Bologna and Cheese, Two Seas, Our Family Trees (And, Of Course, The “Usual” Saints and Eucharistic Miracles!)
Dear Reader, This is #2 in our series of travelogues all around Italy, the UK, and Ireland from October 2024 through June 2025. Enjoy!
The Food of Emilia-Romagna and Family Ties
In the last couple of weeks our journey took us first to Bologna (our Bologna Guide is here) and Parma. They say this is where foodie types go, and we definitely enjoyed touring a “Parmigiano-Reggiano” cheese factory and having a tasting. Would you believe we happened to visit on a special day that only happens three times a year? An official cheese tester was there checking each 176 lb. (!) wheel of cheese by rapping it with a special hammer and listening to the thump! Depending on the thump sound, the wheel will get a quality control grade of first, medium or down. They are tested repeatedly until sold and basically, besides being made according to the exact specifications (similar to champagne making), they are looking for wheels that do not sound solid as that indicates a defect of an air hole, etc. to get the PDO symbol burned into the wheel. Lower grade cheeses still taste great and are sold, but they are not the highest quality. There’s a lot more about what the cows are fed and the like – fascinating and fun to learn about.
We then had a special mission to visit John’s first wife Michele’s family (we think, but maybe not?) vineyard! Nestled in Ziano Piacentino in the Emilia-Romagna region, it was not hard to find, but no one was around. Eventually a worker came and got the ball rolling to locate the relatives. The couple couldn’t have been more gracious despite the language barrier, and we bought some delicious Molinelli red wine. Viva famiglia!
Modena was next with its impossibly-designed duomo – like something M.C. Escher would create! Mercato Albinelli was a treat also. It is probably the most beautiful food market ever with wrought iron grillwork across the entrance and smartly stocked stalls with everything under the sun that can be eaten and some we never would, such as the “goods” of the horse butcher.
Loreto, Lanciano, and More
Imola, Faenza, and Ravenna came after. We saw the tomb of St. Peter Damian in Faenza. Dante, who placed St. Peter Damian in one of the highest circles of Paradise (in his Paradiso Canto XXI), is entombed in Ravenna, and the famed mosaics located in three different sites there were remarkable. We didn’t even mind the rain as there was so much glittering beauty to see inside.,
Then came Loreto, where the house of the Annunciation is, followed by Lanciano, the site of the earliest recorded Eucharistic Miracle (after the Last Supper). Incredible, and even more was in store on our Southern Italy pilgrimage.
Pilgrimage to San Giovanni Rotondo and Monte Sant’Angelo
The day after was special because of two places – Monte Sant’Angelo, where St. Michael the Archangel appeared and then San Giovanni Rotondo where St. Padre Pio is entombed. Visitors are not supposed to take photos in St. Michael’s Cave, so here is one I found. The Cave is one of seven places making up a straight line geographically called St. Michael’s Sword. We hope to one day make it to all seven. This makes #3. Funny story. John made us “pilgrim passports” as many holy sites have a small ink stamp just for pelligrini. There is a special page he created for the St. Michael’s Sword sites, but I forgot that when I asked a nun to stamp our passports. I explained to her that there was another place in the booklet. (Mi dispiace ma Suora!) But she would not stamp it in the other spot. OK. We decided to wait a bit till she was spelled from her shift and try again. When a priest took over her desk, he was happy to oblige. Tutto è bene ciò che finisce bene! As for dear “Padre Pio” what can be said — it was a true gift to pray here and to see where he spent most of his holy life.
Seeking Family; Finding Beauty and Whimsy
Switching gears to John’s family history – we were on the hunt for the birthplace of his great grandfather Pasquale Ruberto. We went to the tiny town of Bisaccia in Avellino province only to learn from the municipal records guru Antonio, who thoroughly and patiently looked through ancient ledgers in front of us, that Pasquale was not in fact born there. Travelling to nearby Calitri and Cairana, though lovely drives, did not yield positive results either. (At least we eliminated these areas from the research!)
At this point we are making our way south, down the boot, spur, heel, and tip of the toe of the boot that is Italy – along the Adriatic coast. At Laura’s friend Rossella’s recommendation, we visited Trani, the picturesque waterfront hometown of her husband and also Bari to see St. Nicholas Cathedral (the only place where Roman Catholic and Orthodox liturgies are held in the same building). One day we went to four Adriatic cities from our Bari base: Alberobello (with its renown trulli conical rock-roofedhomes), Locorotondo (built in a circular shape and with its cummerse pointy roofed whitewashed homes), Monopoli (with its brilliant blue boats in Porto Antico) and Polignano a Mare (with Insta-worthy Lama Monachile Beach/Cala Porte). They are in close proximity to each other and all worth a visit. Locorotondo will remain in Laura’s heart because as we entered small San Rocco church a young man passed her who had the exact eyes of her nephew who died. She thought it was him for a heart-stopping moment!
Exploring the Sassi of Matera and Beyond
Visiting breathtaking Matera (of “The Passion of the Christ” and James Bond’s “No Time to Die” film fame) was a treat. We stayed in a cave (and ate in another one) as the mountainside limestone-carved cave dwellings called sassi are the big attraction here. They have been continuously inhabited since the Paleolithic period. It looks and feels how we imagine the Holy Land must be.
After stopping in Scanzano Jonica for a SUMPTUOUS home-harvested and home-made 4-hour meal with Rossella’s family that culminated with her father giving John a tour of the family farm (grazie mille!), we made our way to Tropea with its picture-perfect mountain top church overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea (Santa Maria dell-Isola).
As of this writing, we have ferried our way across the sea to Laura’s family’s origins – in Sicily! Everything is a bit different here as you can imagine, given the isolation of island life. It’s mostly slower, except when driving. Hats off to John navigating in a place where five lanes collapse into one without warning, the roadways are unlined, and stop signs are merely a suggestion. Motorbikes, electric bikes, and pedestrians and three-wheeled Piaggi are weaving in and out constantly, too! There’s also double and triple (!) parking, buses, and semis, and, and, and…. We are currently enjoying exploring the Palermo environs for the week (often on foot!) and hope to undertake some genealogy detecting later in the month.
In closing, here are most of the places we prayed for each person and their prayer request(s) aloud, so far:
- Crypt church of monastery (Great St. Bernard Pass, Switzerland)
- Sacra di San Michele, abbey (Mount Pirchiriano in Turin area)
- Basilica of Corpus Domini, site of Eucharistic miracle (Turin)
- Shroud of Turin (Turin)
- Tomb of St. Augustine in Basilica of San Pietro in Cielo d’Oro (Pavia)
- Tomb of St. Josephine Bakhita, shrine (Schio)
- Tomb of St. Anthony in Basilica Pontificia di Sant’Antonio di Padova (Padua)
- Tomb of St. Mark in Basilica San Marco (Venice)
- Tomb of Bl. Imelda Lambertini, shrine (Bologna)
- Holy House of Loreto Sanctuary, site of The Annunciation (Loreto)
- Sanctuary of the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano (Lanciano)
- St. Michael’s Cave Church (Monte Sant’Angelo)
- Tomb of St. Padre Pio in Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie (San Giovanni Rotondo)
- Santuario Beata Maria Vergine Incoronata di Foggia (Foggia)
- Tomb of St. Nicholas, crypt church of Basilica of San Nicola (Bari)
Sending our love, John and Laura
