chiesa Di San Bernardo, the church where Dennis’ great-grandparents were married and which Raffaele attended.

Our next stop on this extraordinary day was to the neighborhood where Raffaele lived as a boy. For us, it was an honor to enter the centuries old church and later walk the narrow stone streets that once were home to the Marasco family. The courage that then 16-year-old Raffaele had to leave his hometown and emigrate to Lock Haven is admirable.

As our day began to grow short, we visited the local cemetery in which Dennis’ ancestors are buried, trying to locate some of their grave sites so that we might be able to fill in some of the blank spaces in Dennis’ family tree.

Later, a visit to a small local museum gave us a glimpse of life in Decollatura in the past.

Our trip to Decollatura was the highlight of our two-week tour of Southern Italy. John Rizzo, Dennis’ cousin, made the arrangements for us to enjoy our memorable trip.

Southern Italy 2019

By Mary Margaret Winton

My recent trip to Southern Italy still seems like a fantastic deam. Although I was intriqued by the many experiences we had, it was some of the simplest that impressed me. In small towns such as Catania and Matera, and cities like Naples androme, the locals had a respect for others as evidenced by the ways they shared streets, sidewalks and other public spaces.

Imagine maneuvering through a town, busy with people, where there were very few street lights or stop signs. Some intersections were regulated by round-abouts (traffic circles) and courteous drivers in small cars and scootersshared the roads. Pedestrians universally had the right of way.

This consideration for others was evident in the early evening during the daily stroll known as the passeggiata. Young and old alike would join other townspeople (and tourists) for a leisurely walk through the main streets of the town to socialize. Vehicle traffic was low at this time. It was not uncommon to see older couples walking hand-in-hand chatting between themselves. This tradition was not lost on the younger generations who also participated. Young families pushed toddlers in strollers and groups of teenagers walked and talked together (without handheld devices, for the most part). Many would stop at the local gelateria for an evening treat of gelato, or just stroll and enjoy each others company.

I enjoyed these simple pleasures and took advantage of every opportunity to adopt their lifestyle. As the saying goes, “When in Rome…”

Visiting the town where my grandparents lived

By Donna Keeler

When you go on a trip of a lifetime to a foreign country where your ancestors were born, it is an amazing experience. I am blessed to havae had the opportunity to travel to Southern Italy with my brother and sister-in-law, Ken and Sharon Manno, and several of my closest friends. We were a group totaling 16 from this area.

Our first night in Catania, dinner was served on a long table set up on a narrow street and consisted of at least 10 typical starters, followed by pork as the main course, ricotta cake and wine, of course. Occasionally a car would drive by and be only a foot or two from our table.

We had many outdoor dining experiences in Italy and they were all wonderful.

I loved the cobblestone streets and sidewalks. People are out walking on the streets late at night. Pedestrians have the right of way as cars stop for them while they cross the streets.

Wine is served everywhere and often; Italians are very frierndly and welcoming.

We visited six cities and they were all unique and wonderful.

My favorites were the day Ken, Sharon, Mary and I spent in Platania with our guide, John Rizzo, who showed us around the town where my grandparents lived before coming to the United States. John lives in Philadelphia and has a home in Platania where he visits several times a year. John is a brother of Paul Rizzo of Rizzo’s Greenhouse in Avis.

My second favorite was when five of us spent a day in Rome and the Vatican. We called ourselves The Vatican Five. Even though Rome was not on our itinerary, we asked Joanne if it would be possible to a spend a day there and she made it happen for us.

Italy — One of Earth’s great treasures

By Ken Manno

As we departed for Italy on Saturday, September 28, 2019, my main ambition was to try to find out if we have relatives yet living in the southern part of the country. That is where my maternal grandparents had lived, in Platania which is part of the Calabria region, before emigrating to the United States in the early 1900’s. As best as we could determine, we do not.

A secondary point of interest for me was to see for myself how the average person lives in southern Italy – their quality of life. It was readily apparent that the economy of the area is largely agriculture-based. Grapes (red and white) for wine making, olives, cheese of various types, lemons and oranges, these are some of the primary products driving their economy.

A few of my findings are that Italians drive fast (not necessarily reckless), the density of both people and motorized vehicles is very high in most towns and cities, there are communities built at practically every level of the mountains, living near active volcano’s is not a concern, the people are warm and open to tourists, and the country is a treasure from a historical perspective.

The Trip of a Lifetime

By Joanne Furl

My trip to Italy was certainly a trip of a lifetime from my perspective. My maternal grandparents were both from Italy. During this trip I was not able to include those towns, but hopefully next time. Sicily and the western coast of southern Italy were my destination.

Seeing the little towns of Italy helped me realize how important family is to us all.

There were towns that encouraged families to stroll the streets in the evenings while some streets were closed to motorized traffic. We saw towns that still exist with old buildings that were built hundreds if not thousands of years ago.

The streets were so narrow they drove small cars, motorcycles and motorbikes.

Seeing sites such as Mt. Etna and Mt. Vesuvius and the Mediterranean Sea were all sites only read about in books but now I can say, I was there! I actually put my feet in the Mediterranean Sea. What a thrill. A group of us made a side trip to Rome where we saw all the sites of Rome. Again the sites were brought to life from all of the pictures in books I have read.

Memories of a lifetime were made on this trip.

Visiting my place of heritage

By Mary Ann Bowers

My tour of Italy was truly a trip of a lifetime. Knowing both of my grandparents immigrated to the United States from Italy in the early 1900s, I always wanted to visit my place of heritage. Italy is truly a country of rich culture and history. The Italians are very friendly, and very family and community oriented. We were able to visit several small towns, and thanks to our friend John Rizzo, we experienced what small town living was truly like – family and friends.

While on the trip, I unfortunately suffered a fall and took a ride in an ambulance and was treated at a hospital in Sicily. What an experience!

The Italian food and wine was exquisite. The meals were a ceremony, with many courses served during some of our meals. The vineyards and wineries that we visited were beautiful. Wine and cheese were an important part of their cuisine. I enjoyed the visit to the Mozzarella farm where they milk water buffalo.

Five of us were able to visit Rome and see the many historical sites: the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain.

The Italian scenery is breathtaking, from the vividly blue Mediterranean Sea, the Apennine Mountains, the olive tree groves, vineyards, the beautiful historical architecture, the small street cafes, the skinny cobblestone streets, to the volcanoes that loom over several regions. I especially enjoyed the Italian people who are so very inviting and willing to tell you their stories. I smile each time I think about Italy. Buon viaggio!

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