Benvenuto!! Welcome to Bella Italia!!! My cousin Nancy Lamkin and I made the trip to Venice without any problems. US Airways is no Quantas, and the stewardesses need a little bit of customer service training. We flew over the Alps. In fact, we flew directly over the Matterhorn which was cool. We were met at the airport by Elio from the Hotel Antico Mulino in Scorze, Italy, which is a little town north of Venice, Italy. It is a quaint nice hotel with all the modern conveniences. The weather is sunny and in the 80's.
I am here as part of the Gaino-Casonato family reunion. For the next four days, we will be visiting the area where some of our family came from as well as eating, wine tasting and touring. Cousin Carol Gault was already here to meet us, and cousins Dave and Marlene Gaino drove up a short while later. Together we all went to a beautiful outdoor cafe Gallo for a lovely lunch. I had a fish pie which was really a type of long skinny noodled lasagna with a seafood sauce containing lobster, scallops etc. Dave had a gnochhi with a salmon sauce which melted in your mouth. He won the meal award at this restaurant. They also brought us a complimentary appetizer of grilled sardines which were really good...sort of like a salty potato chip.
Later cousin Margaret Gaino Ewing who organized the reunion along with all of the rest of the American family met for a special dinner tonight with the Italian side of the family. There were at least 50 people. The storytelling, eating and drinking lasted most of the evening. With a room full of Italians, you could barely hear yourself think. A wonderful time was had by all with planning for the next few days taking place.
Right now, I am waiting for Joey as he is having a great deal of difficulty getting to Venice from Prague on this latest of his European adventure. He said he started at 4 a.m and has already been on four trains. There is a train strike in Germany that is complicating his arrival.
In the meantme, here in Italy, they honor the tradition of Sunday as a day of rest. So most businesses were closed. However, we went to church, but since today is the feast of Corpus Christi they already had an early celebration and did not have regular mass. Go figure! So I lit a candle for Joe instead as today would have been our 30th wedding anniversary. We were planning a trip to Alaska this year, but instead I find myself in the land of the Tuscan sun with one lonely bright shining star in the Venetian sky tonight.
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